In the Southern Song Dynasty, I competed with Mongolia for the world

Chapter 620 No one dares to provoke me now

Zhao Yurui talked a lot with Wu Tiancheng that day. They decided to help him purchase machine tools and provided a lot of suggestions. As for whether it could change the course of Wu Tianbao's history, it would depend on whether Wu Tiancheng could convince his elder brother after returning.

Wu Tianbao began to fail after he moved to Henan. If he had been able to stabilize his position in Hunan and establish a base, he might have been able to hold out for a few more years.

The next day, Zhao Yurui continued to look for Zhu Ke and asked for more machine tools.

As he expected, Zhu Ke believed that this could be used to process military equipment and needed approval from above.

Zhao Yurui said that the gun barrel is just a small craft and does not require much technical level. The mechanical level of Dayuan is no worse than that of Dongyan. I use Dongyan's product because I want to process cigarette models.

Of course Zuko didn't believe it.

But Zhao Yurui went there every day and sat there waiting for him to get off work. After Zhu Ke got off work, Zhao Yurui carried the gift box and explained to him all the way.

After several days, Zhu Ke was finally persuaded and successfully got the order.

Then Zhao Yurui applied for a patent in Dongyan, requiring Cao Wang to sell this leaf rolling machine only to Zhao Yurui.

No one would pay attention to his request in China, and there is no such thing as a patent for Dayuan in China.

But Dongyan at this time attached great importance to patents and kept its promises. Cao Wang said that as long as Zhao Yurui kept it secret well, no manufacturer would be able to make similar machines within ten years.

It is impossible to imitate unless someone gets the drawings.

Of course, this thing is not difficult to make. If someone studies it like Zhao Yurui did, they can also make a similar machine. It may not be the same as theirs, but it can also mass-produce cigarettes.

In mid-March, Zhao Yurui returned to China from Dongyan.

In order to place the order this time, Zhao Yurui almost used up all his working capital. Fortunately, Wu Tiancheng gave him ten kilograms of gold, worth four hundred thousand.

Zhao Yurui kept five pounds of gold for himself and gave the rest to the hundred and thousand households of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, which made the two superiors more impressed with him.

After that, Zhao Yurui was extremely busy. He had to complete the court projects and prepare his own cigarette factory. In between, he went to Dongyan twice.

In July, Dongyan finalized the machine tool model and started formal manufacturing.

The first shipment is scheduled for October.

In September, Zhao and Rui's tobacco leaf supplies were confirmed by tobacco factories.

He bought a local bankrupt factory and converted it into a cigarette factory, and the Dayuan Cigarette Factory was officially established.

Then someone was hired to design a variety of grades and cigarette patterns.

The most expensive one is called Tianye, which costs thirty yuan a pack and three hundred yuan a strip.

Then there is Zhonghua, ten yuan a pack and one hundred yuan a carton.

There are also Qingyuan cigarettes for five yuan, Dinghai cigarettes for two yuan, and Dayuan brand cigarettes for one yuan.

He deliberately set the price of Dayuan brand to the lowest, and the tobacco leaves were also the worst.

A thin female cigarette was also designed.

In December of the ninth year of Emperor Wu's reign, after nearly a year of preparation, Dayuan cigarettes were officially shipped.

On the sixth day of December, at noon, Zhao Yurui brought Chang Yuchun and others to a restaurant, found a table and ordered a few dishes.

After the waiter wrote down everything, Zhao Yurui suddenly asked, "Do you have any Zhonghua cigarettes? Give me a pack."

The waiter was stunned for a moment before he asked cautiously, "What?"

"Do you have any Zhonghua cigarettes? Give me a pack."

"What are Zhonghua cigarettes?" the waiter asked curiously.

"You don't even know about Zhonghua cigarettes? These are very popular cigarettes in the capital and Lin'an, how come you don't have any?" Chang Yuchun said as he took out a pack of cigarettes and threw it on the table, but there was only half a pack left in it.

The waiter shook his head and smiled bitterly: "We don't have any here."

