Chapter 174 Gantt Chart

Ye Tao had hoped that this team would quickly sort things out, but he didn't expect that after these ten or so people joined, their varying abilities and unclear division of labor only made the work more chaotic. In a fit of anger, Ye Tao didn't even bother to spare Liu Qing's feelings, giving him a harsh scolding. Then, in front of everyone, he drew a Gantt chart of Crescent Island's various engineering projects on a huge piece of white paper, breaking down the complex work into clear, single steps, and defining the priorities of each step and aspect, directly assigning responsibility to individuals. Liu Qing had spent three days without solving the problem, but Ye Tao deployed and implemented it in less than half an hour. This difference in problem-solving ability made Liu Qing re-examine the young man who would be his superior for a long time.

Liu Qing, who was covered in cold sweat after being reprimanded, quickly understood what the Gantt chart meant to all the merchants of the Seven Seas Trading Company.

The Gantt chart was developed by Henry Gantt in the early 20th century. It is basically a line chart with the horizontal axis representing time and the vertical axis representing the activities to be scheduled. The lines show the planned and actual completion of activities over the entire period. The Gantt chart visually shows when tasks are scheduled to take place and how actual progress compares to planned requirements. Even at that time, this could be considered a major breakthrough in scientific management. For merchants of this era who were most sensitive to the concept of efficiency, this form didn't need to be systematically taught by Ye Tao. They naturally began to strengthen and improve the management of their respective businesses according to their own needs.

Although Ye Tao, in this bad-tempered state, inadvertently created another technology that was very beneficial to everyone, Liu Qing, in order to make his own life easier, still tried to bring Sophie, Dai Qiuyan, and others to Crescent Island. Although Dai Qiuyan could also draw blueprints, as soon as she arrived on Crescent Island, Tan Weishi dragged her out to play all day long. Tan Weishi and Tan Weiran had actually stayed on Crescent Island for these days, going out to sea every morning to play on the nearby islands and coral islands, feeling quite reluctant to leave.

And in trying to keep the prince and princess here, the seafood chef that Qi Zhentao brought from Yicheng was instrumental. Fresh seafood was something that these two pampered youngsters had never had the chance to taste before. Although Tan Weiran and Tan Weishi both understood that Qi Zhentao wanted to keep them not because of their status, but to prevent them from rushing back to Danyang, so that Ye Tao could work on Crescent Island for a longer period of time.

With Sophie solving the blueprint problems, Ye Tao's work efficiency improved invisibly. When the first batch of Persian architects who joined the work learned some Chinese and began to play a role, efficiency was improved again. The experience of these architects in on-site construction management and their ability to solve problems were much better than those construction teams found by the Seven Seas Trading Company. Many problems, such as how to efficiently transport earth and cast iron parts, would no longer be frequently brought to Ye Tao.

Ye's Workshop was always the most surprising. After the various equipment transferred from Yicheng were installed one after another, and some of the apprentices and workers recovered from seasickness, almost everyone in Ye's Workshop could exert several times the effect of ordinary craftsmen and workers. Ye's Workshop was responsible for a new courtyard near the top of the mountain. They did not rush to build houses, but first used the terrain to create a ramp that could deliver materials to the top of the mountain relatively quickly. When the *qianjin diao* (counterweighted cranes) and winches that were originally used for loading and unloading cargo at the docks were loaded up, dragging carts with rollers underneath, and transporting wood, stone, and other building materials and tools to their designated construction site with astonishing efficiency, everyone was dumbfounded. This realistic performance was far more effective than Ye Tao repeatedly emphasizing the importance of working methods and overall management.

With the cooperation of all parties, Crescent Island was transformed after more than a month. The original chaotic and random building complex was organically combined. The island, starting from the pier, extending to the center of the island, and extending to the mountain, formed three sections: the pier, the town, and the central organ. Taking several large courtyards as fulcrums, even the town part formed an orderly defense system. The biggest change was that Ye Tao used pottery pipes to introduce a larger source of fresh water on the other side of the island to the town that was being formed. Compared with the original wells in the center of the town and a spring near the top of the mountain, this part of fresh water was of better quality and more abundant. After the segmented pressurization of several windmills, fresh water could be supplied to all parts of the town through pottery pipes, which could supply the residents of the island, and also make it more convenient to replenish fresh water for ships docked at the pier. The nodes controlling the flow of fresh water in the pottery pipes were located in the several large courtyards on the island. Once someone broke through Crescent Island, occupied the pier, and trapped the people on the island, they could immediately cut off all fresh water supply except for the several courtyards that were holding on for support.

