Volume 1: Farming Chapter 44 Mr. Xiao's Management Education
Xiao Yun, who had worked hard for ten years at his job and became a regional manager of a company before traveling through time, had the deepest understanding of how to employ people: If you want the horse to run, you have to feed it with grass, three meals a day, and a midnight snack.
On the surface, Xiao Yun was fighting a seesaw battle with the head office for the treatment of his subordinates, and on the other hand, he was working hard to expand the market. In fact, the net profit belonged to the company, and the team was his own. When the time was right, it would be a natural thing for middle and senior managers in regional departments like him to take their teams to invest in other companies or start their own businesses... Ahem. In the business world, who would tell you to be faithful to one company?
In a word, to develop your own team and your own power, you must have the awareness of protecting your subordinates and tie the interests of your subordinates to your own. Do you want to squeeze the subordinates desperately to please the superiors? Unless you want to work for others for the rest of your life, you have to think carefully about whether the person you are giving up your business foundation to cling to is reliable.
Now this Snow Werewolf Tribe is undoubtedly Xiao Yun's own team... Xiao Yun has already determined this in his heart. No matter what race he assigns to his team, they are the cornerstone of his team. The ugly goblins and the cute caracals can be treated fairly according to their abilities... Of course, this training process cannot be omitted, and the newcomers and old people must be distinguished. You can't just move to the new bricks and ignore the old tiles.
The two goblins worked hard to dig the river for half a day, so they naturally had to be provided with food at night. Xiao Yun felt sorry for the goblins, but since they were newcomers, it was impossible for them to be treated like old people right away, so he did not let the two goblins go back to the tribe, but threw them on the construction site and asked them to dig a hole here, and then had dinner delivered to them to fill their stomachs - the first rule of leading a team: you can scold them, and even kick them if you are angry, but you cannot deduct their wages. Deducting money is the most idiotic behavior that is most likely to cause rebellion, and those who want to follow you will become alienated from you.
If it were this world, then the food that is supposed to be given must not be less... Extra snacks as a reward and punishment mechanism can be omitted, but the main meals must not be less.
Baron and Gar had no idea that Xiao Yun had to go through a training process before he could officially put them in the bowl. They were just muttering to each other whether going away to find something to eat would anger the Snow Wolf Man, when the caracal in charge of cooking brought them food...
Well... actually there's nothing good to eat in the tribe now. The food given to the goblins is calculated according to the size of a caracal (the two are not much different in size), which is a steamed cake of ground wheat (there is no time to grind it into powder, so just use it after it is ground into grains, mix it with shredded vegetables, sprinkle some minced meat, knead it and steam it), plus a bowl of bone soup with enoki mushrooms, vegetables and radish slices.
The soup was okay, after all, it had meat and plenty of vegetables, so it was quite delicious. The wheat grain steamed cake was quite amazing... Although the land was fertile and a lot of fertilizer was added during the planting process, this wheat variety was not cultivated by agronomists on Earth, so the starch content was not that high; it didn't taste as good as authentic wheat, and they were lazy and didn't grind it into powder, so there were a lot of large grains, and the bran inside was not sieved out... It smelled like pure wheat, but it didn't taste very good. Anyway, Xiao Yun had basically no expression on his face when he ate it by himself.
But even if the starch content of wheat is not high enough, it is still wheat after all, a real grain. It was just out of the pot, soft and steaming (if it was not steamed thoroughly and softened but baked, the wheat cake would be completely inedible). Baron and Gar, who were squatting in the river channel and blowing the cold wind, just took a bite, and their faces, which were so ugly that they could never make friends, were moved to tears - it was delicious!
——It’s soft, delicious and hot. The snow werewolves are actually willing to give them such good food!
——It’s so spicy, woooo ...
...Given the goblins' complex and extensive diet, they really don't have many opportunities in their lives to eat food that is more delicious than this kind of wheat steamed cake.