"Forget it, forget it. It's a small place, so it's normal not to have any." Zhao Yurui waved his hand, indicating to take out one.

When the waiter heard Zhao Yurui talking about their small place, he smiled slightly, looking dissatisfied.

Although Dinghai is small, it is a developed area.

Throughout the Yuan Dynasty, no one dared to look down on Dinghai, as this was the place where Emperor Zhao Yurui started his career.

Then the restaurant was filled with smoke, and the few people brought by Zhao Yurui were puffing away, smoking happily.

At the same time, the smell of smoke spread throughout the building, and many people looked over in surprise.

Da Yuan has a pipe, but this is the first time I have seen such cigarettes.

After a while, someone on the street below shouted, "Cigarettes for sale! Cigarettes for sale! The latest high-end cigarettes."

A customer turned around and saw a child on the street selling cigarettes in a wooden box hanging around his neck.

Chang Yuchun immediately stuck his head out and said, "Hey, kid, come up here. I want to buy some cigarettes."

"Okay, I'll be right there." The child winked at him, obviously familiar with Chang Yuchun.

Soon the children went upstairs, and almost everyone on Zhao Yurui's side paid for a box.

When the child turned around and walked away, someone nearby called him, "Kid, come here."

The child brought the cigarettes over. The man took a look and saw that there seemed to be many kinds of cigarettes, so he asked what they were one by one.

"What kind of cigarette is this and how much is it?"

"This is called Tianye, thirty dollars a bag."

"So expensive?" someone exclaimed.

"Is there any cheaper one?"

"This big yuan costs one yuan per pack."

"This Dinghai brand, two dollars a pack."

Some people bought a pack for one or two dollars. Although the tobacco leaves were of poor quality, they were still better than ordinary pipes.

Once you have smoked a pipe, you will immediately feel that this cigarette is better.

At the same time, similar scenes were everywhere in Dinghai County. The children of Lao Zhu and Lao Zhang's subordinates went to the streets to sell cigarettes when they were not in school.

Dinghai Cigarette’s first cigarette store also officially opened.

Cigarettes became popular in Dinghai and gradually spread to other places.

Zhao Yurui also cooperated with many shops under his management, selling cigarettes in their shops and giving them a certain profit.

A similar mechanism was also set up for later generations, where expensive and cheap cigarettes were taken together, with a monthly limit, and whoever sold more would get more.

It's like he is a tobacco group.

During the Chinese New Year, he arranged to send cigarettes to officials at all levels in Dinghai County, including his Jinyiwei officials.

It also stated that the cigarette factory would use cash to recycle these cigarettes.

Soon, giving cigarettes as gifts became a trend among officials in the Yuan Dynasty.

This method of recycling cigarettes is the most powerful. At that time, Dayuan did not have liquor like Moutai, and there was no liquor that could be recycled.

Most people don’t get cash when they give wine as gifts during the Chinese New Year.

Zhao Yurui set a precedent for recycling gifts, making it easier for civil and military officials of the Yuan Dynasty to gain benefits.

In the tenth year of Emperor Wu's reign (1350), cigarettes were still only popular in Dinghai and Qingyuan prefectures.

In the 11th year of Emperor Wu's reign, the tea had become popular in Lin'an and nearby prefectures. Zhao Yurui's leaf-curling factory doubled in size and was exported to overseas countries such as Dongyan. It was also sold as far as Fujian and Guangdong coasts in China, where it was also very popular.

In the winter of the eleventh year of Emperor Wu's reign, Zhao Yurui was promoted to general flag bearer, becoming the fastest promoted general flag bearer in Dinghai Baihu Office in recent years.

In the spring of the twelfth year, new cigarette factories appeared in Zhejiang and Fujian.

Just as Cao Wang said, this thing is not technically difficult.

Although others do not have the drawings of Zhao Yurui's machine, it is just a machine for making cigarettes, which can be invented by ordinary craftsmen. It just depends on the quality of the machine.

