The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 538: We Have to Do Business Even If It Loses Money
Teng Yuzao had not only anticipated Zhou Xuexi's entanglement, but it also played right into his hands.

Teng Yuzao smiled and nodded, saying, "Although I don't want you to be divided between you and others because you have a lot of things to do in the Supervision Office, the pressure on our Aurora Bank is increasing. Aurora Industrial still has too few factories. We need to have a few more factories that make a lot of money every day, and then a lot of money can flow into Aurora Bank. For this, I have to show some of my skills."

As soon as they heard that Teng Yuzao was going to use his Midas touch again, everyone's attention was instantly focused, and they all looked at Teng Yuzao with heated eyes.

Teng Yuzao gathered his energy and said, "My method is not used to make money from foreigners, but is actually used to benefit the Chinese people. Of course, it is also a good business that can make a lot of money."

Although Teng Yuzhao said that his business was not for making money from foreigners but for benefiting Chinese people, he also said that it was also a business that could make a lot of money, which still made everyone pay attention and listen.

"We eat salt every day. My business is about making salt and the chemical industry related to salt."

Teng Yuzao's words made everyone suddenly disappointed.

Yang Shixiang smiled wryly and said, "Marshal, the salt fields along the coast of Tianjin are full of white salt, and the excess cannot be sold. Why are you still making salt? How can you make money?"

Seeing that everyone looked disapproving and no one sneered just for his sake, Teng Yuzhao shook his head helplessly.

"I'm not talking about coarse salt, I'm talking about the fine, snow-white salt that's as fine as sand."

Teng Yuzhao's words slightly aroused the interest of these people, and Zhou Xuexi asked.

"Marshal, are you talking about the large and fine green salt produced in the salt wells in the southwest and northwest? If it is green salt, you can indeed make money."

Teng Yuzao shook his head and said, "No, I'm talking about the salt that is directly dried from the sea or extracted by industrial means. After being produced and processed, the coarse salt will eventually become pure fine salt as white as snow."

Teng Yuzao knew that it would not be easy for him to explain to these people what refined salt was in a short period of time, so he began to explain on his own.

“Although our country is rich in salt resources, the salt people eat is coarse salt that contains a lot of impurities and even dirt. After consumption, this coarse salt not only tastes bitter, but is also harmful to the body.

At this point, Teng Yuzhao called over two guards and told them to fetch the briefcase on the table in his study, as well as to get a kettle of boiling water and half a pound of salt as soon as possible, and to bring two copper basins.

Yang Shixiang and Xu Shichang were not surprised. They just thought that Teng Yuzao was trying to demonstrate to them the impurities in salt. However, Zhou Xuexi's eyes lit up immediately. Ning Xingpu, Xi Ligong and Huang Chujiu were also excited.

They all still remember the scene when they first met Teng Yuzhao in Gu'an last year.

What Teng Yuzhao wanted was quickly brought to him. Teng Yuzhao asked the guards to pour half a pound of coarse salt into one of the copper basins, and then asked the guards to pour a pot of boiling water into it. With a little stirring, the coarse salt quickly melted. After standing for a while, the salt water in the copper basin was slowly poured into another empty basin. There was a thin layer of mud-like substance left at the bottom of the copper basin.

Teng Yuzao pointed to the copper basin filled with salt water and said, "After the water in this basin is dried in the sun or boiled over fire, what is left is preliminary fine salt, but it is still not pure refined salt. It needs to be further processed to remove all harmful substances to the body."

Yang Shixiang looked at the residue left in the first basin and said with a wry smile.

"Marshal, it seems that when we Chinese eat salt, we also eat a lot of soil!"

Teng Yuzao nodded and said, "Although our country has rich marine resources, our salt still relies on the traditional method of making crude salt for thousands of years. Not only is it inefficient and depends on the weather, the salt is also of low purity and contains many harmful substances."

Teng Yuzao said in a heavy tone, "You probably don't know that the Western powers have already clearly stipulated in their countries that salt with a NaCl content of less than 85% is not only not allowed to be sold as edible salt, but is not even allowed to be added to livestock feed. NaCl is the Western chemical symbol for salt."

"However, crude salt with a NaCl content of less than 50% is still widely used and consumed in our country. The salt from the Tianjin Tanggu Salt Field is all of this type of salt."

"In fact, the reason why refined salt is so difficult is not because the process of making refined salt is so complicated or the cost is so high. It's just that we lack chemical talents and no one is involved."

Zhou Xuexi also nodded and said, "Marshal, you mean that we want to build a salt field to produce and sell this refined salt. Then let's do it right away and build a salt factory to produce refined salt."