After taking a few bites of the steamed wheat cake and then eating the soup in the bowl, the two goblins cried even harder... The enoki mushrooms, green vegetables and radish slices that had absorbed the bone soup were fresh and sweet without any bitterness. They were also very easy to eat and were especially friendly to their rotten teeth. At the end, the two goblins tasted it bit by bit, for fear that if they ate too fast, the food would be gone.
After finishing the steamed wheat cakes and licking the soup bowls clean, Baron and Gar looked towards the direction of the Snow Werewolf Tribe with an unsatisfied look on their faces. They were eager to have more. Well, of course, it was just a thought in their minds...
"It's delicious, Gal. I, an old monk, have never tasted anything so good." Baron held the bowl tightly and refused to let go. He licked his lips and savored the taste. "I should have eaten slower. How come I finished it?"
"Yeah, why are the things in here so delicious? They are much more delicious than the wild fruits we collected with great difficulty." Gar held the bowl and moved his eyes back and forth in the bowl that he had licked clean, hoping to find some shredded vegetables or something.
Well... people who have never eaten pure wild fruits should not have too many fantasies about wild fruits. Wheat, rice, corn, etc. grown without sufficient fertilizer will taste extremely bad due to the low starch content and insufficient sugar, not to mention wild fruits without any chemical fertilizers. The taste of most wild fruits is very touching. Sourness is nothing. Bitterness, astringency, hardness, thick skin, large core and little flesh are common characteristics. They are not the same as artificially cultivated apples, pears and peaches at all - except for berries like raspberries, there is really nothing to look forward to about so-called wild fruits. (Wild grapes will not kill you because of their sourness, and wild peaches will not kill you because of their hardness, bitterness and astringency. I know why because I have eaten them in the countryside out of curiosity ╥﹏╥)
The two goblins held the bowl and stared in the direction of the snow werewolf tribe for more than half an hour. Finally, they gave up and crawled into the dug hole to sleep.
In the cave, which was only big enough for two goblins to lie side by side, the two sleepless people stared at each other in the darkness for a long time. Baron said, "Gar, the snow werewolves are willing to share such delicious food with us, and they haven't come to take back such a good pottery bowl. Does that mean they don't plan to kill us?"
"That's right. Who would be willing to give such delicious food to a dying person?" Gar said excitedly. "I think they think we are useful. Although I don't know why they want to dig a 'river channel', we are better at digging than the snow wolves. As long as they still need us to dig for them, they will not kill us and will continue to give us such delicious food."
The two goblins grunted and swallowed at the same time.
"I wonder how the people in the tribe are doing... They have almost finished the food we prepared. Are the roots and tubers collected by the old monk enough for them to eat?" Baron said worriedly, "We have such good food here with the snow wolves, but they may be starving... Gal, I am very worried about them."
Gal was silent for a long time before he said, "Me too."
There was another silence.
"Gar, do you think... the Snow Wolf people would be willing to let us bring our people here?"
"I have no idea."
"Our cubs are also very good at digging. So is the old monk."
"Do you dare to ask the Snow Wolf Man?"
"I...I don't dare."
"Me too."
The cave became completely quiet.
A snow wolf's day begins with the crazy behavior of a certain cub... The brain-piercing magic sound of iron hitting each other echoes over the entire tribe. The snow wolves sleeping in various houses and on rattan mats in the open air turn over and sit up reflexively, yawning and scratching, and gather in front of the two large connecting rooms where a big stove is burning.
Caracals are relatively sensitive creatures and not as hardy as the snow wolves. After enduring noise attacks for a period of time, they have developed the habit of getting up earlier. They are now busy scooping out hot water, mixing it with cold water and salt, and distributing it to the snow wolves for rinsing their mouths. They then serve the snow wolves who have rinsed their mouths steaming soup and distribute steamed wheat and vegetable cakes.
