How prosperous a country and nation can live depends on how much they contribute to the world economy.

'Yes, the tyrants of South America, the ranchers of Argentina, who doesn't envy them. Xu Zhouyang said with a smile.

In the twenties, the reputation of the Argentine tyrants was not lost to that of the later Middle Eastern tyrants and later the Chinese coal bosses.

In the twenties, if you wanted to compliment someone on being rich, you were absolutely right to say, 'You are more generous than an Argentine'.

Of course, now that the situation in the United States has changed, praising someone for being rich can also be described as 'this guy went to stock trading'.

Nanhua and China's shipbuilding industry will be a wonderful deal with the excellent refrigeration technology and Argentine tycoons.

Refrigerator assembly factory, busy assembly line.

Situ Nan finally saw the finished product, the style of the refrigerator is divided into vertical and horizontal two, the body size is much larger than the refrigerator of the same power in later generations, the shell made of tinplate is square head and square brain, cumbersome and old-fashioned, there is no simple and elegant industrial design beauty everywhere like Apple products.

Situ Nan nodded, very satisfied. Because the prototype of the refrigerator came from the Meihua Shi yàn room, and the design sketch of the prototype was from Situ Nan's hand.

From scratch, creating zào is the hardest. As far as Situ Nan is concerned, it is very simple to draw what was originally stored in zài.

In addition to refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, irons, televisions, jukeboxes Situ Nan has designed a lot of drawings and sketches, some specific and some detailed, most of which are placed in scientific research institutions such as Meihua Shi Yàn room, Cummins Shi Yàn room, Tesla Shi Yàn room, etc., I believe that those great inventions will be reproduced one by one.

He designed and invented the shooting machine himself. And it works very well, and I have a lot of fun by myself.

'Sealing is important, and it is necessary to use a large number of rubber gaskets for the refrigerator door frame. ”

Situ Nan casually opened the refrigerator door. Looking at the interior of the refrigerator, the structure is not much different from the refrigerators of later generations. The refrigerator shell is made of thin stainless steel, covered with white paint, and the refrigerator is dominated by white clean and bright tones both on the outside and on the inside.

The appearance is gray and white instead of the pale blue and white that I like, and the appearance is a little worse, but overall it is a follow-up to my philosophy. The allure to housewives is unquestionable. ”

Situ Nan praised, and then complained about the door buckle of the refrigerator door, "Your engineers have no imagination at all. Actually designed such an ugly door buckle, don't you know how to use a magnet to close the refrigerator door? ”

'Magnets? ”

Xu Zhouyang's eyes lit up, and he immediately realized, "This idea is wonderful!" Use this design for your next refrigerator. ”

After speaking, he looked at Situ Nan with appreciation. He was extremely impressed by Situ Nan's vision. He asked, 'What else can be improved?' Tell me all about it, and I'll listen to it. ”

Situ Nan was accompanied by the senior management of the refrigerator factory, and naturally there were also refrigerator engineers and others, these 'NPCs' were also waiting for Situ Nan at the moment to see what else this proud VIP said?

Situ Nan didn't plan to exert his harsh vision at this time, but talked a little generally, if it can be done like this, Meihua's refrigerator can be regarded as a success. As for the appearance design, it is better to leave it in the future and slowly improve it in the market competition.

'Products don't just have to be practical. It's good to look good, just like the lady in Paris at night who looks good and can dress up. In recent years, European and American countries have increasingly formed a trend of process design, which is mainly used in two fields, one is automobiles, and the other is electrical appliances.

GM's new president, Sloan, took office and embraced the bandwagon, with several new vehicles being successful.

It is not a problem to sell like this stupid big coarse in Asia, because there are no competitors, but if you want to compete in the international market, you have to put more effort into it. ”

Xu Zhouyang took his words to heart, and he also noticed the new trend in the automotive industry.

The refrigerator factory is estimated to be the most stylish factory in Shanghai, and the workers are also stylish, similar to the later generations of automobile factory workers, and the wages should be much higher than those of textile factory workers.

The refrigerator assembly line is no more complicated than the automobile assembly line, Situ Nan is used to it, and looked back at the busy figures of the workers in blue overalls, most of them are young people in their teens and twenties, although there are some curious visitors of Situ Nan's line, occasionally glance at a few times and immediately turn to work.

Call that boy over and I'll ask him. Situ Nan said to the accompanying staff, pointing to a young man who had just secretly glanced at him.

'Come here! ”

Zhang Quandan got down from the assembly line, and after the workshop director arranged for someone else to replace Zhang Quandan, he brought him to Situ Nan and others.

