Go back to the past and be a schoolboy

Chapter 103
"Professor Cheng, can you see if this works? On behalf of the entire Tianjin Wei Chamber of Commerce, I, Ye, donated 1 yuan to the Work-Frugal Society in France to support these students to go to the country of Thailand and the West to learn advanced knowledge and culture, and help our Chinese workers to take root. Sitting on the teacher's chair, Ye Dengbang took a sip of tea without haste, and stretched out a finger: "If possible, the Chamber of Commerce in Tianjin Wei can even contact the businessmen in France to provide some work-study assistance for our students." position."

Bian Yinchang, the second head of the Tianjin Chamber of Commerce, who was sitting on another chair, said kindly: "Money makes the way, and those red-haired ghosts are easy to talk to, not to mention that the students we can study abroad are all high-quality and educated, no worse than their local countrymen." People, I don't know a few big characters, but I am too strong."

Ye Dengbang changed his posture and leaned on the back of his chair: "Modern countries are busy with wars. Even though France is an established power, a large number of young and strong people have to shed blood on the battlefield, so they recruited a large number of laborers from our country to support them. People can only shake their arms and exert their strength, so how can we students do translation work there?"

With the outbreak of the First World War, France suffered many casualties after participating in the war. Although we, as the Allies, did not directly participate in the war, the French Ministry of Industry still recruited a large number of Chinese workers from us, and they went to France through various channels. About 15 people.

Although the Chinese laborers who came here basically did some physical work such as digging trenches and delivering military supplies, so many people did not understand the language, customs, and diet, so it was a big problem to manage.Facing this circumstances.The French government also wants to carry out French education and open chemical engineering schools to solve problems such as "language barriers", "habitual ignorance", and "lack of application of craftsmanship", "to achieve a happy and legitimate life".

Therefore, combined with the historical background at that time, the association of Tianjin Chamber of Commerce was more about "working hard", and did not think so much about "studying" as Cheng Nuo and the others thought.

The reason why I offered all kinds of preferential conditions at the beginning was not only the respect for Cheng and Zhang, two educators, but also the idea of ​​retreating, which means that I will take out the benefits first to prove that the chamber of commerce supports you. educate.Everyone is a member of the circle, and what they care about is the skin on their faces. If you keep your mouth shut and open your mouth, it is not kind, and if it spreads, it will make people gossip.

Rubbing the handrail, Cheng Nuo smiled and said, "I accept the Chamber of Commerce's kindness for the Work-Frugal Study in France, but we cannot accept the money."

The teacup had already been lifted into the air, and upon hearing this, Zhang Boling put it down again, and said in a low voice, "Zhiyuan, don't you think you don't have enough money? 1 yuan is already quite a lot. It was supported by the French government a few months ago. The Huagong School doesn’t pay as much as this, so we’d better accept it as soon as we see it.”

Cheng Nuo patted his arm lightly, signaling his reassurance, and said loudly: "In my opinion, Tianjin Chamber of Commerce can directly donate 1 yuan to help students, which is already very generous. If the students know about the annual dye and lighting costs, they will be very grateful, and in the future, they will save a lot of walking when they enter Gaul to study, but even so, I am still going to decline this kindness."

Ye Dengke was puzzled, and frowned and asked, "If it wasn't for raising education funds, then why did Professor Cheng come here this time?"

Cheng Nuo made a fool of himself: "President Ye, from the perspective of your business for many years, what is the future development prospect of Zhonghua Match Factory?"

Although Ye Dengke was puzzled, he still gave his opinion after thinking about it: "The future is bright, and it is not a bad idea to regard it as a hen that can go down to the golden mountain. Judging from the current momentum, it is possible to beat all the peers in North China." Invincible."

After saying this, I still silently downgraded my evaluation of Cheng Nuo in my heart. A promising educator, who didn't do a good job of doing great things all over the world, has now gone astray, and his mind has fallen into money. Well, it really is a poor year.

Cheng Nuo lowered his head and smiled, and said: "I believe President Ye's vision will not be deceiving, and the profits in the future will only be greater, but I want to share a large part of it with you. how?"

"Cough, cough, cough." Bian Yinchang, who had just picked up the teacup and was about to drink some, was choked to death, and it took a long time to recover. He didn't care about his half-wet cuffs, and hurriedly asked, "Professor Cheng, I heard you right." Well, you are going to sell the shares of Zhonghua Match Factory, or do you want to sell it directly, you have to think twice, no matter how much you sell, you can make money in the future."

