This Is How I Became a Chaebol

006 : Factories and Offices

“Can I settle your overdue wages and pick up the fabric if I take over the factory?”

“Ugh! Are you the boss of another factory?”

“As I said earlier, I am a fabric exporter. Anyway, the important thing is whether or not we can run the factory here. If the previous president stole even equipment parts, it would be ridiculous.”

“Don’t worry. How diligent are we? If you oil the equipment a few times and take a look at it, you can run the factory right away.”

Young people were confident.

Fortunately, it seems that there was no time for the previous president to steal the equipment. Have you ever done a night run?

“Ibosch! taking over the factory It’s an auctioned factory, what are you talking about?”

The auctioneer stopped listening to the conversation and shouted.

Not surprisingly, he dragged the bank teller and the police to win the factory at a bargain price.

If only the obstructive employees are kicked out, the price of the machine, the price of the land, and the judgment to be beaten.

“Hey, high-ranking inspirations won’t let go if you say this guy or that guy to the exporters. Isn’t that right, police officer?”

I flicked my passport and pointed north.

At this time, going abroad with a passport meant that one’s identity was certain and that one had financial resources.

It’s me, because I lost all my property… No, the former owner of this body prepared a passport for studying abroad.

Anyway, if you point to the Blue House and wave your passport, Koreans in the 1960s were supposed to get 100.

Even the word “export force” was equivalent to saying, “I have a lot of back.”

“… Heh heh. That… it is. High-ranking people cannot be alone.”

The police officer was surprised to see that my passport had an immigration stamp.

He was a quick-witted gentleman.

“Beep… beep is this? If it’s the back, I’m there too.”

“Then do you bring it? Hey, are you a bank teller? How much is the factory debt here?”

I ignored the auctioneer and asked the bank teller.

“If you add up all your debts, it’s about 20 million won.”

“Twenty million won? How much…”

It’s not 200 million, it’s not 20 million won, so you fight so radically?

No, by 21st century standards, roughly multiply by 100… 2 billion? omg! That’s a lot of money.

It seemed like it would take quite a while to get used to the 1960s.

Multiplying by 100 in real time was more cumbersome than I thought.

At one point, the bank clerk put down the rice soup and took a polite stance.

It was because I made a face that said, ‘Do you fight like this for only 20 million won?’

Soon after, he realized the value of money and put on a hard expression, but his misunderstanding did not disappear.

“Wouldn’t it be better to find a new owner than an auction for 20 million won? After a few failed bids at auction, the bank won’t be able to make even the most of it, let alone interest.”

“That’s right.”

“Hey. You’re wrong. Within today, the bank will put a foreclosure ticket on it and put the factory up for auction… oops…”

“Stand still! A high-ranking person is saying it.”

The policeman stopped the auctioneer and dragged him away.

The policeman would have done what if sparks flew from high-ranking nobles for nothing.

He must have been convinced that I had a back when he saw that even the bank teller was polite.

In the ’60s, it was never wise to offend someone who might have a back.

“Where is the bank? I will send someone to discuss taking over this factory.”

Sambok should send this guy.

He’s smart and good at calculating money, so he’ll be better at negotiating than I am.

“My name is Goh Yeo-sin, chief of Johong Bank. Take good care of me.”

“I am Woo Chan-soo, president of Daesae. I’ve been out for work for a while, so I didn’t bring my business card. I’ll stop by to see the bank manager soon. Let’s see then.”

“Yes, Mr. Wu. It would be an honor if you found me.”

I must have been seriously mistaken, but I got important information from a bank teller that the factory owed 20 million won.

It was not difficult to take over the factory.

Retired OBs clamored that buying a factory in the 60s was like buying a house for rent.

If the factory’s debt is 20 million won, wouldn’t it be enough to deposit roughly 5 million won as a deposit and pay about 300,000 won to the bank as interest every month?

That’s because the general loan interest rate of 25% is applied, and if you register as an exporter and get preferential interest rates, you can pay less interest.

“I’m getting ready to go. We don’t need the foreclosure papers anymore, let’s tear them up.”

“Ugh!”

I tore up the foreclosure papers the bank teller was holding. Even if the auctioneers try to turn things over, it will take some time to get the foreclosure papers back together.

Before that, all I had to do was take over this factory.

I gave the bank teller a five hundred won bill and pushed it out of the alley.

The bank teller had no choice but to go back even though he was dubious. Since I said I’m sending someone to take over the factory, I’ll wait for now.

