Although it is the middle of winter and there are snowflakes in the sky, the entire Chinatown is completely enveloped in the strong Spring Festival atmosphere at this time. From time to time, there are sounds of firecrackers, New Year couples, greetings to each other, and more.

It’s the Chinese-style lanterns that appear in Chinatown. At this time, the entire Tang Dynasty is full of joy on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

And on the streets, there were even more people. Although today, March 3rd, is an ordinary day for Americans, it is the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month in China. Because of this, many Americans

When you come here, you can feel the atmosphere of the "Yuanxiao Festival" and appreciate the exotic customs here.

In the lobby on the first floor of the Chinese Association in Chinatown, it was only the afternoon, but people without family members in Chinatown came here early to greet each other and be polite. For these people, to a certain extent, this is their place.

Their home, perhaps only here, can they get the rare relaxation and comfort they get during the year.

The wine in my hometown is like a stimulant. Although people are far from stimulating people's senses to the nerve endings. But after drinking some wine, people's words become bold and bold, and their behavior becomes frivolous. They speak Cantonese.

, the people in Fujian dialect shouted loudly at the wine table, and as they toasted each other, they drank glass after glass of wine, and even began to tease a dozen prostitutes specially found by the guild hall. This is

A rare day of relaxation in a year. After tomorrow, they will plunge into a hard life again.

"Why!"

After taking a sip of strong wine and looking around at the compatriots talking in local accents, Li Zicheng sighed helplessly.

Waiting, waiting is always tiring, especially waiting without any news. After returning to New York from Pittsburgh, I was originally confident that Morgan would come to find me in three days at most, but I didn't expect that the wait would be ten.

Three days.

For thirteen days, not to mention Morgan, even U.S. Steel did not send anyone to negotiate with him. It seemed that they were really scared away by the high price he offered.

He sighed in his heart, drank another glass of strong wine, forced a smile, looked at the compatriots around him, and listened to the local accent that he didn't understand at all, which made him feel even more depressed.

This Chinese "festival" in Ah Si's mouth is far from what he imagined. He even feels like a foreigner sitting here. Almost every table is distributed according to people's accents. These overseas Chinese living in New York are from Guangdong.

All over Fujian. People from this province do not understand each other, and people from this province do not understand each other. Even though they are neighbors, they do not ask their names. Even the conversation between them relies on interpretation, as did the former leader of the Hongmen Hall in New York.

When speaking, they all spoke English, not Chinese. The "mandarin" they spoke was "alien" to them, and the dialect they spoke was not "alien" to them.

”.

Li Zicheng, who originally thought he could find a sense of belonging here, smiled helplessly as he listened to the people around him speaking in dialects he couldn't understand.

"I wish everyone a prosperous new year and good luck!"

After taking the initiative to stand up, pick up a bowl of wine, and toast to the people sitting around the table, Li Zicheng apologized, left the table, and walked towards the backyard of the Zhonghua Guild Hall, at least putting aside those

Speaking of Cantonese and Fujian dialects, looking at those people and the Chinese-style architecture can help you regain a sense of belonging.

But the noisy people behind him in the hall disturbed Li Zicheng's mood from time to time. Although here, in the Zhonghua Guild Hall, he was also ostracized to a certain extent because he was from the north and spoke northern Mandarin, just like this hall.

It's the same here, with people from Guangdong Province living on the left and people from Fujian Province living on the right. Except for the occasional toast, the two don't even interact with each other.

"Why……"

The same sigh sounded not far away. Looking again, there was a middle-aged man in a suit and leather shoes standing in the corridor over there. He seemed to have some depression in his expression. It felt like someone was there.

While looking at himself, Mu Ouchu raised his head and followed his line of sight to see the young man not far away, and smiled politely.

"Why, before the dinner is over..."

Mu Ouchu took the initiative to say hello. As soon as he opened his mouth, Li Zicheng heard Jiangsu Mandarin, and instantly he felt a little more intimate.

"Where's brother?"

Li Zicheng said, and the two of them smiled at the same time. To Chinatown, the two of them are like "foreigners". Although they are both Chinese, their provincial origins are not very popular here because of the language.

"Mu Xiangyue, courtesy name Ouchu! A native of Shanghai!"

After Mu Xiangyue introduced himself with cupped fists and a bow, Li Zicheng quickly followed his example and bowed.

"Li Zicheng, courtesy name..."

After thinking for a while, Li Zicheng uttered two words.

"Zhiyuan!"

Zhiyuan is his online name. At this time, he mentioned the word rashly. Li Zicheng, who couldn't think of any good words for a while, had to use his own online name to make up for it.

After a brief introduction between the two, perhaps because they were both ostracized to a certain extent, the two of them sat in the pavilion in the backyard of the mansion and started talking, as if they had known each other for a long time.

"...I'm not afraid of Zhiyuan's jokes. Two years ago, Xiangyue had no choice but to study in the United States because of the dowry jewelry pawned by his wife!"

