Chapter Eleven Best Seller

  As early as when the machines arrived at Lí Mín textile mill, Qiū Yǔ instructed Bái Kuān to renovate all of the Qiū-Bái fabric shops, totaling over twenty storefronts, scattered throughout Chóngqìng and surrounding county towns, with one more in Chéngdū. These storefronts are now ready, freshly painted, awaiting the new foreign fabrics.

  The textile workers spent the first few days mainly getting familiar with the machines, and the fabric production speed was not fast. After a week, the speed had increased significantly, and the first batch of fabrics had been delivered to various stores. More than 20 stores started selling Limin Textile Factory's fabrics at the same time. The common people had already known about the Limin Textile Factory for some time, and many had even attended the opening ceremony, marveling at the grand scene at the time.

  However, for the common people, what is most practical is still the quality and price of the fabric. Other things are empty words. As soon as the store opens, many people rush in. Seeing the dazzling array of fabrics, they become dizzy at first glance. Looking at the prices again, a piece of cloth is actually half to one-tenth cheaper than foreign cloth.

  Holding the fabric in hand, it feels smooth and dense, very comfortable.

  "Second sister, look at how fine this fabric is woven, it's probably even better than those foreign fabrics!"

  "Ah, the fabric is good, and the price is even better. I was just thinking of making a big coat for my brother-in-law, but I didn't buy it because I thought the foreign fabric was too expensive. Today, I'll just buy some of this fabric made by Limin!"

  "It's just right, I'll also get a floral dress for our little girl at home, she loves pretty things!"

  Customers entering the store took out their money to buy fabric, and soon everyone joined in the rush to purchase. The young shop assistants and the owner were busy cutting fabric, calculating accounts, and collecting money, so busy that they couldn't catch a breath. By mid-morning, the store had already sold out of all its fabric.

  When Qiao Yu received the news, he was also shocked. He never thought that it would sell so well. He hastily ordered to continue delivering goods to the fabric store. Bai Kuan was also surprised, not thinking that it could be so popular. On one hand, he rushed to deliver more goods to the fabric store, and on the other hand, he urged the factory to speed up production.

  The shop assistants were also in a state of excitement, although they were tired, but Qiao Yu had promised three times the wages, no matter how tired it was worth it, now there was no human rights issue, everyone was working hard, and soon the first day's income arrived in front of Qiao Yu and Bai Kuan.

  "Shun Qing, in just one day, we made a net profit of 3,000 taels of silver. If we complete the second phase of the project and add another 600-700 machines, we can't even get more than 10,000 taels per day. We'll be able to recoup our investment in half a year!"

  "Uncle, I advise you not to be too happy, this is just the first day, everyone is in a state of novelty and will actively buy so much, after a few days, once the freshness wears off, it's already good if there are a thousand or two!"

  "One thousand two is not less, one year is thirty million two, it will soon be able to recover the principal and just wait for counting money!"

  Qiao Yu smiled slightly: "Uncle, don't worry about it for now, this is just the first shot, next step those businessmen will take the initiative to join our investment company, at that time it won't be just a matter of one factory, you'll have more things to take care of!"

  Qiao Yu did not expect the sales to be so hot, originally he was going to adopt some discount marketing measures, but considering the current production capacity is still very weak, he didn't do it, and fortunately he didn't, otherwise those fabrics would have been trampled by the threshold of the fabric store!

  Similarly astonished were the major businessmen of Chongqing, especially those invited by Qiao Yu, who had already begun to pool their silver and prepare to invest in the company. Now, seeing the Limin Textile Factory making a fortune, they became even more eager, hastily selling off some unimportant industries to get on board with Qiao Yu's venture and reap profits from developing real industry.

  The sales boom lasted for five or six days, and even after the enthusiasm passed, the sales of cloth increased a lot. Some people were happy, while others were worried. When Huang Baiwan's textile factory was selling well, he prepared to lower prices, otherwise, he could only watch his market share being taken away by others. However, as a foreign-funded enterprise, the cost of the foreign merchant was actually lower than that of Qiao Yu, but the distance was too far, and with transportation costs, there was no price advantage. Especially since Qiao Yu's factory adopted an advanced management system, with high production efficiency and exquisite products, he was not afraid to engage in a price war with foreigners.

  Huang Baiwan thought to cut prices and make a big show, lowering the price to the same level as Qiao's fabric store. After selling at a loss for several days, there were still not many customers. In this era of promoting domestic goods, with similar quality domestic products available, ordinary people, out of their dislike for foreigners, also abandoned Huang Baiwan who relied on eating foreign rice to survive.

