dmims Page 141
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Karl, the German, was truly impressed. The Chinese government and officials were incredibly wise. No wonder Europe had admired and longed for China for centuries. Their political wisdom was something that old Europe would have taken decades to comprehend.
Before this, Karl believed that the exploitation and enslavement of workers in Europe was normal because there was no comparison; everyone did it, so he could just follow suit.
But now that he has seen the new approach, he immediately became a supporter, preferring to deal with the constant strikes rather than employing a group of apathetic and inefficient workers who could rebel at any moment.
He believes that the Chinese approach of making appropriate concessions, taking a step back, and compromising is very good. It has increased workers' enthusiasm and efficiency, and made him, as the boss, less worried.
Although the cost of producing goods is slightly higher than in Europe, it is entirely acceptable compared to the cost of worker instability.
Carl even suggested that the corporate pension ratio could be increased by one percentage point to better incentivize workers' productivity.
Since we've already regressed, let's regress a little more. If we don't have enough working hours, let's boost our work enthusiasm and make up for the lack of time with efficiency.
The other board members agreed after hearing this; if they had already invested 5%, why should they care if it increased to 6%?
Chapter 234 The Overbearing Guild
The newly expanded factory needs to recruit more than 1,500 employees. The basic salary is five yuan per month, with one day off per week. Food and accommodation are provided, the company pays social insurance, and there are also annuity benefits.
However, the requirement is at least a primary school education, or the ability to recognize at least 200 characters and understand and perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of Arabic numerals up to 100.
The board of directors has already set very low standards for hiring employees. At the very least, the employees they hire must be able to read a few words and do arithmetic, otherwise they will be useless. At the very least, they must be able to understand danger warning signs.
After the job posting was put up, a long queue formed at the company's entrance that very day. There were quite a few farmers coming to the city to work, especially in big cities like Shanghai, where the siphon effect was particularly obvious.
The municipal government dispatched police to help maintain order, and the vice mayor also called to thank Chen Jiaxie and Tongda Power Company for their contributions to Shanghai's employment market, and hinted that Tongda Power Company would definitely be included in this year's industrial subsidy list.
The municipal government is very concerned about the employment of Shanghai residents. These are all achievements. When the employment rate is high, people's income will be high. When people have income, the market will be prosperous. When the market is prosperous, the economy will grow rapidly.
Shanghai's population has now exceeded three million. A large number of farmers from the Jiangnan region and even other provinces in the south and central China are flocking to Shanghai in search of opportunities. The area of Shanghai's urban area is constantly expanding, and the urban population is growing rapidly.
There's no way around it; Shanghai's geographical location is simply too advantageous. Not only is it a coastal city, but it's also the outlet to the sea for the Yangtze River, China's longest inland waterway. It's naturally a bridgehead for China's foreign trade.
In recent years, the Republican government has been increasing its support for Shanghai's development, intending to build it into a core city in the Jiangnan region, encompassing multiple sectors such as industry, finance, and trade.
The plan to upgrade core cities, which is currently under development, has already included Shanghai in the list.
It is expected that Shanghai will be upgraded to a special municipality next year, and the mayor will be promoted to a ministerial level official. Once the population exceeds five million, Shanghai will be separated from Jiangsu Province and become a special municipality, with the mayor and deputy mayors both at the ministerial level, and their subordinate officials will also be promoted one level.
Based on the current population and economic growth rate, it is estimated that Shanghai will become a special city around 1915.
The People's Republic of China now has household registration and ID cards, but there are no restrictions. Household registration only represents information about your family unit and does not restrict anything else.
Under the new policies of the People's Republic of China, the civil affairs system does not distinguish between urban and rural residents. There is a difference between urban and rural areas, but there is no difference between people. If you live in the city, you are an urban resident; if you live in the countryside, you are a rural resident.
You are a local based on where you live, not on where your household registration is located.
There is no such thing as "settling down" in the People's Republic of China. After entering Shanghai, there is no difference between outsiders and locals in the eyes of the authorities. Administratively, the government will not give locals any preferential treatment, nor will it discriminate against outsiders.
