The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 242 Is it a Golden Finger?
Teng Yuzao smiled slightly and said, "But I want to correct your statement."

Teng Yuzao said, "Such as iron and steel mills, even machinery factories, train and vehicle factories, including the automobile factories that are now being produced by European and American powers, etc., these modern enterprises that are necessary for becoming a powerful country, we will have them sooner or later, and we must build them. Moreover, we will also have the best backbone industrial enterprises in Asia and even the world, but not now."

"What we are eager to build now are not projects that are very expensive and difficult to see results quickly. The industries we want to build require little investment, can see huge benefits in the short term, and can also train talents and skilled workers for us."

After hearing what Teng Yuzhao said, a hint of disappointment flashed across Zhou Xuexi's eyes.

Investing in large-scale industries has always been the practice of the Beiyang government, and even of the Westernization Movement in China. Not only the Hanyang Iron Works invested by Zhang Zhidong, but also the projects invested and built by governors and governors such as Li Hongzhang and Liu Kunyi, such as the Beiyang Machinery Bureau, the Jiangnan Machinery Bureau, the Mawei Shipyard, etc., were all huge investment projects.

Of course, the huge investments they have built are also what any world power should have, and are even indispensable.

It's just that Li Hongzhang and Zhang Zhidong, the most representative figures in China and the most active promoters of the Westernization Movement, had obviously different ideas and styles when investing in and building these important projects, even if they cannot be said to be completely different.

Li Hongzhang can be said to be a shrewd and calculating man who always acted after careful consideration. He presided over the Westernization Movement, which he carried out within his capabilities and then gradually improved upon. He was basically able to complete everything from beginning to end, and his success rate was very high. Although he did not necessarily meet the initial design capacity and technical requirements, he was always successful.

As Zhang Zhidong grew older, he became more and more impatient for quick results, and he liked to do things on a large scale and in an all-around manner. For example, the Hanyang Iron and Steel Works was the largest steel company in Asia in terms of designed production capacity when it was first built.

Teng Yuzao believed that this was most likely because Zhang Zhidong saw more and more clearly the gap between China and the world powers, and even with Japan, and wanted to catch up, but he was unable to do so and many things failed.

Although Zhou Xuexi's ideas should have been in line with the concepts of his father Zhou Fu, the actual operator of the Beiyang Westernization Movement, it was still beyond the capabilities of Teng Yuzhao at the moment.

Zhou Xuexi said with a somewhat dejected look, "If we follow what you said, then we can only build a spinning mill and a flour mill first. However, although these industries require little investment and have quick results, the profits are not high. Especially at a time when foreign goods are flooding the market, if our products do not improve, how much profit can we make? Whether we can withstand the impact of foreign goods is a big problem."

Seeing Zhou Xuexi's disappointment, Teng Yuzao said, "That may not be the case. Take the flour mill for example. If we can produce flour of better quality and whiter than foreign products, Brother Jizhi, can we sell our flour at a higher price? With higher profits, can we withstand the impact of foreign products?"

Zhou Xuexi smiled bitterly and said, "The machines are all the same, so the quality is not a big deal. As long as we control the entrance and ensure that we only process high-quality wheat, or mix less low-quality wheat, it will be fine. But how can we grind flour that is whiter than foreign products?"

Teng Yuzhao looked at Wei Jinghai, and Wei Jinghai had already looked impatient. When he saw Teng Yuzhao looking at him, he turned around and shouted.

"Someone is coming."

Following Wei Jinghai's shout, three soldiers armed only with pistols walked in from outside the door. Among the three, the first one held a briefcase tightly in both hands, and the other two followed closely behind him, as if they were afraid that someone would snatch the briefcase that the soldier in front was holding tightly in his arms.

Wei Jinghai stood up, took the briefcase from the soldier, returned to his seat, and under the strange gazes of everyone, he took out a small key from his pocket, unlocked the briefcase, then carefully opened the briefcase, took out a thick bound manuscript from it and handed it to Teng Yuzhao.

All these people have seen such briefcases, but most of those who use such briefcases are foreign officials, who use them to store confidential documents and contracts. The briefcases here by Teng Yuzhao should only be highly confidential for military matters, but those present obviously do not understand military matters. I wonder what Teng Yuzhao is up to?

On the cover of the manuscript that Wei Jinghai gave to Teng Yuzhao, "Flour Processing Process and Key Points" was written in beautiful penmanship.

After Teng Yuzao took the manuscript, he did not look through it, but handed it directly to Zhou Xuexi, "Brother Jizhi, please take a look."

Zhou Xuexi took the manuscript doubtfully, and quickly flipped through it at his seat, but his expression became more and more solemn, and then he suddenly looked extremely excited. He quickly closed the manuscript and held it tightly in his hand, and excitedly slapped the table and said.

