I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 814 These women dare to say anything
Lao Wan pointed to the factory building in front and said, "In front are the rolling workshop 1 and rolling workshop 2. They are Class B confidential units, so I can't take you to visit."

Hu Yinglin and Wang Shisong didn't care. One of them studied literature, and the other studied law and politics. They visited the factory just for fun and excitement. They didn't understand it anyway.

Marcelo and Leon cursed angrily in their hearts.

Damn confidentiality regulations again!
But they felt somewhat relieved.

The higher the confidentiality level of a unit, the more advanced its technology is and the greater the shock it brings to people.

A forging hammer workshop with a Class C confidentiality level has already shattered my confidence. If I were to visit a Class B unit again, I don't know what kind of impact I would get.

My heart really can't take it, so I'd rather not watch it.

However, the two were still a little unwilling and asked, "What does the rolling workshop specialize in?"

Lao Wan glanced at them and was about to answer when there was a creaking sound on the railroad tracks that were separated from the avenue by a green belt and a fence. Just then, four flatbed cars, pulled by four oxen, came slowly approaching.

Lao Wan pointed at the flatbed truck and said, "Rolling Workshop 1 rolls steel plates, which are the steel plates on the first and second wagons. Rolling Workshop 2 rolls steel pipes, which are the steel pipes on the third and fourth wagons."

Hearing the sound, the five people walked to the bushes in the green belt, stood on tiptoe and leaned their heads to look over there.

I saw layer upon layer of steel plates stacked on the two flatbed carriages in front, about three or four centimeters thick, two meters wide and four meters long.

There were two flatbed wagons at the back, with four wooden poles on both sides, forming a frame. More than 20 steel pipes were stacked in the frame and tied with cloth straps.

When Marcelo and Leon saw the teacup-sized steel pipe, their first thought was gun barrels and cannon barrels!

Could it be that the Ming Dynasty’s guns and cannons were made using this rolling technology?

On second thought, it seems not to be the case.

If it is a factory that makes guns and cannons, I can't even get through the door.

Could it be the gas pipeline that the Ming people have been talking about so much recently?

Lao Wan and the five others continued to move forward. They saw billboards erected on the roadside with propaganda slogans written on them.

"Safety in production comes first!"

"Alarm bells are ringing! Keep safety in mind!"

"Safe production and strict compliance with regulations are the first step."

"Come to work happily and go home safely!"

As I walked and looked along the way, I saw dozens of signs, most of which were about safe production.

I walked to a large wooden sign with words and pictures on it, still promoting safe production.

The core is a series of paintings with bold words surrounding them, annotating the content of the story.

The first painting shows a man lying on a board, with his wife and children crying around him.

"You are careless and don't follow the rules and regulations. If something goes wrong, the following will happen."

The second painting shows a woman entering another house with her children.

"Someone will sleep with your wife."

The third painting shows a man beating two children until they cry.

“Someone will beat your child!”

The fourth painting shows a man eating and drinking lavishly and gambling in a casino.

"Someone will spend your pension money on a lavish life."

The fifth painting shows a man wearing a helmet holding a book and reading it seriously.

"If you don't want this to happen, study the rules and regulations carefully and strictly follow safety production."

Shu Youliang laughed out loud, pointing his finger at the poster board: "This poster is well written, brilliantly written. Yuanrui, Uncle Zhong, what do you think?"

Hu Yinglin and Wang Shisong looked at each other and replied with a smile: "Master Shu, I think it's a bit vulgar."

"Vulgar?" Shu Youliang laughed even louder, "It is indeed vulgar, but the beauty of it lies in its vulgarity.

What kind of people are most of the steel mill workers? They are peasants from the capital, mountain dwellers from Yanshan, illiterate, rough, all rough.

Wang Shisong asked, “Master Shu, but I read in the newspaper that all the major factories and mines in Luanzhou have literacy classes. After a few years, more than 70% of the workers have a literacy rate of more than 1,000 words and have gotten rid of illiteracy.

This matter was even praised by the Ministry of Rites as a political achievement and well publicized by the Taichang Temple. Could it be that this political achievement was fake? "

Shu Youliang pointed at him and asked, "Can becoming literate suddenly become elegant just by learning to read and write? It's hard to change one's nature! Does knowing a thousand words mean you are no longer vulgar?

How can it be!

I know these guys. No matter what you tell them about safety in production and safety first, they don't take it to heart.

