The commissioning of five assembly lines has brought the monthly output of the auto plant to more than 10,000, which is equivalent to the annual output of Ford and 4 to 50% of the more than 60,000 auto workers in the United States.

This is unimaginable for anyone, not to mention that China is still an industrially backward country at this time.

After selling some cars to Japan, Japan's fledgling automobile industry also fell into trouble—————— Japanese people at this time were very patriotic, but no matter how patriotic they were, it was impossible not to buy things for more than 1,000 yen, but to buy more than 5,000 yen, even if they had money, there was no such toss.

Soon some Japanese car factories had a backlog of products, replaced by 'raindrops' produced from Wuhu.

Some 'far-sighted' people in Japan naturally gritted their teeth in response to this situation, but there was nothing they could do, after all, no matter how capable they were, they would not be able to reduce the cost of their own cars by two or three thousand yen, so they tried to use their influence to hand over this matter to the government.

"Is it possible to raise tariffs on cars?" Bowing his head and groaning for a moment, Oura Kanetake asked softly.

As Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, there has been a lot of pressure on Oura Kanetake in recent times.

Those automobile companies were suppressed so badly, and it was natural to find him, the minister in charge of industry and commerce. For the chaebols behind those automobile companies, Oura Kanwu did not dare to offend at all, not to mention that the domestic industry was suppressed by the Chinese, which also made Oura very uncomfortable. So at this cabinet meeting, Oura Kanetake took the initiative to bring it up.

Hearing Kanetake Oura say this, several other ministers looked at Katsura Taro himself.

This is because Katsura Taro is not only the prime minister of the cabinet, but also the minister of Osashira Province. The person in charge of finance has the most say on this matter.

Noticing everyone's gaze, Katsura Taro shook his head slightly.

"It's okay to raise tariffs, but the question is how much?" As he spoke, Katsura Taro looked at the crowd at the banquet. "I've checked the information, and the cars sold by the Chinese are only sold for 750 US dollars, which is 1,500 yen, while the cars in China are sold for more than 5,000 yen. This is still the cheapest kind, and if we want our cars to be as competitive as other countries, we need to increase the tariff to 300%. China has just withdrawn its full autonomy in tariffs this year, and if it is raised so much at once, what will the British and American powers think? ”

"Moreover, it is not only China that exports cars to our country today, if it is done to all countries. I am afraid that the pressure on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will not be small. If it's just China, it's too targeted, and..."Speaking of this, Katsura Taro said with a serious expression. "At the moment, my main concern is not how to protect the interests of our businessmen, but for what Chinese cars can be built so cheaply and so quickly? I've already checked the information, and the U.S. side only has more than 200,000 cars a year, while the Chinese factory alone can build more than 100,000 cars, and the entire factory only has more than 6,000 people. That's only one-tenth the size of an American, and what I'm curious about now is the secret..."

Speaking of which. Katsura Taro looked at Kanetake Oura, after all, he was the minister of agriculture and commerce, and he should be the one who had the most say in this matter.

However, noticing Katsura Taro's eyes, Oura Kanetake just lowered his head in shame.

Obviously, in this matter, he does not know more than others.

"So, Your Excellency, what do you think should be done now?" Frowning slightly, Minister of Internal Affairs Tosuke Hirata asked softly.

After a slight pause, Katsura Taro looked up to everyone present. "I think the most important thing at the moment is to send someone to Anhui to find out the secrets of Chinese...... With China's weak industrial base and the achievements it has achieved today, is China's industrial capacity still inferior to China's? As long as we grasp this secret, our country can become the world's largest automobile producer, and then these difficulties will not be worth mentioning..."

"Your Excellency is wise..."Hearing Katsura Taro's words, Hirata Tosuke and the others bowed their heads and said in unison.

They don't care what they think, at least on the surface, they still show their respect for Katsura Taro.

At the same time, Katsura Taro continued to think about what happened in Anhui, and after learning a little more about the automobile industry, he felt that what happened in Anhui was a little strange.

The low price is easy to understand, $750, which is $100 cheaper than the cheapest Model T in the past. If this is in the United States, I am afraid it will be difficult to achieve, but if it is China, out of understanding China, Katsura Taro thinks that he has found the answer, which is low labor costs.

At present, the per capita wage in China is only 1 to 1 jiao and 5 cents, while in the United States it is more than 2 dollars. If we calculate it at 1 jiao, the per capita wage in the United States is more than 40 times that of China, and it is more than 20 times that of 1 jiao and 5 cents.

Such a huge gap, coupled with the fact that those cars are the same as the T-type cars in the United States, are all models with simple structures, and it is a matter of course that the price of the cars will be cheaper, not to mention that Katsura Taro feels that Yan Shao is very likely to take the means of profit and thinness, and reduce the price of the car as much as possible to achieve the purpose of mass sales.

