Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

At the Ministry of Metallurgy, a group of top executives held a routine meeting, with Li Jiuzhou and other top executives from various factories across the country listening in. The total number of attendees was several hundred.

This was an expanded meeting held by the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry to summarize the production capacity of various plants this year and the events that occurred during the production period.

Almost everyone had to speak, and in the end, the production targets for next year were determined.

Putting everything else aside, production is the primary and most important task.

The meeting lasted three days, during which Minister Wang repeatedly emphasized the issue of production safety.

The criticism focuses on factories that frequently experience accidents due to production issues.

The leaders all understand that there are dangers in production, and that this is unavoidable.

Some steel machinery is so intimidating that just looking at it makes your legs go weak, let alone trying to operate it.

But some factories have too many accidents, several in a year. What would the workers think?

It's true that they want to earn money to support their families, but I didn't want to risk my life for it!

In this day and age, the loss of the breadwinner can almost destroy a family—this is not a joke, but a real situation.

When a man dies, the burden of the family suddenly falls on the woman.

Women of good character can take over the factory after receiving the pension.

Some selfish individuals took the compensation money, abandoned their children, and ran away.

That's not all; there are also relatives and neighbors who have taken advantage of the family's wealth.

Without a supporting pillar, all sorts of dangers come rushing in, making it virtually impossible to defend against them.

These kinds of incidents happen far too often in major companies.

If you wanted to hear the tragic stories of each factory, you could listen for days and nights and still not finish.

When a worker has an accident, the factory can only provide compensation and a work station; they rarely address the follow-up issues for the family.

It's impossible to consider everything so comprehensively; we can only strengthen the management of production safety.

There are good people and bad people in the world, and anyone can encounter them.

Li Jiuzhou was also quietly pondering below. He was the factory manager, in charge of production.

Production capacity is absolutely the top priority.

However, worker safety is also very important.

Of the more than 30,000 people at Hongxing, only a few hundred were cadres, and the rest were workers.

Their safety is something Li Jiuzhou needs to manage.

After the three-day meeting, Li Jiuzhou made a detailed plan for next year's production goals.

In previous years, when Yang Ligong was the factory director, there were accidents in the factory, but they were all resolved perfectly.

The authorities won't investigate further. As long as the compensation is paid in full and the family is properly taken care of, there shouldn't be any problems, and that's exactly what happened.

No family members will actually come to the factory to cause trouble.

What truly saddened Li Jiuzhou was that a human life was only worth a few hundred yuan.

Looking at the ledgers, Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill had a lot of money, which was thanks to Yang Ligong, who was indeed a master at managing production.

But Li Jiuzhou didn't want to just copy that approach.

Completing a year's production target in six months is a heavy task, and the workers are exhausted. Everyone has to work around the clock.

Li Jiuzhou decided that next year's production would proceed as normal, and earning a little less money wouldn't be a big deal.

With food and clothing in short supply, overburdening the workers could actually damage their health.

If an accident were to occur, Li Jiuzhou would feel guilty. Everyone has a family, and Li Jiuzhou hopes they are all well.

Moreover, the factory has been expanded, with a large reserve fund, a warehouse with a year's worth of grain, and a residential compound for employees' families has been built.

There are almost no places left where you can spend large sums of money.

So there's no need to work so hard to make money; sometimes you just have to slow down.

Li Jiuzhou could make the decision on this matter on his own without going through the Standing Committee.

It was decided directly that Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill would operate normally next year, with absolutely no overtime work.

The factory's loudspeaker broadcast the message three times a day, morning, noon, and night, and the whole factory knew about it.

The workers smiled again, a smile they hadn't shown in a long time.

We were all ready to make a big push next year, but then you, Director Li, just quit with a single sentence.

What about my overtime pay?

Will you give me a subsidy?

The workers only thought about it; if they actually worked overtime, they would curse the factory manager every morning, noon, and night before they felt satisfied.

Even though there's overtime pay, you need to be alive to get it!

