Thus, criminal syndicates across the land began getting involved in labor recruitment, leading to an unending rise in violence.
The Jing Kingdom authorities struck hard against several criminal gangs, forcing them to rein themselves in somewhat. Even so, people continued to fall victim to them.
Some officials submitted memorials asking the Grand Secretariat to prohibit this recruitment model that brutalized the common people. But Fang Yun used his authority as Left Prime Minister to forcibly suppress every related memorial.
Fang Yun offered no explanation to anyone, nor did he restrict recruitment on that account. However, he ordered the workshops not to mistreat any workers and established new departments in areas with many workshops, specifically tasked with investigating workers' treatment. Any exploitative workshop discovered was to be rigorously investigated without exception.
At the same time, Fang Yun issued a decree that anyone who had worked in the Jing Kingdom for five full years could become an official resident. If they could buy a home, their children and dependents could all become citizens of the Jing Kingdom.
Thus, large-scale construction began throughout the Jing Kingdom. The building industry flourished, and the authorities collected substantial tax revenues to further the kingdom's development.
Meanwhile, Fang Yun built public rental housing for workers in large batches. This neither undermined the construction industry nor allowed land and housing prices to soar. It merely reduced the income of the state and wealthy merchants, while stabilizing the situation and preserving a clear conscience.
For the development of the Jing Kingdom and the human race, Fang Yun had no choice but to sacrifice those workers' interests, yet he also did everything he could to protect them. At the same time, he required the authorities to resolve conflicts between migrant workers and locals and promote positive images of workers.
Since