Lu Ming

Page 230

This kind of emphasis is not because shopkeeper Wu's shareholding in Baiji Grocery has increased - the Baijia family has a big business, and these shares are nothing.

What caught Bai Juren's attention was the connection between shopkeeper Wu and the General Military Mansion.

Although the Bai family has also purchased land properties in the countryside over the years, at the same time, Bai Juren still puts a lot of energy into business. Over the years, he has personally carried forward the old family name and established it as a chain enterprise.

However, in the past two years, due to the deterioration of the social environment, Baiji Grocery has also been under pressure. The sales channels are not smooth and the sales are not prosperous, and the business is going from bad to worse.Naturally, Bai Juren was helpless in such a situation where the overall situation was ruined. Every time he thought about this matter, he always sighed, and in the end he could only order Shopkeeper Wu and the others to try their best to maintain the matter.

Unexpectedly, in the middle of last year, things took a turn for the better: due to the repeated battles outside Guangzhou, Bai Juren collected some information about Cao Zongbing and Yizhou.

Bai Juren, who came from the young owner of a grocery store, naturally behaved differently from those traditional gentry.Not only was he very interested in this information, he did not hesitate to spend money on many inquiries, and in the end he even took the risk of going to Yizhou himself.

Ever since Bai Juren came back from Yizhou, his appearance has completely changed: he ran to Guangzhou every now and then, not only bought a house in Guangzhou city, but also paid close attention to every move of certain forces.

Later, at a bidding meeting that ordinary people didn't even know about, due to his advanced business vision and sufficient information, Bai Juren gritted his teeth and made a big bet even though his financial resources were not very sufficient, and he was able to win the rest. The emotionally wealthy businessman bid for Zengcheng County agents for seven kinds of Yizhou groceries from the hands of the cross-travel crowd in one fell swoop.

Afterwards, there will be stories about the resurrection of Baiji Groceries and the stories of shopkeeper Wu encountering bandits.

After going through so much, until today, it can be said that Bai Juren is interested in the affairs of Cao Zongbing and Yizhou.

This is not only due to business reasons... The factory assembly line in Yizhou had a great impact on Bai Juren's thinking.

Bai Juren, who is familiar with history books, doesn't look like Cao Zongbing engraved on his back to serve the country with loyalty, so he is willing to give up no matter how many resources he has, just to build even a little relationship with the people who have traveled through—here In the southern country where the sky is high and the emperor is far away, it is reasonable to plan everything early. He is a businessman thinking, and there is no ideological drag of "the world is blessed by the emperor".

This is the deep-seated reason why Bai Juren is now disregarding his status and calling shopkeeper Wu a brother and brother, but he is not enough to be an outsider.Shopkeeper Wu has registered at the General Military Mansion, and he is a friendly person who can talk to them. Now that Shopkeeper Wu is settled, sooner or later, this line will be widened, bringing even greater benefits to the Bai family. .

"Brother Qianshan, don't go to the cabinet these few days, rest at home to make up for the year. When the year is over, we still have one big thing to do."

Master Bai chatted with shopkeeper Wu for half a cup of tea time, and after checking that the time was almost up, he finally revealed the next work arrangement.

When shopkeeper Wu heard that there was a major event from his boss, the professional habits he had developed over the years immediately put him into a working state: "Oh, a big event? Dare I ask my boss, what is the big event, should we make some preparations?"

"Hehe, there is no need to prepare anything." Bai Juren took two pure white cigarettes from the plain plate at the side, handed one to the shopkeeper, and skillfully lit it with a sterling silver Zippo: "The wilderness outside the city Qitan, at that time, there will be a master craftsman from the General Military Mansion coming to see the stone, let's say hello. You can talk to the other side, and get closer to them when you go... There are many people who are watching this matter, and the county magistrate is said to be jealous , our family can’t be left behind.”

Chapter 529 The Daily Life of Shopkeeper Wu ([-])

With a sound of "click", an exquisite traditional Ming-style folding wooden chair made of Nanelm, covered with old paint, was firmly placed on the stone surface.

There was a constant clacking sound as the first chairs were opened, and soon the ring of chairs and the benches that served as tabletops were in place.

The servants with big arms and round waists put away the chairs, and then it was time for the young servants with good faces and exquisite figures to enter the stage.

The kerosene stove produced in Yizhou was set up, the blue flame rose, and the blue bud tea floated up and down in the spring water in the large white and crystal glass teapot.Soon, the emerald green tea boiled, and then was poured into a square straight cup of solid color stamped cut glass, and brought to the nobleman.

