A military enterprise that is in the process of hydraulic mechanization, its production capacity is bound to be higher than those workshops built purely by craftsmen, and it is much higher.

However, in today's troubled times, wars are frequent, and weapons are extremely consumed. The manufacturing bureau in Foshan has only just been built in recent years, unlike the Ordnance Bureau of the Central Left Institute and the old manufacturing bureau in Chaozhou, which has been operating for many years, and the scale is huge, and the limited machinery and personnel can only be regarded as small compared to those "old-timers".

In this way, in the 17th century, when productivity was low, there was a joke about overcapacity, which really made Chen Kai a little crying and laughing. However, after studying the cause and effect, there are deeper practical problems behind this funny, which will be placed in front of Chen Kai.

After reading the report, Chen Kai set off for Foshan. The two places were not far apart, and soon arrived, so he went straight into the workshop of the Foshan Manufacturing Bureau and saw it with his own eyes.

Stepping into it, as far as the eye can see, the expectation of busyness is gone. It's not that they're lazy, the craftsmen and workers are still doing their work, just by looking at the steps and looks, you can see if they are really busy at the moment.

This is the eyesight that Chen Kai cultivated when he was in charge of the Ordnance Bureau in South Australia, and he had the bottom of his heart after just looking at the past. Later, he entered the workshop with his attaché and glanced at it, which confirmed his idea even more - most of the hydraulic machinery in the workshop was left idle, and the craftsmen rotated to use a limited number of them, building something unknown. Nine times out of ten, this rhythm was conceived by the supervisor of the workshop in order to reduce the wear and tear of the hydraulic machinery, and to reduce the maintenance cost in disguise. As for whether it works or not, that's two words.

"Don't read any more, go to the office room and prepare the account books."

The person who wrote the report to Chen Kai was the supervisor of this department, Ding Youyi, a former Panyu warden who was transferred back from the Chaozhou Manufacturing Bureau not long ago. Originally, Ding Youyi started as a subordinate of the governor's yamen in charge of the construction of the workshop at the Chaozhou Manufacturing Bureau, and then soon became the chief there. It wasn't until a few months ago that he was transferred from Chaozhou to the personnel adjustment of the general Xingyuan, and he was replaced by another old subordinate of Chen Kai, an official who was originally in charge of civil affairs in Chaozhou.

Ding Youyi's return from Chaozhou is also a return to his homeland, which has special significance for him. Although he was not able to serve in Guangzhou City, the houses in the city were returned to their original owners, and the land outside the city was also divided, so he was satisfied.

When he took over the vacancy of the official who was to be transferred to Fujian, Chen Kai asked him to start reporting the actual situation of the Foshan Manufacturing Bureau. In fact, the former supervisor is also Chen Kai's old subordinate, and he has always been the first to look forward to Chen Kai. However, this person's bureaucracy is too heavy, and the report always shows that the situation is very good, and he has seen too much, and sometimes there are problems that are only caused by external factors, such as the insufficient supply of iron ore and iron materials, which has never been a problem in the Foshan Manufacturing Bureau itself.

Chen Kai is not a newcomer to officialdom, and he can always see a clue. It's just that the focus of the Foshan Manufacturing Bureau has been very low recently, and it is far from being able to compare with institutions such as the Consultative Bureau, the Tiandihui, and the Guangdong Business Alliance. This time the director was changed, but he had the intention to see it clearly, but he was really shocked when he saw it.

came to the office and flipped through the files and account books, which Ding Youyi had prepared in advance. Chen Kai is not checking the accounts, so naturally he doesn't need to check them one by one, as long as he finds what he wants to see, it is enough to flip through them a few times.

"It's easy to eat fat, but it's hard to lose weight."

Inexplicably said such a sentence, Chen Kai immediately closed the account book.

According to the past files and account books, Chen Kai also vaguely remembered that when the Foshan Manufacturing Bureau was first established, it was Chen Kai who recovered Shaozhou Mansion and took control of Guangzhou. At that time, because Li Dingguo went west to Guangxi, he was also a royalist, and he provided weapons and equipment, military rations, and salaries in accordance with the covenant to help.

At that time, the supply of allies, coupled with the new troops in the control area, made the Foshan Manufacturing Bureau start working day by day, and the demand for iron ore and iron materials was huge, so he managed to communicate with Luo Dingzhou and Wang Han. Especially when he began to prepare for the construction of the Iron Man Army, the Foshan Manufacturing Bureau was very busy, and some of the hydraulic machinery was built at that time.