It’s like looking for a buyer in an auction case that is sure to fail, so if the job goes through, it will be of great help to the performance evaluation.

***

Chunk. Chunk.

I brought a cutter and cut the chains that the young men were wrapped around.

It was a rusty iron chain, so iron poison rose up on the skin and ooze flowed.

“Ugh, how long did you last?”

“I think it’s been about three days.”

“Oh no, I almost got into trouble.”

You should call it luck that you met me.

Even if one more day had passed like this, it would not have ended so badly.

“thank you.”

“Thank you, I will report to you from the factory or not. Let’s go inside.”

“Yes, boss.”

The three young men jumped in front of me without asking anyone first and opened the factory door.

I thought the factory would be full of dust, but it was cleaner than I thought.

“It’s cleaner than I thought.”

“Yes, I cleaned every day.”

“My parents said that the place to eat and sleep should be clean.”

“yes? Did you eat and sleep here?”

“Yes, we all graduated from Masan Technical High School, but as soon as we came to Seoul, we got a job at this factory. I was deceived by the fact that I was providing lodging.”

It seems that the three of them were classmates at Masan Technical High School.

It was hard to recognize because it was covered in oil, but when I looked closely, it was a young face. I thought I was just 20 years old.

“I was escorted to my hometown and I did well.”

“……”

“I will make sure you don’t regret that choice. Then, let’s start with the equipment, shall we?”

“Yes, boss.”

Like equipment technicians, their hand movements were unstoppable.

They hung skeins of empty shells, lubricated here and there, and opened and covered the headers of the weaving machines (weaving machines) with only their glances at each other.

When the lever was pulled, the machine began to spin excitedly with a whirring sound.

If the yarn had been wound around the skein, the fabric would have been pulled out.

Wee wee hee…

“Why stop?”

“It stops automatically when the yarn is not caught.”

“Oh, I see.”

The weaving machine in the 1960s had its own automatic function.

Well, if the thread is broken or missing, the machine should stop.

“You mean there are 9 more of these facilities?”

“Yes… would you like to see more?”

“No, idling will only damage the machine. What do I need to get things running normally?”

“We need to connect the cut off water and electricity first.”

“Did the electricity go out? Then, how did you turn the machine just now?”

“I ran it on an emergency generator. Power outages are frequent in this neighborhood, so an emergency generator is essential.”

There’s even an emergency generator and everything you need.

“Water and electricity are easy. Is that all?”

That can’t be all.

If the factory could be run normally, why would the president run away at night?

In the 1960s, it was a time when goods were sold simply by making them.

It does not mean that purchasing power was high, but it was a time when the supply of any goods was extremely short, and above all, inflation exceeded 16% per year.

In other words, it was a strange country where the price of goods went up just by making and stacking them.

“To be honest, there are not many healthy people in the facility. Most likely you will have to swap the motors. The boss said he was going to show it to the landlords, and he just brought in crappy used equipment…”

You showed it to the landlord?

Somehow, the number of facilities compared to the size of the factory was large.

Instead of operating the factory, the former president was aiming for a shot by bringing in used equipment and drawing a lot of bank loans.

In all likelihood, he must have played a loan game or a stock gamble.

In the 1960s, interest rates on bonds were as high as 50% per year, and the stock market was close to a gambling den.

Come to think of it, wasn’t the stock market crash around this time when the stock price was not cut in half, but 80% gone?

Due to the stock shock, the Korean stock market fell into a state of closure to the extent that there was not a single IPO for three years before and after 1965.

It was something that was hard to find anywhere in the world.

In a word, the financial market itself was a mess.

“Is the only thing lacking is a motor?”

“… the deflection roller and the hand wheel have to be completely replaced. The ones you have now are almost worn out, so if you run them as they are, the fabric will most likely tear.”

You’re honest. They were trustworthy.

“Are there any more parts you need?”

“… There are no consumable parts such as various bearings, header pins and tools. Because the boss ran away with all the fabric and consumables… Damn it…”

Then it is.

Could it be that the guy who ran away at night left something worth money behind? In the meantime, it seemed that the equipment was not stolen because they were staying at the factory.

Since there were a lot of scammers on the market, the boss who ran away will soon crawl out of the world after the stolen goods are dealt with, the factory is auctioned off, and the debt feast is over.

I’ll pay for my previous crimes, and when I get out of prison for about a year, the money I siphoned off is a lump sum, and I’m going to set up a company to do it again.

A guy like that wouldn’t feel guilty.