But you tell them that if they don't pay attention to safety and get injured at work, the wife in the family will have to remarry with the children.

His wife is slept with by another man, his child is beaten by another man, and the pension he earned with his life is spent by another man. Which man can tolerate this?
In order to prevent this from happening, we must be fully alert and ensure safe production at work.

This is the pain that comes first, and this is the right medicine for the disease. There is an expert in the propaganda department of the steel plant.

Isn't that right, Lao Wan?"

Lao Wan replied with a cold face: "Master Shu is right, the workers all say that this propaganda calligraphy and painting is the worst and it hits people's hearts.

However, they remembered these paintings the most. After seeing them, they said they would never be careless again. If they were to suffer a work-related injury, it would be someone else’s fault.”

Shu Youliang smiled even more happily, and said to Hu Yinglin and Wang Shisong: "See, I was right. There are many talented people in the factories and mines in Luanzhou!"

Hu Yinglin and Wang Shisong looked thoughtful and looked at the billboard twice.

Marcelo and Leon stood aside, feeling somewhat puzzled.

Lao Wan and the five people continued to move forward and visited the fifth and sixth iron smelting workshops, the coking workshop, and the heat treatment workshop. They were unable to go in and just looked outside for a while.

Several Class B confidential workshops were skipped, including Steelmaking Workshop 3, Equipment Maintenance Workshop, and Rolling Workshop 3.

We came to a crossroads, where there was a circular flower bed in the middle, with lush flowers and leaves.

Go straight along the middle path for about a hundred meters and you will find seven flights of stairs, up which is a platform and an eight-story office building.

There is an open space on the right side of the intersection with fitness equipment such as horizontal bars, parallel bars, rowing machines, and slides. Further in is a small park with a long corridor and pavilion built around a small pond.

In a conspicuous place on the roadside of the open space, there stands a large wooden sign with the three big words "Bulletin Board" written on it.

On the far left of the bulletin board was a conspicuous large red paper with words written on it in brush.

“Announcement of commendation in April of the fifth year of Wanli.

Ten Red Flag Commandos: Wang Hongfa from Iron and Steel Workshop No. 2, Li Wanyou from Steel Rolling Workshop No. 1, and Hu Yidong from Coking Workshop. They are hereby commended and awarded 15 yuan that month.

Twenty outstanding workers: Zhao Siping from Steelmaking Workshop 1, Shitoushan from Power Workshop, and Wang Shimao from the First Canteen. They are hereby commended and rewarded with ten yuan that month.

Forty outstanding workers: Liang Shifa from the Transport Team 1, Wan Ruyi from the Security Section 2, and Liu Guoqi from the Cleaning Team 1 of the Logistics Department are hereby commended and awarded 5 yuan that month.

Shu Youliang smacked his lips, "Fifteen yuan, ten yuan, five yuan, not bad, it's equivalent to a month's salary. It's public praise, and it's money, both fame and fortune." He suddenly thought of something, turned around and asked, "Old Wan, your name can't be Wan Ruyi, right?"

The flesh on Lao Wan's face trembled a few times, "Yes, my name is Wan Ruyi."

"So do you have a brother?"

"Have."

"Is it Wan Jixiang?"

Wan Ruyi's cold expression finally changed. He felt so embarrassed that he felt like he had given up. It took him a long time to answer, "That's right."

"What a nice name! Your parents really gave you two brothers some nice names."

Wan Ruyi quickly turned back into Old Wan, and with a cold face, he led everyone to the left from the intersection.

"These are some accessory factories, and that building is a straw mat factory."

"What does a straw mat factory do?"

"Our steel plant needs a lot of straw mats to transport large castings to avoid collisions. So we set up a factory like this, collecting wheat straw from nearby farmers and reed stalks from wasteland to weave straw mats."

"I see. Your steel mill is really well equipped. What other mills are there?"

"There are also tarpaulin factories, timber factories, prefabricated cement parts factories, and brick factories. They are not large in scale. The factory buildings, office buildings, residential areas and other buildings need some spare parts for maintenance, but the quantity is not large. It is troublesome and expensive to buy them outside, so we just make them ourselves.

The workers inside are all family members of the factory, and most of them are not regular employees, but hired workers.”

“What’s the difference between a regular worker and a hired worker?”

"Formal workers are formally recruited and registered in the group company. Their salary, benefits, work injury compensation, and retirement and medical treatment are all guaranteed. As long as you don't make mistakes and get fired, or resign on your own, the factory will take care of you for life.

