Material Empire

While speaking, the jeep had already arrived outside the gate of the steel factory. Old man Wang, who is the gatekeeper, has known this jeep for the past two days. He hurriedly opened the gate to let the jeep in, and waved his hand to Ge Dongyan in the car, with a flattering expression on his face.

Compared with Qin Hai's last visit, the iron and steel plant has a different atmosphere, the most obvious being that it has become more popular. Sitting in the jeep, Qin Hai could see some people on both sides cleaning up all kinds of garbage, and the waist-high weeds on the side of the road had also been cut down a lot, making it look much cleaner.

"Where do these people come from?" Qin Hai asked Ning Mo strangely.

Ning Mo said: "These are old cousins ​​around, we hired them with money. This was suggested by Platoon Leader Ge, and he also paid for it."

"How much did it cost?" Qin Hai asked casually.

"One yuan a day." Ning Mo said in a distressed tone.

"..." Qin Hai was speechless, this price is really not high. However, after thinking about it, the current labor cost is the same. At the price of one yuan a day, it is not enough to hire a worker to work, but it is completely possible to hire the surrounding farmers. His own father digs coal in the town's coal mine and is paid on a piece-by-piece basis. It is said that he can only earn two or three yuan a day. It is a high-intensity and risky job.

The jeep did not stop, but drove straight to the door of the steelmaking workshop. The two locked iron doors that Qin Hai saw the last time he came here had already been opened, and the roar of some machines in the workshop could still be vaguely heard. Ge Dongyan stopped the car, lightly honked the horn twice, and a dozen people came out of the workshop immediately, led by Yu Haitao and Miao Lei.

"Hello, Platoon Leader Ge." Yu Haitao and Miao Lei greeted Ge Dongyan, then ran towards Qin Hai and leaned in front of him with excitement on their faces, but they didn't know what to say.

"Haitao, Leizi, you have worked hard." Qin Hai greeted them with a bit of leadership.

"Qin Hai, you're finally back. We've been waiting for you to death." Yu Haitao said.

"Yes, Qin Hai, it will be great if you come back, now we have the backbone." Miao Lei said unabashedly.

Qin Hai knew how they felt. If he hadn't been a time traveler, at his age of 18, he would have been at a loss for such a big thing. He smiled at Yu Haitao and Miao Lei, then pointed to the people following them, and asked, "Where are these masters from?"

"We invited them here, and they are retired masters from the original steel factory." Yu Haitao explained.

Qin Hai and Yue Guoyang agreed to cooperate in the production of military shovels. His idea was to set up a factory by himself, rent the idle equipment of Pingyuan Iron and Steel Works, smelt qualified steel, and then ask Qingfeng Factory to assist in machining to complete the manufacture of military shovels. .

Speaking of which, the foundry workshop of Qingfeng Factory actually has an electric furnace that can be used for smelting metals. Qin Hai didn't need to go around such a big circle to rent equipment from the steel factory. But Qin Hai has his own idea, that is, he must transfer at least one production link outside the Qingfeng factory, otherwise there is no reason to make profits from it.

Qin Hai didn't want to tie all his business to Qingfeng Factory. The advantage of state-owned enterprises is that they can mobilize more resources, but the disadvantage is that management decisions largely depend on the leadership. Hai didn't want to let speculators like Wei Baolin pick the fruits after working hard for a long time.

If he wants to ensure that he has the right to control his own business, he must first ensure his financial independence. Qin Hai understands this very well.

The military shovel is a huge profit product, the technical core of which lies in the design of the military shovel and the smelting of steel. There is no secret in terms of design, and domestic companies do not have much awareness of patents. When dealing with the military, you should not expect the other party to respect your patents. The only thing Qin Hai can hold in his hands is the steel smelting technology. He must control this link, so as to ensure that no one else will share the benefits with him.

After returning from the provincial military region, Qin Hai took Ning Mo and others to start preparing for the lease of the steel factory. They did not alert the county economic committee in advance, but visited the employees of the old steel factory one by one in private, and asked them about the equipment of the steel factory and the situation of the skilled workers.

After the old iron and steel factory closed down, most of the workers were transferred to other enterprises in the county except old man Wang and a few janitors. Worked as a farm laborer on a state farm. After more than ten years, some workers have retired and returned home, and some are still working, but because of the poor operating conditions of their enterprises, they are also in a state of half-rest.

After learning about the situation, Qin Hai instructed Ning Mo and the others to contact those workers with steelmaking skills and ask them if they would accept employment and return to work in the steel factory. The retirement age for workers is 55 years old, and some workers who retire from sickness are even at home before they are 50 years old. These people actually have enough mental and physical strength to be fully competent for the operation of the furnace.

