The industry in Shanghai has only started to open up and is about to run to Lushun at this moment, which makes Lu Hong feel a little worried. When he returns to the official residence, Qin Tianmin brings his younger brother Qin Xiaocheng and Wang Daosheng to see him, which gives Lu Hong a new idea.

That night, four workers, Cheng Daqi, Liu Yiding, Sun Cairen and Zheng Xuanhong, were called to the official residence. They obviously didn't know what Mr. Lu was asking for, and they were all busy discussing the work they had just received in the living room... After all, Mr. Lu showed unexpected familiarity with the industry, and they also understood that it was not easy to do the dispatched affairs well!

"Old Cheng, you are familiar with everyone. Please introduce me to a few apprentices who are working! Lord Lu won't be going to build any new machines today! I think your machine factory is busy recently!" Sun Cairen had just obtained a fund for research and development, but this money is not used casually. The normal expenses must be handled by the shopkeeper Xiao Qin of the machine factory, so he was worried that he could not find a man.

Cheng Daqi shook his head, "Mr. Sun, the gunpowder thing you made is something ordinary people get furious after seeing it. It's really not easy to find an apprentice. Why don't you go to the gunpowder factory to run..."

"The work that Lord Lu sent me is not to make gunpowder. There are people in the smokeless medicine factory. I still have to find a few good guys who understand machines now, so I asked you to recommend it..." Sun Cairen hurriedly explained that he didn't want to be treated as an idiot by Cheng Daqi.

Cheng Daqi was also stunned when he heard this. He really didn't know what research Lu Hong was doing when he recruited this guy. However, since he had already talked about it, he didn't mind understanding it. Those who are skilled naturally like to ask the bottom of it, "Mr. Sun, what are you doing recently? How do you want to find an apprentice who understands machines?"

Speaking of this topic, Sun Cairen suddenly closed his mouth, thought for a while before saying, "Old Cheng, Lord Lu gave me some drawings to explain, and also talked about this principle. I thought about it all night and felt that it made sense... I admire my ability very much, but before it was done, Lord asked me to keep it confidential for the time being!"

Cheng Daqi said softly and stopped asking. Since assembling the first wire reeling machine according to Lu Hong's drawings, he admired this adult who has been abroad. He has never seen such a machine before in the manufacturing bureau, and the iron parts in the entire machine are extremely exquisitely constructed. More importantly, part of the machine's structure is made of wooden and has low cost. It was assembled and tried-operated in a new wire reeling factory the day before yesterday. The production efficiency of a group of 8-strand wire reeling machines is comparable to the manual efficiency of hundreds of people, which makes the shopkeepers who come to observe and supervise them very excited.

The price of this set of machines is 30 taels of silver per set. According to the size of the silk reel factory that Lu Hong talked about, the factory with tens of thousands of shares of silk reel machines in the future will be considered a real big factory... This means that his machine factory with only 25 people works day and night and can create a profit of 300 taels of silver every day, and the cost is almost less than 20%.

Even in order to meet the current machine investment of this large wire reel factory, their small factory needs to operate with all its strength for three years... This is really amazing news, so today he was thinking about suggesting to Lu Hong that it must increase the number of personnel at least twice, or even triple!

However, after Lu Hong came in, the people who were about to speak immediately put down the small matters they were considering, because in front of them, a huge opportunity was placed in front of them.

Lu Hong looked at the four new fortifications below that joined his team very calmly. These fortifications are obviously not people with business acumen. The experience of being in rigid official industries has long led them to develop the kind of submissive behavior. This is actually a barrier that affects technological progress the most. Now he wants to try his best to show his technical talents.

"Cheng Daqi, Liu Yiding, Sun Cairen, Zheng Xuanhong!" Lu Hong sat in the middle, calling these names with great enthusiasm.

"Sir... are here!" Cheng Daqi was confused and hurriedly stood up to respond, looking respectful.

"Cheng Daqi, do you think about your ability and how much money should you earn in a year?" Lu Hong stared at Cheng Daqi and added, "Don't hide your thoughts and say it!"

This problem suddenly stumped Cheng Daqi. Now Lu Hongkai gives him 10 taels a month and also gives him dividends for half a year. This income level is enough to live a good life even in the prosperous Shanghai. You know, the rice price is only 1 tael and 3 coins per stone. Ordinary two taels can be bought at 200 taels. He is thinking about working hard and moving the family out of the old house in two years!

However, the question Lu Hong asked him at this moment made him feel difficult to answer. After participating in the manufacturing of wire reeling machines in the machine factory, he also gained a new understanding of the huge industrial value of the technology he mastered. However, he also clearly understood that the drawings provided by Lord Lu were the key to making money... This has made him study the construction of wire reeling mechanisms very carefully, trying to master more technologies, rather than a universal milling machine worker.

