Chapter 87: Ziming Tower

With a good idea comes rolling wealth. In an instant, the whites of everyone’s eyes were much larger than their pupils.

“Regarding the issue of procurement, it’s not yet clear what exactly is available in Guangzhou, but since it’s a major port, there must be a lot of things that can be bought. My idea is: try to purchase primary products in Guangzhou that can be processed for added value.”

Zhang Xin’s proposal was actually the common exploitative method in international trade of purchasing primary products and exporting finished goods. Using Guangzhou as a base, they would purchase large quantities of primary manufactured goods such as white wine, tobacco, pig iron, cotton cloth, raw silk, coarse sugar, and timber, and then process them into high-grade industrial products in Lingao for re-export, earning a profit from the price scissors. This would be much faster and more economical than building a complete industrial and agricultural system from raw materials to finished products.

“Didn’t Xiao Bailang say we have Zenith-star technology? Since our technological level is so much higher, we shouldn’t focus our energy on the manufacturing and processing of low-grade products,” Zhang Xin continued. “If you ask me, including the current logging camp, Lingao is not a place with abundant forestry resources. But the forestry in Guangdong and Fujian is very developed even in the 21st century. Why not just purchase timber here? With timber, we can produce paper on a large scale. I went to the market with Guo Yi a few days ago, and the price of writing paper is also very expensive. This thing can be produced in large quantities.”

“There’s a problem with transport capacity here,” Xiao Zishan thought for a moment. “The diesel inventory is not large, so we have to use it sparingly. We have no experience in shipbuilding ourselves, and a shipyard would require a lot of infrastructure construction.”

Zhang Xin smiled and shook his head. “It’s not that I’m saying you Executive Committee members are detached from the masses—” Hearing this, everyone except Guo Yi nodded. “Sometimes you just don’t think outside the box, you’re dead set on making everything yourselves. You even want to make your own toilet paper. And what’s the result? Don’t you know that those men with wives and girlfriends are all using dry leaves to wipe their butts to save toilet paper?”

“Is that so? The supply of toilet paper is not a problem.” As a member of the Internal Affairs and Civil Affairs Department, Xiao Zishan knew very well that something like toilet paper, which seemed trivial, actually had a great impact on the quality of life and could seriously damage morale if it became a problem. Therefore, both in the storage before the transmigration and the distribution after D-Day, it was tightly controlled, basically calculated daily and distributed weekly. However, it was also a fact that self-production of toilet paper had not yet been achieved.

“Committee Member Xiao, having it and having enough are two different things,” Zhang Xin shook his head helplessly. “A man with a woman by his side naturally has to sacrifice a little. So my opinion is simple: buying ships is better than building them!”

“Buy ships? Guangdong sand ships?”

“I don’t know anything about Guangdong sand ships,” Zhang Xin waved his hand. “But Guangdong has abundant timber resources and many sea merchants. The shipbuilding industry must be very developed. We can order a few ships here to solve our urgent need.”

Indeed, the current tonnage of the Dengyingzhou was too small. As the scale of maritime transport between Qiong and Yue expanded, it was imperative to expand the transport capacity. To build ships or to buy ships, this question, just as in the original time and space, had once caused controversy within the Executive Committee. The industrial department insisted on building their own ships, whether wooden, iron, or even cement ships, to accumulate experience and train a group of professional workers. The commercial and trade department, on the other hand, insisted on buying ships to expand transport capacity as quickly as possible.

The final result of this debate was the purchase of the “Dengyingzhou”—the “buy ships” faction had a slight upper hand, for no other reason than that the industrial department was also in urgent need of raw materials from the mainland. If they were to build their own ships, it would take several months before they could be launched, and many raw materials were also lacking.

However, the service of the “Dengyingzhou” did not eliminate the fundamental disagreement between the two factions. The “build ships” faction believed that after a small ship had completed the initial trade, and the industrial department’s production capacity had increased, they could start building their own ships. The “Dengyingzhou” was just for transition. The “buy ships” faction, on the other hand, believed that it was not worth putting industrial power into shipbuilding in the short term. Not only should they continue to buy ships, but they should buy more.

How to resolve the conflict between the two factions was still a bit of a headache for Xiao Zishan. Personally, he felt that both factions were right; both buying and building ships were important. But how should he explain this to them?

He suddenly had a flash of inspiration: “The Guangzhou advance station is actually like a branch company. They can invest in production materials like ships themselves.”

Instead of bringing up the suggestion of “buying ships is better than building them” to the Executive Committee and triggering a second great debate, it would be better to let the Guangzhou advance station solve it themselves.

“Decide for ourselves?” Guo Yi still couldn’t believe his ears.

“Yes, you decide for yourselves.” Xiao Zishan patted his shoulder with a deliberately magnanimous air. The Guangzhou advance station was isolated on the mainland, bearing the two important responsibilities of trade and intelligence gathering. The matters were both numerous and complex, so it was certainly not appropriate for the Executive Committee to engage in remote command. Moreover, the advance station involved many departments. If they were to be commanded remotely, the question of who to listen to would become a problem.

“Also, how do we handle the interest relationship with Gao Ju?” Yan Maoda was still a little worried. “In the past, he was basically our agent. Now that we’re opening a direct-sale store, he’s definitely not going to be happy.”

