Warhammer: Starting with Industrial Revolution

Back at the governor's mansion from the factory, Ronin's mind was still filled with images of the chaos in the workshop.

A workshop model where one person handles the entire process, molds worn to the point of being scrapped, chaotic quality control, a mechanical priest who only knows how to chant incantations, and an electric whip that the supervisor keeps wielding.

It's rotten, absolutely rotten.

But he had to clean up this mess—three months later, when the tax collectors came, the workers would at most be replaced by a new governor, but he, as the governor's assistant, would only be branded a traitor along with Karl and burned alive.

Governor Karl remained slumped in his office. Even when Ronin returned, he only slightly moved his eyes, still wearing that expression of utter despair and impending death.

"Sir, you're right, the middle-level factories are indeed rotten to the core."

Upon hearing Ronin's words, Governor Karl's lips twitched slightly, clearly wanting to say something but unable to utter a word.

"My lord?" Ronin walked over, hoping that Governor Karl hadn't just passed out like that.

But as he walked up to Governor Karl, the latter suddenly jumped up.

"Luoning! Let's rebel!" He grabbed Luo Ning's collar tightly, his eyes wide. "We're all going to die anyway, so let's take one last gamble and turn our lives around! If all else fails, we'll become space pirates and establish ourselves as kings. I think..."

"Shut up!" Ronin covered his mouth in terror, turned around nervously, held his breath, and stared intently at the door of the governor's office.

This is the world of Warhammer 40!

Any disloyal remarks to the empire, once they get out, are not something that can be resolved simply by losing one's head!

Although he would die in three months anyway if the tithe issue wasn't resolved, Ronin, who had finally been given a second chance at life, didn't want to die with the governor because of his emotional breakdown.

Fortunately, the area outside the governor's mansion was quiet, and no one rushed in to accuse them of being heretics.

"My lord, although the mess is indeed quite big, I think we still have a chance," Ronin said in a low voice. Seeing that Governor Karl's eyes lit up again, he tried to remove his hand from his mouth.

"What do you mean by 'there's a chance'?" Governor Karl looked at Ronin, his eyes full of expectation.

Luo Ning picked up the pile of documents on the table and handed them to the governor, saying, "Actually, all the problems we are facing now are caused by the low yield rate of the factory's products."

Governor Karl frowned as he looked at the documents in front of him.

"Of course I know that, but the yield rate is completely beyond our control. I've given the supervisor several strict orders, but they've done absolutely nothing except cause those idiot workers to riot a few times. Don't you know that?"

Okay, I do know.

Luo Ning couldn't help but sigh. He could still recall the factory uprising from his predecessor's memories.

"But sir, I have a new idea this time," Luo Ning continued calmly. "Perhaps the reason for the factory's low yield rate is not due to inadequate supervision."

Governor Karl was taken aback. "What's that? Is it because of machine tools? That's even more useless! Those steel-headed guys from the Mechanicus can't understand human language, and they don't speak human language either!"

Ronin rubbed his temples helplessly and patiently explained to Karl, "I think we can improve the workers' workflow."

"Currently, we use a one-person workflow, where one worker independently completes everything from screening bullet blanks to correcting errors to installing the bullet heads."

"The quality of a worker is often determined by their level of skill."

"Working techniques are passed down orally from experienced workers to new workers, which is an inefficient and outdated way of working."

"We can completely emulate the working methods of the Imperial Central Factory and adopt an assembly line model. This will not only improve production efficiency but also greatly increase the yield rate, and even if problems occur, we can trace the person responsible in a timely manner."

Governor Karl listened, nodding frequently at first, but towards the end, he couldn't help but frown.

"It sounds reasonable, but changing the way we produce? Will the Mechanicus agree? They might burn us alive as heretics!"

All they know how to do is burn!

Luo Ning couldn't help but curse inwardly, but he wasn't stupid enough to say it out loud.

"Don't worry, sir. We won't change the machine tools in the factory, we'll only modify the workers' work methods. I don't think the priests of the Mechanical Church will interfere."

After hearing this, Carl paced around the office for a long time with his arms crossed, clearly weighing the pros and cons in his mind.