Subsequently, after the war, Wuzhou fell, resulting in the interruption of Chen Kai's supply to Li Dingguo's department. However, due to the recovery of the southern Jiangxi region and the actual control of the northern part of Zhaoqing Prefecture, a large number of weapons were needed for the armed forces, coupled with the wear and tear during the war, and the excellent performance of the Iron Man Army in the victory of Ganzhou prompted Zheng Chenggong to decide to train the Iron Man Army, and the production pressure of the Foshan Manufacturing Bureau not only did not decrease, but increased significantly.

As a result, a new round of hydraulic machinery manufacturing began. With the actual control of the northern part of Zhaoqing Prefecture, a large number of Foshan blacksmiths who were originally taken by Lianchengbi to produce weapons nearby also returned to Foshan, because they urgently needed to increase production capacity, and many of them went directly to the Foshan Manufacturing Bureau.

Next, the Foshan Manufacturing Bureau perfectly met the equipment needs of Zuohuwei Town and Right Huwei Town, and at the same time supplied the Southern Gan Ming Army by waterway. It is undoubtedly a benign development to expand production capacity due to demand, but after the sudden huge demand is reached, it has been in a state of maintenance and replenishment of losses, and the demand has greatly reduced so that many hydraulic machinery and personnel are useless, which is another matter.

"Fujun, in fact, a similar situation has occurred in the Chaozhou Manufacturing Bureau, but it is far from the level here in Foshan."

Ding Youyi came from the Chaozhou Manufacturing Bureau, and he knows the actual situation best. The production capacity of the Chaozhou Manufacturing Bureau was stimulated by Zheng Chenggong's crazy expansion of the army during the Qing Dynasty and Zheng Yihe in the eighth year of Yongli. At that time, due to the sharp reduction in the production capacity of the Ordnance Bureau of the Central Left Institute, and the Chaozhou Manufacturing Bureau successfully plugged the gap, which made the hydraulic machinery famous for a while.

In the following years, due to the recovery of Fujian and Guangdong provinces, the local troops of the Ming army were greatly expanded, and the production capacity stimulated by the Chaozhou Manufacturing Bureau did not appear excessive, but developed slowly. This situation continued until the completion of the Fuzhou Ordnance Bureau, which was closer to the raw material production area and "market", and was under the direct jurisdiction of the engineering officials who recruited the generals, so the orders from Chaozhou began to gradually transfer to Fuzhou.

"Chaozhou Manufacturing Bureau, this official doesn't remember any similar reports."

"That's right, because soon there were new orders, and the manufacturing bureau returned to the state of working every day, and the lower officials did not report it."

"Oh?"

According to Ding Youyi, the completion of the Fuzhou Ordnance Bureau at that time had a gradual impact on the Chaozhou Manufacturing Bureau. He saw the signs at the beginning, but soon Chen Kai wanted to train the Iron Man Army, the iron armor was produced in Foshan, but other components, such as helmets, visors, iron gloves, iron boots, and even the Yunnan horse chopping knife came from the Chaozhou Manufacturing Bureau and the Zhongzuo Ordnance Bureau, so that they were greatly reduced by the Fuzhou Ordnance Bureau.

Later, Chaozhou couldn't get anything from Nanjiang's order, but Zheng Chenggong began to train the Iron Man Army again, and a new order came over, which happened to make up for this opening. With the establishment of the Guangdong Business Alliance, members of Chaozhou have also begun to customize some hydraulic machinery for their workshops and mines, so that the Chaozhou Manufacturing Bureau has not collapsed like Foshan.

As for the Ordnance Bureau of the Central Left Institute, the production mode of the handicraft industry had already begun to be phased out by the Zheng Group, and the craftsmen and workers were diverted to the hydraulic workshops in Fuzhou, Chaozhou, and Foshan in batches, which saved them from this worry.

The decrease in demand and the increase in competitors are affecting the operating rate of Foshan Manufacturing Bureau. But in Chen Kai's view, the cause of all this is still the problem of Foshan Manufacturing Bureau itself in the final analysis. To put it bluntly, it is still the same sentence, the government-run enterprises, unable to control the cost, can not find the market, the official gave the task, they will do it according to the task, there is no task indicators, and there is no motivation to find business opportunities, anyway, the operation, labor, raw materials and other aspects are all governmental.

"Lacking the instinct to chase profits, people are superficial, and the result is to be eliminated by the market, whether it is gradual elimination or sudden elimination."

Thinking of this, Chen Kai couldn't help but laugh secretly. The essence of the Foshan Manufacturing Bureau is a military enterprise, and even if it loses money, there will be government subsidies. Besides, weapons are not something that can be taken out and sold casually. If they really did this, I am afraid that before the money and goods are paid, the shackles and shackles of the government will have already been pressed on the bodies of both the seller and the buyer, and even whether they are accused of being spies for the Qing court.

