Chapter 41: Talents Flock from All Sides (2)

  It's impossible for Chen Xiaoqi to end his cooperation with Zhang Xiaolin easily, and he knows that the influence of Shanghai's three major giants will be underestimated for a long time. Before he gets to know more powerful figures, cooperating with them is very promising. Of course, Chen Xiaoqi looks down on their small profits from import and export business, as his own products have extremely high profits attached to them. He doesn't need any middlemen; what he wants is for his goods to land smoothly in Shanghai and be sent out quickly through various channels, occupying the market at the fastest speed possible. With his business acumen, he naturally wants to establish a strong brand image for his "Little God of Wealth" products in the Chinese market first.

  Chen Xiaoqi felt that the timing was also relatively ripe. The US side had entered a benign cycle, with Stern's Jewish-led team in charge of business dealings, directly registering a beauty trading company in Chicago, then establishing a branch in Germany, and setting up a distribution network in France with Denis, and finally Jin Xueyou would return to China to establish the Shanghai branch.

  Chen Xiaoqi's products have not been officially handed over to international trading companies for operation. Currently, they are mainly sold in bulk in the United States and then re-exported to various parts of the world through local branches. By establishing these branches, Chen Xiaoqi can grasp the entire industrial chain to the greatest extent possible, from design, production and processing, to warehousing and transportation, to wholesale, all under his control.

  Another purpose of setting up this trading company is that Chen Xiaoqi hopes to initially establish a feasible logistics system. In the 21st century, logistics can be said to be a huge system, and the efficiency of the logistics system directly affects the profit margin of enterprises. For example, the world's largest chain retail system "Wal-Mart", its core concept is based on the logistics system, otherwise how can the concept of saving money be achieved? How can the lowest price supply goods be achieved?

  In this era, there is not yet a complete logistics concept and system, let alone an international trade-oriented logistics system. A truly powerful logistics system emerged only after the advent of e-commerce. In this era, only a few countries with developed transportation systems, such as the United States and Europe, could achieve basic logistics. Chen Xiaoqi wanted to be at the forefront because this was an unmined gold mine.

  At a deeper level, the improvement of logistics has immeasurable importance in military affairs. Why were the French able to hold on for so long during World War I? Behind the Verdun battlefield, tens of thousands of new cars and horse-drawn carriages emerged in Paris, constantly transporting supplies and wounded soldiers. Without a complete and effective logistics system, it would be impossible to quickly mobilize such a large number of vehicles, horses, people, and materials; any mistake would lead to chaos.

  Chen Xiaoqi has even bigger ambitions, but for now, let's just keep them under wraps.

  Lin Xiao, thirty years old, a dark-skinned and rough-looking man, but his background is not ordinary. He was one of the students who followed Mr. Zhan Tianyou. In the last ten years, due to the incompetence of the government and warlords, Mr. Zhan was unable to exert his talents and apply his life's work to the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. With a heart full of anxiety and indignation, he placed his hopes on the young generation. During those years, he set an example with his own actions, exhausting himself.

  But until today, the domestic situation is still chaotic and stagnant, and the ugly face of corrupt Beiyang thoroughly emerged in 1919. There are many young people like Lin Xiao who aspire to inherit Mr. Zhan's legacy, but they almost all have no opportunity to display their talents, so life is quite depressing.

  Chen Xiaoqi was unaware of these changes, but he knew what position Zhan Tianyou occupied in Chinese history. This great scholar used his life to prove that the Chinese were not inferior to Westerners, and with facts proved to those foreigner who looked down on the Chinese and the Qing officials the creativity and wisdom of the descendants of Huaxia.

  Without saying another word, Chen Xiaoqi added this person to the new department. Now he has no railway to repair, but Lin Xiao is not a bookworm with narrow knowledge. He is an expert in high-road construction and has made significant achievements in geology, metallurgy, mechanical power and other fields. It can be said that opening up mountains and rivers, building roads and bridges are his specialties, and he is absolutely a great talent.

  Chen Xiaoqi immediately set up a training class within the company, first selecting students from Mr. Lin's own team to teach basic civil engineering, and then adding Wang Tianyun, hoping they could establish a useful semi-militarized civil engineering subject, which is currently temporary work.

  In addition, Chen Xiaoqi also plans to fund Lin Xiao's trip to Europe for a period of time, specifically to the battlefields of France and Germany, to conduct on-site inspections of the fortifications there, and if possible, to consult with local experts in-depth about the construction of such military strongholds. Chen Xiaoqi knew that after World War I, the French had built the world-renowned Maginot Line, a masterpiece of fortification engineering. Although this line played almost no role during World War II, its technical content was still the highest in the world at present.

  Chen Xiaoqi has no one else to use for now, so he can only let him reluctantly take over for a while. Originally, he was going to let Lin Xiao investigate the construction of railways and highways across the United States, but considering the current external environment, a Chinese person walking on the street may be stopped and inspected at any time, and a person who is observing strategic intelligence everywhere would not think about being safe, so he gave up. In fact, going to Europe to take a look is also very good.

  The last person was named Kong Xiangzeng, also known as Changsheng. He was said to be a descendant of the Kong family. Chen Xiaoqi thought this old man was quite interesting. He was well-read in poetry and books, but he was somewhat pedantic and unbearable. The good things that Confucius had taught were not learned by him, but rather the loyal and patriotic ideas of the scholars and officials sharing the governance of the country with the emperor were deeply ingrained. Even the old idea of dividing people into four categories: scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants was held onto tightly. He always thought he was superior to others, a "scholar", how could he stoop to discuss interests with merchants? It was too vulgar.

