On the outskirts of Zhaoqing, in the courtyard of the Chen family, several men from the Chen family were sitting together. The one sitting at the top was an old man with an aging look, while below there were two middle-aged men and three young people.
One of the young people said anxiously: "Dad, our rice sales have been so good recently. It is time to strike while the iron is hot to continue to expand the scale of the factory and seize the market as much as possible. My son has heard that the one in the east of the city is
Several grain dealers have also purchased machinery from the machinery branch. I am afraid that it won't be long before their machine-made rice milling equipment enters the market. By then, it will be too late!"
A middle-aged man in his forties above said: "Why are you panic? We can see this rice milling business, and outsiders can also see it, but our Chen family has been ahead for more than half a year, and they want to catch up.
It’s far away!”
At this time, another slightly older middle-aged man said: "Having said that, you still have to be cautious. I heard that someone came to the rice mill recently to dig. Maybe it's those grain merchants who are causing trouble!"
Immediately, the slightly younger middle-aged person said: "What the elder brother is saying is that the people who come to our rice mill to poach people here, except for those grain merchants, can still have water, but the ones they poach are ordinary workers, so they are not in the way."
, As for those technical backbones, they are all descendants of our Chen family, they can’t poach them away!”
"But even if they are short of manpower and can't open it for a while, we still have to increase the scale of the rice mill as soon as possible. Not only do we have to increase the scale, but I'm also planning to open another rice mill in Guangzhou!
"
"But it is difficult to raise funds. The investment to open a rice mill is not small. Now our money is all on goods. If we have to divert money to build a new factory, I am afraid it will affect the operation of the rice mill!"
During the discussion, Mr. Chen, who was sitting at the top, opened his eyes and said: "Money is not a problem. If we sell those shops as soon as possible and sell half of the land, we will only have enough money to open a new factory."
Oh! In addition, there are still not enough engineers now, so we will select ten smart children from the branch and send them to the Ministry of Industry College to study!"
After saying that, he stood up with his crutches and said: "Now that our Chen family has started the rice mill business, there is absolutely no reason to give up!"
Immediately these children and grandchildren nodded in agreement!
After sending everyone out, Mr. Chen remembered again last year, when he went to an old friend's house in the city to talk, and learned that the third son of his old friend's family was working in the Zhaoqing Arsenal. He couldn't help but be interested and asked a few more questions. He happened to hear
My old friend Sanzi said that their machinery branch has developed a machine that uses water power to crush rice. This kind of rice is directly crushed by hydraulic machinery. It is not only low in cost, but also the rice that is crushed has full grains and is of high quality.
, the sales look quite good.
The mechanical equipment for hydraulic rice rolling produced by the Machinery Branch of the Zhaoqing Ordnance Factory was actually prepared for the official rice milling plant of the Ministry of Industry. The rice milling plant of the Ministry of Industry was mainly used to supply finished rice to the military and also to the government.
Other in-house establishments supply rice.
But although Mrs. Chen is old, his shrewd eyes can see the huge business opportunities at a glance!
Although this method of rice rolling requires a relatively large investment at the beginning, the unit cost of production is much lower than that of traditional manual rice rolling. Moreover, the rice produced is of high quality. More importantly, it can be mass-produced and used.
It's a waste of money to use it as military rations!
The rice is still the same rice, but after such a price, the price has at least doubled!
Therefore, Mrs. Chen quickly collected funds and through the relationship between his three sons, he purchased such a set of machinery from the Machinery Branch of Zhaoqing Arsenal, preparing to specifically crush this kind of rice for sale.
The Machinery Branch Factory originally produced these instruments. Although most of the time they provide machinery for other projects within the Ministry of Industry, for private orders, as long as they are used for civilian needs and are not used to manufacture ordnance equipment, they
They are also for sale. After all, although the Machinery Branch Factory is under the name of Zhaoqing Arsenal, it is also responsible for its own profits and losses!
After purchasing the equipment, the Chen family also arranged for the family's children to go to the Ministry of Industry Academy sponsored by the Ministry of Industry to learn technology. After all, although this mechanical equipment is very primitive, it is still mechanical equipment, and those who are not professional mechanics cannot use it.
Soon, the Chen family’s rice mill was opened and began producing mechanically rolled rice!
Naturally, this kind of rice is not for the general public, but is sold exclusively to the middle class and upper class. Once it was launched, it quickly opened up the market because of its low price and high quality!
In less than a month, the old man of the Chen family, who saw the huge future prospects, began to raise a large amount of funds, almost all the cash at home, and purchased several sets of rice milling machinery.
Now, I dare not say that I am making a lot of money every day, but my income in one year is comparable to their income in the past ten years!
Ten times the previous income, this is why the Chen family devoted themselves to industry and commerce!