The work was too rushed and too busy, so Xiao Yun had no time to bother with a toothbrush, so he asked the tribesmen to gargle with salt water every morning and evening to cultivate the habit of oral hygiene. He reluctantly stuffed a few bites of the unpalatable wheat and vegetable cakes into his stomach and ate the soup and vegetables, then called on the tribesmen to start eating - the rain had not stopped during this period, and the river channel had not yet been dug through the tributaries, so the rainwater had accumulated in the dug areas. The low-lying areas on the south bank were full of puddles of various sizes. If the construction schedule was not accelerated, the water would really rush to the north bank.
Every day we had to run back and forth to the south bank to dig the river channel. In order to facilitate crossing the river, we used bricks to fix three side-by-side logs to make a bridge at the narrowest part of the river. We crossed the river via the bridge and then walked about 800 meters west along the river to reach the river channel construction site.
Leading the tribesmen to the construction site, Xiao Yun was pleased to find that... the two goblins not only did not run away at night, but also got up early and started working on their own initiative. By now, they had dug out a lot of earth and rocks.
"Not bad, not bad. This goblin has a large brain capacity and is quite smart. It's easy to train." Xiao Yun was very satisfied. It was worth it that he threatened them and left them with an opportunity to escape, and threw carrots to put the two goblins in a dilemma... The principle of training is to make the other party have subjective initiative. If they can't resist the temptation and give up running away, it will be more difficult for them to take risks and escape in the future. The smarter they think they are, the easier it is for them to fall into this psychological trap and be unable to get out. This is how the Southern MLM deceives those intellectuals...
He was right in thinking that the wheat and vegetable pancakes were extremely unpalatable, but he was confident that the pancakes could win over the natives. Didn’t you see that werewolves and caracals loved to eat this stuff?
As usual, he ignored the two goblins and called on his people to start working. The first-level laborers used hoes to break the ground, and the second-level laborers (including Xiao Yun himself) worked hard to transport the excavated soil and rocks to the north bank... to reinforce the river embankment on the north bank, etc. The excavated soil and rocks could still be used. The principle of a businessman is to make the most of what can be used.
By noon, all the caracals came out with wooden barrels and pottery pots to deliver food. The Snow Werewolves, who were big eaters, had wheat and vegetable biscuits to fill them up, and soup and vegetables to add as much as they wanted. The goblins, who were driven aside, only had one portion, uh... the caracals actually had the same amount, but they really couldn't eat much.
While eating, the snow werewolf chewed slowly and tried to get more rest time. The goblins also didn't eat fast and cried while eating, which made the snow werewolf confused and he kept looking at them.
"...Is it because we gave them too little and it's not enough to eat?" Hongye came closer to Xiao Yun and asked a little worriedly.
Xiao Yun stared at the size of the goblins, then looked at the caracals that were a little taller than them: "No, caracals also eat this much."
"The minotaurs are bigger than us, but we can't eat them." Hongye said such embarrassing words so naturally.
Xiao Yun: "... Let's do this for now. There's no harm in being a little hungry. Those two are still in the observation period. Let's wait until they surrender."
"Surrender?" Hongye didn't understand. Judging from her disgusted expression, she didn't agree with Xiao Yun's practice of not increasing the food portion for the goblins when he knew that they didn't have enough food.
"Even if they cry and shout and insist on living with us, we can't drive them away even with a stick." Xiao Yunte explained to her bluntly.
Hongye: “???”
Compared to Dahe who only knew how to play around and like to be lazy, other tribesmen who dreamed after getting up, and the tribe leader who was just a mascot, Xiao Yun felt that Hongye could still be saved... From Hongye's action of bringing the goblins back to increase the labor force, Xiao Yun felt that it was time to educate her and train her to be a management assistant, so he patiently explained to Hongye:
"With the goblins as labor, we can speed up the construction and reduce the pressure on our tribe members. So we need the goblins to work for us. In return, we can provide them with food and security. But for the goblins, it is still uncertain whether they will get along with us, the Snow Werewolves. They may fear us, distrust us, and even want to escape if they have the chance to leave."
