"Yangzi, the masons and carpenters from our commune have all come over. Don't mention wages anymore, or we'll just turn around and leave," said one of the villagers.
"You want us to do nothing and still get thirty percent shares? How could we have the nerve? You know this factory cost thirty thousand yuan. You invested thirty thousand and only have seventy percent, while we're just giving you some barren land."
"As long as you provide meals, that's enough. The commune will arrange everything regarding wages, and the brigade will calculate work points."
After returning from Qinghe City, the next day, Liu Zhendong, led by a city leader, accompanied by Chen Shuibing, the Party Secretary of Liuhe County, arrived at Wanli Commune.
Liu Fuchun heard about the factory construction. The commune didn't need to invest any capital and would directly receive thirty percent of the shares, with all investments to be made by Chen Yang.
How could he refuse such a good deal?
As for allocating land for the factory, what was that land worth? Those few acres couldn't compare to a whole factory.
In those days, there was no land speculation by Hong Kong and foreign investors as in later years. Land, for the commune, was truly worthless except for growing some grain.
The concept of land being sold for vast sums, as seen in later times, simply didn't exist then.
Therefore, from the very beginning, Liu Fuchun felt that Chen Yang was looking out for Shenjia Brigade and Wanli Commune.
So, when construction finally began, he adamantly refused to let Chen Yang pay wages.
This factory was considered collective property of Wanli Commune, and the villagers held thirty percent of the shares. Liu Fuchun was determined that the commune would contribute work points for the construction.
"Director Liu, please rest assured, I, Chen Yang, will never let the villagers go hungry. There will be plenty of food and drink, and rice to eat your fill."
"As for blasting rocks, you must remind the militia detachment to be careful and absolutely avoid any injuries. We'll dig the trenches first, and once the rocks are blasted, we'll lay the foundation."
Houses in those days were still built with stone foundations. Reinforced concrete foundations were quite rare, not for any other reason than being too expensive and unaffordable.
Steel was also a state-controlled commodity. Even if ordinary people had money, they couldn't buy large quantities. To build a house with a reinforced concrete foundation would require a considerable amount of steel.
Therefore, Chen Yang didn't even consider it. Blasting rocks was Liu Fuchun's idea. This distiller's grains fish factory was also Wanli Commune's first collective enterprise.
Liu Fuchun naturally wanted the factory to be built beautifully. The militia detachment had explosives and detonators, and there were plenty of rocks in the mountains. Having the villagers move them to build the factory would cost nothing to buy. Su Dan Novel Network.
At worst, it would be a matter of effort. Village men were never short of strength. Chen Yang had already said that meals would be provided, and it was for their own factory, so why wouldn't they put in their best effort?
The beams and wooden frames could also be made by carpenters who felled trees in the mountains. Even the bricks for the walls could be fired by the villagers themselves in simple kilns dug from the mud on the hillsides.
All the substantial investment Chen Yang had originally planned for the factory buildings was taken care of by Liu Fuchun.
Only cement had to be purchased. Even the roof tiles Chen Yang had planned for the factory, Liu Fuchun had villagers prepare lime and mix it with straw and cotton scraps to make asbestos tiles.
These asbestos tiles were as good as dozens of ordinary tiles. If Chen Yang's own house had been fitted with asbestos tiles, it would have probably cost less than a hundred yuan to complete.
If these tiles were to break in the future, they would be easy to replace and also inexpensive.
Thus, every member of Wanli Commune who was a mason came to help build walls, and carpenters made beams and door and window frames.
Those without skills helped carry bricks, mix cement and lime. Chen Yang, looking at the villagers who came to help build the factory during their slack season, felt a warmth in his heart.
These were truly lovable people.
They were diligent, brave, kind, and knew gratitude.
This further strengthened Chen Yang's determination to lead these kind villagers to prosperity and a better life!
And so, half a month later, three simple factory buildings covering more than five mu were erected.
Inside the factory buildings, Chen Yang, following the model of some food processing plants from later years, had carpenters build some tables and platforms. Since it was just the beginning and the technology was not yet mature,
production would have to be carried out in a small workshop model. As for assembly-line production, let alone Chen Yang, even across the entire country, you wouldn't find many food processing plants with automated assembly lines.
In 1986, Shanghai Food Company's Longhua Meat Processing Plant introduced China's first segmented meat production line. This assembly-line production mode was not widely adopted in food production until the 1990s.
Chen Yang never even considered mechanized assembly lines. Forget buying assembly lines; he couldn't even provide power for the equipment.
At this time, the entire Wanli Commune had not yet achieved full electrification, and at least Shenjiaba Village had not yet been connected to the power grid.
However, even if mechanized assembly-line production was not feasible, the principles of assembly-line production and division of labor could be referenced.
For instance, in the first workshop, Chen Yang planned to process fresh fish.
The first row of tables: the worker at this station was responsible for scaling the fish.
The workers at the second row were responsible for gutting and cleaning the fish.
The workers at the third row were responsible for washing away blood.
The workers at the fourth row were responsible for stringing the fish with straw ropes to hang them to dry outside.
...
This series of processes, with clear division of labor, could greatly improve production efficiency.
The first factory building was for processing fresh fish, the second for processing distiller's grains and curing fish, and the third for canning and packaging the processed distiller's grains fish.
These three factory buildings were just the beginning. As the production scale expanded, Chen Yang might have to further expand the business.
The commune still had land, and if the business went well, they could build more factory buildings.
After the factory buildings were completed, they would need to contact a glass factory to make jars for the distiller's grains fish.
Glass jars in those days were rare treasures. Many people born in the 80s and 90s should remember that when their families rarely bought a jar of canned fruit, they would wash the jar clean and keep it for reuse.
Some families used them to store money, some to store tobacco, and others to store salt or sesame oil, for various purposes.
If anyone broke such a jar, they would likely get a beating from their parents when they returned home that evening.
There was no glass manufacturing plant in the entire Liuhe County. Making glass was not as simple as making asbestos tiles or firing bricks, and it couldn't be easily produced.
Chen Yang had to seek help from Liu Zhendong, who quickly took him to a glass factory in the city.
When the factory heard that it was a private individual buying glass bottles, they were initially unwilling to pay attention. Fortunately, with Liu Zhendong's help, Chen Yang finally negotiated the cooperation matters.
Now that the factory buildings were settled and the packaging was sorted, all that was left was to wait for the flood season when the villagers would start catching fish, and Chen Yang's first factory, the "Lao Zi Hao" Distiller's Grains Fish Factory, could officially begin operations!