Quyang Junfu.
Xiong Wuliang lay on his back on the couch, dazed.
Summer noon is really sleepy.
Xiaoyi knelt down in front of Xiong Wuliang's bed, covered her mouth and smiled softly. She carefully peeled the fruit in her hand and put it into Xiong Wuliang's mouth: "Sir, is it sweet?"
Xiong Wuliang narrowed his eyes slightly: "Sweet."
Since inspecting the fiefdom, Xiaoyi has become more respectful to Xiong Wuliang. Various services such as shoulder and leg massage are done very well.
This kind of life is what time travelers should enjoy!
If only I could enjoy this corrupt life forever.
Damn Qin!
"Master, Shi Er is here." Zhong Hua announced outside the door.
Xiong Wuliang used all his willpower to pull himself out of the gentle land. Mr. Xiong rubbed his face and reluctantly sat up from the bed.
Xiaoyi blushed and helped Master Mi Liang up.
Xiong Wuliang chuckled and pinched Xiaoyi's face. Xiaoyi's face instantly turned red to her neck, and her voice was as quiet as a mosquito: "Young Master..."
…
Shi Er saluted respectfully to Xiong Wuliang: "Master, I have found all the craftsmen in Quyang City, a total of one hundred people, and they are all waiting outside the house. Please tell me how to start the work."
Xiong Wuliang nodded: "Well done."
Being recognized by Mr. Xiong again made Shi Er feel energetic and motivated.
Shi Er held his breath, waiting for Xiong Wuliang's order.
What Xiong Wuliang is planning in his mind right now is the first factory in Quyang County!
Agricultural tools processing factory!
At this moment, there is no mechanized equipment in Quyang County. In this first factory, the processing methods basically can only rely on the craftsman's handiwork.
But as we all know, once a certain product is produced on a large scale, its manufacturing cost will decrease exponentially - the larger the scale, the lower the unit price of the product.
Even a simple handicraft workshop is countless times more efficient than an individual craftsman.
Moreover, in Xiong Wuliang's plan, this factory was not just for processing farm tools.
If a war breaks out in the future, this agricultural tool processing factory can be converted from civilian use to military use. It can quickly build various ordnance during wartime and mass-produce arrows, catapults, and large siege equipment.
Now, let's practice mass-producing Quyuan plows. When hydraulic equipment is available in the future, this processing plant will not only be able to make wooden utensils, but also forge and forge iron tools.
Let the people of Qin experience what dimensionality reduction strikes mean!
"I want to set up a processing factory to make Quyuan plows." Xiong Wuliang said after thinking for a while.
"The first batch of workers in the factory are the one hundred craftsmen you brought."
"You, Shi Er, will be in charge of this processing plant!" Xiong Wuliang announced the personnel appointments.
Shi Er was overjoyed and immediately knelt down on the ground: "The villain will definitely live up to the important responsibility of the Lord!"
OK! It’s not in vain that I have been running errands for the young master for so long, and the reward I have been waiting for is finally here!
Xiong Wuliang nodded with satisfaction.
This stone second hand is exquisite in craftsmanship, and the person is also clever.
Xiong Wuliang was relieved when he was put in charge of the first factory.
The biggest problem at present is that the number of workers is too few.
In other words, the working class is relatively weak...
In Xiong Wuliang's plan, Quyang County is not just a factory, but an industrial park will be built in the future.
One hundred workers are simply not enough.
Xiong Wuliang pondered for a moment and considered: "Shi Er, your factory must recruit more people as soon as possible. No matter how you operate it, you must expand the number of people as soon as possible - you need money or food, but the policy must be fully satisfied. you!"
Shi Eryi was startled.
In this era, although craftsmanship is not considered a humble profession, few people are willing to be craftsmen.
If the family had a field to run, who would be willing to do crafts work?
In this era, except for a few farmers who worked part-time as craftsmen to earn extra money to support their families after busy farming, full-time craftsmen were generally slaves.
After Shi Er struggled for a moment, he said honestly: "Master, you also know that there are relatively few people willing to do our job. There are only a hundred craftsmen in Quyang County, which is so big."
"If you want to expand, there are only two ways."
"The first is to introduce craftsmen slaves from other places and buy skilled workers from nobles everywhere."
“The second is to cultivate it yourself in this county.”
"Since the young master has no money and food to allocate, the first way is not feasible - if you train yourself, if you don't have money, of course the people will not be willing to work in the factory for free."
"In my humble opinion, I might as well make an order from my lord - saying that if you work in the factory, you can be exempted from the agricultural tax. I think it will attract some people to work in the factory."
Xiong Wu's conscience secretly praised that Shi Er was indeed clever.
Agricultural taxes can be reduced or reduced, of course.
