Chapter 40: New Year's Eve Dinner

  The next day, Chen An came to the steel mill that resumed trial production and called Xu Zongbai, who was instructing on the side, to Kovar's office.

  "Director Xu, take a look at this rifle, it's really good." Chen An handed him a Lee rifle.

  When he saw the new-style firearms, Director Xu was indeed refreshed in spirit. He quickly picked up the gun and fiddled with it for a moment, and in less than a minute, he somehow pulled out several small tools and suddenly disassembled the Lee rifle into a pile of parts, scaring Chen An and Koval who were watching the excitement beside him.

  Monster, Chen An took in a breath of cold air.

  It's easy to disassemble, but it's not that easy to reassemble. It took a full two minutes for Director Xu to finally stand up and wipe the sweat from his forehead before he managed to reassemble this new gun.

  Chen An shook his head, he had held it in his hands for so long, and asked himself if it was impossible to disassemble, let alone put back together.

  "This rifle is really good, and it's completely different from the Mauser rifle." Xu Zongban praised.

  "It's great, especially with a 10-round magazine, loading is fast and it feels really good to use. However, this cartridge separator is really cumbersome, please Mr. Xu think of a way to remove it." Chen An also strongly agreed and took the opportunity to bring up his true intention.

  Director Xu disagreed, "Why remove it? It's very practical and can save precious bullets. For example, during training or when on high alert, this thing is still very much needed. Otherwise, the officers and soldiers will get tense and use up all their bullets at once."

  Chen An was suddenly at a loss for words, with more bullets than men. Since they were taking the road of firepower supremacy, and their military strength was limited, it was only natural to fight with more guns and fewer casualties, after all, that's how elite soldiers are trained.

  "Director Xu's office, we, Beiziyuan Camp don't lack bullets, just help us modify it." Chen An explained.

  Xu Zongban looked at Chen An in surprise, he didn't dare to say that there were no bullets in the munitions factory back then, yet Chen An said such a big lie without any hesitation.

  After careful consideration, the number of bullets is not his concern, as long as he completes the tasks assigned by the boss. Xu Zong replied succinctly, "I'll study it, but at least I need a few months' time. Dismantling gun parts involves various aspects such as center of gravity, structure, strength, range and even accuracy, which requires patient experimentation. One gun is not enough, at least ten or more are needed."

  Chen An hastily said, "This is no problem, I have prepared thirty of these new guns. However, due to safety concerns, please ask Director Xu to move back to Chenjiazhuang for further research."

  Director Xu nodded and immediately said, "Also need to invite those old masters I asked you to find in Hanyang last time to help, I really can't make completely matching delicate parts."

  "No problem. Otherwise, I'll just say it's your invitation and find a way to get those teachers to move their whole family here?" Chen An immediately thought of the next step.

  Director Xu smiled and looked at Chen An, not saying a word, which was equivalent to acquiescence. In this era, Hanyang is not necessarily peaceful, it's better here in Jiezhou, where the boss has strict control, it's safer.

  Chen An chuckled and said, "For such a long time, I reckon even those with ill intentions have neglected it. I've already secretly arranged for Lin Yushan to relocate your family, they should arrive at Chen Family Village by the end of the year."

  Xu's eyes lit up, somewhat excited and hesitant, and he said a sentence, "Thank you."

  After rushing, Zhao Si finally returned to Chenjiazhuang before the New Year. The silver and copper coins for the Governor's Office and Lanzhou Military Academy had already been sent ahead of time by Lin Yushan, after all, they needed to be issued before the New Year so that everyone could have a happy New Year. As for the funds, of course, they were first embezzled from other funds, and then the huge amount of silver coins brought back by Zhao Si was used to make up for it.

  This time it was Lin Yuemei who suggested giving everyone some year-end red envelopes.

  Chen An thought that anyway, there were still tens of thousands of taels in deficit, and it was absolutely impossible to make up for them before the end of the year. So he simply printed a large number of new Northern Bank notes that could be exchanged for five taels of silver, and distributed them as red envelopes.

  The entire Dunshi Group was overjoyed and grateful to Chen An, with tears of gratitude in their eyes.

  As for Chen An's worry about the massive exchange of silver, it simply did not happen. Because the standard of living has improved a lot, many families who received the five-tael note directly treated it as a family heirloom, worshiping it at home and preparing to leave it to future generations. More people directly used the five-tael note as a silver ticket for circulation and use in the market.

  Of course, exchanging silver tickets for physical silver still requires a certain handling fee, while northern bank drafts do not require exchange costs, which is one of the main factors that makes them popular in the market.

  In the twinkling of an eye, the White Water River upstream and downstream, and even many places in Jiezhou, have taken Northern Bank notes as a substitute for silver certificates. This was something that Chen An, who actually wanted to give out red envelopes but didn't want to lend money, never could have anticipated when he increased the issuance of banknotes.

  Krause, who had just returned to the company and was already somewhat proficient in Chinese, couldn't help but praise Chen An's move of printing five taels of silver, and gave a big thumbs up to Boss Ma, who actually controlled the financial affairs of the prefecture. Chen An listened with increasing excitement, his face flushing red, until he hastily told Krause to stop.

  This made Lin Yue'er laugh for a while. Chen An never understood Krause's theory, he just sent out a few red envelopes, of course the numbers were a bit big.

