As of now, we are officially employees of this factory. Even if the boss were to personally inspect our credentials, he wouldn’t find any issues.
Next, we should understand the factory’s overall operational system and business status. This will also serve as preparation for me to adjust the production lines later. The first thing to examine is the financial situation.
With the help of the Deputy Minister of Finance and an accountant, we could easily examine the factory’s accounts. They led us directly to the archive room where the accounts were kept, showing us the reports and vouchers from the past year. They also personally guided us through any parts we didn’t understand.
Then, I was shocked. This factory had a monthly income of tens of thousands of gold coins, with a total annual income exceeding hundreds of thousands of gold coins. Even after deducting costs, the net income was generally over 200,000 gold coins.
Of this, roughly 100,000 gold coins would be sent to the boss, becoming his private property. The remaining money would be reinvested back into the factory as capital for operations, maintenance, and expansion.
These incomes and investments were also the result of exploitation at various levels by the high-ranking management. They were corrupt, embezzled public funds, and used public resources for private gain. The losses from these activities amounted to at least several thousand gold coins each month.
Of course, Jayad and I couldn’t understand it all on our own. We relied entirely on the Deputy Minister and the General Manager to guide us, and they even directly confessed their actions. They operated very covertly and skillfully, to the point where even a professional might not immediately spot the problems when examining the books.
First, there were the exorbitant bonuses and performance-based incomes for the high-ranking officials. Then, there were funds for public relations, entertaining clients, and especially banquets and gifts to appease nobles and capitalists. These were meticulously recorded at inflated amounts. Following that were various creative reimbursement claims.
The funds allocated for production investment were a particularly severe problem area. They initiated a large number of strange or unclear research and investment projects, with internal meetings deciding the research funding or procurement amounts for these projects.
However, this money ultimately ended up in their personal pockets. Most of the projects were failures. The reports would simply state, “Due to excessive investment and unclear prospects or minimal returns, the project is terminated,” or “Modification and upgrade do not meet production standards, rejected.”
This was for the more sophisticated methods. It didn’t even include the lower-end methods used by middle or even lower management, such as direct appropriation of company assets or altering account records to obtain money. The entire factory was like a sieve.
Seeing this, I even felt a bit of sympathy for that immensely wealthy individual. Not sympathy for the money he lost – the man was swimming in riches – but sympathy for his intelligence and management capabilities. Being schemed against by so many people was truly deplorable.
I wondered if his other businesses were also like this. But I could only say that under these circumstances, the Steam Armor Factory could still operate at a profit. This simply proved how incredibly lucrative the arms trade was.
In stark contrast to the severe corruption at the upper levels were the lower-level employees. This factory had over two thousand workers, making it a labor-intensive industry. Yet, these workers received only two to three thousand copper coins per month.
This meant that the monthly labor cost was approximately four to six hundred gold coins. In a large factory with tens of thousands of gold coins in monthly revenue, labor costs accounted for only about one percent.
And what did these workers do? They worked seven days a week, with shifts of up to fifteen hours a day, with no overtime pay, no compensation for work-related injuries, and not even medical expenses covered.
I already knew from when I was looking for Lorna that any worker who lost the ability to work was immediately fired, without even receiving their salary for the current month. They were cast out to fend for themselves, saving the factory more money.
Seeing this, my blood pressure couldn’t help but rise. Just a fraction of the money they were embezzling would be enough to quadruple the workers’ meager salaries. So much money was wasted, while the lower levels were being so severely exploited. It was no wonder the factory had become so distorted and corrupt.
So why were so many people still willing to work at the factory? Whenever there was an opening and they recruited, people would come.
The reason was that the factory provided free food and lodging. Although the food wasn’t great, it was at least filling and free. And while the living conditions were poor, with steam and furnaces throughout the factory, it was generally warm, so there was no fear of freezing to death in winter.
As the harsh winter arrived, commoners who couldn’t afford coal or couldn’t afford decent housing wanted to move into the factory for shelter. This included a large number of refugees from outside the city. They had no one to rely on, and working in the factory was their only hope.
These lower-level workers shed sweat and tears, toiling arduously, only to receive such unfair treatment. Yet, no one stood up for them, and they couldn’t truly leave the factory to starve or freeze to death. This resentment and dissatisfaction turned into a lingering grievance that permeated the factory.
Not long ago, Older Brother Jayad had purified it once, and now that we were here, there were signs of its recurrence. My Spiritual Sense had become too strong, and I could hear the workers’ laments everywhere, with the factory’s filth churning beneath the surface.
It seemed that if the fundamental problems here weren’t addressed, the factory couldn’t continue to operate normally. Although I originally just wanted to use the factory as a tool, it appeared I couldn’t just stand idly by now.
“These issues of corruption and embezzlement must be addressed. Why are you embezzling so much? It’s not like you’re paid very little,” I asked indignantly.
“Aside from my own excessive use, this is all capital accumulated bit by bit for all of you esteemed masters. I will now show all the accounts to all of you esteemed masters,” the General Manager said, feigning loyalty.
In the past, he likely embezzled out of personal greed. Human greed is endless. But after being brainwashed by Older Brother Jayad, he actually convinced himself that he was embezzling public funds to accumulate capital for “our” appropriation plan. He now saw himself as a stoic undercover agent.
After years of corruption, he had accumulated quite a sum of money. Excluding what he had spent, there were still tens of thousands of gold coins left in his accounts. It would be a lie to say it wasn’t tempting, but at this moment, money wasn’t my top priority.
“Very good, your loyalty is as clear as the sun and moon. Don’t worry about it for now, keep the money. It will be useful later. Now, we need to rectify the corrupt atmosphere throughout the entire factory,” I said.
“How should we do that?” the General Manager asked. Honestly, I believed he would have his methods if he truly wanted to.
“Stop all those useless projects. Any new projects initiated in the future must undergo review, and only those with actual practical significance will be approved. All false expenditures are forbidden from reimbursement. The Finance Department will take inventory of factory assets, and anyone found misappropriating them for personal use will be fired,” I declared.
“This, this is too direct! If you do something so extreme all at once, it will incite opposition from the entire factory personnel,” the General Manager’s expression changed drastically.
“It doesn’t matter. Let the inspectors use their authority as a shield, saying that the boss is furious and has personally issued a strict order to eliminate all corruption. Tell those who oppose it to protest to the boss, and those who violate it will be fired in the boss’s name,” I said.