The agricultural tax on the fiefdom has been reduced from 40% to 10%.
I don’t even need 30% of it, but I don’t need the last 10%!
With this thought in his mind, Xiong Wuliang nodded and said: "Just as you said - send an order that those who voluntarily come to work in the factory will be exempted from taxes this year."
Now that the treasury is empty, that's all.
Xiong Wuliang understood that using taxes to support work could only be a temporary measure.
After overcoming the current difficulties, workers still need to be paid.
In any case, processing plants must be built now and mature workers must be trained as soon as possible.
Fortunately, the factory is not a place that can only be entered but cannot be exited.
After the farm tools are completed, the processing factory can operate at full capacity to produce arrows.
This kind of consumable was definitely hard currency in the war-torn Warring States period.
The nobles of the Chu State are allowed to have private soldiers. When the time comes, Xiong Wuliang can sell these arrows to various nobles of the Chu State. As long as the price is low, there is no need to worry about not being able to sell them.
It can even be exported and dumped to various countries.
If the price is high, Xiong Wuliang can accept it even if it is sold to Qin!
At that time, the processing plant will be able to bring continuous benefits to the fiefdom.
…
Shi Er took Xiong Wuliang's appointment and left with satisfaction.
Before leaving, he solemnly promised that the factory would be put into production within three days and that within a month, the number of workers would be expanded to more than 200.
After sending everyone away, it was already afternoon.
Xiong Wuliang ate something casually and then returned to the bed to lie down.
I toured the entire fiefdom a few days ago and it was really tiring! I feel like my body has been hollowed out!
Very weak, sometimes after overexertion...
Xiaoyi obediently came to Mr. Xiong’s bed.
"Then give me a squeeze on your legs." Xiong Wuliang chuckled.
Xiaoyi blushed and agreed, kneeling in front of Xiong Wuliang, stretching out her two jade hands, and kneading Xiong Wuliang's calves with her jade-green fingers.
Xiong Wuliang glanced at Xiaoyi's hand and confirmed again that this girl was definitely not from a farmer's background.
In the Yue Kingdom, he was at least a minor noble.
Xiong Wuliang was half lying on the bed, admiring Xiaoyi's plump body curves wrapped in clothes, and sighed with satisfaction.
Xiong Wuliang is not a very hard-working person, but he has to work hard to build a fiefdom in order to change history... Perhaps after eliminating the threat of Qin, Xiong Wuliang can rest in peace.
Then, wouldn't it be wonderful to listen to little songs and immerse yourself in the gentle land like now?
Damn Qin!
…
A few days later.
Xiong Wuliang and Zhong Hua went to the processing plant to inspect.
Perhaps due to the hasty preparations, the processing plant looked very crude - a simple work shed with no ability to shelter from wind and rain.
It is not so much a factory as a small workshop with extremely low registered capital.
Fortunately, it is still summer and there is no need to think about keeping warm. If it were left in winter, the factory environment would be quite harsh.
There are no labor laws anyway…
"Master, this is the current situation in the processing plant." Shi Er bowed and led the way.
"In three days, our processing plant has 130 workers, of which 100 are journeymen and 30 are apprentices."
"After adopting the assembly line production and performance appraisal system you proposed, production efficiency has been greatly improved!"
"Currently, the processing plant can produce 500 sets of Quyuan plows every day!" Shi Er's voice was filled with pride.
Xiong Wuliang nodded, indicating that he was basically satisfied.
If five hundred sets of bent-shaped plows were produced in one day, one week would be enough for the entire fief to be equipped with bent-shaped plows.
This is also thanks to the assembly line production process - the entire production process is broken down into many links. The process in each link is relatively simple, and even apprentices can get started, which greatly reduces the requirements for the quality of craftsmen.
The production capacity can already meet the needs, so the most important thing in the factory is to train more workers as soon as possible.
According to Xiong Wuliang's plan, within this year, adobe brick factories and textile factories will be built one after another with the workers trained in the processing factory as the core.
The importance of the adobe brick factory is undoubted - the adobe bricks produced can be used to improve the living environment of the people in the fiefdom, and more importantly, can be used to strengthen city defense.
As the core of Quyang County, Quyang City is only built with rammed earth, which makes Mr. Xiong very insecure.
You know, in history, Chu State will fully promote the plan to annex Yue State next year.
It is true that Xiong Wuliang wanted to go to Yue and plunder the country, but he could not give up the defense work in the base area because of his arrogance.
Quyang is close to Yue State, so it might be attacked.
If only there were reinforced adobe walls for protection, Xiong Wu would feel much more at ease in his conscience.
As for textile mills, they are even more important.
