Everyone felt that the steam engine was of no use, and the noise was so loud that it made people feel chest pain.
Reggie was too lazy to explain too much to them. He drew a few drawings and gave them to Kamalvan, asking him to make a huge stone mill and a set of crank and connecting rod mechanisms.
The piston makes reciprocating motion, and the crank connecting rod can convert the reciprocating motion into circular motion.
Circular motion can drive stone grinding, and huge graphite can replace workers to complete the heavy grinding work.
Since the opening of the factory in Broken Snow City, grinding work has been a nightmare for all workers. Charcoal needs to be ground, iron stone needs to be ground, white stone needs to be ground, yellow stone needs to be ground, saltpeter needs to be ground... many materials need to be ground.
A craftsman can grind three hundred pounds of raw materials every day, and a skilled female worker can grind up to two hundred pounds a day. The price behind this is swollen arms and blood blisters on her hands.
Natalie is such a female worker. At the age of sixteen, she is a flower-like girl. A girl like her should be surrounded by suitors and enjoy the sweetness and troubles of youth every day. Unfortunately, she does not have this kind of
Blessing.
Her father, Marwan Rudd, is a farmer, a farmer who doesn’t know how to farm. Since Natalie’s grandfather died, her father has never been to a farm. He rented all the fields in the family to others.
He lives on a meager farm rent every year.
Drinking, gambling, promiscuity, beating his wife and children... Marvan Rudd did not suffer from all the shortcomings that can be found in a man. His wife and children at home often lacked enough to eat, but if there was a can of ale missing from the table,
, he can turn an entire home into a living hell in an instant.
Because of the war in Suixue City, the Rude family was unlucky this year. All the food in the fields was robbed by the Byers, and the farmers who rented the fields were unable to pay the rent.
It was impossible for a family like this to have any savings, and he was unwilling to accept the wheat and bacon from the lord. He thought that was what beggars would do. Life was extremely difficult, and Marvan Rudd once wanted to sell Natalie to someone.
The rich man works as a maid, but everyone in the city knows his reputation and no one wants to have anything to do with him.
When there was no rice to cook at home, Marwan Rudd received news that the processing factory was recruiting workers. Naturally, he would not do such a lowly job, so he sent Natalie to the processing factory without hesitation.
With ten silver coins a month, Natalie became the entire family's only source of income. When Natalie got her first month's salary back, she finally saw her father's long-lost smile.
Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. In just a few days, her father squandered all ten silver coins and left very little.
Life at home began to become difficult again. During breakfast, there was no ale on the table. Marwan's face looked as if it had been smeared with charcoal powder, and his gloomy expression frightened everyone.
As soon as Natalie took a bite of bread, Marwan overturned the table, her mother was slapped, and her brother hid aside and cried. Natalie ran out of the house quickly. She couldn't stop her father. She couldn't stop anything. She could still
She can still make money by working, and she is the only source of income for her family. This is her only excuse to temporarily escape from this devil's cave.
When they arrived at the processing plant, Mrs. Josephine was leading the security guards to search the workers.
Josephine was also one of the first workers in the processing plant, the oldest old lady. Now the processing plant has more than 80 workers, and the temptation of salary has made the factory's team grow day by day. Management work has also become more demanding.
Heavy duty. Josephine performed very well at work and showed certain leadership skills. She was promoted to worker foreman by Kamal Wan, becoming a middle-level cadre, and she could get five more silver coins every month.
salary.
"Young man, don't be shy. Spread your legs a little wider and let me see if you are bringing anything you shouldn't have."
"Old guy, you smell like you're on fire. Have you started smoking leaves again? You can smoke wherever you want, but if I see you bringing fire into the factory, get out of here right away.
!”
After completing the routine inspection, a short standing meeting was held. The content of the meeting was very simple. It was nothing more than paying attention to the safety measures of each production process. According to the order of the lord, safety is always the first topic, and it must be repeated every day.
Dozens of times.
Natalie was not a handy girl. Although she came earlier, she was still doing rough work such as grinding. Although she also wanted to switch to less strenuous work such as soaking and blending, she failed to pass Joseph's test.
During Mrs. Fenn's exam, Mrs. Josephine once scolded her in front of many people, saying that she had never seen such a stupid girl.
Although it has been improved by Kamalwan, the huge grinding roller is still very heavy. In the cold winter, Natalie's clothes were quickly soaked with sweat. Even though she was undertaking such hard work, Natalie still felt that she was better than before.
She was much happier at home. She had never looked forward to getting off work like other workers. If the lord hadn't explicitly prohibited it, she would have even wanted to sleep in the factory.
During the lunch break, Natalie's friend Catherine came to her side. Natalie was devouring her meal. The factory lunch was very good, and it was the only meal that Natalie could eat.
"I brought what you asked for." Catherine looked around and saw that no one was around, then quietly put two candles into Natalie's hands.
Natalie almost spit out the milk in her mouth: "Are you crazy? How could you bring this thing to the factory?"
"What can I do? Should I send him to your house? I don't want to see your father's damn face."
Natalie's brother is learning to read in the lord's castle. It gets dark very early in the winter in Shattered Snow City, and her brother needs candles to complete his homework.
Poor Natalie couldn't afford candles, but her friends were willing to help her. But anything related to fire was strictly prohibited in the factory, and Natalie's face turned green with fright.
"How did you bring this thing in? Didn't Lady Josephine notice it?"
"I hid the candle here," Catherine pointed to her proud chest, "We are all women, so she won't go too far when searching."
"Oh my God, what should I do?"
"Same as me," Catherine stuffed the candle into Natalie's clothes, "don't worry, just pretend nothing happened and eat your food quickly, we will start work soon."
Natalie did not have Catherine's courage, and she was restless all afternoon. She finally made it to the eve of get off work. She wiped her sweat and was about to line up at the door, but she was stopped by Mrs. Josephine.
"Stop, my good girl, you seem... to have grown up a lot."
"I, I didn't, I didn't bring anything..." The silly girl let the first sentence slip.
Mrs. Josephine looked at Natalie's chest, stepped forward and pulled out the candle inside. Poor Natalie didn't even dare to struggle.
The originally noisy factory suddenly fell silent, and the workers waiting to get off work focused all their attention on Natalie.
"Look, look, what is this?" Mrs. Josephine looked at Natalie angrily, and then turned her attention to the two security guards.
According to the Lord's instructions, Josephine chose the two strongest women as safety officers. Their task was to eliminate potential safety hazards in the factory. Now it seems that they have failed in their duties today.
"You two, your salary will be halved this month. Now take her to the punishment room!"
The security officer dragged Natalie into the punishment room. Catherine standing aside was so frightened that she almost cried. She wanted to stand up and say something, but Natalie shook her head gently at her.
No matter what Catherine said, it would not help, but would make her punished as well.
There is only one table in the punishment room and a whip is hung on the wall. Each worker has at most one chance to come here, because those who make two mistakes will be expelled from the factory.
Josephine walked into the punishment room, picked up the whip, and yelled: "What are you doing standing still? Press her on the table and lift her skirt!"