However, Rao is like this, and Chen Kai does not intend to let the Foshan Manufacturing Bureau develop like this. Not for profit, not even for capital preservation, only talking about future development needs, he will not do nothing.

"In terms of hydraulic machinery, the demand in Guangzhou should be greater than that in Chaozhou, right?"

Chen Kai asked, it is based on the precedent of the Chaozhou Manufacturing Bureau that this and the other are inferred. It's a pity that after hearing Chen Kai's question, Ding Youyi recalled it, and shook his head.

According to Ding Youyi, Chaozhou has been peaceful for many years, and its population growth is second to none in Fujian and Guangdong provinces. However, the Ming army has been using this as a base for a long time, and a large number of laborers have joined the army, so that the manpower shortage here is actually not smaller than that of other prefectures and counties. Due to the development of agriculture and handicrafts during this period, coupled with the emergence of the Guangdong-Hai business alliance model, the wages of hired workers also increased, so many workshops and mines in Chaozhou had a demand for hydraulic machinery.

In the final analysis, it is the merchants who pursue profits, and they need hydraulic machinery to reduce costs, and it is more important that the government needs a large number of people to join the army in order to recover the lost land, and those officers and non-commissioned officers who eat military salaries have inevitably broadened their horizons in the process of garrisoning and conquering various places.

"The initial investment in hydraulic machinery is relatively large, but once it is built, the cost of maintenance and repair is very low, at least cheaper than hiring craftsmen of the same capacity, and it is completely tireless. Therefore, in Chaozhou, it has gradually been favored by the gentry and businessmen, and the orders received by the Chaozhou Manufacturing Bureau have not been broken. ”

Speaking of which, since the recovery of Guangzhou, Chen Kai's focus has shifted to this place, and his understanding of Chaozhou is often limited to the report of the government. There are indeed a lot of traditional reports on taxes, silver, forced labor, expenditures, and lawsuits, which are enough from the perspective of traditional feudal officials. But the problem is that Chen Kai is leading the change, what he needs to know, and what he needs to understand, which is far from enough.

From Ding Youyi's mouth, Chen Kai learned about this, and turned his attention to Guangzhou, according to his understanding, the local members of the Guangdong Business Alliance do also favor hydraulic machinery, especially in the current booming silk weaving industry in Shunde, hydraulic machinery does bring them greater efficiency. Therefore, hydraulic machinery has indeed begun to popularize in the local area, but it is not like most of the gentry and businessmen in Chaozhou who have relatively strong funds, so the speed is actually not fast at all.

Guangzhou has actually worked very hard, but the starting point is a little low, so it is inevitably limited in the development process. On the other side of Chaozhou, in fact, there is no lack of hydraulic machinery to make a name for itself, while the natural economy model still exists, lacking a large number of industrial workers who have become landless people and go to the factory, and the craftsmen who can enter the workshop are mostly inherited from father and son, master and apprentice, with a skill, and they can go to other places if they don't work here, so that these workshop owners lack suitable objects even if they want to exploit them to death.

If you think about it carefully, the traditional economic model in Chaozhou is more entrenched due to the long period of peace. On the Guangzhou side, because of the previous war, the new pioneers have a lot less constraints. For example, Shunde County is now the economic lifeline of the county dominated by the silk weaving industry, and other industries have become vassals of the silk weaving industry.

Foshan Manufacturing Bureau, in fact, can also follow this model, Chen Kai already has ideas in his mind. But the problem is back to the original point, that is, the Foshan Manufacturing Bureau is a government-run enterprise, not a pure private enterprise like the Shunde Silk Weaving Workshop, and the two need to consider completely different things.

"It looks like we're going to sing double reeds again."

Shaking his head helplessly, Chen Kai sneered, and then said to Ding Youyi: "Director Ding has ever considered developing new products?" ”

Developing a new product?

Ding Youyi was a little unfamiliar with this word, but he reacted in an instant: "What Fu Jun said was to change weapons and armor for the army?" This is not difficult to understand, because Chen Kai did it, just like the Iron Man Army: "This matter, don't hide it from the army, Xia Guan had such thoughts when he was in Chaozhou, but the problem of the Chaozhou Manufacturing Bureau is not big, so it was shelved." As for the reason, we still have to try to get the surname of the country to agree, because the replacement of new weapons, the battle formation and everything have to be adjusted, right? ”

In this matter, Ding Youyi really got to the point. Chen Kai affirmed this, but his enthusiasm for "developing new products" has not diminished at all.

"This matter will be discussed with the national surname. The question now is whether it is too late. ”

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