Struggle in the Steam Age

"Is this the tricky question you are talking about?" After a simple meal of tomato meat sauce noodles as lunch, Lawrence headed to the gear area accompanied by Syfiel. After passing a sewage-filled road, two people Came to the gate of a small factory.

There are several capitalized words written by Robert Iron Works on this gate, but the paint on these iron letters is almost gone, and there is a thick layer of rust in many places, and even Lawrence can see that there are two complete letters on the letters. After being rusted through, let the sun fall down the hole.

　　 "Yes, that's the tricky question." After a train whistle sounded, Syfiel pointed to the factory gate with a small door open and said, "Let's go in and talk about it. Don't stand at the door."

　　 Her proposal is very reasonable, because although the two people are wearing ordinary windbreakers today, such a dress is as dazzling as a beacon in the dark in this factory area. They only stood at the door for a few minutes, and some people around were already looking at it.

　　 After walking into the factory, Lawrence found that the factory was silent. Compared with other factories that keep making noise around, it is obviously a little unusual here.

"According to the prior agreement, Mr. Bass should pay us 900 yuan." In a quiet factory area, Saifei's voice rang, "but after we found out that the son he thought was not his real son, He paid us this small, semi-abandoned factory."

　　 "So many?" Lawrence looked a little surprised. "Are those wealthy people so generous when they spend money, they can actually give 900 yuan for a commission?"

"Normal commissions will naturally not be possible, but when we completed this commission, we helped him save hundreds of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, so the remuneration for this amount was considered reasonable. Only at that time we Only agreed on the amount of money to be paid without agreeing on the payment method, the guy found a loophole and simply took the dilapidated factory to repay the debt."

"This should have been expected by him." Lawrence said, "Selling the factory certainly cannot be a decision made in a snap. It's no wonder whether it is him that he can be so deficient in doing things for profit. Both his wife and his lover chose to betray him."

　　 "But the price of the things inside the site of this factory should be far more than 900 yuan, right?" Lawrence said after turning around the factory, "A miser shouldn't make such a mistake."

　　 "Indeed, these factories plus the machines in them are worth about 12,000 yuan." When Safir signed for the receipt, he naturally made the investigation very clear. "But there is a debt of 11,000 yuan on the book, so it is equivalent to 1,000 yuan."

　　 "You are right, this can be considered a tricky question." Lawrence said while looking at the slightly dilapidated factory building. "Although the land of the whole factory is not large but not small, the machines inside are still well maintained, but the styles are too old. In short, it is difficult for this factory to realize the whole thing, and we have no way to sell separately. ."

"But the matter is not impossible." Lawrence said to Syfiel after a little calculation, "I think I can ask Madame Dan for help. We saved her son before and wanted to come to Madame Fontaine as the local steel tycoon. There should be a way to help us shoot this small factory."

"No, if I simply sell the factory, I wouldn't be able to find anyone. The really tricky part is not here." After Lawrence finished speaking, Syfiel bit his lip and hesitated, then looked up at him. Say. "I think there are some things you should look at—"

　　 Twenty minutes later, they appeared on a street that looked dirty and cramped. The entire block here is where local workers live. There are no sewers or street lights. There are only water pipes placed on a few platforms at the end of the street. Someone guards there to charge everyone who uses the water pipes.

　　The houses on the whole street are all back-to-back houses, which means that the left, right and rear walls of these houses are shared with the surrounding houses, and only the facade of the building has doors and windows. At the same time, these two-story houses look very small, with only one house on each of the upper and lower floors.

　　 Because it is working time, there are not many people on the street. Some three or four-year-old children dressed in tatters and even naked are playing on the road. When Lawrence and the others first stepped into this street, a few inconsistent guys clasped their hands in their pockets, but after he released an acid splash and made a hole in the wall, those guys immediately disappeared.

　　 "Uncle Jimmy, good afternoon." Under the leadership of Safir, Lawrence walked into one of the small rooms with her, and the door was opened to them by a middle-aged man in his 40s with gray hair.

"Good afternoon, Miss Coburg." The man invited Lawrence and the others into his room. After squinting his eyes to adjust to the darkness in the room caused by blocking the broken windows with wooden boards, he found that it was a An extremely simple and crowded room.

　　 A table is placed in the middle of the room, and beside it is a bench of different heights and styles. There was a small stove near the window, and a tattered shelf was nailed to the blackened wall by the stove. On top of it were kettles, pans and pots and some terrible cutlery that looked tattered. On the other side of the room was a bed, and the whole room was packed.

　　 "Sorry, the house is a bit messy." The old worker named Jimmy rubbed his hands awkwardly. "Misters and young ladies like you shouldn't come here. If you have anything to do with me, ask someone to inform me, and then I will visit you."

　　 "This is Mr. August, you can tell him the specifics." Saifei pointed to Lawrence and introduced Jimmy. "It's all up to him to decide what to do next."

　　 "Is that so?" Jimmy looked at Lawrence with excited eyes. "Allow me to introduce this factory. The Robert Iron Factory is one of Mr. Bath's oldest factories. He has been providing various parts for his other factories to ensure the normal operation of the machines in other factories. There are 120 workers working for this factory. They are—"

　　According to Jimmy's introduction, Lawrence got two news, one good and one bad. The good news is that although the machines in this factory are a bit old, both the workers and the overall level of the factory are good. The equipment is even complete because some custom parts need to be manufactured to maintain the machine. Whether it is woodworking metalworking or heat treatment casting, there are corresponding equipment.

　　 But on the other hand, the number of workers in the factory is double that of a factory of the same size. And there is no way for the entire factory to mass-produce a certain product. In particular, this factory originally belonged to a factory that provided logistics for Mr. Bath's other factories, and the products had obvious directivity. But now the market for products has simply disappeared.

　　 "That Mr. Bass is not worried that we will not supply him in the future?" Lawrence asked after hearing Jimmy's thorough introduction of the current situation of the factory.

　　 "Of course he is not afraid." Jimmy looked very angry at this. "Before he opened a new factory with similar functions. In the new factory, he would rather find some new workers for retraining than to pay for the retraining of our old workers~www.ltnovel.com~Skilled like Jimmy The annual salary of a new worker is 200 yuan a year, and a new worker's annual salary is only half of their skilled workers." Saifeier approached Lawrence at this time and said to him on tiptoe. "The so-called training is just an excuse. The new machine is just more efficient and the operation method has not changed much."

Lawrence nodded after listening to Syfiel's words. After all, the machines in the factory are not those with extraordinary powers. There is not much difference between the operation of the old machines decades ago and the new ones. The training is estimated to be one It can be done in two days, and it doesn't cost much.

　　 "I see." Lawrence said after Jimmy's thorough introduction. "You will wait for news from me at home for the time being. If things don't change, I will come up with the final decision within a week."

"Well, sir, I think you are right." Jimmy looked a little depressed, but he also knew that many things could not be concluded immediately, "I hope you can continue to hire me and mine after consideration. Companions, we are indeed not as flexible as young people in their teens and 20s, but I swear each of us is good enough at work."