The prescription Li Fu gave to Hong Yanwu was really on the right track.
The master he knew from the "Maoshun Depot" was named Sun Shiying.
I am sixty-one years old this year. I have been working at the "Maoshun Depot" for twenty years, from being an apprentice at the age of fourteen to becoming a master.
This man specializes in copper work, and the master who taught him the craft was also the master of "Yongcheng" in Andingmen.
You know, the copper work in Beijing is a branch of metalworking art and is quite famous in history.
During the Yuan and Ming dynasties, the coppersmiths in the capital had two things that made them famous.
One is the Reclining Buddha from the Reclining Buddha Temple in western Beijing, and the other is the Xuande Furnace from the Ming Dynasty.
Of course, "Yongcheng", which was founded in the mid-Qing Dynasty, could not catch up with these two things.
But "Yongcheng" is not bad either.
This "Bronze Works" run by Shanxi people specializes in handling palace work.
For example, the bronze gate lions of the Forbidden City in modern times and the Baoyun Pavilion of the Summer Palace all had the full participation of "Yongcheng".
Therefore, Master Sun can be regarded as studying under a famous family.
Regardless of the "skills" of casting and hammering, as well as the techniques of inlay, welding, gold plating, carving, filigree, coloring, and polishing, he has learned a relatively high level among the copper craftsmen in the capital.
After liberation, Master Sun was one of the few craftsmen directly selected from the car factory to join the "Metal Craft Factory" because of his outstanding craftsmanship.
He himself was also fortunate to participate in the creation of the military emblem on the roof of the Military Museum, one of the "Top Ten Buildings" in Beijing in the 1950s.
This was an incredible feat back then.
Because even though the military emblem doesn't look big from the ground, if you "move" it down and look at it, it's ridiculously big.
In fact, the size of this military emblem plus the socket is eight meters high and six meters in diameter.
The whole thing is made of four millimeter-thick copper plates and is made in sections.
There are many wheat grains and wheat awns on the military emblem, and the coppersmiths have to use hammers and steel chisels to knock them bit by bit, then gilt them, and then assemble them on the iron frame.
Master Sun and his group had dozens of craftsmen in total, and with just dozens of hands, they made the military emblem so detailed that it looked like a relief.
This is a unique skill that is second to none in the world.
Think about it, at this level, it's not a big deal for Master Sun to pick up the small jobs he once did at the car factory.
This is almost the same as a famous chef who wants to make two small cold dishes to go with wine.
And you should also know that Master Sun, who was awarded the "Municipal Model Worker" and a seventh-level craftsman for this reason, is really not rich after retirement.
For example, when he meets Li Fu, the two brothers will naturally drink two cups together.
But he could only afford a bowl of sesame sauce noodles, plus four taels of Mao San'er powder, and a cut salted duck egg.
Even his family's cabin was dark.
The most valuable possessions, apart from an old-fashioned chat box, is a black and white TV.
As the saying goes, raising children is too much.
Even though the old man could earn more than 100 yuan when he was working, the children's mouths made him poor, and he couldn't save any money for so many years.
The same goes for retirement.
The salary has increased to 70%. Even though the children are married, they still have to provide supplements to their grandchildren, and they cannot favor one over another.
That is to say, the craftsmen in this industry have good muscles and bones, and the old man has a strong body.
Otherwise, Master Sun will have some health problems, and his life will be even more miserable.
Then think about it again, with such a family background, Li Fu and Hong Yanwu said that they are willing to spend 600 yuan to buy such a car. How angry is Master Sun?
It must have made the master very happy.
He took Hong Yanwu's money and hurriedly went to recruit people that night.
As a result, a car was built in just three days.
I have to say that the job is really good.
The car was so exquisitely made and so particular that it didn't look like what Li Fu had originally described.
As soon as Hong Yanwu saw the appearance of this car, his eyes immediately couldn't move.
And when he experienced it personally and had Chen Liquan pull him around in a small circle on the bicycle, he became even more elated.
Because the phrase "Pitpian'er, pippian'er" is too vivid.
Under the building by the front door, he leaned on the car and moved forward smoothly as if in a hurry.
A car hood is used to cover the old sun, and then a small breeze blows, looking at the prosperous street scene, it feels so delicious.
This journey has earned enough returns.
Not only did foreigners take pictures when they met, but many ordinary people thought it was a prop for filming a movie.
People kept coming over to chat with them, asking them which film studio they were from and what movies they were going to make soon.
Hey, this is enough to prove the appeal of tricycles.
So after returning from the test drive, Hong Yanwu immediately decided not to make twenty cars.
He wants to add twenty more cars and spend twenty-four thousand to make forty cars.
Not for anything else, he mainly considered that old craftsmen like Master Sun were already old.
If he really can't do it anymore, or doesn't want to do it anymore, where can he find such good skills?
To put it bluntly, there might not be a shop like this after passing this village.
If you don’t want to be blinded in the future, you should make a few more vehicles now to prepare for emergencies.
As for having too many cars, it’s okay if you can’t use them for a while.
If something goes wrong with any of the cars, wouldn't it be nice to have a replacement?
What's more, he also wants to put two cars in his old house, so that he can take his parents, wife and children around on the streets if nothing happens.
But on the other hand, Master Sun was undoubtedly frightened by this formation.
