Chapter 39 National Goods
The Rongyuan Weaving Factory is only temporarily lagging behind the Hubei Weaving Bureau in scale, and the 580 looms that have been put into production are just over half of the 900 looms ordered in advance. After learning about the burning down of the Shanghai Weaving Bureau, another 300,000 taels of capital will be raised to purchase looms and spinning machines, which will eventually make the overall scale surpass the Hubei Weaving Bureau and become China's number one textile giant. Of course, if you want to wait until all the ordered equipment arrives and is installed and debugged, you'll have to wait another three months.
Due to the opposition from the sheep textile factory, under Tan Zhonglin's protection, there was no interference from other political forces. Even Tan Yanke also adopted a completely commercial operation mode to participate in management and operation, without relying on the old man's banner to show off his power - he knew more clearly than anyone else that the vitality of national capital is extremely strong. Although the Hubei Weaving Bureau had just been put into production for over a year, its produced cloth and cotton yarn were already under pressure. Officials regarded enterprises as official circles, without direct economic interests with themselves, they did not understand enterprise management at all, nor would they actively familiarize themselves with these matters. They would neither try every means to reduce production costs and promote products, nor make production and circulation flexible and smooth. The life and death of the enterprise, whether it was profitable or not, had nothing to do with them. Such official operations were absolutely hopeless.
Tan Yanqun would not make such a mistake, in fact he only had some small creativity in business based on his past life memories. As for actually managing a large textile factory, even a hundred Tan Yanquns tied together couldn't compare to these old oil slicks who have been dominating the market for decades, each one cunning as a ghost.
"The best way to manage is to let the board of directors of the textile mill take care of it, they have invested heavily and twenty-eight pairs of eyes are watching the factory closely. As long as no outsiders intervene, none of them can collude with each other to cheat, after all, it's easy to convince one person, but if all twenty-eight people are in cahoots, we'll be left speechless. However, they also need to think carefully about whether it's worth letting us take the fall. After all, our backing is the Governor's office of the two provinces, and even if they had a hundred times more guts, they wouldn't dare try any tricks!" Tan Yanqi said with great satisfaction to the old man.
Tan Zhonglin thought for a moment and then said: "Let's see about that!"
In fact, except for Tan Yanqing, who holds 51% of the shares in the Rongxing Textile Company, the remaining twenty-eight directors are very capable. At this time, both the Shanghai and Hubei textile bureaus were trying their best to compete with foreigners in the Chinese market for textiles, so foreigners were not easy to deal with, and naturally, a competitive situation arose between them. Now the Shanghai textile bureau no longer exists, and although the Hubei textile bureau is located inland, it has the advantage of convenient water transportation on the Yangtze River, but the competitiveness of Chinese cotton and silk fabrics has become extremely weak, as if China's textile industry had been set back overnight.
As it was an official business, the foreigners who had been dealing with the Qing government for decades were already used to the officials' ways. They didn't take the two large textile mills in Hubei and Shanghai seriously, and they easily let them accumulate inventory after production started. However, this time their opponent was Tan Yankai's Risheng Spinning Mill, a purely commercial enterprise with strong local backing. At first, foreigners also underestimated this opponent, but after Risheng Spinning Mill went into production, the quality of its fabric and yarn almost reached the same level as foreign goods, and its geographical advantages were so obvious that its competitive strength showed an overwhelming momentum from the very first day it started operating.
As the directors of the wool textile mill were among the top rich businessmen in Guangdong and Guangxi, they operated various industries, so naturally this textile product was also part of their business. They had the most say in the quality of the textile products. After investing in production, they took advantage of their supply and sales channels to occupy the market in Guangdong and Guangxi overnight, which almost gave foreign businessmen a blow on the head, leaving them stunned and unable to react.