It's just a few extra dollars anyway...

Other factories scoffed when they heard that Hongxing would not be requiring overtime next year.

"A fool wouldn't take the money if he could. Yang Ligong has already paved the way, so why not do it? And why shouldn't he do it?"

Why not do something better with the extra money you earn?

Just wait and see, you, Director Li Jiuzhou, will turn Hongxing into a pauper sooner or later. When we're making a fortune, don't come near us!

Li Jiuzhou was not idle either; instead, he personally customized a set of production safety management systems.

There are nine major regulations, each of which contains several sub-regulations, totaling more than 1200 words.

After the regulations were finalized, they were printed and a meeting was held.

The leaders were impressed when they saw the safety production regulations customized by Li Jiuzhou.

They had never seen anything like this before; they only shouted slogans and pulled banners, nothing like Li Jiuzhou's attention to detail.

"Everyone, I want to emphasize the issue of workplace safety once again. Now that the regulations are in place, everyone needs to be on their best behavior. I don't want any safety accidents to occur during my tenure."

"I know I have a responsibility, but none of you are going to get away."

"Tell your men to keep an eye on things, give each worker a copy of the safety management regulations, take it home and read it carefully, make sure it's memorized!"

"This concerns the lives and livelihoods of our workers, and I don't want any of you to slack off. Go and do it!"

After the meeting, Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill launched a vigorous study of its safety management regulations.

With no major tasks at the end of the year, Li Jiuzhou waved his hand and said, "Everyone, get to learn! Learn right here in the workshop!"

All the leading cadres need to memorize this; I'm going to do a spot check later.

Every day before work, the workshop director would lead me in reciting aloud, and the broadcast would play it three times a day.

What to do with workers who don't like to study?

It's simple. The workshop foreman, go up there and slap him twice to teach him a lesson!

If you still don't listen after a couple of slaps, then it's even simpler: I won't fire you or deduct your wages, but you'll go clean the toilets and carry manure for me.

After a few combos, no one dared to disagree.

Although Li Jiuzhou used the factory manager's authority, causing the entire factory to study safety production regulations under high pressure, is he a bad person?

No, he's great!

Many of the workers were illiterate, but they were not deaf; they understood what was going on as soon as they heard it.

They're not blind; even a fool could see that the equipment was dangerous.

Factory Director Li made them learn it for their own good.

Do you know what the most important point is?

Li Jiuzhou used his influence to spread the news wildly across Red Star.

Because some people said, "What will happen to your wife and children if something happens to you?"

She'll take your job and compensation money and remarry, and her children won't even take your surname.

Any man would be deeply alarmed upon hearing this.

The workshop director brings up this sentence every morning at the meeting.

For example, Yi Zhonghai was in high spirits when he arrived at work this morning, organizing a meeting. He really enjoys this feeling.

Yi Zhonghai looked at the rows of workers standing below and waved his hand:

"Brothers, safety, safety, fucking safety!"

"The factory director is focusing on production safety for our own good. Don't forget Li the Cripple from the First Steel Rolling Mill."

"He died in an accident at the beginning of the year. His wife remarried with the compensation money, leaving behind his elderly mother and several children who cry out in despair every day from hunger, and are also bullied by the neighbors."

"You wouldn't want your home to become like this, would you?"

"No, no, no!" The workers' response was deafening.

They listened to Yi Zhonghai tell Li the Cripple's story every day, and each time they heard it, they had different insights. It was just too damn terrifying!

Many absurd and ridiculous things happened during this period.

Even some of the honest and simple workers went back and asked their wives:

"If I get into an accident and die, you won't run off with my compensation money, will you?"

The woman, who liked to joke, replied:

"Then what am I waiting for? I'm definitely going to run away!"

The workers were furious upon hearing this:

"Damn it, I'll beat you to death right now!"

Various rumors spread throughout the factory, making the workers even more vigilant.

It's not that I don't trust my wife and husband, it's just that I can't afford to gamble with human nature...