No local government dares to introduce preferential policies that only target local residents, and even private enterprises dare not say that they only hire local people, because that would be unconstitutional.
Article 1 of the Constitution states that all citizens of the People's Republic of China are equal in politics!
This means that all Chinese people have legitimate political rights and are equal, unless a court orders the deprivation of political rights; otherwise, you are no different from everyone else.
This political right, to put it bluntly, is the right to distribute. As long as you do not break the law and fulfill your civic duties, you will have all the rights that a citizen should enjoy.
You have the right to enjoy all the welfare policies and preferential measures of the government. No matter what the Shanghai Municipal Government does, as long as it is beneficial, both locals and non-locals can get a share. As long as you live, work and reside in Shanghai, you have the right to enjoy these benefits.
When it comes to buying a house, going to school, getting a job, getting medical care, and retiring, everyone is treated equally. There may be some underhanded dealings involving personal connections, but no one dares to violate this ironclad rule openly.
The locals were quite indignant about this, but they were powerless against the powerful, because the main core officials of the municipal government were all from out of town, and none of them cared about the locals' protests; they only cared about their political achievements and promotions.
Tongda Company's recruitment went very smoothly, with job seekers coming one after another. Although there was no shortage of job opportunities in downtown Shanghai, no one wanted to work in the wind and rain outside if they could work in a factory.
The only hiccup was when the labor union came looking for us. There are labor unions in Shanghai, and many cities in China now have labor union organizations. The Communist International members in these unions are notoriously difficult to deal with.
The union even has professional lawyers and action teams. If the company is willing to talk about the law, then the union will be very reasonable. But if the company likes to play dirty tricks, the union also has plenty of people to play dirty tricks with you.
Even the government finds unions difficult to deal with, so businesses are even less willing to provoke them. Those crazy people with red armbands like to whip people with belts at the slightest disagreement.
Some domineering companies, relying on their local power, ignore labor unions and even retaliate against union members. But the unions immediately mobilize people from all over the country to launch demonstrations and protests, legally and legitimately engaging in gang fights with them, and taking advantage of the chaos to destroy them.
Enterprises may have local connections, but labor unions are under the command of the Comintern. They can gather a large number of people not only from all over the country, but also from overseas.
You can't beat them. The companies simply can't beat them. Many of the action members in the union are veterans of the war, including fanatical party members from the SS, and even elite mountain divisions who followed Wu Zifu on the expedition to Tibet. Trying to provoke them is like courting death.
Besides, it's useless to try to find people or connections. The core members of the guild have all worked in the capital, and their connections are incredibly powerful.
Corporate capitalists now dare not bare their teeth at labor unions; they only dare to reason and talk about the law in a peaceful manner.
When the Shanghai Municipal Federation of Trade Unions approached Tongda Power Company, Chen Jiaxie did not dare to be negligent and personally received them. The other directors of the board also attended the meeting with great respect.
The person who came to their door was the president of the Shanghai Municipal Federation of Trade Unions. This man was formerly the deputy chief of staff of Wu Zifu's elite Sixth Mountain Division. Before retiring, he was a proper army lieutenant colonel and an absolutely ruthless person who had taken countless lives.
Fortunately, the union's demands were not unreasonable. They requested that 100 recruitment slots be allocated to the union for its allocation, and the union promised to provide personnel strictly in accordance with the recruitment requirements.
After joining the company, employees do not require any preferential treatment from Tongda Power Company; they only ask to be treated equally.
At the same time, the union also announced that it would recruit union members within Tongda Power Company, not Communist Party members, but just ordinary union members.
This is just a notification; Tongda Power Company's consent is not required. Participating in various organizations is a citizen's legal right, and as long as they are not officially prohibited cults or terrorist organizations, they are all permitted.
The board of directors quickly agreed to this request, as they had no interest in employees' political leanings and only cared about their work efficiency.
The labor union did not comment on the employee benefits provided by Tongda Power Company, which were in violation of legal regulations. As long as it is legal, no matter how powerful the labor union is, it cannot interfere.
