"Brother Yang, in addition to the five thousand-household guard areas in Zunhua, we also have residential areas for ordinary people. The largest among these households are the four clans of Zhou Wang, Li and Zhao. These four are the four major clans.
The clan leader. Let me introduce you to him."
"This is the patriarch of the Zhou family, Mr. Zhou Fen Zhou." Wei Bancheng introduced.
Mr. Zhou looked to be in his sixties, short, fat, and with eyes like mung beans. He cupped his hands at Yang Fan and said, "Young man, I have met General Yang."
"Nice to meet you, what kind of business does Mr. Zhou's family do?" Yang Fan asked.
These are local households, local snakes. They are the ones who really do business.
"The old man's family has seventy-eight blast furnaces and is mainly engaged in the cast iron business. Now, alas, I won't mention it." The old man said with a sad expression.
Yang Fan was also surprised by the size of the Zhou family. There are seventy-eight blast furnaces, and each blast furnace can produce three tons of pig iron a day. That is more than 200 tons a day.
Yang Fan cupped his hands apologetically.
"This is Wang Qinghai, the head of the Wang family, Mr. Wang. The Wang family has forty-seven blast furnaces and twenty-seven blacksmithing workshops. They are spread inside and outside Zunhua City. The family also has 7,500 hectares of flooded and dry land and thousands of slaves.
You are really a big family in Zunhua." Wei Bancheng also said with envy.
"Don't dare, don't dare, I'm just relying on the shadow of my ancestors. It's not as good as the family fortune that Wei Yuanwai built himself." Wang Qinghai stroked his beard and said with a smile.
Then Wei Bancheng introduced Li Cunxin, the head of the Li family, and Zhao Dongguo, the head of the Zhao family, as well as a dozen relatively large workshop owners and large landowners. They all manage land, iron smelting workshops, and even inns, grain stores, etc.
After a group of people exchanged greetings, they entered the restaurant.
Taibai Building has three floors in total. It is the property of the Wei family, but it is not the Wei Bancheng family, but the public property of the clan. It belongs to the Wei family with thirteen rooms in total. Wei Bancheng, as the eldest son and direct grandson, manages it on his behalf.
Taibai Tower is a typical pavilion-style building. Each floor is smaller. It is close to a small lake in Zunhua City. You can watch lotus flowers from the window, and the scenery is very beautiful.
Wei Bancheng arranged these people on three floors. The third floor was filled with relatives or agents of officials of all sizes. The second floor was filled with the larger local families and industrial and mining owners. The first floor was filled with ordinary local businessmen and landowners.
This time, the richest man in Zunhua hosted a banquet for General Yang. It would be bad if he didn't invite anyone. Wei Bancheng knew how to be a good person, so he invited all the respectable people. But the reception was divided into separate floors.
These guests will also know their own tastes and identities, and will not go to the upper levels.
Yang Fan, accompanied by Wei Bancheng, first went to the third floor to drink with the shopkeepers headed by Wang Yutian and Wang Chong.
After drinking for three rounds, Wang Yutian spoke first: "General Yang is not an old man who is ignorant of current affairs. It is actually the scale of General Yang's steel factory that is too large and the cost is too low, which makes it impossible for us to start work. The more work we do, the more we can do it."
The more compensation we have to pay. To be honest, we are also responsible for the masters behind it. It is really impossible to explain that it has ended up like this. Please forgive me, General."
As soon as Wang Yutian spoke, the other dozens of big shopkeepers begged Yang Fan to show mercy and leave a mouthful of food for everyone and a stove.
Wei Bancheng's face looked a little ugly. He knew clearly that he was causing trouble for Yang Fan this time. However, his social relationships were complicated, with many interests entangled, and it was difficult not to contact him.
Yang Fan waited for them to finish speaking, then cleared his throat. There was silence below, everyone was watching Yang Fan's statement.
"Everyone, the technology of your workshops and mines is too poor. No matter what you do, the cost is much higher than that of Xinghe Iron Works. If you don't want to lose money, the only way is to close the workshops and mines. If there is no production, there will be no
I will lose money." Yang Fan said calmly.
There was a blast from below and it almost exploded.
When he came in, Yang Fan had always been very humble and seemed to be a person who could communicate. He didn't expect to speak so domineeringly. This was a chance of survival. It was clear that he wanted to monopolize Zunhua's steel industry.
Yang Fan waved his hand to ask everyone to be quiet.
"I haven't finished speaking yet. The purpose of opening the iron factory is to make money. I can't close Xinghe Iron Factory just because you can make money. Otherwise, as long as Xinghe Iron Factory is open, you can only continue to lose money. You know.
Until it goes bankrupt."
"General Yang, please give us a way to survive."
"Please show some respect to the commander. Although you are directly under the command of the Northern Zhili Province, you are also a fellow commander. We are all one family, so why bother forcing each other?"
Yang Fan smiled bitterly. These guys were beating their chests and feet one by one, as if they had been wronged a lot. I wonder if they had this look on their faces when they forced other small businessmen with no background.
"Let's just open the window and speak frankly. You are all relying on the power of local officials to do business. The purpose is to make money. As long as you can make money, you don't have to worry about running an iron factory. I will show you a clear way.
, you have closed all the workshops and laid off the workers. I can give you open-hearth steel at 10% lower than the ex-factory price. The contract will be valid within one year. You can just focus on being a trader. It will save you worry and make money quickly."
As soon as Yang Fan finished speaking, something exploded below.
This is a bombshell. Everyone knows that the open-hearth steel from Xinghe Iron Works is easy to sell. As long as you buy it and sell it, you can make a lot of money.
Now Yang Fan offers a price that is 10% lower than other merchants, which is a benefit to everyone. Now that open-hearth steel is so popular, he can get 10% of the profit by changing hands. Even the warehouse can use Xinghe Iron Works, as long as he resells the delivery receipt
That’s it.
These people are all government officials and businessmen, and all of them are speculators.
As soon as Yang Fan said his words, they immediately understood the key. If Yang Fan was willing to give them this benefit, who would be willing to start an industry in the iron factory? How difficult is it to do industry?
Lose money.
If you listen to Yang Fan and set up a trading house, directly buy goods in bulk from Yang Fan and resell them to various parts of the Ming Dynasty, you will make a lot of money. Why go to mines and smelt iron? The turnover is so fast. Even if you don’t want to bother, just pick up the goods
Only merchants who come to Zunhua to purchase open-hearth steel can earn 10% of the profit.
Wang Yutian asked eagerly: "General Yang, are there any restrictions?"
Wang Yutian is an old man and knows that there is no such thing as a pie falling from the sky. This kind of good thing is to give money to everyone. Yang Fan is not an ordinary citizen or a small businessman. Is it necessary for him to please them?
Yang Fan smiled slightly, the old guy Wang Yutian was a sensible person.
"Of course there are conditions. You are all government businessmen with strong capital, so your delivery must be in bulk. This is also the use of capital to exclude other businessmen."
"General Yang, what is the quantity required for this delivery?"