"As you all know, the South Railway Flour Mill invested and built by our company has been officially put into operation." Mo Ming stood up and walked around the restaurant with decent lighting, only to hear him say in a low voice: "The area attached to the Southern Railway is small, and the land is barren, and the agricultural conditions are not very good, so the output of grain is quite limited. Before we imported Peruvian grain, we had to import more than 3,000 tons of flour from the port of Locha every year in order to ensure the daily needs of local residents and migrant laborers, and for this alone, the Southern Railway subsidiary area had to outflow more than 150,000 yuan a year, which could have been saved. ”

"Nantie Caochuang, everything has to start from scratch, so there were some omissions before, which is understandable." Mo Ming continued: "But now that the construction of railways, highways and wharves is on the right track, it is time to engage in economic construction. Otherwise, I'm afraid that all of you here will forget that our Southern Railway is not just a railway company, but a large colonial trading enterprise with railway dependencies and their administrative powers. Therefore, making use of the limited local resources to seek the greatest benefits for the company is the goal that we will always pursue. And that first step is to build our own industry, well, starting with the flour processing industry. ”

In fact, the amount of flour consumed annually by the 284,000 people on the East Coast (the latest figures as of the end of July 1651, excluding stateless laborers and those in the Southern Railway Dependencies) is absolutely astronomical. According to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce's calculations, if you add the daily consumption of slaves and migrant laborers. The total gross profit of this industry should be about 1.2 million to 1.3 million yuan, and it is basically divided up by more than 100 large and small flour grinding workshops in China.

Of course, with the increasing competition. The profit margins of the flour industry are also gradually declining, but this is a slow long-term process, which is nothing compared to the growing market share, and still attracts the attention of many investors, including the Southern Railway Company, after all, the business of daily necessities. Always the most concerned by investors.

Although the Southern Railway Company expected to lose money significantly in 1651 - mainly due to resettlement costs and new investment projects - there was a steady stream of investors who were optimistic about the company's prospects. One of the most famous investors is the deep-pocketed East Coast Company, which already has the prototype of a consortium and has increased its capital and shares twice in a row. It has now increased its stake to 7.5%, making it the second largest shareholder after the East Coast government.

The move of the East Coast Company has undoubtedly brought sufficient confidence to many small and medium-sized investors in China, so the bonds and equities of the Southern Railway Company are very good in the Qingdao financial trading market. In particular, those five-, seven-, and ten-year commercial bonds are sold out in a short period of time as soon as they are put on sale, and the yields have repeatedly hit new lows.

Such a hot financing environment has naturally brought sufficient cash to the company, so the company has now begun to launch a number of projects at the same time, one of which is a fishing project in southern Chile - such as whaling, fishing and salmon farming in the Montessori port area; The second is the whaling and sea animal skinning business in the southern part of Tierra del Fuego, which also includes the pickling of deep-processed meat products and the refining of oils; The third is the deep processing of various primary products imported from Peru, mainly agricultural products.

"The flour processing industry is the project with the most potential for development in the short term in agricultural products, and it is also a very mature industry in China. We're in the industry. It is well thought out and well researched beforehand. Mo Ming habitually lit a pipe for herself, and then sandwiched it between the index and middle fingers of her right hand. "Peruvian wheat, according to our long-term observations, is generally about 10 to 20 percent lower than the price in Peru. In the past, even with import tariffs and freight factors, some workshops or individuals in the annex of the Southern Railway still have a strong urge to import Peruvian wheat, which is already very revealing. Now our company has eliminated the import duties on Peruvian agricultural products, coupled with the low-cost operation of large industrial production lines. Even if it is exported back to China, it is still quite competitive. ”

Mo Ming said this. In fact, it's not about discussing anything with anyone, but just explaining it to the people below. At that time, the Nantie Flour Mill had been put into operation, and the production line of the mill was copied from the wheat milling line of Dafeng Food Company, which has the highest production efficiency in China, so the production cost was extremely low. After all, in an industry like wheat milling, the larger the production scale, the lower the overall cost in all aspects.

The production line of the Southern Railway Flour Mill in the port of Araukan has an annual processing capacity of 10,000 tons of wheat and produces about 6,000 tons of flour, which alone has almost met more than half of the consumption of the Southern Railway affiliated areas. Now the plant is on a second identical steam milling line and is preparing to expand its annual production capacity to 12,000 tons, which can basically meet local consumption plus part of the surplus. This surplus capacity can naturally be sold, and at the moment, it may not be very suitable for the country (facing complex and fierce competition and possible policy risks), but Peru is definitely a very good choice.

