Chapter 132 Corporate Culture
On July 28th, through the hard work of Carpenter Liu and his workers, a courtyard-style wooden structure factory building was built on the wasteland.
The plaque of the Liujia Village Water Mill Factory was officially hung on the doorhead made of a few simple pieces of wood.
The villagers borrowed red cloth from somewhere and the skillful women rolled it into big red flowers, which were hung on both sides of the factory gate, adding a lot of festive atmosphere.
Qin Yao bought two rolls of firecrackers and made a lot of crackling noises for half an hour. She, Carpenter Liu and all the workers announced that the Liujia Village Water Mill Factory was officially established!
Although the factory building was very simple, what the villagers saw were clean and bright sheds. The workers inside were doing their jobs, busy but not chaotic.
For someone like Liu Dafu who has seen the world, it is easy to see that there are mysteries hidden in these small sheds.
From now on, if you want to go to Liujia Village, you must pass through here first.
After the simple opening ceremony, Qin Yao and Carpenter Liu led the workers to officially start production.
The heavy boulders were brought into the factory in carts and piled up in the central patio.
The wood is transported down from the mountain one by one, repaired neatly on the open space specially left on the side of the factory, and then placed on a tripod to dry for a month before it can be put into use.
The first batch of ready-made wood has been turned into boards of uniform thickness by carpenters.
Some people are responsible for cutting these wooden boards into waterwheel fan blades, some people are responsible for cutting long strips for the shaft part, and then some people are responsible for assembling them, and finally the painting and drying process begins.
Yunniang was one of the painters. Because of her experience, she became the team leader on her first day at work.
Carpenter Liu felt that having a female worker was inconvenient at first, but when he really used her, he realized that gender didn't matter, the key was to get the job done well and quickly.
And they didn't cause him any trouble, as his grandmother-in-law helped take care of the young children at home.
Liu the peddler comes to pick up his wives every evening and occasionally brings them some snacks. He asks everyone to take good care of them.
What makes Carpenter Liu feel most at ease is that Yunniang is meticulous and has a sharp eye. She can find any piece of wood that has been left behind and ask the team of workers to repaint it, thus eliminating the problem before shipment.
The waterwheel department is making good progress, but Qin Yao's stone mill department is a bit troublesome.
A bunch of big men were hammering and banging around every day, and they would have a quarrel every now and then.
Either this one hit that one's hand, or that one accidentally knocked a piece of stone and seriously injured this one's forehead.
Fortunately, Qin Yao was worried about them and followed them to work for the first few days, otherwise a fight would have really broken out.
But trying to stop fights and using force to intimidate people every day is not a long-term solution, Qin Yao thought, she had to come up with a permanent solution.
Make rules, make sure to make rules!
This was the idea given by the old patriarch after Qin Yao consulted him.
They are a bunch of uneducated peasants with such basic quality. It is useless to try to restrain them with etiquette and laws because they don't even know what etiquette and laws are.
They are more suitable for a simple and clear reward and punishment system. The clan leader asked Qin Yao to write down the rules and read them to these rough guys, letting them memorize them by rote. Then he would kill two of them who stood out as an example to scare the monkeys, and they would all be obedient.
Of course, this wouldn't be necessary when Qin Yao was present. If she just stood there and roared, all the men in Liujia Village would tremble.
These reward and punishment systems are mainly used when Qin Yao is not present, making it easier for team leader Jiu Shu to manage.
Qin Yao gave the clan leader a thumbs up. It turned out that old people are the best!
After returning home, he worked out a reward and punishment system and construction precautions, requiring the workers to recite them collectively before starting work every day.
Qin Yao called it, "This is our corporate culture!"
Liu Bo and others nodded excitedly. Now they are also educated people!
Qin Yao looked at those excited faces and guessed that they might have misunderstood something, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that she could finally let these grown men go quarrying alone.
The autumn harvest in the entire Liujia Village has come to an end. During this period, Qin Yao had some free time and went to Jinshi Town, hoping to bring back more orders.
It's impossible to say that the factory will stop operating after Bai Shan's fifty groups are completed, right?
The water mill of the former shopkeeper Wu is now experiencing a booming business during the autumn harvest. The loads of rice used to line up from the river bank to the official road.
It was market day, and there were many small stalls selling small items and snacks on the official road outside Jinshi Town.
Qin Yao stopped in front of a snack stall, tied Lao Huang to a tree stump on the side of the road, took out three cents, and ordered a bowl of cold drink.
The glutinous rice balls soup made with fermented rice wine cooled with well water can quench your thirst and fill your stomach.
Qin Yao pointed to the water mill not far away and said, "Boss, I'll take the bowl over there and return it to you later."
The stall owners were a young couple. They responded with a sigh, indicating that it was okay as there wasn't much business anyway and there were still extra bowls in the basket.
So, Qin Yao ate some cold drinks and walked leisurely to the busy and sweaty shopkeeper Wu.
Three water mills were running continuously, and one of them was overloaded and had a problem. Manager Wu had just repaired it and was sweating profusely.
When I looked up, I saw Qin Yao eating a cold drink and enjoying the breeze by the river. She looked so relaxed and comfortable.
"Oh, Madam Qin, how come you, a rare guest, are here in my shabby mill?" Shopkeeper Wu fanned himself with one hand, put down his repair tools with the other, and pointed to a deserted place nearby. Qin Yao followed.
"See, I told you at the beginning that your three water mills would definitely not be enough, but you didn't believe it. Now the queue has stretched all the way to the official road. People from all the villages in the surrounding area must have come here, right?" Qin Yao said with a smile.
Shopkeeper Wu was still a little proud, and replied: "Not only that, the old lady from Ding's farm asked someone to ask me about it, and she plans to rent my water mill for a month!"
That's all I have to say. I won't mention whether he refused or agreed later.
Qin Yao knew without asking that Manager Wu definitely did not agree.
If I agree to it, I will offend all the ordinary people around me.
A wealthy family like the Ding family only uses it this once. They even have slaves on their farm who specialize in pounding rice, so it doesn't matter much whether they have his water mill or not.
But other people could not afford to support the slaves who pounded rice, so they had to rely on his water mill every day. If he wanted to keep his business going for a long time, he had to make choices.
Qin Yao saw the pity in his eyes and reminded him: "If it doesn't work out this year, do we have to miss the spring wave too?"
She was talking about the wheat harvest, when flour is what needs to be ground the most. The process of husking and grinding takes twice as long as that of rice.
Shopkeeper Wu knew that Qin Yao's sudden appearance was definitely not just a coincidence to watch the fun, so he asked her helplessly:
"I heard that your village received a large order, and the other small orders cannot be shipped before November. I need it urgently now, but you can't deliver it. By November, the day lilies will be cold."