Chapter 85
Translator: Shari Editor: Tehrn
The Great Depression (Part Four)
"Help me contact my mother . " Huang Xuan followed behind the new workers . The smell of perspiration mixed with body odor filled the air; it reeked of testosterone . Just like in most other factories at that time, the newly recruited workers weren't required to go through complex procedures . The first thing they did was work . That way, their employers were able to exploit them .
This time, however, Rolin did not mention the energy loss . This was despite the fact that all he seemed to be able to do was calculate the amount of energy he was consuming .
Communication between the planes had been disrupted slightly . For pure energy to be transmitted as sound waves, more energy was required . Rolin linked all communication with Huang Xuan's cell phone to ensure they got numbers this time . However, this transfer too required energy .
They waited for a good two minutes before they heard Zhang Xinyi's voice . She sounded troubled as she asked, "Son, you went out so early in the morning . Where are you?"
Based on Rolin's energy screen, it was now 6 am . Huang Xuan cheekily answered, "Mother, I'm out of Nanjing at the moment . I've met with some problems, and I need your help . "
"You're out of Nanjing?" Zhang Xinyi sat up, waking Huang Qunsheng, who was sleeping next to her . Tugging on the blanket, she muttered, "This Li Qing . . . how dare he bring you out in the middle of the night?"
Huang Xuan carefully stayed behind Thomas and said, "This has nothing to do with him . I snuck out on my own . "
"What for?" Zhang Xinyi curtly asked . "Where are you?"
This was the bad thing about speaking to his mother . She always wanted to clarify everything . Huang Xuan lied, "It was too late yesterday . The factory in the suburbs met with some issues, and I had to come over . I was not rushing to return home after resolving everything, so I decided to call you . "
"Then be careful . I'll ask Li Qing to fetch you . This fella . . . "
It looked like his mother was planning to teach Manager Li a lesson . Huang Xuan laughed bitterly, "Mother, don't ask him to come over . I want to see to more matters while I'm here . I called you to ask for help; you're purposely changing the topic . "
Once she was sure her son was safe and sound, Zhang Xinyi put on her sweater and asked, "Go ahead . What do you want your mother to do?"
"Hmm, I'm looking for a few professional aerospace engineers . I need them to think quick on their feet, yet be skillful . I need them to be especially familiar with skills related to aircraft from the '30s to the '70s . I'll also need them to be able to draw diagrams and prepare information . "
"You should ask your father about this," Zhang Xinyi put the phone on speaker as she spoke, then said, "Repeat it one more time for your father . "
Huang Xuan helplessly described his situation once more . By that time, a long line of people was quickly approaching the workshop . He nervously said, "My car is arriving . I just need help with that one thing . But I need professionals to work on this for a few days . I'll pay them . Please look around for me . It'll be best if you can find a few by this afternoon . "
"What do you need them for?" Zhang Xinyi worriedly questioned .
"I can't explain everything to you at the moment," Huang Xuan answered as he lowered his head . "Mother, when you find the people, please ask them to prepare the materials . Then, arrange an office and a few computers with internet connection . I'll send the requirements and blueprint out to them when I can . When they're done, instruct them to send their findings to me . It'll likely take them a week or so . Is USD$1,000,000 enough?"
"What a waste!" Zhang Xinyi laughed . "Alright, I'll pay for this . I'll check with my secretary, then I'll ask your father to meet with a couple of professors . But you must be courteous . Don't discuss with them about money . We'll arrange everything for you . "
"Thank you, Mother . " Huang Xuan was so elated that he sent a kiss through the receiver .
While he was speaking, Huang Xuan had already entered the small, newly-built factory . Rouge was the world's largest factory . New manufacturing rooms were being set up there each day . Even the Great Depression could not stop Henry Ford's expansion goals .
