Chapter 4: Light Industry Prospects

In addition to the clothing factory, a series of light industrial enterprises were to be put into production in the first five-year plan. The first was a daily chemical products factory to produce soap, one of the transmigrators’ divine artifacts.

“The process and technology for soap are relatively simple, and it’s a product that can be shipped quickly.”

“What about the problem of fats and oils?” Ji Situi thought, “You say it’s easy, but I’m still having a hard time producing glycerin—Wu Nanhai won’t give me any fats and oils unless they’re at the level of gutter oil.” To date, all the industrial fats and oils were the lard used when the shipyard was repairing the Fubo.

Wu Nanhai helplessly raised his hands. “Don’t look at me, the Agriculture Committee can’t solve this problem that quickly.”

“Not even vegetable oil? Hainan is full of coconuts. Isn’t coconut oil easy to get?”

“Coconuts? Unfortunately, there are no coconuts in Lingao,” Wu Nanhai answered clearly. “The only coconuts are a few seedlings in my farm.”

“That’s true. I haven’t seen any coconuts since we landed.”

“The native coconuts of Hainan Island are not distributed here,” Luo Duo said. “They are all in the central and southern regions. We can send a fleet to harvest or purchase them.”

“Can’t we just buy dried coconuts in East Gate Market?”

“It’s not easy. The dried coconut trade in Hainan has a long history, but it all flows to Qiongshan County, just like the betel nut trade.”

Considering the importance of fats and oils to the transmigrator group, the Executive Committee decided to acquire coconuts through a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, they would send a long-range exploration team to explore south along the coastline to see where they could obtain a large-scale supply of coconuts. Coconuts were a very useful cash crop. On the other hand, they would send Lin Quanan, a purchasing agent, to go deep into the various prefectures and counties of the island to purchase dried coconuts.

The oil crop that the transmigrators could immediately utilize in Lingao was peanuts—especially in the coastal areas and the Gaoshanling area, peanut cultivation was very widespread, and there were also a small number of oil extraction workshops. The Agriculture Committee decided to promote the cultivation of high-quality peanuts in the mountainous areas around Damei Village in the Gaoshanling area. Another hydraulic oil press would be added to the hydraulic grain processing plant in Bairen City.

“Soap is a great trade good. It’s a divine artifact for the ladies.”

“You can make transparent soap with coconut oil, and you can also add fragrance to make scented soap.”

“Make a few more beautiful molds, add some colorful pigments, and those ladies will go crazy—”

Seeing the intoxicated look on everyone’s faces as they offered their suggestions, Wen Desi couldn’t help but smile wryly. This was treating the people of the Ming Dynasty as if they were rich and stupid. The people of the Ming Dynasty were certainly not stupid. It was true that they lacked the centuries of knowledge of the transmigrators, but the problem was that they were not rich. It was really hard to say how much market demand there was for soap in China at that time. As a luxury item, it might have some sales. As a mass commodity, basically no one would buy it—the ancients had soapbeans and pig pancreas to use.

Fortunately, soap was also useful to the transmigrator group itself, whether for ensuring cleanliness or for industrial use. The by-product of soap production, glycerin, and some other things were all useful chemical raw materials.

Matches, another divine artifact of transmigration. The technology for matches was very simple. As long as they could find phosphorus, it would be even better if they had rosin and antimony. These things were not difficult to find. In contrast, Wen Desi was more confident about the sales of matches—compared to flint and steel, matches had a huge advantage in convenience.

“The processing of phosphorus is easy to say, but there is no phosphate rock locally,” Ji Situi said.

“This place is not far from the Dongsha Islands. Let’s send a ship to dig guano. Guano can not only be used to extract phosphorus, but also as fertilizer.”

Wu Nanhai immediately agreed. “Our Agriculture Committee also needs phosphate fertilizer. This is a good proposal.”

“We need to use a ship again,” Ma Qianzhu muttered, adding a note to the ship usage schedule—the ships were still in short supply at the moment. There were not few ships, but there was a lack of reliable and qualified sailors.

Wu Nanhai said, “I propose to establish a farm tool factory, jointly run by the Agriculture Committee and the Ministry of Light Industry. Not only do our own farms need a large number of farm tools, but the local farmers also have a great demand for high-quality iron farm tools. According to my investigation of the long-term laborers on the farm, the local iron farm tools are not only of poor quality, but also scarce and expensive, which seriously affects agricultural production.”

He unfolded a roll of drawings, on which were drawn many different styles of farm tools and some large agricultural machinery.

“These are all farm tools that I have selected and improved from the drawings of farm tools from the original time and space, according to the local planting habits and land conditions. They are highly targeted, lightweight, and save materials. Once they are put on the market, they will be greatly welcomed by the farmers.”

He continued, “The next plan of our Agriculture Committee is to carry out the activities of agricultural mutual aid groups. Providing high-quality farm tools to the farmers and landlords who participate in this system will greatly increase our appeal and will also be conducive to liberating local labor.”

“Okay, processing farm tools is not a difficult matter for our mechanical department. What are those big things?” Zhan Wuya asked.

“They are agricultural machinery. Harvesters, wheeled plows, seed drills…”

“What will they be pulled by? Steam engines?”

“They can be pulled by steam engines or horses,” Wu Nanhai said. These farm tools were all drawings from his agricultural history textbook. They were basically drawn by animal power, but they could also be pulled by small-horsepower steam engines.

Next, the Agriculture Committee also requested that the food factory, brewery, and a series of other food-related enterprises in the Ministry of Light Industry’s plan be jointly run by the Agriculture Committee and the Ministry of Light Industry.

