Back to the Republic of China to open a department store

After arriving in Tianjin, Luo Xiazhi devoted himself to non-stop work.

Since the "Neptune Soda Plant" was put into operation, it was the first time for him to come to this modern plant in Tanggu.

Looking at the soaring evaporative factory tower known as "the tallest building in Asia" and the white steam coming out of it, a kind of tough-guy romance of heavy industry and heavy metal spewed out of Luo Xiazhi's chest.

Listen, the rumbling mechanical roar is like the roar of laborers;

Look, the soaring giant white "begonias" look like the country's land;

What is being produced on this exciting land is the "backbone" that will support the future of this country.

Such a great achievement in the contemporary era, benefiting in the great cause of the future, has my own insignificant effort, this feeling makes people excited, no amount of clothes sold, no number of record players can match it.

"This is the soda ash we produced this year."

Back in the office, Fan Dongli handed Luo Xiazhi a test tube.

Luo Xiazhi looked at the white crystals inside and nodded in admiration.

"I heard from Xiaoye before that in the first few months, the production of the factory was not very smooth. Many of the alkali blocks produced were red and brown, and the quality was not very good."

"Yes, there was a big accident, and the drying pot was burned out. The factory was almost forced to stop production... But then I sent people to the United States for further training. After returning to China, the machines and processes were upgraded, so that they can be used in the industry. In the subsequent production, the technological level has been greatly improved."

Fan Dongli still has that amiable appearance, but the hard work of the past few years has made his temples pale, and his plump cheeks have sunken slightly, which only makes people sigh the ruthlessness of the years.

It's just that all the hard work has now turned into flowers and fruits, and all the hard work has paid off.

"Today, the sodium carbonate content of our products has reached more than 99%. It can be said that compared with foreign alkalis, our quality is better, the purity is higher, and the price is also cheaper."

Fan Dongli said excitedly, "I plan to send the latest batch of products to the United States to participate in this year's World Expo. Maybe I can come back with a gold medal!"

"Compared to those "patriotic goods" that are not worthy of the name, Brother Fan, you are the one who used your patriotic heart to create this real "patriotic soda ash"!"

Rorschach praised without hesitation.

"Okay! Then we will use 'Patriotic Soda' to name the samples that are about to go to the United States."

Fan Dongli readily accepted.

Gu Hanlin was also full of pride, and swiped his pen on the spot, writing "Patriotic Soda" in four big characters.He also picked up a pen specially designed to write cursive characters, and wrote down the corresponding English.

He writes very well with one hand, and in Shanghai, people often ask for his calligraphy with a pen fee, but he is very stingy on weekdays, and he seldom gives away the good calligraphy.

On the contrary, I write it once every time I come to Tianjin, which is very good for Fan Dongli.

Standing at the door, looking at the three people inside, Li Ye confirmed once again that the distance between him and the third master is not the physical distance of a door or a room.

It's the difference between the mind and vision, the difference between the noble personality and the humble personality.

Lowering his head, he smiled bitterly, and finally decided to let go of this unrealistic feeling completely.

His feelings are too humble and selfish, so don't tarnish this pure place in his heart anymore.

"I read the letter and learned that Brother Fan wants to set up a fertilizer factory. I support it very much."

After celebrating, Rorschach brought the topic back to the real purpose of the trip.

"But I think, in addition to the fertilizer plant, we also need a professional chemical company."

Rorschach talked eloquently.

"Brother Fan, look. Before our 'Neptune Soda Ash' came out, all domestic alkali used in the glass, paper, textile, and dye industries basically relied on imports. A few years ago, the price of a piece of industrial alkali was about the same The weight of gold has caused many domestic industries to be unable to develop themselves, and they are really trapped by cost constraints.”

"But now with our alkali factory, these domestic industrial factories have greatly reduced the production cost, and the quality and price of the glass, paper, and cloth produced can finally compete with foreign goods. The market is no longer flooded with foreign goods. , domestic products have been developed."

Gu Hanlin nodded frequently.

"Now we have a soda factory as the foundation, and the land is ready-made. Compared with the initial stage of start-up, we have a solid foundation now. Actually... I heard that the Japanese plan to open a "natural science" in Shanghai. Institute', to prepare for the Japanese chemical industry to enter the work in the future."

Luo Xiazhi said rather worriedly.

