Chapter 164: Money Makes Things Easier (BONUS)
Salzburg, a hotel. M?rtl, a senior executive of the Austrian Federal Railways, is holding a mobilization meeting for the technical staff.
“Listen up, the board has made a decision. In the next year, we need to connect the railway to Ardning.”
There aren’t many people who speak politely on construction sites. M?rtl didn’t beat around the bush and directly stated the task.
He was only administratively responsible for management, and not a technician by training. He had been in this project team for over a year and was very clear about the progress of the project.
The progress requirement from the headquarters now would be very difficult to complete. But as a qualified manager, he knew he couldn’t shrink back when facing difficulties.
The board had made the decision. No matter how big the difficulties, he had to at least try to complete it. This was a matter of attitude.
If there was no actual action made and he just reported difficulties and incompleteness to the top, what value did he provide?
Private companies were very practical. If he provided no value, he could be fired. In this matter, his value was less than that of the technical staff below him.
Technical staff were treasures in this era, indispensable talents no matter which project they were assigned to. Administrative managers were different, there were plenty inside the railway company.
Salvador, the chief engineer of the project, bluntly said: “Mr. M?rtl, with our current construction progress, it would be good if we could complete this task in two years. That was the planned construction period. It is simply impossible to complete it ahead of schedule!”
In the railway construction of this section, M?rtl was nominally responsible for overall management, but technically, Salvador had the final say.
M?rtl couldn’t control Salvador at all, or rather, didn’t dare interfere recklessly. He was smart enough to know that he didn’t understand, and that random commands could easily cause problems.
It was normal for the technical leader to object when the construction task was suddenly increased. But M?rtl was prepared and explained with a smile:
“Mr. Salvador, there are always solutions when people try to think of them. Tell me anything you lack and I will be responsible for coordinating with the headquarters, but the work must be completed on schedule.
In the days to come, everyone will have to work a little harder and sacrifice rest days. Rest assured, the company will not shortchange you.
I assure everyone here that as long as you complete the task ahead of time, the bonuses you receive will definitely not be less than your current wages.
No, just completing it on time will do. I will apply to the headquarters for you. If it is lower than this number, I will pay out of my own pocket to make up the difference!”
M?rtl’s performance succeeded. Many problems in this world could be solved with money, and accelerating construction was no exception.
The two-year construction task had to be completed in one year, and two years of wages issued was no problem. Everyone did the same amount of work, and the company’s labor cost budget did not increase. Now was the time of labor shortage, so M?rtl was fully confident he could get the money.
Raising wages could appease most of the technical staff, but Salvador still shook his head.
“Mr. M?rtl, no one doubts your integrity. The problem now is that the time is too short. We have been working from both ends towards the middle.
To further increase the progress, we would have to split the current section into two and start dividing again from the middle section. This would not only require more manpower, but also more mechanical equipment. Our technical staff is also insufficient, and the management difficulty will greatly increase.”
M?rtl thought for a moment and said, “These issues can be overcome. I’m sure you also know that in order to accelerate the construction of railways, the state has enacted laws that within ten years from the approval of a railway project, no taxes will be collected for railway operations.
We started construction in 1849 and are expected to fully complete in 1854. This means our tax-free operation time is only 5 years.
The Austrian Federal Railways is a listed company. The head office has to consider the opinions of shareholders. Now everyone hopes the railway can be put into operation sooner.
If we can complete the roadbed construction of 5 sections by 1851, then we can lay tracks and install related equipment in 1852 to trial run in 1853.
Being able to put into operation one year in advance will surely bring huge profits to the company, and everyone will be richly rewarded.”
Profit was only one factor. More importantly, the Austrian government required railway companies to accelerate construction of the main railway lines, for the reason that Austria was preparing to go to war with the Ottoman Empire and wanted to use the railways to transport logistics.
This reason could not be rejected. Moreover, the government did provide compensation, the ten years of tax exemption came from this.
As for fighting with the Ottoman Empire, why the railway connecting the Kingdom of Bavaria also had to accelerate construction was no longer the point.
The point was that His Majesty Emperor Franz himself spoke, and since he said the construction of main railway lines nationwide should be accelerated, then it had to be all the main lines nationwide.
Could they go to the busy Emperor to negotiate conditions for this matter?
Finally, after research, the management of the railway company decided to concentrate on accelerating the construction of the main railway lines and suspend the branch lines that were about to start construction.
……
In this day and age, railway technicians were in high demand. To retain talent, the Austrian Federal Railways Company also offered some stock options as bonuses to these technicians.