Teng Yuzao smiled and said, "Jizhi, I'm not talking about the salt fields that rely on the weather for their livelihood, but the salt factories that produce refined salt."

Teng Yuzao paused for a moment and then said, "Let me get this straight. What I mean is that we want to build a large salt factory. The initial scale should be able to meet the salt needs of the people in the entire Zhili Province. Then we can gradually expand the production capacity and most importantly, meet the salt needs of most provinces in the country."

To meet the salt demand of most provinces, there are 400 million people in the country. If 30,000 people need salt per year, that would be 300 million people. Although the price of salt in coastal provinces is relatively low, only a dozen cents per catty, it will reach dozens of cents in inland provinces.

Even if he was banned from speaking and could only earn ten cents, based on the current exchange rate between copper coins and silver, he could only earn about three million taels of silver. This was an account that not only Zhou Xuexi could calculate, but everyone else present could figure out.

Now, Zhou Xuexi, Ning Xingpu and others, who had handled large sums of money every day for nearly a year, really had no interest in it. Even Yang Shixiang and Xu Shichang, who had just witnessed Teng Yuzao's ability to raise money, were somewhat disapproving. However, thinking that this was a major matter concerning the health of the Chinese people, they all expressed disdain.

But what Teng Yuzhao said next almost broke the defense of several people.

"Jizhi, this salt factory will be established with our own funds. In addition, the Zhili Governor's Office will invest in the Tanggu Salt Field, which will account for 40% of the shares. You must ensure that at least one person from each family in the Tanggu Salt Field is recruited into the salt factory, the salary of ordinary workers in the salt factory must reach 40%, and the price of refined salt must be the same as the current price of coarse salt."

Teng Yuzhao's words made Zhou Xuexi almost jump up and said in surprise.

"Marshal, if you do this, our salt factory will lose money. You should not know the salary of Shanghai workers. The average salary of Shanghai workers is now six or seven silver dollars, or even higher. It is not that high in Zhili. If we pay those workers so much money and the price of refined salt is the same as that of coarse salt, how can we make money? This is a losing business!"

When Yang Shixiang and Xu Shichang heard Teng Yuzao say that he wanted to incorporate the Tanggu Salt Field into Zhou Xuexi's new factory, they thought that Teng Yuzao wanted to use public power for personal gain. But after hearing what he said later, they couldn't help but feel puzzled. No matter how honest Teng Yuzao was, he would not use his own money to subsidize the people of Zhili! And this was not a long-term solution.

Teng Yuzao smiled and said, "Jizhi, if it was a matter of taking advantage, why would I take over the Tanggu Salt Field? This is for the benefit of the people. For the sake of the people's livelihood in Zhili, and for the people to eat high-quality salt, this salt factory must be run even if it loses money." "But don't worry, this salt factory is actually composed of two factories. The salt factory will definitely lose money, but there is also an alkali factory. You must know about soda ash."

Zhou Xuexi nodded and said, "I know this. Soda ash, commonly known as soda, is an important raw material for the textile, soap, papermaking, glass, gunpowder and other industries. It is also a neutralizer and leavening agent commonly used in the food industry for processing steamed buns, bread made by foreigners and other pasta. However, these things are in great demand in China, mainly by the British. Now they are dominated by foreign products and the prices are very high. If we can produce this kind of thing, we will definitely make money."

Teng Yuzao nodded. "I have more advanced technology than the foreigners, and the cost will be much lower than theirs. The production of soda ash will also produce a by-product of ammonium chloride, a fertilizer. It is just right to promote the use of fertilizers in Zhili, which can greatly increase grain production."

The technology for making soda ash that Teng Yuzao mentioned was the information he saw on the Internet before he traveled through time. It was the Hou's alkali production process of the famous Chinese industrialist and chemist Hou Debang. This was the most advanced technology far superior to the Soville alkali production process commonly used abroad at that time. Even until the 1930s, it was the most advanced alkali production process in the world.

Teng Yuzhao clearly remembers that the soda ash produced using Hou's alkali production process was of very high purity and won a gold medal at the World Exposition held in Philadelphia, USA.

In the production process of refined salt, Teng Yuzao came up with the simplest technology after combining several salt-making processes.

As Teng Yuzhao spoke, he took out a thick stack of drawings drawn with a pen from the briefcase brought by the guard and handed them to Zhou Xuexi.

"This is the blueprint of the alkali-making equipment I mentioned. Take it back and have someone redraw it."