"Sir, is everything written here true? Who is the author of this manuscript? Can I meet him?"

This flour processing flow chart instruction manual was what Teng Yuzhao saw on the Internet in his previous life. Not only was the flow chart very complete, it even explained some key tips for processing flour clearly.

For example, to improve the whiteness of flour, it is only necessary to use spray water to reduce the strength of wheat endosperm, which can greatly improve the whiteness of flour.

In addition, the process includes not only visual preliminary selection and screening, but also water washing, air selection, color sorting, magnetic separation, etc., which can not only improve the quality of the processed flour, but also increase the whiteness of the flour to a certain extent. The whiteness of the flour processed in this way can be increased by about one degree at most.

Although it only happened once, the visual experience it gave people was definitely shocking.

If we take into account that all flour processing companies at this time are still only affected by the first two processes, the whiteness of the flour processed by the new factory can be increased by more than just one degree.

Using the most advanced processing technology of this era and the know-how and experience gained from hundreds of years of processing, even without the use of whitening agents, Teng Yuzao believes that his flour will be the best flour in the world at this time. At least, it is also the best in appearance.

Not only that, Teng Yuzao even drew some simple machine drawings and sketches of the process.

Teng Yuzao smiled and said, "Of course it's true."

Before Teng Yuzao could answer Zhou Xuexi's next two questions, Wei Jinghai said with admiration, "Master Zhou, this manuscript was written by our master himself, which is what you call a great talent."

Everyone at the table, including Ning Xingpu, was planning to take a look at the manuscript that had so startled Zhou Xuexi, but Zhou Xuexi held it tightly to his chest. When they were about to come over to take a look, they were stunned by what Wei Jinghai said.

After a long while, Master Qian came back to his senses and said flatteringly, "Our lord not only has unfathomable military skills, but also has the ability to turn decay into magic when it comes to industry. He is a genius! He is simply a genius!"

Xi Ligong was also surprised and said, "If a simple flour mill can come up with some ingenious ideas, it would be like turning stone into gold!"

Teng Yuzao just smiled and waved to Master Qian and Xi Ligong, then asked Zhou Xuexi, "Brother Jizhi, what do you think will happen to our flour?"

"If it's true, it will definitely be a big hit! It will definitely be a big hit!"

Zhou Xuexi's face flushed red and he was so excited that he was a little incoherent.

Seeing that everyone wanted to take a look at the manuscript, Teng Yuzhao said.

"It's not that I don't trust you, but the flour mill should be our first business. This manuscript is about business secrets. It is the key to whether our flour mill can become a golden goose that lays golden eggs. In order to keep this secret for a longer time, only Brother Jizhi should know it."

Since Teng Yuzao said so, everyone also knew that the success of this first industry would have a great impact on the subsequent new industries, and would at least affect morale, so they all gave up this idea.

Zhou Xuexi also said, "Please rest assured, sir. After I have read and memorized those key points, I will destroy them. I will ensure that no one else will know the specific details and key points without your permission."

Teng Yuzhao nodded. He believed that Zhou Xuexi knew the seriousness of the matter, so he did not give any further instructions and asked Zhou Xuexi.

"Since it's selling well, let's make it the first business of your Aurora Industrial Development Company. The profits will also be used as capital for the subsequent development of the company. But what is the production capacity you plan to set?"

Zhou Xuexi said without hesitation, "For the time being, we will set the daily production at 3,000 bags of flour, and then gradually increase it."

Ning Xingpu agreed with Zhou Xuexi's answer, "Okay, I agree with this scale."

Seeing that Teng Yuzao and Wei Jinghai were still a little confused, Ning Xingpu explained, "As the saying goes, scarcity makes things valuable. No matter how good something is, you can't sell it all. That will drive down the price. Three thousand bags, not to mention foreigners, even domestic merchants will buy them all. At that time, the price will rise. If foreigners also buy a lot and ship them back to China to sell, there will be even less to sell."

Teng Yuzao also understood what Zhou Xuexi and Ning Xingpu meant, and nodded and said, "Yes, ordinary people will not spend a high price to eat whiter flour. Only the rich can sell it."

Speaking of rich people, Teng Yuzao realized that the people present were also rich, so he stopped talking in time and said, "This quantity is well determined, let's use the hunger sales method for him."

Teng Yuzhao never dared to underestimate the wisdom of his predecessors, they just didn't summarize it. There were many business geniuses in the country in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, but they did not get the space to display their talents. Otherwise, the Chinese people's business skills would be no less than any other nation. The only shortcoming was probably that most of them were a little eager for quick success.

Huang Chujiu said excitedly, "Your Excellency is truly a genius. This phrase, 'starvation sales method', sums up the method of limiting production and raising prices in one sentence!"

Everyone was amazed at the hunger sales method that Teng Yuzao mentioned.

Teng Yuzao said again, "But."

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(End of this chapter)