Dayuan’s new cigarette factory was obviously not as good as Zhao Yurui’s, and was inferior to Zhao Yurui in terms of tobacco leaves and design and packaging. In addition, Zhao Yurui’s cigarettes came out first and still occupied the main market.

That day, Zhao Yurui was working in the office when Lao Zhu, the head of the cigarette factory, called him. Lao Zhu said that a few cars of people had just arrived at the factory and they said they were from the Qingyuan Prefecture government office and wanted to re-verify the tax rate of the cigarette factory.

Because they think cigarette factories are very profitable and should pay more taxes.

Previously, the cigarette factory had the same fixed tax rate as ordinary local factories, and Zhao Yurui’s tax rate was 10,000 yuan per year.

This time the other party came with great force and inspected the factory. Finally, they inferred the factory's output based on the factory's machines.

Then taxes are collected based on machine tools.

Lao Zhu said, "There's a guy named Zhou across the street. He said one of our machines can produce a hundred bags per hour, and each bag is worth an average of ten yuan."

"The output value is one thousand dollars per hour, twelve hours a day, that's twelve thousand dollars."

"We have 30 machine tools in our factory, and that's nearly 400,000 yuan a day."

"Twelve million a month."

“It falls into the category of heavy taxation.”

"If we calculate the profit by half, we will have to pay NT$1.2 million in business income tax every month."

Damn it, he wanted to rob the money! Zhao Yurui almost slammed the table and stood up.

Not all the cigarettes in his factory sell at ten yuan a pack. Given Dayuan's current economic level, cigarettes priced at one or two yuan are still the best-selling ones, and these are also the main cigarettes produced by the factory. The output of cigarettes priced above ten yuan is relatively small, so how can there be so much profit?

However, the Zhao Yurui Cigarette Factory operates in two shifts, and all machines are running 24 hours a day, with one day off a week to allow the machines to rest.

At present, the factory's monthly net profit (after deducting all expenses) is about 4 million. Qingyuan Prefecture wants to collect more than 1 million, which is equivalent to a quarter. He cannot afford this.

Zhao Yurui also plans to open a second factory in Lin'an Prefecture after making money this year.

After two or three years of promotion, cigarettes are now becoming more and more popular, and it is time to open a branch factory.

Unexpectedly, someone from the imperial court came that day to collect heavy taxes.

"Before leaving, Zhou left his business card and told us to contact him if we need anything." Lao Zhu added, "I guess this guy wants some benefits?"

"Please have someone deliver the business card."

The business card was delivered to Zhao Yurui on the same day.

Zhao Yurui looked carefully and saw that it said "Tianhe International Trade" Zhou Xiong.

Damn, isn't he from the Commercial Taxation Bureau?
There is a commercial tax office in Qingyuan Prefecture, which is responsible for collecting taxes. Why did Zhou Xiong follow them and charge such a high tax?

Zhao Yurui immediately went to ask his immediate superior, Captain Xu Zheng, for details.

Because Zhao Yurui did a great job in Dinghai, the local Jinyiwei generated a lot of income. Xu Zheng has made good achievements in recent years and it is said that he will soon be promoted to the rank of commander-in-chief.

Xu Zheng wanted to mention it to Zhao Yurui again before leaving.

But Zhao Yurui had been the general flag bearer for less than a year, and it was still a bit difficult.

"Zhou Xiong, this man is not a simple person, he is Master Zhou." Xu Zheng told Zhao Yurui that Zhou Xiong was the son of Zhou Jun, the former prefect of Qingyuan Prefecture.

This guy is famous in Qingyuan Prefecture for making money outside.

When the factory made money in the past, Zhou Xiong came to ask for shares. He invested only based on his status, without investing a penny, and then enjoyed the dividends.

This time, it is obvious that he has set his sights on Zhao Yurui’s cigarette factory.

Xu Zheng owns 5% of the shares in the cigarette factory, which were originally given to Xu Zheng by Zhao Yurui.

This meant that Xu Zheng also had to pay for it, so Xu Zheng immediately started cursing and was quite annoyed.

"Former prefect? ​​Zhou Jun is not the prefect now?" Zhao Yurui said.

