Tan Shan found a mason, according to his design, built more than a dozen bungalows outside Hujiazhuang, the house does not pay attention to the layout, is a large and wide, in which the house as a production workshop is connected side by side, two or three hundred meters long, the rest is used as a warehouse and dormitory, next to the dormitory also built a bathhouse. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Now in the summer, the south has sufficient funds, there is money to make the ghost grind, give enough wages, craftsmen work day and night, plus this factory is not as exquisite as the residence, the structure is very simple, the house is built quickly, and it is expected to be completed in one month.

However, the workers' problems have not yet been solved--Xia Nan looked at the hot construction site and was worried.

After Lin Weiye completed the two major technical breakthroughs, he didn't show up, anyway, he couldn't make up his mind about this matter, and Xia Nan didn't even have anyone to discuss.

At this time, Tan Er came again and brought Zhang Mingli, a salt merchant. He waited in the salt field to meet Xia Nan, but he didn't see any movement for many days, so he had to run to Hujiazhuang to find it.

No matter when, customers can never slack off, out of the professional habits developed in the old time and space, Xia Nan still cheered up to receive Zhang Mingli.

Zhang Mingli observed his words and looks, and found that Xia Nan was not very interested in talking, and his own requirements were not easy to speak, so he tried to ask: "Brother Xia, if there is anything difficult, you might as well talk to me about it, and I am willing to consult one or two for my brother." ”

Anyway, there is no idea, it is good for multiple people to have multiple ideas, Xia Nan told Zhang Mingli about opening the factory and recruiting workers.

Zhang Mingli thought for a moment, pondered and said: "I have been in the sea salt business in Qiongzhou for many years, and I have some understanding of the customs and customs of Qiongzhou. ”

Xia Nan thought to herself, I still have to say this, that's why I'm worried.

Zhang Mingli continued: "I do have an idea, but it is quite difficult. ”

Summer Nan was in high spirits, "I want to hear about it." ”

Zhang Mingli sold the guanzi, "As long as Brother Xia promises me one thing, I will say this method." ”

This can be regarded as bargaining, Xia Nan understands that businessmen seek profits, so naturally they will not learn from Lei Feng, and they will not ask for anything in return for doing good deeds.

"Well, as long as Brother Zhang's idea is useful, everything is negotiable."

Recruiting workers is the top priority in front of you, everything is ready, only the workers are owed, everything else can make way for this matter, not to mention that what Zhang Mingli asks for must be related to the salt farm, in Xia Nan's view, compared with the large-scale textile industry, the profit of a small salt farm is insignificant.

"It's easy to say. It is not easy to recruit Han workers, so why not consider the Li people. Since ancient times, Li women are good at weaving, and they don't pay as much attention to the defense of men and women as the Han people, as long as they give enough money, they don't have to worry about not being able to recruit Li women who are good at weaving. Not to mention, near this Lingao County, there are many naturalized Li people, they are not as good as the Han people, the grain harvest is very small, and they need to rely on hunting to make a living. ”

Zhang Mingli's words made Xia Nan feel like an initiation, and suddenly opened his mind.

Historically, Li women are good at weaving, Hainan's Li brocade is one of the famous brocades of China's ethnic minorities, Huang Daopo in the early Yuan Dynasty learned cotton textile technology from Yazhou and brought back to her hometown Songjiang Mansion, Songjiang Mansion has become the country's largest cotton textile center, Songjiang cloth has the reputation of "clothing is the world". Moreover, Li women are not bound by Han etiquette and religion, and are the best choice for textile workers.

Xia Nan stood up and respectfully saluted Zhang Mingli: "Brother Zhang's words woke up the dreamer and solved my big problem." I won't say anything about thanks, but if you have any requests, I will never say anything. ”

Zhang Mingli Mimi smiled back, "That's very good." The salt I bought in my brother's salt farm last time was sold in a few days after returning to Guangzhou, so I contacted my clan relatives to prepare a sum of money to underwrite all the salt produced in the second half of the year. ”

"Oh?" Xia Nan looked at Zhang Mingli with interest, ancient businessmen were no worse than modern ones, and they knew how to expand the scale of business with the help of external funds, which could be regarded as courageous. This kind of good thing, how could he refuse, underwriting to a seller, he can quickly monetize the resources.

He replied briskly: "No problem, the salt production in the second half of the salt farm will be all underwritten by Brother Zhang, Brother Zhang can pay the bill on a monthly basis, and I guarantee that it will be supplied in full every month." ”

Zhang Mingli was overjoyed, and the other party not only agreed to underwrite, but also paid the bill on a monthly basis, which reduced the risk of one-time payment and reduced the interest - this money was borrowed from the clansmen, and the interest was not low.

