Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 126 The Pride of Nanyang: Taiyou Machinery
"Mr. Zheng, you called me."

Even though he was called over late at night, Yang Shaomin did not show any displeasure on his face and was even quite polite.

Zheng Yi suddenly had an idea and said, "It's been a while since I last saw the night view or strolled around at night. Let's call a few brothers and go down the mountain for a walk."

"Uh...now?"

"Yes, now."

"Okay, I'll go get someone."

Yang Shaomin's job on Zheng Yi's side, at least on the surface, was security chief. Although it was a little late, that was their job after all, so there was naturally nothing to say.

Li Jiazhi was a little surprised. Aren’t they here to discuss something? Why was he strolling around?
Zheng Yi stepped forward and kissed her gently, saying, "I suddenly remembered that we haven't had a date for a long time. Now that we're up, let's go out for a walk.

I went to Taiyou Machinery. I suddenly remembered that I hadn't been to the factory for quite some time. Let's go out and talk about it while shopping.

Of course, the main reason was that they had already put on their clothes. If they just entertained Yang Shaomin and had a casual chat with him, he would feel that his clothes were in vain.

Anyway, he was already awake, and it had been a long time since he went out for a walk at night. He also hadn't been to Taiyou Machinery for a long time, and he actually missed it quite a bit.

After all, that was where his dream began. Although it was strictly speaking the Li family's property, he only held a small stake, and that little profit was nothing compared to the income he was making from running the chemical plant now.

But it is undeniable that Thai Machinery is still the foundation of industrialization in Penang and even the entire Nanyang. Without the processing capabilities of Thai Machinery, the chemical plant would not have been able to take root in Penang.

Li Jiazhi didn't have any objection. Since she had already changed her clothes, she put on her shoes and went out with them.

It was late at night, already past one o'clock, but the main streets of Penang were brightly lit. Although it was only the 30s, Penang already had the feeling of a city that never sleeps.

After going down the mountain, because it is the northern part of the city, there are still many shops facing the street with neon lights on, as well as restaurants, bars, cinemas, dance halls, and nightclubs.

"Mr. Yang, you must have lived in Shanghai for a long time."

In the car, Zheng Yi looked at the street scene outside the window and suddenly asked.

Yang Shaomin: "I did stay in Shanghai for a few years."

"How do you think the night scene in Penang compares to Shanghai?"

Yang Shaomin thought for a moment and said, "Each has its own advantages. Shanghai's nightlife is indeed richer and more vibrant than Penang's. The city is filled with singing and dancing. In comparison, Penang's nightlife is certainly not as lively and bustling as Shanghai's."

"But comparing the two, I still prefer Penang. In my heart, Shanghai is far inferior to Penang."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"Shanghai's foreign concessions were, after all, the domain of only a handful of compradors and the rich. Ordinary people had a hard time even getting enough to eat and wear.
Although Penang is not as prosperous as that, it has more street lights. Although there are fewer people singing and dancing, there are more roadside food stalls open at night.

"Besides providing entertainment and leisure for the wealthy gentlemen, the city also takes into consideration the workers who are getting off the night shift, allowing them to walk a little further along the bright road, get home safely, and also have a bite to eat at a roadside stall to fill their stomachs."

"What's more, Shanghai's ten-mile foreign concessions were mostly in foreign-owned properties. Even wealthy Chinese merchants would have to bring a Japanese woman with them on their way home after a night of drinking. Otherwise, they would be questioned, exploited, or even arrested by the police."

"How can this even compare to what we have in Penang?"

Hearing this, Zheng Yi was quite pleased. After all, the current Penang could be said to have been created by him, so naturally he couldn't help but feel proud.

He said, "Even if it's not as bustling and prosperous as Shanghai, that's only temporary. Ever since Penang became autonomous, there's been massive construction going on everywhere. Construction sites are everywhere, and time is short. Especially for those bustling entertainment spots, they're not a high priority, so they haven't been built yet."

"In three years at most, even in terms of nightclubs and dance halls, my Penang will surely surpass Shanghai. In my Penang, we must ensure that the rich can have a good time while the poor can also live well."

As he spoke, Zheng Yi couldn't help but feel complacent.

Yang Shaomin: "Mr. Zheng, you are truly the holy ruler that our Confucian civilization speaks of! It's a pity that your holy ruler's glory only shines on this small area of ​​Penang.

