Chapter Three Home

  Qiao Yu knew that the most precious thing now was time. If he could take advantage of Bai Kuan's foundation to quickly set up the factory, it would be a good thing, so he was anxious. Qiao Cheng brought Qiao Yu to the White family's mansion in no time. Coincidentally, a horse-drawn carriage came from the other side of the street and arrived at the entrance of the White family's house, which was exactly Bai Kuan's carriage.

  "Uncle, how's your health?"

  Qiao Yu arrived at the side of the carriage, the curtain was lifted, and a short, fat old man poked his head out, his eyes met Qiao Yu, and he was overjoyed.

  "Ah, isn't this the Third Little One? You've finally come back, hurry up and go inside with your uncle!"

  Bai Kuan grasped Qiao Yu's arm tightly, unwilling to let go: "Third Brother, you're leaving for five years, and it's not just your sister who's coming, even I, as your uncle, feel heartbroken. These past few years, I've had dealings with those Japanese devils, they're like bandits from Liangshan, completely unreasonable. The past few days have been really frustrating for me, you haven't suffered any hardships these years, have you?"

  "When under others' eaves, one cannot but lower his head. We people of the Qing Dynasty have no status outside, and can't avoid being looked down upon by foreigners. But look at me now, I'm doing all right, nothing is lacking. You too, sir. This difficult situation will pass eventually. Actually, those foreigners are just bluffing; as long as we grasp their weak points, there's nothing to be afraid of!"

  Bai Kuan suddenly gained spirit when he heard Qiao Yu say this.

  "Shun Qing, can you help your uncle out? I know you've learned the skills, so at least help me get this factory started. How can I also compete with others?"

  Qiao Yu, Qiao Cheng, and Bai Kuan arrived at the main hall. Bai Kuan hastily instructed his family to prepare wine and dishes, and soon a full table was set up, all of which were authentic Sichuan cuisine with a strong spicy flavor. There were also several bottles of Maotai Town's finest wine. The wine was good, but the food was even better. However, what moved Qiao Yu the most was the thick family affection. Bai Kuan treated him with great warmth and concern, chatting about his experiences in Europe and America for a while before Qiao Yu voluntarily changed the subject.

  "Uncle, why did you think of starting a factory? Is there any problem now? I've been abroad for a few years and can help you with some advice!"

  "Hey, Shunqing! You must have noticed that over the past few years, foreigners are becoming more and more influential in our area. As a result, foreign goods such as foreign cloth, foreign paint, foreign nails, and foreign oil are all the rage. My dozen or so fabric shops used to only sell domestic cloth, but now my old rival Huang Baiwan has teamed up with the foreigners and started selling foreign cloth. It's killing my business! I'm not willing to give up, so I've decided to set up a factory of my own to weave our own foreign-style cloth!"

  Qiao Yujing listened quietly to Bai Kuan's narrative. It turned out that Bai Kuan had always been the leader of the cloth shop in Chongqing, but he didn't like foreign cloth and insisted on selling native cloth. His competitor, Huang Baiwan, was also in the cloth business and had colluded with a British firm over a year ago. The British sold him large quantities of foreign cloth, which he then resold at a markup. To be honest, the foreign cloth was indeed better quality and cheaper than the native cloth, and the market for the White family's cloth shop was getting smaller and smaller.

  Bai Kuan had initially also planned to resell foreign cloth, but one was limited by the source of goods, and the other was already occupied by Huang Baiwan, so it was a bit late to do it again. This is what triggered Bai Kuan's ambition, in order to compete with his opponent, he could only build his own factory and weave foreign cloth.

  As he listened to Bai Kuan's narrative, Qiao Yu's heart was stirred with waves of emotion. In his previous life, China had already been known as the world's factory, and Chinese-made products were everywhere in the world, which also brought problems such as pollution. However, it wasn't until the end of the Qing dynasty that he truly felt the preciousness of industry. Without manufacturing as a support, everything was just an empty shell, subject to the control of others at all times.

  Not to mention heavy industry, even ordinary daily necessities have to rely on imports, foreign ash, foreign oil, foreign cloth, foreign fire, foreign nails, foreign cars, everything is foreign. Only by experiencing it personally can one know how many benefits were taken away by foreigners in this era. Qiao Yu admired his uncle very much, at least he took the first step.

  "I don't know how much you're planning to invest, Uncle? To set up a textile factory, it's still necessary to rely on scale to win. This fabric is a necessity for life, and if the scale is too small, it won't have an impact on the market, and the cost will be high, making it inevitable to be suppressed by others."

  "I've prepared 300,000 taels of silver and found the land, isn't that what I'm doing now? Originally, I had agreed with a British firm to purchase 200 looms, but those foreigners are asking for a higher price again. I just got into an argument with them and got a bellyful of anger!"

  "Uncle, what do you think about our two families joining hands to run this factory? A scale of 200 looms is not big at all. I think we should aim for at least 800 looms or more, and a spindle capacity of over 20,000. The investment should also reach one million taels!"

  Before setting up the factory, Bai Kuan had looked for his brother-in-law, but the old man was not very interested, so Bai Kuan set up the factory alone. As soon as he heard Qiao Yu's suggestion, his eyes lit up. The Qiao family's background was also very strong, especially in official circles, Qiao Guangyuan knew many people, and most importantly, there was Qiao Yu, a returned student. When meeting people, they always pay attention to their spirit and demeanor. Bai Kuan had long noticed that his nephew was calm and confident, with a strong sense of self-assurance, and must have gained experience and skills from being abroad. If he could help himself, it would definitely reduce a lot of trouble.