Now, facing the upcoming competition, the head of the Chen family gritted his teeth and directly sold off other properties in the family. In order to raise funds, he even sold most of the land, and then used the funds to expand the scale of the rice mill.
We are even planning to open a branch factory in Guangzhou!
When the Chen family began to raise funds to expand production and invest in the construction of the Guangzhou branch, several grain merchants in the east of Zhaoqing also had their own plans. The rice rolled by machinery was of higher quality than the rice produced by hand in small workshops in the past.
It’s so good and the cost is so low that they can’t help but be tempted!
Even they are richer than the Chen family. These grain merchants have already placed orders for purchasing machinery from the machinery branch, and the largest among them has ordered dozens of sets of machinery for rice crushing.
equipment.
You know, although the machinery these days is primitive, the machinery and equipment that can be used to process grain on a very large scale cannot be much cheaper no matter how cheap it is.
Because although the production cost of the machinery branch is not high, the technology is priceless, and the research and development of technology also costs money. In the past, it was sold internally by the Ministry of Industry, and the price was not high, but if you buy it from outside, the price is very expensive.
And it’s the only one in the world, whether you like it or not.
Therefore, the prices of these machinery and equipment are quite high.
Moreover, the subsequent maintenance costs are not low. The funds required for large-scale mechanical production are actually not low!
However, we cannot afford machinery and equipment, and we cannot build large-scale factories, but we can build small-scale workshops and still make money.
Small workshops with dozens of people or even just a few people have sprung up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain under the rule of the Tang Dynasty. Although they only produce by hand, they are still profitable.
Those workshops that have made money will naturally want to expand their scale, purchase machinery, and eventually upgrade to large-scale factories!
Therefore, when it comes to the development of industry and commerce, Li Xuan actually does not need to teach him step by step. As long as supportive policies are put in place, with this big environment, countless smart people will naturally figure out the methods and then join in it.
and make huge profits.
The Chen family is just one of them!
In fact, in the Tang Dynasty, it was the Ministry of Industry and the factories under the royal family that were at the forefront of the trend of the times!
Needless to say, the factories of the Ministry of Industry are all large-scale factories, mainly engaged in heavy industry, mainly manufacturing guns, ships, and machinery and equipment. There are also some light industries, such as the textile industry, and these products basically have the highest contemporary technology content.
flagship product!
The factories under the royal family are composed of two parts. One part is the royal assets directly under the management of the Imperial Obstetrics Department of the Hanlin Academy, and the other part is some factories privately run by Empress Dowager Bai and the concubines of the harem. Of course
, these factories run privately by the harem are all large-scale, and their main purpose is to make money.
However, in addition to making money, the Royal Factory managed by the Royal Obstetrics Department also has a more important task, which is to assume part of the responsibility for guiding the development of domestic industry and commerce.
For example, the Royal Bank, which was recently established in the Royal Obstetrics Department, is of great significance!
Li Xuan had long wanted to set up a bank to inject financial vitality into the industrial and commercial development of Datang. However, he had always lacked the conditions, so it was in the preparatory stage for a long time. However, after a year-long preparation, it was finally established in September.
It was officially established and open to the public in March.
The business of the Royal Bank was actually a by-product of the financial reform of the Tang Dynasty!
Because at the end of September, the Tang Dynasty officially promulgated the "Datang Money Law", several of which were of great influence. The most important one was that from now on, private coinage was prohibited, and the rights to coin and issue currency were directly vested in the tax department.
Private individuals are not allowed to get involved in the newly established Financial Department, and private coinage will be punished as treason!
Of course, in order to prevent all money shops in the world from closing down overnight, the Tang Dynasty also made a small opening, which was to allow each money shop to exchange copper coins with the Finance Department, and then use these copper coins to continue its own exchange business.
There are mandatory regulations that if a money shop wants to engage in various businesses such as soliciting exchanges, deposits, and lending, it must obtain a bank business license, and this license is not so easy to obtain, especially for deposit guarantees.
Because money laws stipulate that in order to ensure the safety of depositors, 30% of the deposits collected by the bank must be turned over as reserves to prevent runs!
Once these articles were issued, they had a great impact on the existing money industry. Many money shops even stopped their exchange business by suspending operations, causing the price of copper coins to rise in various places.
At this time, the role of the Royal Bank was reflected. The Royal Bank's business offices in various counties opened their doors for business as soon as possible, and then took over the money shops to support the various financial businesses of the Tang Dynasty!
There are reasons why the reform of the financial industry was only announced in August.
Because before the reform of the financial industry, various preparations need to be made, at least the official copper coins must be prepared in advance. You have banned the private manufacture of copper coins, but the official copper coins must be supplied, and then money shops will stop exchanging, lending, etc.
In terms of business, the Royal Bank must take over, otherwise it will cause social unrest!
That’s why Li Xuan will wait until the Royal Bank is ready before carrying out financial reforms!