Chapter 9 New Labor Standards

  He gently patted the old pipe in his hand, and Yang Liu sighed with some melancholy. He was originally a craftsman at the Fuzhou Shipyard, relying on his own diligence and hard work to hone his exceptional planing skills, which were even notable among the elite in the shipyard. But like all ordinary Chinese people, he also had wishes and expectations for having many children and blessings, and since there weren't many entertainment programs during that era, he, already a middle-aged man, was already the father of six children.

  However, in the Qing dynasty, which had always been contemptuous of the lower classes and was heavily influenced by feudal ideology, he could hardly earn a decent wage even after working hard for a month in the shipyard. Adding to this the pressure of supporting his family, when the Taiwanese offered him a monthly salary of ten taels of silver, he did not hesitate to bring his wife, children, and other recruited workers aboard the passenger ship bound for Taiwan.

  "Lao Chen, we've been here for over a month now, why haven't they asked us to start working yet?" Yang Lao Liu asked his fellow worker in a somewhat depressed tone.

  "What's the hurry, haven't they already paid this month's wages? Besides, getting paid for not working is a good thing, where can you find that?" Old Chen said slowly after glancing at his friend.

  When he heard this, Yang Lao Liu also nodded in agreement. He put away his tobacco pouch and rubbed his hands, which were covered with calluses. His dark face, tanned by the sun, showed a hint of excitement as he asked his fellow worker, Chen, with a tense tone: "Old Chen, do you think that new charter they posted a few days ago is real? I've been feeling uneasy about it in my heart!"

  Thinking of the announcement read out a few days ago, Old Chen's heart was also somewhat excited.

  "Now you can rest assured, at the beginning, it was announced by Fu Dajia in front of hundreds of people, how could this be fake!" As he said this, Old Chen couldn't help but feel a little envious of his old friend beside him. According to the factory's employment standards that had just been implemented, Yang Laoliu had been evaluated as a senior technician, and his monthly salary was a full 20 taels of silver. If he could bring out a few more apprentices, he would truly be able to live a life without worrying about food or clothing.

  "It seems that in the future, I will have to ask Old Yang for advice more often. Otherwise, as a mid-level technician, my monthly salary is 10 taels of silver less than his, which is too much of a loss!" Old Chen thought to himself.

  To mobilize the enthusiasm of workers, Huo Shan brought out some factory management rules and worker evaluation standards ahead of time, dividing workers into six levels: apprentice, primary technician, intermediate technician, senior technician, technician, and senior technician. According to their skills, they adopted a piecework distribution method, where more work meant more pay and less work meant less pay.

  At the same time, in order to rapidly expand his workforce, Huo Shan also proposed reward conditions for "transmitting and helping". For every primary technician brought out, he would be rewarded with 20 taels of silver; for every intermediate technician, 50 taels of silver; and for every senior technician, 100 taels of silver. Of course, the rewards for technicians and senior technicians were even more, reaching hundreds or thousands of taels. However, those who could reach the evaluation standards for technicians were high-level talents with certain research and development capabilities, which were extremely rare in old China at that time.

  "Young master, you are indeed impressive! After implementing the new labor standard you instructed in our factory, our soap production has increased by a whole factor of two over the past few days. Your intelligence is truly beyond me, old servant!"

  Listening to the old steward's words of praise, even Huo Dashi, who had always been thick-skinned, couldn't help but blush a little, but the pride in his heart was something he just couldn't suppress.

  "Haha, Uncle Fu is being too kind, these are just trivial matters! After indulging in self-admiration for a while, Huo Shan continued to ask: "By the way, Uncle Fu, have we received any news about the machines we ordered from Europe?"

  "Not yet, young master!"

  Upon hearing his words, Huo Shan nodded in understanding. From Taiwan to Europe, even at the fastest speed of this era, it would take almost a month! Then there's still the need to select factories, dismantle equipment, and find ships to transport them back to Taiwan - without half a year's time, it's simply impossible to complete! However, he was anxious in his heart. "Fortunately, there are still machines and equipment from the Qing dynasty that can be used to make do!" Huo Shan thought to himself. The twenty-plus years of the Westernization Movement had allowed the Qing government to establish a batch of modern industries that weren't bad at all! However, their production efficiency and equipment utilization rate were truly not worthy of praise. Nevertheless, Huo Shan had set his sights on these machines and equipment that were right before his eyes!

  He stood up and walked around the study with his hands behind his back, then asked, "Fu Bo, what do you think about building a railway in Taiwan?"

  "Railway?" The old man asked back in surprise!

  Although he had somewhat adapted to Mr. Huo's extravagant ideas and lavish spending over the past few days, hearing this term still made his heart skip a beat. Because in this era, building railways meant spending money, and not just a small amount!