Zhang Quandan's hammer-like face was full of apprehension, because the biggest official he knew, the director of their factory, was playing an unnamed NPC, and he didn't have much sense of existence in front of Situ Nan and Xu Zhouyang.

And Zhang Quandan himself is even more insignificant.

I don't know any of these big people! But the factory director has seen it a few times. ”

These are the leaders of the head office, and there are some things I want to ask you, do you have to answer them well? The factory director, who had never had a sense of zài, took two steps forward and said to Zhang Quandan.

Zhang Quandan nodded seriously, looking very reserved.

Seeing his restrained appearance, Situ Nan didn't bother to show his gentleness and proximity to the people, and said directly: "Name? Origin? Age? What is the academic qualification? How long does it take to enter the factory? ”

'Zhang Quandan, 18, a local, graduated from Longhua Vocational and Technical School, and came in as soon as he graduated, almost two months. Zhang Quandan replied, a little nervous, not to the point of slurring his speech.

'Longhua Vocational and Technical School? ”

Situ Nan nodded, feeling that the name was familiar, and quickly remembered that this technical school was one of the several technical schools supported by the Meihua Foundation in Shanghai, and it was closely related to the Meihua enterprises, so it was not surprising that the kid in front of him was recruited into the refrigerator factory after graduation.

'How's the factory treated?' Talk about food, housing, and clothing? How many hours a day do you have to work? Are there any weekends off? ”

Situ Nan asked in more detail, and his tone softened, he wanted to know how an ordinary worker on the flowing water was doing?

It was passed to Zhang Quandan's ears, and it was a little warm. It was evident that the gentleman who asked him was the most senior in the group, and when he spoke, no one next to him interjected. The attitude is very respectful, and they are all paying attention to what he says.

The salary is quite high, 10 yuan during the internship period, 15 yuan after the regularization, and 5 yuan food subsidy. Work 10 hours a day and take one day off on weekends.

The factory issued three sets of tooling and arranged dormitories. Food and accommodation are in the factory, not much money, everyone said that our factory is the best in Shanghai. ”

Zhang Quandan said this. Smile with satisfaction, it looks like you're living a good life.

After a few hasty chats, and probably asked about the living conditions of workers on an assembly line, Situ Nan waved his hand. Zhang Quandan returned to the production line and continued to work.

'$15 per month. Even in a high-consumption city like Shanghai, he earns more than a librarian in Beijing. ”

Situ Nan thought to himself, after all, in this era, people used the most two units of currency, jiao and cent.

Perhaps the monthly salary of female workers in a textile factory in Shanghai reached 20 months, which is high-intensity and long-term labor.

If the factory does not include food, housing and transportation, and has to feed a few families, life is still quite tense.

The same textile workers, the southern workers are better off, and the American and Chinese workers are better off than the non-American and Chinese workers.

Probably not castrated. In those years, the trade unions seemed to be quite combative, especially the workers of foreign companies often went on strike. Some time ago, the textile workers of Japanese enterprises in Qingdao, Shandong Province went on strike quite fiercely, and the Japanese owed the Chinese a blood debt.

He must be the most ordinary employee in the factory, right? What about the rest of the employees? ”

Situ Nan asked the factory director again, he now knew that the director of the refrigerator factory in front of him was surnamed Zhang, a foreign student who returned to China from the United States to start a business with Xu Zhouyang, and worked as a manager in a factory under Cummins Electric.

We recruited 200 graduates like him in Shanghai and more than 300 in other technical colleges and universities across the country, and finally built several important parts factories other than the final assembly plant and compressors.

We also put a lot of effort into training these workers. In general, the number of workers and technical engineers is still not enough, and the production tasks are pressed so tightly that we will have headaches in the future.

I plan to inspect employees every quarter and increase the salary of those who pass the exams to motivate them to work. ”

Director Zhang said, "When it comes to the salary of ordinary workers from 15 to 20 yuan per month, workshop managers and front-line technicians range from 30 yuan to 70 yuan per month, and engineers and zero factory director level management are at least 100, forming a more reasonable ladder salary system to improve the efficiency of management as much as possible." Just like Mr. Xu said, try to flatten the management as much as possible and reduce the number of people who eat idle meals. ”

The factory director surnamed Zhang obviously did his homework, and he was right, and Situ Nan was quite satisfied with it.

What he hates the most in his life is the guy who eats idle food, since he has the opportunity and ability, he will definitely not let the proportion of Chinese officials be comparable to that of Greece, and if something happens, let temporary workers be scapegoats, and there is no responsibility at all!