By transforming textile equipment, Xiong Wuliang is confident that he can achieve ten times the efficiency of the existing textile process - if hydraulic equipment can be used, this efficiency will be even higher.
During the Warring States Period, cloth was as hard currency as salt, iron, and grain.
Once the textile factory is set up, Quyang County's finances will no longer be a problem.
…
After inspecting the farm tool processing factory, Xiong Wuliang was basically satisfied.
Although there is no salary to pay, the craftsmen's attitude toward production is quite positive.
The 'Performance Management System' is mentioned first. If the performance is evaluated for several consecutive months, the craftsmen can be freed from slavery - this is very attractive to the craftsmen, and they will naturally work hard.
As for those farmers who come to work as temporary workers, they are also very motivated because of tax exemptions.
"Master, are you satisfied?" Shi Er diligently brought herbal tea to Xiong Wuliang and Zhong Hua.
Xiong Wuliang took a sip of herbal tea and felt a sense of relief in the hot summer.
"Well done," Xiong Wuliang praised: "Keep up the good work, I have not misjudged you, and I will continue to reuse you in the future."
Shi Er was filled with joy after getting the pie painted by Xiong Wuliang.
Xiong Wuliang thought to himself——
What is currently restricting the development speed of the fiefdom is the number of workers!
With Xiong Wuliang's talent in infrastructure, as long as there are enough workers, Xiong Wuliang can build an industrial park with his own hands. Ceramics, bricks, cement, and even iron and steel making can be slowly put on the agenda!
After thinking about this, Xiong Wuliang said to Shi Er: "In terms of recruitment, we must continue to vigorously promote it!"
“The current speed of cultivating craftsmen is still too slow!”
“In the processing factory, we need to promote the old to lead the new—mixing old craftsmen with apprentices, which can speed up the growth of apprentices!”
"Tell the craftsmen - as long as you bring out a skilled craftsman, it will be counted as an evaluation!"
Shi Eryi slapped his forehead: "Young Master's wonderful plan, why didn't this villain think of it!"
Xiong Wuliang nodded and signaled to Shi Er that he could retreat.
At present, this is all Xiong Wuliang can do.
Fortunately, the fiefdom is developing rapidly, and the agricultural industry is on the right track.
Judging from this, Xiong Wuliang also has a little confidence that he can compete with Bai Qi in the future.
…
"Sir, I have one more thing to report," Shi Er said, "The waterwheel built by your former daycare boy has already produced the first sample."
So fast! Xiong Wuliang was overjoyed when he heard this!
No one present knows better than him what hydraulic equipment means to Quyang County - this is the beginning of industrialization.
In this era, there were no faucets or rubber water pipes. To irrigate farmland, water was fetched from buckets and carried by people.
Not to mention the fatigue, the irrigation effect is also extremely poor.
A waterwheel that is not complicated in workmanship can replace farmers to complete the extremely tiring but difficult to perfect daily irrigation steps in farming.
With adequate irrigation, food production will be greatly increased.
And if forging equipment is added to the waterwheel, water power can be used to replace manual labor in the mass production of farm tools, weapons and armor!
And the benefits of waterwheels are not just immediate short-term benefits!
Take the use of water trucks to irrigate fields as an example: once farmers no longer have the heavy daily irrigation work, they will have plenty of free time.
Farmers who have extra free time will naturally find ways to use their free time to earn some extra money.
For example, farmers can use their free time to raise silkworms and plant fruit trees, which are valuable GDP.
And if farmers use their free time to work in factories, they don’t have to worry about the number of workers!
"Where are the waterwheel samples now?" Xiong Wuliang asked.
"Replying to the Lord - it has been sent to the Huai River. It is planned to be tested tomorrow. I never thought that the Lord would come to inspect it today." Shi Er said honestly.
Xiong Wuliang raised his head and glanced at the sky.
It takes about half a day to get from Quyang City to Huai River.
It was too late to make a round trip before dark.
In this day and age, traveling at night is quite dangerous.
But the waterwheel is so important to the future development of Quyang County that it will almost be the source of power that will replace labor for a long time in the future.
Xiong Wuliang hesitated for three seconds, then said to Zhong Hua beside him: "Uncle Zhong, take ten soldiers with you immediately and follow me to Huai River."
Zhong Hua was startled. He didn't expect that this young master would pay so much attention to the waterwheel.
Since Xiong Wuliang came to Quyang, he has been busy almost every day - and then think about the rumors in Yingdu that his son has no knowledge and skills, and only wants to have fun...
Sure enough, hearing is false and seeing is true!
Zhong Hua didn't waste any time and immediately said yes. Not long after, Xiong Wuliang, Shi Er, Zhong Hua and ten soldiers set off from Quyang City and headed straight for Huai River.
