Chapter 205: Child Labor Schools

Whether viewed from the perspective of history or the current situation in Europe, the past few years have been a relatively peaceful and stable period for the continent.

Since the founding of the German Empire, the European powers have tended toward stability. Although there are intense conflicts between various countries, these contradictions are not enough to drive a large-scale war between the powers.

This is fortunate for Spain, as what Spain lacks is a peaceful and stable environment for development. But it is equally unfortunate for Spain; such a stable environment for peaceful development has led to slow growth in the military industry, making it difficult to find opportunities for large-scale weapon exports like those seen in the First and Second World Wars.

The Tenth Russo-Turkish War is a large-scale war verified by history, and it is also the first opportunity for the Royal Arsenal to face large-scale export of weapons and equipment since its establishment.

Of course, it is uncertain whether Spain can get a slice of the cake in this war. After all, besides Russia, other European powers led by Britain and the Austro-Hungarian Empire are also watching the situation in the Balkans.

It is precisely because of this that when Gao Da ordered the Royal Arsenal to expand production, he set the weapon storage target at 150, 00 rifles, 1, 00 artillery pieces, and the corresponding bullets and shells.

Even if Spain cannot sell the weapons during the Russo-Turkish War, these stockpiled rifles and artillery can be sold to other countries through small-scale orders, or used by Spain itself.

After all, military training also involves the wear and tear of weapons and ammunition, so stockpiling a bit more is not a big problem.

The weapons and equipment of this era are nothing more than standard firearms, mainly rifles, and artillery, which serve as the primary source of firepower. The manufacturing costs for both types of weapons and their matching ammunition are not too high, which is why Gao Da has the confidence to order the Royal Arsenal to begin production directly without further investigation.

It is worth mentioning that while the Royal Arsenal was expanding, it recruited a large number of child laborers as workers.

This is not to say that Gao Da intentionally exploits child labor, but rather that this is the general background of the era. Not only in Spain, but looking across Europe, including traditional powers like Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and Austria, there are large numbers of child laborers.

One of the important reasons why the average life expectancy in Europe during this era is only thirty or forty years is that a large number of children enter factories to become child laborers, being crazily exploited by factory owners and capitalists, eventually leading to various physical problems and premature death in their twenties or thirties.

Even living to twenty or thirty is considered quite good. Many child laborers died directly on the production line under the exploitation of factory owners; this is the bloody and cruel reality of this era.

Of course, the reason the Royal Arsenal recruits a large number of child laborers is not because Gao Da wants to exploit them, but to provide them with better welfare and treatment to the best of his ability.

Although Spain's labor laws and minimum wage laws also stipulate the working hours and income for child laborers, this can ultimately only alleviate a portion of the suffering endured by the child labor group.

These children are the future of Spain; even if only for the sake of Spain's future, Gao Da must try his best to take care of more child laborers and allow them to grow up more healthily.

The current Royal Arsenal is definitely the leading enterprise in Spain's military industry and is the benchmark and representative enterprise of the Spanish military industry.

At present, the proportion of child laborers in the military factory exceeds 30%, a figure that is quite exaggerated. Every day, one can see the thousands of child laborers of the Royal Arsenal marching toward their production lines, contributing their meager strength to Spain's military industry.

Gao Da will not excessively increase the income of child laborers, as this would be unfair to the adult workers. Of course, the welfare and treatment that child laborers should receive are still provided, and are even more than what the labor law stipulates.

All child laborers in royal enterprises can enjoy at least one day of vacation per week, with more than four days of vacation per month. In addition, factories and enterprises will distribute milk or bone soup to the child laborers at least once a week to help them better nourish their bodies.

Child laborers are also not allowed to work overtime; once the factory's designated off-duty time arrives, the child laborers can be the first to leave.

This can be considered Gao Da doing what he can to provide some help to these child laborers, allowing them to feel a glimmer of warmth in this dark era.