Desolate and desolate, this piece of rocky land known by the locals as the Barren Seven Beach is rarely crowded today.In the natural typhoon shelter surrounded by several large rocks, four or five gentry gentlemen were sitting with Lei Jian, drinking tea and eating snacks, and around them, although they were not noisy, there were guards and guards from various families with a total of more than a hundred people. A line of servants stands ready to attend to the gentlemen.

"My lord Lei, Panshan has worked hard today, and please have a taste of Beishan fried greens. Although this county's local product is not well-known, it is full of fragrance and color, and it has a special taste."

First of all, it was none other than Bai Shen, a social sage in Zengcheng County, who served tea to respect guests.

Relying on his previous status as a "friend businessman" and the relationship of his shopkeeper Wu as a "united front person", Bai Juren was able to sit at the right hand of the distinguished guest on this important occasion.

After taking the teacup, blowing on the froth, and taking a sip of the tea, Lei Jian, who was wearing a denim jacket, nodded and said, "Well, this tea is pretty good, thank you, Master Bai."

Although the tea preparation method used by later generations was perfected and matured in the Qing Dynasty, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the folk tea industry in Fujian and Guangdong had updated the production process, and the tea cake method inherited from the Song Dynasty declined. Green loose-leaf tea is becoming popular now, so what Lei Jian drank from a glass today is exactly the kind of tea and tea he was familiar with before time travel.

Lei Jian, a regular professional in geology, was previously the vice-captain of the exploration team.Nowadays, with the development of various businesses and the expansion of the territory, the previous exploration team has long been dismantled. Lei Jian, as a separate branch, is busy exploring in the new territory all day long. .

Lei Jian's task today is simple: determine the specific location of the limestone quarry supporting the Zengcheng Cement Plant.

The limestone in the Zengcheng area is of high quality, and the calcium carbonate content in some quarries exceeds 55%, which is a high-quality raw material for cement production.

Before that, Lei Jian had actually roughly delineated the scope of the quarry on the map. After all, the location of the quarry and mine in later generations will not change there.Then, after the bandits were wiped out and the production environment improved, as soon as the Chinese New Year turned, he hurried to come here to confirm the address—the cement plant is a key project, and the SAR government Ding Liqiu has been urging it to start.

This time, Lei Jian actually brought his men to Zengcheng three days ago.After exploring the locations of several mines and quarries in later generations, today he came to the location closest to the county seat: Huangqitan, and the extra accompanying guests were just a few masters in the county.

Huangqi Beach is just north of the county seat, and it is a rocky beach facing the river.Further north along this place is a small hill with dense vegetation.There is no doubt that these hilltops are all limestone matrix.

Walking around around Huangqi Beach, after investigating the resources of the mine with the accompanying guests and a few apprentices, everyone held a tea party on the rocky beach.

"Mr. Lei might as well try this horseshoe cake again... Master Pan's dim sum is well-known far and wide, and ordinary people can't taste it."

Somewhat reservedly, he called Lei Jian "Sir", and the person who recommended dim sum to him was a middle-aged gentleman wearing a cloud scarf, a cotton robe with narrow sleeves for easy movement, and a pair of fashionable suede buffalo hiking boots. ——Gutai, the main hall of Zengcheng County.

After a series of previous incidents, Gu Tai, the county magistrate who had been dawdling in Zengcheng, seemed to have found a new direction in life.Gu Tai, who has actually been tied up with the political power of the Cao family, is now very concerned about some new industries that he has never heard of. Not only has he shown a strong interest, but he has also practiced it personally. Accompanying Lei Jian to visit the Seven Beaches of Desolation.

Hearing the snack recommended by Magistrate Gu, Lei Jian put down his teacup with a smile, reached out and took a piece of snow-white horseshoe cake and put it into his mouth: "Well, it's sweet and refreshing, and not greasy. Master Pan is so delicious!"

While praising Lei Jian, he gave a thumbs up to a chubby old man sitting there.

Master Pan grinned and said happily: "Master Lei, if it is convenient, you can come to the student's home as a guest at any time. To tell you the truth, the cook at the student's home still has a few dishes that can be handy. At that time, it will be a good time to have a drink with the adults."

"Then it's okay, you must bother, you must bother!"

Lei Jian was also full of joy, nodding his head in haste.

……

The power of the crossing crowd has developed to this day, and earth-shaking changes have taken place both externally and internally. Some small problems that occurred before have long since disappeared, and even reversed.

In the beginning, there were too many people and little influence, and there were not enough official titles. The newly arrived time-traveling dicks fought for who should be the first official.

However, today, with the expansion of the territory, and the addition of territories like Fujian and Guangdong that need to travel through the people to actually perform some administrative functions, the dicks suddenly discovered that there are too many official positions and not enough fools...