In particular, the mill qì, which has been continuously improved by the East Coast people over the years, has been able to remove most of the bran, endosperm and embryo scales in the wheat, and the flour produced is white and fine, which is deeply loved by the local peninsulars, Creoles (native whites), Mestizos (mixed white Indians), Mulato (mixed and white) and Indian chiefs and other groups with spending power, the price is not low, and the profit margin is extremely high.

The Spaniards were limited by technical constraints, and their wind- or water-powered mills produced coarse and dark flour that could only be used to make zuò black bread. Among the decent people, there is obviously not much market for black bread, and they still prefer soft white bread, not to mention the high-quality refined bread needed for religious ceremonies and aristocratic banquets.

The people of the East Coast are really amazing, the flour they grind is frighteningly white, and the touch is also very delicate, looking like high-end goods. Moreover, this high-grade flour, known as "Nantie Flour", is more "strong" than the so-called refined flour of the Old World, that is, the flour made from this flour is more viscous and can absorb more water, which often means that more bread can be made from the same flour. Moreover, this flour has a more prominent feature, that is, it is not easy to spoil and malt, and it can be stored for a longer time than Old World flour (it contains less wheat oil and amylase).

Good looking, more useful, easy to store, so many advantages are here, and at the same price, if you can't compete with the so-called "refined flour" in Peru and even in the Old Continent, then there is a problem inside. The smuggling trade between the East Coasters and Peru was now becoming more and more popular, and it was certainly an excellent business to import Peruvian grain into flour and then sell it back to Peru - while also trying to compete with the East Coast mainland. Of course, the people of the East Coast also know the rules, and will pull those grain plantation owners and Spanish merchant compradors to make a fortune together, after all, the profits in a large market of millions of people can be frightening.

In addition to these two milling lines, Nantie Flour Mill is also cooperating with the state-owned Dafeng Food Company to jointly develop a set of wind-powered milling production lines (the technical patents are shared by the two companies). In many places attached to the Southern Railway, the cold west wind blows all year round, and the wind speed is fast, which contains abundant resources. Wouldn't it be a pity if you didn't put it to good use?

Before the two prosperous cities of Araukan Port and Xingnan Port, there have been a few brick and stone wind mills and wind sawmills, which are built by private investment or multiple people, and the production efficiency is quite good, and there is no additional cost (at least six or seven cents a ton of coal is saved), which is very popular with everyone. Now the production line that the South Railway Flour Mill intends to install is also the idea of using wind resources. It's just that this project requires a lot of investment in fixed facilities, and the initial research and development cost is not low, so it is still unknown when it will be launched, but since the top has made up its mind to do this, it is estimated that it will not be delayed for a long time.

"In the future, when the population of the Southern Railway Dependency is larger, we will have to import other things from the Spaniards for reprocessing, such as cocoa, coffee, tobacco, cane sugar, etc., which are all businesses that can be involved." Mo Ming looked at everyone's slightly expectant faces, and said with a smile: "Peru will be our big treasure house in the future, and it will be the source of nutrition to nourish our Southern Railway." If the Southern Railway wants to develop, Peru is the lifeline, and you must have a deep and sober understanding of this. ”

Immediately after the luncheon, Mo Ming took his officials to visit the Xiannan Iron Flour Mill non-stop, and then ran to the dock to inspect a number of artisanal workshops for making zuò salted fish - thanks to the blessing of the King of Spain, Peruvians now sit on top of the world's three largest fishing grounds but still have to import seafood to the east coast, this artificially distorted economic strange phenomenon is also strange enough.

After inspecting these salted fish processing workshops, Mo Ming plans to take a boat to visit Montessori Harbor, Blue Whale Harbor and Qingfeng Harbor in the Jons Islands to understand the actual situation in the local area. Finally, he planned to visit the beech fort in the Strait of Magellan, and the hill fort (meaning a fortress hidden behind the mountains) that was being built on the site of the former Argentine city of Ushuaia - a new settlement in the future with sea animal hunting, oil refining, and leather making as the main pillar industries - in short, all these foundations related to the future of the Southern Railway. (To be continued)