From Chief to Ball

"How's the quality?"

"It's okay. It's not as delicate as peeling by hand, but there is no problem with spinning."

All the people here are relieved. It seems that this time they are selling machines, not getting involved in the cotton industry as they thought.

Looking at the new machine, everyone was a little greedy and a little overwhelmed.

The machines are very good and dry quickly, but there were so many cotton ginning workshops in the past, and now all the cotton in Min County can be produced by one workshop equipped with many machines.

Some people stared at the machine with other thoughts in their hearts.Originally a workshop employing 300 people, now only needs six people and six cotton gins, but there is only so much cotton in Min County, can so many people here share it?

But no matter whether it is worth it or not, we all know that this machine is too easy to use.If a workshop that employs 300 people fires the extra 290 people, how much more money can it make this year?

For a while, everyone present lost their minds.

These people did discuss for a long time last night, but the question they discussed was how to defend against Chen Jian, but they never expected that Chen Jian would come up with such a machine that would benefit them all.

Everyone wants it, but how to distribute the benefits after wanting it has become a matter that people dare not decide.

Several leaders glanced at each other and decided to procrastinate and discuss after going back.

So he frowned and said: "Mr. Chen, this machine is really convenient, but...we just couldn't come up with an idea in a hurry. We are quite famous in the county, and now there are thousands of hired workers who depend on us for food. Once this machine appears... … These thousands of people have no means of living for a while, and it is difficult for us to account for the troubles that have arisen.”

"Furthermore, there is also a regulation in the "Apprentice Law". Even if these machines are to be used, I am afraid that after a year has passed, the apprentice's contract will be up."

Chen Jian laughed and said, "Of course all of you here are well-known figures in the county. However, I'm afraid it's a little inappropriate to talk about the "Apprentice Law". You all know that this law is to protect you. It says that legitimate There is no need to be responsible for dismissing for a reason."

"What is a legitimate reason? I have a new machine, and I don't need so many people. This is a legitimate reason. The regulations don't say that this is not a legitimate reason. Is that just based on the mouth of the judicial officer? Could it be that those people Can hired workers care about this? The "Apprentice Law" restricts the hired workers, not the people present here. I have lived for so long and I have never heard of the "Apprentice Law" awarding the hired workers a few times. Everyone knows it well. .”

Everyone here smiled knowingly, and did not refute Chen Jian's words. One of them said: "But the law still needs to be lenient after all, so many hired workers... If something happens, or is incited by someone with a heart, then this is a big deal. It’s easy for big things to happen.”

Chen Jian also said: "You don't have to worry about this. Even if the contract time is not yet up, you can transfer these hired workers to me, and I will pay for them to do things. It happens that I am still short of manpower. How many do you have? How much do I want."

The words have come to this point, in fact, everyone here understands that these are just excuses, and no one really cares about what the hired workers do.

Chen Jian looked at the crowd and said with a smile: "Everyone, are you worried about how the flower ginning workshops will be distributed after the machine appears? It's actually very simple. I have two ways. You might as well listen to them?"

"Mr. Chen's words are naturally to be listened to. Please speak."

"One, divide the current number of employees by fifty, and buy cotton gins separately. But in this way, the original workshop with hundreds of people may only need one room, which is a bit wasteful. Two, then That is, everyone joins a joint stock company and divides the profits according to the previous distribution method, and only one workshop is enough. The remaining workshops can be sold or used for other purposes.”

Looking at the crowd, Chen Jian thought that the promotion of the cotton gin would not be a problem.Cotton ginners are the type of work with the least bargaining power, and they are too easy to replace and highly mobile, which means that it is impossible for them to get together to do something.

The methods he is talking about now have only advantages and no disadvantages for anyone present.If it weren't for his urgent need for manpower and lack of capital, he should not communicate with these people at all and monopolize the lint directly.

The labor costs of cotton ginners are only part of the expenditure of these people. More importantly, they control the purchase of cotton and the price of lint. This is the fundamental reason why these people need to stand together.

What really determines the distribution of profits still has to rely on one's own financial resources or influence.

"Well, if you have any questions, we can't discuss the results here for a while. You might as well go back first, discuss the results and give me an answer. I just want to sell machines to make a little money, and I don't want to get involved in the cotton spinning industry now. , just find a way out for those hired workers in advance.”

Chen Jian didn't have the slightest intention to force it. Everyone had already believed Chen Jian's words by [-]%.

It was a foregone conclusion to use this machine, and the rest was nothing more than discussing the internal distribution of benefits. When they left, they promised Chen Jian that they would give him an answer in a short time.