  A new financial meeting was held. Chen An first gave a big red envelope to each of the group's high-level executives, with ten 50-yuan bills inside. Krause told Chen An that as long as the total issuance of banknotes does not exceed 300,000 yuan, there is no problem at all, and if the capital increases again, it can continue to be issued.

  Since that's the case, Chen An generously gave 500 taels of banknotes in red envelopes to all high-ranking officials, and 100 taels to foreign technicians, Chinese technicians, and reserve officers. Anyway, it didn't cost him any silver, and seeing everyone's joyful faces made Chen An happy too.

  Even the county magistrate's office, as well as several other officials stationed in various places, all received a red envelope, leaving everyone who had never received a red envelope from their superiors before staring in amazement.

  The county magistrate was very thoughtful and actually bought several good fish, sending someone to deliver them as a return gift.

  As for those who manage the troops, they just send a letter and flatter them. What an uncultured martial artist! Chen An despises him, not thinking that he himself is the leader of this group of martial artists.

  At the meeting, Xu Zongbao, who had just reunited with his wife and children, said with a red face, "Mr. Chen, this banknote is very useful, but five-tael notes are still a bit too big. When I go out to buy things, it's often only worth tens or hundreds of wen, which is enough. Unless it's used between shops, finding change is a real hassle."

  Krause chimed in, "Boss, just print a few more volumes, that's all."

  Chen An wasn't a fool, and he immediately reacted, "That would make it a currency like the US dollar or Russian ruble! No way, the imperial court will chop off my head for this, we can't do this."

  This topic has passed.

  Old Mr. Chen, who rarely spoke, opened his mouth and said, "I asked Yue Er, it's said that in the village, the company, plus the Beiziying, and those who eat with us, there are already tens of thousands of people. Zhao Si, who is also in charge of Hanzhong and Chongqing offices, doesn't need to do other things, every day is just purchasing grain, clothes, and vegetables, next year should we control the population inflow?"

  The mountainous county has little arable land, with only over 2 million mu of cultivated land in the whole county. The paddy fields account for less than one-tenth of this amount. It is estimated that the annual grain output is only around 220,000 dan, and even including miscellaneous grains, it is only around 300,000 dan, which can barely meet the needs of a population of 30,000 people for one year. Now, with a population of 600,000 to 700,000 in the whole county, most people are struggling to get enough food, and this is still under the circumstance where many people rely on the river for their livelihood.

  The rise of the Northern Industrial Company not only absorbed and digested 4,000 to 5,000 local people but also recruited 6,000 to 7,000 migrants with their families from Hanzhong and Sichuan, putting enormous pressure on logistics.

  Mr. Chen bought nearly 20,000 mu of arable land, with very little paddy fields, which can only meet the food needs of 3,000 to 4,000 people next year. The local arable land can no longer be purchased, otherwise it would have to compete with the originally impoverished farmers for food. As for the farm in Lanzhou, it is still unknown how much arable land can be bought next year.

  The mountain was indeed bought a lot, but Chen An ordered that except for afforestation, it is not allowed to be reclaimed and used as arable land, which cut off the way to increase arable land. In fact, this was not Chen An's idea, but what that Qingyangzi said at the beginning, saying that if trees are not planted, it will be difficult to cover up the leakage of dragon energy. Chen An did not dare to slack off and ordered the protection of vegetation and prohibition of random cutting and logging.

  "Alright, there's a lot of land in Hanzhong and not many people in Lanzhou. Next year, we'll try to acquire 20-30 thousand mu of arable land in these two places, adding to the over 200 thousand mu we already have, so that we can meet the food needs of 14-15 thousand people. If our company recruits no more than 5 thousand employees and their families next year, there won't be a problem with too many people and not enough grain." After some discussion, Chen An finally set the goal for next year, and the group's expansion slowed down.

  Chen An estimated that next year, another battalion of patrol officers and soldiers would be recruited, with more than 300 people. The northern character camp relied on him for food, with more than 900 people. Adding the 600-700 people from Chenjiazhuang, as well as tenant farmers and company employees totaling less than 2,000 people, next year's group would support a total of 15,000 to 16,000 dependents, which was completely satisfactory.

  The cunning Liu Guan added, "Why don't we stockpile some grain in case of a disaster year, so we can hold on for a while."

  It makes sense, Chen An immediately agreed with this view, "Let's set a reserve base, and store grain according to the current population's annual food consumption. Next year, let's set it at 15,000 people's worth."

  "This is what's needed, the granary and arsenal are crucial, let's put them all around Chenjiazhuang." Old Master Chen was naturally speaking up for his old friend.

  A plan was soon devised, and next year they would continue to purchase grain from all over the country, preparing at least 1.5 million dan of rice reserves in case of an emergency.

  The rest is about the arrangement of the New Year's Eve dinner.

  To comfort the lonely Kowal and others, Chen An promised to introduce more foreign technicians starting from next year and try to settle their families in Jiaozhou, actively building a foreigner community. Chen An even promised that if they were willing, they could write letters abroad, bring their families to live in the company, and the company would be responsible for all relocation expenses.

  New Year's Eve arrived, and all employees participated in the company-organized New Year's dinner. Chenjiazhuang was no exception. The officers and soldiers of Beiziyuan, on the other hand, took turns having time off in three batches: those with families went home, while those without families stayed in the barracks, where they spent their first New Year's Eve under Chen An's personal participation.

  This year was the thirty-first year of Guangxu.