"It's really strange how they managed to make a new car factory produce so much..."

Just like Katsura Taro said just now, this is what he really cares about.

But there is one thing he got wrong, first of all, cars can be sold at low prices, and low labor costs are indeed one of the reasons, but Yan Shao has never lowered the price of cars.

In fact, since the commissioning of another 4 assembly lines, the cost of producing cars has been pushed down to a rather staggering level, $300 ...

That is, each car can currently be manufactured for only $300, including labor costs and other costs. Cars currently sold to Europe, the United States and Japan cost about $750, which means that each car has a profit of $450. This is much higher than the cost of a car, which can be called a windfall profit, and even if you count the tariffs, there is a big profit.

Simple calculations. At present, more than 6,000 workers in five assembly lines can produce more than 12,000 cars a month, so it is 150,000 cars a year.

According to the calculation that one car can earn $450, then 150,000 vehicles are more than $67.5 million. Of course, you also deduct customs duties or something, but even then you can make more than 50 million profits every year.

In a way, this is probably much more profitable than oil.

And now there is still a lot of room for car factories to fall in terms of costs.

For example, new 'raindrop' cars and assembly lines that are currently being optimized. Optimized vehicle structures will be simpler and less costly. In addition, if the structure is simple, the assembly step will be reduced. From the existing more than 9,000 steps to more than 7,000 for the Model T, the number of workers required for an assembly line can also be reduced to 4 or 500, which can also save some wages.

And when the new assembly line is put into use, with the expansion of production capacity. The cost of cars will also fall.

In addition, several factories that specialize in supplying parts to automobile factories are also under construction. Once these plants are completed, they will be able to supply the parts needed for automobiles on their own, without the need to continue importing them from the United States.

At that time, not to mention $300, even if it is $200, or even $100, it is not impossible—————— Ford has historically lowered the price of the Model T to $250...

However, with the expansion of production capacity, there are also many things that make Yan Shao troubled.

————————————————————

"How's the talk going on the Americans?"

In the office building, after taking a sip of juice, Yan Shao said to Yan Yongnian beside him.

Although this person's old-fashioned personality made Yan Shao a little unbearable. But his ability to do things is very strong, so now Yan Shao can be regarded as more or less accepting his existence.

At this time, Yan Yongnian was cleaning up the things on the table. Hearing Yan Shao's words, he hurriedly raised his head and replied. "It's almost over, and now we have ordered 100,000 parts and components for cars from the United States, all of which will arrive in Wuhu before the end of the year, and because of the large amount this time, the Americans have also given some discounts, reducing the total to $30 million."

Although it can't be discounted by three or four percent, it can be regarded as saving Yan Shao more than $2 million.

"$30 million..." This amount is nothing to Yan Shao now, after all, the current car factory alone can earn more than $4 million a month.

And because of the huge profits of the automobile industry, it has also made the newly born automobile factory leap to the cotton textile factory and become the most profitable industry in the group.

After all, at this time, the annual profit of the cotton textile factory was only about 10 million silver dollars, that is, more than 4 million US dollars, and the automobile factory could earn this amount in a month, which had to make people sigh that high-tech products were huge profits—————— at least in this era, the car was indeed called an out-and-out high-tech.

Yan Shao's additional 100,000 copies this time is actually a last resort.

50,000 parts is enough even for a car leader like Ford. After all, Ford only produces more than 10,000 vehicles a year. The problem is that the current output of the car factory can reach more than 10,000 units a month, and 50,000 copies can only last for more than 4 months at most.

In other words, after more than 4 months, the car plant had to suspend operations due to a lack of parts.

If we want to restart, we will have to wait until the supporting plant is operational, and it will be difficult to meet the production capacity of the automobile plant after the plant starts, at least for a short time.

That's why Yan Shaocai had to order another 100,000 parts from the United States, so that at least he could hold on to the factory responsible for supplying the parts and putting them into use.

In the office, just as Yan Shao was tapping his fingers lightly on the desktop, the phone on the desk suddenly rang.

Frowning slightly, after picking up the phone, Yan Shao said softly. "Hello?"

After a while, he nodded and continued. "Alright, let someone send the telegram up." After speaking, Yan Shao hung the microphone again.

At this time, Yan Yongnian, who was standing aside, raised his head and glanced at Yan Shao, and then lowered his head again.

Although stereotypical. But he also knows very well that if the person concerned is unwilling to tell him, it is better not to ask about it.

About a few minutes later. There was a knock at the door, and after getting Yan Shao's permission to 'please come in', a beautiful woman in her 20s walked in from outside. "Boss, your telegram..."

As he spoke, he walked in front of Yan Yongnian and handed him the telegram.

After receiving the telegram, Yan Yongnian glanced at her, and waited until she left the room before handing it over to Yan Shao.