However, the union requested to see the employee meals and accommodation provided by Tongda Power Company. The board of directors responded reasonably, saying that the meals were unremarkable, with unlimited mixed grain rice, mainly vegetarian dishes, and occasionally a little meat.
Accommodation is all in dormitories, with a dozen or twenty people crammed into one room. There are shared toilets and showers, and employees are responsible for their own hygiene management.
If you can eat your fill, have a place to sleep, and the hygiene is acceptable, then you're considered to be doing well, and the union has no reason to keep nitpicking.
Finally, the chairman left satisfied, taking the recruitment slots back to distribute the spoils. Before leaving, he also placed an order with Tongda Power Company to show his support.
Trade unions in the Republic are all registered and legal non-governmental organizations with a single function: to protect the legitimate rights and interests of workers and peasants. They never distribute rice, flour, or cooking oil during holidays, nor do they give any gifts. Trade unions only appear when there are illegal acts of oppression against workers and peasants.
The union's funds now mainly rely on the profits of its own industries. Wu Zifu, Xinuoer and others did not leave the Revival Party empty-handed. When Xinuoer left, he only took a sum of money from the Revival Party's accounts.
But when Wu Zifu left, he took almost half of the Fuxing Party with him. Zhao Yan was never stingy with Wu Zifu, and the division of assets was very clear. Most of the assets that originally belonged to the Fuxing Party were taken away by Wu Zifu. Even Zhang Xinghua was almost furious. He had never seen such a biased master.
After Wu Zifu returned to power following the establishment of the Comintern, the organization acquired a large amount of assets within the Republic. Although its branches in various regions were not wealthy, they at least had enough money to maintain operations.
This is also why trade unions within the Republic can be so powerful, because they really have money and manpower to operate independently, and some enterprises even have to rely on trade union orders to maintain their business.
In some cases, shares of companies were even allocated to labor unions. For example, five percent of the shares of the Hanyang Arsenal were held by the labor union, and the land leased by some manufacturing workshops of the Jiangnan Shipyard was also owned by the labor union.
These were originally assets of the Revival Party, but after the division of the party, they were given to Wu Zifu as dowry and taken to the Comintern.
This time, Tongda Power Company's performance satisfied the Shanghai Municipal Federation of Trade Unions. The chairman directly placed an order for fifty cars. Sometimes the trade union needs a rapid response force, and cars are a perfect fit for the needs of the trade union action team.
However, the number of passengers was too small, which displeased the union. They demanded that Tongda Power Company design a multi-purpose long van that could carry more people and even cargo, so that the union's action teams could deploy a large number of people at once.
If they find them convenient, the union will purchase more cars in the future. After all, these things are much more convenient than horse-drawn carriages, and they can travel long distances. As long as you carry enough gasoline, you can go anywhere.
This is practically the perfect reinforcement vehicle for group fights. A horse-drawn carriage can only accommodate three or four people at most, and they have to travel slowly. Even a modern five-seater car can squeeze in six or seven people. If you hang a few more on the roof and doors, you can easily fit ten or more people in one vehicle. It's faster and more agile than a horse-drawn carriage.
The Jetta cars that Tongda Auto is now manufacturing, which are based on designs and technology patents purchased from Beijing, are excellent. The union especially likes the trunk design, which not only allows for an extra spare tire in emergencies but also holds a lot of guns and grenades. If any capitalist dares to provoke them, four or five Jettas will drive over.
Before the car had even come to a complete stop and the doors were even open, the other party fled in a panic.
The only pity is that Tongda Power Company's production volume is too small and the price is too high. A car costs more than 1,700 yuan and we have to wait in line until the year after next for delivery.
The trade union could only collect goods from the market. The Shanghai Municipal Trade Union had fifteen taels of Jetta cars. Their performance certainly couldn't compare to the Jetta cars of later generations, but it was enough.
The union's Jetta cars are marked with small red flags on both sides of the front, making them very conspicuous wherever they go. People can immediately tell whose car it is, who is inside, and what is in the trunk.
