Go back to the past and be a schoolboy

Chapter 100 Changxin Shop

However, in the subsequent investigation, Cheng Nuo found that he was worthy of being a businessman, especially in domestic business, which can be described in two words, that is "involvement".

Some "smart" Chinese businessmen colluded with foreign businessmen and shipped and sold matches to the country under the name of foreign businessmen.

Our good neighbor "Japan" has also noticed this, and simply based in Shanghai, opened up a new path in the country that does not adopt the "comprador system". From 1898 to 1915, they recruited some middle school graduates from their island country every year students, and sent them to Shanghai, Yingkou, Tianjin and other places for a five-year comprehensive training. They were called "Qing Dynasty commercial trainees" and acted as "traders" operating business in China, replacing Chinese compradors.

At the same time, ten company employees who are slightly older and have certain business and production experience are recruited internally every year, called "China graduates", and sent to China as trade guides.This unique business practice of directly conducting trade with China without going through "compradors" was far superior to other foreign firms in China in terms of the market conditions at that time.Therefore, before the end of World War I, the vast majority of the domestic match market was directly or indirectly controlled by the Japanese.

If there are only these problems, then it's okay, but when the investigation goes deeper later, the situation becomes more and more pessimistic.

I ran around all the match factories in Tianjin. Although I had a lot of closed doors, but after the relationship became closer, there would always be some small factory owners who couldn't help pouring out their bitterness.

"Sir, I can see that you are the kind of owner who knows how to do it. Unlike some newspaper reporters who come to us, they just think of trying to get us two money to drink tea. Do you think it is easy for us?" The factory owner opened a piece of paper. I took out a few boxes of matches and threw them over, shaking my head and sighing: "Don't look at such a small match, there is a lot of knowledge in it, I have been thinking about it for most of my life, and I spend more time with it than with my wife." There are a lot of them, but I haven’t figured it out yet.”

Li Laosan was a little puzzled, took out a match from it, looked left and right, and even put it on his nose to smell it, so he almost tasted it himself, and didn't think there was anything special about it, so he was a little confused: "Old man Brother, isn’t this just a small stick with a medicine cap on it, isn’t it unusual?”

Cheng Nuo half-smiled and half-explained: "Old Li, you are a bit of an outsider guiding an insider. It's like someone saying that anyone can pull a rickshaw. Anyway, it's just a matter of throwing your arms and running forward, but why? To keep the car from bumping, no matter how effortless you are, you have to practice it."

The factory owner nodded, and said with admiration: "People who have drunk ink are of high level, and everyone understands the truth. It may be another matter to explain it. Brother Li, I think we are destined, so I will give it to you today." Let’s talk about it, it’s really simple to disassemble, just wood and medicinal materials. Wood is mainly used to make boxes and matchsticks, and medicine is mainly used to make matchheads and the sides of matchboxes.”

"I really don't know about medicinal materials, but in terms of wood, we have so many forests, how much can only be used for a box of matches, so you shouldn't worry about it." Li Laosan continued to ask like a curious baby.

"Hey, that's the blame here. The main woods used are poplar, twig, arboria, hibiscus, etc., which are all local tree species. Logically speaking, you don't have to worry about it. But when it comes to our place, the place of origin is not Japan, but You have to buy it from the Japanese devils." Speaking of this, the factory owner was also full of disbelief, not to mention, there are so many forests in the Northeast, so there is no need to buy foreign goods.

"Factory owner, you may have forgotten that the Sanlin Company and the sawmill in the three eastern provinces responsible for logging are all owned by Japan. With such a handover, the local specialty products will become Japanese products, and the price will have to be doubled. " Cheng Nuo stood up and explained the doubt that had plagued the factory owner for many years.

In the early years, in order to develop and grow, these warlords would always rely on a certain power to sell their national interests in exchange for military expenses. Not to mention selling a piece of forest, selling a few large mines is a very common thing. Guns are easy to fight, who would take such a long-term view.

The factory owner wanted to refute when he heard that he had to ask for permission from others to cut down trees on his own land.

But when the words come to the mouth, after careful consideration, isn't this just the pissing nature of the public, so sell what you can sell quickly, for fear that your competitors will take the lead when it is too late, and you will not get anything in the end.

Reluctantly, the factory owner sighed: "Based on this calculation, the amount of money flowing out of Japan every year is unknown, which is regrettable."

Li Laosan asked: "It's just that these woods shouldn't be a big problem, but at worst, we can use them later."

The owner of the factory shook his head and said: "It's not that easy, brother Li. There are many kinds of medicines used in the production of matches. Few of them are produced in the country, and most of them come from foreign countries, while Japan and Germany are more. The match manufacturing industry in my country Most of the raw materials are given to foreign countries, and once an accident occurs, the foreign raw materials will be cut off, and the danger will be extremely high."

