No one can disturb my retirement life in the Red Mansion

Chapter 1001 Smart Man

"Madam, how did you come up with this?" Jiang couldn't help asking, and at this moment, her eyes were full of admiration. How did you come up with this? Now, the most labor-intensive people in this workshop are probably those who cut bamboo.

"You can think of it when you need it." Ou Mengmeng smiled, and she continued to sort it out step by step.

After a round of thinking, I now feel that some processes may not be able to be omitted. For example, the earliest method was to split the bamboo into four pieces, and then put the green skin into the caustic soda pool to ferment. They would sort them together later, because this step can never be reduced, and they felt that there was no need to add the previous step.

But as far as she knows, in the bamboo paper craft in Fujian, they first remove the green skin. An experienced person can easily tear off the green skin with a machete after cutting the bamboo. A novice can use a woodworking plane to remove the old skin.

"Find some more people and remove the green skin of the bamboo you cut down." Ou Mengmeng stared at the caustic soda pool and said to the manager here after a while.

"There's no need to add more people. They already feel the work is easier, and it would be embarrassing to take your wages." The manager smiled.

Ou Mengmeng looked back at him. She had also been managing people and money all the way. Foremen exploiting and squeezing workers was something that could not be avoided in any era. But she was not a rich landlord, so she really didn't need this guy to help her save money.

"Really? The caustic soda pool needs to be soaked for seven to ten days. They cut bamboo, break bamboo, and arrange it, and then everything will be fine. But they dare not cut too much. As you said, they can only dry it for three days and then pack it. After taking your money, they dare not leave. So they have three days of idleness out of every seven days." The manager said hurriedly when he saw Ou Mengmeng glaring at him.

After splitting the bamboo, it needs to be air-dried for three days to allow the inside to dry out so that it can better absorb the caustic soda water. It should not be cut too early or exposed to the sun for too long, as this will affect the flexibility of the fiber.

They only have a small pond, and the seven to ten-day soaking period cannot be changed. So after the bamboo cutters have finished cutting, they have to dry the bamboo for three days and pack it up for five days at most. The rest of the time they are idle. Therefore, the two days of cutting bamboo and packing are quite busy, but there is actually nothing to do in the three days in between. There is even less time to wait for the bamboo to be soaked in the pond. There is no time to even dry the bamboo.

Therefore, when these workers have nothing to do, they go to cut old bamboos and weave some small things in the workshop with bamboo strips; bamboo strips can be made into sticks and chopsticks, which can also increase personal income. I have talked about this with Ou Mengmeng before, but Ou Mengmeng didn't care and just said that it would be fine if they didn't miss their work.

Sun Shangxiang and the manager suggested that they could be paid by piecework. They could be asked to work three days out of every seven days, and the payment would be calculated based on the number of bamboos in a pond. Ou Mengmeng did not agree.

It seems that this can save some money and be more efficient. However, Ou Mengmeng has come a long way. Efficiency is actually relative.

For example, they have to cut bamboo within one day, and then air it for three days before packing it. There is a time limit! It cannot be aired for too long, so the two days of cutting bamboo and packing are very rushed and tiring. Otherwise, the quality of the fiber will be affected.

That is to say, a lot of their work is completed in two days. So many people are needed for drying in the middle, and someone just patrols. So according to modern management, they can be divided into long-term workers and short-term workers.

For example, there are two teams of people, one for cutting bamboo and one for packing, who come every seven days. The two teams can be paid according to the piece.

Only two people are needed for maintenance in the middle, and they are also responsible for lifting. In this way, only two families can be found, with the men responsible for lifting and the women responsible for burning fire and daily maintenance. However, Ou Mengmeng did not do so. Because when she asked the housekeeper in the mansion for some people to work in the workshop, the housekeeper asked if more people could be needed. After the war, in addition to many orphans, there were also many widows. The middle-aged, with old people above and young children below, it was very difficult for the family to live. The people the housekeeper mentioned were all the families of the veterans who had fought with Sun Jian and his men. These were the direct descendants, and people died every year, and it was not easy to ignore them, so when they heard that the old lady wanted to use people, they immediately allocated some of them.

The papermaking workshop below needs experienced hands, so the heavy work on the mountain above does not require any technical skills. If you can use your own people, of course you have to use your own people. Ou Mengmeng still gave them money, provided accommodation, and let them prepare their own food. Because they had cash, although the work was a bit heavy, the people on the mountain were still very happy. Of course, these people did not know that this was Guo Tai's business, they just said that they were familiar with each other. If they knew that Ou Mengmeng was Guo Tai, I believe this person would not dare to say anything nonsense.

"It takes some skill to remove the green peel, right?" Sun Shangxiang also knew this and said hurriedly.

"They usually have to peel the old bamboo to make strips. If the old lady feels that this is unbearable, please reward them with some cloth. They will kneel down to thank the old lady for her kindness." The steward really didn't think it was a big deal. He smiled and said.

"Well, then you decide!" Ou Mengmeng nodded. She knew that there were some things that she couldn't control too much, but she still frowned and said, "Be careful, and don't use people too harshly."

"Yes, this is the old lady's benevolent policy. How dare I ruin the old lady's reputation." The steward smiled like a flower.

This manager was hired from outside. He only knew that this was a wealthy family that bought a mountain land to make paper. He had never seen the men in this family, so he only chose some strong widows to do the work.

In the past six months, although he did not dare to go too far, he still made some money. At this moment, he was thinking about letting the old lady see him put on a good show, so how could he care about what the old lady just said, that you should not use people too much.

Ou Mengmeng went downstairs to check the clear water pool and didn't let the manager follow her. She went down the stairs and could also reach the workshop below.

The steward knew the old lady's temper and it was not easy for him to follow her, so he could only watch them leave.

The back hill was also built with large stones to create a very flat staircase, which is spacious and has flat steps, but we were afraid that the workers would really move and lift things, and something might happen. So when backfilling on both sides, we used stones to compact it little by little, so that even if you are old, it won’t be too much trouble to go up and down.

At the lower left side of the caustic soda pool is the clear water pool, which is a pool built with stones. It is smaller than the caustic soda pool.

There were people watching the clear water pool, and the one watching was obviously an experienced worker, sitting by the pool and weaving a winnowing basket with both hands quickly. When he saw Ou Mengmeng and the others coming, he stood up hurriedly, a little embarrassed and hid the winnowing basket behind him.

Ou Mengmeng didn't care about this. Her focus was on the pool. At this time, the wooden hammer in the clear water pool did not move, but the sack was spinning in the pool. The most interesting thing was that the pool was made of round bamboo baskets. There was also a wooden board inserted on the other side of the water flow, like a diversion channel, controlling the water flow to only one side. So in this way, the sack was spinning and hitting quickly in the round basket.

Let me tell you something happy. I don’t have much work to do, and the most important job has also been eliminated recently. I am so happy. I can just wait for retirement with peace of mind.