Zhang Boling also quickly grabbed him, with an anxious face on his face: "Zhiyuan, you are going crazy, I heard that the match factory has started to make money recently, even that British guy is greedy, you How can you be willing to sell him, don't tell me that the money you said before is for this kind of gift."

Ye Dengbang is well-informed, and has experienced the change of dynasties. Logically speaking, no matter how big an event can be, he should not be surprised. But when he encounters this kind of behavior that doesn't even give money, he still expresses his incomprehension: "Professor Cheng , if there is an urgent need for money at home, I believe that with your status and status, if you open your mouth casually, someone will rush to send money to please, and you can't just kill the golden rooster."

Cheng Nuo shook his head, took a sip of water and said with a smile: "No, of course I, Cheng, will not do the short-sighted behavior of killing chickens and taking eggs. I want to ask President Ye again. What do you rely on to find a way out of the middle?"

Ye ascended the list without hesitation: "Only technical ears."

Cheng Nuo clapped his hands and praised: "By the way, what I sell here is technology, so that more people can make a fortune with the China Match Factory. It's better to have fun alone than to have fun together."

Hearing this, Bian Yinchang breathed heavily and said, "Professor Cheng is saying that he is willing to be open and honest, and publish all this advanced preparation technology?"

Cheng Nuo nodded: "Of course, we have the raw materials for making matches, but before the Zhonghua Match Factory, domestic products could not catch up with foreign products in terms of quality and output. In my opinion, it was because of poor technology, so we deliberately dug them at a high price. Several foreigners have been researching and developing in private for several years, and finally broke through the technical difficulties, and even surpassed them, and the future will be dominated by our domestic products."

Here, Cheng Nuo deliberately exaggerates the difficulty of technical breakthroughs, in order to give people a feeling that it is hard to come by, and to raise the value of China Match Factory, so that people will not feel that it is too easy to come when the real technology is shared. cherish.

After hearing the confident news, Bian Yinchang smiled brightly: "It's so good, our matchmaking industry will no longer be choked by people technically, the output and quality will increase, and the price will naturally be lowered. It can save a sum of money, although it is not much, but it will be a lot of savings after a long time."

Ye Dengbang considered a little more, and said cautiously: "So many of our colleagues have not overcome the difficulties. The Zhonghua Match Factory has done it. It must have suffered a lot. This technology can't just be taken out so easily?"

Cheng Nuo crossed his hands and crossed his legs: "Sheng Mi's kindness fights against Mi's hatred. The ancients once said that the business field is like a battlefield. Although it is a bit exaggerated, it is not a child's play, so we naturally have our own plans."

"please say."

"China Match Factory will continue to develop steadily according to the established plan. At the same time, we will also sell various raw materials prepared, such as potassium chlorate, red phosphorus, sulfur, manganese dioxide, etc., which are large-scale machinery. As long as the money is in place, It's all negotiable."

"Is there an entry threshold?"

"Of course, it will not be sold if it is solely owned by non-Chinese. It will not be sold if it is found to be fraudulent and abducted. It will not be sold if it is found to be bullying and good. The most important point is that a part of the profits must be used for education every year. This time, the work-study program in France is the threshold."

Of course, Cheng Nuo would not take out the things developed by his subordinates so hard. That would only make the things too cheap, and it would be fine if he didn't cherish them.

A single company can indeed make money, but the problem is that the match industry is not big, and the profit is thin, and it can be rubbed out by hand, and it only costs a little money. Who can buy more of these things and burn them for fun? .What's more, Cheng Nuo's original intention of developing this project was not to want the necessities of life to be controlled by foreigners and reduce the cost of living for the people. However, it would be difficult for him to lay it all over the country in a short period of time, and it would not be easy to cover the entire North China region in the future.

So simply focus on the upstream industry, supply raw materials and machinery, take away the high value-added profits, and leave the rest to the market.

Seeing that there are profits to be made, these businessmen of the Tianjin Chamber of Commerce immediately moved faster, with a lot less fake politeness and a lot of sincerity. Ask someone to come and participate.

On the appointed day, everyone gathered at the gate of the Tianjin Chamber of Commerce, looking at the notice on the wall, each with their own ghosts.

"Hey, Li Manzi, it's not easy, you're still alive, I haven't seen you for half a year, right?"

