Chapter 231: Production reduction and price increase
"Bosses, please take a seat." Ma Hanshan introduced Zhang Zixue Wuwan, Sixingfang and Wang Zhitan to each other and asked everyone to sit down.
Si Xingfang and Wang Zhitan have very special roles. In name, they are the business managers of Wagang Village, but they do not receive salaries from Wagang Village, and their food and accommodation expenses are all settled with the villagers like outsiders. Money, all their income comes from the price difference of order shipments. But they are not agents like Shen Wuwan, because the price they receive the goods is slightly higher, and others have to pay agency fees to receive the goods. You have to pay first and then deliver the goods, but they don't use anything. They only charge you after the order is shipped.
However, three generations of their ancestors, the whole family, young and old, have lived in the inner village of Wagang Village. In the eyes of others, this is just an "advance payment." But they know very well that this is Mahanshan's trust in them. It was because of them that Guogaishan was established in the first place. Several bandit dens in the surrounding area have all reformed and become virtuous, and now they have become important processing and breeding cooperation bases in Wagang Village, and have become the outer safety belt of Wagang Village.
Ma Hanshan, who has worked as a police officer and a big boss in modern society, attaches great importance to the word security. He knows very well that the official security is now considered stable, but the safety of the community, even if there are a thousand militiamen in the village, There is no guarantee that there will be no leakage. After all, the stalls currently being built in Wagang Village are a bit big. There are now about 10,000 people living in the two outer villages, and there are more than a dozen factories in the inner village, as well as oil transportation lines, and multiple dangerous goods. and grain warehouses, all of these places are important.
Factories, warehouses, oil extraction sites, and residential areas are scattered in several valleys and mountains with a radius of more than ten miles. Guarded and patrolled by a thousand militiamen, they can only prevent the coveted people on the surface. To prevent blind spots, the people must be mobilized. The masses. Therefore, the surrounding villages and villages, no matter what their original nature, have now become the peripheral safety net of Wagang Village. If there is any disturbance, someone will quickly report it to Shen Lang.
Everyone depends on Wagonzhai for food, and the food is very delicious now. Whoever dares to take the idea of Wagonzhai, they will spontaneously fight for whoever they want.
Everyone sat down, Si Xingfang was a little uneasy. He had just returned from Xixia a few days ago and found that the personnel in the village had changed. When he was shocked, the deputy village leader Feng Chengshan told him that the leader of Mazhai asked him to go to Lin'an.
The person Si Xingfang was most grateful and respected for was Ma Hanshan, who was younger than him. If Ma Hanshan invited him, he would not delay for a moment, so he rushed to Lin'an without even asking anything.
"Ahem, Mr. Ma, why are you so serious? What's going on?" Zhang Zi is a person who accepts new things quickly. Now he has even changed his own trading company into a company, and the structure is also copied from those companies established by Ma Hanshan. Structure.
"It's a big, important thing, Zhang Caidong, please be patient." Ma Hanshan said with a smile.
"Haha, I'm not in a hurry. I'm afraid that you are. I heard that Mr. Ma often works all night long recently. Be careful. You're not married yet." Zhang Zi said seriously. This is his sincere concern. Everyone Not only are we business partners, but we are also friends.
"Haha, Zhang Caidong, don't worry. There are so many beauties around Brother Ma. I'm afraid they've already gotten married and kept it secret." Shen Wuwan was more familiar with Ma Hanshan and spoke very casually.
"It's your uncle, then let me tell you, I got married a long time ago, so you can give me a replacement gift... I can give you a thousand or several hundred taels of silver at a discount," Ma Hanshan scolded with a smile.
"Okay, okay, when Mr. Ma gets married, he will invite us to a wedding banquet. Let alone a thousand or a few hundred taels, what about ten thousand or a few thousand taels? Now... let's ask Mr. Ma to talk about the topics of this meeting." Zhang Zi smiled.
Bring the topic back on track.
Well, let’s get back to the topic. The topic is a bit heavy, so it’s good to make a joke before starting to relax your mind.
"Ahem, actually the issue is very simple. One is that Zuixianjiu will reduce production and raise prices. The second is to purchase large quantities of fruit wine from various places. In the future, you can use the fruit wine to pay for part of Zuixianjiu. The third is to purchase large quantities of various grains and dried fruits from various places.
"The fourth is to launch the sale of four-wheeled vehicles. The fifth is to establish a passenger transport company under the name of the Water and Land Transport Company. The sixth is to acquire copper ingots and iron ingots." Ma Hanshan talked about six topics in one breath, with a solemn expression.
Si Xingfang and Wang Zhitan didn't feel much about what Ma Hanshan said, but Zhang Zi and Shen Wuwan were surprised, even inexplicably shocked. What shocked them was not the reduction in production and price increase of Zuixianjiu, but the large-scale acquisition by Ma Hanshan
Several things, food, copper and iron, are all things that affect strategy.
What does this guy want to do by buying these things in large quantities? If buying large amounts of grain will increase the production of Zuixianjiu, they understand. But now that the production of wine is decreasing, but the income of grain is increasing, he wants to hoard grain.
Hoarding is a strange thing? But the past few years have been very peaceful, with no natural disasters or wars. There is also a bumper harvest of food in various places. The price of food this year is lower than last year. Can you make money by hoarding food?
As a businessman, the most important thing is of course profit.
He also bought up copper and iron on a large scale... Well, he couldn't be rebelling, he probably wanted to build more four-wheeled carriages. That would cost too much copper and iron.