Wu Nanhai said, “The raw materials for these enterprises all come from the agriculture department. It’s better for both sides to run them jointly.”

Thus, the food factory, meat processing plant, and brewery in Mo Xiao’an’s five-year plan all became joint projects with the Agriculture Committee. At the suggestion of the Agriculture Committee, these factories with various names in the plan were merged into a “Grain, Oil, and Food Corporation,” under the dual leadership of the Agriculture Committee and the Ministry of Light Industry.

The company included the seafood processing plant in Bopu, which was responsible for processing the one-fifth of the catch that the fishermen who fished in the waters near Bopu every day paid as a “fishing tax.” It could process salted fish, dried roasted fish, fish cakes, fish sauce, fish oil, dried seaweed, and fish meal. The slaughterhouse of the farm in Bairen City would be upgraded to a meat processing plant. In addition to slaughtering to provide fresh meat, it would also produce cured meat, dried meat, sausages, ham, and other things.

In addition to processing rice and flour, the grain processing plant would also add oil extraction equipment to increase its deep processing capacity for grain, and use simple manual and hydraulic machinery to produce noodles, bread, and biscuits. It would use the scraps from processing to process feed, fertilizer, and produce rice bran oil.

A new brewing workshop would be set up to produce soy sauce, vinegar, sauce, and wine. In addition, it would produce various pickles, salted eggs, preserved eggs, and other things. The local area was not suitable for growing soybeans, so they could be imported from the mainland. As for vinegar and yellow wine, they were essential for cooking. It was even easier for the transmigrators to produce their own white wine, beer, and fruit wine. Xue Ziliang had proposed to DIY beer and fruit wine several times, but he had not been able to do so due to the lack of barley and grapes. Hops, however, had already been planted in a small experimental plot on the farm—although this crop was not suitable for growing here.

A beverage workshop would also be added. It was estimated that in the first five-year plan, the fruit tree output of the transmigrator group would not be enough to support the fruit juice industry, but the large-scale mass production of glass bottles was enough to support the mass production of soda—in fact, Ma Qianzhu had already designed a simple soda-making machine based on the data.

These products were basically for self-use, with a small amount of local sales. If there was a large output of white wine, it could also be exported.

Li Haiping said, “Let’s make canned fruit. Under the current conditions, fruit can neither be preserved nor easily transported. We can sell canned fruit in syrup. The rich should like it—the Jiangnan area is still relatively stable now. In the north, they can eat relatively fresh fruit in winter to supplement their vitamins, and it’s also easy to carry. The Manchu nobles should be interested. There are also canned meats. As long as the price is right, the Manchus will like them.”

Mo Xiao’an said, “As long as the metallurgy department can produce galvanized iron sheets, it’s not difficult to make cans.”

“Just use glass jars. The key to canned fruit is the syrup—”

Ma Qianzhu said, “It’s not that simple. The sealing and sterilization of cans are still a bit difficult for us. Before the mechanical department provides suitable equipment, it’s better not to start the canning industry.”

Although cans appeared quite early, during the Napoleonic era, the problems of sealing and sterilization of cans had always plagued producers. It was not until the mid-19th century that the spoilage of cans due to incomplete sealing and sterilization was still common.

“Instant noodles shouldn’t be difficult, right? I remember that instant noodles were based on Yifu noodles. If we do some deep processing, this kind of portable food should have great potential.”

“Hainan is not very suitable for growing wheat, right? How do you make noodles? Do you use sweet potato flour?”

“The taste of noodles made from sweet potato flour is not very good. But the requirements of the ancients should not be that high. We can mix in some rice flour or something.”

“I’m afraid sweet potato flour can’t be made into noodles. The protein content is a bit low.”

“It’s no problem to grow wheat in Lingao,” Wu Nanhai said. “There is sporadic planting, but most farmers don’t have this planting experience. We need to promote it.”

“Cigarettes! The Manchu nobles all love to smoke! They are used to smoking dry tobacco and water pipes. Let’s sell them cigarettes. This thing is fashionable!”

“Haiping, why are you always trying to sell things to the Jianzhou Jurchens!”

“They robbed so much silver from Chongzhen. Isn’t it a sin for us not to help them spend it?” Li Haiping said nonchalantly.

“That’s right. During the Chongzhen era, the Jianzhou Jurchens entered the pass several times, and each time they looted a lot of property and people. We can use these luxury goods to consume their financial resources in large quantities, which will both strengthen ourselves and weaken the enemy!”

“Put opium in the cigarettes! Let them smoke themselves to death.”

…

“Alright, alright, don’t get off topic!” Ma Qianzhu was also moved when he heard this, but this matter was too much against universal principles, and the right-wing elements would definitely not agree.

The highly anticipated cigarette factory had already started production a few days ago. It belonged neither to the Ministry of Agriculture nor to the Ministry of Light Industry, but was directly under the Planning Committee—it seemed that the tobacco monopoly system was to be inherited.

The Executive Committee had originally hoped that this cigarette factory would not only meet the needs of the transmigrators themselves, but also become a growth point for their foreign trade goods—this was not too much of a delusion. The demand for tobacco at the end of the Ming Dynasty was already very large, and the tobacco output in Guangdong was already very considerable. Cigarettes were a new thing, with a unique appearance and taste, and they were also convenient to smoke. Whether it was the upper class pursuing novelty or the lower class pursuing simplicity and practicality, cigarettes could meet their needs.