Training the Heavens

Chapter 323 The road to industrialization is still long
Fan Yuanrang was a native of Xiangyin County, Changsha Prefecture, Hunan Province. His grandfather had once been the magistrate of Daxing County, and his father was a teacher. When he was in his teens, he followed his brother Fan Yuanlian to enter the Hunan Current Affairs School and participated in the Reform Movement of 1898. After the failure of the Reform Movement, his brother went to study in Japan, and Fan Yuanrang stayed at home to continue his studies.

Later, Fan Yuanlian returned to China to participate in the Self-Reliance Army Uprising, but failed again. He planned to take Fan Yuanrang to study in Japan. When they arrived in Shanghai, they happened to encounter the enrollment of Aurora College. Fan Yuanrang had heard of Zhang Xingjiu's name a long time ago, so he went to apply and was admitted to the preparatory class.

After careful consideration, Fan Yuanlian continued to study in Japan, while Fan Yuanrang stayed at Aurora University. After a period of hard study, he successfully entered the undergraduate chemistry department and achieved excellent results.

Zhang Xingjiu discovered this talent during class. Perhaps not many people know the name Fan Yuanrang. It would be different if he had another name. In the original history, Fan Yuanrang would change his name to Fan Xudong in the future. He successively founded Jiuda Refined Salt Company, Yongli Alkali Factory, and Yongli Tungsten Factory, produced China's first batch of ammonium sulfate products, and successfully researched and developed a new combined alkali production process. He is known as the father of China's national chemical industry.

He was a famous chemical industrialist in the Republic of China and the founder of China's heavy chemical industry. He was praised by his teachers as one of the four great industrialists that the Chinese people cannot forget.

Originally, Fan Yuanrang should have been studying in Japan at this time. A few years later, he was admitted to the Department of Chemical Industry of Kyoto Imperial University. When he graduated, the Xinhai Revolution was successful. He returned to China to start a business with a heart to serve the country through industry.

Now he has won the favor of Zhang Xingjiu, who regards him as a key talent in the Department of Chemistry for training. Now Fan Yuanrang has laid a very solid foundation and has participated in many important experiments with Zhang Xingjiu. The only thing he lacks is practical experience in industrialization.

Zhang Xingjiu planned to use this opportunity to let him practice and accumulate some experience, and then recommend him to study in Germany to familiarize himself with the most advanced chemical technology in the world today. In this way, his achievements should be greater than in the original history.

Zhang Jian did not have the foresight of Zhang Xingjiu. He knew that Fan Yuanrang was a rare chemical genius. When he saw that the visitor was only in his early twenties, he felt a little unhappy. As the saying goes, a man without hair on his lips cannot do things well. So what could he see at such a young age?

He also felt somewhat dissatisfied with Zhang Xingjiu. He had spent a lot of money and used a lot of connections to build Tongrentai Salt Company. Now the company was facing technical difficulties. It would be fine if you didn't come in person, but at least send a teacher? Why send a young boy?
So he said calmly, "Mingjun, you've come all this way, you've worked hard. I've already ordered a welcoming banquet. After dinner, take a rest for a day and then start inspecting the salt fields tomorrow, okay?"

Fan Yuanrang had been absorbed in his studies and was not familiar with the ways of the world. He did not notice Zhang Jian's thoughts and immediately responded, "I have been exercising regularly at school and am in good health. This journey was not very strenuous. I don't need to rest. I have already eaten, so I can go check on the situation now."

These words greatly changed Zhang Jian's mind. Regardless of his ability, this attitude made people feel comfortable. After persuading him a few times, seeing that Fan Yuanrang was determined, he stopped insisting and sent a few people to take Fan Yuanrang and others to check around.

Fan Yuanrang worked very seriously. He visited almost every corner of the salt company, from the salt field to the grassland to the frying room. Among them, the test room, board drying room, salt frying room and salt gathering room were the most concerned. The salt drying board, salt frying house, ash field and salt stove were the most important. He personally operated almost every process.

The inspection lasted for a whole week. Just when Zhang Jian was about to lose his patience, Fan Yuanrang finally came to report to him. He invited Zhang Jian and several executives of the salt company to the conference room, holding a thick notebook and introducing them in detail the technical problems of the company.

From the company's chosen technology to the equipment and workers' operation, a host of problems were identified. Initially, Zhang Jian had listened with rapt interest, but when Fan Yuanrang spoke for over an hour with no sign of stopping, he began to grow tired. After all, having studied the Four Books and Five Classics, he had little interest in the specific technical details, and he couldn't understand Fan Yuanrang's increasingly complex discussions. So, he interrupted him and asked, "Mingjun, you are so dedicated. I truly admire you. Let's not dwell on these details for now. I just want to ask, if Mingjun were to make the adjustments, could we turn the Tongrentai Salt Company around?"

Fan Yuanrang answered without hesitation, "From a technical perspective, I'm confident that the salt company can produce higher-quality refined salt, while also reducing production costs. However, profitability for a company depends on many factors. I only know chemistry, not sales or management, so I can't guarantee anything."

This was also what Zhang Xingjiu told him. The shareholder structure of Tongrentai Salt Company was relatively complicated, and many things were involved. Fan Yuanrang was young and could not grasp it well, so it was better for him not to get involved. He should just do the technical things well and let Zhang Jian worry about the rest. If it still could not be resolved by then, he would come forward to coordinate, after all, Aurora University also had shares in the company.

Zhang Jian had been running a business for many years, so he naturally knew what Fan Yuanrang was talking about. He immediately assigned a confidant to assist Fan Yuanrang in making rectifications. All technical issues were handled by Fan Yuanrang, and management issues were resolved by him.

At the beginning, Fan Yuanrang's rectification went relatively smoothly. The shareholders had invested so much money and had been anxious for a long time because they had not seen any returns yet. Now that they heard that there was hope of turning losses into profits, they would naturally support Fan Yuanrang.

Fan Yuanrang did not disappoint their expectations. In just over a month, he enabled Tongren Tai Salt Company to produce refined salt of better quality, greatly increased output, and greatly reduced production costs. As long as the company continues to operate as it is now, it will surely reap rich rewards.

After dealing with the technical issues, Fan Yuanrang returned to Aurora University with the gratitude of Zhang Jian and other shareholders, and continued to study German in preparation for studying abroad.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. Tongren Tai Salt Company ran into problems again. This time it had nothing to do with technology, but came from other aspects. Tongren Tai Salt Company made such huge profits that it attracted a lot of flies. Even Zhang Jian could not bear it and had to reluctantly transfer part of his shares.

Not only did they want to make money, they also had to fill the factory with people who knew nothing but liked to give orders. The good times for Tongrentai Salt Company didn't last for a few days before its profit margin dropped again.

Coupled with the reasons such as the imperial court's levy and other places prohibiting the company's salt from entering the local market, Tongrentai Salt Company's days became increasingly difficult.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xingjiu could only sigh that the road to industrialization is still long.

　Tomorrow's update may be late

　　
　
(End of this chapter)