We must know that even if it is a county in later generations, there will be at least dozens or hundreds of people in management positions above the department level, which is not counting the many enterprise management positions.And it was built by more than 200 people from across the country, but it was a national framework, with power strongholds all over southern China, so everyone soon discovered that everyone needed to hold multiple jobs to barely function.

In this way, everyone is forced to practice dealing with Ming people. Even some highly professional positions, such as geological experts like Lei Jian, now have to put on a smile and talk to these local "friendly people." "People" push cups to exchange cups to promote relations, playing the role of goodwill ambassadors and policy preachers.

It is necessary to do so: those who are willing to come to the barren beach to accompany Lei Jian today are undoubtedly among the many big households in Zengcheng who are willing to publicly express their stance to stand with the Cao family.

Whether it's for money or other benefits, these people in front of them are all betting on their relationship and bearing the pressure, so after some entertainment, Lei Jian felt that it was almost done, so he stretched out his hand to take it from his servant. A roll of maps was spread out on the stool in front of him: "Everyone, I have already decided on the address of the cement factory and quarry. Now I will tell you about the future industrial planning of Zengcheng. There are many projects in it. , Masters can invest according to the situation."

It's time to give some benefits to the followers. In this regard, the time-traveling crowd has always been generous.

Chapter 530 The Daily Life of Shopkeeper Wu (IX)

Theoretically, the best limestone resources in Zengcheng are located in the Paitan and Gaotan areas in the north of the county seat.However, these two places are more than 50 miles away from the county seat. There are forest parks and hot springs in later generations. In the Ming Dynasty, they really belonged to remote mountainous areas.

Therefore, Lei Jian set the initial stone quarry in the Huangqitan area, which is relatively close to the county seat.Although the limestone resources are scarce here, it is still possible to support the initial operation of a county-level cement plant.

In Chuanzhong's plan, Zengcheng's cement and mining projects will be divided into two major steps.

The first step is stone factory and cement factory.After the location of the stone factory is determined, the cement factory will be built not far away by the river, which can minimize the cost of raw material transportation.You must know that the biggest commercial sales cost of crude goods like cement is transportation.Even with airplanes, trains, and highways all over the place in later generations, usually the sales radius of a cement factory will not exceed 500 kilometers, and there will be no profit any farther away, and all profits will be given to the Ministry of Communications.

Since the Paitan and Gaotan areas not only have limestone resources, but also iron ore, copper, tungsten, kaolin and other minerals, after the cement plant is put into operation, the second step is to open up the flood and drought roads leading to the Paitan area. Construct high-standard gravel and water transport channels.

On a wooden table made of four stools, Lei Jian spread out an accurate imported computer version of the colored map of Zengcheng, and then showed the above plan to everyone present.

After Lei Jian finished speaking, everyone seemed to nod their heads.Aside from this industrial investment plan, in fact, the first focus of several Ming masters just now was this map - such a detailed color map does not exist in this era, not to mention that it is a map dedicated to A large-scale map of the Zengcheng area.

As soon as they saw the map, the faces of the two masters changed slightly: With such a detailed county map, then naturally there is a map of the whole of Guangdong?

By extension, is there a map of the entire south?What about the north?What about Beijing? ... This Master Cao was able to draw such a detailed map of Zengcheng within a few days of visiting Guangdong?I'm afraid I sent someone to prepare it early, it's really hard work...prepared...well, plan ahead!

Everyone is thinking about this moment.

However, those who are qualified to be present today can be said to be those who took the initiative to board the Cao boat.These landowners who are keen on business and industry are under pressure at the moment. Although they have not yet reached the point where they are betting on their lives, they are undoubtedly in an invisible opposition between the minority and the many local tenant landlords. After arriving at this map, although some people were in mixed feelings, no one said anything at the scene-seeing a leaf to know the autumn?It's still early spring, still early.

"Lord Lei, there are so many labor matters, this one is really a bit complicated. To tell you the truth, the students are at a loss now...haven't grasped the essentials, and I hope you will give me some advice."

After listening to Lei Jian's municipal plan, the chubby Master Pan immediately explained the problem for everyone present.

"No problem." Lei Jian nodded: "Let me tell you about the key points of investment."

Just as the early time-travelers could not understand some well-known living habits of the Ming people, in the same way, the Ming people actually did not understand the municipal investment bidding familiar to everyone in the later generations. This has nothing to do with IQ, and it is a matter of knowledge.

When Lei Jian heard what Master Pan said, he immediately understood what he meant: the gentlemen present did not know how to invest in this kind of comprehensive project to make a profit.