  However, Qiao Yu's mention of a 20,000 spindle scale made Bai Kuan take a cold breath. He had already invested 300,000 taels and suffered losses, but he didn't expect his nephew to have an even bigger ambition. Nevertheless, if they could join forces with the Qiao family, funding wouldn't be a problem.

  "That's naturally good, but your family's old man is quite stubborn, can that pass?"

  "Nowadays are different, the old almanac needs some changes. I'll go and persuade my dad, he will listen to me."

  Qiao Cheng had been listening all along, he was not yet thirty, and it was the age when one has the most ambition. When he heard that Qiao Yu actually advocated joining hands with his uncle to run a factory, he was very much in agreement, but still had some worries in his heart.

  "Third brother, the Daxin Cotton Mill that was set up by the number one industrialist a few years ago wasn't as big as our investment, and even the second Daxin factory only invested around 800,000 taels. Are we going to invest so much all at once?"

  Qiao Yu is quite familiar with the famous Zhang Jie, and Qiao Cheng's question doesn't surprise him. One million taels is equivalent to putting both families' assets on the line, and they would have to sell some of their properties to make it work. It's indeed a huge investment, but Qiao Yu thinks that the southwest textile industry is still a blank slate with enormous development potential. The larger the scale of the textile mill, the easier it will be to absorb. Moreover, he knows that next year is the year of Xin Hai, and he plans to use this factory as the foundation to establish his own base. How can it be small?

  "Big brother, the entire southwest textile industry is still a blank slate, it's a great opportunity to show off our skills. Building a large factory and firmly occupying the first-mover advantage is crucial. Don't look at Zhang Jian being a top scholar, but his charisma is too small, and his vision is not enough. He relies too much on his personal connections and privileges to build factories, these kinds of factories have no competitiveness. We absolutely cannot follow in his footsteps. Moreover, the imperial court is currently rewarding industry and commerce, if we invest little, they might just treat us as a piece of meat on the surface, but if our investment is large enough, it will make a big impact, and for the sake of their own career achievements, they will definitely help us. Our initial development will be much smoother!"

  Bai Kuan highly agrees with Qiao Yu's point of view, he thinks that doing business in recent years is not difficult, as long as you have capital and work hard, and the goods are genuine and reasonably priced, you can always make money. What he fears most is that both black and white will come up and take a bite, so no matter how much money you have, it's not enough to use.

  "Shun Qing is right, but won't this be too showy?"

  "What's wrong with Uncle, are you still afraid of showing off? We're running a factory, building a brand, we need to make some noise, or who will know about our stuff?"

  This is a matter of concept between people of two eras. Bai Kuan listened to Qiao Yu's words, lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then slammed the table heavily.

  "Shun Qing, let's start a factory together and show them our skills. I'll go to Wan County with you now and persuade my sister-in-law!"

  Bai Kuan, a merchant by birth, was swift and decisive. After simply gathering his things, he set off with Qiao Yu's brothers to the Qiao residence.

  The Qiao family in Wan County is a super wealthy household, with nearly 30% of the county's land belonging to them. Qiao Guangyuan had also served as the Right Servant of the Ministry of Revenue, and their mansion was built with unparalleled grandeur. Someone had already informed Old Master and Old Madame that Third Young Master had returned, and Uncle would be coming over too. Therefore, Madame Bai and Qiao Guangyuan were waiting at the gate, refusing to listen to the family members' suggestions to go inside and wait instead.

  As noon was approaching, two horse-drawn carriages came running from afar, and it was indeed Qiao Yu and Bai Kuan. Qiao Yu saw the two elders waiting at the door from a distance, and his heart felt a pang of sadness. Whether in past lives or this life, parents were always like this, standing by the door, waiting for their children to return home. Time and space may change, but true feelings never have.

  Before the carriage had even come to a complete stop, Qiao Yu jumped down from it and ran quickly to the two elders, kneeling down on both knees.

  "Father and mother, the unfilial son has returned!" The old lady was overjoyed and wept, hugging her son, unable to say anything. Qiao Guangyuan also lost his composure as an official, holding onto Qiao Yu, laughing and crying at the same time, repeatedly muttering "Five years, a whole five years!"

  Bai Kuan and Qiao Cheng also got off the car and gathered around.

  "Elder sister, brother-in-law, Shunqing has returned after completing his studies. This is a joyful occasion, let's celebrate properly and stop crying. We've had a bumpy journey and haven't even eaten yet!"

  "Look at me, this old fool, how could I have forgotten all about it? Come in quickly."

  The whole family entered the main hall with joy and laughter. The old lady's hand never let go of Qiao Yu, constantly stroking it.

  "The child has grown up, taller and stronger. When walking, he is now almost as tall as me. Now they are all a head taller than me. They just aren't as chubby as when they were young. Suffering grievances outside, suffered grievances!"

  Qiao Mu's mother was still feeling emotional, but Qiao Guangyuan had calmed down quickly and was no longer so agitated. Once everyone had sat down, they began to ask questions.

  "Third son, have you gained anything in your five years of studying abroad?"