"Actually, at the beginning we wanted to order in large quantities." Seeing that we didn't react, Alfred explained, "Since your factory hasn't been built yet, I think I can invest 20,000 pounds, and of course I can continue to add if necessary, as for the shares."

"Thank you for your trust," I quickly cut off, "but my business partner and I have already discussed the issue of shares, and we do not plan to reallocate shares in the near future." And, as you know, Jinan Prefecture is located in the hinterland of Shandong, which is relatively conservative and does not have a good impression of foreigners, and if we rashly enter into a joint venture, I am afraid that it will not be conducive to the stability of production. ”

"That's right, then I can" After some haggling, I have to admire that the old British businessman is still very enterprising.

"Well, let's talk about the order just now" I don't plan to give them shares at the beginning" Gentlemen, you know very well the advanced nature of my products, customers will not be reluctant to give up on old goods, as long as we properly promote and guide, they will wave the pound to rush to buy. At that time, you can make a lot of money through a year of consignment, and you don't have to take the risk of the beginning, and I promise that you can buy shares or license production after a year. ”

"I have to say that your terms are very tempting" Alfred pouted, he already understood that I didn't want to let him occupy the position of a major shareholder when I had no funds on hand at first, and when he became a shareholder a year later, I had already made a lot of money, so naturally I would not let him take more shares. Now that he has seen through this wishful thinking, he naturally can't take the bait easily. "So if you can get rid of the restriction on investment staking after one year, I think I can accept your offer. *

"Either you promise a 25% foreign stake, or you say a maximum investment cap" I didn't intend to hold the £15,000 investment cap. In this era, if the foreign adults in England want to do something in the Qing Dynasty, there are many adults who are willing to serve, and instead of letting Alfred use non-commercial off-the-counter means, it is better to resolve differences within the commercial scope. "You wouldn't expect to invest £30,000, would you?"

Alfred's eyes lit up, "Why not?" Since you're so confident in the market prospects for the new commodity, why don't we cap £30,000 on your stake? ”

"So," I pondered for a moment, "well, I'm in favor of your proposal. However, you can only act as an agent for products in overseas markets outside the scope of the Daqing Kingdom and the subject countries of the Daqing Dynasty, and 60% of the consignment products must be shipped and paid, and the remaining 40% will be paid within 3 months or a shorter period when the next purchase is made. How is it? ”

"Oh, you're a qualified businessman, I think I can agree with you. But you have to produce no less than 30 sets of samples within 1 month to provide to me, of course I will pay the full amount. Alfred agreed with the butler after a brief exchange of opinions.

"You don't want your partner to be a rookie businessman, do you?" I shrugged and spread my hands. The housekeeper sent champagne with great discernment, and we had a drink together, Miao Sige has no aversion to cooperating with the British, in fact, the merchants of this era are still relatively pure, and most of the inland have not experienced foreign invasion in later generations, and the attitude of merchants towards foreigners can still be regarded as equals.

"To thank you for saving my wife, I still feel like something should be done for you." I have to say that Alfred's German roots make him relatively straightforward, "Otherwise I would have felt guilty when facing God." ”

"You've given me £10,000 in start-up capital, which is already a lot" I was interrupted just after I explained,

"Business is business, I mean thank you personally." Alfred was a bit stubborn.

"I would be grateful if you could use your influence at the British Consulate in the Great Qing Kingdom to send an attaché to cheer us on when we open." I don't think there's anything I need to help with, so let's take advantage of it.

"It's my job, and it's our business together a year later. Our family has a bit of a friendship with the current commercial counselor in China, so why don't I ask him for a favor. ”

"Of course, I will receive the dignitaries from the British side with the most solemn ceremony."

"Also, I'm curious about that medicine box of yours, as your friend, can I have the pleasure of looking at it again" Alfred was very good at picking the time, and I obviously couldn't refuse. "Of course, my friend, this is also a product of my family lab, but unfortunately I can't disclose this product without family authorization."

Leaving their master and servant to marvel at the constant temperature refrigerated medicine box, I took the opportunity to talk to the fourth brother Miao again, and I learned that the Miao family had a lot of dealings with the British when buying equipment, and there was no discrimination against foreign businessmen, and they were even a little complacent about being able to climb the influence of the British.