"In this set of projects, the simplest one is to invest in cement factories, stone factories and future mines. This is a joint stock business with the General's Mansion. Everyone invests money in the shares and waits for dividends at the end of the year."

"This is the simplest. The more you invest, the more you will benefit. According to the shares, the General's Mansion will not treat everyone badly."

When Lei Jian said this, he stretched out two fingers: "There is another kind of construction. The infrastructure of the cement factory, the cement factory wharf, the stone factory road, as well as the road leading to Paitan and the dredging of the waterway. Divide them into bidding sections and distribute them to everyone. Any master who has a man in his hand and is willing to earn a sum of labor service money from the general will invite a bid later, and after winning the bid, he will be able to receive the starting money."

Master Gu was shocked when he heard this.As a county magistrate, he knows very well how the government's municipal projects work.Usually, whenever he wants to build a road or a bridge, he has to go to the rich households everywhere to "persuade donations". Do something real.

But today he didn't pay attention to anything else, but he heard another brand new road construction method from Lei Jian's mouth: the general's mansion funded it, and local people contracted it.So he hurriedly asked: "In this way, the general's mansion should bear all the money and food from rich households on this road?"

"Yes."

Lei Jian smiled at the gleaming Magistrate Gu, and said firmly, "For the above-mentioned labor services, the general's mansion will pay first and work later, and allocate money according to the progress of the project. If the general's mansion reneges on the debt, you can throw down your picks and go back Home, don’t do white work.”

"Master Lei, what did you say?"

"Where."

"General Cao is such a character, we must be trustworthy."

Hearing Lei Jian's promise, the bright gentry, who had always been used to being milked by the government, suddenly realized the crux of the problem: this labor service was different from the past, and someone paid for it.Coupled with the magnificent side of the general's mansion that I usually saw with my own eyes, everyone who reacted hurriedly expressed their trust in the general.

Magistrate Gu is the happiest of them all.This kind of unprecedented model of "I build the road and you pay for it" is fine, but after the road is repaired, it can't be moved. No matter who pays for it, this is his political achievement!

After figuring out the new investment and municipal engineering model, a group of "enlightened gentry" immediately started a relatively heated discussion-this time there is a lot of work, it seems that there are many opportunities to make money, and everyone needs more information to assist in judgment.

At this time, Lei Jian added: Even if no one is a shareholder, the General's Mansion will fully invest in all the above projects.When the project starts to make money in the future, you can reinvest according to the situation...Of course, the investment at that time is not an angel round, and the income is definitely not as much as it is now.

Everyone here understands this theory. The greater the risk, the greater the benefit. This is true no matter what you do, so everyone said that they must think about it after returning home.

In this way, a Ming Dynasty version of the municipal engineering briefing ended.The enlightened gentry who participated in the meeting enjoyed the treatment of the grandpa and brother-in-law of the later generations, and they were able to know the details of the projects to be launched in Zengcheng County this year in advance, and mastered the best investment information, which will allow them to make a lot of money in the years to come. .

In addition, compared with the brother-in-law, Mingren contractors have a huge advantage right now-they never have to worry about Party A's project money, and they will never delay their debts across the world of wealth.

After the Shitan meeting ended, Bai Juren and shopkeeper Wu hurried back to the White Mansion, closed the study rooms, and began to discuss in secret.

Chapter 531 The Daily Life of Shopkeeper Wu ([-])

Time: After the engineering meeting, place: small study in the White House.

Shopkeeper Wu and Bai Juren came back from Huangqitan today. First, they were impressed by the generosity and generosity of the General's Mansion in doing business, and then they discussed in detail how the Bai family should deal with it in the future.

By analyzing the information obtained at the meeting, the two first determined that the Bai family was not suitable for the project.The reason is simple, lack of foundation.

The Bai family became a respectable family in the local area only from the generation of Bai Juren. Before that, the main activity area of ​​the Bai family was in the county town, and there was no foundation, just ordinary people.

Although the Bai family has also prepared some land properties in the countryside and recruited some tenants in recent years, this is due to the inertia of traditional thinking, and the second is the reason for the "diversification of assets" allocation. The roots of the Bai family have not yet transferred to farming. There is not much influence in this regard.

The basic situation of the Bai family seems to be a bit powerless when taking over the project.One is to have a rich labor force, and the other is to have "resources" in the location of the project tender. To put it bluntly, it is a local snake, and the forces that can provide manpower and other supplies nearby are the best.The latter point is somewhat more important in today's primitive engineering development projects.