Although there were no cannons, Ye Tao's helplessness that he occasionally revealed when chatting with Grandpa Qi still made Grandpa Qi decide to build something similar to a turret. Ballistae, divine arm crossbows, and trebuchets were arranged on it in a staggered manner. Under the turret, there were very poisonous jet devices powered by mechanical pneumatic pumps. Greek fire would still take some time to appear, but using fish oil as the material for making Mars bombs, adding other things, it was still possible to create something similar that could be used temporarily. When this thing called fierce oil was tested, three sprayers fired at the same time, burning a merchant ship that was not much smaller than the Lan River warship into a ball in less than a quarter of an hour, and then peeling off and sinking into the sea, which made everyone dumbfounded. Min Yue, who happened to be present that day, immediately said that he wanted to order a batch. Together with the order for Mars bombs from the Yicheng Navy, almost all the research and development costs of Mars bombs and fierce oil were reimbursed by the Dongping military. The bigger sucker was Assad, a senior executive of the Samir family who had gone to Chunnan and summoned many Hu merchants, Chunnan sea merchants, and Nanyang sea merchants. Before Assad first came to Crescent Island to prepare to go to Yicheng with Ye Tao and others to participate in the "trade fair" of the Seven Seas Trading Company and its affiliated merchants, Ye Tao specifically instructed to perform an attack of fierce oil for Assad. Although scrapping an old merchant ship was also a considerable expense, what was exchanged was Assad's terrifying order. Assad threw down 100,000 taels of gold and purchased three spray devices and fifteen large leather bags of fierce oil. This fierce oil was enough for the three launching devices to perform thirty salvoes. Enough for Assad's fleet to protect itself for a period of time, and to let him return to the Persian region to demonstrate it to the elders of the Samir family who had so much money they were burning it. And this sale of fierce oil to Assad made Assad completely believe that the Samir family had found a strong ally in the East. Besides the most sincere ally, who would hand over this almost legendary terrifying weapon to them, so that they would have more confidence in the face of pirates and others who coveted their wealth. As for the price paid, in Assad's view, it was completely worth it, even, he thought it was very cheap. What surprised him even more was that he had only casually mentioned Greek fire, but within a month, after traveling back and forth to Yu Hang, Ye Tao, this magical young man, had almost replicated this thing. Assad, who grew up in a country that worshipped heroes, gods, and prophets, simply regarded Ye Tao as the incarnation of the god of craftsmen.

Two days later, when Assad appeared in Yicheng accompanied by Muhammad, and looked at the dazzling array of goods at the commodity trade fair hosted by the Seven Seas Trading Company, and then learned that this was also Ye Tao's idea, he couldn't help but wonder what kind of divine grace could make such a young man have such a wealth of imagination and insight.

Ye Tao naturally didn't think he was a genius. Although he used to be in the creative industry and didn't have to squeeze into such a group to peddle goods, he had heard a lot about the grand occasions of the Canton Fair and the like. As long as he told the senior executives of the Seven Seas Trading Company with rich experience about his vision for this kind of exhibition, and got their approval, a large number of business elites would naturally explore and arrange such exhibitions, and such exhibitions would become more and more perfect with the enrichment of organizational experience.

This time, the trade fair organized by the Seven Seas Trading Company was basically in the internal exploration stage, and the target customers were all Hu merchants with strong purchasing power. The exhibition did not charge any entry fees from the Seven Seas Trading Company. Hu merchants could obtain entry permits issued by Assad and Muhammad, and other people, no matter where they came from, could enter and observe as long as they were recommended by members of the Seven Seas Trading Company.

Even with limited openness to some local merchants and some wealthy families in Yicheng, there was not much traffic after all. Although the entire exhibition did not have the bustling scene, the merchants gathered together and their nervous translators made the trade fair appear professional and effective. For many Hu merchants, this centralized display of goods and the opportunity to have contact with a large number of merchants was a thousand times better than their previous way of only organizing sources of goods through local partners. They were facing a more open and transparent market, and the Hu merchants who saw the business opportunities contained in this kind of trade fair said that they would bring out the goods in their hands at the next trade fair, and a large number of precious ivory, spices, and glassware would become a bright spot in the trade fair.

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