In terms of the technology at that time, chemicals such as potassium chlorate, red phosphorus, sulfur, manganese dioxide, potassium bicatalyte, ferrite, and iron oxide may be used on the medicinal materials. For the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, this point The industrial base is not enough at all. What the country can do is to import all the raw materials to the local assembly.Some manufacturers even feel that this is still a laborious effort, so they simply open a factory in Japan and post a national standard after the local production is completed, so that you earn the inside and I earn the leather.

Only consumers are kept in the dark, foolishly shouting to support domestic products, and all they buy are foreign products.

Knowing all this, it will be relatively simple later, just start tackling technical problems step by step.

The first is about the types of matches, which can be generally divided into two categories, namely friction matches and safety matches.

After thinking about it, Cheng Nuo first ruled out friction matches. In fact, the history of this thing in the match family is the earliest. At that time, white phosphorus was used to make friction matches. However, due to the historical background at that time, the manufacturing methods and raw materials were very different. The great danger will often cause the poisoning of the matchmaking workers, and if they are not careful, they will reach the ignition point and cause a fire directly.

Later, although it was improved, the white phosphorus was replaced with a paste made of phosphorus trisulfide, potassium chlorate, potassium nitrate, charcoal powder and gelatin, but after drying, it may burn without paying attention. The risk factor is too high, so decisively ruled out.

As for safety matches, it is more reassuring. The match head is made of antimony trisulfide, potassium chlorate and gelatin. There is no phosphorus added, and it will not burn if rubbed casually. The friction layer made of compounds such as phosphorus, antimony trisulfide and glass powder can only catch fire after the two are rubbed, and the manufacturing process is safer.

However, during this period, everyone’s technology was generally relatively backward. Most of the match factories mainly produced phosphorus sulfide matches, and few factories were willing to produce safety matches. The cost was much higher, and the manual process was longer, time-consuming The ones made are not as good as foreign goods.

Fortunately, these things did not involve advanced chemical levels, so Cheng Nuo's level was completely manageable.

Since you choose to do it, you should do it better, simply surpassing the products of this era by two or more versions.

After much deliberation, Cheng Nuo chose to make a match that is both water-resistant and moisture-resistant, and the price is affordable. After all, for many years after the official launch of the lighter, this thing was still a necessity of life.

Just do it, directly take the formula of a certain issue of the popular science book in the previous life, and start adding one by one according to the proportion:

"50 grams of potassium chlorate, 12 grams of glass powder, and 35 grams of steamed paint."

Everything else is easy to say, but when it came to steaming lacquer, it was really difficult. I copied all the names, but I didn’t know what the word was. After thinking about it, I found it from a corner of my memory. , It turned out to be a compound of nitrocellulose and castor oil.

I really felt relaxed before I did anything, but it was another matter when I actually started to operate it. I failed a few times in the middle, and only finally freed up a hundred new matches.

When he polished it, looking at the faint light, he gradually felt a sense of pride. Inexplicably, he felt like a little boy selling matches. It was not easy. Chemistry is not as fun as mathematics. Now his face is smoky He got one black and one red, and turned into a camouflage color. He immediately made up his mind that this kind of work was really hard for him, and it would be better to leave it to professionals in the future.

After finishing all this, it was already mid-June, and Cheng Nuo hadn't come out of the laboratory room for many days, it was always Li Laosan and the others who brought in and took out the meals, and all the visitors were isolated in the Outside the gate, it was this state of extreme ecstasy that led to the new match being produced so quickly. According to the above steps, it can be mass-produced. Cheng Nuo even made an extra backup to prevent the raw materials from being stuck by foreigners. The preparation method of key compounds.

Although the cost of research and development in this way will be much higher than that of a single assembled match, as long as the raw material compounds can be mass-produced and distributed to other manufacturers, the whole showdown will be very low.

Opening the bamboo curtain, Cheng Nuo felt that the sun was shining down, so he subconsciously covered it with his hand.

"Lao Li, the weather is nice today."

"Hey, sir, why did you come out? Are you thirsty or hungry? I'll cook with you." Li Laosan, who was carrying water and vegetables in the vegetable garden, saw Cheng Nuo coming out, and immediately threw the ladle into the bucket , wiped his hands on the scarf, and trotted over immediately: "If you think what I did is not suitable, I will call the **** over here."

"Hey, it's just a stomach pad, so there's no need to go through all this fuss, but what day is it?" Cheng Nuo waved his hand. It was just a casual greeting, and he wasn't hungry at all before dinner time.

"I have to think about it. The [-]th episode of the Town God's Temple the day before yesterday was the [-]th yesterday. Sir, today is the [-]th day of the lunar calendar." Li Laosan couldn't remember the date, so he counted with his fingers for a while before giving the specific date. .

"Well, if you're not busy, take me to Changxin's store. I have something to talk to Mr. Li." Cheng Nuo thought for a while, and then ordered: "I see you were pouring vegetables just now, if you are busy Open, I can go there by myself on three wheels."

Li Laosan couldn't be willing to do this, and shook his head repeatedly: "You are not slapping me in the face, Mr.'s business is my business, my little business is nothing, it doesn't matter whether it is early or late."

