Chapter 400 Civilian Workshop
Mr. Erkins got up early today. When it was still dark, he began to wash up and trim his beard carefully. After having a hasty breakfast, he hurried to his workplace—an ironworks factory located outside Lake Town.
When he arrived, all the employees in the factory were already there.
Erkins stood on a wooden box and said very seriously: "Behave well today! Keep your spirits up!"
"Don't worry, Boss!”
"I will never let anyone underestimate us!"
The employees below responded one after another.
A big shot is coming to visit today!
Erkins came from a family of blacksmiths. In the early years, blacksmiths were high-level craftsmen and a very popular profession. Of course, being a blacksmith is also a very good choice now, but it is still a little less popular than before.
The reason for this phenomenon is the development of technology.
First, it was because Earl Grayman improved the iron smelting technology, and raw materials were no longer a constraint.
Then there was the rapid development of the Huxin Town Machinery Factory. The machine factory required a large number of metal parts. At the beginning, they were customized from private blacksmith shops. However, folk blacksmith shops are generally the kind of independent workshops inherited from father to son, scattered in various places in Alda, and it takes a lot of time to come and go.
Furthermore, Earl Grayman's size requirements for various devices can be described as "abnormal", and he also specially invented a measuring tool called a "vernier caliper". However, due to various reasons, the quality of the products produced by those small shops varies. So the machine factory began to train its own blacksmiths.
As the leader of a territory, the Graiman family has some blacksmiths who have served them for generations, and they can be said to be the most skilled blacksmiths in Alda. For example, Erkins used to admire them the most. Mr. Herman is the most powerful blacksmith in the lord's mansion. However, he has not seen Mr. Herman much in the past two years. It is said that he was entrusted with an important task by the lord and is no longer in Lake Town.
Now Count Grayman has arranged all these people to the machinery factory, and adopted a method similar to the way Weiss College educates students, vigorously recruiting and cultivating blacksmith apprentices. Unlike blacksmiths in other places who require all-round skills, the Earl only requires that they can make one piece of equipment, but they must hone their skills to perfection. These newly trained young blacksmiths repeat a simple set of actions day after day in the so-called "workshop." Some slightly complex things may even be built by several people in a row, with each person completing only part of it and then handing it over to the next person until the entire work is completed.
However, the testing of the results at each stage is also strict, with dedicated people watching every link and checking with measuring tools. Blacksmiths whose qualification rate is too low will have their wages cut or even lose their jobs. For civilians, the salary in the machinery factory is quite generous, so everyone works conscientiously.
Not only blacksmiths, but also carpenters in machine shops also adopt this set of working methods.
After meeting the demand for parts for large equipment such as horse-drawn carriages and harvesters, the machinery factory began to produce some small products, such as hoes, rakes, pitchforks and other commonly used farm tools, and sold them externally. The price is very low.
This has greatly affected the livelihood of those traditional craftsmen.
But what squeezed them was the workshop under the name of the dignified Lord Arda. As civilians, no one dared to come forward to organize the craftsmen against the lord.
Poor people want to change, so some craftsmen with strong family backgrounds began to expand their production scale, recruit blacksmiths and carpenters to join their production team, and learn the working methods of machine factories. Factories were forced to be born.
Oddly enough, in the face of a certain competitor, Count Grayman not only did not hide it, he also summoned these new factory owners to visit his machinery factory and let them carefully Observed the work process in the machinery factory and announced that they would be encouraged to start their own businesses and receive tax exemption for three years.
Erkins is one of the traditional blacksmith-turned-workshop owners.
Looking back at the time when I first started my business, it’s really hard to describe. Although Erkins had been engaged in the blacksmithing industry for generations, he had some wealth, but the money was still not enough to purchase a site, recruit workers, and purchase tools.
Erkins tried to raise funds on the Fulan Port Stock Exchange, but he was not a traditional business person and had no reputation at all to attract others, so he had to follow the traditional method of borrowing money from relatives and friends, and finally stumbled. The factory was established.
However, due to the first-mover advantage of Huxin Town Machinery Factory, it quickly occupied the market with its cheap and high-quality features. Many private factories were simply struggling desperately on the edge of life and death. It ended silently.
Erkins's workshop also suffered such a misfortune. Just when he felt that he could not survive, he was disheartened and wanted to dissolve the workshop, then find a job in the Lord's machinery factory and work for the rest of his life to pay off his debts. , a turning point has come.
Led by Earl Grayman, the lords in the northwest established a so-called company called "Northwest Industry". Its main business was to sell ordnance to the royal government in the south.
The factory owners who had not yet gone bankrupt were summoned to the Lord's Mansion for a meeting. The Earl claimed to have found a way for them to make money, which was to join Northwest Industry and provide supplies for this "company". The earl also stated that the industries under his control would not involve the production of ordnance such as swords and armor, and would not constitute competition, allowing them to produce with confidence.
And they don’t have to worry about transportation and other aspects, Northwest Industry will take care of it themselves, as long as the goods are delivered according to the specified time.
There are two other requirements: First, the styling should be unified so that customers can form an impression and be able to tell at a glance that it is made in the Northwest Bay. The second is to strictly control quality.
As soon as Earl Grayman finished speaking, the factory owners raised their arms and shouted long live the lord. Everyone knows that war is a good opportunity to make a fortune, especially in ordnance.
Although many of them were still cursing in their hearts why the count's mechanical field didn't leave them some way to survive when they entered the gate of the Lord's Mansion.
Erkins was in tears in the lobby, and he almost couldn't stand up.
He sincerely thanked the Earl.
After asking around, it turned out that there was a rebellion in the far south, and the royal government was buying weapons everywhere.
Erkins lamented that it seemed like he should pay more attention to current affairs. There would be no chance of making a fortune just focusing on the one-third of an acre of land around him. After thinking about it again, the Count couldn't have founded Northwest Industries just to find a way for us unlucky guys to survive, and then he was amused by his somewhat ridiculous idea.
Next, a steady stream of ordnance orders from the south revived the private factories. Not only did they gain a firm foothold, they also made a fortune. Erkins also entered the ranks of the wealthy.
But with the end of the counterinsurgency war, the South's demand for ordnance fell sharply.
Continuing to look for new business opportunities has become Erkins' top priority.
Just when I was scratching my head, the Lord's Mansion released news that another big customer came from Jiaowan.
As for Erkins's workshop, it was selected for new customers to visit, and it was the Earl who personally brought the customers there.
(End of this chapter)