Soon after, Chen Jian's satisfactory answer reached Chen Jian's ears.

What surprised the cotton spinning industry even more was that Chen Jian did not sit on the ground and raise the price, but sold the cotton gin to them at an extremely low price that only made a small profit.

By mid-November, most of the cotton ginners in Min County were taken in by Chen Jian to the team of migrant workers who built the canal.Including Nan'an construction workers who had previously built wooden track roads in the mining area.

The first formal canal in Min County was officially dug. There are not many diggers now, but a large number of farmers will choose short-term work during the coming agricultural slack period. Chen Jian has sent people to nearby villages to promote it. .

Some students majoring in mining from Lanxiang Technical School also rushed to this canal, which was prepared very secretly and did not cause much trouble, in the name of learning from labor.

Wang Zhe and others have completed the exploration, and Chen Jian hired the best architect in Mincheng at a high price - he once presided over the construction of Minjun sewage canals and coastal forts.

After the architect's inspection and observation of new technologies such as explosives and cement, he gave a design idea that can be regarded as extremely against the sky at this time.

If the canal is straightened, it will pass through a valley, so the architect plans to use stone cement and explosives to build an elevated canal in the valley as the canal channel for that section.

The Nitian River in this section of the plan is not too long, and the height is not too high, and in terms of cost, it saves a lot of time than detours from the side.

However, this kind of stone elevated canal is the only one in Fujian County. The architect only gave Chen Jian a suggestion, and of course he still hoped that Chen Jian would agree.

For architects, buildings are tombstones that they can leave their names through the ages, especially a section of elevated aqueduct that can be called a spectacle at this time.

After viewing it, Chen Jian discussed with the architect issues such as waterproofing and support.

The architect said that if it was before, he was at most [-]% sure, and he would not consider the problem of rocks.But now that there is cement and explosives, there should be [-]% certainty, and the remaining [-]% is uncertain, depending on whether Chen Jian is willing to take risks.

If you are willing to take risks, the entire canal can be shortened by a long distance, and at the same time, you can rely on the flow of the water itself to slowly transport coal and stone ore ships from the upper reaches to the Min River.

And with the suggestions given by Chen Jian, such as cement, scaffolding, bamboo working platforms, and pulley blocks, the construction period will not be too long, and it can even be guaranteed to be completed before the canal is completely repaired.

After pondering for a few days, Chen Jian readily agreed.

Xin said that even if it fails, at most it will cost more money to dig again, but if it succeeds, it can not only achieve the beauty of adults, but also accumulate experience in architecture, no matter how you look at it, it will be profitable.

The canal was officially excavated on the third day of December with gongs and drums, and people joined in every day. Except for the wages of those cotton ginners, wages were settled daily, and one day counted as one day's work.

People in the party gave Chen Jian great help. As the organizer of the entire canal, he practiced his organizational skills by the way.

Chen Jian's machines were also used in the flower ginning workshops in Fujian County, which saved a lot of labor costs, and the quality did not drop too much.

It seems that they really get what they need and help each other win-win.

In particular, Chen Jian's cotton gin didn't have a big mouth, and some people even calculated that if it was a copy, the quality would be good or not, and the cost of making the copy would not be much cheaper than buying it.

For a while, people in the cotton spinning industry trusted Chen Jian. If Chen Jian hadn't been busy digging the river, they would have had to entertain Chen Jian.

However, in December, those people in the cotton textile industry suddenly realized that something was wrong.

Many people told them that the group of people from the charity business association and the Mexican party took the cotton gin to the countryside and farms, demonstrated it everywhere, and often mentioned that lint cotton is much more expensive than seed cotton...

Chapter 121 The second step of the big news

"What does Chen Jian want to do?"

As soon as the news spread, it was already the time of Chinese New Year, and it was a happy and harmonious day, but a group of people in the cotton spinning industry were in a panic.

The difference between the price of seed cotton and lint is a huge profit. This is the meat at hand, because everyone involved in this matter has a share of the profit.

When Chen Jian made such a move, he clearly wanted to grab food from their mouths.

"Isn't that right? I heard that Chen Jian doesn't plan to buy cotton. Although he has a large property, he can't eat the cotton in the entire Fujian County. Besides, how can he figure out the truth in cotton?"

"That's right, I heard that the cotton gins are sold to those big farmers, or a small grocery store is built in the village, or they rely on the mill to cooperate, saying that they only charge processing fees to those farmers..."