Traveling through the sword to engage in military industry.

Chapter 39: Find a Master (Seeking Follow-up Reading)
After listening to this, Uncle Cao raised his gray eyebrows and said, "Boss Ren, I understand now. You want to sell this manual punching machine mainly to the Belt and Road countries, right?"

"For me, it's not a big problem to use your manual punch press. The one-ton punching force is enough. This punching force can only process some aluminum and copper products. It can't cut or punch slightly thicker steel plates."

After hearing this, Ren Zhong realized that his vision was still narrow and his knowledge was too little.

"Uncle Cao, I don't know much about mechanical issues. I studied liberal arts in college. You are an expert in this area. How many tons of punching pressure do you think is appropriate for us?"

“If conditions permit, consider 3 tons first. After all, you are dealing with handicrafts, and you must also consider cost control for this manual punching machine. The product price must be below yuan so that handicraftsmen in Asia, Africa and Latin America can afford it. A higher price will not work.” Uncle Cao’s thinking was quite comprehensive, and he took into account things that Ren Zhong had not even had time to consider.

"I've accepted this job. The money doesn't matter. The key is to contribute to the Belt and Road Initiative. I personally think it is very meaningful. It can earn foreign exchange for the country and also increase employment opportunities in the country. I will definitely support young and energetic entrepreneurs like Mr. Ren."

"But it's a bit slow for me to do this alone. After all, I'm getting old. It may take me a year or two to complete it. Boss Ren, how about this? When I was in the factory, I took two apprentices with me. Now they are in their sixties and are also doing processing in a machinery factory in the suburbs. They have complete equipment and sufficient manpower. We will put this project in this machinery factory. I personally don't care about the cost. You just need to pay the material fee, machinery and equipment rental fee, labor fee, etc.

I estimate it to be around 300,000 or 500,000 yuan. The exact amount will only be calculated after I have finished the design drawings of the equipment in a few days."

Uncle Cao was quite decisive in his work. Not only did he give Ren Zhong a rough plan right away, but it was also grand in scope and showed a high level of awareness.

"No problem, Uncle Cao, we'll do as you say. Thank you very much for your support for our business. Let's work together to contribute to the Belt and Road Initiative." Ren Zhong naturally had no reason to refuse.

For old-school craftsmen like Uncle Cao who are over 80 years old, it is sometimes difficult to get them to do business unless you cater to their tastes. At their age, they no longer care about many things and may not have much need for money.

Sometimes just throwing money around is useless. However, Ren Zhong would not think that Uncle Cao would not spend a penny. On the contrary, the money must be given and it must be given skillfully, otherwise Uncle Cao's line of manual punching machines might be cut off after it is finished.

Even though Ren Zhong is not sure whether Uncle Cao can operate the manual punching machine as he said, it is true that an eighth-level fitter who was promoted decades ago cannot be promoted by boasting. Without special skills, it is really useless.

The principle was agreed upon, and Uncle Cao took out his phone and immediately took action. He soon agreed to meet Ren Zhong at the Chengxin Machinery Processing Factory the next day.

After Uncle Cao had given his final say, he sat down again and introduced his two disciples to Ren Zhong.

One of them is called Li Shaoxin, the other one is called Wu Jiancheng, both of them are in their sixties now. They used to work in the workshop of Jinjiang Machinery Factory with Uncle Cao, making things that could fly by rubbing their hands, the kind that cannot be discovered even after how many years of confidentiality.

A few years ago, after they retired, they felt they were still strong, so they opened a machinery processing factory together. They each took a character from their names as the factory name. It was originally called Chengxin Machinery Processing Factory, but when Uncle Cao saw it, he said that the name was weird and a made-up word, and it didn't have any meaning. It would be better to call it "Integrity". In machinery processing, there can't be any falsehood. Only by being honest in life and work can the business last long.

So the name of this small mechanical processing factory was changed to Chengxin Mechanical Processing Factory. Sure enough, Uncle Cao's two apprentices adhered to this principle and did a good business, with an annual output value of tens of millions, and after supporting more than 20 employees, there was still a profit of hundreds of thousands.

The two of them started talking for a long time. As they talked, Ren Zhong became more and more excited, and he insisted on becoming Uncle Cao's apprentice. He said that even if he could not do Uncle Cao's work and could not learn Uncle Cao's locksmith skills, just listening to Uncle Cao's principles of doing things would be enough for him for a lifetime.

After listening to Uncle Cao's story, Ren Zhong got to know him better. He was a true old-school technician who was very honest in everything he did and did. He was full of positive energy.

At this point, Ren Zhong had put aside all conflicts of interest.

Although Uncle Cao's skills would be of great benefit to Ren Zhong's career if he could make good friends with him, Ren Zhong did not want to treat the old man with a utilitarian mind after hearing how he treated his two apprentices.

But I really admire this man. With his abilities, if he wanted to make money, he would have bought a villa and a luxury car long ago. However, because Uncle Cao has an old-fashioned outlook on life and is really indifferent to fame and fortune, he doesn't care too much about his gains and losses.

As they chatted, it was already noon. Ren Zhong saw that they had been talking for a long time, so he stood up and said to Uncle Cao, "Master Cao, I think you and your wife should be treated to a meal by your disciple. Let's cook a few simple dishes at the banquet hall next door. It can be just a simple banquet for me to pay my respects to my disciple. You should give your disciple a chance."

During the exchange between the two, Ren Zhong inadvertently revealed some of the advantages of a liberal arts student. His social skills of seizing opportunities and quoting from classics made him quite compatible with Uncle Cao, and the old man also recognized Ren Zhong.

After a conversation with Ren Zhong, he did not hide too much about himself except for the things he could not say. He also briefly talked about how he started his own business just after leaving the system.

Therefore, Uncle Cao admires Ren Zhong's decision. Although the system is a stable and good job in the eyes of many people, Uncle Cao, as a technical person, believes that in the current era, talents cannot be concentrated in the system. On the contrary, there is a lack of talents in the economic field. It is necessary to create more job opportunities for people.

His two apprentices were urged by Uncle Cao to work. Originally, the two retired people wanted to live a leisurely life, but Uncle Cao thought it would be a waste if their skills were not put to good use. Therefore, he not only provided them with some funds for starting their own business, but also used his connections to provide them with some orders in the early stages of their business.

But after his two apprentices became successful, Uncle Cao retired from the business. He neither took any shares nor asked for interest from the two apprentices. He just collected the original loan amount.

Therefore, Ren Zhong took advantage of the fact that the two of them got along well and recognized Uncle Cao as his master. It was not only because Uncle Cao could help his career, but also because it was a sign of respect for Uncle Cao.

"That's up to you. Xiao Ren, you're just starting your business and you have a lot of money to spend. So let the chef treat us to dinner today. This is not negotiable." Uncle Cao said with a smile.

Ren Zhong was stunned. "No, Master Cao, this is not appropriate. Although I have just started a business, I have investors behind me. It is not my own money. One or two meals are not enough. This meal must be paid for by my apprentice."

I beg you to read on, read on, and read on!
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(End of this chapter)