Chapter 6: Nanyang Industrial Exposition

  Huaiyin was once a time-honored industrial base with many light-industry factories set up by Jiangsu and Shanghai.

  including textile mills, cigarette factories, refined salt factories, match factories and paper mills.

  The spinning mill uses electric motor power transmission, and the machine drawings are provided by Jiang Yu, who found a 1960s textile machine drawing online.

  However, this design is much more advanced than the spinning machines and looms of its time, with an efficiency nearly eight times higher than textile mills using steam engines as power, and producing better quality fabrics.

  The textile industry is a labor-intensive sector, and once efficiency is improved, it means that fewer workers can be used to produce more yarns and fabrics, resulting in high profits.

  The drawings designed by Jiang Yu became another revolution in the textile industry, it's really a big leap, that was the technology of the 1960s.

  Huaiyin Textile Mill, under the guidance of Jiang Yu, has woven several new types of cotton yarns. Jiang Yu understood that to gain higher profits in the textile industry, one must not only grasp low-level products with little technical content but also actively launch an offensive towards high-end products, which are truly equipped with high added value.

  The factory's technology is strictly confidential and no unauthorized personnel are allowed near the factory.

  Cigarette manufacturers then introduced filters made of cotton and paper, which used crepe paper and cotton. Crepe paper had the strongest filtering ability, but it was not widely accepted by consumers because of its taste.

  The cigarette factory produced two types of filters, one semi-mixed and one pure cotton.

  The patent for the filter tip had been applied for in various countries, and the machine was already manufactured in Germany. After Jiang Yu returned to China, he quickly set up a cigarette factory.

  Cigarettes with filters look more beautiful and won't make your mouth full of smoke, which can also reduce the intake of various harmful substances into the human body.

  The market effect is still pretty good, and it's been relatively well-received after entering the market, but the export market has yet to be opened up.

  In addition, the refined salt factory is also very smooth. Huai'an has the world's largest rock salt reserves, and the drilling team easily drilled out brine, which is high-concentration brine, with a production cost much lower than that of sea salt.

  At that time, China was called a "food-land nation" by foreigners. Because the Chinese ate coarse salt with less than 50% sodium chloride content, and in provinces such as Henan where there was a lack of edible salt, people ate nitre, which had a bitter taste. In Western countries, it is stipulated that edible salt with a sodium chloride content of less than 85% cannot be used to feed livestock.

  China does not have refined salt, and foreigners' refined salt is also relatively expensive, ordinary people can't afford it.

  The emergence of Huai salt factory changed this historical situation. When the relatively cheap refined salt was put into the market, it immediately received a warm welcome from the common people.

  At the same time, Jiang Yu also did private salt business with Huaiyin County Magistrate Zhang Binglong. Apart from the refined salt that had paid taxes on the surface, Jiang Yu also smuggled coarse salt in secret.

  Refined salt is not good for smuggling, because China only has Huai'an Refined Salt Factory that can produce refined salt, others will know it's you who did it once they investigate, but if it's coarse salt, it would be hard to track.

  These smuggled salts are of good quality, without any sand mixed in, and the color is also pure white, with a sodium chloride content of 88%.

  Jiang Yu colluded with the government office and engaged in this private salt business, apparently without fear of reprisal.

  He has a foreign background and private salt business is not something nobody does, even if it's discovered, it's no big deal, just make a fuss.

  Of course, there was salt, and Jiang Yu began to develop the alkali industry in Huaiyin. Soon he brought in chemical experts from Germany and studied the modern Hou Debang's alkali production method.

  Soda ash was a technology locked up by Westerners in this era, and even Japan could not produce pure soda ash, which had to be imported from the British Brunner Mond company.

  The fall of Jiangyu's stronghold means that the monopoly position of British alkali in the Asian market is gone forever.

  Soda ash is the mother of industry, with this foundation, many products can be manufactured, such as dyes.

  The emergence of cheap dyes allowed Chinese people to wear colorful clothes that were more durable, and a dye factory was also set up.

  Things also went smoothly in the oil industry, as Jiang Yu provided the correct location and soon struck oil.

  After the oil was extracted, Jiang Yu immediately established a refinery, using the most primitive refining technology - distillation pot, which is a workshop technology.