Teng Yuzao reminded him again, "Some of the equipment here cannot be manufactured in our country. You can find foreign factories to make them, but remember one thing. I will not apply for a patent for this alkali production method for the time being, so it must be kept strictly confidential. When ordering the corresponding equipment abroad, do not order from one country, but from the United States, Britain, France, Germany and other countries."

"Not only this alkali factory and salt factory, you also need to build a soap factory, a paper factory, a glass factory, and a dye factory. You also need to help the Beiyang Machinery Bureau rebuild a large explosives factory. These equipments are available abroad, and the technology is relatively mature. Just import them from abroad."

"However, it is not enough to just build these factories. You also need to do your own research. I still have the same requirement that every company in the Industrial Development Company must have a high-level research laboratory to continuously optimize and improve products. For example, this soap factory can develop soaps with various spices, such as sandalwood."

"In addition, using more advanced equipment, we can open cigarette factories, match factories, and lighter factories. These are also profitable businesses."

Teng Yuzao took out a document covered with handwriting from his briefcase and handed it to Zhou Xuexi. "You can arrange for someone to apply for a patent in Europe and the United States. This is a filter that is pressed on the butt of a cigarette. It can prevent smokers from inhaling tobacco into their mouths. In addition, it can also block out some smoke that is harmful to the body."

At a time when the country was seriously lacking in modern factories, any of the factories that Teng Yuzao mentioned would surely make money, or even a lot of money, if built, not to mention the confidential alkali-producing factory that Teng Yuzao mentioned.

This made everyone present look at Teng Yuzao as if they were looking at the God of Wealth.

Seeing that Zhou Xuexi was still staring at his briefcase, Teng Yuzao smiled and patted the briefcase that had already suffocated.

"That's all for now. Once you build all these factories, I'll give you new things."

Teng Yuzao thought of another thing and couldn't help but speak solemnly to Zhou Xuexi, Xi Ligong, Ning Xingpu and Huang Chujiu.

"I have a request for you. All the enterprises you manage in Zhili must pay their workers wages in accordance with the average wage level in Shanghai. You must set an example for the businessmen who come to Zhili to set up factories."

"This is important."

Teng Yuzao continued, "As more and more factories are built in Zhili, more and more people will be needed, and there will definitely be a shortage of people. If there are higher salaries, it will not only attract farmers to gradually turn to employment, but also attract those wealthy households to invest in building factories, which will greatly increase people's income."

Teng Yuzao finally looked at Ning Xingpu and said with a smile, "Taotai Ning, now it's time for you to be a real Taotai."

Seeing that Ning Xingpu was a little dazed and seemed to have something to say, Teng Yuzao said with a smile.

"Don't refuse. You and Jizhi should find a helper to help you manage the daily affairs of the company and factory. Of course, some major matters still require your decision, but it will involve less of your energy."

Teng Yuzao continued, "I have already submitted a memorial recommending you to serve as the general manager of the Zhili Taxation Office, managing all taxation in Zhili, with a focus on industrial and commercial taxation."

Teng Yuzao said earnestly, "Taxation is the most important department for Zhili to carry out foreign affairs and improve people's livelihood. Only if you manage taxation well, I, the governor of Zhili, will have confidence."

Teng Yuzao looked at Xi Ligong and Huang Chujiu and said, "Brother Cuojiu, this construction company shoulders the heavy responsibility of Zhili's construction. I also have a memorial to recommend you as the Taotai."

Before the ecstatic Huang Chujiu could express his gratitude to Teng Yuzao, Teng Yuzao said to Xi Ligong.

"Don't worry, Yucheng. I will give you another important task in the future."

Finally, Teng Yuzao looked at Yang Shixiang and said, "Mr. Lian, I have also recommended you to serve as the assistant minister of Beiyang and concurrently as the governor of Zhili to help me manage the daily affairs of Zhili and Beiyang."

Teng Yuzao's unexpected words made Yang Shixiang stunned, but he couldn't help but be overjoyed. Not to mention that he was the assistant minister of Beiyang, even the governor of Zhili was a second-rank official. Not only was he in a high position and had great power, he was almost the number one person under Teng Yuzao.

Before Yang Shixiang, who was ecstatic, could open his mouth to thank him, Teng Yuzhao said.

"I won't go into the daily affairs. After you take office, you must set up Western-style schools in Zhili as soon as possible. There must be schools from primary school to middle school and university. Western-style schools need teachers, especially for universities, who must be hired from abroad."

"In addition, we in Zhili will continue to send students abroad, provided that they return to China after completing their studies."

(End of this chapter)