parentshiftbook Chapter 1221 - 1148: Problem Solving (Continued)
Chapter 1221 - 1148: Problem Solving (Continued)
Just as both sides were quarreling heatedly, there were clear-headed people on each side who exchanged their calculation processes.The two sides' calculations were more or less the same; in fact, there wasn't any decisive difference.
And the key factor that determined success or failure quickly surfaced.
"How can your efficiency be this high? Why did you end up with an output fifty percent higher than normal?"
Shaking a stack of draft papers, a scholar questioned the engineer opposite him.
The engineer replied as a matter of course: "Because we used the 'Pilgrim Efficiency Law.'"
"And you still say you're not currying favor with the Saint's Grandson? The 'Pilgrim Efficiency Law' at most gives a five-percent boost, that's already amazing. Where did that fifty percent come from, I'm asking you!"
"Previously, the Dieterbert workshop in Gray Furnace Town used this method, and their efficiency doubled!"
"How can that be the same? These are precision parts, not horseshoes!"
"Who told you the Dieterbert workshop makes horseshoes? They properly make axles…"
"Your Grace, now that things have come to this, there are some words I can't not say." A senior engineer of the Holy Alliance present stood up.
"Speak."
"Your Grace, it's not that we didn't use the 'Pilgrim Efficiency Law'; it's that it really doesn't work."
"Insolent! What are you insinuating? What are you questioning? Who's behind you…"
The Secret Monk had only said a few words before Horn pressed down on his shoulder.
For the Secret Monks, these lines were something they had to say; it was also a form of political performance.
Looking at the engineer before him, Horn's face showed neither sorrow nor joy.
Horn remembered his name: Axent, an engineer from the Pope University in Leia's Golden Horn Bay.
As for what he was saying, Horn didn't even need to ask; he knew it must have come from phenomena Axent observed in his daily life.
In the eyes of quite a few engineers, Horn's 'Pilgrim Efficiency Law' was simply overcorrecting.
Isn't it just about fixing the overseer problem? Set up some labor representatives, then a labor office, and the issue would be resolved soon enough.
But the Saint's Grandson wouldn't do that; he just had to come up with this inexplicable 'Pilgrim Efficiency Law.'
If you don't use it, fine, but any factory that does use it sees its efficiency drop without exception.
"The 'Pilgrim Efficiency Law' has been tested in pilot projects; it really is effective, it's just that it's a reform that comes with growing pains."
Horn said this not out of stubbornness, but because there was real justification behind it.
In past workshop operations, workers often relied on experience and intuition; from a rational, logical standpoint, that did not maximize efficiency.
On the contrary, many operations that went against intuition and experience were what actually brought higher efficiency.
The 'Pilgrim Efficiency Law' is essentially a revised version of Earth's 'Taylor Scientific Management,' whose creator is the founding ancestor of modern management science.
As for the 'Pilgrim Efficiency Law,' take the Dieterbert workshop as the simplest example.
According to the workers' experience, the bigger the shovel, the more material it moves, and thus the higher the efficiency.
But after observation and calculation by the foreman, when each shovelful weighed about 21 pounds, work efficiency was highest, and this had nothing to do with size (shovel capacity).
Therefore, different sizes of shovels had to be used for materials of different densities.
Before this reform, each worker's average daily transport volume was about 6 tons.
After this reform, the average daily transport per person rose to 22 tons, an increase of nearly 270%.
At the same time, the number of workers needed dropped from 400–600 down to 140, greatly reducing labor costs.
It's just that changing habits and intuitions people are born with is itself something that runs counter to intuition.
The result is inevitably a period of short-term efficiency decline, and there's no way around that.
You could say that Horn's crackdown on overseers and strict investigation of factory corruption was essentially "making dumplings just for the vinegar" of Taylor's scientific management.
Axent had only joined the Holy Alliance after the Sixth Great Duke Conference, and that was on Xie Li's recommendation.
His understanding of the Holy Alliance had so far come entirely from propaganda; this was his first time taking part in a meeting of such a high level.
Staring at Horn's expressionless face, Axent's lips trembled for a while, but he didn't know what to say.
He had thought that once he came to the Holy Alliance, he wouldn't have to endure, as he had in Golden Horn Bay, theology and politics seeping into the halls of logic.
In the end, crows are black everywhere; the Holy Alliance was still the same.
"All right, I understand." Axent in the end said nothing more, merely sat down woodenly.
"His Grace has his reasons…" a colleague beside him stepped up to console him.
Axent finally couldn't hold it in: "The Pope is wise—I concede."
"Those words of yours…" A Secret Monk immediately jumped out.