To change the current status quo, Gao Da cannot achieve it alone. He must promote the great progress of the entire country's economy, so that Spaniards have more savings and income in their hands; only then will they let their children enter school instead of going to factories to sell their labor.

As early as the literacy education campaign, Gao Da had royal enterprises organize child laborers to participate in literacy learning during their holidays. The current progress is quite good; at least in the royal factories and enterprises, the majority of child laborers have completed their literacy education and have shed their status as illiterates.

Subsequently, Gao Da also plans to establish child labor schools within some larger factories, allowing these child laborers to enjoy compulsory primary education within the factory, completing their studies while working.

Child labor schools can not only teach knowledge from compulsory primary education but also allow them to learn some basic skills, transforming from a child laborer into a skilled worker.

Doing so can not only improve the educational level of Spaniards but also effectively improve the living standards of these child laborers.

After all, an illiterate child laborer who knows nothing and a skilled child laborer who has a primary school education and possesses certain skills are definitely different in terms of income.

It is just that child labor schools involve aspects that ordinary public schools do not, so Gao Da only has some ideas and has not yet had time to implement them.

Compared with the child laborers in royal enterprise factories, the income level and welfare of child laborers in private enterprise factories are much worse.

This is also unavoidable; after all, the labor that child laborers can provide is truly limited. Moreover, compared to adult workers, child laborers are easier to exploit, their resistance is weaker, and under the coercion and intimidation of capitalists, many child laborers dare not resist at all.

Capitalists are not the seemingly amiable business giants on the internet of later generations, but rather bullies who eat people without spitting out the bones.

Regarding this point, Gao Da can only express his helplessness. This is a common phenomenon in the background of this era, and even if Gao Da wants to rectify it, he cannot completely eradicate it.

However, regarding certain bottom lines for child labor, Gao Da has still implemented relevant regulations.

Europe is quite extreme when it comes to child labor; to what extent? There are even a large number of child laborers under the age of ten in capitalists' factories.

Yes, child laborers under ten. Or to be precise, there are a large number of children aged four, five, or six.

The sources of these child laborers are also varied. Some are from families that cannot afford the expenses of too many children and are forced to let some of their children go to factories to survive on their own.

Others come from the buying and selling of various church relief homes, orphanages, and other institutions.

In the society of later generations where technology is so advanced, the phenomenon of human trafficking still exists, let alone in the 1876 era when technology and relevant laws and regulations were very backward.

The phenomenon of human trafficking is prevalent in European countries, and the lives of the lower classes in this era are indeed very miserable.

Ironically, while these capitalists are crazily exploiting child laborers in exchange for huge profits, they are also disguising themselves as kind and benevolent gentlemen.

By donating to the church, they let the church establish more relief homes and schools to take in those orphans and abandoned children.

These orphans are then secretly transferred to the capitalists' factories, becoming free labor under the long whips of the capitalists.

For these bought people, the capitalists are merciless. Whenever they encounter disobedient child laborers, the light punishment is a beating, and the heavy punishment is to make them disappear directly through various means.

For such church relief homes and church schools, the Spanish government will sooner or later carry out rectification.

Not to mention the hidden problem of human trafficking behind them, the mere fact that these relief homes and church schools teach knowledge with their own private agendas dictates that they will be banned by the government or require large-scale rectification.

As everyone knows, the masses are blind and easily influenced by public opinion. And children are the blindest group among the masses; they will easily believe the knowledge they learn, and capitalists and the church will also use such means to shape a distorted worldview for them.

This is completely unacceptable to Gao Da. The only ones allowed to brainwash through education in Spain are the royal family and the government; the behavior of capitalists and the church is a challenge to the status of the royal family and the majesty of the government.

Spain does not forbid the existence of private schools, but private schools must obey the control of the Ministry of Education, and the corresponding textbooks must also be reviewed by the Ministry of Education; they cannot teach whatever they want.

