Chapter 400: Civilian Workshop
Mr. Erkins got up early today. When it was still light, he began to wash and dress, and carefully trimmed his beard. After a hasty breakfast, he hurried to his workplace - an iron workshop located outside the lake town.
When he arrived, all the employees in the workshop were already there.
Erkins stood on a wooden box and said very seriously: "Perform well today! Be in high spirits!"
"Don't worry, boss!"
"I will never let others look down on me!"
The employees responded one after another.
Today, a big shot is coming to visit!
Erkins was born in 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 always a little less popular than the previous hot pursuit.
The reason for this phenomenon is the development of technology.
First, it was because Earl Graman 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, which needed a large number of metal parts. At the beginning, they were customized from folk blacksmith shops. However, folk blacksmith shops are generally unique workshops that are passed down from father to son, scattered in various places in Arda, and it takes a lot of time to go back and forth.
Moreover, Earl Graman's requirements for the size of various parts can be described as "abnormal", and he also invented a measuring tool called "vernier caliper". However, for various reasons, the quality of products manufactured by those small shops varies. So the machinery factory began to train its own blacksmiths.
As the lord of a territory, the Graman family itself has some blacksmiths who have served them for generations, and they can be said to be the most skilled blacksmiths in the entire Arda. For example, Mr. Herman, who Erkins admired the most before, 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 Huxin Town.
Now Earl Graman has arranged all these people to the machinery factory, and adopted a method similar to the education of students at Weiss College, vigorously recruiting and training blacksmith apprentices. Unlike blacksmiths in other places who are required to have all-round skills, the Earl only requires them to be able to make one device, but they must hone their skills to perfection. These newly trained young blacksmiths repeat a set of simple actions day after day in the so-called "workshop". Some slightly complicated things will even be completed by several people in a row, each person only completes a part of it, and then hand it over to the next person until the whole work is formed.
However, the inspection of the results of each stage is also strict, and there are special people watching each link, holding measuring tools to check. Blacksmiths with too low a pass rate will have their wages cut or even lose their jobs. For civilians, the salary in the machinery factory is still quite generous, so everyone works diligently.
Not only blacksmiths, but also carpenters in the machinery factory adopt such a set of working methods.
After meeting the demand for parts of large machinery such as carriages and harvesters, the machinery factory began to produce some small products, such as hoes, rakes, pitchforks and other common farm tools, and the price of selling them to the outside world was very low.
This greatly affected the livelihoods of those traditional craftsmen.
But what squeezed them was the workshops under the name of the dignified Lord of Arda. As civilians, no one dared to stand up and organize the craftsmen to fight against the lord.
When they were poor, they thought of change. Some craftsmen with rich family backgrounds began to expand their production scale, recruit blacksmiths and carpenters to join their production team, and learn the way of working in the machinery factory. One workshop after another was forced to be born.
Strangely enough, in the face of competitors in a sense, Earl Graman not only did not hide, but also summoned these new workshop owners to visit his machinery factory, let them carefully observe the work process in the machinery factory, and announced that they would be encouraged to start a business and exempt from tax for three years.
Erkins is one of the workshop owners who transformed from a traditional blacksmith.
Looking back on the days when I just started my business, it is really hard to describe.
Although Erkins had some family background as a blacksmith for generations, that little money was far from enough to purchase a site, recruit workers, and buy tools.
Erkins tried to raise funds at the stock exchange in Fulan Port, but he was not a traditional business person and had no reputation to attract others, so he had to borrow money from relatives and friends in the traditional way, and finally established the workshop with some difficulties.
However, due to the first-mover advantage of the Huxin Town Machinery Factory, it quickly occupied the market with its low price and good quality. Many folk workshops were struggling desperately on the edge of life and death, and those who could not struggle were quietly finished.
Erkins' workshop also suffered such a bad fate. Just when he felt that he could not hold on, he was discouraged and wanted to disband the workshop, and then find a job in the lord's machinery factory and work to pay off his debts for the rest of his life, a turning point came.
Under the leadership of Earl Graman, the lords of the northwest established a so-called company called "Northwest Industries", whose main business was to sell arms to the royal government in the south.
The factory owners who had not yet closed down and went bankrupt were summoned to the Lord's Mansion for a meeting. The Earl claimed that he had found a way to make money for them, that is, 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 weapons such as swords and armor, and would not constitute competition, so they could feel at ease and produce boldly.
And they did not have to worry about transportation and other links, Northwest Industry would solve them by itself, as long as they delivered the goods on time.
There were two more requirements: one was to unify the style so that customers could form an impression and see at a glance that it was something produced in Northwest Bay. The second was to strictly control the quality.
As soon as Earl Graman 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 the field of weapons.
Although many of them were still cursing in their hearts why the Earl's machinery factory did not leave them some way to live when they entered the gate of the Lord's Mansion.
No mistakes, one post, one content, one content, one book, one forum, one 6, one 9!
Erkins was in tears in the lobby at that time, and he almost lost his life.
He sincerely thanked the Earl.
Later, he found out that there was a rebellion in the far south, and the royal government was buying weapons everywhere.
Erkins sighed, thinking that he should pay more attention to current affairs. He would not have the opportunity to make a fortune if he only focused on the small piece of land around him. After thinking about it again, he wondered if the Earl had established Northwest Industry to find a way out for us unlucky people, and then he was amused by his somewhat absurd idea.
Next, the continuous orders for military equipment from the south saved the civilian workshops, not only standing firm, but also making a fortune. Erkins also joined the ranks of the rich.
However, with the end of the war to suppress the rebellion, the demand for military equipment in the south dropped sharply.
Continuing to look for new business opportunities became Erkins' top priority.
Just when he was scratching his head, the Lord's Mansion released news that another big customer had come from Jiaowan.
Erkins' workshop was chosen for new customers to visit, and the Earl personally led the customers there.