They couldn't hear the aircraft from within the workshop . The working conditions were definitely much better than average . Thomas brought the men in, uncovered their eyes and said, "Listen to Jens's orders . Start from the older workers; those who don't give their best in their work must leave, understand?"
There was a collective mutter in response . Huang Xuan looked around curiously . There were only a few lathes there . Some of the men were wearing filthy clothes, lying atop the tables and perhaps busy with something around the lathe . Most of the people there were young and were skilled men of sorts .
Large diagrams were spread out across the black iron table . Huang Xuan moved to join them and see what was happening, but he was thrown backward with a slap from someone . "Apprentices are not allowed to see these . "
The words came from Jens, a hairy man in his 40s . His hair was messily combed back . His nose was huge, and his ears were slightly bent .
Huang Xuan nonchalantly left the table . He turned around and said to Rolin, "Study that diagram . Compare it with more advanced technology . "
"How advanced?"
"Within 50 years," Huang Xuan replied as he tried to hide from the sight of the others . "Do you have any idea how we can export those diagrams?" It was impractical to simply copy them . Huang Xuan was worried that he would be physically exhausted if the workload increased .
Without having to think, Rolin answered, "Can we just use toner ink absorption? As long as we have toner ink and paper, we'll manage an output speed of a square for every 30 seconds . "
"That's OK," Huang Xuan agreed as he rejoined the team . He added, "Check on the car that Ford is researching on . Make up for the incomplete information, then look for the technology that they're lacking . "
"Alright . " Looking for information on technology in P112 was easy for Rolin . In fact, looking for information in a fixed plane wasn't difficult . It was only a matter of how much energy was consumed . If one wanted to conduct research in a large field, especially in other planes, a lot of energy was required, yet the process would be inefficient . After all, Rolin wasn't going to simply use a search engine . Searching for information looked different in each plane . Therefore, the costs were high .
Now, Huang Xuan was requesting for Rolin to search within P101, where they were . In that age, where there was hardly any data, searching for information was going to waste a significant amount of energy .
They had already consumed more than one million kWh of energy in the past day alone . Time traveling was indeed equivalent to burning cash . Yet, Huang Xuan was unbothered . He was still riding on the high returns he had obtained the previous few times .
"Gather around!" Jens thought he was speaking at normal volume, but he was in fact shouting . The workers, as usual, did not even lift their heads .
Huang Xuan was careful not to drag his feet as he walked over . Rouge's conditions were considered ahead of its time . However, the inside of the workshop was still a mess . The floors were covered in black oil stains and shavings of metal . Huang Xuan, who had never been in such a place, was having difficulty adjusting .
"The three of you, help Ke Qi with the diagrams . He still has to produce 50 drawings, and he has to complete them by today . " Jens was pointing at Huang Xuan and two other people . Huang Xuan glanced at them before walking over .
Ke Qi had big eyes . They looked hollow as if he had been deprived of sleep or he had been quarreling with his spouse for a long time . He was dissecting his painted parts and explaining them to a man who stood taller than him . He carefully placed the parts onto the table . Huang Xuan saw the thick stack of white paper and immediately regretted being recruited .
The computer was only going to be invented 14 years later . Using the CAD to make diagrams was even further down the timeline . Photocopying was completely out of the picture . From the looks of it, Ke Qi was not using parts manufactured by Ford .
Huang Xuan sucked in his breath . "Rolin, take over from here . "
Man's limits can sometimes surprise its own kind .
The limits of Rolin, who wasn't human, coupled with the muddled Huang Xuan stunned the Americans in the room . They were extremely fast, especially since they were creating the diagram based on the actual thing . They managed to achieve this speed but not because of any mental skill that Rolin possessed . Instead, it was thanks to Huang Xuan's muscle endurance . Rolin had adjusted his speed according to Huang Xuan's stamina and lactic tolerance .
Ke Qi couldn't resist curling his own thick lips up into a smile . Huang Xuan was producing one drawing in less than ten minutes . Everyone around them watched in silence .