Since becoming governor, this man had lived cautiously every day. He had no ambition and had never thought about reforms.

But this time it was a matter of life and death. Although I didn't think Luo Ning's method would be of any use, since things had come to this point, it seemed like there was nothing left to lose.

After a long while, his tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed, as if he had experienced the relief of a sage's moment, or as if he no longer cared.

Looking at Luo Ning, he spoke slowly, his voice even trembling slightly.

"Alright, there's no other way anyway. I'll give you the warrant right now. You're in full charge of this matter, Luo Ning. Our lives are in your hands!"

"Please rest assured, sir." Luo Ning bowed respectfully.

Having obtained the governor's order, Ronin essentially possessed the governor's own power.

He walked straight into the elevator and headed straight for the factory area on the middle floor of the Nest City.

After entering Factory No. 1, he did not directly connect with the foreman and supervisor, but went straight to the Machine Soul Shrine deep inside the factory—this was the true core of power in the factory.

"Praise be to the Divine Emperor, praise be to the God of all things, Your Excellency Father, I bring with me the Governor's orders."

Chief Priest Victor, wearing a crimson cloak, stared coldly at Ronin with his eyes, which had been modified to the point of being almost inhuman, shining with an eerie light beneath his hood.

"What does Your Excellency require the cooperation of the Mechanicus for?"

His voice was as cold as a rusty machine, as if he had used up all his strength to speak.

After bowing respectfully, Luo Ning said, "There's no need for Your Excellency to do anything. The Governor has decided to change the workers' workflow. This will not only improve efficiency but also effectively reduce the workers' bumping and knocking of the machine tools, thus avoiding disturbing the machine spirits' rest."

Viktor's eyes, hidden beneath his hood, were fixed on Ronin, his face, now completely altered, devoid of any expression.

"There is no need to consult the Cult of Mechanics about mortal matters, but if it can reduce the disturbance to the Machine Souls, I will mention this matter when I pray to the God of Machines. May the God of Machines bless you."

With the governor's order in hand and the mechanical priest's tacit approval, Ronin faced no further obstacles.

He ignored the disdainful foreman and veteran workers' mocking protests, and based on his observations, divided the workers into three groups according to their skill level:

The new craftsman is in charge of the first process. He only uses calipers to measure and screen the blank cartridges pressed by the machine tool. Any unqualified ones are directly rejected. The uniform standard dimensions are posted on the wall and can be seen when you look up.

Skilled workers are responsible for the second process, which involves only correcting and polishing the rough cartridge cases, smoothing out the errors caused by worn-out machine tools, and ensuring that the dimensions of each cartridge case are exactly the same.

The most experienced veteran workers are only responsible for the final loading and assembly, completely avoiding the risk of barrel explosion caused by improper operation by novice workers.

Even the supervisors were reassigned to new positions. They were no longer just whippersnappers, but were responsible for sampling and controlling each process and recording the source of defective products.

Luo Ning also publicly announced that regardless of seniority or position, whoever had the highest pass rate that month would receive double the food rations, while the worst performer would have their rations canceled and be sent to the mine.

When the order was given, there was an initial commotion in the workshop, but under the supervision of the foreman and the governor's order, the workers took their positions according to their new roles.

The once chaotic workshop has become orderly and rhythmic for the first time. Workers no longer frantically switch tools; they only need to repeat the work at hand, and efficiency has improved visibly.

Two working hours passed in the blink of an eye, and Luo Ning remained standing in the same spot, waiting for the result.

The workshop foreman ran towards Luo Ning, his hands trembling and his words barely audible.

"Lord Luo Ning! The yield rate... the yield rate has really increased! From 18%, it's jumped to 42%!"

With just one sentence, the entire workshop fell silent.

The supervisors looked on incredulously, and the workers stopped what they were doing, staring at Luo Ning with shock in their eyes.

Looking at the report, Luo Ning finally felt relieved.

The first step in factory reform has been successful!

But he didn't notice that in the crowd, several old foremen who used to control the factory with their unique skills were looking at the reports in their hands, their faces so gloomy they could drip water.

They exchanged a sinister glance and quietly left the workshop.