Returning to 1949, I decided to hand it over to the state.

Jiang Fan couldn't help but smile as he looked at the man's eager expression.

He knew perfectly well what these people were up to.

In the old society, foremen and contractors had very lucrative jobs in factories.

So, he suppressed his smile and slowly but firmly shook his head: "I won't choose."

Upon hearing this, not only the burly man who asked the question, but also all the other workers who were still discussing it enthusiastically, were stunned and turned to look at Jiang Fan.

In their deeply ingrained old mindset, working in a factory requires a foreman or manager to oversee you.

A flurry of questions erupted from the crowd:

"Not choosing? If we don't choose, who will take charge? How will we get the work done?"

"..."

Faced with the cacophony of questions, Jiang Fan remained calm and immediately raised his hand to press it down.

The invisible authority instantly silenced the clamor below. His gaze swept across their faces as he announced:

"Masters, remember this: from today onwards, there will be no foremen, no team leaders, and none of those old, corrupt rules in our workshop."

"Here, we only recognize one thing: to be guided by collective wisdom and common goals."

In fact, for these working-class people who have just come from the old society and whose minds are full of nothing but the desire for firewood, rice, oil, salt, and enough to eat, such grand principles are completely incomprehensible to them.

So after Jiang Fan finished speaking so passionately, the open space was quiet for a while.

The workers looked at each other blankly, not quite understanding what was being said.

However, Jiang Fan didn't mind. He took a deep breath, adopted a more down-to-earth tone, and continued:

"What I mean is that, starting today, in this workshop, we will implement a system where workers participate in management and managers must also go down to the workshop to participate in labor. All the old rules and regulations that were unreasonable and bullying will be abolished and completely changed."

"In the future, when we encounter production and technical problems, we will combine cadres, workers and technicians to work together to solve them. Whoever has a quick mind and ideas can speak up boldly, and whoever has good ideas can speak freely."

"Don't be afraid of making mistakes. What I fear most is everyone remaining silent like a taciturn person. Let's work together, manage together, and build Ansteel into a great company!"

"Now, everyone should understand, right?"

But the open space remained completely silent.

They can't be blamed for this.

Most of these workers were locals from Anshan. Some had been doing hard labor in this factory area since the Manchukuo period. They had personally experienced the bloody control of the Japanese with their whips and absolute authority, and later the disorder and chaos of the Kuomintang era when their superiors abandoned all responsibility.

In their experience of most of their lives, they were used to the foreman having the final say and the subordinates doing whatever the superiors told them to do.

They had never heard of the unbelievable idea that peasants could participate in factory management.

Even Zhou Chunsheng, who was standing to the side, was stunned.

During his time back at Ansteel, he visited almost every workshop.

Nowadays, in factories, all the team leaders and sub-team leaders carry notebooks and assign tasks to their subordinates.

Sensing something was wrong, he quickly moved closer to Jiang Fan, lowered his voice, and asked urgently:

"Hiss... Engineer Jiang, what exactly do you mean? Without a team leader, who's going to organize the work of dozens of people every day? It's all disorganized, who's going to manage everyone?"

Jiang Fan simply shook his head slightly and did not offer any further explanation to Zhou Chunsheng, because he understood that some ideas that transcended time could not be explained no matter how much he tried to persuade him.

The approach he just announced in public is actually a management philosophy that Ansteel would only figure out and widely praise in the late 1950s, brought forward by nearly ten years.

It should be noted that in the early 1950s, many heavy industrial enterprises in China were almost all following the highly centralized management model of the Soviet Union.

In the workshop, everything was done according to the factory manager's orders. Workers only had to follow instructions, and the creative space for grassroots technicians was also greatly compressed.

However, this model quickly revealed a fatal problem:

As management levels become increasingly long, the decision-making chain becomes top-heavy. Lower-level employees have skills and ideas, but they are stifled by rigid rules and regulations, which actually reduces their enthusiasm.

Later, in order to fully mobilize the initiative of workers and grassroots technicians, the cadres and workers of Ansteel forged a new path through long-term practice and summarized this management model that emphasizes "full participation, communication between top and bottom, and integration of technological innovation with daily production". This model greatly released the vitality of the grassroots and was recognized as an important exploration in the history of industrial management in the Far East.

As a time traveler, Jiang Fan benefits from the historical records of later generations.

Since he is standing on this land, he hopes to promote this management approach, which has been repeatedly proven effective in practice, ahead of time.

This management model did indeed greatly stimulate production enthusiasm and technological innovation during a specific historical period. Although it was gradually replaced by a more flexible management system as the market environment and industrial structure changed, it is the optimal solution to break the old constraints and unleash productivity in the current early stage of a large-scale construction project where everything is waiting to be rebuilt and all industries are waiting to be developed.

It could significantly accelerate the industrial growth of the new China and enable workers to live a better life more quickly.

The workers below, naturally, didn't understand Jiang Fan's far-sighted planning, and after a moment of silence, they began to whisper among themselves again:

"Workers involved in management? How can they participate? We're practically illiterate, we can't even understand a blueprint..."

"Exactly! They even said the cadres would participate in the labor too. Does that mean Director He will have to come to our workshop shirtless and swing a sledgehammer from now on?"

"Without a foreman, who will arrange the work process each day? If something goes wrong, who will be held responsible?"

Jiang Fan let the buzzing discussions fester.

He waited until the sound gradually subsided before speaking again:

"Do you all think what I'm saying sounds a bit unrealistic? Do you think our workers are illiterate and can't possibly manage such a big factory?"

Someone below scratched their head sheepishly, gave a dry laugh, and didn't dare to say anything.

Jiang Fan's smile faded, and he said seriously:

"Don't worry, everyone. Our new factory is very different from the old one. Before, the boss had the final say, and everyone was just doing the work and following orders."

"But now, the factory is everyone's livelihood. Everyone works hard and sweat to make the factory run better and better, and to make their own lives more and more secure, right?"

"Can't read? No problem! The factory runs night schools and provides literacy programs for us. No skills or management knowledge? We'll learn on the job! We've all spent most of our lives working in front of these machines. Who's less skilled? Give us a chance, and we working class can manage the factory perfectly well!"

"So everyone, don't worry. From now on, in the workshop, we'll supervise each other, help each other improve, and support each other!"

"I, Engineer Zhou next to me, and even the factory manager, we often go down to this workshop, sweating alongside everyone, brainstorming solutions together. If anyone has a good idea to improve production, feel free to bring it up!"

"Don't feel embarrassed. Everything we do is for Ansteel and for our new China."