"Look at what you said, you, An Fuzi, aren't you alive? Even if I die, I can't die before you, right? How unlucky."

"Stop messing with me. The last time you bought the goods from me, why haven't you paid me the final payment? No wonder you are called Li Manzi. At the beginning, I thought that although you are a bit ugly, frustrated, and short Point, I haven't got lameness yet, how did I get this nickname, it turned out to be a resignation, the big guy said it!"

There were a lot of spectators around, and they all had the idea that dead fellow monks would not die poor monks, and naturally they would not miss any jokes, and they all booed: "Yes, isn't that what it is."

"Fuck you, An Fuzi, don't be rude to me if you don't show affection. The last time I sold my fish oil wax, you guys guess what happened. It's full of mud inside, just a layer of wax skin on the outside. I'm sorry, you guys Let’s talk about this, whoever doesn’t have a good eye will give him back the balance, and it would be good if he doesn’t steal his blood.” Seeing this, Li Manzi broke his jar and told them all about their deeds.

This was a good time, the people who came here were all famous, and neither of them could get along, and Cheng Nuo and the others didn't even let in.

Seeing is believing, hearing is believing, in order to let these "customers" who came from afar see the effect of the new match, Cheng Nuo specially arranged for someone to buy all the matches available in the market, in order to make it better More intuitive control experiments.

While everyone exclaimed, Cheng Nuo dipped the brush in water and dipped it on all the match heads.

"Everyone, it's not easy for everyone to come here. You must come here for one word - 'money', so I won't talk nonsense. Tell me, can this kind of wet match still light?" After finishing the operation, Cheng Nuo came to the podium and asked the audience.

"Don't talk nonsense, but do something stupid, the wet firewood will definitely not burn." An unfriendly voice came from the crowd, causing everyone to laugh.

Cheng Nuo wasn't angry either, and walked to the podium, and sure enough, as the man said, either the match powder fell off, or the matchbox was scratched, none of them could be successfully ignited.

"Let me just say, if you do some stupid things at a young age, it's nothing more than calling us over."

The unfriendly voice stopped abruptly before it could finish, and was interrupted by the last match, which actually caught fire.

Cheng Nuo held up the burning match and said to himself, "This is the match from our Zhonghua Match Factory. It has the only anti-moisture technology. We have the technology that none of our peers can do!"

Everyone knows that Zhonghua Match Factory is powerful, but they also know that he makes a lot of money. This is the first time they have seen such outstanding technology. They try it one after another without believing in evil, and finally they are all convinced by the facts. In terms of water resistance and moisture resistance, it is really a scorpion. ) one copy.

In fact, it is not difficult for Cheng Nuo to be water-resistant and moisture-resistant. Prepare various medicines for the match head according to scientific proportions, mix them evenly to make the medicine head, and then immerse it in a special vinyl resin solution to dry it. Of course, the scale surface of the match It is also necessary to do a good job of water resistance, which requires additional deployment of phenolic resin solutions.

And all these valuable experiences come from the extra thick popular science books that Cheng Nuo bought when he was a child using match ends, tin foil on the inner wall of cigarette boxes, and ping-pong balls to make rockets. Now his memory is so good that he can remember all the contents in it.

With a good start, the following introduction will be relatively simple. Whether it is temperature-resistant technology or new-style paper matchboxes, they have refreshed their cognition step by step. Those who come here are all knowledgeable and know how advanced these technologies are. , Consumers will not think about competing products for a second when faced with two products, and will definitely choose the one that is cheap, high-quality, waterproof and moisture-resistant.

A lead of one place is surprise, a lead of two places is shock, a lead of three places is panic, etc., and overall lead is taken for granted.

Looking at the leeks in the audience, Cheng Nuo was full of the joy of a good harvest and smiled: "Everyone, I didn't call you here to show off, but to say that all the technologies here, as long as they meet our requirements, we will give them a try." Let’s teach each other, never hide anything, let’s make the market bigger and stronger together, and let the foreign goods go where they come from.”

At this time, the unfriendly voice from the audience came again: "Your Zhonghua Match Factory is so kind, and after talking so much, I'm afraid you want to take advantage of this time to sharpen your knives and think about how to kill us?"

Everyone in the audience looked at me and I looked at you. Although they were not as confident as before, their thoughts were still similar to those of that person.

