I want to be emperor

After Song Erniu got married, he stayed in his hometown for nearly a month. On the one hand, he wanted to spend more time at home with his parents. His parents made it clear that they would not follow him to live in America...

In the eyes of many people of the older generation, overseas is still a wild land, and the distance is too far. It takes tens of thousands or even [-] to [-] kilometers of sea route to go anywhere. Just taking a boat one way takes one or two months. This The distance is enough to put many people off.

Therefore, if most people are living a good life in their home country, they will not think of going overseas.

Furthermore, the Song family has two brothers and a married daughter. There are many young people in this family. Except for Song Erniu, everyone else is in their hometown, and they have relatives and friends they have known for many years. The Song parents were unwilling to leave the comfort zone they had lived in for decades.

I just wanted to say that if I have a chance in the future, I can go to America to see Song Erniu and his family.
But it’s free if you live there!
And Song Erniu is also busy with work on weekdays, and the focus of his career is in the Americas, so it is impossible to return to his home country often.

Under such circumstances, Song Erniu was destined to not spend much time with his parents in the future, so taking advantage of the opportunity to go home this time, he planned to spend more time with his parents.

During the time he spent with his parents, he also followed tradition and accompanied the Song and Chen family back to their parents' home to visit the Chen family's parents not long after their marriage.

During this period, his secretary's office head also rushed over from Songjiang to assist him in dealing with many business affairs of the United Textile Company.

Although Song Erniu didn't attach too much importance to this United Textile Company, the purpose of establishing this company was actually to maintain a decent life for the Song family's parents and parents-in-law... So I had to put some thought into it and call it. The head of the secretarial office assists in handling many matters after mergers and reorganizations, and is responsible for recruiting management personnel.

The Secretariat Office has recruited several professional managers and technical experts from Songjiang to serve as the main management of the United Textile Company, and a secretary from the Secretariat Office will also be stationed here in the future, mainly to act as a supervisor.

On the whole, the new United Textile Company is not a big problem. After all, the textile industry is quite special. It can provide a lot of employment and tax revenue, and can effectively promote the development of local industries. Local governments generally pay more attention to it, and even provide some places Protect.

At the same time, Song Erniu has upgraded the business of the merged and reorganized United Textile Company based on the changes in the domestic cotton spinning industry in the past two years. However, he does not mean to directly let the United Textile Company rashly enter the field of new cotton yarns... Today's new cotton yarns The industry is still a very typical high-tech industry, and the entry threshold is actually very high... With the current size of United Textile Company, even with Song Erniu's capital injection and bank loans, it will be difficult to make a profit.

Among other things, it is not easy to do just a technical talent... After all, if you want to do this thing, you must have a technical leader who can support the entire technical department, and each of these talents has an annual salary of several thousand Not to mention, the key point is that they don't want to go to work in the small county towns below Yingzhou... They live well in those big cities in Songjiang, so they don't want to change jobs and go to work in the valleys!
Therefore, Song Erniu has no idea of ​​entering the field of new cotton yarn. He has two development plans for United Textile Company. One is to directly purchase new cotton yarn, and then invest some money to upgrade weaving equipment and create a new type of cotton yarn as raw material. Try out the new fabrics on the market.

On the other hand, while everyone else was focusing on new cotton yarns, Song Erniu was focusing on the old cotton yarn production equipment that had been eliminated by large factories. He found that many medium and large textile companies spent huge sums of money to introduce new cotton yarns in order to keep up with the times. When a complete set of new equipment is used to upgrade the cotton yarn production line, the original old equipment is put on the market and sold to raise some funds.

The point is not here, the point is that these old equipment are put on the market in large quantities in a short period of time, but everyone with a discerning eye knows that the future is the era of new cotton yarns. Rich and powerful textile companies will not accept these second-hand goods at all, and those who want these second-hand goods will There are not many small factories and they don’t have much money.

In many cases, the price of these old equipment has depreciated greatly... Even some equipment that has only been used for a few years and was considered mainstream three years ago can only be sold at scrap metal prices now.

When the price of these equipment reached a certain level, Song Erniu and several managers calculated the cost... Finally, they found that even if the efficiency of using these old equipment was lower and the quality of the cotton yarn produced was poorer, because of the equipment The cost is too low, and the initial investment in the production line is also low. In the end, the fixed investment and depreciation cost of the product is very low.

Then at the end of the day...there was actually quite a huge profit!

Ever since, Song Erniu came up with a new idea... New cotton yarn is good, but everyone in the cotton spinning industry knows that this is the future, and now it is even more prosperous... But the problem is that the entry threshold is high and the equipment is expensive. Talent is expensive, and even the prices of those types of long-staple cotton that are suitable for new cotton yarn machines have risen a lot in the past two years.