The green vegetable field is planted with beans, eggplants, tomatoes and other common summer vegetables in the north. From time to time, a pair of cabbage butterflies shuttle through it, giving this small courtyard a breath of life.

Taking advantage of Li Laosan's time checking the tricycle, Cheng Nuo got under the cucumber shelf, picked a long cucumber at random, washed it a little bit, straightened out all the thorns with his hands, bit off the cucumber tip, and chewed it big , except for a slightly astringent mouth, the rest is the sweetness of melons and fruits.

"Okay Li, you can grow cucumbers really well." Cheng Nuo sincerely praised, "It's much tastier than the ones sold in the market."

Li Laosan touched his head, and said a little embarrassedly: "Sir, it's okay to eat, so I don't worry. I thought about planting something extra after harvesting the wheat. If you are tired and thirsty, you can get it with your hand. It’s fresher than what you buy, so you can rest assured to eat it.”

In other words, it takes no more than ten seconds from taking it off to putting it in your mouth, which is nothing new.Even in order to keep the fruits in this vegetable field, Li Laosan specially warned Goudaner and the others that if they wanted to eat it, they could buy it directly from the vegetable farmer, and this vegetable field was only for Cheng Nuo to eat alone.

Originally, this group of kids still had some opinions, and they discussed that they would steal a few after he left, but when they heard that they were prepared for the husband, their attitude immediately changed, and they even came several times a day to see if any leaves had worms and quickly caught them. , Which seedlings are dry, water them quickly, etc., more caring than adults.

Cheng Nuo was quite emotional after learning about it. He found two bamboo baskets in the kitchen, picked all the ripe vegetables, and divided them into two portions. One was for these people to eat, and the other was taken to Changxin. shop, give it to Mr. Li.

However, thinking that Mr. Li still had two children at home, he saw a bakery seller on the way, got out of the car and bought two boxes of snacks, and then rushed to the destination.

When the two arrived, it was already [-] noon, and Cheng Nuo was still a little hesitant at the door. When visiting someone's house at meal time, there would always be a feeling of looting. I thought it would be better to come back in the afternoon.

But before the tricycle could turn around, the yard door opened, and it was Mr. Li who opened the door.

"Hey, Zhiyuan, you are here, why don't you come in, but I was told that the Eastern Jin Wang Huizhi, who I learned from, came here when he was excited, and returned when he was exhausted."

Cheng Nuo was a little embarrassed, got out of the car and said, "Isn't it just in time for dinner, and I'm going to visit you at this time, isn't it causing trouble for my sister-in-law?"

Mr. Li stepped forward to hold Cheng Nuo, and said with a smile, "It's just a matter of adding two more pairs of chopsticks, no trouble at all, you just came over, and I won't see you, we just eat whatever we want. "

It was only when I was eating that I realized how simple Mr. Li’s house is. It’s just a simple saozi noodle. Saozi is a dish of scrambled eggs with tomatoes. I felt that the taste was bland, so I put some garlic cloves, ten coriander and salt in a garlic mortar. Make garlic juice, put the alkaline water surface in cold water, pour these things, it tastes refreshing, and the mouth is full of fragrance.

"How about it, Zhiyuan, this is the garlic sauce noodle I learned from a worker in Henan Province. Are you satisfied with it?" Mr. Li didn't ask for simmered rice, but directly scraped off the shredded cucumber that Cheng Nuo brought over, and poured garlic sauce on it I started to eat it: "This noodles are suitable for eating in summer, especially after finishing work with them, don't mention how satisfying it is to eat such a bowl of noodles."

Cheng Nuo didn't say anything, he ate it all in one go, and finally wiped his mouth and stretched out a thumb: "Enjoy it. Hiccup."

"I'm too anxious to eat, I'm choking." Mr. Li laughed when he saw this, and shouted to his wife behind him: "Sister, bring Zhiyuan a bowl of noodle soup, let the original soup turn into the original food."

Mrs. Li looked kindly: "Why are you in such a hurry to eat? There is still more in the pot. I am afraid that you are not enough to eat, so I specially ordered a few more noodles."

Cheng Nuo hurriedly stopped, handed over the snacks she had brought with her, and asked her to distribute them to the two children. If she was a guest at someone's house, she would be too enthusiastic to add food, and she would neither eat nor eat at that time. There was no room for him, so he quickly pulled Mr. Li aside to talk about business.

"Mr. Shouchang, I want to set up a new match factory here, and I need some skilled workers. I know that you are relatively close to the master workers on weekdays. Let's see if there are any suitable candidates on your side."

Seeing this, Mr. Li put down the bowls and chopsticks, and said with concern: "Zhiyuan, you don't teach mathematics to run a magazine, why did you turn around and turn your attention to industry? Brother, I have to remind you, I didn't see this pool of water." It's as simple as that."

　Thanks to the book friend Riyue Tongcuo for the reward of 200 reading coins.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)