Although the amount each person got was not much, the effect was very good. With their own shares inside, everyone wanted the railway to open ahead of schedule.
Salvador thought for a moment and said, “I have no objection to the company’s decision, but Mr. M?rtl, you have to help me solve these problems.
Also, the number of casualties in our construction process is too high now. It would be best if you could restrain those managers and not go overboard.”
The so-called managers were of course the thugs hired by the railway company. These free laborers were in reality “convict laborers”, cheap but not so convenient to manage.
Each wanted to muddle through, and would slow down if no one watched them, and some even tried to run away. If not for the army guarding them, riots might even happen.
The army sent people to guard them but would not send people to manage them. In order to speed up construction, the managers hired by the railway company naturally used whips and sticks to control them.
This was unbearable to Salvador, who still had some morals left, though he was no saint. He just mentioned it in passing. He also deeply hated these rioters.
M?rtl smiled and said, “No problem. I’ll report right away on the lack of laborers. There is still machinery and equipment in the warehouses. I’ll send people to pick them up directly.
For the lack of technical staff, I will report it to the headquarters. But Mr. Salvador, there is a shortage of technical staff everywhere now. The head office is headhunting people all over Europe. Don’t get your hopes up too high.”
That’s right. There were also technical staff from European countries in Austria’s railway construction teams. For strategic security needs, these people could not be chief designers.
This was required by Franz, mainly because when the British exported railway standards overseas, they added a lot of private interests, and many countries were cheated.
Now all Austrian railway companies use the same approach. When technical staff were insufficient, engineers would bring apprentices to fill the spots.
After all, it was constructed according to drawings. As long as they learned on site for a year or two, they could handle simple technical work. Experienced engineers would give guidance and assign tasks every day, then inspect and accept the work.
Basically, when a section of railway was completed, these apprentices had graduated. That was how railway engineers in this era came about. Graduates from school were the minority.
Seeing his motivated subordinates, Salvador nodded with a wry smile. As chief engineer, his job was even heavier with the additional construction lines opened.
The means of transportation in this era was horse riding. People who couldn’t ride couldn’t do this job. Having to rush back and forth 180 kilometers every few days, this kind of life was not easy.
On the contrary, his subordinates had it easier, following the main force, without needing to run back and forth every few days.
This was the drawback of insufficient engineering staff. If all these tasks were handed over to his subordinates, he wouldn’t feel assured. Basically whenever there were technical difficulties, Salvador had to personally take charge.
In the early 19th century, railway construction in Europe had just begun. By 1850, the total railway mileage in the entire European continent that was in operation would not exceed 15,000 kilometers.
Experienced engineers were naturally rare talents. With this circumstance, when railway construction in Austria started, all the major railway companies started a war for talent.
For Salvador, this was a painful but happy time. More work meant higher pay.
For example, in addition to serving as chief technical engineer, he was also responsible for key technical guidance at the two ends of construction, so he could take two more salaries.
Now with two more construction sites, if the company did not send someone to help share his burden, it also meant he could add another two salaries, totaling five salaries.
If the salary wasn’t so good, he would have quit long ago. How could he accept such day and night work otherwise?
Such good days did not come often. With the bonus promised by M?rtl, once the task was completed, Salvador would have received ten years worth of salary in one year.
The likes of Salvador were still a minority in the end. The railway company could not keep not sending engineers to help. After all, one person’s energy was limited. He could barely cope in the early stages, but would be overwhelmed in the later stages of construction.
But it was common for one person to complete the work of two or three people in railway construction.
The capitalists were not philanthropists. They could not always be so generous. They were irreplaceable now, so naturally they were treated preferentially. Once they could be replaced, their good days would be over.
Salvador was very clear that once railway construction was completed, they had to prepare to leave.
The railway companies did not need so many experienced engineers during operation. The capitalists would naturally choose cheaper ordinary technicians to maintain the railways afterwards.
Later, when the number of engineers exceeded demand, even if they did the work of two people, they could still only get one salary in the end.
The law of supply and demand also applied in the human resource market. When capitalists lacked people, they paid high salaries, and naturally wanted to make up for it when they had enough people.
Overall, they had caught up with the good times and made money. After this, there would be no such thing.
Salvador didn’t know how long these good days would last. If possible, he hoped these days could last a little longer.
He even had the idea to find a job in the Ministry of Railways. Although the treatment was not as good, it was stable and decent.
Night fell and Salvador lay in bed, lit a cigarette, took a deep puff, and couldn’t fall asleep for a long time.
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