And in the official public schools, starting from primary school, there will be a large number of ideological education courses. These courses will not forcibly brainwash students, but will subtly cultivate their loyalty and patriotism, making them develop a love for Spain and a sense of adoration for the royal family and Gao Da.

These students who have just entered school are like a clean sheet of white paper; even if Gao Da does not write anything on it, someone will sooner or later write and draw on the white paper.

Rather than that, it is better for Gao Da and the government to take the initiative to write things on these white papers that are beneficial to the development of Spain, starting from childhood to cultivate the national identity and national pride of Spaniards, and using the royal family as a link to closely connect Spaniards from all major regions, jointly creating this huge nation and a united Spanish state.

Binding the royal family and the country together has many benefits, such as the very stable status of the royal family, etc. If politicians do not want the country to fall into a situation of division, they must preserve the royal family and use the legitimacy of the royal family to control the entire unified country.

In this respect, it is quite similar to the British royal family. Although the British royal family of later generations has lost most of its power, its role as a link connecting various regions of the UK is enough to keep the British government from taking action against the royal family.

The British government can indeed easily abolish the royal family, but the consequence of doing so would be that Scotland and Ireland would no longer be under the control of England, and the British Empire would fall apart.

What Gao Da wants to do is to make the Spanish royal family have a status similar to that of the British royal family in later generations. Even if the royal family does not have much power, the government will not dare to underestimate it.

As long as the succession of the throne does not fall into the chaotic situation of the Carlists, the future Spanish royal family will be irreplaceable, and its status will become very stable, without worrying about any risks affecting the status of the royal family.

Time passed quickly, and soon it was late August 1876, which was also the first year that the pilot project for compulsory primary education in the Madrid and Catalonia regions officially began to be implemented.

In these few months, the number of primary schools rebuilt and built by the Ministry of Education has exceeded one hundred, barely enough to support the promotion of compulsory primary education in the two regions.

Although these schools are very simple, it is not a problem to squeeze in a few hundred students. More than a hundred primary schools also mean that they can accommodate tens of thousands of students, and coupled with the original number of primary schools in the two regions, it is barely enough to meet the demand for primary schools required for the promotion of compulsory education.

Because it is the first year of promoting compulsory education, the enrollment time for each primary school this year has been extended. From late August to late September, for a full month, children willing to participate in compulsory education can go to nearby schools to register.

Facts have proven that completely free compulsory education, coupled with the benefit of providing three meals a day, is very attractive to the Spanish people.

Since the start of primary school registration in late August, it took less than a week for the number of students registered in all primary schools in Madrid to exceed 10, 00.

And in the two regions of Madrid and Catalonia combined, the number of registered students exceeded 20, 00 in less than ten days.

The public's enthusiastic participation in the promotion of compulsory education made Gao Da and the Minister of Education, Gerald Wilson, breathe a sigh of relief.

Although compulsory education is completely free and provides students with three meals a day, there was a fear that some stubborn parents would only care about immediate interests and would only be willing to send their children to factories, not to school.

After all, sending them to school just costs no money, but it also earns no money. If sent to a factory, even as a child laborer, one could earn a considerable income based on the minimum wage law promulgated by Spain.

These laws, which were clearly promulgated to improve the living standards of child laborers, have now become the reason why some parents are unwilling to let their children enter school.

In the era without a minimum wage law, the income of an adult male worker was several times or even more than ten times that of a child laborer.

But after the minimum wage law, the income of child laborers has seen continuous growth, and it is currently approaching half the income level of adult male workers.

The consequence of this is that many capitalists no longer favor cheap child laborers; after all, child laborers not only have to enjoy holidays and rest time, but their income is not much lower than that of female workers.

Because the combined population of the Madrid region and the Catalonia region is only a little over 2 million, this also led to the peak period of student registration only existing in late August and early September.

By mid-September, there were very few students going to primary schools to register. However, in these more than half a month, all primary schools in the two regions combined received a total of more than 30, 00 students, which can be considered a very fruitful result.

(End of chapter)