Linxia

Chapter 207, Robbery

To be on the safe side, Fang Lin chose to expand the weaving workshop this time. Today, he came to inspect the construction site.

This piece of land was the land approved by Prefect Yan. It was close to the "First Good Product Weaving Workshop" and was quite convenient.

"grown ups!"

The party leader brought good news - the No. 1 Good Product Weaving Workshop was running stably, and this guy was able to use it well, so Fang Lin was temporarily transferred over.

"According to your instructions, we have been recruiting workers these past two days. I have recruited all skilled workers who have passed the inspection. Once the factory is completed, it will be fully operational immediately."

For a weaving workshop, a novice and a skilled worker are two completely different concepts, with huge differences in efficiency and yield rate.

"Are these people from the four factories of Gu, Ma, Shao, and Duan?"

"Yes, your Excellency is wise."

The party director smiled and said, "Our factory has laid a good foundation. The welfare benefits are known to everyone in the city. And your reputation is well-known in Huai'an..."

In fact, if it were just Fang Lin's reputation, the slightly higher wages here might not necessarily attract so many skilled workers to switch jobs. After all, they also have to consider the distance from the newly built factory here, as well as the time and energy cost of switching jobs after they have worked in the original factory.

The reason why they made up their minds to come here is more because of the tangible benefits: dormitories and skills training classes. The former solves their own problems and ensures that they have no worries; the latter gives hope to the next generation.

People are always profit-seeking. The four factories of Gu, Ma, Shao and Duan cannot provide these. Isn't it natural for them to change jobs?
"After the workers spread the word about our factory's benefits, the whole city now knows about it. This time we're recruiting, a lot of people are coming... To be frank, we don't want newcomers at all. We have to pick and choose experienced workers. Ordinary ones are not acceptable. We have to choose the best ones with many years of experience."

"So, the four factories of Gu, Ma, Shao, and Duan have become my talent training bases in disguise. This time, I directly poached their most core and elite people. I'm afraid the four factories will not give up."

However, Fang Lin couldn't just ignore these people and refuse the benefits that were delivered to him: "I have already made preparations, it depends on how they respond."

……

Recently, apart from the popularity of the second part of "Journey to the West" in Huai'an City, the most eye-catching thing is Fang Lin's recruitment for factory expansion.

Nowadays, everyone in the city knows that Fang Lin’s factory has excellent welfare benefits. In terms of attractiveness, it is comparable to the decent jobs in bookstores, grain shops and other shops.

Unfortunately, most of the recruits this time are skilled textile workers. If you are a novice, you will need some literacy and arithmetic skills.

Generally speaking, there are still too many people and little work. In addition, workers from the four factories of Gu, Ma, Shao and Duan also applied for a spot. It is difficult to get a spot, and one has to use connections and favours.

……

Recently, Tian Wu was in a very good mood. He listened to the second part of "Journey to the West" being told in the factory canteen and went back to tell his wife and children about it. Every night when he returned home, his wife and children would sit down early, looking forward to watching him realize his value as the head of the family, and he felt very satisfied.

Furthermore, the factory was expanding and recruiting people, and many people in the city rushed to get in. However, he himself had already been a worker in the factory, and he had an indescribable sense of pride and superiority in his heart.

That evening, Tian Wu came back and brought some stir-fried Chinese cabbage from the factory cafeteria. Although there was no meat in it, it was rich in oil and was a rare delicacy for the Tian family. The family ate while talking about the story they had heard today. Even the Monkey King was afraid of Red Boy, who could generate the Samadhi True Fire...

The wives and children listened to the wonderful story with rapt attention.

At this time, Ye Ping, a former neighbor, came over with a paper bag in his hand.

——This man was from the same village as him. He arrived too late at the beginning, and Fang Lin’s "First Quality Weaving Workshop" was already full, so he had to go to another workshop.

"Brother Ye, sit down. Have you eaten yet? Sit down and eat something."

"No, no, I've already eaten!"

After hearing this, Ye Ping waved his hands, feeling a little embarrassed. In that era, food was precious, and going to someone else's house at mealtime actually seemed a bit like being a bad guest. He was also calculating the time, but he didn't expect that the Tian family was a little late today because of the storytelling and had not finished their meal.

"Second brother Ye, you're here, but what else do you want to bring? Oh, is this brown sugar?" Tian Li said, and then she found that there was two taels of brown sugar in the paper bag. She quickly put such a valuable thing back.

Tian Wu also said: "Such a good thing, but it can't be used."

"Yes, yes." Ye Ping grunted, his face flushed, and finally said: "I heard that your factory is recruiting people, so I was wondering if I could get in. I would like to ask for your help..."