"Boss..."

"Hmm." Tap your head. Yan Shao opened the telegram and read it carefully, and after a while, he shook his head and frowned. "Looks like there's one more trouble?"

Here, Yan Yongnian is still abiding by the code of conduct not to say much, and Yan Shao has begun to explain the content of the telegram.

"The telegram was sent by Huang Hao. Say he's found something wrong..."

"What's the problem?" Yan Yongnian said very interestingly.

There are some things that you better not ask if the person you don't want to talk about. But if the person has a desire to talk, then this is what you have to do. It's about being the best listener. And do a good job of echoing the voice.

Didn't care about this, after putting the telegram on the table, Yan Shao had already continued. "It's about the car factory, the guy said that after checking the information of the car factory, he found a problem, that is, when the factory that specializes in providing parts for the car factory is put into use, it will definitely need to invest a lot of steel, and the current annual production capacity of the iron plant is only more than 80,000 tons. Even if it peaked, it was only about 100,000 tons. ”

"About 100,000 tons doesn't sound like a small amount. If the automobile factory only produces more than 100,000 cars every year, then this number is naturally enough, after all, the car at this time does not have too much weight, but if the annual output of the automobile factory reaches more than 200,000, or even more, then with the production capacity of the iron factory, I am afraid it will be a little dangerous..."

At this time, the car was different from later generations, although the shape was simple, but the weight may not be much lighter. After all, the main structure of the car itself is a variety of alloys, unlike the cars of later generations, which have only a piece of iron left.

Even if the car itself is not entirely made of steel, and more than 200,000 units are out, an iron factory with an annual output of 100,000 tons may not be enough.

And with the expansion of the car plant, it is likely that the annual production will reach one million units.

At that time, if you don't have an iron factory with an annual output of one million tons of crude steel, I am afraid that you will have to take the outsourcing route as in the past.

Listening to Yan Shao's words, Yan Yongnian nodded lightly.

This is a problem, after all, the factories that produce parts are built to be self-sufficient in this matter, but on the other hand, he has already thought of a solution.

"What does Manager Huang mean, do you mean that you hope that the boss can expand the scale of the iron factory?"

"That's pretty much what it means..."Nodding, Yan Shao said softly.

"So, next..."

"You go and make an appointment with the manager of Lihe Foreign Bank for me, and say that I have a big business to talk to him..."

"Okay, I'll go right away..."

Nodding, Yan Yongnian retreated from Yan Shao's office.

————————————————————

After Yan Shao's office opened, Yan Yongnian soon went to the telegraph office and sent a telegram to Lihe Foreign Bank in Shanghai.

Hearing the news that Yan Shao planned to expand the scale of the iron factory, Lihe Foreign Bank was also taken aback. However, they quickly sent Urgat over.

But this time, they don't plan to continue to lose money and make money. After all, they didn't get any benefits last time, and they were ridiculed by other foreign firms—————— of course, on the surface, they didn't get it, but in fact, because of these false names, Lihe & Co. has had many more customers since then, and it has completely become the second largest foreign firm in Shanghai, second only to Britain's Jardine Matheson.

"I don't know how much scale you plan to expand this time, Boss Daoyan?"

Sitting on the sofa, after taking a sip of the black tea brought by the servant, Urgat looked at Yan Shao.

"500,000 yuan..."After thinking about it carefully, Yan Shao said directly. This time, I plan to increase the capacity of the iron plant to 600,000 tons to provide enough steel for my new depot. ”

Ergarte also knows about the car factory, and even some people in their foreign bank have bought two cars, so Ergarte still has an intuitive understanding of how popular this kind of car is sold in China, Japan, Europe and the United States...

"However, if you add 500,000 tons of equipment, even if you look at the old customers for more discounts, I'm afraid it will cost more than 20 million..."

"Money is not a problem, the key is efficiency..."The new assembly line and the optimized cars will be available at the end of the year at the earliest, and at the latest at the beginning of next year, so the expansion of the iron plant's production capacity must be fast.

As for the money, it is really not a problem, not to mention the annual income from the oil field, the more than 110 million pounds earned from the last trip to London alone is enough for Yan Shao to spend a lifetime.

Seeing Yan Shao speak so briskly, a smile also appeared on Ergat's face. "This is easy to do, now the foundation has been laid on the side of the mountain, and the expansion will definitely be faster than when the iron factory was first built, as long as there are no problems in terms of funds, one year should be enough..."

The business of more than 20 million silver dollars is definitely the largest business in Shanghai in recent years. Not to mention how much benefit such a business will bring to the foreign bank if it falls into the hands of Lihe Foreign Bank, the false name in it alone is enough to benefit Lihe Foreign Bank endlessly, so I am afraid that Urgat himself is even more enthusiastic than Yan Shao in this matter. (To be continued......)