In the end, the cost of the product is actually not low. To a certain extent, it can be said to offset the production efficiency improvement and quality improvement advantages brought by the new cotton yarn produced by the new equipment.

This is why new cotton yarns are currently generally concentrated in high-end cotton yarns, and there are not even many mid-range cotton yarns... because mid-to-high-end cotton yarns can have a larger premium and can withstand the higher cost of current new cotton yarns.

Old equipment and old cotton yarn may not look good, but the equipment is cheap, and some specific types of cotton using old equipment are not expensive. In the end, the overall cost becomes very low.

So Song Erniu finally decided to purchase a batch of old cotton yarn equipment from Jiangnan, which was [-] to [-]% new, to replace the old cotton yarn production equipment in the United Textile Company, intending to produce low-cost old cotton yarn.

These low-cost old cotton yarns can be directly used to produce low-cost canvas, and then use these canvases to produce cheap and durable canvas work clothes.

United Textile Company supplies the garment factory that Brother Song was previously responsible for, and it is still managed by Brother Song. This garment factory also does canvas workwear business, mainly providing work clothes to factories in nearby areas, and also to retail channels. After several years of promotion, some local farmers also like to wear this kind of cheap and wear-resistant canvas work clothes for work.

Therefore, one of the main businesses of United Textile Company is actually similar to Song Erniu's core business, which is also the canvas tooling business, but there is no such thing as a brand.

Song Erniu's denim brand canvas clothing is a well-known clothing brand in America. This type of denim clothing has also accompanied the Chu people's continuous penetration into central and western America, and has even begun to enter South America. To some extent, it has become A cultural symbol of an era in America.

Immigrants from Chu State riding horses, wearing denim canvas clothes, carrying muskets on their backs, and carrying a revolver at their waists... This is a scene that can often be seen in the interior areas of America.

When Song Erniu's clothing company enters the local market, it does not simply sell cheap and wear-resistant canvas work clothes, but promotes branded clothing... in order to obtain higher premiums and profits.

Although United Textile Company also sells canvas work clothes, it is still positioned as cheap and wear-resistant work clothes, and there is no brand operation.

Song Erniu's initial operation strategy for Song Chen United Textile Company is mainly to focus on the local middle and low-end market, mainly in Yingzhou, and then radiate to several surrounding prefectures.

As for going out of the province, unless you invest in and build factories in other provinces, don't expect it... No matter from the perspective of products or local protection, you can't go out... You have to be slapped by the foreign government as soon as you go out. die!

Similarly, this is actually the reason why Song Erniu is confident that Song-Chen United Textile Company will gain a foothold in the local area after the reorganization... The scale of the reorganized Song-Chen United Textile Company is not small, and it will also purchase production lines for production. After upgrading, as long as it is operational, it will become the largest textile enterprise in Yingzhou Prefecture.

Not long after the reorganization, the prefect of Yingzhou Prefecture came to inspect the company in person. During the inspection, in front of a group of officials and many business people, he said on the spot that the government office would definitely protect the company, promote local industrial development, and create more jobs. So much...

I just didn’t say it directly: Don’t worry, if foreign textile companies dare to come in and compete with you, I will slap them to death...

Of course, I won't do it openly...but there are many secret methods available. Today, I will do a quality inspection and say you are unqualified. Tomorrow, I will check your account if I suspect you have evaded taxes.

However, those big companies have also found ways to deal with local governments. A very effective way is to set up branch factories in various provinces and then distribute the goods to the lower counties. If they encounter local obstacles, they can directly contact them. People in the governor's yamen put pressure on...

After all, the branch factories are located in various provinces, usually in provincial cities, and the branch factories of large enterprises are large in scale and have great influence, so they can obtain government resources from the local provinces... Local governments and counties have to be cautious about making small moves .

At the same time, these large manufacturers generally do not compete too hard at the local level... For example, in terms of cost control, even if the costs of large manufacturers are very low, if the costs of local companies on the ground are slightly higher, they will be slightly higher. Price for sale…

How to put it this way, if you dare to take advantage of your low costs and engage in loss-making dumping and runs on local enterprises, the local officials will let you know what it means to be easy to meet, but difficult to deal with. The county magistrate is better off taking charge.

If you dare to cut off my employment and tax revenue, and destroy my political achievements, I will let you know what a county magistrate who destroys a family is called.

You don’t need to make any big moves, just give you a tax inspection and you will feel like dying...

Whether it is a company or a person, there is no one who is not afraid of being inspected by the tax authorities... After all, no one is willing to pay taxes to the tax authorities... and the tax laws of the empire are a bit harsh, even nonsense!

For example, suppose a large amount of money falls from the sky to you. There is no owner of this money. Even God said it was given to you. You can spend it with peace of mind...but you have to pay a 30.00% accidental income tax.