  "Indeed, the railroad! Although the initial investment is quite large, the profits contained within are not small either. This is a long-term business!" Looking out of the window, Mr. Huo said to himself.

  From the 21st century, he was influenced by Chairman Mao's thoughts and had always remembered the famous saying "Wanting to be rich, first build roads" in his mind. So, after having money in his own pocket, he immediately thought of the possibility of building Taiwan Railway.

  "Young master, wanting to build a railway in Taiwan is feasible. A few years ago, Ding Richang, who is now the governor of Fujian, also wanted to build a railway in our area, but they didn't have enough money, so the matter was dropped."

  "Oh, is it that easy?" Huo Shan asked with a change in his expression.

  "That's natural, with the status of our Holuo family today, even the current Governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, He Zhuo, has to give face to our Holuo family!" The old man said proudly. In this era where official positions are everything, wanting to become a wealthy and powerful family is nothing unusual, so it's only natural that behind the massive business empire of the Holuo family lies a vast hidden network of relationships!

  "Since that's the case, then it's settled! However, Uncle Fu, I still need to trouble you to personally make a trip to the Fujian-Zhejiang Governor's Office and tell them that our family, the Hos, are willing to put up the money to build the Taiwan railway. As long as the government provides the land, we'll be fine. Once the railway is built and makes a profit, we can give them half of the earnings. How they divide the money among themselves is none of our concern, but the right to control the railway must be in our hands!"

  "Half of the profit? Isn't that a bit too much, young master?" The old man couldn't help but ask.

  "Heh heh, if not for a few words, how would these insects have taken to the road? Don't worry, Fu Bo! This time, Taiwan Railway is not only going to be repaired, but also greatly renovated. We will make the railway line encircle the entire island. I've roughly calculated that the total length of the railway should be around 900 kilometers. To build such a long railway, it would take at least one or two years, and by then, they won't have a say in the matter!" Huo Shan said with a cold smile.

  Looking at the young master's cold and unfeeling expression, the old man couldn't help but feel a stir in his heart, thinking of those soldiers secretly training in the mountains.

  After Fu Bo left, Huo Shan sat on a chair and rested for a while before raising his head and shouting: "Lei Zi, go and call Huo Bao over for me!"

  Huò Lóng, Huò Fèng, Huò Shī, Huò Hǔ, Huò Piáo, Huò Láng, Huò Tiān, Huò Dì, Huò Xuán, Huò Huáng, Huò Yǔzhòu, Huò Zhòu, Huò Hóng, Huò Huāng, Huò Fēng, Huò Yǔ, Huò Léi, Huò Diàn. They are the eighteen most outstanding orphans raised by the Huo family, who have been trained in martial arts and educated in both Chinese and Western ways since childhood. With their rich knowledge and loyalty to the Huo family, they control all aspects of the vast Huo family business. A few days ago, after taking over the Huo family from his mother, these eighteen most important people were also handed over to Huò Shān to lead personally.

  Looking at the young man standing not far in front of him, with his back to himself, Huo Bao still found it hard to believe that so many exquisite military tactics theories could be written by a twelve-year-old youth.

  "Here, how's the training of the militia?" Huo Shan turned his head to look at the young man in front of him, who was over six feet tall and had a refined face, and asked softly.

  He recalled the other day when he had brought the Huo family's militia to join forces with the training base in the back mountain, and they were shocked by his sudden appearance, their mouths agape. The young master of the Huo family couldn't help but laugh at the memory.

  Looking at the young master's expression, which seemed to be smiling but not quite, Huo Bao rubbed his own head and said with some embarrassment: "According to the young master's rules, everyone has been training very hard and their level has improved very quickly!"

  "Uh-huh, okay. I've been quite busy lately, but after a few days, I'll make some time to go take a look! By the way, have you recruited all the people you need?"

  "We've recruited enough! Not counting our militia and the young master's original 500+ people! Following your orders, we used Tian Ge's inland channels to recruit over 20,000 more innocent young men, all of whom have been sent to the training base in the back mountains. I believe that with just one year of time, they will become true elite soldiers!" Huo Bao said with shining eyes.

  Looking at him, Huo Shan couldn't help but shake his head and smile. As the saying goes, "Han Xin's troops are better with more", as a general in command of an army, who wouldn't want their soldiers to be more and more numerous?

  "Master, can you buy us some more firearms? We only have over 5,000 Type 71 Mauser rifles, which is not enough!" Hu Bao hastily asked, seeing that the master's mood was good today. When they came, everyone repeatedly instructed him to settle the matter of the guns with the master first.