Most of the hired workers have a one-year contract, and the factory only pays you and has no control over other things."

That sounds like a big difference.

Led by Lao Wan, the group went to the straw mat factory.

In fact, it is just a bright factory building with tall piles of straw outside. From time to time, people push flatbed carts to bring in the straw.

There were hundreds of workers inside, wearing work clothes and cloth hats, sitting on a bench with bundles of straw next to them. Using the tools on the bench, they quickly weaved a rectangular straw mat with their hands.

When the workers saw a group of people coming in, they all looked up and realized that they were all women.

The young ones were in their twenties, the older ones were in their forties or fifties, and they were all dressed in work clothes of shirts and trousers.

Hu Yinglin and Wang Shisong were a little at a loss, but they quickly came to their senses.

Nowadays in Ming Dynasty, it is not uncommon to have female workers in factories.

Especially in the Southeast Cotton Mill, Silk Cocoon Mill and Silk Mill centered in Shanghai, more than 90% of the workers were women, and only the porters who needed to do physical work were men.

Marcelo and Leon, who had never visited a factory in Southeast China, were stunned and realized that they had often heard that sentence in recent days.

"We are short of people. What Daming lacks most right now is people."

They actually let women leave their homes and work in factories. There is indeed a shortage of people.

"These female workers are all family members of regular employees. Working in the straw mat factory is a benefit for the workers. It is close to home, the work is not tiring, and the money is good."

Lao Wan was wandering around the door with the five of them, introducing them casually.

"Isn't this Captain Wan from the Security Department?" A female worker in her forties nearby recognized Wan Ruyi.

Before Wan Ruyi could answer, the female worker turned around and shouted, "Yu'e, your man is here."

The factory immediately became bustling with activity, as if a boiling pot was boiling.

Some older female workers asked in unison.

"Captain Wan, did you come to see your wife?"

"We just broke up this morning, and you're already hanging on to your wife in just half a day. You're so reluctant to let her go."

"After rolling around in the same bed for more than ten years, of course I'm reluctant to leave."

Lao Wan’s cold face turned red, and his outstretched hand trembled: “You bunch of old women, you dare to say anything.

I am here to do my job, bringing a distinguished guest to visit. Didn't you see there are two Westerners, foreign guests, with a political mission assigned by the higher-ups?"

But how could those laughing female workers let him go so easily?

"Captain Wan, how come there are so many factories and workshops? Are you bringing your distinguished guests to our most remote straw mat factory?"

"Captain Wan, are you talking about balancing public and private interests? Or are you abusing your power for personal gain?"

"You brought foreign guests on a tour and still didn't forget to look for Yue'e. Captain Wan, if you can't bear to part with it, just tie it to your belt."

"Yu'e, your man is here, why don't you go up and say hello?"

"Before going out this morning, I hid in the house and greeted her until I got hot. I can't afford to waste a little time!"

The female workers burst into laughter, and the factory was filled with joy and laughter.

A female worker in her twenties, with pretty features and a plump figure, walked over with a slightly red face.

"Dad, are you going to school later?"

"What's going on?"

"When I sent my eldest and second child to school this morning, I heard the second child coughing a few times. He wanted to stay cool last night and kicked off the quilt. I was worried that he had caught a cold.

If you go to school, please visit him. If he has a severe cough, take him to the factory hospital for a checkup."

"Okay."

"Yue'e, what are you two whispering about?"

Yue'e turned around and laughed as she retorted to the female worker: "Why, do we need you to listen to our conversation? Then why don't you tell us what you and Brother Qian said in bed last night?"

The female workers burst into laughter. One of them added, "When I came to work from the family quarters this morning, I saw Lao Qian on the road. My legs felt weak and I felt dizzy when I walked. I'm afraid he didn't have the strength to speak last night."

The women workers' laughter became even louder, to the point where it almost blew off the roof of the factory.

Marcelo and Leon were stunned, while Hu Yinglin and Wang Shisong blushed.

Lao Wan pulled the five people away quickly. After walking some distance out of the factory, they could still hear laughter coming from afar, just like a group of sparrows and swallows chirping in the sun.

Lao Wan said awkwardly, "Don't pay attention to these married women who have children. They dare to say anything."

Shu Youliang smiled and shook his head: "I think it's good."

The other five people looked at Shu Youliang in unison: "Master Shu, do you still think it's good? What's good about it?"

(End of this chapter)