Workers and farmers greeted the Jetta with a red flag with smiles, but business owners and capitalists considered it unlucky.
There's a saying circulating in Shanghai's capital circles: if you're walking alone under a streetlamp at night and see a Jetta with a red flag driving up behind you, you should quickly think about what you've been up to lately. When the car stops and the door opens, the first thing you'll see is a gun. You should immediately beg for mercy, or you'll regret it when you're stuck on a streetlamp.
This joke is exaggerated, but it is indeed something that labor unions have done. Only when capitalists are too outrageous, exploiting people to the point of death, and then denying it, will labor unions do this.
The government can't do anything about this. The union will leave the murderer behind after the work is done, waiting for the police to come and turn him in. The police don't even need to collect evidence or witnesses; the union provides the whole set.
In the end, at best you can exile the murderer to a reformatory, but the people there have connections, and the union members there are doing just as well.
Business people have come to regard union members as "legal gangsters." The so-called Green Gang in Shanghai, as well as big shots like Huang Jinrong and Du Yuesheng, don't even have the right to sit down and have a cup of tea in front of the union.
The Green Gang is at most a local tyrant, but the union is an internationally organized group. Gangsters worship Guan Yu, but the union hall hangs a portrait of the head of state!
It's no use going to the government; as long as it's legal, the authorities won't interfere. The government treats the labor union as a safety net between labor and management. There are many things that the government can't easily do, so the labor union takes the lead, which saves everyone trouble. Moreover, the government stays in the middle, so it neither offends the investors nor the labor union, making it a win-win situation.
As long as appearances are maintained, no one will completely break off relations; otherwise, no one could bear the consequences.
Chapter 235 China Speed
April 25, 1911, at the newly built factory area of Tongda Power Company.
Chen Jiaxie, along with a group of board members and company management personnel, came to attend the opening ceremony of the new factory.
After the factory expansion project was launched, the new factory was completed in just 45 days, a speed that shocked even the German Karl.
He had never seen such a reckless speed; it seemed that these Chinese people could create any miracle as long as the money was right.
The new factory covers an area of 350 acres and has seven production workshops and five production lines. It is located in Baoshan District, which is an industrial zone planned by the Shanghai Municipal Government. The municipal government completed the site preparation work as early as 1909, and it was just waiting for subsequent enterprises to move in.
Tongda Power Company invested 120,000 yuan in construction funds and launched a full-scale bidding process. They immediately recruited more than 30 construction teams, who worked together to speed up the construction and completed the factory building in just one and a half months.
This thing isn't very complicated; it's just a brick and concrete main body with a steel structure supporting the top. It's much simpler than building a residential building.
Once the money is in place, the construction team will work like crazy to get the job done.
During the inauguration ceremony, the deputy director of the municipal government's industrial department also came to attend. Many business owners and investors from various sectors also came to show their support, and even a vice president of the municipal trade union came to present a flower basket.
The ceremony concluded in a lively atmosphere, after which the people from Tongda Power Company quickly accepted the machinery and equipment for installation.
The equipment ordered locally had already been delivered to the dock warehouse. The Jiangnan Gun and Cannon Bureau and the Hanyang Machinery Factory produced the equipment in just twenty-three days after receiving the order, and then loaded it onto a ship and delivered it to its destination in just five days.
This is yet another example of the astonishing speed of China. While Chinese equipment and products may be of poor quality, lack stability, have poor processing precision, and be expensive, their speed is impeccable.
Some high-precision equipment that cannot be provided domestically has been ordered but is still in the manufacturing process. The fastest that can be ordered is to be loaded onto a ship for shipment. However, domestic manufacturers have already delivered the goods ahead of time.
This speed made Karl feel a little ashamed. He had used his connections to order some high-end equipment from Germany, and after urging them several times, he still hadn't received the telegram indicating that the equipment had been loaded and shipped. He was embarrassed to boast about his connections in Germany, afraid of being laughed at.