"He is now the deputy envoy of Jiangnan." Xu Zheng sighed.

It turns out that Zhou Jun got promoted.

But it’s in the neighboring Jiangnan Province, not Zhejiang Province.

Zhao Yurui thought about it and realized that since he was a senior official of the vice-provincial level, he should be able to have some connections.

However, Xu Zheng is still young, in his early forties, and he can move up in the future and can protect Zhao Yurui.

Zhou Jun is almost sixty years old, and he has just been appointed as a deputy envoy. He will have to retire in a few more years at most, so there is no cost-effectiveness in this investment.

"I'll go meet Zhou Xiong first and feel out what he has to say." Zhao Yurui decided immediately to visit Zhou Xiong first.

A few days later, Zhao Yurui brought Chang Yuchun and Zhang Youcheng to Qingyuan Prefecture.

Then I found Tianhe Trading Company.

The receptionist was a pretty lady. When I heard that I wanted to see their CEO Zhou, she said he was in a meeting and I had to wait.

"Tell him I'm from the cigarette factory."

The young lady responded, but Zhao Yurui was still left in the cold for a quarter of an hour.

A quarter of an hour later, Zhao and Rui were taken into a reception room alone.

He sat alone for a long time, then the door outside opened and a young man in his thirties walked in with two big men.

Both of the two men were tall and strong, with fierce looks, and seemed to be gangsters.

"Hello, Mr. Zhou, I'm Xiao Zhao from the cigarette factory." Zhao Yurui stepped forward politely and extended his hand.

"Hello, Xiao Zhao, hello, Xiao Zhao." Zhou Xiong laughed, stretched out his hand and shook hands with him gently, then sat down opposite Zhao Yurui.

Two big men stood on both sides of him like bodyguards.

"Mr. Zhou, the cigarettes on the market are mainly sold for one or two yuan, and our factory mainly produces this type of cigarettes. The profit is really not high, only one or two cents per pack of cigarettes."

Zhao Yurui came up and started complaining, but before he could say a few words, Zhou Xiong waved his hand and his face darkened.

"Don't talk nonsense to me." Zhou Xiong said, holding up his finger: "20%, I want to invest, 20% of the investment."

Damn it, how come they are all the same? If the business becomes big, you guys will have to invest in it? Zhao Yurui cursed inwardly, but couldn't get angry.

He thought for a moment without making any noise: "We are planning to open a second cigarette factory in Lin'an next month."

"Five million in cash will be needed for the initial construction of the factory, purchase of machinery, recruitment of workers and payment of wages."

Zhao Yurui said slowly, "We can let Mr. Zhou invest 20% in the branch factory, and Mr. Zhou only needs to pay one million."

As soon as these words were spoken, the room suddenly became quiet.

Zhou Xiong looked at Zhao Yurui in disbelief, as if to say, "I, Master Zhou, also want to pay? Are you kidding me?"
My face, Master Zhou, is worth one million.

After a while.

Hahahaha, Zhou Xiong laughed so hard that tears were almost coming out.

"Xiao Zhao, do you know who I am?" Zhou Xiong said with a smile.

"Mr. Zhou, of course I know." Zhao Yurui also laughed.

"My face, Zhou Xiong, is worth one million in Qingyuan Prefecture." Zhou Xiong pointed at his face and said, "Also, I don't want to invest in your branch factory, I want to invest in all your factories."

"I won't pay a penny, just 20%."

Zhou Xiong also said it clearly.

I was just about to tell Zhao Yurui that I only wanted 20%, which was already polite.

"In return, I promise you that no one will dare to disturb you in Zhejiang anymore." Zhou Xiong said firmly and confidently.

He saw no reason for Zhao Yurui to refuse.

These businessmen also want to find a backer.

After all, my father is the deputy envoy of the Administration Office and a local official of the deputy provincial government. Why don’t you quickly curry favor with us?

Zhao Yurui thought for a moment and said, "No one in Zhejiang dares to mess with us now."

"..." Zhou Xiong stared at him.

(End of this chapter)