Salzburg, inside a hotel. Mortrich, an executive of the Austrian Federal Railways, is holding a pep rally for the technicians.
"Listen well, the board of directors has made a decision. In the next year, we will connect the railway to Adnin."
On the construction site, there were not many gentlemen, and Mortrich didn't make an official statement, and directly stated the task.
He is only administratively responsible for management, not a technical background. He has been in this project team for more than a year, but he is very clear about the progress of the project.
Now the progress requirements of the headquarters are difficult to complete. But as a qualified manager, he knew he couldn't back down when things got tough.
The board of directors has made a decision. No matter how difficult the difficulty is, he must try to complete it. This is a matter of attitude.
If you don’t even have actual action, you will shout difficulties and fail to complete it, then where is his value reflected
Private companies are all very real, and if there is no value, he can be a jerk. On this issue, his weight is not as heavy as the technicians below.
Technicians in this era are treasures. No matter which project they are put on, they are indispensable talents. The administrative staff is different, and there are still a lot of them inside the railway company.
Salvador, the chief engineer of the project, said rudely: "Mr. Mortrich, with our current construction progress, it is not bad to be able to complete this task within two years. This is a planned construction period, and it is impossible to complete it ahead of schedule. !"
In the railway construction of this lot, Motrich is in charge of overall management in name, but El Salvador technically has the final say.
Mortrich has no control over El Salvador, or dare not intervene indiscriminately. He is a smart person who doesn't understand or doesn't understand. He knows that blind commanding is easy to cause problems.
Now that the construction task is suddenly increased, it is normal for the technical person in charge to object. But Mortrich is not unprepared, he explained with a smile:
"Mr. El Salvador, the solution is always figured out by people. If you are missing anything, feel free to speak up. I am responsible for coordinating with the head office, but the tasks must be completed on time.
In the days that follow, everyone will be fortunate enough to sacrifice rest days. Please rest assured that the company will not treat you badly.
I am here to assure you that as long as you complete the task ahead of time, the bonus you will get will never be lower than your current salary.
No, just do it on time. I will go to the head office to apply for you. If it is lower than this number, I will pay for it myself! "
Mortrich's performance was a success. Many problems in this world can be solved with money, and speeding up the construction progress is no exception.
The two-year construction task needs to be completed in one year, and there is nothing wrong with the two-year salary payment. Everyone still does the same amount of work, and the railway company's labor cost budget has not increased. Now is the time when there is a shortage of people, and Mortrich is completely sure that the money will come down.
A raise would appease most technicians, but El Salvador still shook his head.
"Mr Mortrich, no one doubts your character, the problem now is that time is too short, we have already started construction from both ends to the middle.
If you want to increase the progress, unless the current lot is divided into two and divided again from the middle lot. This not only requires increasing labor, but also increasing mechanical equipment. Our technical personnel are not sufficient, and the management difficulty will be greatly increased. "
Mortrich thought for a while and said: "These problems can be overcome. You must also know that in order to speed up the construction process of the railway, the state has issued a law. From the date of the establishment of the railway project, no tax will be levied on the railway operation within ten years. .
We started construction in 1849 and were not expected to be fully completed until 1854, which meant our duty-free operation was only 5 years.
Federal Railroad is a listed company, and its headquarters has to consider the opinions of shareholders. Now everyone hopes that the railway will be put into operation as soon as possible.
If we can complete the subgrade construction of Section 5 in 1851, then in 1852 the track can be laid, the related equipment can be installed, and the trial operation can be carried out in 1853.
Being able to put it into operation one year ahead of schedule will inevitably bring a lot of profits to the company, and you will also get rich returns. "
"Profit" is only one factor. More importantly, the Austrian government requires the railway company to speed up the construction of the main line. The reason is: Austria is preparing to go to war with the Ottoman Empire, and it needs to use the railway to transport logistics materials.
For this reason, no one can refuse. Moreover, it is not that the government did not give compensation, and the tax exemption for ten years is just like this.
As for the fight against the Ottoman Empire, why this railway connecting the Kingdom of Bavaria must also be accelerated is not the point.
The point is that His Majesty the Great Franz spoke in person. Since he said that it is the national trunk line to speed up the construction progress, it must be the national trunk line.
Could it be that for this issue, he would go to negotiate conditions with His Majesty the Emperor, who is in charge of everything
In the end, the management of the railway company decided to focus on speeding up the construction of the main line and suspend the branch line sections that were ready to start after research and decision.
…
Railroad technicians are in demand these days. In order to retain talent, Federal Railroad also took out part of the stock options as bonuses, issued to these technicians.
Although the amount in the hands of each person is not much, the effect is very good. With their own share in it, they do not want the railway to open to traffic ahead of schedule.