"Xia Zhi, you can actually get information from Japan?"

When Fan Dongli heard the news, he had to say he was a little surprised.

The ability of the Japanese to engage in intelligence in China is simply creepy.Unexpectedly, Luo Xiazhi could get their information in reverse.

"This is thanks to our Director Gu."

Luo Xiazhi said with a smile, "This research institute cooperates with the Shanghai Education Bureau in the name of the Cultural Affairs Department under the Ministry of Education of Japan. On the surface, it is of course for the purpose of cooperating to promote the development of science and engineering in the two countries. There is a College of Science under it. And the medical school. But how can the Japanese be so kind? It is definitely an intelligence gathering center, the purpose is to carry out chemical and medical expansion in China."

Others don't know the minds of the Japanese. How could Luo Xiazhi, who has watched thousands of episodes of various TV series "Screw Devils" know, not to know?

Not to mention now, just 100 years later, the Japanese are also engaging in intelligence in China through various channels.

Luo Xiazhi has a cousin who works in a Japanese company and has to open the "Morning Rules" every morning.

Regardless of Chinese and Japanese employees, every morning, they publish one or several news or reports related to the industry that happened in China in the past few days.Then there are dedicated employees who are responsible for summarizing and sending the information to the Japanese head office as a reference for the company to adjust its strategic deployment in China—that happened in 202X!

"We must use our current advantages to build our own 'chemical empire' before the Japanese completely take the initiative."

Luo Xiazhi said firmly.

----------------

During the period of wandering and investigating in Tianjin, Liang Shaolong, who was going south, also sent a telegram.

The "Neptune" he brought with him has received great attention in the Nanyang area.Like China at present, the vast Nanyang region is also facing the status quo of underdeveloped industries, and the demand for soda ash is huge.

Under the lead of the Li family, Liang Shaolong met with many Chinese businessmen in Malaysia and Singapore. Not only did he inspect the rubber plantation, he negotiated the business of his own cotton cloth, and he also helped Luo Xiazhi's soda factory to develop export business. Everything was beyond his own expectations.

Regarding Liang Shaolong's talent for doing business, Gu Hanlin made a sharp comment: Some people, when you see him, you want to make friends with him, and you want to have a heart-to-heart with him after drinking a drink, even if you don't understand the language, it's not a hindrance.And he is very lucky, investing in everything will make a fortune.

Liang Shaolong is such a character.

Although he was born in darkness, his own personality is bright and bright, making people want to get closer and trust him.

Compared with people like Luo Xiazhi who have a "golden finger" of historical knowledge, perhaps he is the real "business wizard" of this era.

"If Liang Shaolong works harder, maybe he can sell soda ash to Japan."

Rorschach said half-jokingly.

But who would have thought that after participating in this year's World Expo held in the United States, some Japanese manufacturers really contacted them and purchased "Neptune" back to Japan in large quantities—of course, they wrapped it with "Made in Japan" "package of.

Before returning to Shanghai, Luo Xiazhi and Fan Dongli finalized the plan to open a chemical plant.Also in the Tanggu area, a large chemical factory was first opened to mainly produce ammonium sulfate and curium sulfate.

Luo Xiazhi was responsible for raising funds in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Guangdong. Fan Dongli sent people to the United States and the United Kingdom to purchase machines and learning technologies and introduce talents.

If all goes well, it can be put into production within three years.At that time, the localization of sulfuric acid, nitric acid, curium sulfate and even chemical fertilizers will be realized.

For a large agricultural country like China, the importance of chemical fertilizers is self-evident.Especially after floods and droughts, the affected areas need a large amount of chemical fertilizers to fill the gap in fertility.

As far as Luo Xiazhi knows, severe droughts will occur in northern Gansu, Shandong, and Henan in the next few years.As a result, thousands of miles north, no harvest.The south will face the disaster of the Yellow River bursting and the Huai River flooding.

The government of the Republic of China was incompetent externally, corrupt internally, and could not organize public rescue at all.He produced domestically produced chemical fertilizers one day earlier. Although he was powerless in disaster relief, it was still of great benefit to the people's resumption of production in the future.

As far as the information the Li family got in Guangzhou, in fact, since more than ten years ago, foreign businessmen have been selling so-called "fat powder" to local farmers in the form of free gifts in Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian.

