In a way, the machine factory is like a powerful incarnation, and its breath seems to be like that of the Greek god of war. One can see that the big factories with thousands of rumbling machines are actually a symbol of the power of the state, the source of the same national power.

In contrast, the industrial company's machine factory is very rudimentary, with the windows of a dozen large warehouses converted into factories lit by electric lights, and the roar of machines is the only sound in the factory.

Relatively simple offices, where only a few young industrial school interns doze off with some books. In several windows, which were covered by curtains, bright lights flashed. The office is furnished with beautiful furniture in pastel tones, and baskets of blooming hyacinths are richly scented.

This is not like an office, but a bit like a small living room, in fact, this is Shi Si's office, but also his living room, and even his bed is behind the screen, what is the concept of taking the factory as a home, it can be fully reflected in him, for a week, he has made all-round adjustments to the production and management of the factory, shaved off those who follow the old French management, and the production efficiency has naturally improved.

In the past week, the most important work of the history division is to develop a complete set of standardization manuals for products and components, fully realize the principle of substitution of products and tool accessories, as well as the standardization and standardization of raw materials, and strive to realize these principles in the organization of production, so as to achieve large-scale production of products.

And today, he was in front of Karl? Tronna's so-called military expert was enraged.

"Mr. Chen, I think you have to fire that Mr. Tronna!"

"Why is that?"

Chen Moran, who was smiling, asked rhetorically.

"He's wasting your precious money!"

"Oh!"

Holding a receiver in his hand, Shi Si handed it over to Chen Moran, and he took a look at it, it was the receiver of the Mauser rifle.

"A month ago, your arsenal workshop had just started producing the Mosin rifle, which was simple, but Mr. Tronna asked to adjust the machine and produce the Mauser rifle, all right! Maybe he had his reasons, but the Mauser receiver was cut from a formed forging. How many man-hours and costs will be added to the machining hours and costs of machining a forging of about 2 kg into a casing of less than 0.5 kg, which will go through hundreds of processing steps? ”

"This munitions workshop is very small, and the difference between the production of a Mosinagan rifle and the production of a Mauser rifle is only two or three yuan, but what if it is produced on a large scale? Mr. Chen! ”

Chen Mo looked at this Shi Si who seemed a little excited.

"A few years ago, the Russian General Ordnance Department allocated 80.5 million rubles to require the production of 3.3 million Mosinagan rifles, of which only 41 million were directly used as production expenses, and the rest was for the purchase of equipment, that is, the cost of each gun was 12 rubles and 42 kopecks, but the production cost of Mauser rifles in the same period required 48.5 marks, which was converted into silver, the former was only 6 taels a little more, while the latter needed nearly 14 taels, and a gun could buy two, and there was more than enough!"

Shi Si took a deep breath and stared at Chen Moran with his eyes, he had never asked about the purpose of this small arsenal, he was just doing his job, although he knew that private engineering factories were not allowed in Tangshan.

"You mean, the difference between the two can more than double? Are you sure! ”

Chen Moran looked at Shi Si with some surprise, Shi Si nodded, and added with great certainty.

"Mr. Chen, please believe in my professionalism!"

Shi Si didn't know what kind of waves his words set off in Chen Moran's heart, when training soldiers was the most expensive, I am afraid it was when the army was built, everything was blank when the army was built, and the most expensive thing was the purchase of weapons. If you can really save half of the silver on the rifle, then the rest of the silver is used to buy machine guns, and at the same time, your eyes will brighten, but you will have a concern.

"Nian Tang, but caliber, our bullet equipment is raw ......"

"Change the caliber, very simple work! I've redesigned the nose and chamber dimensions of the rifle! ”

"Then do what you say!"

After a word of advice, Chen Moran looked at the time, sat up from the sofa, and paused again when he walked to the door.

"Also...... Since the caliber has been changed, it is better that the bullet can follow the pointed warhead I designed! ”

When he walked out of the factory, listening to the roar of the machine in his ears, Chen Moran had a smile on his face, when he was most short of silver, a way to save money was placed in front of him, didn't God give him the opportunity to expand the army? At least one brigade of troops is being expanded this time!

