Training the Heavens

Chapter 375 Flashlight Factory
"If you can build a penicillin factory in Hong Kong, I think everyone will warmly welcome you, including us at Jardine Matheson, Swire, and Hutchison Whampoa," said Charlie, who works at a foreign company.

Penicillin is the most popular drug in the world today. European and American conglomerates have made a fortune from it, and even Jardine Matheson is coveting it.

Zhang Guowei shook his head without even thinking. "What you say doesn't count. Even Sir Herbert couldn't withstand the pressure from London. The benefits of penicillin have already been distributed. There's no chance of getting on board now."

"I plan to set up a MSG factory. The Lotus MSG produced in Shanghai is very popular among consumers in Southeast Asia. However, the freight cost from Shanghai to Southeast Asia is a bit high. If I can build a factory in Hong Kong, I will definitely make a lot of profit. If I need a ship at that time, I hope you can help." Zhang Guowei gave Charlie a look, indicating that there would definitely be no shortage of benefits.

Charlie was very satisfied. "We were good friends back then. Now that you're in Hong Kong, I'm definitely willing to help you. Besides, this is my job."

"I also plan to open a manufacturing plant specializing in the production of flashlights. This product is selling very well right now." Zhang Guowei continued to talk about his plan.

The MSG factory was arranged by Zhang Xingjiu. It wouldn't be long before the Japanese invaded China again, and the MSG factories in Shanghai would also be affected. So Zhang Guowei simply used MSG to gain a foothold in Hong Kong.

As for the flashlight factory, it was a choice made by Zhang Guowei after a careful investigation of the market. He found that the Lingnan Flashlight Factory and the Nanzhen Flashlight Factory, which started in Guangzhou, had set up factories in Hong Kong and their quality was recognized. The Lu Lin Foreign Company, which originally supplied flashlight materials, simply turned around and cooperated with the two factories to export Chinese-made flashlights to Europe and the United States, and quickly opened up sales with extremely high cost-effectiveness.

The scale of these two flashlight factories is not large, and their production capacity cannot meet the needs of the European and American markets at all. Therefore, Zhang Guowei feels that if he builds a new flashlight factory, he will definitely make money.

They even made more money than the Lingnan Flashlight Factory and the Nanzhen Flashlight Factory. Because they lacked sales channels in Europe and the United States, they could only sell flashlights to Lu Lin Foreign Company, which simply deprived Lu Lin Foreign Company of a layer of profit.

Zhang Guowei can fully utilize the channels of the Hongmen. Situ Xianyi's Anliangtang is spread across major cities in the United States. As long as the factory can produce it and ship it to the United States and hand it over to Anliangtang, they can sell as much as they can.

In fact, his project was a good one. Flashlight factories in Hong Kong would soon pop up like mushrooms after a rain: the "Shell" brand at the Sun Rising Factory in Mong Kok, the "Train" brand at the Chang'an Factory in Wan Chai, the "Butterfly" brand at the Nansheng Factory, the "Camel" brand at the Taishan Factory, the "Parrot" brand at the Chung Nam Factory in Shau Kei Wan, the "Libra" brand at the Ming Wah Hardware Factory, the "Trophy" brand at the Nanjing Factory, and the "Dog Head" brand at the Xingzhou Electrical Factory in Causeway Bay...

So many factories made Hong Kong the global center of flashlight production and trained a large number of skilled workers, laying a good foundation for the future development of Hong Kong's electronics industry. Unfortunately, they were eventually blown to pieces by finance and real estate, and the glory of the manufacturing industry became a flash in the pan.

"These are all small matters. We can help you with all the formalities quickly. You can just sit back and wait to make money!" William, Charlie and others agreed readily. The project that Zhang Guowei was going to do had no conflict of interest with the Ocean Bank, and it was also convenient for them, so they didn't need to worry too much.

"If you are interested, you can also invest. As for whose name to use, you can decide for yourself." Zhang Guowei does not believe in simple friendship. He is ready to use interests to bind these people more tightly.

William, Charles, and the others beamed. They had come all the way from England to Hong Kong. Did they really want to work hard for the British Empire? Or was it because they could make a fortune here? Zhang Guowei was offering this opportunity; who could refuse? They worked even harder. Zhang Guowei quickly secured the land and all the necessary documents for the factory. They each chose a project they liked and invested in it. Most invested in the MSG factory because the market for MSG in Southeast Asia was huge, the sales channels were well-established, and the risk was lower. The flashlight industry was just getting started, and the future was uncertain.

After completing the formalities, Zhang Guowei immediately gathered people to start work. He had also come into contact with all kinds of people in Hong Kong during these days. Everyone knew that he was the son of a high-ranking official of the Hongmen, and they would never dare to harass his factory.

Zhang Guowei also gave them some benefits, asking them to help recruit workers. He would give them a certain reward for each qualified worker, and some earthwork and other work could also be assigned to them. Now they liked Zhang Guowei even more.

The workers worked hard, Zhang Guowei paid them generously, and all the equipment and materials that needed to be imported were delivered to him with the highest priority through the connections of foreign companies. It didn't take much time for the two factories to be built as scheduled.

During this period, Zhang Guowei also visited Hedejie. When he heard that he was also a student at Oxford and the son of Zhang Xingjiu, Hedejie immediately called him to his office and talked for a long time. He also invited him to his home. During the meal, he repeatedly mentioned Zhang Guowei's glorious past when he defeated Cambridge in the rowing competition.

"At that time, I happened to be back in the UK as the Malayan Commissioner, helping to organize the British Empire Exhibition. You know, as an Oxford graduate, whenever I have time, I'll definitely go to watch the rowing competition. I witnessed you lead the rowing team to victory! I never expected to see our Oxford hero in Hong Kong today. This is wonderful!"

If Zhang Guowei was not too young and had not been in Hong Kong for long, and really lacked the qualifications, He Dejie would have wanted to make him the Chinese representative in the Executive Council.

As soon as the factory was built, it started producing MSG and flashlights. The former had many years of production experience in Shanghai, and Zhang Xingjiu even sent people to Hong Kong to help manage production. The latter did not require high technical content. The two factories quickly completed the trial production and worked at full capacity to produce boxes of products, which were then shipped to Southeast Asia and the United States for sale.

Even though both factories were already full, Zhang Guowei did not stop recruiting. Not only did he keep a recruitment table at the door all the time, but people from all walks of life also kept sending him suitable candidates, and Zhang Guowei accepted all of them.

When shareholder William visited the factory, he questioned the need for eight-hour shifts at the MSG factory, citing the fact that factories in Hong Kong now work twelve or more hours a day. This would affect profit margins.

Zhang Guowei told him that the current scale was just the beginning, and they would expand the scale and build new production lines in a while. The workers would be trained first, and then they could start work directly. William immediately expressed his understanding, and the expansion of the factory meant that his dividends would also be greater.

Little did they know that Zhang Guowei had other plans.

(End of this chapter)