Australia 1671

Chapter 18: A Minor Setback

As Gan Sheng had expected, most of the shipyard workers who queued up to register at the Shipbuilding Bureau in the morning failed the interview.

When they learned that only a small number of positions were available, they finally couldn’t hold back their complaints.

They began to share all kinds of hearsay and speculations, some even claiming that Li Yingchun and the shipyard leadership had abandoned them, stirring up the crowd to demand an explanation at the administrative building of the current Cabinet Committee.

However, before any major chaos broke out, Li Yingchun and Chen Wenyun, who had already anticipated this situation, rushed to the scene to calm things down immediately.

"…Comrades! Fellow workers! Please quiet down for a moment and listen to me, okay?"

Li Yingchun struggled to climb onto a table, then took a megaphone and, without waiting for everyone to go silent, shouted loudly:

"…I know you’ve heard the rumor that I’m going to divert ninety percent of the shipyard workers! I’m telling you now, it’s true!"

"To be honest, emotionally, I really didn’t want to do this! I’ve worked and lived in the shipyard for over thirty years. Of course I don’t want to see it decline!"

"But there’s really no other choice!"

"What is the shipyard for?"

"Shipbuilding!"

"But can we still build ships now?"

"No!"

"This is the reality. Only by facing reality can we solve the problem, right?"

"In the short term, the shipyard can’t resume production. Since we can’t produce, should we just stay idle at the shipyard?"

"So—"

"Li Yingchun, that’s easy for you to say!"

He was interrupted by a bald, middle-aged man in work clothes, who loudly questioned, "You and those leaders have become Cabinet Members. What can we workers do after leaving the shipyard? Live on air?"

"Exactly!" someone immediately chimed in angrily, "Your position is secure now, Li Yingchun, but what about us?"

"Li Yingchun, I really misjudged you!"

"…"

Seeing the scene getting chaotic again, Li Yingchun quickly brought out the conditions he had prepared in advance.

"…You’ve really misunderstood me!"

Li Yingchun wore a face full of wronged grievance.

"…I’ve been with you all for so many years—how could I abandon you? Even more impossible is me living the good life while leaving you to starve!"

"The original plan for the shipyard workers was to be announced tomorrow, but to ease everyone’s worries, I’ll say it now!"

Li Yingchun raised a finger and spoke into the megaphone, "First! I promised yesterday that no one would go hungry, and that includes the shipyard workers!"

"From now on, the Social Welfare Bureau and the Civil Affairs Bureau will issue food coupons to everyone weekly. These food coupons can be exchanged for food at the distribution points of the Materials Bureau and the Social Welfare Bureau."

"Of course, they can also be used directly as currency, equivalent in value to the contribution points we’re about to implement! In other words, they can be used like money or exchanged for money!"

"With food coupons, you won’t need to worry about food anymore."

The moment food coupons were mentioned, the workers’ emotions clearly calmed down.

Li Yingchun seized the moment, raised another finger, and looked seriously into the eyes below: "The issue of food is solved, next comes the issue of housing!"

"Other than the homeowners in the Happy Home Community, everyone else is crammed into dormitories. I’m actually sharing a room with my secretary, Qian… so the housing issue must be addressed quickly!"

"And for that, we need manpower to cut down trees in the north, level the land, and set up brick and cement factories to build houses."

"Tomorrow morning, a special Logging and Land Reclamation Team will be established. Everyone who joins will have priority in getting new housing and land and will receive higher contribution points than those doing non-manual labor…"

"If you don’t know what to do after leaving the shipyard, you can first join the Reclamation Team or go to other units for interviews and learn new skills."

"I promise not to give up on anyone—as long as they don’t give up on themselves!"

With promises of food coupons in one hand and houses and land in the other, most of the shipyard workers felt much more reassured.

Many even felt guilty for questioning Li Yingchun and quickly expressed willingness to follow his and the Cabinet Committee’s arrangements.

Even though a few still had objections, most chose to trust Li Yingchun—some left, others applied for different departments, and some queued at the Reclamation Team registration point.

After handling this minor incident, Li Yingchun jumped off the table, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and walked with Chen Wenyun out of the school, whispering:

"…Old Jiang really called it—someone did stir up trouble today!"

Chen Wenyun nodded in admiration, "Old Jiang knows the shipyard people too well. It’s no surprise he could predict their reaction… this tactic of first pressing down and then lifting up is a clever move!"

Li Yingchun glanced at his partner and smiled faintly: "…Do you know what Old Jiang told me yesterday?"

"He said people inherently believe in what they see and what they fight for!"

"If we directly hand out benefits, people will be happy but might not appreciate or cherish them. But if we first appear unwilling to give, and then meet their demands… it creates a different mindset!"

"After what just happened, the Reclamation Team should be able to recruit enough people, and everyone’s emotions should be stable for a while!"

"As long as we get through the startup phase and most people have jobs, we won’t need to be this anxious all the time."

Chen Wenyun recalled something and asked, "Then are we going to work with the Reclamation Team tomorrow too?"

"Of course!" Li Yingchun grinned, "I didn’t mention it just now—so it’ll be a surprise tomorrow!"

"A few hard days of work—let’s just treat it as exercise!"

Chen Wenyun shook his head, knowing that this kind of performance was inevitable.

"…Then I’ll have the office inform the other committee members, and let them decide voluntarily whether to go or not."

…

At 5 PM, the first day of the recruitment fair ended.

Aside from the minor hiccup in the morning, the recruitment process went smoothly, with most units securing enough manpower.

After all, most shipyard workers had at least a college education, and their backgrounds in science and engineering made them suitable for both technical and non-technical roles—so long as they could adapt mentally.

As for the residents of Happy Home, their professions were varied, covering all walks of life.

Though many couldn’t find jobs matching their original professions, they at least had physical strength and could still choose to join the Reclamation Team.

Thanks to Li Yingchun’s assurances, the number of applicants for the Reclamation Team surged in the afternoon, filling the first batch of 500 people.

As a result, the Cabinet Committee decided that evening to officially begin development of the northern peninsula plains the next day.