Seeing this, Cheng Nuo didn't pursue that person, but smiled frankly: "Our Zhonghua Match Factory has a big heart, so naturally we won't leave the [-] million market to eat alone. The difference between a bowl of rice and a pot of rice I also understand that although there will be more people eating later, there will also be more people cooking, and the distribution will only be more than before, and consumers will be able to enjoy the dividends of industry development faster, so why not do it?"

The voice was persistent: "Stop talking nonsense, the dead are almost alive, hurry up and reveal all the terms of cooperation."

Now that person aroused public outrage, and they searched around to settle accounts with him.

"Be polite to Professor Cheng, is there anyone as critical as you?"

"You have to smash the pot when you eat. There are everyone in this world. They wear human skin and have a wolfish heart."

"Hurry up and find this person out and throw him out. I think he is definitely looking for trouble on purpose. Cut him off and he will be honest."

But after searching and searching, they couldn't find any trace of this person, so everyone had no choice but to give up.

Cheng Nuo smiled and motioned everyone to be quiet: "I believe that the people who come here are all people who want to serve the country with industry, but this kind of thing can't be done with only enthusiasm, so you still need to learn, especially Taixi Learn, how did the Chinese Match Factory get these technologies? They were not rewarded by foreign noses, and even they are not as good as ours. These are all developed by us Chinese.”

Seeing how everyone was listening carefully, Cheng Nuo continued: "Our ancestors once said, 'Ten years will take a hundred years to cultivate people'. Talents don't just appear out of thin air. They need years of cultivation. In the process, many children from poor families do not even have the qualifications to enter the threshold. Even if they are lucky enough to enroll, they will have to lose due to various practical problems halfway. It is a pity, and because of this, our industrial talents are too few to meet the needs. "

When it comes to this, everyone seems to share the same feeling. There will never be a shortage of coolies, and there may be very few people who really play with machines. It is not feasible to chant scriptures on this iron lump, but I can only pay tuition to the foreign nose over and over again. This family may not accept it.

Seeing that the heat was almost ready, Cheng Nuo paused, and said: "In order to better learn Western culture, train more industrial talents for our use, and prevent students sent to Europe from living a life of luxury and lust, we specially established the Chinese Study Abroad The foundation moderately helps those students who want to go abroad but have no conditions to go abroad, and use this platform to open their eyes to see the world."

Someone came back and said directly: "Professor Cheng, just tell us how much you want us to pay. As long as we can achieve something, we will seriously consider it."

"Yes, everyone will contribute to education."

Cheng Nuo waved his hand and smiled, "You don't need to pay directly for this, as long as you buy from us, we will donate a part of the profit from this batch of goods to the China Study Abroad Foundation in your name. The more donations will be made. Of course, the purchase price will remain the same as before, and will not change because of this.”

As soon as this remark came out, the people below immediately exploded. It sounded like Cheng Nuo was using his own money to do good deeds, but the name belonged to them instead.

Even if it is actually their money, but the Zhonghua Match Factory is the only one that is both a player and a referee. What kind of pricing is not up to others. At this time, it can be given a high hat. It's conscience.

Cheng Nuo did this mainly for two reasons. One, of course, he really wanted to support the Work-Frugal Society in France, and wanted to give more students a path to study and cultivate more talents; A horse-drawn carriage can carry more "passengers" to form a community of interests. Not to mention that one's own safety is guaranteed to a certain extent, it will be much better to develop other industries later with the blessing of contacts.

If so, the China Match Workers Union and the China Study Abroad Foundation were founded on the same day, and both were headquartered in the British Concession in Tianjin, which attracted the attention of the business and education circles for a while.

After the meeting, in an unknown tavern.

Cheng Nuo looked at the "unfriendly" person before, and laughed again and again, not knowing what to say.

The unfriendly people didn't care so much, put a piece of sliced ​​beef into their mouths, and smacked their lips: "Not to mention, this five-spice beef tastes really good. The last time I ate it so authentic, it had to be a palace beef." inside."

Cheng Nuo poured a glass of wine and handed it over. He cupped his hands and said in admiration, "Mr. Zai, don't say anything. You have enough beef today. You can eat as much as you want. When it comes to acting, you are definitely one of the best in Forty-Nine City!"

The so-called unfriendly person was Zai Tao, and Cheng Nuo on the stage sang a red face and a bad face, the match was exquisite, even Cheng Nuo thought he was here to make trouble, and everyone was blind inside.

(End of this chapter)