The next day, Qin Kai also had nothing to do for the time being, under the introduction of He Yong, he decided to visit the most famous foreign goods distribution center in Guangzhou - the Thirteen Lines, hearing this name, he had some illusions, whether the Thirteen Aunts of Dare to Love were transformed from these Thirteen Lines, he recorded this idea with bad taste, and perhaps left it for future research.

Since the Opium War, it has long ceased to be a monopolistic market, but is home to local merchants from Guangzhou, foreign merchants from Western countries, and Fujian merchants, as well as two less merchants from other provinces.

The He family is a new household with a background of Fujian merchants in Guangzhou, but fortunately, the He family used to do the down-line business of Guangzhou Fujian businessmen, but there are some ways, but the soap business that the He family is doing now is very hot in Guangzhou, but the source of this product is kept secret, and the shipping channels are mostly through the channels of these Fujian merchants.

So in just one month, the He family also has a lot of fame among the Fujian merchants in Guangzhou, today I heard that Qin Kai is interested in understanding the commerce and trade of Guangzhou, He Yong naturally introduced him to the thirteen lines, they He family does not have any people who are familiar with the affairs of the Yi merchants here, so they specially went to the Wu family, the best Fujian businessman, to find their own shopkeeper who is familiar with this foreign affairs.

Today, Qin Kai specially changed into a set of civilian clothes, but the feeling he wore this horse coat was always two words - awkward, and the shopkeeper Wu was also very surprised to see him, after all, today He Jiaxing invited himself to come, but he didn't expect to accompany such a young man, but he was old and sophisticated, but he was calm and calm.

The full name of the Wu shopkeeper is Wu Jingui, he is a middle-aged man in his forties, not tall, with dark skin, but the standard Fujian appearance, the Wu family's industry in Fuzhou is much larger than the He family, but the two have many business and relationship origins, and the Wu shopkeeper and He Yong are also old acquaintances, so they will find him today.

A few people walked around the street before and after the Thirteen Lines, and it was also a loss that the shopkeeper Wu was quite familiar with the merchants here in the Thirteen Lines, and pointed to the merchants along the way, which was the shop of the Li family, the head of the Guangzhou Merchant Gang, which was the foreign shop of the Mi Lijian merchant Smith, and the opposite side was the Hui merchant Qi family......

Turning two intersections, there was a shop in a Chinese-style building in front of him, and the shopkeeper Wu lehe came up again, "Lord Qin, this is our Wu family's shop, do you want to go in and sit!" ”

"That's just talking about shopkeeper Wu," Qin Kai just smiled and listened all the way, but he didn't ask anything, but he had a good impression of this shopkeeper Wu, and He Yong also explained the relationship between the two families in private, and some questions could be learned from him.

This Wu family is still a traditional Chinese specialty, which mainly benefits from obtaining foreign goods from foreign banks at low prices, and then trafficking them to the mainland and wholesale to the next layer of merchants, following the Wu shopkeeper around the store, Qin Kai suddenly asked: "Wu shopkeeper, have you ever thought about producing foreign goods?" ”

As soon as these words came out, He Yong, who followed him, was even more surprised, he inevitably beat a drum in his heart, their He family's soap business now is definitely under the brand of foreign goods, and this routine is Qin Kai's guidance, in Hong Kong wharf by the He family came forward to open a leather bag company, all the goods came out of there, with the tracking technology of this era, it is absolutely impossible to see through this strategy of export to domestic sales commonly used in later generations.

Shopkeeper Wu looked very calm, but in his heart he thought that Qin Kai didn't understand the rules of this foreign goods at all, and the businessmen of this era didn't think about copying them themselves, but what these people couldn't imagine was that if the Western goods were produced locally, first of all, it would not work at all technically.

The second is that even if the machine is imported from the Westerners, it is a pity that the raw materials that can be obtained in China are not qualified at all, if you buy raw materials from foreign businessmen, remove the loss of labor and machine, the general cost can be more than half of the direct purchase of finished products. In this case, if someone still proposes to produce, it is basically a brain burn out.

After listening to Wu's explanation, Qin Kai was also a little funny, indeed, with the national education of this era, it was impossible to cultivate real scientists, and the pioneers who opened their eyes to the world were basically self-taught, and even the birthplace of the Westernization Movement, the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, could not get rid of this strange circle. ,

It is a great irony that the Shanghai Rifle Bureau has purchased advanced German equipment, has a certain production capacity, and has more than ten years of practical training of industrial workers, but so far, it can only produce old-fashioned breech Mausers, and the cost of each Mauser is twice that of the original German Mauser.

