Ming Zuo

Chapter 822 Factory
There were many guests who came to celebrate Miss Zuo's first birthday, and the gifts they gave each one became more expensive.

There is only one exception.

"We are paupers, so we can only give this as a present. Don't dislike it, Miss."

Jiang Wei held Zuo Xuanyan in his arms, watching the little girl play happily with his gift, smiling all over her face.

The gift Jiang Wei gave was a palm-sized puppy made of brass.

This thing is ordinary, but Zuo Xuanyan just likes it, and has been holding it in her hand for a day.

This made Jiang Wei very face-saving.

"You, Prime Minister Jiang, call you poor, and there are no rich people in this world."

Of course Jiang Wei is not a pauper.

As a cabinet minister and minister of industry, his salary is astonishing, not to mention the wealth he handles.

However, Jiang Wei was born as a poor scholar, and he has never forgotten his roots.It is not good to be extravagant, not to enjoy, and never to spend more money on meaningless places.

Even the puppy given to Zuo Xuanyan was made by artisans at his own expense.

But for such a gift, it is more sincere.

Jiang Wei didn't want to talk about his own life problems, but turned to work.

"Qin Guoshi and the others have submitted a report, intending to build a steam engine factory. This is a big matter, and I need to ask for your opinion."

Hearing that a steam engine factory was going to be built, Zuo Menggeng took it seriously.

"Have they perfected their steam engine?"

Jiang Wei smiled wryly and shook his head.

"How can it be so easy? It is still a small problem in three days, a big problem in five days, and problems continue."

Zuo Menggeng didn't understand this.

"Then why set up a factory?"

Jiang Wei's answer made him understand that there was an error in his original thinking.

"Even if the steam engine has a lot of problems, it is still much faster than manual water pumping. All the mines have noticed it, and they have come to buy it one after another. The quantity is really quite a lot."

Zuo Menggeng understood.

Although the world's first pumping steam engine is far from perfect and has a high failure rate, it seems that it is not practical enough, but I am afraid of comparison.

Once compared with the efficiency of manual labor, this steam engine with many problems is far superior.

Even if it takes a lot of time to maintain the machine, it is still faster than manual pumping.

After all, the amount of water pumped by a steam engine for half a day is comparable to that of a hundred ordinary workers for five days.

The major mines are not fools, so they naturally know how to choose.

"Since this is the case, it is a good thing to establish a factory. Entering the professional production stage will help improve the process and improve their manufacturing level."

The first steam engine was hand-crafted bit by bit by the team led by Qin Luo and Li Meizhi.

Because of this, the various processes are not rigorous enough, and the materials used are not good enough, so there are constant problems.

If a factory is established and the production of steam engines is standardized, then the production process can be used to gradually improve the technical level and promote the practical ability of steam engines.

Another one, since there are already orders, it means that there is income.

Qin Luo and others can use the income to feed back into the research and development of the steam engine, which can not only save expenses, but also generate income.

This is naturally what Zuo Menggeng likes to hear.

Over the years, his personal investment in the steam engine team alone has exceeded [-] taels of silver.

The expenditure approved by the cabinet and the Ministry of Finance exceeded [-] taels.

There have always been people who have been criticizing that it is a waste of money to invest in the research and development of steam engines.

Despite the strong support of Zuo Menggeng and the cabinet, if no results are seen, the pressure of this kind of public opinion will increase, and even cause dissension.

The establishment of a steam engine factory now, and external sales to create profits and income, can well block criticism, and can also further deepen the research on steam engines.

This is a good thing.

Regarding Jiang Wei's proposal, Zuo Menggeng consulted with the cabinet.Finally, it was decided to build a steam engine factory on the open land east of Jinan.

Given that neither Qin Luo nor Li Meizhi had much administrative capacity, Jiang Wei dispatched an experienced official from the Ministry of Industry.

Zuo Menggeng knew the importance of the steam engine, so he specially dispatched a regiment of troops to take charge of the factory's security.

At the end of August, the foundation stone of the factory began.

Zuo Menggeng and all the cabinet officials attended and cut the ribbon for the new factory in person.

This alone makes the outside world aware of the extraordinaryness of this new factory.

Qin Luo and Li Meizhi were appointed as the deputy general manager and chief engineer of the new factory, focusing on the manufacture and development of steam engines.

"Uncle Zuo, we don't have enough manpower. Can the newly graduated students this year be assigned to us?"

The steam engine industry needs to work hard, and what is most lacking is people.

The manpower required here is quite high, and the general labor force is definitely not competent, and must have a certain level of knowledge.

Therefore, Li Meizhi focused on the newly graduated middle school students this year.

With the spread of education in all parts of Shandong, more and more educated young people began to emerge.

In particular, there are more than [-] middle school students graduating this year.

Among them, more than [-] people have entered the university, and the rest are all desperately snatched away as talents.

In this kind of matter, Qin Luo and Li Meizhi obviously couldn't do those old fritters, so they could only ask Zuo Menggeng for help.

The steam engine is very important, without the participation of talents, it is impossible to develop well.

Zuo Menggeng thought for a while, and said: "I can only arrange five hundred people for you, which is already the limit. If it is not enough, there are a group of veterans who will be retired in the army, do you want it?"

Hearing that there were only five hundred people, Qin Luo and Li Meizhi were a little disappointed.

But there is no way, even Zuo Menggeng can only do this.

The new batch of graduates has been divided up long ago, and the bulk of the demand is the Ministry of Education itself.

All walks of life need talents, and education itself needs it even more.

The speed of new schools in Shandong is very fast, but the teaching staff cannot keep up.

Especially the grassroots teachers are full of vacancies everywhere, waiting for manpower everywhere.

Therefore, before the graduates of this year left the campus, Xu Ruolin waved her hand and intercepted [-] people.

If someone else did this, Zuo Menggeng would definitely ask.

But since she is his own wife, for the safety of the house, Commander Zuo had no choice but to recognize her by pinching his nose.

Although only [-] people were obtained, Qin Luo and Li Meizhi were somewhat relieved to hear that retired soldiers would also arrange to come.

Retired soldiers not only know how to fight, they also need to learn culture in the army.

To put it bluntly, the soldiers of the new army are likely to be better educated than the junior high school graduates.

Moreover, there is no competition for the retired soldiers for the time being, Zuo Menggeng can arrange all of them to the steam engine factory.

Looking up at the signboard of "First Power Machinery Manufacturing Factory", Zuo Menggeng was full of new trends.

He had a premonition that in his lifetime, he would definitely be able to see the day when steam warships roamed the world.

(End of this chapter)