Cement Factory

"Thank you for your help, Your Excellency Governor of Provincial Governor Drag!"

After a brief but detailed questioning, the two Federal Government employees got up to leave. Drag watched them leave with some impatience and then had the butler lock the door from the inside.

He hadn't asked the butler to lock the door because he felt there was no danger here, and even if there was, the Federal people would take care of it for him first.

As it turns out, if there's trouble, the Federal are trouble itself.

After the door lock was engaged, he breathed a sigh of relief; it was a very strange feeling.

Sometimes people know that doing or not doing something won't affect the outcome, but they still choose to do it and gain a sense of security from doing it, which is quite contradictory.

He returned to his bedroom, thought for a moment, and then made a phone call to Lin Qi.

"The meeting is over, and I have done everything you asked me to do..." At this moment, for some reason, the Provincial Governor Drag suddenly thought of the Old King's performance at the meeting. To be honest, he was a little envious and also a little shocked.

Having reached his position, he was rarely moved by anything. He had thought the Old King would be a selfish person, but to his surprise, the Old King was more patriotic than any of them.

This sounds a bit unbelievable. There is no concept of "country" here. Each province is a Small Country. But the Old King still created the concept of a real "country". This makes people feel a bit bewildered and also makes them feel ugly and insignificant.

While they resisted the Federal, they chose to surrender...

Lin Qi's voice quickly broke his thoughts, "Have you talked about the bank?"

Drag paused for a moment before snapping out of his daze, his mind blank for a split second, before shaking his head and saying, "No, I was only thinking about persuading the Old King and overlooked this matter, and I think everyone..."

He shifted his tone slightly, as if in a discussion but also with some doubt, and asked, "It seems you don't object to directly acquiring the Federal Sol."

"Of course they won't object!" Lin Qi's voice was decisive, as if he already knew the answer. "They trust and are more willing to keep the money in their own pockets than to set up a bank and put it in someone else's pocket."

"It doesn't matter that you didn't mention it. Those things have little to do with me; they were all caused by those people in the bank. Overall, Drag Mr., you have proven your worth. You are the friend we need. When you come back, we can sit down together and talk about investments."

"Then I won't bother you any longer..."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Qi turned around and looked at the street outside with a slight frown. It was very busy, and the progress was beyond his expectations.

One thing that makes infrastructure development in Nagaril much easier than in developed countries, such as Federal, is that you don't need to consult with people.

In the Federal, if an electric company wants to erect a utility pole on the roadside, and within a radius of 1.5 times the length of the pole, residents, shops, or any property owners within this area express concerns...

For example, they might worry that if the utility pole accidentally falls down and hits them, or that the debris might cause them damage, and they could refuse to let the power company erect a utility pole there.

Even between two utility poles, the property owners located under the power lines have the right to argue with the power company. What if the power line breaks and falls right on their heads? Every year, construction negotiation incidents like these cause headaches for all construction companies. Even a small matter that everyone might think is insignificant can delay a project for ten days, half a month, or even longer.

But in Nagaril, this possibility is not even considered.

Before building the road, the ground was leveled, and no one objected.

Some houses affected subsequent construction, and after paying a small amount of money, the homeowners even helped the construction team demolish their houses.

There was no wrangling, no scoundrels demanding benefits, and no bipolar disorder or neurosis with people constantly fantasizing about suddenly dying in the street. This made the originally planned construction speed much faster than expected, and even the Federal members themselves did not expect it to be so easy.

After all, people are always arguing and making a fuss in the name of freedom and rights, so they are a little unaccustomed to such a straightforward thing.

After watching the construction scene outside for a while, Lin Qi suddenly remembered what he had originally planned to think about. The Big Six Banks had great ambitions, and their senior executives seemed to have reached some kind of unknown agreement with the senior executives of the Federal Government, but none of this had much to do with Lin Qi.

As long as his interests are not threatened, he doesn't care whether others will try to take a slice of the pie.

After quickly tidying up, he asked the Sergeant to drive him to the Cement Factory.

The Cement Factory has started full-scale operation. Actually, this thing doesn't require much technology; to put it simply, the main process is crushing.

Lin Qi has already ordered two standard production lines from the Federal, but it will take some time before they are delivered here. This is partly because there is a lack of heavy-duty vehicles here, and road transportation is also a major problem.