  The Huang family's fabric shop suddenly entered a severe winter, the old thing had also been mixed on the market for decades, and there were still many masters, with governors and prefects supporting it. I couldn't afford to offend you, but there were also governors who couldn't afford to offend some people, secretly making up their minds.

  According to the agreement with Qiao Yu and other merchants, everyone gathered at Bai Kuan's house again. Wang Dongcheng and others congratulated Qiao Yu as soon as they met.

  "Old Qiao's Limin Textile Factory has fired the first shot, now the fabrics are selling like hotcakes, and we're really envious!"

  "Boss Wang, what's wrong with your eyes? Aren't you a shareholder too? The dividend won't be less." Yang Xuecheng, the owner of Hengchang Pawnshop, said with a smile. In fact, he also had 2% shares in his hands. Seeing the hot sale of fabrics, he was also delighted in his heart, but the main benefit obviously fell into the hands of Qiao and Bai families, even Wang Dongcheng got much more than him.

  "Gentlemen, the textile mill is just the beginning. We have even bigger deals to make. Let's discuss the investment company!"

  Everyone sat down, and Qiao Yu took out several copies of the company's articles of association and handed them over to everyone.

  "Gentlemen, this is a draft charter I have prepared. The company will be called Sichuan Investment Company, and its main purpose is to invest in industries, promote industrial development, and assist entrepreneurs in Sichuan who are willing to invest. The company will select several key projects for investment, and everyone will share the profits according to their capital contribution ratio. I plan to invest 2 million taels of capital, with my uncle and I contributing 500,000 taels, and the rest will depend on all of you."

  One million five hundred thousand taels is not a small amount, enough to build several large factories in China. However, these dozen or so merchants are all wealthy men, and when calculated, each person's investment is only around 100,000 taels. People like Wang Gui, Wang Dongcheng, and Xue Shan of the silk fabric store have assets worth over one million, so investing this amount is not enough to satisfy them.

  "Boss Qiao, I think your handwriting is still small. More than 100 million taels of silver seem like a lot, but divided among each household, it's only around 100,000 taels per household. Your Qiao family and the Bai family invested tens of millions of taels, we also want to enjoy ourselves! Can't block everyone's enthusiasm!"

  Qiao Yu smiled slightly: "Wang boss, don't be in a hurry, listen to my explanation. The investments we're making now are all in light industry, the investment isn't too big, and the returns are quick. Once it gets popular, other businessmen will also join in quickly. A company's management ability is limited, so we can only focus on a few projects. We can't just sit back and watch others make the money, right? So everyone can invest independently, if you feel that your funds are insufficient, you can cooperate with an investment company, or borrow money, or form a joint stock company. If you don't understand operations, you can also hire a company to consult for you, let the company assist you in setting up a factory. In short, now we need to take action quickly, we want to develop Chongqing's industry as soon as possible. Everyone can imagine, if the whole Southwest uses our products, that would be a huge profit!"

  As soon as Qiao Yu said this, everyone's eyes lit up and they began to consider his suggestion. The Sichuan Investment Company was not intended to monopolize all capital, but rather to play a leading role. Qiao Yu's meaning was very clear: the company's business would be divided into three levels. The first was direct investment, the second was joint ventures with other businessmen, and the third was providing consulting services. The rest would depend on the efforts of the businessmen themselves.

  It's actually tailored to different mindsets. Some people are timid, so they rely on investment companies for gains. Others have limited capital, so they merge with the company. Those who have both capital and courage can hire a company to guide them. This proposal quickly gained everyone's approval.

  After a whole night of negotiations, the Sichuan Investment Company was formally established with a total capital of 2.3 million taels, and there were seventeen shareholders in total. The Qiao and Bai families together invested 500,000 taels, while Wang Dongcheng invested 400,000 taels, closely followed by others, with the smallest investment being 30,000 taels. However, no matter how much they invested, a brand new interest alliance was formed. Perhaps the people in the alliance did not realize the extent of their influence, and the future of Sichuan, China, and even the world would be affected by this force.

  After being busy for a few more days, the company's preliminary work was sorted out, and the next step was to continue to circle the land and prepare for the construction of the factory. There were not many people available around Qiao Yu, and only two overseas students, Tang Yisheng and Zhao Baoxuan, could help with the work. Qiao Yu had no choice but to let those businessmen select some clever people to send to him for unified training, and he would explain things related to the factory to them. These businessmen were overjoyed when they heard this, thinking that it was a great business opportunity. If they could learn from Qiao Yu's skills, that would be even better. Therefore, they were very enthusiastic and wanted to send their most trusted and capable people to Qiao Yu.