When Hong Yanwu reported the amount he wanted, his jaw almost dropped to the ground.
Because the old master always thought he just wanted to get one for fun.
I never expected him to take such a big shot.
Later, after Li Fuyi explained it, Master Sun finally understood Hong Yanwu's plan.
But just like this, the old master couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
He said that things in the world are interesting, and they have gone around in a circle and come back again.
I really didn’t expect that car manufacturers have been closed down for decades, and today I actually see the owner of the car manufacturer who wants to buy so many cars and drive the car.
Hong Yanwu was happy after hearing this.
He quickly explained that he did not want to be like Mr. Liu in "Camel Xiangzi" who opened "Renhe Car Factory" to suck the blood of poor people.
The business he wants to do is to achieve true "harmony" and the purpose is to let us people live a good life.
Even if the foreign devil is slaughtered, if we ask him to pay for it obediently, he still has to praise our car, and that's fine.
These words are very generous and full of benevolence and righteousness.
Master Sun was happy when he heard this, and he also patted his chest.
"Okay, I'm just telling you this. I promise to do this job more carefully and make every car beautiful for you. I also hope that you can really earn foreign exchange from foreigners and fulfill this wish."
Then he gave Hong Yanwu an additional reminder.
"Hey, that's right, young man. It's not enough for you to just spend money on building cars. You'd better get a house and properly house these cars. Because only by centralizing them can they be deployed uniformly for easy repair and use. Otherwise, if
Poor maintenance will ruin your car and it’s not worth it.”
This certainly makes sense.
In fact, Hong Yanwu had already thought of the place needed to store these cars.
A few days ago, he spent a lot of money to buy a small courtyard with two entrances in Guangming Hutong between Xi'anmen Street and Fuyou Street, which he planned to use for this purpose.
However, it must be said that if he really opened a car factory, he would have very little experience in other repair and maintenance issues.
Now that he heard Master Sun mention it at this time, he felt that the master had a good temper.
So I decided not to do anything but leave the car building and maintenance to Master Sun.
He suggested that Master Sun and the others just build the car in the small yard he bought.
After building the car, he was willing to spend fifty yuan per person per month to hire Master Sun and others to help manage and maintain the car on a long-term basis.
Work when you have something to do, rest when you have nothing to do, as long as there is no delay in getting out of the car.
The people on duty can also come in shifts, so everyone doesn't have to go every day.
This is of course a big pie falling from the world. Master Sun never expected that he would have such luck.
I and my old brothers could still get such an easy and well-paid long-term job with Hong Yanwu.
So he thanked them one after another, kept Hong Yanwu and others alive, and entertained them by buying wine and killing chickens.
That's it, everyone is happy.
The space to set up a car factory, manpower, and even logistics and maintenance have all been solved.
And I have to say that Hong Yanwu's final decision was extremely wise. Whether it was building a car or maintaining it, he had to hire a real expert.
The money he spent on these old masters was not unjust at all.
Because Master Sun and his gang are not only good at making and repairing, they also know the rules of the trade.
When they started working in the small courtyard, they would remind Hong Yanwu from time to time and tell them many tricks of the trade.
For example, they felt uncomfortable watching Hong Yanwu's people get into the car.
He took the initiative to remind him that the tricycle driver must lift his feet from the front when getting on or off the bus, regardless of whether there is anyone in the back seat.
Some people do this to prevent their feet from touching guests, and it is also to develop a habit when no one is around.
For another example, they took the initiative to inform them that some guests who were older or fatter would be easily injured if they were supported when getting off the bus.
Therefore, the coachman should never use his hands to help the passengers down.
Be sure to bend your arms, use your upper arms to hold the guests' hands, and let the guests support their arms to get out of the car.
Also, they said that in the past, every coachman would need two things.
One is a towel for wiping sweat.
The second is a whisk, used to beat the back seat.
In addition, even if the driver is resting, he cannot sit directly on the back seat. He can only sit on the left side of the vehicle, which is the place where guests step on when getting on.
This is not only for the sake of appearance and orderliness, but also to respect the guests.
Not to mention anything else, on a hot day, some guests are reluctant to sit in the back seat as soon as they see a sweaty coachman sitting in the back seat.
In short, these good and practical suggestions are definitely not something that a layman can understand or notice, and they really helped Hong Yanwu avoid a lot of mistakes that he was likely to make.
What is knowledge? This is it! And it is practical!
Don’t underestimate this, as these rules are cumbersome.
Many tricycle masters today sit on the back seat.
Some are still lying down, putting their feet on the seat in front of them and looking at their phones.
Some have their legs crossed. Some masters sit directly on the tube in front.
This is indeed extremely ungrateful, and it makes people feel awkward just looking at it.
It is completely conceivable that such a car will "dry away" the guests who originally wanted to take the car?
Or will the price they quoted make people feel that it is too "black"?
This is probably called a lack of service awareness.
In fact, just from the words of these masters, we can find that "details determine success or failure", we have understood it much earlier and more sophisticatedly than foreigners.
It is a pity that since the Revolution of 1911, the earth-shaking historical turmoil and the extreme values that attributed all traditional culture to feudal dross have led to the chronology of the experience and knowledge of predecessors.
Only then will our young people today have to learn all this again and regard foreigners as their teachers.