I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 156 I’m afraid they won’t understand
  In families of this era, three or five children was normal, seven or eight children was not uncommon, and those with ten or more were considered Russian heroes.

But when a Cossack couple brought ten children, all around ten years old, and said they were all their children, no matter how stupid they were, they knew what was going on.

Your decuplets--

The key point is that even the hair colors are different. Some are black, some are blond, and some are reddish. Why is there a genetic mutation in your family?

"If the Cossack family has too many children and cannot afford to raise them, they can give them away -" Ye Luoxin tried hard to make George accept this fact.

Okay, for George, it’s just a matter of more people opening their mouths.

Ekaterina had something to do. She and Dalia had been doing everything themselves since the first day the Cossacks arrived in Vladivostok. Today they sent food to the children, tomorrow they sent clothes, and the day after tomorrow they were worried that the children would have no playmates. Yekaterina actually asked Mikhail to buy a dog from the Qing Empire.

George firmly rejected this behavior.

How can children have nothing to do? Children under the age of 12 have to go to school.

After the age of 12, if you choose to work, you can enter a factory and start as an apprentice, both men and women.

It’s really not that George exploits child labor, but that in this era, it is normal to start working at the age of 12, let alone 10 years old. Children from poor families are not qualified to enjoy life.

Britain is the most advanced country.

But in the UK, child labor is also common in factories.

There was not even a concept of "child labor" in this era.

The only thing George can do is to develop a stricter system for the factory as much as possible, provide workers with the best possible protection, and provide workers with opportunities to improve themselves.

If you want to enter the factory, your hair must be cut off, or at least not long, because last year a worker's braid was caught in the machine, and the scene was horrific.

All factories provide uniform clothing, and one sheepskin jacket is required for each person. One jacket is issued every year, which counts as factory benefits, and workers do not need to pay extra.

The food standard in the factory is also quite good. George strictly requires factory managers to have meals with the workers, even if George goes to inspect the factory.

Factory 201, located at the foot of Sikhote Mountain, is currently the largest factory in Vladivostok, with 400 workers.

Factory 201 mainly produces black powder. The technology for smokeless gunpowder is available, but it is not produced because it is not currently available.

Smokeless gunpowder is mainly used for military purposes. The current demand in Vladivostok is mainly black gunpowder, which can be used in mountaineering, mining, road construction and quarrying.

Gunpowder factories have extremely strict safety requirements. Hot water circulation is used for heating in the factory area, and open flames are strictly prohibited. Once anyone is found violating the regulations, no matter who it is, they will be sent directly to mining.

Workers here have signed work agreements with the factory for at least five years and are not allowed to leave the factory before the end of the agreement.

The treatment is naturally excellent, 30 kopecks per person per day. This standard is second to none even in St. Petersburg.

When George came to the factory, it happened to be lunch time, so George went directly to the restaurant and had lunch with the workers.

"George, this is against the rules-" Mikhail reminded George that there was no need to do this.

"Does it mean that if I have a meal in the workers' canteen, I will no longer be a super duke?" George did not think that this would affect his status.

The princes of St. Petersburg were aloof, but the empire was overthrown by the bourgeoisie and ultimately taken advantage of by the workers.

So George would rather treat workers better and avoid middlemen at all.

"That's not a big deal." Mikhail could no longer find a reason to persuade him.

"Who are the workers? They help us make money." George persuaded patiently. Mikhail was not a bad person, but he just didn't turn around.

"How much do we need to spend every month to maintain the operation of this factory?" George hoped that Mikhail could truly understand instead of going against the rules.

"About 1000 rubles -" Mikhail knew very well that he had signed all the money.

"Then how much money will be spent on workers' food expenses?" George did not want to share the joys and sorrows with the workers, but hoped to use this method to warn factory managers not to deduct workers' food expenses.

George was also a worker in his previous life, and he knew the middle-level leaders of the company very well.

The company's most demanding employee is not the boss. Employees help the boss make money. How could the boss not like employees who can help him make money?

The most abominable thing is the so-called middle-level leaders who only know how to take the wolf culture as a bible. Let’s not talk about their abilities. They are all good at deceiving superiors and deceiving subordinates. Without them, the company’s profits would have increased by at least half.

George has set relatively high food standards for the factory. The monthly food expenses are paid in full and on time, and there are absolutely no problems such as arrears and deductions.

If the money is not actually used to feed workers, the factory management will be in big trouble.

The director of Factory 201 is also named Alexander, a relative of Ekaterina's natal family. I don't know if he is the eldest nephew of George's third grandfather or the younger brother of his second aunt.