In the rice field in the past, there were rows of rectangular bamboo huts, with a door at each end, separated by grain mats in the middle, stones as pillars, bamboo poles as beams, and bamboo sheets made of all the shops on both sides, leaving a long passage in the middle, the straw tied to the bamboo pieces was regarded as the wall, and the roof was paved with straw, so that a room happened to live in a class.

The bitter north wind, wrapped in cold rain, rushed from north to south. The straw on the wall rustles in the wind and rain, swaying from side to side, occasionally a gust of wind blows, the bamboo pole is pressed to bend down, some of the bamboo poles that are close to each other will suddenly bounce open, making a loud "pop" sound, the tight grass house whimpered and shivered in the cold wind, and from time to time there was a sharp whistling. The second cold snap since the beginning of winter showed its power with an unstoppable momentum.

In the past, when they first came to save trouble, they finished laying the mat, and those who were careful would cut down bamboo from the mountain, cut it into bamboo pieces, and spread their bunks more densely, and then took advantage of the straw in the field when there was still straw in the ground, and got straw to make the bed thicker.

The biting north wind is blocked by the straw wall, but there will always be some blows in, Wu Xinglan, who slept by the door, was woken up by the cold, he had been sleeping for seven or eight hours, he had been frozen awake for nearly an hour, if it wasn't for the warmth in the nest, I'm afraid he would have gotten up a long time ago.

When I left my hometown in northern Anhui, although the big guys guessed that the work on the iron mine was not as labor-saving as working in the field, the big guys still seemed very relaxed, and they got together when they were on the boat, chatting and joking. But when I got here, I realized that the work here is heavier than I imagined.

When they arrived at the Huai River, they entered the Yangtze River through the Grand Canal, and when they arrived at the construction site of the Ma'anshan Iron Works, the big guys were first divided into a squad of 11 people, 49 people were divided into a team, and 10 teams were divided into a brigade. Then after another month and a half of training, I taught people to walk and line up all day long, and the sticks that could not stand in line and walk well waved up without speaking.

At that time, Wu Xinglan still hated the instructors who carried sticks, but they didn't go to the construction site until half a month later, and the next thing he said was that he even missed being beaten with a stick during training, a district team was exactly three brigades, each brigade worked for six hours in a row, and then rested for 12 hours, and four shifts from day to night were non-stop. If you work for twelve hours a day, you are not allowed to take leave.

"Hey!"

Rubbing his sore shoulders when carrying the soil and carrying the stones, Wu Xinglan sighed, like everyone else, he also thought about leaving, but he was reluctant to leave this place, there are bad things in this place, but there are also good ones.

The canvas gown on the body has been worn for two months without abrasive, which is not only strong but also blocks the wind. And there is a canteen here, as long as the time to go to work and get off work, there must be food, a meal of white rice before work is enough, after work can only be eaten, two of the four meals with meat, this is said, in the words of others.

In addition to being tired, it is more right than the rich man who said that he eats.

"Toot!"

Thinking of the good times here, the whistle of the work sounded, the people who were still nested in the quilt, almost after hearing the whistle, they quickly put on cotton jackets and cotton pants, the work here is hard, the food is good, the salary is high, but the corresponding rules are more, the whistle of the work, the kung fu of the bag of cigarettes washes the face, the slow captain of the stick will hit the buttocks, not to say, the meal is at the back, and the second round will definitely not be eaten.

In the blink of an eye, the people who were still asleep took the rice bowl and spoon one by one, knocked and poured out of the shack, and as soon as they went out, they directly filled the rice bowl with a basin of water, first rinsed their mouths vigorously, and then poured the cold water directly on the towel, and slurred twice on their faces, which was considered to be the end of washing.

"It's time to eat, it's time to eat."

Ma Youcai, who was walking in front, knocked the rice bowl very loudly as he walked, looking elated. He walked to the door at the other end of the hut and shouted loudly inside.