In addition to the manufacturers and builders' amazing speed, the newly recruited workers are also full of enthusiasm. Sometimes they don't even need to be assigned tasks; they will take the initiative to find work to do.
Compared to the lifeless, apathetic workers in Europe, the workers here have a light in their eyes and do everything with great effort; there are very few lazy ones.
Even the workers assigned to work by the union are all conscientious and hardworking, without any unnecessary actions, and they strictly abide by the rules during working hours.
On the day the inauguration ceremony ended, three parts processing workshops were already in operation. The workers were all focused on receiving training and gradually integrating into the production process under the guidance of skilled workers.
The other workshops that were still installing equipment were also busy. The workers were happy to help within their capabilities, even if it was work beyond their job scope.
Because their wages are calculated from the moment they are recruited and hired, regardless of whether they have done any work or not, as long as they are at the work location during working hours, they are paid.
Unfortunately, none of the equipment arrived, so they couldn't do anything even if they wanted to. All they could do was help the equipment vendors' installation teams to speed up the installation of the machines.
This was something Karl hadn't anticipated. In Europe, workers generally wouldn't voluntarily do this kind of work outside their job description unless it was mandated.
Chinese workers, on the other hand, have a spirit of taking money and doing their job. They believe that if they get paid, they have to work. In their view, it is a matter of course. They would feel uneasy if they just took the money and did not work.
"How about it? Our workers here are pretty good, aren't they?" Chen Jiaxie asked Karl with a smug look on his face as they walked through the new factory area.
Karl replied sternly, “Indeed, they are very good. This group of energetic and highly motivated workers has a strong desire to create and a strong drive to work, which is much better than in Europe.”
The only regret is that their professionalism is still somewhat lacking. We have to start by teaching them the most basic tools for identification. Many of them can't even distinguish between screws and nuts.
But I think those young people will learn very quickly. As long as they are hardworking enough, they will be qualified workers. I think the wages and benefits we provide are worthwhile.
At least they are well-behaved and obedient, and they work very hard!
Chen Jiaxie nodded and said, "Yes, that's what I think too!"
"Young people can be given more technical positions and more training. They will soon become skilled workers. The jobs on the assembly line are generally not difficult."
"Older workers can be assigned to simpler positions where they only need to exert physical strength; this can be done reasonably."
“In the future, I will need you to find some professional engineers and technicians from Germany to train our company’s people and even participate in and help our production work. The salary is negotiable, but they must be capable people.”
Carl readily agreed: "No problem, it's my responsibility, after all, I'm also one of the company's shareholders."
Karl's name contains the character "von," indicating that he was of Junker noble birth, but he was not the heir to the family line; he belonged to a collateral branch.
Staying in Germany all the time didn't make me any big name for myself. I made a lot of friends and built up a lot of connections, but I just never had an opportunity. Germany's industrial system and market were already mature, so it was really hard for newcomers to have a chance.
Karl was unwilling to give up after constantly hitting walls, until he met Schulz, a diplomat who had returned from China, at a noble banquet. Schulz introduced him to the opportunities in the Far East market and praised the Sino-German relationship and the determination of Chinese leader Zhao Yan to develop industry.
Carl discovered the opportunity during that meeting, and then brought the assets allocated to him by his family to invest in China. After arriving in Shanghai, he immediately recognized the potential of Tongda Power Company and did not hesitate to spend money to buy the company's stock.
In Carl's view, the Chinese were working so hard to build roads, and it was definitely not just for horse-drawn carriages. Highways, national roads, and even specialized expressways were being built all over the country. The Chinese government invested a huge amount of money in these roads, and the Chinese were even borrowing money to build them.
Such astonishing infrastructure development will inevitably be accompanied by a massive number of vehicles driving on it in the future. This is an inevitable result of development, and investing in the vehicle manufacturing industry is sure to be a profitable venture.
Especially now that the Chinese government has officially announced that it will focus on supporting the vehicle manufacturing industry, the government has begun to purchase a large number of cars for official use.
In Chinese society, where officialdom is rampant, this is the clearest signal that, following the example set by the top, the private market will also begin to embrace automobiles.