  Chen Xiaoqi always thought that this old man was like Kong Yiji, who was so poor that he couldn't even afford to eat, but still stubbornly said "a gentleman remains poor". But if he could really "remain poor", why did he travel thousands of miles to America to dig for gold just to make a living for his family?

  This man in his thirties, with children already in middle school, spoke eloquently, but Chen Xiaoqi couldn't understand what he was saying at all. On the one hand, his words and phrases were really too outdated, and directly quoting classics was torturing Chen Xiaoqi. On the other hand, his dialect was also deadly. In the end, Chen Xiaoqi completely gave up on him and arranged for this old man to attend a literacy class, where he would also receive patriotic education along with these semi-illiterates.

  This is the old master's forte, Chinese history spanning thousands of years from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to the Republic of China, whether it's the Twenty-Four Histories or folk tales, he can talk about them with ease and fluency. In the end, Chen Xiaoqi had to set a teaching scope for him, which was to focus on describing the grandeur of Chinese civilization over thousands of years, the elegance and refinement of Huaxia's literature and culture, the brilliance of its great culture, the great achievements of Qin Shihuang and Han Wudi, and the magnificent chapters of Tang and Song dynasties.

  From the mouth of this old man, those heroic martyrs who died for their country in history came alive. Whether it was Wei Qing or Huo Qubing, Li Guang or Zhang Teng, whether it was Zu Ti or Ruan Yun, whether it was Wen Tianxiang or Yue Fei, whether it was Qi Jiguang or Yuan Chonghuan, or whether it was Guan Tianpei or Deng Shichang. The heroes who died for their country were the main content of his lectures. The great Han dynasty's power reached far and wide, the great Tang dynasty's prestige shook the world, and the great Song dynasty's culture shone brightly through the ages. Chen Xiaoqi wanted to make these people understand from the bottom of their hearts that their ancestors were once so great, and their culture was so brilliant.

  Apart from Old Master's accent being not quite authentic and his speech often going off topic, with some nagging, everything else is perfect.

  Chen Xiaoqi's work has many aspects, such as searching for Chinese students in the United States and providing assistance to those who are struggling. He guides those with ambition immediately, aiming to grasp these future talents in his own hands at the first opportunity, making them a solid foundation for his business empire. It is worth noting that currently in China, although Mr. Sun Wen's revolutions have failed repeatedly, his appeal is still unmatched. After the establishment of the Huangpu system in 1924, his competitive power will be even stronger. If Chen wants to attract some talent, it would be too difficult. The other side has the national righteousness on their side, and this era's people are idealistic, so he has no chance.

  He couldn't help but sigh again at the Germans, whose education had basically reached every corner of the country. Whether it was World War I or II, that small place with only tens of millions of people could burst out with such great energy, and education really is the primary productive force! He even hated to immediately stuff a large pile of knowledge into the brains of those illiterates, and immediately turn these half-illiterate ones into qualified industrial workers.

  If China had 10 million industrial workers in this era, little Japan would not be a threat. If there were 20 million industrial workers, the powerful nations would not be a problem either. If one-tenth of Chinese people became literate, China would definitely have a share among the world's powers!

  Chen Xiaoqi is anxious! Time waits for no man!

  He held a large stack of survey materials in his hand, from the famous schools in various states of the United States, especially the eastern schools, and then swooped out the scholarships with a big brush, without feeling any heartache.

  He found the then-traveling master Xu Beihong through Denis in France, although at that time Mr. Xu was still in his learning period and had not yet achieved the great artistic achievements of his later years, but Chen Xiaoqi knew that a great person is destined to be great no matter what conditions they are under.

  Following Chen Xiaoqi's instructions, Dennis provided Mr. Xu with a large amount of activity funds, on the one hand to improve Mr. Xu's living conditions, and on the other hand to sponsor Mr. Xu to discover more artistic talents and buy back more treasures of Chinese cultural art. Mr. Xu was not a stubborn person, although he did not understand how a stranger from America knew him and his recent situation, but Chen Xiaoqi's sincere expectations were something he could not refuse.

  His life remains simple, and his pursuit of art is still sincere. If it weren't for Chen Xiaoxi's foresight in hiring a special person to take care of Mr. Xu's daily needs in France, he might have ended up with severe stomach problems like he did in the past. Mr. Xu is the founder and pioneer of modern Chinese art, and also a great discoverer of talent. He discovered many "thousand-mile horses" throughout his life, including Bai Shi Lao Ren, Fu Bao Shi, Jiang Zuohe, Wu Zuoren, Huang Zhou, Tian Shiguang, Lv Sibai, Wang Lin Yi, Sha Qi, Lai Shaoqi, and Feng Fasi. It's impossible for someone without great moral character and noble personality to achieve all this. Mr. Xu single-handedly changed the Western world's biased view of Eastern culture as a "cultural desert". His efforts also brought light back to Chinese civilization after centuries of devastation by the Qing dynasty. He is a great man who deserves to be remembered forever in the annals of Chinese civilization.

  Chen Xiaoqi may not understand Mr. Xu's artistic level, how good the painting is, but it doesn't matter, he just needs to know that there is a person like Mr. Xu who exists, with his financial support, perhaps the prosperity of modern Chinese culture will come more fiercely, revival will come earlier, and its influence in the world will be greater, this is enough.