Coming and not being rude, he thought about it for a while, and suggested to Xia Nan, "I have a clan relative, and I also follow me to do the sea salt business, and the capital is small, so I will also sell salt to the Li tribe." Selling salt to the Li people, although the quantity is small and the road is long, the price is very high. He is familiar with the nearby Li tribe and can act as a guide for Brother Xia. Brother Xia dealt with the Li people for the first time, and it was much easier to have a guide. ”

Xia Nan felt that he really wanted to doze off and someone sent a pillow, the history books said that the contradictions between Li and Han in Qiongzhou were very deep, and it was a very dangerous thing to rush into the Li nationality settlement recklessly, and it was much easier to have such a guide, and it was good again and again at the moment.

With the workers' affairs in mind, Xia Nan's mood was much better, and he began to think about sales. After the factory was opened, the large amount of cotton cloth produced was obviously not something that a small Lingao or even Qiongzhou market could accommodate, and the local purchasing power was limited, and the mainland market had to be opened, and the best choice at present was undoubtedly Guangzhou.

When it came to opening up the Guangzhou market, he looked at Zhang Mingyuan, isn't this a ready-made channel provider? As for the salt merchant to cloth merchant, I believe that as long as there is money to be made, nothing is a problem.

At that moment, he tentatively asked Zhang Mingli: "If the cotton cloth I make is lower than the price in the city, the quality is better, and the shipment is very large, is Brother Zhang interested in considering the cloth business?" ”

Although Zhang Mingli said that he was in the salt business, he was unwilling to continue to do it with such a small profit, so he would borrow his wallet to sell half a year's salt production.

However, there is also a lot of bitterness in the sale of illicit salt that is not humane to outsiders - although the imperial court's control over illicit salt is now in vain, and once it encounters inspections, it is still empty of goods and goods; A smaller, smuggled salt merchant like him had to survive under the onslaught of a large salt merchant.

When it comes to cotton cloth, it is a daily necessity for the common people, but the cloth business in the city has been controlled by several large cloth shops, the price fluctuation is very small, the profit growth space is limited, and the large cloth shops need a lot of money to press the goods, which he can't afford, so he has not considered this industry before.

Through the sale of the salt farm, he has a very good impression of Xia Nan, shrewd and ambitious, since the other party solemnly proposed to buy and sell cotton cloth, it must be profitable, you might as well exchange. So he replied: "Dare to ask Brother Xia, how low is the price, and how much is the goods?" ”

Xia Nan has not accurately calculated the specific value of production efficiency improvement and cost reduction, and cannot determine the specific price, but roughly comparing the efficiency of Jenny machine with traditional spinning wheels, we can roughly estimate that the production efficiency ratio of cotton cloth produced by traditional means will not be less than 8:1.

In terms of cost, in addition to the purchase of raw material cotton, the wages of recruiting Li workers do not cost a few dollars, and the construction of the plant is a one-time investment, and there are basically no taxes and fees in this time and space, so the cost is not high, and the output is completely killed by family manual production.

In the spinning process, one worker can be worth the unit output of eight people, plus the factory can work in three shifts, and the peasant households can only work in their spare time, and a hundred workers per year can at least be worth the total output of a thousand families. Xia Nan initially planned to recruit 200 to 300 people, and roughly estimated that it would be 5,000 horses per month.

He replied: "The price can be twenty percent lower than the market price, and five thousand horses of cloth can be produced every month." ”

Zhang Mingli was shocked when he heard this, and the high-quality cotton cloth in the city of Guangzhou was four horses and 3 taels of silver, and the sales were very good. If a large amount of cotton cloth of the same quality or even better is invested at a price of about 2 taels and 4 yuan per four horses, the impact on the entire Guangzhou cloth market can be imagined. He asked, "The market price of fine cloth is 3 taels of silver for every four horses, if I want to buy it, what price will my brother give me?" ”

Xia Nan thought about it, anyway, it's all about making money, opening up the market is the top priority, and he doesn't have the energy to take care of production and sales at the same time, so he still concentrates on production, and cultivating loyal channel dealers is a good choice, so he replied to a price that made Zhang Mingli's heart beat very much - "Sixty percent of the market price!" ”

Zhang Mingli quickly calculated that the purchase price of 60% of the market price, that is, 1 tael 8 taels of silver for every four pieces of cloth, was sold at the price of 2 taels and 4 yuan, and the gross profit of 4 pieces of cloth was 6 taels of silver, and 1,000 pieces of cloth was 225 taels of silver, and 5,000 pieces of cloth was 750 taels of silver, which was nearly 10,000 taels of silver in a year. As for the cash for the purchase, the salt works only had to settle the account on the first day of the month, and there was no need to invest a lot of money, and the money raised from the people could be used to buy and sell cloth.

He made up his mind and immediately said: "If my brother can trust me, I will underwrite this monthly cloth." ”

The two hit it off, and immediately discussed that Zhang Mingli would leave an entourage in Lingao to facilitate contact between the two sides, and wait for the cloth factory to open and ship the official transaction. Everything was agreed, and Zhang Mingli said goodbye with a good mood.

Early in the morning of the second day, as soon as the guide sent by Zhang Mingli arrived, Xia Nan took Yang Youji and 20 guards and set out on the road to Li District with a few bags of salt and a dozen iron farm tools according to the guide's instructions.