'The treatment of workers, especially skilled workers, must not be harsh, at least let our workers feed their families. Although we are not as generous as Henry Ford, it does not prevent us from learning and appreciating him.

I have always believed that high salaries are not a problem, and it is okay to pay dividends to the performance of the management, but I am determined not to raise waste. In the future, if any of the companies under Meihua is sluggish and the management does not act, we will make decisive adjustments, even if it stipulates that 5% or 10% of employees will be laid off in a year. ”

Situ Nan said solemnly to Xu Zhouyang and others.

It's far from that, and now that our Meihua Electric's various businesses are expanding rapidly, I want more people who can do it. Xu Zhouyang smiled, a little disapproving, Situ Nan's unfounded worries.

Thinking of something, Xu Zhouyang said again: "The news from the United States has come that Cummins Electric's refrigerators will be listed in New York, Chicago and other big cities next week, although we have the first opportunity, they are not slower than us." And they have a homegrown advantage. ”

Situ Nan raised his head, saw that Xu Zhouyang's tone was a little anxious, and thought: Xu Zhouyang is getting more and more into the role, and he has regarded the Cummins Electric Company he founded and worked for as a competitor.

That's a good thing. It shows that after you leave the company, Cummins Inc. is still doing well. Of course, they certainly see a vast market as well. The U.S. appliance manufacturing field is highly competitive, and refrigerators will be Cummins Electric's leading product after the radio to General Electric and Westinghouse. Situ Nan said with a smile.

"Yes, I also hope that Meihua electric products will enter the U.S. market as soon as possible, the market is too big, and every one percent increase in the market share of our products will increase our business by 10 percent." ”

Xu Zhouyang said longingly.

After inspecting the refrigerator factory, after the crowd dispersed, only Situ Nan, Xu Zhouyang, and Liu Hongsheng were left.

It stands to reason that this project is easier to succeed in the United States, but I still take it to China for the simple reason that the United States and China basically lose money in domestic investment, such as railways, steel and other heavy industrial projects, if you want to recover the cost at least in the 30s, so it is urgent to find a product that can be fast and profitable. In the past few years, I have done my best here, and I am also pleased with the achievements here. ”

Situ Nan sighed with emotion, and his attitude made Xu Zhouyang understand that the assets transferred by Situ Nan from the William Consortium to the US-China Consortium have exceeded one billion US dollars, and basically helped the US-China Consortium to build a super consortium prototype spanning finance, agriculture, steel, machinery, railways, shipping, shipbuilding, chemistry, electrical, textile, military and many other fields.

'I think the name Meihua refrigerator is always a little missing, what do you think is a good name?' ”

Coming out of the refrigerator assembly plant, Xu Zhouyang said casually.

'How's Meilu going?' Liu Hongsheng smiled and glanced at Situ Nan ambiguously. Different from the Lushan holiday villa in history, there is also a famous Meilu in this time and space, that is, the official residence of Song ML in Wuhan, which is known as Meilu.

Situ Nan vaguely remembered that there was a refrigerator brand called Meilu in history, but it ended later.

It may be a good name, but it's a bit awkward to associate with a celebrity name: 'Beauty, Haier, White Swan, Himalaya, Xiangxuehai, or Blue Lotus?' ”

Situ Nan said a series of catchy and meaningful names in the refrigeration industry in five seconds, which made Xu Zhouyang and Liu Hongsheng open their mouths in surprise.

'You can come up with these good names in an instant, and your knowledge level and artistic accomplishment are not comparable to ordinary people. ”

Xu Zhouyang shook his head, with some emotion, got a response from Liu Hongsheng's face on the other side, and smiled again, "Let's use the beauty first!" We'll use the rest of the names later, anyway, Meihua's product line is long. ”

'Good! In the future, Meihua's refrigerators will be called Midea. Liu Hongsheng agreed.

Xu Zhouyang thought about it and felt that it was necessary to distinguish the home appliance business from the electromechanical business, and in the future, the household appliance business would adopt the brand of Midea, while the original power generation, transmission, power system and other businesses would continue to use the brand of Meihua Electric.

He nodded, and said with some expectation: "In this way, it is equivalent to making the home appliance manufacturing business independent!" ”

Situ Nan smiled, he also tended to make the home appliance business independent. As for the brand of beauty, in fact, his favorite name is not beauty, but the poetic name of Xiang Xuehai, and Xiang Xuehai's regret can only be buried in his heart. (To be continued......)