Mu Xiangyue, who is already thirty-six years old, did not hide anything when he mentioned this. When he made the decision two years ago, he was already 34 years old and had been married for nine years. His wife pawned the jewelry and borrowed it.

With one thousand yuan, I embarked on the journey to study in the United States at my own expense.

"oh!"

Looking at Mu Xiangyue in front of him, Li Zicheng looked at him more because of his words. At his age, it was rare to study abroad. According to many books, most people who studied abroad in the late Qing Dynasty studied in Japan, not including father and son.

, but most of the older ones choose to study abroad at their own expense in the United States in order to gain fame...

During the following chat, Li Zicheng learned that Mu Xiangyue's family has been growing cotton for generations. It was during his father's generation that he opened a flower shop selling cotton. It was once famous and prosperous, but when he was a teenager

At that time, his family was in decline, so he became an apprentice in a flower shop at the age of 13. He stayed there for 11 years, and gained a deep understanding of the shortcomings of China's cotton yarn industry. After the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War, he decided to start with "seeking Western learning".

Self-reliance.

The reason why I studied in the United States at my own expense two years ago was also with the purpose of "saving the country through industry". I entered the University of Illinois in the United States. Although I was qualified as a government-sponsored student, my life was difficult and I often lived on plain water bread.

"Oh? I don't know why Brother Mu came to New York from Illinois!"

Looking at Mu Xiangyue, Li Zicheng said with some confusion, Illinois is located in the middle of the United States, and it is not a holiday at this time.

"Although Xiangyue majored in agriculture, she is quite interested in business management. A few days ago, I saw in the newspaper that Mr. Taylor had finished his congressional hearing and was currently in New York, so I came here to visit Mr. Taylor."

"Tyler?"

"Frederick Winslow Taylor!"

Frederick Winslow Taylor! When Li Zicheng heard this name, he couldn't help but be startled. This name was not unfamiliar to him. When he was in college, he had read books on economic management, but this man was...

He is a person who must be mentioned in modern economic management.

A person who was revered as the "Father of Scientific Management" after his death; a person who influenced the emergence of the assembly line production method; a person who was highly praised by the great teachers of socialism; a person who influenced the process of human industrialization.

A man who was forced to drop out of school because of his eyesight; a man who was described by workers as cruel as a beast; a man who was incompatible with the union and was forced to testify before Congress; a man who was constantly criticized by modern management scholars.

This man is Frederick Winslow Taylor, the most important and controversial person in the history of management thought.

"You mean Frederick Winslow Taylor is in New York?"

There was a hint of joy in Li Zicheng's voice. He had just thought of returning to China to set up a factory, and Frederick Winslow Taylor came to the door. Is it such a coincidence?

"That's right!"

Mu Xiangyue nodded, but Li Zicheng's surprise was beyond his expectation.

"Last year, Mr. Taylor, with the support of Army Ordnance Secretary Crozier, conducted scientific management experiments at Waterton Arsenal in Massachusetts and Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois. Merrick, who implemented scientific management in Waterton,

The arsenal fired union members who refused to cooperate, triggering a strike. The House of Representatives formed a special committee to investigate. From October last year to a few days ago, the U.S. Congress held hearings on the Taylor System and other factory management systems. Taylor appeared in court to testify. Although Congress determined that

Taylor was not responsible for the strike, but... a week ago, after the hearing, he resigned and came to New York."

"So you came to New York to..."

"Ask Mr. Taylor some management issues, Zhiyuan, China is not only lagging behind in industry, but also far behind other countries in the world in factory management. I think if we want to build a modern factory, we must introduce modern management.

Mr. Taylor's scientific management is undoubtedly the most advanced factory management system at present!"

When mentioning scientific management, Mu Xiangyue seemed a little excited. Ever since he first read "Principles of Scientific Management" last year, he had always planned to visit Taylor in order to ask him face-to-face on some scientific management issues.

, especially the application of scientific management in textile factory management.

"More than ten years ago, when Mr. Taylor was employed by Bethlehem Steel Company, he conducted the famous "Pig Iron Moving Test" and "Shovel Test", which all proved this point. Even the scientific management test conducted in the arsenal of the United States

, and got very good grades, so I... skipped class to visit Mr. Taylor!"

"Brother Ouchu, where does Taylor live?"

Li Zicheng asked urgently, he knows what Taylor did far better than Mu Xiangyue. His scientific management can be said to be a multiplier of production efficiency. Perhaps, as others have accused, Taylor's scientific management "raised wages by 61

%, but the workload has increased by 362%." But on the other hand, manpower has been used scientifically and rationally. This is exactly what I need. If I can...

"Zhiyuan, are you also interested in scientific management?"

Li Zicheng, who had already stood up, turned his head and looked at Mu Xiangyue and said.

"I'm more interested in this person! Let's go visit Mr. Taylor together! My car..."
Chapter completed!