Therefore, after analyzing with shopkeeper Wu, and finally after overall consideration, Bai Juren, who is more familiar with business, decided to invest resources in enterprises such as cement factories.As for the construction of roads and projects...Let’s leave it to the country folks, they are lucky, the road passes in front of the door, the contract comes from heaven, and these rich locals deserve to earn a fortune.

In this way, after a night of repeated discussions, Master Bai made a crucial strategic decision in his study: invest more than half of the working capital of the Bai family in the purchase of shares in the cement factory.

In the case of not selling the property, this half of the funds is almost 5000 taels of cash, which can be regarded as the old foundation of the Bai family, the first generation of Chinese-style nobles.

It is not impossible to raise cash, but that would affect the daily operations of Baiji Grocery and other shops of the Bai family; although Master Bai was very optimistic about the development prospects of the cement factory, he still held back the idea of ​​throwing all his eggs in one basket , keeping the old industry running.

Ten days later, Bai Juren went out in person again, escorted the silver car with shopkeeper Wu and a large number of servants, and went to the "Guangdong First Construction Zengcheng Project Department" next to the county government to sign the contract and pay the money.

In order to improve the authority, the project department opened next door to the county government office is just a collective name. There is not only the project bidding office, but also the independent cement plant preparation office, which belongs to the joint office.

After Bai Juren arrived, he and other county lords who were interested in investing in industry and commerce signed the contract respectively, pressed their fingerprints, and weighed the envelopes of silver that were removed from the silver car. The shareholder of the Zengcheng Cement Plant.

Generally speaking, the masters are still a little nervous at this moment.

Although it is very common for private businessmen to do business in partnership, what they are facing is completely different from the traditional situation-an unprecedented large workshop plan, unprecedented huge investment and new products, unprecedented strong founders, and investment All kinds of considerations and political speculation were mixed in the process, all of which made the old men who were able to do a good job in the Ming Dynasty feel at a loss.

However, these pioneers were on the right track after all.Compared with those who will be forced to change their destiny by the tide of society in the future, this lack of adaptability of the pioneers is nothing at all. The door of the new world is opening to everyone, and those who dare to eat crabs will definitely get the most generous rewards.

……

Becoming a shareholder of the cement plant is only the first step, and then there are a series of procedures such as the general meeting of shareholders.By the time Master Bai finished his work and once again brought shopkeeper Wu and his servants to stand in Huangqitan, the place had already turned into a bustling construction site.

Regardless of whether it is the Little Ice Age or not, compared with the frozen soil during the New Year's Day in the north, Guangdong can start construction all year round.The local migrant workers provided by the shareholders and attracted by the generous wages and meals have now been divided into two groups and are busy on the construction site.

The river beach next to the tributaries of the Zengjiang River was the first large-scale construction site.Since a mining pier needs to be built here, not only dredging boats have already started working on the river, but some people are soaking in the muddy water to build cofferdams.

Ore terminals require higher structural strength than passenger terminals.After the cofferdam is completed, several construction machinery emitting black smoke will be stationed here to assist in the construction of the wharf. By then, the melon-eaters in Zengcheng will be able to experience the terrifying power of industrialization.After that, there will be a gas-driven cargo hoisting system stationed at the terminal, which will bring you a different feeling.

There are also a large number of migrant workers working on the quarry not far from the wharf site.The ground here is being cleared, and the rocks are being framed, collected and carted away.These stones will eventually be sorted one by one, the limestone will be smelted, and the rest will be crushed and used as road construction material.

After the rocky beach is cleaned up, dormitories and stockyards will be built on the original site.Workers will start from here every day in the future to go to the northern hills to remove the soil and vegetation on the hills, and then dismantle these limestone-based hills bit by bit with explosives to provide cement plants with Raw material for smelting lime.

There is a third site on another vacant lot to the west.This is the site of the future cement plant, and there are also a large number of people cleaning the ground at the moment.

As a key project in 1631, a heavy gas compressor was being assembled on the construction site—it was too heavy for the pier in the county town to bear, and it was carried over abruptly by a large number of migrant workers in a disassembled state.

Seeing the endless bustling scene, Bai Juren standing on the slope couldn't help nodding.

Aside from the factories that will bring wealth to the Bai family in the future, even the current construction site, the Bai family has already begun to enjoy the dividends of betting: the baskets, sacks, straw ropes, etc. used on the construction site are all from Bai Remember that the quantity purchased is very large, and more will be needed in the future.Baiji Grocery Chain is currently organizing caravans to go to nearby villages to place orders and organize supplies. By the way, the villagers who have no information come to the construction site to fight against the work. The whole store is very busy.

"Master, look quickly, Master Ding is coming over there!"

At this moment, shopkeeper Wu yanked Bai Juren's sleeve, and pointed towards the county seat.