Although the local government strongly opposes the use of foreign fertilizer powder by farmers, it has been warned in advance that this will not only cause a large outflow of silver, but also local agriculture may be a sign of being controlled by foreigners.

However, under repeated orders, it is still impossible to prevent local farmers, especially those who need to quickly resume production after the Pearl River flood, from buying foreign fertilizers with half of their entire net worth - after all, for farmers, there is nothing like land It is more important to grow food smoothly.

Localization of chemical fertilizers is urgent!

After negotiating the cooperation matters, Luo Xiazhi and others went to the famous summer resort in Chengde for a while, and then quickly returned to Shanghai.

His "Seven Heavens International Hotel" will open soon in mid-September, and he will go back to preside over everything.

Speaking of visiting Chengde Mountain Villa, they also met an "old acquaintance".

When Luo Xiazhi and Gu Hanlin were drinking tea in Luohantang, they saw a young man about Gu Hanlin's age from a distance, holding an umbrella and fanning a lady in a white dress graciously.The lady looked good from a distance, but those who didn't know it thought she was a young girl, but when she walked in, she was at least sixty, and the most important thing was——she was a foreigner!

"Hey, the atmosphere in the north is no worse than ours in Shanghai. You see, this 'foreign soft rice', tsk tsk..."

Luo Xiazhi opened the newly bought indigo sprinkled golden bamboo fan, and whispered to Gu Hanlin with his face sideways.

Li Ye who was pouring tea for them also turned his head and took a quick look.

I saw the young man comforting his older lover to sit down with good words, while turning his head and yelling at the little monk in the temple. The little monk walked away feeling wronged, not knowing what happened. what.

"Look at what!"

The man seemed to have sensed the unfriendly gaze at their table, took off his dark sunglasses from the bridge of his nose, and yelled at them pretentiously.

Luo Xiazhi was used to seeing this kind of little white face in Shanghai, so he turned his head aside indifferently, and then saw Gu Hanlin's arm resting on the marble table, trembling slightly, and he didn't even feel his fist Clenched tightly.

"Hanlin?"

After the little white face choked them, he showed a very surprised expression.

"know?"

Luo Xiazhi put away his fan, looking back and forth between the two of them.

"You he……"

The man first saw Gu Hanlin with an indescribable expression on his face.Then he saw Luo Xiazhi sitting next to him, dressed in a suit and leather shoes, with an unmistakably extravagant gesture.In the end, he made a dismissive expression, and rolled his eyes at Gu Hanlin before putting on the sunglasses again.

"Darling, the tea here is not good, and the scenery is not good. Let's drink tea in another place."

As he spoke, he gently put his hands on the waist of the foreign old woman.

The foreign woman was a little unhappy at first, she didn't know what he whispered in her ear, after the woman let out a few "silver-like laughter" that didn't fit her age group, she let him pull Then he left Luohan Hall and walked outside.

At this time, the young monk who was kicked out by them just now walked in with a tea tray with foreign tea sets, and showed a flustered expression when he saw that the person who was sitting was gone.

"Little monk, bring us that pot of tea."

Luo Xiazhi could tell, it must be that foreign woman wanted to drink foreign tea just now, but the young monk said no, and was reprimanded by that man.

Now I don't know where the little monk managed to get a set of foreign tea sets and foreign tea, but when the tea was delivered, the person disappeared.

"Thank you benefactor, thank you benefactor."

The little monk walked over quickly with a "tap, tap, tap" and stood on tiptoe to hold up the tea tray.Li Ye hurriedly took it with both hands, put it on the table, then took out a few silver dollars from his pocket, and stuffed them into his hand.

"I'll buy some fruit for you, let's go."

"Amitabha, goodness is goodness. The Bodhisattva must bless several benefactors, not the foreigner and fake foreigner just now."

The little monk clasped his hands together and left gratefully. What he said before leaving made them all laugh.Even Gu Hanlin, who was originally gloomy, couldn't help but smile.

"What, old lover?"

With just a few seconds of lightning and flint kung fu, Luo Xiazhi tasted the way.

Meet each other face to face, but who else is an "old lover"?

Gu Hanlin glanced at him, lowered his head and smiled.

Li Ye knew that he couldn't listen to these, so he turned around and left.

"Yes, he is 'Yi Sheng'."