Even the workers operating the machine noticed Huang Xuan . They observed the vibrating T-square and the rapid movement of the pencil in his hand . All of these proved that the young Asian man in front of them possessed unthinkable skills .
Ke Qi took a second look at the drawing that Huang Xuan produced . It was flawless . This was unusual . Even experienced workers produced drawings that fell short of the actual thing . In order to draw a three-dimensional drawing, one had to ensure his line of sight was parallel to the subject . Then, he had to positively project what he saw onto the paper in front of him . This was slightly counter-intuitive . To illustrate, an ellipsoid would appear to be a rectangle — this explained why it was common for problems to surface .
Huang Xuan squinted . Everyone thought that this Asian was unpredictable . However, what they couldn't know was that Huang Xuan was refreshing his mind by closing his eyes .
Thomas snapped out of his daze after a long while . He shouted, "Focus, everybody! Move quickly!"
It was only then that the workers held back their curiosity and got back to work . Huang Xuan was left to work his arm .
Luo Qi stared at Huang Xuan in amazement . He patted his shoulder and remarked, "You're not too bad, young man . "
"That's right," Huang Xuan chuckled . The work his arms were doing remained unaffected . If
only they had televisions in that time .
Within half a day, Huang Xuan won the other workers over with Rolin's help . The story of him hitting Thomas with three punches reduced to two and spread throughout the workshop . Unfortunately, there weren't many famous Asians in that era . Otherwise, Huang Xuan would have borrowed their name .
The Rouge plant area was Henry Ford's biggest dream . When he was still healthy, it was his base camp . After he stepped down as president of the company, his son, Edsel Ford, took over . However, Henry continued to have a huge voice . Normally, Edsel still had to consult Henry when he made decisions .
Undeniably, Edsel Ford had the final say in the day-to-day operations within the company . Old Ford's health was deteriorating, and he was no longer capable of managing it .
Edsel was responsible for the design of the engine and other internal parts of the A-type car . History showed that the car model was successful . From a modern perspective, it was equivalent to a mix of Audi and Santana — it was cheap, convenient, and of good quality . Most of the industrial capitalists in the '30s had technical backgrounds . Similarly, most people in the computer industry in the '90s had technical backgrounds . Edsel himself was a capitalist who valued mechanical strength .
Huang Xuan continued drawing diagrams after lunch . He had already completed his task, and while no one was looking, he stealthily made a few sketches for his own benefit . One of them was of the Ford V8's engine which included technical indicators . One would normally require over a hundred pages to fully capture this; however, having a rough one-page sketch was sufficient for pure understanding .
His second sketch was a classic car — the world's first front-wheel drive car, the Citroen Traction Avant . This car model was introduced in 1934 . It was a front-wheel drive car with no chassis . With a torsion bar, it combined the single wheel suspension and hydraulic brake technologies into one . Then, it underwent mass production . Its greatest selling point was that it was reliable . It was especially useful for chasing and escaping; its obvious advantages in this area earned its name as "the robber's car" .
To Huang Xuan, it didn't matter what people used the Traction Avant for . The important thing was that they liked it . Although it was said that this model followed from Ford's T-type car and that it was a new milestone in the history of cars, America's research into front-wheel drive cars had been stagnant . It was only in 1966, 30 years later, that Oldsmobile made Tunas and Cadillacs that had front-wheel drive . This had to do with the technology and manufacturing abilities at that time . However, it was possible that Americans would not like the idea of the front-wheel drive until they experienced it for themselves .
There was information on the diagrams in P112 that was readily available . Huang Xuan quickly finished his sketches and hid them under a stack of paper . Most of the other workers were still hard at work . This gave him some time to catch a breather .
In the '30s, Ford's workers were not paid based on piece rates . However, Huang Xuan was far too fast and had completed far more work than his colleagues . Instead of making him do more work, Ke Qi thought it more reasonable to allow Huang Xuan to wander around the workshop .