After listening to the words of the shopkeeper Wu, Qin Kai was also quite touched, but if he went step by step and realized the goal of saving the country through industry, he must lay the foundation of the industrial workers as soon as possible, and this qiē must have the active participation of these businessmen, and the best objects of cooperation are these foreign businessmen who are called two devils by the people and officials of this era.

He quietly listened to Shopkeeper Wu's statement, smiled slightly, and asked, "Shopkeeper Wu, I don't know what businesses you think are the most profitable in foreign goods now?" ”

"Western hardware and metal raw materials, foreign oil, foreign cloth, and big tobacco, especially foreign cloth and big tobacco have the heaviest share," Wu shopkeeper did not hide it at all, which is basically consistent with the history that Qin Kai is familiar with. The industrialization of the West has caused the cost of products to plummet, and the Far East, with its huge empire and population of 40,000,000, is undoubtedly the best dumping place for products.

Seeing Qin Kai pondering, Shopkeeper Wu immediately followed, "Of course, although this big smoke is profitable, we Fujian merchants will never touch it, this is a life-destroying thing, those Western businessmen don't have such scruples, these years, the thirteen lines have bankrupt trading houses every day, and the business here is not easy to do!" ”

"Shopkeeper Wu, if the foreign cloth can be produced by itself, how many merchants in these thirteen lines do you say will be interested?" Qin Kai finally threw out his bait.

"Homegrown fabric?" Shopkeeper Wu suddenly smiled, he picked up the West Lake Longjing on the table and took a shallow sip, thought about it, and said: "Lord Qin, I guess you don't know much about the trade of Western cloth, I heard that there are government-run weaving bureaus in Shanghai and Shandong, and they also use foreigners' machines. ”

He Yong was in a hurry and couldn't interject at this time, he knew the meaning of Qin Kai's words better than the shopkeeper Wu, the shopkeeper Wu would be suspicious of this kind of good thing sent to the door, and their He family really got the huge benefits in it, now that Qin Kai mentioned the idea of spinning foreign cloth, He Yong naturally concluded that Qin Kai must have come prepared.

This foreign cloth import trade, Fuzhou Mawei Port is a purchase of one million horses every year, Guangzhou Port is even more amazing, each cloth wholesale profit has ten taels of silver, if you produce your own sales, the price difference is ...... Thinking of this, He Yong finally couldn't hold back and asked, "Lord Qin, ...... this foreign cloth business?"

Qin Kai waved his hand to interrupt He Yong's questioning, he naturally understood what He Yong meant, but the He family had other arrangements, but since they also wanted to intervene in this, he naturally didn't care. To put it bluntly, this foreign cloth is an intensive industry in the end, and if local production is realized, relying on the current cheap productivity of the Chinese people, it will definitely be able to obtain good returns.

And the biggest obstacle is this industrial textile machine, and if this standard machine can be produced on a large scale, it can undoubtedly greatly improve the production capacity and maintenance capacity of a factory, and maintaining such a factory can undoubtedly create a large number of industrial workers, which is the real purpose of his desire to get involved in the textile industry.

"Uncle He, this industry is too big, of course you can do it if you want to, but it is impossible to eat such a large production capacity with just a few families, how much foreign cloth is transported by sea every year? How much foreign cloth can these 40,000 people in China consume? It's a big industry! ”

Qin Kai confidently depicted the super pie of the textile industry, the textile industry in the era of industrial enlightenment, is definitely the first-class industry, think about the countless textile factories and female workers in the country, you know how many people this industry can support, how much demand. Of course, he has absolutely no intention of interfering in this specific matter, and he should let the professionals do it, so he knows this very well.

When He Yong heard this, he was also stunned, so he had to turn his head to look at the shopkeeper Wu, "Old Wu, our two families are world friends, and what Lord Qin said will definitely be able to do, don't you think about this industry?" ”

"This machine is a big problem, huh?" Shopkeeper Wu obviously couldn't trust the young official opposite.