When he went to study in the north, his classmate in the normal school, the lover who lived together for three years after falling in love, now eats soft food from foreign countries.

What is "things are right and people are wrong", this is called "things are right and people are wrong"!

"What was he laughing at at the end?"

Rorschach was a little puzzled.

He has also heard of this Mr. Yi.

At that time, he kept saying that he would stay and fly with Gu Hanlin and stay in Beiping for an internship.He turned around and rushed to Tianjin, where he married the daughter of a famous rich man in Tianjin.Not long after his wife died, he soon caught up with a rich woman.

Now it seems that this is a job that is professionally engaged in the little boy.

"He saw that I was dressed in civilian clothes, but you were full of luxury. He thought I was also eating soft food."

Gu Hanlin picked up the teacup and took a small sip.

"He thinks we're 'half the same', but he sells to 'foreign old women' and I sell to 'Chinese little men'. We're half the same, but that's all."

"puff!"

A sip of tea sprayed out from Luo Xiazhi's mouth and spilled all over the floor.

"You 'ex-boyfriend'...you were blind and you fell in love with him."

"Back then he was considered a 'progressive youth'. It's just that his family's fortunes fell, and he couldn't bear the hardships, so he could only use marriage to ensure his living standards."

Gu Hanlin shook his head and sighed.

Luo Xiazhi also shook his head with emotion, picked up his hat and prepared to leave.

What he didn't know was how crazy Gu Hanlin was during that time.

In fact, if Miss Liu's family hadn't died of tuberculosis, based on the information he sent to the Liu family, the Liu family's eldest son-in-law status might not last long.

This can be seen from the fact that he can only circle between widows from other places and foreigners later.

This Mr. Yi's future will stop here.

Back in Shanghai, Luo Xiazhi first devoted himself to interviewing senior employees of the International Hotel.

This hotel can be called the most modern and modern hotel in Shanghai at present, and it is different from other hotels in many ways.One of the most unique ones is that its employees are recruited globally.

As early as a few months ago, on the poster board at the entrance of Shimai Department Store, Shimai Magazine and major newspapers in Shanghai, there were advertisements for the recruitment of Seventh Heaven International Hotel. Mai's Hotel".

Not only senior managers, but also line operators, waiters, cleaners, and bands all accept applications from foreigners.Moreover, unlike the regulations of ordinary foreign firms and restaurants, Seventh Heaven International Hotel does not set different salary levels because of the different nationalities of employees.Instead, Chinese and foreign employees are treated equally.

In most industries in Shanghai, whenever a foreign employee is hired, regardless of his ability, the starting salary is much higher than that of local employees. This is a phenomenon that Rorschach hates very much.

The salary of employees is only linked to TA's education and ability.The phenomenon of foreigners being superior to others is absolutely not allowed to exist in Luo Xiazhi's restaurant.

"The following candidate for the room management department... huh?"

Li Ye is sorting out his resume and preparing for the next interview.

After seeing the resume for applying for the supervisor of the room management department of the hotel, he frowned, turned around and reprimanded the manager of the personnel department in a low voice.

"Are you kidding? How could it be a Japanese woman! Don't you know how much the third master hates Japanese people?"

He pointed to the applicant's name on the resume.

"Ah... this, we have nothing to do with this person."

The manager of the International Hotel was originally the deputy manager of Shimai's HR department, but this time he was "promoted" and worked with trepidation.

"She was recommended by the Bureau of the Ministry of Industry, holding a letter of recommendation with the official seal."

The personnel manager said in a low voice, "After all, this is still the Central Public Settlement, and the Bureau of the Ministry of Industry still has to give face... Besides, our recruitment notice also says 'no nationality restrictions'. We didn't say that we don't want Japanese, and I also You can't just refuse..."

"Shandong was not sold to Qingdao in the end. I didn't expect that the German seat in the Ministry of Industry was sold to Japan..."

Li Ye said sarcastically, and then threw the Japanese resume directly into the trash can.

That's right, after the end of the European War, Germany's place in the Shanghai Ministry of Industry Bureau was transferred to Japan.Those Japanese people who could only gather in Hongkou District entered the Central Public Settlement with great power.

I came to the conference room with the selected resumes, and after an afternoon of interviews, almost all the results of the first round came out, and there were candidates for some important positions.