Seeing that Cheng Daqi had not yet thought about it, Lu Hong smiled slightly. This is naturally reasonable. The thoughts of the Chinese people and the strong distinction between high and low. Even if he has been in the Westernization Affairs Office for more than 30 years and has been a skilled person, he is obviously far less confident than the officials who have won the imperial examination or donated officials to take office.

He turned his head and looked at Liu Yiding, Sun Cairen, and Zheng Xuanhong. These three guys were obviously confused by his own problem, with a strange expression on their faces. The four of them were silent for a long time. Zheng Xuanhong said first: "Sir, the wages you pay us are much better than deducted from the manufacturing bureau in the past. How dare the young ones be greedy!"

Zheng Xuanhong was obviously the one who was good at rhetoric among the four. After he said this, the others immediately agreed...

"Yeah yeah……"

Lu Hong smiled and pointed at Cheng Daqi, "Old Cheng, our machine factory has newly built wire reeling machines. Now the wire reeling factory has set 300 shares and 60 new machines. Tell me, how much profit can you make in this!"

"If this... if the work and materials are taken from Mr. Liu's office, a machine will cost 20 taels, 60 machines, 300-share silk reeling stations, the price is 9,000 taels, which is estimated to be completed within one month. The workers' wages are all included, and each month is...145 taels. If the additional expenses for rushing to work at night will be about 20 taels..."

He said that there is no need to continue to calculate here. These workers have learned Western arithmetic and cannot be said to be able to do some writing, but they are indeed literate and snippets. The machine factory has formed such amazing profitability in the short term. In addition to the workers led by Cheng Daqi, the apprentice team is indeed quite skillful, but more importantly, the assembly of drawings and guidance provided by Lu Hong.

Lu Hong nodded, "As long as the industry is right, we will have more drawings for new machines. However, we must turn the drawings into machines and make the machines operate stably in other people's factories. In the future, our factory will be bigger and more people... And you guys, I hope to bring out more excellent workers and apprentices. If you can do this, I don't mind the tenfold increase in your salary... but let me see your results!"

Ten times increase... This sentence immediately stunned Cheng Daqi, which was the monthly income of hundreds of taels of silver. This was the reward for foreign technicians by the manufacturing bureau. What they had to do was to train the machine factory with all their might, or dig up workers and apprentices who could create more value, and of course, to improve their abilities more crazily. At this point, these people had a more urgent sense of crisis!

Only then did Cheng Daqi speak with some ecstasy and said, "Sir, tell me, what kind of results do you want to see! Even if I do my best, I will increase the output of this machine factory!"

"Old Cheng, you're wrong!" Hearing that Cheng Daqi was obviously too excited, Lu Hong immediately poured cold water on him, "I want you to take care of not only the production of wire reeling machines. What you have to do is to continuously improve the production capacity of the machine factory. You Lao Cheng can complete all the components of the wire reeling machine. However, if you want to make parts of the future, don't be able to eat them at that time!"

"..." Several people obviously understood Lu Hong's meaning. The machine factory will obviously not be small in the future, and may even produce more machines, but they can only stare at Lord Lu.

Lu Hong was sweating when they saw him. These guys were really not very enlightened...

"Tell me a few of you, now I'll give you a group of people. With the machine tools and air hammers of the manufacturing bureau, what kind of machines can you produce?" Lu Hong stared at them. He had a lot of drawings plagiarized by the super industrial system. However, it seems that many industries do not have the feasibility of operating, so he just chose the silk reeling industry to try it first. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he naturally had to prepare the technicians at hand.

"Sir, I have imitated the horizontal drilling machine and omnidirectional grinder from Hull, Germany. This manufacturing bureau has tried to produce it!"

"American Gleason lathe, all-around milling machine, this can also be done!"

"We can also imitate this from the British Mikil deep drilling machine!"

“…”

Several guys whispered to each other and suddenly burst out a string of machine tools. This surprised Lu Hong. It seemed that he had really underestimated the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau of this era. Unexpectedly, he really had a hidden smell... He frowned and asked, "Is the steel material of these machines also produced by the Manufacturing Bureau's steelmaking factory?"

This question came to the point, and several guys immediately said: "Sir, according to the rules of the Manufacturing Bureau, all the materials must be handled by Liu Qixiang and General Manager Liu before they can be purchased, so they are all steel materials purchased from foreign merchants!"

When Lu Hong heard this, he could hear such blatant corruption when he chatted casually. Liu Qixiang naturally knew that he was Ruisheng's immediate boss, but this guy was a celebrity in front of Li Zhongtang, so he didn't consider going to touch the muddy waters in the manufacturing bureau. It seems that once the machine factory is operating, the problem of raw materials must be solved!

He nodded and expressed his satisfaction. He shook his hand and took out four contracts. "This is a contract signed with me. You four will form a team of engineers in the machine factory to be fully responsible for the production and technical issues of the machine factory. I give you the right to recruit personnel. Of course, it involves the issue of using money..."
Chapter completed!