"Those people are probably even more uncomfortable staying in Likang, living in constant fear," Chu Yaozong said. "They'd be better off in the factory, where they feel more at ease, constantly worrying about being schemed against by Song Tianyao. Transferring them away one by one will only make them more anxious."
"Understood." Chu Xiaozhong listened to his father's explanation and said nothing more.
Chu Yaozong looked at Chu Xiaoxin with a smile, "Besides dismissing Likang and the others, is there anything else you want to tell me?"
"No," Chu Xiaoxin replied to Chu Yaozong.
"Really not?" Hearing his Second Son's answer, Chu Yaozong became even more interested. "When you came back tonight, I was waiting for you to say that Likang was planning to engage in smuggling and asked your Dad to help you make some arrangements with the Commerce and Industry Department. Song Tianyao didn't even tell you?"
"A-Yao did say that you need to bribe people in the Commerce and Industry Department to do smuggling. He probably forgot to tell me about it tonight. Father, how about..." Chu Xiaoxin was pleasantly surprised to hear his father being unusually kind to him and even offering to help him with some connections. He was about to agree.
Chu Yaozong shook his head. "He won't forget something like this. It just means he's not going to lend you any of his connections with the Chu Family. He's planning to elevate you. You're a young man with ambition. But what I'm curious about is how he's going to get in touch with those Foreign Devil in the Industry and Commerce and Industry Department. Foreign Devil 're very greedy."
"Isn't it true that the higher you're lifted up, the harder you fall?" Chu Xiaoxin asked cautiously, noticing that Chu Yaozong was in a good mood tonight.
Chu Yaozong looked at Chu Xiaoxin with some disappointment. Chu Xiaoxin didn't have the brains of himself and A-Zhong, but he was really lucky. He was a carefree and plump rich young master, and he was a cunning young man from a dormitory. Song Tianyao was Chu Xiaoxin's cash cow, and Chu Xiaoxin was Song Tianyao's flag bearer. They each got what they wanted.
The next day, Song Tianyao got up from the Dulles Hotel and sat in the restaurant reading the free English newspapers. As he read, he marveled at how many of Hong Kong's wealth-generating opportunities were actually hidden in the English newspapers.
For example, announcements of government auctions or government tenders are not published in Chinese newspapers, but only in English newspapers. The purpose, of course, is to leave these avenues for making money to the Britain themselves while maintaining fairness and transparency.
However, Song Tianyao wasn't concerned about the business opportunities in the newspapers right now. He was mainly looking at the job advertisements published in English newspapers. In Hong Kong, only the Hong Kong Colonial Government agencies would publish English job advertisements in English newspapers when recruiting local civil servants. If you couldn't even understand English job advertisements, then you weren't qualified to apply.
Despite the end of World War II and the liberation of Hong Kong, the colonial government publicly proclaimed that Hong Kong people governed Hong Kong and that government agencies and civil servants were localized. However, in reality, Hong Kong was still under British rule. Senior and principal officials in all Political Departments were Britain. Even mid-level positions in sensitive departments such as the police, finance, judiciary, Customs were filled by people selected from Britain. So-called local civil servants mostly did menial tasks in various departments, handling heavy workloads, but promotion was a distant dream. Moreover, the salaries and benefits of Britain civil servants and Hong Kong local civil servants were completely different. Foreign civil servants received the same salary and allowances as three local civil servants with the same qualifications and education. Foreign civil servants also had benefits such as fixed annual leave to return home and travel expenses for family visits, which local civil servants could not even dream of.
Despite this injustice, many young people still want to work in government agencies. Although they may only be considered menial workers in the eyes of the Britain, the title of civil servant is a golden ticket among the Chinese. Once you become a civil servant, you can immediately become an intermediary between businessmen and your superiors. Countless local businessmen will wave their money and try to build relationships with you, hoping to get to know those high-ranking Britain officials through you.
Song Tianyao's business wanted to recruit some staff, so his first choice was to compete with the British Hong Kong Government for talent. Of course, it couldn't really be called competing; it was more like picking up the talent that the British Hong Kong Government had left over that it hadn't selected.
At this moment, Song Tianyao's gaze fell upon a recruitment advertisement, which was a notice from the Administrative Division of the Secretariat (the Colonial Secretariat, which was renamed the Secretariat in 1961; this book will refer to it directly as the Colonial Secretary Secretariat) recruiting contract employees in Hong Kong.
Contract employees are essentially the same as contract civil servants, which shows the discrimination against Hong Kong Chinese by the colonial government. Hong Kong civil servants are divided into three categories: long-term civil servants, non-long-term civil servants, and contract employees.
The first type needs no explanation; it's the so-called "golden rice bowl." Once you become a long-term civil servant, as long as you don't intend to overthrow the Governor of Hong Kong, you can receive a salary and benefits for life. However, 80% of long-term civil servants are Britain. It's extremely difficult for China person to get this "golden rice bowl" of a civil servant in the Hong Kong Colonial Government. At the very least, you need a Britain university degree, experience studying in the Britain, and you have to bribe the interviewers and the relevant departments to get such a position. It's not something you can just buy with money.
The second type is somewhat like the personnel agency system civil servants that Song Tianyao knew in his previous life. Non-permanent salary civil servants are uniformly registered and recruited by the Employment Guidance Section of the Labour Department Labor Department of the colonial government. After passing the interview and review, they are assigned to work in various subordinate agencies of the colonial government, starting their political career as errand runners and errand boys in government agencies, slowly waiting for an opportunity to rise through the ranks.
The third type is contract workers. Government departments are currently short-staffed but don't want to free up civil service positions for China person, so they hire contract civil servants. Contracts are available for two or three years. During the contract period, employees have civil servant status and enjoy some civil servant benefits. When the contract expires, if the government doesn't renew, they are immediately dismissed. This type of contract worker is the most common and frequently recruited. Unless the employee is extremely capable and highly favored by their superiors, most will be dismissed upon contract expiration, and the government will re-recruit. Why? Because civil servant salaries increase annually. If the contract is renewed early, the government needs to continue increasing the employee's salary based on seniority. However, if the contract is terminated and a new contract is signed, the employee will have to receive minimum wage again, saving government funds. Furthermore, department heads can profit from the recruitment process.