At that time period, mechanical technology was approaching its peak . Precision machinery was also progressing significantly . Rouge was leading the way into pipeline operations . On the other hand, the experts and scholars were being praised for their progress on the real-time system . Although it was still in its budding stage, it greatly improved the productivity levels and reduced the costs .
Be that as it were, Huang Xuan was unable to see any hint of this in the workshop . He could only listen to Rolin's explanation and try to imagine this industrial base that spread over ten million acres . In about 100 years, this same area would be sufficient for China to build several industrial parks .
He was standing behind another worker, observing the way he used the machine . Suddenly, he heard shouting, "Boss is here!" and everyone began to work faster .
Huang Xuan was good at acting . His present situation reminded him of being in the classroom . Whenever someone shouted, "The head teacher is here!" everyone would pretend to be studying hard, burying their heads in their books .
Edsel was neatly dressed . He had an air of sharpness and decisiveness, and his stride was confident; he looked like an important person in every way . Yet, Huang Xuan was fully aware that in a few years, Edsel would lose his life in an accident, and Ford would be thrown into a managerial crisis . That was a major reason why modern day Ford was lagging behind major corporate groups like GM . During the second world war, Ford incurred losses every day because of its managerial problems, and Roosevelt became concerned that Ford's operations would affect equipment production .
As usual, Edsel had a word with the supervisors first . Then, he made his round around the workshop, listening to the workers' explanations . He tried to remember the problems they raised to the best of his ability . He normally spent 20 minutes doing this before the company resumed its daily operations . It was largely similar to presidential campaigns .
This time, however, as he approached Huang Xuan, Huang Xuan picked out the diagram of the V8's engine from under the stack of papers . He laid it out on the table and said to Edsel, "Mr . Ford, you might be interested in these . "
Luo Qi paled and stared in disbelief . He began to explain to the now curious Edsel, "Uh, this is the apprentice that we recruited today . His diagrams are not bad . "
Ford smiled as he walked over . Initially, he wanted to exchange a few pleasantries . However, he forgot what he had wanted to say after taking a glance at the diagram .
The shift from manufacturing the T-type car to the A-type car was a hasty one . Ford, which was incurring huge losses at the time, began looking into new models . By that time, they had a solid foundation on the V8 . However, the model that Huang Xuan sketched was to be the final version of it . Even Edsel didn’t know that the final design of the V8's engine would look like that .
"You drew this?" The diagram looked simple; however, its content was valuable . Edsel, who had a substantial technical knowledge, immediately realized this with one look . His words carried a hint of astonishment .
"That's right . I drew it, and I'm confident that it'll work . "
"Where?" Edsel had completely forgotten about finishing his round around the workshop .
Huang Xuan shook his head and said, "I'm planning to sell it . Are you interested?"
"Oh?" Edsel was returning to his capitalist state . Huang Xuan retrieved a pencil and, under the guidance of Rolin, quickly sketched two more diagrams .
They were of the V8's external design .
Edsel hid his amazement at how quickly Huang Xuan managed to sketch the diagrams . The designs in front of him were capable of earning Ford a windfall . The designs seemed to have been made specially for the company . Of course, Ford had technically come up with them by themselves . He searched Huang Xuan's expression for a good minute, but he couldn't find a hint of fear . He asked, "Can we talk? In private . "
"Of course . " That was exactly what Huang Xuan wanted .
Everything had gone smoothly thus far, but only because luck was on his side . Otherwise, Huang Xuan might have had to spend more time and money to meet Edsel Ford or any other important person . Given the limited time he had, he wouldn't have been able to do much then . These were also the limitations Rolin was referring to . Selling technology was undeniably profitable; however, there were costs involved that weren't purely monetary . It often took much longer than direct sale of goods . Had they been in the 21st century, they could have expected to easily spend two years trying . Huang Xuan was fighting hard every second that he was here .
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