Outside of Penang, whether it is the Malay area or our Chinese area, it is still dark after all. If..."

"Stop, stop, stop, stop flattering me."

Zheng Yi quickly interrupted him. It was only the beginning of 1936 and the Spanish Civil War had not yet started. If he really listened to this guy, the Malayan Civil War would probably break out before the Spanish Civil War.

It’s not that Zheng Yi really doesn’t want to expand, but no matter how much he expands, he will definitely insist on the Chinese as the main body, or at least the Chinese civilization as the main body and will never waver.

And now is definitely not the time.

Southeast Asia generally gained independence in the 1950s and 1960s. From the end of World War II to national independence, there were many opportunities, even very good opportunities, in the more than ten years.

To be honest, the so-called internationalist fighters are completely different if you look at them from a different perspective. Everyone likes Dr. White from Canada because he is here to help.

If you change your perspective at this point, it is more or less a bit uncomfortable to meet a Chinese person who takes the initiative to go abroad to help others.

They only have class in their minds and don't even have the concept of country, let alone nation. They are really willing to sacrifice their lives for the lower classes of other countries and other nations.

To put it bluntly, what we respect are foreigners who sacrifice their lives for our country's cause, not the Chinese who sacrifice their lives for other countries.

Zheng Yi could only not understand such people, but he respected them.

But there is one good thing about Penang, that is, there are street lights on the main roads, and they are very bright.

Penang is essentially an industrial city. Its factories are doing extremely well, with production running 24 hours a day. The night shift is no less busy than the day shift, which naturally leads to the service industry also staying up late.

The reason why only the main roads have lights at present is mainly because his management time is too short. Within one or two years, he will ensure that all roads in the city are equipped with street lights, and they will be on all night long.

"what is that?"

Li Jiazhi suddenly asked, "Why is it still open so late, and there are so many people queuing outside? They all look so haggard."

Yang Shaomin couldn't help but frown and said, "Indeed, it looks so haggard... Shit, that looks like a smoking den. When the hell was it opened? They dared to open a smoking den in Penang. Do they want to die?"

After saying that, Yang Shaomin stopped the car and prepared to get out and smash the shop.

Penang strictly prohibits prostitution, gambling and drugs. Although prostitution may not be so easy to ban, especially in Southeast Asia, which does have its own customs and practices, it at least ensures that there is no blatant behavior.

But drugs have always been a zero-tolerance policy since Zheng Yi took over Penang. Anyone selling them would be killed. Because of this, Zheng Yi even had a strained relationship with some people in the Teochew gang in Siam.

In the fight against drugs, he'd killed over twenty people, all from Chaozhou. Yi Guangyan personally pleaded for mercy, but he refused. Unexpectedly, Zheng Yi intervened, saying, "I know. It's not a smoking den, it's a drug rehabilitation center. They're distributing oral methadone. Anyone can get it, but you have to drink it in front of the nurse."

"Methadone? What is methadone?"

"I personally participated in the research of a drug for drug addiction treatment. I've been busy with it for the past two years. Finally, I succeeded in developing it last month and put it into mass production."

"Quitting opium? Can you quit opium?"

Zheng Yi: "It depends on how long you've been using. If it's not too long, you can still quit using methadone. Methadone doesn't produce any pleasure, but it can greatly offset the withdrawal symptoms. If you drink a glass when you're addicted, at least your body won't feel as bad."

Yang Shaomin: "Is this thing expensive?"

"It's free, and the cost isn't too high. However, ordinary people still don't take it. This thing itself is somewhat addictive."

"Oh, opium! This thing has caused us Chinese so much harm. Mr. Zheng actually developed a drug to help us quit smoking. His merits are truly immeasurable. He is truly a saint."

Zheng Yi: “…………”

You can't talk about the Holy Lord for every three sentences, right?

This is only in modern times. If it were in ancient times, this guy would probably have put a whole yellow robe on him.

The car turned a corner ahead and headed towards the industrial area in the east.

No matter how many times they came here, every time they turned the corner, Li Jiazhi and Yang Shaomin would be shocked and then instinctively take a deep breath.

The entire industrial area was brightly lit, and it was actually much brighter than the urban area. Most of the factories had their lights on, and they were brightly lit.

Trucks kept shuttling back and forth on the highway, and even at the dock, the busy scene was no different from that during the day.