Ning Mo and others spent all their spare time on this matter, and they really contacted more than a dozen workers who had operated steelmaking equipment back then. This time, Ge Dongyan brought the notice to start the production of military shovels, and Yu Haitao and Miao Lei summoned all these workers.

"Hi, masters!" Qin Hai stepped forward and waved to everyone.

"This is our Qin... Qin... Qin Gong." Yu Haitao hesitated for a while, and a flash of inspiration flashed in his mind, and now he fabricated a reasonable identity for Qin Hai.

To determine Qin Hai's management rights in the steel plant, it is natural to find a title for Qin Hai. Calling Qin Hai the factory manager or the director seems a bit out of line. After all, the entire management system has not been established yet, so calling himself a leader now would make people laugh. Calling "Qin Gong" is different. In the factory, all engineers are called "Xin Gong". Qin Hai's technical level is no problem as an engineer, so it is reasonable to be called Qin Gong.

Engineers are not considered official titles, but they also have management power in the workshop, a bit like an uncrowned king, and ordinary workers respect engineers very much.

"Hello Qin Gong!" The workers shouted unevenly, accepting Qin Hai's new identity.

"Masters, let's talk in the workshop." Qin Hai waved to everyone, and led a group of people into the workshop.

After two days of cleaning up, the old dust, cobwebs and other things in the workshop have been cleaned up, and it looks a bit bright and clean. Qin Hai looked at the dirt on Yu Haitao and Miao Lei's body and face, and couldn't help being moved. He can fully imagine how hard these little friends have been these two days. You know, they used to be a group of lazy second-generation ancestors.

"I'm really sorry that I'm not here when you're so busy, which makes you tired." Qin Hai said to Yu Haitao and Miao Lei in an apologetic tone.

"What's the matter, you have the technology, we don't have the technology, shouldn't we contribute a little bit?" Yu Haitao said with his hands waving, but he felt warm in his heart. He knew that Qin Hai's ability was far superior to the few of them. If this military shovel project could be completed, 99% of the credit would be on Qin Hai alone. At best, they were just a few errands and odd jobs. That's all. Qin Hai was able to treat them as equal partners, which made them feel very satisfied.

"How's the condition of the equipment?" Qin Hai asked again.

Yu Haitao pointed to an old worker wearing a work cap, and said, "You can ask Master Qiao this question. He was the former supervisor of the electric furnace in the steelmaking workshop."

When the old worker saw Yu Haitao mentioned him, he leaned forward and said to Qin Hai: "My name is Qiao Changsheng, and I used to be in charge of the electric furnace. If Qin Gong has any questions, just ask."

When Qin Hai asked Ning Mo and the others to find someone, he secretly confessed a principle, that is, absolutely no thorny workers. There are some workers in state-owned enterprises who have a very serious temper. When working, they are afraid of heavy things, and when they receive money, they are fussy. Qin Hai doesn't want to waste his energy on entanglement with these people.

Based on this principle, the people that Ning Mo and the others recruited are relatively simple and honest, and their attitude of speaking is also relatively humble.

Qin Haidao: "Master Qiao, I mainly want to ask whether the equipment in our workshop is well preserved and ready for use."

Qiao Changsheng nodded and said, "I have checked, and the electric furnace, power distribution cabinet, continuous casting machine, and rolling mill are all good. As long as the sludge is wiped off and a little adjustment is made, production can be resumed."

Qin Hai sighed: "It's really not easy. Our factory has been out of production for more than ten years. How can we still maintain such a good rate?"

Qiao Changsheng said: "We have to thank our old factory manager, his name is Fu Wenbin. When the county notified the steel factory to suspend production, he asked us to smear all the equipment with butter and cover them with canvas, saying that such good equipment, One day, it will definitely be used. Unexpectedly, there will be such a day.”

"Really? This director Fu is really amazing, where is he now?" Qin Hai asked.

"After the steel factory stopped production, he was transferred to Qujiang Farm to be the field manager. I heard that he had retired a few years ago. I haven't contacted him all the time. I don't know how he is now." Qiao Changsheng said, his tone seemed to be full of Somewhat nostalgic.

Qin Hai nodded, and said: "Well, when we resume production, we will ask Director Fu to come back and take a look. If our steel plant can be reborn, he will be the biggest contributor."

"That's great. We haven't seen him for so many years. We all miss him. Well, speaking of it, the leaders back then were all good people, so it's not like now..." Qiao Changsheng frowned like an ordinary old man. It is not as good as the emotion of a generation.

"Okay, Master Qiao, please ask everyone to find a place to sit down. I will give you a comprehensive overview of the production situation in our steelmaking workshop, and by the way, I will also introduce to you what we are going to do next," Qin Hai said.