"Enough," Horn cut him off. "Continue drafting the plan, and implement it according to the standards of the 'Pilgrim Efficiency Law.'"
This comment immediately set the tone, and the sounds of arguing gradually faded.
The scratch of pen and paper rose again, while Horn leaned over and murmured a few words to the Secret Monk beside him.
The monk immediately stood up and soon returned carrying a thick ledger.
The noise in the Stag Chamber still went on, coffee was brought in one cup after another, and the dregs at the bottom of the cups piled higher and higher.
The night outside the window grew denser as well; under the heavy black clouds, the sound of wheels and hooves could be heard more and more frequently.
About an hour later, the Secret Monk hurried to Horn's side, holding a few densely written reports in his hands.
"Your Eminence, we've found them." He handed the papers to Horn. "These are all the workshops that have shown outstanding results after implementing the Pilgrimage Efficiency Act reforms."
Horn glanced over them—just about sixty—barely satisfactory at best.
Since this was to be a saturation-style rescue, naturally they also needed saturation-style production.
Better to have too much, which could always be used later, than too little.
After all, producing a single spring locomotive basically required two or three workshops working together; to produce fifteen at once would probably need forty to fifty workshops involved.
Barely enough.
The biggest problem among them was that the materials couldn't be transported in.
And the transport issue was almost unsolvable under the current overarching circumstances.
So Horn and the others were left with only one path: produce the materials locally at Mayo Mountain and Hot Spring Castle.
Then ship them directly to the ry Court Barracks; otherwise, having Cold Spring Castle Steel Company finish production and then ship them over would be far too late.
This meant the smelting plants in both places would have to work overtime around the clock, and within the limited time, smelt enough material of acceptable quality.
The pressure was just as enormous.
"Send people immediately to contact these workshops and issue the orders." Taking the reports from the hands of the busy staff, Horn directly assigned the orders to these workshops that had adopted the Holy Efficiency Method.
"Your Eminence, all of them using the Holy Efficiency Method?" Madlan frowned, speaking with a hint of admonition.
Horn shook his head: "If we don't use the Holy Efficiency Method, we won't make it in time. It's not that I insist on using it, it's that I have no choice but to use it."
But as soon as he finished speaking, a group of high monks below immediately showed pained expressions.
He looked at the many faces full of embarrassment below; after a few seconds, he sighed: "How about this, I'll leave room for five locomotives. You can handle them however you like. Whoever does a good job, I'll remember his merit!"
Many of the Pilgrimage Efficiency Act's opponents finally exhaled in unison; at least the Saint's Grandson was still leaving them a chance to clean up after the mess.
"How many problems have we solved now?"
"Uh, machining precision is handled by Leonardo, the materials and manufacturing issues are handled by the Pilgrimage Workshops, and there's only one last problem left—counterintelligence..." Petier methodically summarized the meeting minutes.
On this side Horn had basically laid out the broad approach for the other two issues, while René came over at once with an armful of files.
"Your Eminence, regarding counterintelligence against Falan, we already have two ideas."
"Speak."
"The first is simple and crude. Her Highness Jia Li is currently leading an Internal Guard unit to Rapids City.
Have Her Highness bring part of the Internal Guard back to the ry Court Barracks ahead of schedule to handle arrests and security."
"Good, I'll meet her in person tomorrow." Horn nodded.
"The second method requires the help of the Truth Court. We need to make public the situation with the spring locomotives and encourage citizens to report..."
"Absolutely not!" The Exorcist Leader and the Evangelist both sprang from their chairs, "If this gets out, the Holy Alliance's face will be utterly lost..."
"I think we can."
Over the next few hours, the Stag Chamber was completely turned into a command room.
As they argued back and forth and coffee was served cup after cup, a complete set of plans gradually took shape.
From time to time people would arrive, talk with the high monks in the reception room, and then leave.
The entire Holy Seat Mansion blazed with light as if in daylight, while the night-time carriages around the building were as crowded and bustling as during the day.
Not until a pale glimmer showed at the edge of the sky did Horn, with dark circles around his eyes, stand in front of the blackboard.
On the blackboard, a pile of paper slips were pinned and linked together with string, each slip bearing a contingency plan.
There were five plans in total. After divination, the methods proposed by Horn and Leonardo miraculously scored much higher than the others.
However, the high monks all gave bitter, knowing smiles.
The Astrologers' divinations on the Saint's Grandson's chances of success always came with a built‑in floor, and odds were they added another 10–20% above that.
Once you subtracted the inflated portion, they were actually about the same.
Horn looked at the five groups already assigned and clapped his hands: "The plans are set. Now we just carry them out.
As long as we do our best, the rest is up to the Holy Father."