I missed Fang Lin’s factory last time, and I didn’t want to go there again this time, so I gritted my teeth, bought two taels of brown sugar, and came here to do him a favor.

The land of Daxia has been a society of favors since ancient times. Like Tian Wu, he fled here from a village below and has no background or connections. His inherent lack of confidence made him subconsciously want to find Tian Wu, who came from the same village and is now "rich", to ask for favors.

——Yes, he entered Fanglin Factory, now lives in a dormitory, and has sent his son to a "skill training class". In Ye Ping's opinion, Tian Wu is already rich.

"I'm just an ordinary worker, not even a manager. How could I have that ability? Even if I were to be a manager, I wouldn't be able to do it!" Tian Wu knew his own limitations and didn't dare to promise anything he couldn't do.

Ye Ping also had some emotional intelligence, so he stuffed the brown sugar in his hand and said, "I'm sorry that I can't introduce you to Brother Tian Wu. You can talk to me about it, so I can have a better idea."

After hearing this, Tian Wu accepted it and said, "I heard that this time the recruitment is based on ability and specific assessment... As long as you can pass the test, you will be hired... Oh, and you can't be someone who was fired before. Ma Wang passed the test, but because he was fired before, he was not hired."

Ma Wang used to work in Fang Lin's "First Quality Weaving Workshop", but was fired because he was lazy and failed to reach the set benchmark three times.

Later, when this man saw that the welfare at Fang Lin's factory was getting better and better, he regretted his decision and wanted to go back. However, he tried very hard but failed. This time, when they were recruiting for the expansion, he passed the assessment, but was still dismissed because of his previous record. He regretted it so much that his thighs turned red.

"Brother Ye is also an excellent worker in your factory. He is very capable and I think he can succeed..."

The factory where Ye Ping worked belonged to the Ma family. They also set up an "excellent worker" position imitating Fang Lin's, but they were stingy and all kinds of benefits were reduced. "How can our factory compare to Mr. Fang's factory? I'm looking forward to getting in this time! I want to find a way out for my son..." Ye Ping said, and he also had some confidence in his heart. He was down-to-earth and hardworking. He never slacked off in the factory. He had practiced his skills well, and just needed an opportunity.

……

There are many people like Ye Ping. In the next period of time, the best and most skilled workers trained in the four factories of Gu, Ma, Shao and Duan over the past few years or even decades will quickly gather in Fanglin Factory.

……

Gu family.

Gu Tongren has been paying close attention to Fang Lin's movements recently: "That Deputy Director Fang is expanding the factory and applying new technologies. This is really aggressive!"

"Yes, Dad, it seems that this time, we have to fight, even if it's just in the business field." Gu Shiyu sighed.

"Master, Master!" At this time, Butler Chang suddenly came in and reported: "In the past few days, many workers in our workshop have left. They left our place and turned around to go to the workshop of Mr. Fang."

"This bunch of peasants... this is outrageous!" Gu Shiyu was furious when he heard this.

Yes, his first reaction was not to be angry at Fang Lin, but to be angry at the group of workers who had changed jobs. He hated them - before, you worked in my house, ate and drank at our Gu family's, but now Fang Chenshi has released the recruitment information, and you immediately resigned and ran to his side. Where is your loyalty? Loyalty? Loyalty?
This is like the chives in your own field pulling out their own roots and running to plant them in your rival's field. This is really intolerable.

As the head of the Gu family, Gu Tongren had experienced many ups and downs, so he was relatively calm and asked, "How many workers have left?"

"Probably less than 10%..."

"That is not bad."

Gu Tongren and Gu Shiyu both breathed a sigh of relief.

There is no shortage of people in the city nowadays. These 10% or 50% of people can be replenished quickly and will not affect the overall situation.

"No, Master, Young Master, that's not how it works. The workers who left were all key workers, the best in our factory. Even if we recruit new people to fill the gap, efficiency will decrease and costs will increase, which will last for a long time... In fact, the other less skilled workers are not unwilling to leave..."

Butler Chang didn't finish his words, but Gu Tongren and Gu Shiyu, father and son, could understand the subtext: those less skilled workers didn't want to leave, but they didn't meet the recruitment standards of Fang Chenshi. Now they are just waiting to see what happens. Maybe once they have become proficient here, they will just run away when they get the chance.

This is really... How embarrassing, how insulting, is their Gu family so unpopular?
"That assistant Fang is here to pick the 'best' ones. We train and cultivate them here, and he picks them right away. He is treating our Gu family workshop as a training ground!"