The book was brief, and the next day we said goodbye to Alfred and returned to Jinan. Miao Hainan naturally went home to brag to his brother about what he had seen in Qingdao, and I also returned to the base, so that I could say that I had signed countless unequal treaties, which made Miss Du Niang reluctantly accept the task of producing 40 sets of samples. In the next few days, choose a place, go through procedures, select people, and engage in training, ah, oh, this doesn't count, because Du Niang is teaching, to be honest, Du Niang just stepped on the podium, and the underground was straight, and the Qing Dynasty had never seen a woman who taught a man. Although Du Niang had no expression, these more than 20 elementary school apprentices were afraid of her. However, seeing that the masters in Shanghai are all serving the female gentlemen, they naturally respect it more, the master-apprentice relationship in this era is a big deal, and not respecting the master is equivalent to unfilial piety, and killing is considered a crime deserved. Now I am busy with my feet not touching the ground, and I live a tense life in the Qing Dynasty. Finally, under my persuasion, Miao Xingcun agreed to buy a piece of land along the Xiaoqing River near the Miao family's flour factory, and a simple wharf was also provided. However, the access to water and access has kept me busy again. Finally, on the 17th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, my first factory "Shandong Standard Machinery Manufacturing Factory" was put into operation.

By the way, the 30,000 pounds I brought back were not all invested in the factory, and Miao Xing Village agreed on two 46 shares of 46 Kai, I accounted for the large shares, it is estimated that Miao Xing Village's investment in flour occupied a lot of money, so he contributed 16,000 taels, I contributed 24,000 taels, and made up 40,000 taels of shares. The rest is the installation and commissioning of the machine, I don't understand these things, fortunately, the equipment manufacturers in this era are package installation and commissioning, and the importer of the Italian machine that Miao Boss bought in Shanghai is also responsible for teaching 3 maintenance workers, so that we can save a lot of things.

Now the factory has its own thermal power generating units, medium temperature and medium voltage 2000kw installed capacity, in the future generations of self-provided power plants is a small point, but in Jinan is almost enough to open an industrial park, this set of equipment is my own investment, cost me nearly 30,000 taels, the pain is tight, fortunately you can sell electricity to make money in the future. The production plant is designed in accordance with the Soviet plant in the fifties of the twentieth century, the red brick wall, the cement column, the roof with the same layout of the washboard, the skylight that opens to the south, the net height of the plant is more than 6 meters, and the two imported cranes are responsible for the lifting of large pieces. In order to save money, there is no electric transmission, so the parts are transferred by manpower through the track, but the design of Du Niang is still very advanced, and the production efficiency is extremely high, the only regret is that the rubber tires must wait for Nanyang's order. The other factory is the sewing machine production line, which is much the same. Two technicians surnamed Liu from Shanghai and two masters from the Germans' Hamburg Qingdao Machine Repair Factory worked together to manage the car and inspect the trains, and below were more than 20 young men and more than 70 laborers who were trained by surprise. Du Niang is now called "Mr. Du" by everyone, carrying a whip to patrol everywhere, with her analytical and computing ability, not to mention these new workers, even German and British technicians are also given in vain, in this kind of purely computational work, the human brain and electronic computers are purely looking for abuse. In addition to the two large factories, there is also our raw material warehouse and finished product warehouse against the west wall, which is next door to the Miao family's workshop, which is very safe. Under the east wall is an empty factory, the location of the equipment inside has flowed out, temporarily used as a machine repair room and garage, in fact, I plan to open a bearing production line in the future, but unfortunately I did not find the right machine and manpower for a while.

Gramophone production was arranged on the first floor of the office building, but the carpentry room was placed separately, otherwise the noise of the chainsaw would have driven the delicate workers crazy. The core of the phonograph is the magnetic head, this part I had to ask for help from the base, fortunately, the self-repair line of the base can meet the needs of the production of the magnetic head, for the time being, there is no need to worry about the magnetic head, the production of other electron tubes, lines have to use the soil method, let the workers assemble a little bit by themselves. The celluloid used in the disk is imported from the United States, and 100,000 copies were ordered at a time, which should be enough for a while. The east side of the second floor is the watch assembly line, the watch parts are brought in large quantities when crossing, and a dozen ingenious girls are hired to assemble them with magnifying glasses, which is much faster than my clumsy self-assembly, and the watch case and bracelet are designed by Du Niang Citizen, Tissot and other classic shapes, handed over to the machining workers to produce.

Quietly enter the village, don't shoot guns. I persuaded the Miao family not to hold a groundbreaking ceremony with great fanfare, which saved a lot of things. After a round of inspection, I sat in the office on the west side of the second floor, listening to the crackling abacus of the accountant Wu next door, and finally sat down to taste tea, moisten my dry throat after the morning meeting, and enjoy the treatment of being a big capitalist by the way. As soon as I picked up the tea bowl, Wei Keren, the head of the nursing home I hired from Shunyi Dart Bank, pushed the door and broke in, "Boss, it's not good, our factory is smashed." ”

"Ah,, will the black astringent!"