The fabrics and yarns of Diyang Textile Mill are of high quality, quickly entering the Shanghai Jiangsu market. The profound meaning of "Di Yang" also had a certain impact on China's national self-confidence after the Shanghai Weaving Bureau was burned down. All this makes people think of "Di Yang", naturally inclined towards domestic goods. Due to the excellent quality of this product, users have also developed trust in Diyang Textile Mill psychologically after purchasing it, plus the idea of "domestic goods first". The sales of Diyang Textile Mill are booming and unstoppable, with cargo ships waiting to be loaded at the dock outside the factory gate, production is extremely tight.
At this time, whether it was Li Hongzhang or Zhang Zhidong and other people, all the Chinese Westernization Group were paying attention to "Tisheep", "Tisheep" quickly occupied the market in a short period of time with its profound connotation, and various newspapers competed to report on this matter, making the brand "Tisheep" known to all Chinese people overnight.
"Viceroy, to safeguard the rights of Chinese merchants and prevent foreign businessmen from smuggling machines into China to manufacture cotton cloth, thereby preventing China's interests from being completely lost, I have specially collaborated with Guangdong merchants to establish a woolen textile mill. All members of the board of directors have confirmed that there are no foreign businessmen secretly manipulating from behind the scenes, and they all have clean backgrounds, so please be at ease, Viceroy..."
Tan Yanqing sent letters to Li Hongzhang and Zhang Zhidong, both of which were similar in content, stating his original intention for setting up the factory and hoping to gain their support. Of course, Tan Yanqing did not expect Zhang Zhidong to help him tolerate the "resistance" textile products running rampant in Hubei to snatch his rice bowl, but this was also a gesture of goodwill towards Zhang Zhidong - intimate relationships require long-term cultivation, since Tan Yanqing had been eyeing those industries in Zhang Zhidong's pocket for so long, he must lay the foundation for friendly exchanges between the two sides, and then he would be able to intervene in Zhang Zhidong's internal affairs smoothly. The letter to Li Hongzhang was purely to hope that Li Hongzhang could open up a market for "resistance" textiles in the north.
Tan Yanqing and his board of directors had a very large appetite, busy with production on the one hand and expansion on the other. The prospects for production and sales were excellent. With the current scale of production at the woolen mill, nearly 3,000 packages of yarn were produced per month, with each package priced as high as 72 taels. This alone brought in over 220,000 taels per month, while cloth production reached 50,000 pieces per month, generating sales of 300,000 taels. The board unanimously voted to invest the nearly 300,000 taels in profit each month in purchasing new machinery to expand production, also due to the stimulation of sales volume and huge profits, especially the yarn machines for producing cotton yarn, which was the top priority for expanding production.
The greatest profit in the textile industry is still in high-grade fine cloth, and it is also a must for the board of directors to capture the high-end market. However, high-grade fine cloth can only be woven with imported cotton, so the board of directors decided to import a small amount of cotton from countries such as England, America, and France for trial cultivation, in order to accumulate experience and observe the pros and cons of different varieties of cotton. Cotton is the raw material for producing cotton yarn and cloth, if the raw materials are controlled by foreign merchants, the consequences will be unbearable, so the board of directors would never tolerate their own fate being controlled by others.
Perhaps it is the special effect of the "Resist Sheep" brand that the members of the board of directors suddenly feel a kind of extremely sacred sense of mission on their bodies - resisting foreign goods, simply rejecting foreign goods is not resistance, but must be self-reliant and build practicality to compete with foreign merchants on the big stage, this is the proper way to resist foreign goods, only when quality and quality are improved, and can compare with foreign goods, relying on real skills to establish the prestige of national goods, this is the true resistance to foreign goods.
At the time when the self-run woolen mill was establishing its national prestige, on October 28 of the lunar calendar, Beiyang Minister Li Hongzhang entrusted Sheng Xuanhuai to rebuild the Shanghai Machine Weaving Bureau. Prior to this, both society and officialdom consistently believed that Sheng Xuanhuai was the best candidate for the reconstruction work, as he controlled a large number of profitable industries such as the Steamship Company and the Telegraph Bureau, and had the support of many money shops and official funds. Most importantly, his reputation and personal enthusiasm for foreign affairs were well-known to all.