“Didn’t you say so when you were talking about the plan for the jewelry store? We’ll deal in things that don’t overlap with his. As for glassware, we’ll let him handle that.”

“The problem is, he’ll also ask headquarters to let him handle it, right? Merchants are very greedy.” Guo Yi was more worried about this.

“We can be the wholesaler and let him do the distribution. Distribution is generally more difficult to do, and it’s hard to manage if you’re not a local merchant,” Zhang Xin said.

“Let’s divide the channels,” Xiao Zishan said after considering for a moment, expressing his thoughts.

“Channel distribution?!” Zhang Xin and Yan Maoda of course understood what this meant, but they also had their doubts. The concept of channel marketing only began in China in the last decade of the 20th century.

“I know what you’re thinking, but my idea of channel marketing is not that complicated. It’s just walking on two legs,” he explained his thoughts.

As the agent for “Australian goods,” Gao Ju had already opened up the luxury goods market in Guangzhou. He possessed a strong local network of connections that the transmigrators lacked. Therefore, the luxury goods line could be handled through an agency system: mainly glassware, including mirrors, wine sets, tea sets, and the like. Anyway, glass has a wide range of uses, and new products could be continuously supplied.

Salt, white sugar, iron products, soap, and cigarettes, as bulk consumer goods, have low prices and large shipment volumes. By opening a trading firm and organizing wholesale, they could have the vast number of small and medium-sized merchants and peddlers handle the distribution. They could also use the two windows of Guangzhou and Macau to organize large-scale exports.

“That’s not bad—” Before Zhang Xin could finish his sentence, a coquettish voice came from outside the door: “Then where is my role?”

Hearing this, everyone naturally knew without turning around that it was the special intelligence agent PEPI. Today, she had changed into a blue scholar’s robe. With her red lips and white teeth, she was charming and alluring, yet also exuded an air of unrestrained freedom. She truly lived up to her name of “ever-changing.”

“Didn’t we agree that you would preside over the Ziming Tower?” Guo Yi was a little displeased. She really knew how to make an entrance. He couldn’t help but say sarcastically, “With your skills, won’t you be the talk of the town, driving the whole city wild? Gathering intelligence would be a piece of cake for you.”

“Presiding over the Ziming Tower is a small matter.” PEPI flicked her long sleeves with the air of “not taking away a single cloud.” “Gathering intelligence is an even smaller matter. Creating a new era for the Guangzhou fashion world is the real big deal.”

Indeed! This person was treating the Guangzhou advance station as her personal stage.

“Then go ahead and create it. No one said you couldn’t,” Little Guo was starting to get annoyed.

“Sigh, what can I say about you men?” Miss P’s eyes darted around, giving a few of the men goosebumps. “The fashion world is a complementary industrial chain. The Ziming Tower will lead the fashion trend and build the brand, but you also need a fashion store for material support.”

“That’s a great idea!” Yan Maoda was the first to express his support. He had originally planned to use his 21st-century materials and his long experience and technical accumulation in the jewelry industry to open a jewelry store in Guangzhou and sell new styles of jewelry. If Miss P’s Ziming Tower could really become a hit, wouldn’t it be a living advertisement? He said excitedly:

“I can design a whole new set of jewelry for Miss P! You just watch, it will definitely be a big seller!”

Guo Yi hesitated for a moment. Although this proposal was a bit unexpected, it did have its feasibility—provided that the Ziming Tower was successful. He nodded, “I think it’s possible!”

Xiao Zishan also agreed with this point, and so the matter of the Zizhen Zhai was settled. Yan Maoda rubbed his hands together, preparing to use all the tricks he had learned from running a jewelry company in the past.

Then the telegraph started ticking again. This time it was from the Industrial Committee. It turned out that they wanted Xiao Zishan to recruit some professional craftsmen in Guangzhou.

“Masons, carpenters, shipwrights—shipwrights?” Xiao Zishan wondered why they were still going ahead with the shipyard. “Potters, blacksmiths, coopers…”

There were about a dozen different trades in total. Xiao Zishan thought that these were indeed needed. Although they were all very basic trades, they possessed many of the most fundamental manual skills.

This matter could be solved by finding Sun Kecheng. Xiao Zishan jotted down the things to be done in his notebook.

“The radio has become a treasure now,” Xiao Zishan said with a smile. “Lingao can be considered to have clairvoyance and clairaudience.”

Guo Yi nodded. “Now, as long as there is news of a punitive expedition from the Guangdong side, the Executive Committee will know immediately. This is what is called one-way transparency.”

“But what about intelligence gathering? How is the Ming Dynasty’s secrecy work?”

“Although I’m not a Ming history enthusiast, I personally feel that it’s not easy to do a good job of secrecy in a medieval environment,” Guo Yi said. “To fight a war involves the movement of grain, ships, and troops. These movements cannot be kept completely secret even in modern warfare.”

“Even so, the Ming Dynasty has the Jinyiwei and the Eastern Depot. We can’t be too complacent.”

The few of them nodded gravely. The terror of these two organizations was well-known even four hundred years later in another time and space.

“Our understanding of the historical situation of these two organizations is limited,” Xiao Zishan said. “But whether it’s the Jinyiwei or the Eastern Depot, they should have people in Guangzhou. You must be careful at all times. Don’t do things that will easily arouse suspicion.”

“We will be careful.”

“Regarding the captured instruction manual, has everyone memorized it?”