Salvador thought for a while and said, "I have no opinion on the company's decision, but Mr. Mortrich, you have to help me solve these problems.
Also, there are too many casualties during the construction process. You'd better restrain those managers so that they don't overdo it. "
The so-called managers are of course the thugs hired by the railway company. Now this batch of free laborers are the real "prisoners". Cheap is cheap, but it is not very convenient to manage.
Everyone wants to mess around, as long as no one is watching, they will grind foreign workers, and even escaping things happen from time to time. If it weren't for the army watching, there might be a riot.
Although the army sends people to guard, it will not send people to help them manage. In order to speed up the construction, the management personnel invited by the railway company are naturally served with whips and sticks.
This made El Salvador, whose morality was not completely degraded, unaccustomed. Of course, he was not the Virgin, but he just mentioned it casually. He also hated this kind of chaos.
Mortrich said with a smile: "No problem, there is a shortage of labor, I will report it immediately, there is still in the warehouse of the machinery and equipment company, and I will send someone directly to pick up the goods.
I will report the problem of insufficient technical personnel to the head office. But Mr. El Salvador, there is a shortage of technicians everywhere, and the headquarters are poaching people all over Europe, so don't have your hopes up. "
Yes, there are also technicians from European countries in the railway construction team in Austria. For the sake of strategic security, these people cannot be the primary architects.
This is what Franz requested, mainly because when the British exported railway standards overseas, they caught a lot of private goods in this regard, and many countries were trapped.
All Austrian railway companies now use the same approach. If there are not enough technicians, the engineers will bring apprentices to the top.
Anyway, the construction is according to the plan. As long as you study on the construction site for a year and a half, you can preside over simple technical work. Experienced engineers guide and arrange tasks every day, and then check and accept.
Basically, the construction of a section of the railway is completed, and these apprentices are almost out of school. Railway engineers in this era basically came like this, but only a few people graduated from school.
Looking at the high morale of his subordinates, Salvador nodded with a wry smile. With the addition of a new construction line, he, the chief engineer, has a heavier task.
The mode of transportation in this era is horse riding, and people who can't ride horses can't eat this bowl of rice. It is not easy to travel 180 kilometers every three to five.
On the contrary, the technicians under his command should be more relaxed and follow the action of the large army, and there is no need to run to both sides for three days.
This is the disadvantage of the insufficient number of engineers. If all these tasks are handed over to the subordinates, he will not be relieved. Basically, when technical difficulties are encountered, El Salvador has to personally host it.
Since the beginning of the 19th century, the construction of European railways has just started. As of 1850, the total number of railways in operation on the entire European continent would not exceed 15,000 kilometers.
Engineers with rich experience are naturally scarce talents. Under this background, when the construction of the Austrian railway started, the major railway companies broke out in a war for people.
For El Salvador, now is pain and happiness. Heavy workload means high pay.
For example, while he is the chief technical engineer, he is also responsible for the main technical guidance of the construction at both ends, so he can get two extra wages.
Now add two more construction sites. If the company does not send someone to help him share the pressure, it also means that he can increase his salary by two more, which is a total of five salaries.
If it weren't for the really good salary, he would have given up his job long ago. How could he accept this kind of work day and night
Good days like this don't come often, and with the bonus promised by Motrich, once the task is completed, El Salvador will get the equivalent of ten years' salary within a year.
After all, there are only a few people like El Salvador. It is impossible for the railway company not to send engineers down to help. After all, one person's energy is limited, and he can still support it in the early stage, but in the later stage of construction, he can't be busy at all.
However, it happens from time to time that one person completes the work tasks of two or three people in railway construction.
Capitalists are not philanthropists, so it is impossible for them to be so generous all the time. Now they are irreplaceable, and naturally they are treated favorably. Once they can be replaced, their good days will end.
El Salvador knew all too well that once the railroad was built, they were ready to go.
When the railway company is operating, it does not need so many experienced engineers, and the capitalists will naturally choose cheaper ordinary technicians to be responsible for the later maintenance of the railway.
Even after the supply of engineers exceeds the demand in the later stage, even if they work for two people, they can only get a salary in the end.
The relationship between supply and demand in the market determines the price of a commodity. The same applies to the human resources market. Capitalists offer high salaries when there is a shortage of people. When there is no shortage of people, they will naturally find a way to make up for it.
In general, they are in good time, just in time to make money. After this village, there is no such shop anymore.
How long these good days will last, El Salvador does not know. If possible, he hopes that these days can last longer.
He even had the idea of going to the Ministry of Railways to find a job. Although the treatment was not so good, it was more stable and decent.
When night fell, Salvador lay on the bed, lit a cigarette, got up deeply, and couldn't fall asleep for a long time.