There are some heavy machines waiting to be transported at the port, but it is clear that they will have to wait for a while, at least until the road is repaired.

Secondly, the production line needs to be slightly modified to adapt to the production here.

Lin Qi is currently using several old machines, which are inexpensive and easy to transport. Their only drawback might be that they are somewhat "picky" about their food.

But this was not even on Lin Qi's radar. He came to Nagaril to solve these problems!

Before even getting close to the Cement Factory, they could see dust everywhere. A thick layer of dust covered the roads and the leaves on the trees on both sides of the road, and the air was filled with a pungent smell. Lin Qi had to wear a breathing filter to avoid inhaling a large amount of suspended dust into his lungs.

As you approach the workshop, you can hear the clanging and banging of stones. A little further on, you can see a large group of workers wielding hammers weighing at least twenty pounds, manually crushing raw materials.

The old machines from the Federal were too old and had strict standards for raw material input. It would be a long time before the large crushers arrived, so they simply used manpower.

With 105 Galil a day plus a Chinese meal, all the workers were very satisfied and worked very hard.

People always say that human power is no match for mechanical power. Anyone who says that must have never been to Nagaril!

As soon as I got out of the car, Neil and the Vice Manager came to greet me. Both of them were wearing protective goggles and respirators. This place didn't look like a Cement Factory; it looked more like a laboratory for biochemical research.

"You should have called earlier, so I could have asked them to stop for a bit..." Neil and Lin Qi hugged, and grumbled casually, "It's so dusty and noisy here."

"What did you say?" Lin Qi shouted in his ear, but the clanging and banging made it impossible for him to hear what Neil was saying in his muffled voice.

Neil was also taken aback. "Try it? What do you want me to try?"

Lin Qi shook his head, pointed to the office, and the group walked inside.

Upon entering the office, Lin Qi frowned as he looked at the layer of dust on the desk. Neil, on the other hand, removed his respirator and goggles, shook his head, and instructed the Vice Manager to clean the place.

"Even with the door closed, a layer of dust will accumulate here in just a short while. There's too much dust here. Didn't you say last time that you had dust suppression equipment?"

Lin Qi also took off his gear and looked outside through the now blurry glass.

Aside from wearing a handkerchief or something similar around their mouth and nose, people didn't have much protection.

He glanced at it briefly before looking away. "Someone complained?"

"A complaint?" Neil shifted his position slightly, letting the Vice Manager continue cleaning, and shook his head, saying, "No, of course not, no one has complained. It's just that I can't stand it. I've been coughing a lot lately, and I suspect it's related to this dust."

Lin Qi nodded noncommittally. "The goods will be back soon, but without a suitable road surface, we can't haul them over. Do you understand what I mean?"

Many industrial equipment are heavier than people imagine. They are definitely not the kind of weight that can be lifted by a few people working together. Sometimes, a single motor can weigh several tons or even tens of tons.

The special transport vehicles capable of carrying these industrial equipment are not light themselves, and given the current road conditions in Nagaril, the transport vehicles may have to stop as soon as they leave the port.

The muddy ground might be able to support the Nagaril People's lives, but a transport vehicle weighing ten tons or more would easily sink into it with a slight press. Only after the road is repaired can those things be transported in.

Neil sighed. "Looks like I'll have to endure this for a while longer!"

Lin Qi didn't answer that question, but instead asked another one, "Are these workers generally well-behaved? Are there any troublemakers?"

Perhaps Lin Qi's question struck a nerve with Neil, because he suddenly became much more talkative.

"I thought the people here wouldn't be too...", his body language keeping pace, "...but on our first day of official work, we lost nearly fifty 20-pound weights!"

"You absolutely can't imagine how I felt when I found out about these things. Losing one or two games would be understandable, but losing so many!"

He seemed to amuse himself as he spoke, laughing heartily, "Alright, alright, poverty is the Original Sin. Besides that, there were some troublemakers, but we kicked them all out. The remaining people have become much more obedient. Apart from slacking off when you're not watching them, they don't have any other problems."

"But you only have one pair of eyes. You can't watch everyone at the same time. In places you're not looking, there will definitely be people slacking off!"