Luo Xiazhi went directly to the hotel for an interview after getting off the train, and he was very tired now.One of the managers suggested that he go to the presidential suite on the top floor to rest for a while, and it would not be too late to leave after recovering enough energy.

Rorschach readily agreed.

"Alright, I haven't seen what the decoration of this guest room looks like yet. Let's go and inspect it first."

Some of the senior managers who accompanied him were already preparing to go back home, but since Luo Xiazhi said it was an "inspection", they had to go upstairs with him and listen to his teachings.

Passing through the magnificent hall, the interim manager of the hotel led Luo Xiazhi to the elevator.

"This is a special elevator specially equipped for the 'Presidential Suite' on the top floor, which is separate from the ordinary passenger elevators. It is impossible to reach the top floor by ordinary passenger elevators, so as to ensure the privacy and safety of the guests in the presidential suite to the greatest extent. "

Luo Xiazhi nodded in satisfaction.

Department stores and restaurants, in his opinion, are very romantic places.In his "last life", he especially liked playing business games, and his favorite was opening restaurants and shops.

Now that one dream has been fulfilled, the other one is slowly rising, which makes him feel the wonder of fate again in his heart.

If he is just an ordinary college graduate, even if he works hard all his life, he will not be able to own his own department store and restaurant in "that" world!

"We designed this room according to the European 'Baroque' style. There are three rooms and two halls in total, which also includes a small salon, where guests can entertain important guests and friends."

The manager opened the doors one by one, and everyone rushed in.

"I especially recommend this master bedroom. All the furniture in this bedroom is imported and handcrafted from Italy, even the curtains are... who are you! Why are you here!"

Seeing the scene behind the gate, the interim manager turned pale with fright.

The woman with flaming red lips and half-faded clothes, who was swaying her head and posing, was startled by the sudden appearance of more than twenty men and women in front of her eyes.

"It's you!"

While the two sides were looking at each other, Li Ye stretched out his right hand and pointed at the woman.

"Aren't you a Japanese woman applying for room manager! Why did you appear here!"

That's right, he remembered this woman, her photo was on the resume just now.

scare?Or a Japanese woman?

Luo Xiazhi covered his chest with one hand, and took half a step back.

If he was the only one who entered the room and stayed alone with this woman just now, he would not be able to tell even if his mouth is covered with mouths.

"boom!"

With a sound, a spotlight shines on everyone's faces.

Everyone squinted their eyes, and a man rushed out from behind the curtain, holding a camera, looking menacing.

However, when the man saw so many people in the room, he also had a dull expression on his face.

"Ah, I know him! He is a reporter from the Shanghai bureau of the Asahi Shimbun!"

The manager of the international public relations department of the International Hotel turned out to be a reporter from "Declaration" and was recruited by Rorschach at a high price. When he saw the man holding the camera, he immediately recognized him.

"Ah! I see, this is the Japanese 'immortal dance'!"

A manager yelled loudly, "This is 'Dongying Beauty Trap', it's so vicious!"

"Now the restaurant is not open to the public, how did these two people get in here!"

"Didn't you say that the elevator on the top floor is dedicated to someone? How did you do that?"

This group of managers is indeed the elite specially selected by Luo Xiazhi, and they immediately reacted.

Several female managers rushed towards the Japanese woman without saying a word, pulled her hair and pressed her to the ground, while several male managers surrounded and surrounded the male reporter.

Luo Xiazhi gasped for breath with lingering fear, and when he turned around, he saw Li Ye breaking someone's arm back forcefully—it was this person!The manager who just suggested that he go upstairs to rest!

Well, he has only been back to Shanghai for half a day, and this is what happened.The hotel has not yet officially opened, and the Japanese black hands have already reached in.

These Japanese are too good at tossing!

The author has something to say: Japan opened its natural science research institute in China and China's first chemical fertilizer factory in the 30s, both of which were ten years ahead of schedule by me.

Tanggu, Tianjin is still an important area of ​​my country's chemical industry. The first soda plant, sulfuric acid plant, and fertilizer plant were all set up in Tanggu, Tianjin, which was opened by Fan Xudong, a famous patriotic businessman.Friends who are interested can go to find out~~

The Japanese have a morning meeting every morning to exchange information. The origin of my life experience is that I have worked in Japanese companies for about ten years, and this is the case after changing several companies.I really hate this kind of...

Teaser for the next chapter "Hotel Opening"