The reserves of silver and gold in Guogai Mountain are large, but copper and iron are very small, so Mahanshan has to buy them from various places. Of course, buying copper and iron is not to make carriages, but mainly to make weapons. A gun costs a few
A pound of copper and iron is enough, but a cannon requires a lot of copper and iron.
What Ma Hanshan is building is not something like the Crouching Tiger Cannon invented by the Dasong people before. What he wants to build is a custom-made cannon, a true artillery. Of course, for the time being, he can only make smoothbore cannons and rifled cannons, which have yet to be studied.
Although many things seem to change just a little bit by upgrading to another level, such a little bit often requires the accumulation of a lot of things and the support of many other technologies. For example, hot-rolled pipes can use water as a power source to drive the pipe-rolling equipment, or even use
Both human and animal power can be used. However, for cold-rolled pipes, it seems difficult to use water power, let alone human and animal power. It seems that a more powerful steam engine, internal combustion engine or electricity must be used.
Therefore, many things are just a little upgrade for a time traveler like Mahanshan, but in this world where everything starts from scratch, it requires a huge amount of manpower and financial resources to research and experiment.
Knowing the principle does not necessarily mean you can implement it in this world.
The purpose of building carriages is to make money, and the purpose of making guns is of course to make money. What is more profitable than weapons? Therefore, Ma Hanshan had to purchase large quantities of copper and iron, and manufacture large quantities of gunpowder.
"Master, Zuixianjiu has been sold for a long time, and the sales have been growing. Why are we cutting production and raising prices now?" Big merchants in Xixia, Beimeng, and Donghu all directly deal with Wagang Village as agents or are hired by Yelu Cai.
With Ruyi Warehouse taking care of everything, Si Xingfang could only deal with the more remote and smaller state capitals, so the orders he went to really took a lot of effort. Although Zuixianjiu has been sold for nearly two years, but
His business has just begun.
Therefore, the current production reduction and price increase will have a huge impact on him.
"Mr. Secretary, there is no reason. You just need to remember that you will not be wrong if you listen to me." Ma Hanshan said with a smile.
Of course, Ma Hanshan would not tell them that the drought there was serious and the grain harvest was expected to be poor. Then people might be without food. Therefore, Wagang Village had to stock up on grain, so the wine production had to be reduced.
In fact, for the time being, the output will not be reduced much in two or three months. After all, this season happens to be when a large number of fresh fruits are ripe. If someone buys fruit wine, those workshops that make fruit wine will naturally go all out to brew it.
"Yes, I listen to the leader of the village." Si Xingfang thought about it. He has always listened to Ma Hanshan, and that's why he is today.
Today he is no longer a bandit leader, but a wealthy man in Guogai Mountain.
"Brother Ma... your reduction in production and price increase... are... harmful to the interests of our agents..." Shen Wuwan said.
"Shopkeeper Shen, don't be so serious. I have calculated it for you. In the past, Ruyi Warehouse has already made a lot of money from the drunk fairy wine sold. This year has only been half a year, and Ruyi Building has deducted the agency fee and the entire year's sales. The expenses have already begun to make a profit. That is to say, in the next six months, if you sell a pound, you will make a net profit of one pound. Even if you reduce production and raise prices, it will not hurt you. Besides, you can also raise prices. We will ship the goods. You can also raise a certain percentage." Ma Hanshan paused and then said, "That's good. Starting from July, the retail price of Zuixianjiu will be relaxed."
Before this, in order to ensure stable profits and sales, and to ensure the interests of retailers, Ma Hanshan made rigid regulations on agency prices, wholesale prices, and retail prices. Any agent who did not follow the regulations would be out of stock. Now let it go, that is Equivalent to pricing by the agent.
"Hey, Brother Ma, you can't say that... We invested a lot in the early stage..." Shen Wuwan's old face turned red and Qiqi Ai said.
"Let this be settled as it is. However, although prices are liberalized, I hope you will not viciously raise prices." Raising prices will ultimately harm not only end consumers.
"Will Zuixianjiu also reduce production and raise prices?" Zuixianjiu is better and more expensive than Zuixianjiu. If the price is raised again, it will really be a waste of money.
"The supply of Zuixian Niang is temporarily suspended..." Zuixian Niang is actually a cellared wine. If Mahanshan stops selling it, it will not stop being put into the cellar.
"Ah..." everyone exclaimed in unison.
"Okay, let's stop talking about the wine. Regarding other issues, do you have any questions?" Ma Hanshan said, waving his hand.
"Mr. Ma, can you tell us why we need to buy so much grain?" The reduction in wine production and price increase did not have that big an impact on Zhang Zi. He sells to overseas markets and there is no price limit in the first place, but if the grain is shipped from overseas return…….
"It's very simple. Wagangzhai is going to expand its capacity. The factory in the special zone will start construction soon. There are so many people who need to eat." Of course, Ma Hanshan would not tell them the real reason, but he immediately thought of one thing and said to Zhang excitedly. I would like to ask, "Zhang Caidong, did your merchant ship go to Champa, Java?"
"I often go to Champa, but I rarely go to Java." Zhang Zi smiled and said, "Don't Ma always want to transport grain back from overseas?"
"Haha, if we can purchase a large amount of grain from overseas, Zuixianjiu may not need to reduce production." Ma Hanshan looked at Shen Wuwan and said, "Shopkeeper Shen, why don't we let our investment company do this business? Forget it, it's you and me Zhang Caidong, let’s do it, the investment company has invested in too many projects.”
Tomcheng, Java and other places have rice that can be harvested three times and the grain output is very abundant. If grain can be transported back from these places, the situation will be completely different.