"It's time to eat! I can't eat when it's late! ”

"Who didn't listen to the dog! What are you doing so loudly. ”

"I'm afraid you didn't hear it. This year, the foreign calendar year has changed the meal, fried radish, and large pieces of braised pork. ”

Ma Youcai was not annoyed at all, and said with a smile.

"It's been a long time since I've eaten such fragrant braised pork. Last time, I got up late, and I ate two pieces, and no matter what happens today, I have to eat three pieces. Such a big piece of meat is that the landlord can't eat it during the New Year! ”

He said excitedly, his eyes shining with pleasure.

"You eat like this, hurry back, you are still eating the northwest wind after this work is done!"

A fellow villager next to him asked with wide eyes.

"Let's eat it first. It's better to starve to death after eating meat than to starve to death without eating it! Let's go, it's too late, and there will be no more braised meat. ”

Ma Youcai urged. Although shouting at each other seemed chaotic, when they went to eat, they were all lined up in shifts and squads, and Wu Xinglan, who took the rice bowl, followed everyone to the cafeteria.

"Dog, these black skins, fucking is comfortable!"

When walking towards the canteen, Ma Youcai looked at the mine guards in black uniforms standing on the field cage in the past, and scolded in his mouth, but there was full envy on his face.

"Six dollars a month is now the ocean! Just patrol here with a gun on your back, it's like we're tired and tired, only four and a half oceans a month! ”

"Don't think that their words are better, you can run thirty miles with forty pounds of bricks on your back sooner or later! We do hard work, people do hard work, if there are bandits, they have to the guys and the bandits! When the time comes, you will lose your surname. ”

Wu Xinglan has nothing to envy, his father was a Huai army, although he could leave two or three taels of silver a month when he was a soldier, and the family bought more than ten acres of land in a few years, but later he lost his surname in Liaodong.

Two bundles of dead noodles steamed buns with a pot of radish vegetables and large pieces of braised pork, after a while, they will finish eating, and then drink a large pot of mixed noodles porridge, the rice is fragrant, the fragrance is over, they have to go to work, and the whistle of the captains almost rang out as soon as they wiped their mouths. A gust of wind whistled and swept over, blowing the hat on Wu Xinglan's head crookedly. He straightened his hat and subconsciously pulled his clothes. He wore a garment made of torn sack sheets over his canvas jacket, which looked extremely rough and simple, with two wide sleeves attached to the wide body, and a few pairs of cloth straps sewn at the front placket, and nothing more. Although this sack of clothes looks ugly, it is very popular with some men who are suffering from the tears of their clothes and will not make up for them, and they are too lazy to wash them when they are dirty.

This sack of clothes is stain-resistant and warm, almost useless, and can withstand a while when it rains lightly. And there is no need to spend any money, you can see broken sacks everywhere on this construction site, and make a broken sack by cutting and sewing by yourself, and it will become a universal cloth.

I don't know who invented this garment, for a while, the construction site is those newcomers will also imitate a piece, not only do not think it ugly, and become a kind of symbol, in the boundary of this Ma'anshan, as long as it is a person wearing sack clothes, do not need to ask to know that he is a laborer working in the mine or on the iron factory site.

After working for a few hours, the once warm body became cold, and Wu Xinglan only felt that the sack clothes on his body that were soaked in the rain were cold and heavy, and he looked very hungry. Since that meal, he has been carrying stones and has to endure wind and rain.

But he didn't dare to stop at all, looking at those people who were also working hard, he didn't dare to stop for a moment, the cowhide whip in the hand of the captain next to him didn't recognize people, one person was lazy, the whole class was punished, and after the punishment, when the work was over, the big guy could beat the lazy one on the bed and even gasp for breath with pain.

Wu Xinglan, who was cold, tired and hungry, took the stone and walked back on his shoulder.

"Look, what's that?"

Ma Youcai suddenly grabbed his shoulders and pointed to the people of the mine protection team who were posting notices in the distance.