  One side took out the thermal cracking technology and sent the drawings to Far East Group Equipment Manufacturing Factory, Jiang Yu customized 10 sets of 3000 cubic meters of thermal cracking furnace this time.

  This year, the Qing government held the 'Nanyang Industrial Exposition' in Nanjing, which opened on June 5th. Jiang Yu ordered workers to work overtime to complete the construction, and they had to rush to produce products by the end of May to take part in the exhibition.

  The Nanyang Industrial Exposition was a commercial exhibition, named Nanyang because the Qing government divided the north and south into Beiyang and Nanyang, each with its own minister.

  ……

  The Nanyang Industrial Exposition officially opened in Nanjing on June 5, 1910. The main venue was located in the Dingjiaqiao and Sanpailou areas, covering an area of over 700 mu. There were exhibition halls for provinces such as Dongbei, Zhili, Shanxi, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Henan, Yunnan-Guizhou, Shandong, Zhejiang, and Fujian; the largest being the Two Rivers Pavilion, which was located in the host province, with separate sections for crafts, agriculture, machinery, transportation, education, health, fine arts, and military affairs.

  There are specialized pavilions: Hunan's porcelain industry, Bo Shan's glass industry, Nanjing's Jiangning brocade industry, three industrial pavilions; Shanghai's Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau Lan Pavilion, Guangdong's Education Products Pavilion, Jiangsu and Zhejiang Fishing Industry Company Aquatic Products Pavilion and other special pavilions; the Jinan Pavilion for overseas Chinese exhibitors; and a Reference Pavilion displaying foreign goods. The exhibits are mostly light industry, agricultural by-products, handicrafts, fine arts and other products.

  Jiang Yu brought many products to the exhibition, including cotton yarn, cotton cloth, paper, matches, cigarettes, refined salt, soda ash, dyes, and coal oil that had just been distilled. There were also traditional products such as raw silk, tea leaves, and tung oil.

  This is just the industrial development result of Jiang Yu's return to China for half a year, and those heavy industry projects are still under construction, obviously will not be put into production so quickly.

  The Chinese have produced their own kerosene, refined salt and pure alkali, and invented a new type of cigarette. These news were on the headlines of newspapers the next day.

  This is naturally done by Jiang Yu, although he stuffed some silver in it.

  However, these reports are indeed heartening. Many students visiting the exhibition flocked to the Huadong Group's booth, eager to see China-made kerosene, refined salt and pure alkali for themselves.

  Many people were curious about the filtered cigarettes that could reduce toxic ingredients reported in newspapers, and many people tried them on the spot.

  The experience is not bad, although people also don't know how many toxic substances have been filtered out, at least it won't make you cough up a lung.

  When the filter tip was thrown into the fish tank, the water quickly turned yellow and soon all the fish were poisoned to death.

  Although the main reason is death due to turbid water quality, people have a misconception that fish are poisoned to death.

  Huadong Group's products caused a great sensation, followed by various orders from home and abroad. By the end of the exhibition, Huadong Group had received orders worth over 300 million yuan, becoming the exhibitor with the highest turnover at this exhibition.

  At the same time, it also came with contact with a large number of foreign companies, and filtered cigarette became famous overnight. Businessmen from all countries wanted to be agents.

  However, this agent's problem, Jiang Yu didn't discuss much.

  Germany, France and the US all have their own companies, and are currently also setting up branches in the UK, so some things can be operated by themselves.

  Like this filtered cigarette, it can be completely self-operated. The tobacco itself is not highly technical, and the core production process is nothing more than tobacco fermentation and roasting procedures.

  It was the British-owned Brunner Mond company that contacted the Huadong Group, claiming to be willing to acquire the Huaiyin Alkali Plant at a price twice its investment.

  The company was also a monopoly in the industry, monopolizing the production and sale of caustic soda throughout Asia and most British colonies.

  The profit from the monopoly of this raw material is considerable, as soda ash can produce a large number of products, and controlling the source is equivalent to exploiting most commodities.

  Seeing China has a competitor that can produce alkali, the Dow Chemical Company naturally cannot sit still.

  Li Deli, general manager of Wengni Mian Company China, put forward the acquisition intention, which is obviously to merge Huaiyin Calcium Carbide Factory and take the trust route.