Gu Shiyu almost laughed out of anger as he spoke: "We can't go on like this, Dad, we have to think of some way to stop this kind of thing... By the way, Manager Chang, didn't those peasants sign the contract?"

"Master, this is the case..." Butler Chang explained.

It turned out that in the past, when there were few workers and labor was most scarce, probably when Fang Lin's family had just fled to the provincial capital, the factory workers were indeed required to sign long-term contracts. However, at that time, concessions were also made in various aspects, such as wages and food.

Later, there were too many people, so the Gu family didn't want to give these benefits anymore. Now that the benefits were gone, they still wanted them to sign a long-term contract? They were not fools, so they naturally wouldn't agree.

The Gu family did not force them. First, there were too many people and little work, so there was no need to keep them. If you wanted to leave, there were many people willing to take your place. Second, the "unfair terms" with few benefits and many obligations clearly violated the principle of fairness. Prefect Pu was a moral person, and he would certainly not approve of it if the lawsuit was brought to him.

"Now it's Prefect Yan, not Prefect Pu. Can you..." Gu Shiyu's implication was that he still wanted to force the workers to sign a unfair contract.

"Yu'er, this method is not acceptable."

Gu Tongren shook his head and said, "If it were just those peasants, this Prefect Yan would most likely be on our side, but there is also that Lord Fang, who is currently fighting with Prefect Yan... Moreover, at this juncture, using this method would only stimulate those peasants and speed up their exodus."

"Then how about contacting the Ma, Shao, and Duan families to help? Now, it's not just our Gu family that's suffering losses. The best workers in their three factories are all heading to that Assistant Fang, right?"

"That's right, but, young master, we have already contacted the three families, but their attitudes are currently ambiguous." Butler Chang said cautiously.

"Hehe, this is because he sees that Chenshi Fang is not easy to deal with, and my Gu family has the largest factory and suffered the heaviest losses. He wants my Gu family to stand in the front, be the first to do something that would offend others." Gu Shiyu said angrily.

"Well, let's do as they wish. Let our family take the lead!"

Gu said, "That Fang Chenshi has applied new technology, expanded the workshop, and recruited skilled workers, but in the final analysis, these have not yet been put into operation. The current scale is still smaller than our weaving workshop. The larger the scale of a weaving workshop, the lower the cost. Considering the high welfare that Fang Chenshi provides to those peasants, the cost of his side is much higher than that of our Gu family."

"In addition, the weaving workshop is upstream. The goods produced must be sold in the end to make a profit. However, Fang Chenshi does not have a fleet. Now there are only two sources of goods. One is the Nanyang fleet that cooperates with the Yang family, and the other is the Ma family's fleet that Xu Kuo Lao arranged."

"In this case, we can just lower the price and snatch the shipping channel from Mr. Fang!"

For the Nanyang Fleet and the Ma Family Fleet, Fang Lin and the Gu Family both had backgrounds. Without considering other factors, business was business. They would make money if they could. They would use the goods from the one with the lowest price. The Gu Family had tricked Fang Lin into a trap. They could either lower their prices and make a profit at a loss, or they could cut off their shipping channels and have the goods stuck in their hands.

Don't think that if the delivery channel is cut off, the delivery channel is cut off. At most, you can store the goods in your hands and sell them later. Reality is not a game. There is no infinite warehouse. Not to mention where to find a warehouse to store goods in a hurry and how much the storage cost is, if something unexpected happens during storage, it will definitely be a total loss. Therefore, doing business is about "goods follow the rotation", and never hoard a large amount of goods in your hands.

"Great, Dad's move is brilliant. We have strangled the other party downstream. No matter how good the welfare of that assistant Fang is or how many workers he steals, it will be of no avail. On the contrary, the more we produce, the more we have in our hands. If we lower the price, the more we sell, the more we lose." Gu Shiyu clapped his hands.

Gu Tongren was not as confident as his son: "That Fang Jianshi is unconventional in his actions. He is as imaginative as a whirlwind and can often come up with a brilliant idea in a bad situation. Let's see how he responds!"

"If this plan succeeds, it would be the best. If it fails, and our family fails, the other party will show the momentum of unifying Huai'an's factories and fleet industries. By then, I believe the Ma, Shao, and Duan families will also take action. By then, if the four of us unite, even if we only use business means to hurt others, we can suppress the other party."

"That's right!" Gu Shiyu nodded, agreeing deeply: "The three of them just want to reap the benefits, and they also don't want that Fang Chenshi to dominate alone. As long as the other party shows an unstoppable momentum, they will definitely seek us to join forces. Then it will be four to one, and the advantage will be on us!"

……

(End of this chapter)