Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1196 People's Livelihood ([-])

"The age of metal and the machine brought larger industrial units to all trades..." said Andrade, the blind owner of a ship conversion factory in a dilapidated wooden shed, "I started from Tortuga After the island came to the east coast, this year has been No. 20 years. 20 years ago, Dayuhe Shipyard only employed two to three hundred apprentices and craftsmen; ten years ago, they employed four to five hundred people to build various ships; But last year, this factory has employed more than 500 people, and she is not the largest shipbuilding enterprise in our country. In the past 800 years, the shipbuilding industry is indeed an industry with huge growth."

Zhu Chengdong listened helplessly to the old Portuguese man's babbling, but couldn't interrupt, while Zamparini was smoking a pipe, listening to the ex-naturalized pirate recalling the past with a smile—this guy is The owner of the cheapest ship refitting workshop with the best reputation and the most acceptable technology they could find. Although he has all kinds of criticisms, such as a lot of nonsense, love to drink, etc., he can be compared with the lovely silver dollar , What do these count!

"But it's only the factories run by those countries that are so grand." Andrade took a sip of the low-quality shochu brewed in the countryside, shook his head, and said, "Look at the shoe and boot factories next door, there are usually only six or seven of them. Workers, when they are too busy, they will go to nearby villages to temporarily hire a few people to help. As for our factory, it is not much bigger than this.”

After finishing speaking, Andrade picked up two slices of golden bread baked in a clay saucer, poured some honey from a glass jar—it seemed to be a fruit jar originally, and brushed the outer layer of the bread with a brush. He picked another slice of cod that had been marinated properly, sandwiched it between two pieces of bread, and said while chewing, "It's just a little bit of hard money. Mr. Zamparini, Mr. Zhu Chengdong, don't you think so? 250 The modification fee of [-] yuan is really too low, at least [-] yuan, I'm serious! You have to let me earn some, after all, I still have some workers to support."

"Yes, yes, three hundred yuan can't be less!" Andrade's eldest son, who was sitting on the other side eating, immediately echoed, and An Jiye, whose mother is Ming, put down the bowl in his hand Beef noodles, wiped the oil stains from the corners of his mouth with his sleeve - this made the corners of Zhu Chengdong's eyes twitch, he could see clearly that this guy was wearing a uniform that was more popular recently, it was expensive, but now it was Treated it as a rag——said: “250 yuan really can’t be done, and we have to eat, unless——unless you use some of the boats we provide…”

Andrade didn't speak when he heard the words, as he acquiesced to his son's words.

"We have 15 craftsmen or apprentices here, and the modification can't be completed in a short period of time. During this period, we have to provide food and lodging for everyone, and we have to pay wages. This year we also spent money to replace some old wooden equipment with iron machines. This is also an expense. Oh, by the way, some of the work has to be processed by renting steam power outside, and the cost is also very high. In addition, fuel, cutter heads, wood, iron, and copper are often lost. It’s quite a lot, so 250 yuan is really not worth it.” An Jiye hurriedly picked up a few mouthfuls of beef noodles, then threw the rice bowl to the woman behind him, and said carelessly.

Zamparini and Zhu Chengdong looked at each other when they heard the words, and they both saw the helplessness in each other's eyes. After careful calculation and discussion for a while, Zamparini finally came forward and talked with Ander after a while. Ladd Ship Repair/Refit Factory has reached a ship refit agreement: the refit fee is 270 yuan (limited to ships below 200 tons), and all accessories are purchased by Andrade, and the cost will be negotiated separately.

In the afternoon, after seeing off the two Zamparini (they were going to Yancheng Port to buy a ship), Andrade immediately sent his son to purchase parts.Although An Jiye is not very old (just 20 years old), he has been working in this industry for several years, and he knows the details of the nearby workshops. Therefore, Andrade is very relieved that he will go out to purchase equipment.

There is a heavy-duty thread cutting machine in the dilapidated wooden shed on the opposite side. The operator (also the owner) is very skilled. It is said that it is originally from England. The quality of the large locks produced is reliable and the price is not expensive. It is absolutely impossible to buy there. Wrong; the one diagonally opposite is even more remarkable, because the workshop owner who was born as a blacksmith has cutting machines, drilling machines, planing machines, shaping machines and other equipment - all equipment is very light so that the owner can transport it to the power workshop of the factory Go to rent steam power - it can process more than ten kinds of accessories including pulleys and bolts; well, the nails, fishhooks and other small items processed by the old man next door are cheap and the quality is not bad, why not buy some; the Italian at the intersection The mason has been cooperating with his family for many years. People who have used the ballast stones he made agree that they will continue to take care of his business this time; there is also a cooper from the Ming Dynasty, and the barrels he makes are really unique; But the small marine pump is a bit more troublesome, so I have to go to the city to buy it...