On the other side of the wall stood a soldier of the Mine Guard, who was accompanied by another man with a gun, holding a large unfolded poster in his hand. He put up a notice on the wall with a paste and a brush in one hand, and when he had put up the post, the two men left.

Although everyone wants to know what kind of notice they posted, but the half-foot-long cowhide whip in the captain's hand is not an ornament, although it is curious, Wu Xinglan and Ma Youcai, who are wet and cold, still bury their heads and continue to work, and the more than 100 pounds of bluestone in the basket at both ends of the flat shoulder are pressed on the shoulder, only the shoulder is sore and painful, and the pain is too much.

The rain is falling, and in the misty rain and fog of the winter rain, on the construction site of the Ma'anshan Iron and Steel Plant, in addition to the towering iron frame, there are more workers walking around in the rain like ants, and the rain that was originally small has become heavy again. The rain and the heavy footsteps of the tiny ants turned the dirt roads on the ground into puddles.

I don't know how long it took to work, but finally the captains' whistles sounded, and after six hours of continuous work, Wu Xinglan, who was about to fall apart, just wanted to leave, but was stopped by Ma Youcai.

"Brother Provincial Lan, let's go, let's go see what is written on the notice!"

Pulled by him like this, the two of them squeezed in front of the notice, stood still, Wu Xinglan gently rubbed his shoulders with his hands, and after rubbing a few times to relieve the swelling and soreness, someone had already read the notice on the wall.

“…… Today, the factory mine is big, but the number of people with unclean hands and feet is increasing, and there is a danger of banditry, the company has decided to recruit 500 members of the mine team, and the children of strong and loyal farmers are preferred, and the scholars are preferred! ”

He didn't believe it until he saw the words on the soaked straw paper, and Ma Youcai believed that it was true.

"Brother Provincial Lan, you see that this mine protection team is recruiting, this bitter story is finally over!"

"With your body and bones, you can beat ten of you with one punch!"

As soon as he said this, a man more than six feet tall next to him smiled and raised his fist as big as a punching bag.

"Humph!"

Ma Youcai snorted, and his right hand slapped the soaked sack piece on his body, but his thin face showed some pride.

"You coarse man didn't see that it was written on the poster, do you give priority to those who read? Although Ma is not as strong as you, he has also gone to Mengxue, Brother Lan Xin, and he is a person who has been a talented person, how can a rough person like you compare! ”

This will be Ma Youcai and that shabby appearance, with a smug face called Wu Xinglan's words and didn't say anything, even his chin was raised.

"Brother Lan Xin, this is an opportunity!"

After leaving the proclamation, Ma Youcai began to persuade Wu Xinglan to come.

"Not to mention six yuan a month, not to mention your own food and clothing, this money is enough to support five or six people!"

Seeing that Wu Xinglan was still rubbing his shoulders there, Ma Youcai sighed heavily.

"Brother Lan Xin, although you and I are reading the books of sages, but now we are forced to get such a field by life, if you ......"

When Ma Youcai was there to persuade him, Wu Xinglan didn't listen to a word, what sage book, what kind of decency of a scholar, in his eyes, there may be a hot meal, otherwise he would not follow the people in the village to work in this mine.

Six oceans a month!

If you don't want to be tempted, it's fake, but Wu Xinglan still has his concerns, every time he thinks of his father, who doesn't know how to die, he doesn't dare to be the grain.

"This place is a mine protection team, and it is not the grain of the imperial court, or the bandits are coming, and when the foreign guns are bombarded, the bandits will naturally disperse!"

It seems to be the same reason! Six oceans, enough for a family to eat, not to mention, I don't mean that there is still some left for my younger brother to study, so that he can gain a reputation in the future.

"It's better than this place!"

Thinking so in her heart, Wu Xinglan hesitated and nodded.

"Let's try it after eating!"

After saying this, he followed a large group of hungry workers towards the canteen. In the camp, the electric lamps covered with iron lampshades were on, and they looked dim and dim in the morning light, but the workers who went to eat had all kinds of thoughts after reading the notice, and they all looked eager to try.

(To be continued)