When Li Hongzhang sent Sheng Xuanhuai to rebuild the Shanghai Machine Weaving Bureau, Tan Yankai was still very prepared in his heart. Li Hongzhang attached so much importance to foreign affairs and industry that the destruction of the Shanghai Machine Weaving Bureau by a big fire had dealt a certain blow to his personal prestige. In order to regain his face, he would definitely select the most outstanding foreign affairs talent from among his closest subordinates to rebuild the Shanghai Machine Weaving Bureau. Sheng Xuanhuai was unparalleled in both ability and seniority within the Beiyang system; who else could be sent if not him?
Perhaps in the eyes of others, rebuilding the work is undoubtedly a hot potato, but Tan Yanqing knew that Sheng Xuanhuai would definitely take over this very tricky task as long as he had the opportunity - what project can make the most money? The answer is undoubtedly the industries closest to people's lives, these industries are an integral part of people's lives and are the most profitable projects. The textile industry is the most vibrant among them, and as long as it operates properly, making a profit is effortless for Sheng Xuanhuai, not to mention that the price of cotton yarn has been rising continuously from less than sixty taels at the beginning of the year to almost seventy-five taels now, this increase is extremely frightening.
Perhaps the prosperity of the Shanghai Weaving Factory had a very good demonstration effect. After Sheng Xuanhuai took over the task of rebuilding, the first thing he wanted to do was to clear up the old accounts and raise funds to rebuild the weaving bureau. Although the Shanghai Machine Weaving Bureau was destroyed by the big fire, it was not completely burned down, and there were still at least 100,000 taels worth of assets left. Sheng Xuanhuai easily replenished the capital and then raised capital in Shanghai, Ningbo, and Suzhou. The Shanghai Weaving Factory had only been in operation for a month or two, but its prosperity was already evident to everyone concerned with foreign affairs. However, the Shanghai Weaving Factory had a strong backing and its board of directors was very united. Originally, Tang Yanke wanted to increase the capital after the factory started production, but all members of the board of directors decided that they would rather buy the increased shares themselves than let outsiders get them.
Now that the cheap option of using the Yangtze Weaving Factory had passed, the Shanghai Weaving Factory rebuilt by Sheng Xuanhuai became the only choice. Originally, Sheng Xuanhuai had planned to raise 1 million taels through public subscription, with 600,000 taels subscribed by local merchants and the rest allocated within the Beiyang system. However, after he took charge of the rebuilding work, public subscriptions were extremely enthusiastic, reaching the limit of available shares. The Governor of Taiwan, Shao Yunchong, requested to invest in the new factory, and Sheng Xuanhuai had to personally send a telegram saying: "If you want to join, 10,000 or 20,000 taels can still be reserved, but there is no limit for more..."
Sheng Xuanhuai easily raised enough capital of one million taels by taking advantage of the east wind of the Shanghai Weaving Factory. What interested Tan Yankai most was that Sheng Xuanhuai was also afraid of being intervened by the government in the future, so he changed the name of the new factory from "Bureau" to "Factory" to show its commercial nature. The factory was named "Hua-Sheng Weaving Factory", and ten branch factories were set up in Shanghai, Zhenjiang, Ningbo and other places.
Although the Hua Sheng Textile Factory is still on paper, the directors of the Rongzhai Textile Factory's board have already felt threatened by this behemoth that is about to be born. However, what makes them feel more at ease is that Hua Sheng's scale is absolutely no match for Rongzhai. Hua Sheng's registered capital is only 1.1 million taels of silver, while Rongzhai Textile Factory started with a scale of 1.5 million taels of silver. Considering Sheng Xuanhuai's "official background", it can be predicted that the effective utilization rate of this 1.1 million taels of silver is no match for Rongzhai. Moreover, to meet the strong market demand, Rongzhai continuously invests its profits into expanding the textile factory every month. It can be seen that Rongzhai is the behemoth in the eyes of Hua Sheng Textile Factory - even if Sheng Xuanhuai acts quickly, it's unlikely that the new factory will start operating within a year, and during this year, who knows how much larger Rongzhai's scale will expand.