Hongye stared at him expressionlessly and asked, "How come you were able to scare the goblins yesterday?"
Xiao Yun continued, "We are now using force to force them to surrender, but although coercion and intimidation can make people obedient, the extent of their obedience is that they will do whatever they are told to do, without any initiative or enthusiasm. For example, Hongye, if you are forced to hunt or if you like to hunt, which reason will allow you to catch more prey?"
"...Oh." Hongye seemed to understand something, but not deeply.
"So, whether we are digging a canal or doing something else, the labor we need is preferably one that is proactive and highly motivated. However, the rewards we can provide are limited, so what should we do? We have to maximize the importance and necessity of this reward, and achieve the result that 'although we don't give much, the other party feels that they have gained a lot'..."
"For example, Qingyan, we took him in and provided him with food and a place to live. We treated him as a member of our tribe, so we also provided him with food and a place to live. The conditions and treatment we provided were the same. There is no difference between 'taking him in' and 'integrating him', but the difference is huge in essence."
"We have always treated Qingyan like a member of our tribe. We let him keep company with us cubs all day long. For Qingyan, our attitude will make him recognize that he is a member of the Snow Wolf People and a member of our tribe. Then he will grit his teeth and persevere in any work he is asked to do. As long as none of us cubs retreat, he will not be ashamed to complain about the hardship. Not only that, he will have to charge to the front, work hard, and be brave... Otherwise, he will lose face as an adult black panther, and he will also feel guilty towards us Snow Wolf People."
"..." Hongye seemed to understand something again, and then there was something wrong in the look in her eyes when she looked at Xiao Yun.
"As for the manuls, the size difference between the manuls and us snow wolves is too big. After they come to our tribe, it is not practical for us to treat them like we treated Qingyan. Because the manuls are physically weaker, and secondly, the physical difference is indeed there, and it is difficult for them to accept this in their hearts. So don't force them to become part of us snow wolves. We must respect their independence and distinguish things that should be distinguished. We can't treat them uniformly..."
"In terms of labor utilization, we should use the manuls according to their abilities and let them do the work they are better at, so that they can contribute to our tribe. You can see that we, the Snow Wolf people, are not as suitable as the Manuls for making waterwheel parts and spinning and knitting sweaters, right? The difference in body size and treatment between us Snow Wolf people and the Manuls is inevitable. For example, we eat more, and we live in houses while they are still living in tents. If we really compare them, the difference in treatment is too obvious. If we let the Manuls work hard right away, it will definitely cause a backlash. So in this process, we should pay attention to arranging the things they can do from light to heavy, from slow to urgent, give them time to adapt, and slowly tap their labor force and cultivate their enthusiasm..."
Xiao Yun is really not a devil, so in Hongye's initial enlightenment education, he did not mention a word about the inequality between the majority race and the minority race in terms of possession of production resources and productivity relations. It is more appropriate to put this kind of ideological cognition aside for later... It is useless to show the art of thick black to college students who have just graduated, it will only teach them the wrong things.
But even if the deeper and colder core idea was not mentioned, it was enough to shatter Hongye's three views. The way this elder sister looked at Xiao Yun was completely wrong.
Xiao Yun put his hand on Hongye's shoulder (he could reach her when they sat down), and said earnestly: "Hongye, think about it, Qingyan and the caracal will definitely not be able to survive without us snow werewolves. No matter what, we have to take care of them, and make sure they have enough food, good food, and a good place to live, so that they won't be drowned by the rain or frozen by the snow. But with the previous ability of our tribe, we can barely support ourselves, how can we afford to feed so many mouths ?"
"Hmm..." Hongye thought about it and nodded reluctantly.
"To feed more people, everyone has to work ten or a hundred times harder. So, if we take in Qingyan and Qiuqiu and the others and don't let them suffer, while we, the Snow Wolf people, are the only ones working hard, is that reasonable? Can our people accept that?"