Most people will most likely not pay it. After all, many people think that the tax authorities will not know if they don’t tell...

But if the tax authorities really investigate you and find out... this is a very typical tax evasion in Chu State's tax law. If the amount is huge, not only will you have to pay taxes and fines, but you will also have to stay in jail for several years. …

The textile industry, especially the cotton spinning industry, is special in the Great Chu Empire. There is no way. Whoever made this thing a low threshold, but it can provide a lot of employment and tax revenue, and all places can support it... This also led to the cotton spinning industry. Compared with other industries, local protectionism is more obvious.

As for other industries, there are not many such special situations, especially in high-tech industries... For example, the high-end machine tools produced by Hantian Machinery Company... There are no competitors across the country, and naturally there is no official It’s a case of making small moves to protect local businesses.

Sometimes because the products of Hantian Machinery Company are so popular, it is not easy to buy new equipment. It often requires the local government to come forward to help companies purchase their products...

For example, the current new cotton yarn equipment is too powerful and has always been in short supply. Many textile companies are trying their best to get the goods or get the goods in advance...

It is common for local officials to go out to say hello and place an order, or even to jump in line to pick up goods. Even some senior officials have to personally come forward in order for the textile companies in their jurisdiction to obtain equipment as soon as possible and successfully enter the new cotton yarn industry. To clear the relationship.

It can also be seen from this that the local governments of the Great Chu Empire are still very active in protecting the enterprises in their jurisdiction... After all, enterprises represent industry and commerce, employment and taxation, economic development, and economic development represents people's livelihood.People's livelihood has always been one of the main achievements of officials.

In the Chu Empire, the evaluation of an official's performance was nothing more than education, people's livelihood, and stability.

Enlightenment is too practical, and it is difficult to come up with any obvious results...

Stability is not for achieving results, but for avoiding trouble... Because nothing is the right thing to do, and if anything happens, I will slap you...

Therefore, the only thing that can clearly quantify the performance of the officials in charge is people's livelihood. And how can people's livelihood be reflected?It is nothing more than income and living standards, and these are broken down into agriculture, industry, and commerce. If agriculture wants to become bigger and stronger, it is difficult to significantly increase people's livelihood income, so it can only rely on industry.

This is also the reason why many local governments in the Chu Empire tried every means to develop local industries... This also extended local protectionism in the cotton spinning industry.

Under such circumstances, as long as the Song-Chen United Textile Company operates stably and doesn't mess around, it won't be a big problem to maintain it... It's impossible to get rich and powerful, but it can obtain profit dividends through stable operations and maintain the Song and Chen families. A decent life is not a big problem.

This is also the main purpose of Song Erniu's establishment of this joint textile company... To put it bluntly, it is to leave a job for his parents and his parents-in-law's family in his hometown.

After dealing with the United Textile Company matter, Song Erniu had nothing major to do in his hometown.

On October 38th, [-]th year of Chengshun, Song Erniu took the train to Fucheng, met with several important local officials, and donated a sum of educational supplies and a teaching building of a local high school.

Two days later, he took Song Chen, two personal maids, butler and other entourage on the train to Songjiang City.

On the way back this time, there were a lot more people in Song Erniu's group than when they came here, mainly because there were more Song Chenshi and her entourage.

When Mrs. Song Chen got married as the family's legitimate daughter, she also brought with her a few old ladies and maids who had been with her for many years and were accustomed to getting along with her... Because they had to leave their hometown, they even had to pay extra wages for them.

The group of people took the train southward, but they did not go directly to Songjiang. Instead, they got off the train after arriving at Jinling City, the capital, and checked into a local hotel.

The main reason is that Song Erniu has taken the train to and from Songjiang and his hometown many times before, and also passed through the capital... but he has never spent even a day in the capital.

As a Chu native, he naturally had some special feelings for Jinling City, so Song Erniu took this opportunity to take his newlywed wife to have a good time in Jinling City.

Not to mention, Jinling City is very different from other big cities in the Chu Empire...

In terms of city size, area and population, the sum of several Jinling cities is actually no match for one Songjiang city, but the environment of Jinling city is really good!

When you get off the train in Songjiang City, even if you are blindfolded and can't see anything, you only need to take a breath of the local mellow smell of coal and horse urine, and you will know that you have arrived in Songjiang City.

However, in Jinling City, the air quality is much better. Although it is not as good as in places with beautiful mountains and clear waters, it is still far inferior to what can be compared with other cities.

The roads are much cleaner and tidier, and there is no stench of horse urine in the air... This is not to say that there are few horses in Jinling City, there are actually many, but that Jinling City is the capital of the empire, and there are still people living in the inner city. There are the royal family and countless senior officials nearby... but no one dares to let them smell the smell of horse urine every day.