After hearing George's words, Alexander's face turned pale and he was dumbfounded.

"Alexander, do you have any questions?" Mikhail said directly.

"No, absolutely not -" Alexander was startled and sweating profusely. George didn’t ask any further questions. He could tell at a glance if there were any questions.

The environment of the workers' canteen is quite good, and the hygiene standards are acceptable. There is no oil stains on the table tops and no water on the floor. The only thing is that the lighting conditions are not very good.

There is no way around this. Vladivostok does not have the conditions for large-scale use of glass, and it needs to be kept warm in winter, so the doors and windows are tightly blocked, and the lighting is provided by oil lamps around the restaurant.

Anyone who has used oil lamps knows that the fumes are very strong, and over time, the walls of the restaurant will be blackened.

And the key point is that this is a gunpowder factory. If you use an open flame directly, does it comply with safety standards?
  There's nothing you can do if you don't comply.

Even Yuriev Palace has just started using electric lights, and it is still early for the gunpowder factory to use electricity.

The food for the workers was not bad, including potatoes stewed with cabbage and vermicelli, and a large piece of fish on top. The staple food was black bread, and the after-dinner fruit was half a radish per person.

"What is the daily meal standard for workers?" George was not afraid that Alexander would not tell the truth. There was no need to check the factory's accounts for how much the food cost. Yuriev Palace had records.

George developed Vladivostok, and his first project was a farm.

Now all the ingredients on the workers’ tables are provided by the farm. Factory purchasing staff can’t get any rebates if they want, and the farm also has accounts.

"Ten kopecks," Mikhail answered on Alexander's behalf.

George looked at Zhirkov, who was the head of purchasing at the Yuriev Palace.

Zhirkov frowned, guessing that this thing was not worth ten kopecks.

"The factory provides three meals a day, we can only do this." Alexander was about to cry. He was nervous not because George checked the accounts, but because he was afraid that Ekaterina would settle the accounts later.

Although it was George's initiative to dine in the workers' restaurant.

But if Catherine knew about this, Alexander would be in trouble.

Alexander and George have relatives, so they don’t have to worry about losing their jobs. Their whole family lives in Vladivostok. They have money but can’t spend it. Why do they need money?

There is no doubt that factories in the era of planned economy were so pure. At most, the factory leaders could take advantage when distributing benefits. Direct corruption was impossible.

George also made an empiricist error, bringing the situation from the 21st century into the 19th century, but he still did not understand this era well enough.

As the factory director, Alexander can do nothing, but if he acts recklessly, he will risk being left idle even if he will not be held accountable.

The salary of the factory director is definitely much higher than that of the workers. As long as he keeps working hard, he does not need to achieve much, and George will not treat him badly.

If you understand this, you are already a qualified factory director.

To put it bluntly, the idea of ​​having the right not to become obsolete only belongs to the grassroots class who have no foundation and no expectations for the future.

Vladivostok is now like a family business. Blood ties are the strongest ties. No one is stupid enough to cut off the future of their descendants for a little money.

If there was such a fool, George would not be polite.

With such an old man, I probably wouldn't be able to teach a very smart son.

"Then why are you nervous?" George was still pleased. People in this era are still simple.

Simple is good.

People are afraid of being too smart.

Alexander did not dare to answer this question and looked at Mikhail with pleading eyes.

"It is impossible for a factory with hundreds of people to have no problems at all. Alexander has never managed such a large factory before. He needs to accumulate experience." Mikhail took the initiative to speak justice for Alexander.

"Very good, I'll give you time to accumulate experience, but you have to remember that you can only take what I give you, not yours. You can't reach out." George was prepared for a rainy day.

Although no problem has been found, it is still necessary to blow dry.

So after eating, George and his team came to the conference room again.

George now finally knew why there were so many meetings.

"Vladivostok industry has just started, and there are endless possibilities in the future - if you want to make money, I will give you the opportunity. You can act as an agent for Vladivostok industrial products and sell them anywhere in the world. I will give you the best price and all profits will be made." It’s all yours.”

"If you want to use your position and power to make money, then think about the consequences of doing so. Not only will you be sent to mine, but your children, family members, and relatives will forever lose opportunities within the Vladivostok system."

"Now this factory only has 400 people. In the future, its scale will continue to expand to 4000 or even 40000 people. We will have more factories in the future, and Vladivostok also needs more officials. These positions will be determined by your performance." The best people serve.”

George didn’t want to say something too obscure, for fear that these people wouldn’t understand.

(End of this chapter)