"...No." Hongye looked constipated.
"That's right. To have more food and a better life, everyone has to work hard, and this is fair to everyone. So in order to achieve this fairness, we should adopt certain means of employing people in the process and try our best to tap the labor force of everyone, regardless of their race, and utilize it to the fullest extent. Is there anything wrong with this?" Xiao Yun persuaded.
"That's right." Hongye said painfully.
"So, do you think I am doing the right thing?"
"...You are right, okay?" Hongye raised his hands in surrender.
"Not everything I said is right, Hongye. If you think that way, then you are wrong." Xiao Yun said seriously, "We are snow wolves. We are stronger than black panthers, caracals, and goblins. When all of our races gather together to create a better tomorrow, we as snow wolves must take the lead. We have ways to make everyone's life better and to support our important tribesmen. If we don't take the initiative to step forward and be the leader, then who will we push this heavy burden to?"
Hongye's expression changed drastically and she opened her mouth but couldn't say anything... The topic of discussion was suddenly raised to such a high level, it would be a miracle if she could react.
"Of course it's easiest to do nothing and not care about anything. At worst, everyone can just graze, hunt, and live a carefree life like before. Whether you'll be drowned if it rains depends on luck, and whether you'll be frozen to death if it snows depends on your physical condition. Anyway, what does the life and death of other tribes have to do with us?" Xiao Yun raised his eyebrows.
"That's not what I meant, Ayun..." Hongye felt that she seemed to have made some serious ideological mistakes. Although Ayun didn't say it directly, she just felt uneasy in her heart.
Xiao Yun sighed and patted Hongye on the back. "When my tribesmen were exhausted, they secretly blamed me for being too good at arranging work. But why should I do this? I just hope that everyone can live a better life. It doesn't matter to me, you, or my tribesmen. Why do we have to work so hard? Because we want to live a better life. We hope to feed more tribesmen and allow Sar Qingyan Qiuqiu and others who have nowhere to go to survive under our protection... So we have to work harder and shoulder greater responsibilities that only we Snow Wolf People can shoulder."
"The most powerful tiger tribe on this grassland can even abandon the cat tribe of their own origin, attack weak tribes without a care, and capture people from other tribes as slaves. Can people like Qingyan and Qiuqiu, who are not tolerated by their original tribe, go to join such a tiger tribe?"
"Hongye, whether for ourselves or for other weak tribes, we Snow Wolfs must take responsibility. We must work harder than other tribes and endure hardships first. We must lead those who don't know how to work to sweat in the right place. In this process, there will definitely be people who misunderstand us and don't understand us, but can we stop doing anything because of these misunderstandings?"
By speaking these thought-provoking words with compassion, Xiao Yun successfully...gained a brother with tears in his eyes.
"Ayun..." Hongye was choked with sobs and couldn't speak. Yes, people who urge others to go hunting are the most likely to be annoying. But if they don't go hunting, will everyone starve together?
After laying the groundwork and using the lofty theory of ideal responsibility to drag Hongye onto the boat, Xiao Yun stopped talking nonsense and got back to the topic. He pointed at the two goblins who were crying and eating their food with care: "If we tell those goblins now that in order to make everyone's life better and to enable us to protect more weak people, we ask them to work for us wholeheartedly and obey our guidance, do you think they will understand? Our people complain about being tired every day, so why should these goblins trust us?"
When Hongye nodded thoughtfully, Xiao Yun said righteously, "Slowly influence them? We don't have that much time to waste. It would be better to provide food and security to let them participate in labor first, and find ways to improve the subjective initiative and enthusiasm of these goblins who don't understand us yet. Appropriate hunger and a certain degree of psychological pressure are all for taming the wildness of these goblins. It is a necessary process to hone them into qualified workers."
Xiao Yun paused, and gave Hong Ye a righteous smile of a typical idealist: "In order to achieve the right goal, it is necessary to take extraordinary measures in the process. This is all for all of us to live a better life sooner!"