In addition, as the capital, there is no shortage of money, so a lot of money was spent on the sanitation environment, which effectively controlled the local air quality.

To put it bluntly, it was made with money!

At the same time, except for the Jinling City Arsenal, there are no large factories in Jinling City, and there are not many small and medium-sized factories. There are also small and non-polluting small businesses or national defense supporting enterprises.

Yingtianfu, as the capital, is not without factories. In fact, there are many, and many of them... But they are all located in the Dangtu Industrial Zone and other places in the west, not in Jinling City, the political center.

Jinling City is a pure political, economic and cultural center, not an industrial area... Luo Zhixue never wants to live in a large industrial area.

In the industrial area these days, the environment, especially the air and water sources are very bad, and it is not suitable for permanent residence.

All these factors make Jinling City such a very special city. The streets are wide, neat and clean, and the air is not very fresh, but it is not bad either.

Song Erniu took his newlywed wife and even two personal maids around with great interest... It is worth noting that as time passed, it was mainly the Song Chen family who took the initiative to show goodwill, so these two personal maids could also accompany them. No need to avoid Song Chen as carefully as before.

Song Erniu also breathed a sigh of relief. Harmony in the harem is always good, so he compensated the Song Chen family a lot, and at the same time paid attention to the Song Chen family's thoughts in many aspects.

Generally speaking, Song Erniu's family seemed harmonious on the surface.

While visiting Jinling City, he also accompanied Song Chen to several top tailor shops to buy clothes!
Then he looked at these high-end custom-made clothes handmade by top tailors (designers, maybe). The styles of these clothes can be said to be at the forefront of fashion. This opened Song Erniu's eyes...

Then he came up with an idea, could he also mass-produce and sell these new styles of high-end clothing that represent the current main trend direction?
Since canvas work clothes or ordinary clothes can be mass-produced on a large scale and at low cost in different sizes, this so-called high-order is also clothes, why not?

Maintain the original top-notch design, but through industrialized mass production, even if the materials are still made of high-quality fabrics or even silk, and the cutting and sewing technology remains high-quality, the cost will still not be too high, and it can be achieved by ordinary high-income groups and even those with low incomes. It is also acceptable to higher middle-income groups!
In this case, the customer base of these high-end clothing can move from the extremely rare wealthy class to the high-income class, and this customer base can expand countless times in an instant...

After all, the number of rich people worth hundreds of thousands or millions is very small, but there are many high-income groups with an annual income of hundreds or even thousands of Chu Yuan in the Great Chu Empire... and the daily attire of these groups , basically rely on various tailors or family members to sew.

The mass-produced garments that can be purchased on the market are generally low-end, not worthy of their status... After all, the mass-produced garments on the market before, including the various garments of his own Song's clothing company, are all cheap civilians route.

At the same time, they cannot afford or are reluctant to buy tailor-made high-end garments from real well-known designers...

Therefore, the clothing choices of this group of high-income groups are very embarrassing in Song Erniu's opinion... they can only find some ordinary tailor shops to make clothes!
If you build a high-end brand yourself, cooperate with well-known designers, and launch mass-produced high-end ready-made clothing for high-income or even middle-to-high-income groups, will it be successful?
When Song Erniu was shopping for clothes with his wife, this idea kept popping up in his mind, and then he talked about related topics with a few top designers in the name of chatting.

Based on the information he learned and some of his own ideas, Song Erniu felt that there might be something to this matter.

Of course, this was just a preliminary idea. Song Erniu needed more detailed information, so he immediately ordered the secretary's office to collect detailed information, especially the consumption habits of high-income groups.

If all kinds of information prove that this idea is feasible, Song Erniu believes that the development of the local market can walk on two legs... one can walk on the denim brand clothing of the general market.

On the other hand, he plans to set up a subsidiary company, cooperate with some top designers, and build a high-end ready-to-wear brand that specializes in business for high-income groups and even the rich.

In the past, many people in the industry knew that the high-end market in the ready-to-wear market was blank, and many people wanted to open up this blank market...

But all without success!

How should I put it, those high-end ready-to-wear made by the factory in the past are simply good fabrics and good craftsmanship.

But simply these good people and rich people don't recognize it... Although the price of hiring a tailor to make clothes is a little more expensive, the tailor-made clothes fit better, use better materials, and the craftsmanship is better.

But Song Erniu wanted to take a different path, directly borrowing the reputation of famous top designers and directly taking the mass production and high-order route... In addition to ensuring the quality of materials and craftsmanship, he also used clothing design and publicity. Open the market.

He wants to create a high-end ready-to-wear brand!
In the past, other friends, even Song Erniu, did not produce high-end ready-to-wear by himself. At that time, they were making products and marketing with the mentality of selling clothes.

But this time, Song Erniu is not going to sell clothes, but to sell brands!