And just when An Jiye and others started to buy accessories, Zamparini and Zhu Chengdong had reached the intersection of the industrial zone, where there was a wooden house where the police rested, and a notice was pasted on the outer wall of the wooden house.Zhu Chengdong went over to take a look, but it was a notice issued by the Luoqia County Government. The content was roughly that the houses in the industrial area (actually a shantytown) were simple, unreasonable in design, and extremely poor in fire protection. They needed to be rebuilt into brick structures as soon as possible; In addition, the shocking sanitation situation here is also unbearable, and rectification is urgently needed, otherwise it may induce plague and so on.All in all, the residents and workshops here need to pay a renovation fee. In addition, the governments at the county and town levels will also provide a sum of funds—perhaps exercising their corvee collection rights to recruit a batch of labor—to be used together for the renovation of shanty towns. , that is to build complete sewage facilities and sewage treatment facilities, and gradually transform old and fire-prone wooden houses into brick and tile houses.This project is expected to be completed gradually in three years, so as not to affect the daily operation of each workshop as much as possible.

Not to mention that, Zhu Chengdong and others also found that a group of Congolese laborers were leveling the road at the intersection. It seemed that the road was being repaired here.After going forward to chat with the supervisor, Zhu Chengdong and the two quickly figured out the reason. It turned out that this was before the administrative office of the Xiling area was revoked—the executive committee had officially revoked the two areas of Xiling and the capital, and transferred the Dongfang The three counties of Qinghai, Luoqia, and Qingdao were allocated to the Government Administration Council for direct control-the approved projects have only been delayed due to lack of labor force.Now that hundreds of Congolese migrant workers have finally been allocated, the Rocha county government hastily allocated them to build a light rail—a light rail linking the industrial area, the wharf, and the railway station.

In fact, it is understandable if you think about it. With the increasing scale of the marine industry in Luocha Port, the importance of this spontaneously formed industrial zone has become more and more important, to the point where the officials and gentlemen of the Luocha County Government can no longer ignore it.Therefore, in the case of extremely tight labor force, the governments at the county and town levels are still gnashing their teeth to renovate the environment of the industrial zone, and at the same time plan to lay a light rail line about four to five kilometers in length directly to this place.This will naturally take up a lot of labor, but in front of the determined Luocha County Government, none of this is insurmountable.As long as the light rail line is connected, the passenger/freight carriages of the Rocha Streetcar Company can go directly to this place, pulling a large amount of local output directly to the wharf and the railway station, and business owners in the industrial area no longer have to take the potholed dirt road ( Not even the third-class national highway) to the urban area, the logistics cost is greatly reduced, and the convenience is greatly improved.

In addition, the Luocha County government also intends to order a set of large-scale steam transmissions from the No. 360 Heavy Machinery Factory in Tieling County.The total horsepower of this device has reached an astonishing [-] horsepower (apparently a considerable horsepower reserve is reserved for the future), and it has dozens of shafting interfaces for portable machines to access processing parts (the government only charges a very low power rental fee , and most of the proceeds are used for maintenance of machinery and equipment)——taking advantage of this shanty town renovation, the so-called central power workshop will be built, and the processing capacity of this industrial area will be greatly improved in the future. It can also be seen from this It shows the good intentions of the Luoqia County Government to develop productivity.

After waiting for more than ten minutes, Zhu Chengdong and Zamparini waited for a carriage to deliver beer back to the industrial area. After negotiating the price with the driver, they took the carriage and returned to the urban area.In the afternoon, the two split up. Zhu Chengdong went to buy a boat ticket to Yancheng Port, while Zamparini went to the Oceanic Bureau to apply for a fishing license.

After finishing all this, it was already the first light of the day, and Zhu Chengdong, who returned from the Port Authority, waved away two Italian prostitutes wearing Ming-style jackets—these little Italian girls obviously knew how to do business. In most countries, jackets are more able to arouse men's "desire to conquer" them. Of course, they can also take money out of men's pockets more easily through this - and then received the news that they just finished talking with the comrades in the port authority. Zamparini.

"Uncle Zan, I haven't bought a ticket. The ship of the Messenger Liner Company has just left, and the next one will be in a month; It will take more than a month for the boat of its shareholder), which is too long. Therefore, I found a familiar fishing boat. The owner of the boat was very nice and promised to take us to Yancheng Port for free, but they had to turn to The port of Shangcheng sent a group of immigrants, um, to help the State Development Administration. You see, if it is suitable, we will..." Zhu Chengdong said to Zamparini helplessly.

"It's very suitable, it's free, why not?" Zamparini took a puff on his cigarette, patted Zhu Chengdong's shoulder with a smile, and said.

(End of this chapter)