You would consider yourself a businessman, not a fraudster.

The fact that the Republic of Korea in the 21st century has become a fraudulent republic is largely attributable to the failure to fix the cotton bat law of the 1960s.

Anyway, if you talk about consumable parts, it seems that all the problems have come out.

“How much will it cost if I roughly calculate the motor, roller, wheel, and consumable parts?”

“… it will cost at least a million won.”

If it’s a million won, it’s about 100 million won by my standards.

It’s not a small amount of money.

However, the cost of normalizing the factory was not too much money.

“Well, that’s acceptable. Okay… How, would you like to make some money with me?”

I pretended to ask for a handshake.

It was because they liked it.

The determination to collect the overdue wages was probably the first priority, but they kept the factory anyway, and judging by the constant cleaning, they were people who had an attachment to the place.

Responsible employees anytime, anywhere are treasures.

Besides, how much do I need to know about textile technology as I specialize in construction and plant heavy industry?

Even an engineer in the 60s would have better experience than me.

Of course, they will need a normal boss like me.

“Hehehe, are you picking us up?”

“thank you. Thank you, boss.”

“Please do anything. I’ll do my best.”

They were naive.

If you were an office worker in the 21st century, you would have paid your overdue salary first, checked your work contract, and shook hands.

It is also a romantic era.

“Let me introduce myself again. I am Woo Chan-soo, a popular businessman.”

“I am Seonggu Kim, class president.”

“I am Class President Park Yong-gu.”

“My name is Lee Dong-gu, class president.”

Each of them introduced themselves as class president.

Their last names were different, but their first names were oddly similar.

Funny enough, Seonggu, Yonggu, and Donggu… These were boys’ names that could have appeared in a Korean language book in the 1960s.

Oh, it’s the 60’s now. It’s a common name.

“Okay, old class presidents. It will take a few days to take over the factory, so please tidy up the factory until then. Get a quote for the parts you need in advance. Can you do it well?”

“All right. president.”

“I will settle the overdue salary when I take over. how much is it?”

In order to take over the factory, it is necessary to settle overdue wages first. Completion of the acquisition means that existing debt is settled.

“Yes. Each is 42,300 won.”

“okay? You must have worked overtime.”

Didn’t Sambok say that his monthly salary was roughly 30,000 won?

At this time, craftsmen received more than expected.

Well, if you work overtime, you earn 1.5 times…

“Yes, I worked overtime for three months without missing a single day. I gave back 3 days out of 6 days off.”

“…Three months in a row? Until the holiday returns?”

I was surprised.

42,300 won was three months’ salary?

It means that even though I worked overtime, my monthly salary was less than 15,000 won.

Even taking only 3 days off in 3 months?

The previous boss, he was a total bully.

It was clear that they were madly treating those who had just arrived from the countryside as ignorant of the world.

“… yes, three months’ worth.”

“If it is difficult to give it all at once, you can share it…”

“If you give me any time, I will be grateful.”

The three of them bent their backs as if they were embarrassed.

It’s not that it’s a lot of money that’s hard to give, it’s just that it’s ridiculous to live like that.

“It is natural to pay overdue wages, and let’s readjust the salary I will give you. Don’t worry. I’ll give you a proper overtime pay for at least 15,000 won.”

“Ugh!”

No matter how old it is in the 1960s, if you can’t pay this much, you shouldn’t be doing business.

A bowl of rice soup is 100 won, but shouldn’t the monthly salary be 15,000 won to eat three meals a day and wear clothes at least?

“Boss, what can I do first?”

“You have to clean it and figure out what parts you need. Did you learn to write technical specifications in public announcements? Organize the required parts, unit price, required amount, etc. Can you?”

“Yes, boss!”

“Believe me! You can do well.”

My eyes were already shining brightly.

It seems that he is more than grateful for the monthly salary of 15,000 won.

“And if you have friends who are good at work, bring them. It would be difficult to run the entire factory with just three people.”

“Yes, boss.”

“One last thing. Do you have any ledgers or papers from the previous president?”

“… I’m not sure because it’s out of my jurisdiction, but the former president’s office is this way.”

The former Brothers class leaders led me to a place that looked like an attic on the second floor, and a room full of all sorts of paperwork and furniture appeared.

“Did you guys clean this place too?”

“Yes, the former boss took away everything that made money. Only scattered papers were piled up on the desk.”

Although the ceiling was low, it was no problem to sit down and do paperwork.

felt good.

He gained a factory and a decent office.