"We are the masters of China's national textile industry!" Tan Yanqin said proudly at the board meeting.
As for Tan Yanqing's words, the directors did not have any doubts. They believed that Risheng was the leader of China's national textile industry. Neither Zhang Zhidong's Hubei Weaving Bureau nor the newly rebuilt Huasheng Weaving Factory could compare with Risheng. In Risheng's mind, its only competitors were the big textile mills of the imperialist powers.
"We should set up a spinning mill in Shanghai. The former Shanghai Weaving Bureau did not have a spinning mill, only the Hubei Weaving Official Bureau had a small spinning mill. It can be imagined that after Huasheng is officially put into production, there will inevitably be a huge demand for cotton yarns. It's just right to sell them nearby, and as Chinese people, we also need to take care of each other..." said one director.
"Sheng Xuanhuai is unlikely to let us have this fat meat, although we don't know what he's thinking in his heart, but Hua Sheng will definitely have his own spinning mill, and the high price of cotton yarn will surely stimulate Sheng to set up a spinning mill. However, with over 10 million taels of silver in his hands, its scale is bound to be limited. Let's build our spinning mill right at his doorstep, so that he can give up his idea of entering the cotton yarn market and focus on running his weaving factory!" Another director said with a smile.
"Just as you know, the textile industry has many aspects, and spinning and weaving are just one of the more important links. There are also important links such as printing and dyeing... Although the price of cotton yarn is currently very high and still rising, this phenomenon will not last long, and the price of cotton yarn will inevitably fall back to a normal level.
If we continue to increase investment in spinning mills, it will be almost impossible to recover costs as quickly as we do now. It's better to reduce the proportion of additional investments in spinning mills, accumulate funds, and try to invest in printing and dyeing links, which is also a way to diversify risks.
The most important thing is to invest in the printing and dyeing industry, which can make our produced fabrics undergo deeper processing, increase their added value, and gain profits that may not be less than those from cotton yarn. After all, cotton yarn is just a primary processed product..." Tan Yanjin said with a smile after the directors' heated discussion.
When it comes to textiles, dyeing and printing cannot be ignored. Tan Yanqing had no intention of setting up a dyeing and printing factory at first, but he had watched a very enjoyable TV series in his previous life, where Chen Liu was an expert in the field. The scenes of him competing with Japanese people in the dyeing industry left a deep impression on Tan Yanqing. He didn't know if this was real history, but it reminded him that the textile industry is still vast, with printing and dyeing above and cotton planting below. For Tan's woolen mill to become a true giant in the industry, it needs to take on the responsibility of resisting foreign capital's plundering of China. The road ahead is long, and the current smooth sailing won't last forever. Foreign merchants may not swallow this easily, and future troubles are sure to come.
"Zu An said it well! The price of this cotton yarn is also estimated to be artificially high, and now it has risen to over 75 taels and still wants to rise. This is a bit abnormal, possibly due to the establishment of the Huasheng Textile Factory, which will cause the price of this cotton yarn to rise even more. However, there won't be much room for further increases.
At this price, I'm already feeling dizzy. The future development of prices may indeed prove Zu An's words correct. If the price of cotton yarn drops smoothly and returns to a normal level, that would be fine. But if it suddenly crashes, the more we invest, the more we'll lose.
Now that we're making such easy profits, let's not end up losing everything later on. That would be heartbreaking!" One of the directors said with a smile.
Tan Yanqing glanced at him, this director was called Wu Xuanren. This Wu Xuanren might be the most complex one among the 29 directors of the board - he came to Guangzhou from the United States in his early years. At that time, China's nationality management was not very clear. Tan Yanqing discovered this experience when all the directors submitted their identity certificates.