On the sea, there is still a constant stream of cargo ships traveling to and from Penang Port, with cargo being loaded and unloaded and handled non-stop.

In terms of throughput alone, the small Port of Penang has now basically replaced Singapore to become the largest port in Asia.

Even one port is not enough, and the city council is discussing the specific location for building a second port terminal.

The entire industrial zone is dominated by large factories, with very few small factories, each of which employs at least two to three thousand people. This is similar to Singapore in later generations, where the factories are mainly branches established by multinational corporations.

Scattered small factories, mainly some building materials factories owned by local people, are relatively not built directly in the eastern industrial zone, but are mostly built in the western region.

Because most of these factories use large equipment, steel plants, etc., or they are all large factories. When war comes and production stops, they become natural fortresses.

As long as his chemical plant is drained of oil, even an atomic bomb may not be able to flatten the plant.

Most of these factories are foreign or dominated by foreign capital, but only Taiyou Machinery, with its four large Chinese characters on its signboard and no English logo, stands out in the entire eastern industrial zone.

Moreover, its scale is no smaller than those of foreign-funded and joint venture factories.

The entire factory is now divided into six factory areas, with a total of 38 three-story factory buildings and more than 10,000 workers. The six factory areas are:
Area 1 produces rubber and tin ore production lines; Area 2 produces general machinery parts and hardware;
The third area produces large custom workpieces, mainly serving petrochemical plants, chemical plants, and steel plants;

Four zones produce specialized machinery, such as wire cutting machines, generators, and injection molding machines;
District 5 for the production of large permanent magnet motors;
Research six innovative areas for small motor applications.

This is the most rapidly developing enterprise in Nanyang in recent years. Apart from the quantity and quality of skilled workers, no other factors can limit the expansion of Taiyou Machinery.

Penang has a well-developed free night school system for workers, and more than half of these workers are studying machining and plan to interview for jobs at Thai Yau Machinery after learning. There are more workers who want to go to Thai Yau Machinery than those who are willing to go to Penang Petrochemical.

The car entered from the factory gate. Soon, the workers in the factory recognized Zheng Yi's car and cheered excitedly.

"Mr. Zheng, it's Mr. Zheng, Mr. Zheng is here."

"Hello, Mr. Zheng!"

"Welcome Mr. Zheng home to give us guidance!"

"Mr. Zheng, I love you!!"

"Mr. Zheng, do you still remember me? I'm Fatty Wang!"

Before he even got out of the car, Zheng Yi was surrounded by these enthusiastic workers.

In Nanyang now, only the people in Taiyou Machinery still call him General Manager Zheng. This is a privilege of Taiyou Machinery, and until now, he still holds the title of General Manager.

Zheng Yi's feelings towards Taiyou Machinery are completely different from those towards other companies. Although these companies are not actually his and he is just an employee, he has really poured all his efforts into this factory.

He has always been paying attention to Taiyou Machinery. Although he has not drawn mechanical design drawings for a long time, he has always been the one who provided the ideas for Taiyou Machinery's new products.
I also often meet with engineers to discuss the development of new products and new equipment.

He has indeed been fulfilling the duties of the general manager of this factory.

This was what he promised Li Xiaoshi when he resigned from the Li family. He kept his word and no matter how busy he was, he always insisted on paying attention to this company. At least the general direction of research and development was under his control.

After getting off the car, Zheng Yi greeted the workers with a smile. The bodyguards who followed him quickly squeezed through the crowd and made a passage for Zheng Yi.

It was late at night, and I didn't expect Li Xiaowu was still in the factory. When he heard that Zheng Yi was coming, he hurried over from the office building to greet him.

"Ayi, and Big Sister? Why are you here so late at night?"

Zheng Yi: "Come and see. How about you? It's so late at night, why is the chairman still working the night shift?"

Li Xiaowu said excitedly: "Ayi, you came at the right time. It's better to come at the right time than to come early. The thing you told me before has come true!

Even if you don't come today, I will have to bring something to find you tomorrow. Come on, come with me and see, hahaha, it's done."

"Oh? It's done? Which one is done?"

"It's all done, it's all done! Both products were successfully trial-produced tonight."

As he spoke, he pulled Zheng Yi and Li Jiazhi straight to the sixth factory area, an innovative R&D area specializing in the miniaturization of motors and related applications.

(End of this chapter)