  Jiang Yu naturally couldn't sell the alkali plant, his alkali production technology was worth more than that. Once World War I broke out, the British alkali industry would be rolled out of Asia!

  The rebuffed P&G company flew into a rage and soon mobilized a large number of pure alkalis from the UK, launching a price war. However, they apparently lacked investigation and did not understand Jiangyue's background and financial resources.

  Jiangyu is not afraid of a price war with them, but Jiangyu does not need to lose money and compete with them, so they came up with the idea of "borrowing a knife to kill" and shifted the battlefield to Japan.

  Huadong Group's caustic soda sales in Japan were not high, and the Japanese still habitually used British caustic soda. When Huadong Group lowered its price in Japan, Bowinmen Company had no choice but to follow suit and lower its price as well.

  However, the Pu Nai Men company accounts for 90% of sales, while the Huadong Group only accounts for 10%. This means that the Huadong Group loses 1 yuan, while the Pu Nai Men company loses at least 10 yuan or more, because the Pu Nai Men company's alkali production technology is already lagging behind that of the Huadong Group, and it also uses pure alkali imported from the UK.

  In order to fight this price war, the Pownall Company imported a large quantity of caustic soda from Britain. According to the Pownall Company's plan, this batch of caustic soda was dumped on the market and should have forced the Huaiyin Alkali Plant to compromise.

  However, the result was that after the Pownall Company had sold all its pure alkali, the Huaiying Alkali Plant continued to operate smoothly and the factory continued to produce around the clock. The Pownall Company paid a heavy price for trying to blockade Chinese pure alkali in Japan.

  If it doesn't work out, it means that the Japanese market will be broken through, and the Huai'an calcium carbide plant can still pass through the Japanese market soil, then all previous efforts will be in vain.

  However, in order to encircle the Chinese soda ash market in Japan, the Bowne & Co. company suffered losses more than ten times that of the China East Group, and Japan's demand for soda ash is also one of the larger countries in Asia.

  The company is facing a severe problem and they can't hold on either.

  Shareholders apparently found that, at the great distance of England, it was a ridiculous hope to monopolize the manufacture of alkali in Asia, as the cost of freight alone would put them at a disadvantage in competition.

  But the Von Neumann company, which did not want to give up the Asian market, soon sent someone to contact Huaiyin Alkali Plant. This time it was not the trust model, but rather playing the cartel model with Huaiyin Alkali Plant.

  Both parties signed market share and price agreements.

  This time it was Li Deli himself who came out, and Jiang Yu saw him in the midst of his busy schedule. Li Deli looked at the young man in front of him and couldn't help but feel a shock in his heart.

  Isn't he the Chinese person who the French called 'the little piano prince of the Far East'?

  It's said that this guy is the boss of L'Oréal, and Li Deli broke out in a cold sweat at the thought. If he had known earlier that this alkali plant was opened by this guy, no matter what, he wouldn't have been so foolish as to start a price war.

  As a result of the price war, the company lost a lot of money and did not achieve any effect.

  Li Deli was already at a disadvantage from the moment they met.

  "Mr. Li, tell us about your plan!" Jiang Yu asked slowly, with a faint smile on his face, but this smile made Li feel extremely pressured.

  "It's like this, our company plans to share the Chinese market with your company 50/50, but if you want to adjust prices, you must get the approval of Bolei Men Company." Li Deli stated the condition set by Bolei Men Company, which would restrict this competitor within China once it is met.

  Jiang Yu smiled and spread his hands, shaking his head: "I think we don't need to talk anymore. Your sincerity is really suspicious. I really can't understand how a company that can't even win in vicious competition still wants to continue monopolizing the market."

  "Wait, wait, 55% of the share for you, our company only needs 45%." Li Deli immediately made a concession, but Jiang Yu smiled and shook his head, saying: "I think you haven't fully woken up yet. Firstly, our alkali production technology is more advanced than yours in Wainengmen Company. Secondly, our company's sales of pure alkali in Asia have lower transportation costs than yours. Thirdly, our labor costs are also lower than yours. Fourthly, this competition has not even caused us any losses, but instead we have made some profits. Don't mention the Chinese market to me, if you want to talk about the global market, then we can discuss it."

  Jiang Yu stood up and walked out, ending this encounter.

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