Qin Kai smiled slightly, he came here today, just to promote the textile industry first, now this is still a conceptual thing, he wants a factory without a factory, and he wants to have no manpower, but this does not prevent him from forming a group first, and the sedan chair is carried by everyone, and it is easy to do things if they want to do it, and no one can help them. ,

"Uncle He, shopkeeper Wu, I don't dare to say that this textile factory can make a lot of money, but this is a big market, food, clothing, housing and transportation, the first one is this foreign cloth, what is the value of the raw materials of this cloth? How much is a piece of white cloth worth? What about a piece of cloth? I am now preparing to set up a factory and recruiting manpower, this factory is done, and the machine I produce here is definitely better than the foreign machine! ”

Shopkeeper Wu saw Qin Kai talking eloquently and confidently, and he also saw He Yong's expression on the side, but he was also a little stunned, and he hurriedly interjected, "Lord Qin, do you still build a machine?" I don't know how long it will take? ”

He Yong next to him had already interjected, "Old Wu, you don't know, Lord Qin is a figure that both Zuo Dashuai and Li Zhongtang like, and he has just been promoted to the actual position of Fuzhou Political Secretary Yun Ju. Lord Qin, this machine qì Our He family has to book ten units first! ”

Shopkeeper Wu listened to it with a confused face, there is no shadow of this machine, how can the second child of the He family be the same as the evil spirit, he insisted on booking ten units first, he hurriedly arched his hand towards Qin Kai, pulled He Yong, and the two of them went to the side to mutter. He Yong naturally would not sell his secret industry, but when he said it, Shopkeeper Wu's face was shocked, and he was obviously moved.

After the two of them muttered and sat down again, the shopkeeper Wu felt like a cat's paw scratching in his heart, but he didn't know how to speak, after all, even if it was a reservation machine, it would take real money to pay.

Qin Kai saw that the heat was almost over, but thanks to this He Yong singing a high note for himself, he smiled slightly, "Uncle He, Shopkeeper Wu, this booking is not busy, I still have important things to discuss with you, I can't help you?" ”

"No problem, Lord Qin, you say!"

"This textile machine factory to open out, indispensable to know how to manpower, but also to find a way to get the raw materials to Fuzhou, Fuzhou over there iron is not reliable temporarily, can only be from the sea to get, before the field is prepared, this thing is more, but I can give you a generous return, the production of the machine, only in the cost plus plus three percent to your He family, Wu family franchise!"

"Lord Qin, let the two of us operate this machine exclusively?" He Yong and Shopkeeper Wu were already dizzy by the pie that fell from the world, and groaned and asked this question.

"Of course!"

After a little consideration, Shopkeeper Wu slapped the table and said, "Lord Qin, you say, you point to the north, our Wu family will definitely not face south!" I've made up my mind about this, so I'm going to invite my eldest brother to come, and we'll discuss this clause! ”

There is an unspoken rule in the thirteen lines, foreign businessmen never hand over the business of buying and selling machines to Chinese businessmen, selling foreign machines, this is definitely the most lucrative business, this thing has no reference standard at all, a bunch of iron lumps, said to be worth 100,000 is 100,000, there is no negotiation, how can the shopkeeper Wu not understand the trick.

On the street outside the shop, pedestrians came and went, beautiful girls and children of rich families wandered around the foreign houses and shops, and their eyes were focused on which Western objects and beautiful foreign cloths, and they did not know that the changes in the world actually began with this small foreign cloth.

A non-governmental organization called the "China Textile Association" was born in the Wu family shop west of the Thirteen Lines, although at this moment, the future two giants of the textile association did not know what they could do, but it didn't matter, Qin Kai was holding a book and reading the content of the agreement.

"The China Textile Association has set up 5 executive directors, and non-respected people are not allowed to serve, and any executive director has the right to veto proposals that may be harmful to the association...... "This is Qin Kai's bad taste, as for the source, everyone knows about the drop, and soon he will be assigned to the He family and the Wu family for specific preparatory affairs.

"The British Huangpu Shipyard and Huangpu Machinery Factory, please Uncle He, you send someone to inquire, the workers there, if they are interested in going to Fuzhou, they will get a salary increase of 30%, and if they are capable, the salary can be negotiated by me, and there is no cap, we don't have to worry about money!" Hearing this, He Yong's heart was shocked, this Lord Qin has some rights and interests in his own business, but although the soap business is good, it is not far from the point of not worrying about money.

"I also need a lot of cast iron and hard steel, but it's a pity that the steel-making open-hearth furnace in Mawei Shipyard is not good.

"There is an iron mine in Luoyuan, but the output of the local method of frying steel is not large, I will assign people to settle this matter, where to take the Lianjiang waterway to Fuzhou Mansion only three days, there is still a shortage, we hire a sea ship from Guangzhou."

"Very good, today is the seventh day of the first month of April, the two of them stepped up, this is put into production one day earlier, the brand of the China Textile Association will appreciate one point earlier," Qin Kai was surrounded by several important figures of the Wu family, and he finally planted the first seed today, he believes that soon the power of the seed will pry open the sinking scabies on this hard land.

);