A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Chapter 116 Preparing for Factory Construction
Chen Guangliang came to the Vitasoy factory site on the west section of Yuyuan Road and listened to the work reports of his subordinates Guo Deming and Lu Yuantai.

Guo Deming, an accountant and now considered a real estate professional, reported to Chen Guangliang, "Boss, Yuantai and I have worked out the design and budget. The estimated construction cost for this 5 square meter plot of land, assuming a two-story factory building, is 2 yuan. Each floor is 3500 square meters, for a total of 3 square meters."

"So expensive?"

Chen Guangliang was a little surprised, after all, this was just an industrial factory.

Lu Yuantai then explained, "Boss, based on the floor area, the construction costs are still much lower than those of a new-style lane house (the 11000 square meter Xingfu Home cost nearly 18 yuan). Also, you designed a two-story factory building, which uses much more steel and cement than an ordinary factory building, so the price is a bit higher. This is also why most factories in Shanghai are now one-story."

Chen Guangliang knew this, but he'd also done the math. If he used ten acres of land to build a factory, he'd be effectively losing five acres of land during the real estate boom, which translates to 40,000 to 50,000 yuan. So, even if construction costs were slightly higher, he preferred a two-story factory.

It’s not that Shanghai’s current construction technology cannot build two-story or three-story industrial factories, but everyone is considering the construction cost and convenience issues. Of course, it is not the mainstream.

"Well, I'll get the funds out as soon as possible so we can start construction in September."

"Ok"

Chen Guangliang soon stopped caring about the small construction cost. After all, "real industry" in this era was very profitable.

He recalled: In 1926, overseas Chinese businessman Yu Zhiqing and rubber industry expert Xue Fuqi invested 8 silver dollars to establish the Greater China Rubber Factory. In 1927, they rented 1102 mu (approximately 27 mu) of land at 1928 Xujiahui Road and built the factory. Production began in 20, and the factory quickly began producing high-quality overshoes. Later generations recall that the factory earned a profit of silver dollars that year.

As for his Vitasoy factory, he initially estimated that the output was 5000 bottles per day, but this actually seriously underestimated the market (provided that the Shanghai and surrounding markets could be opened up). Even tens of thousands of bottles a day would not be impossible.

After all, there are very few domestic brands in China's current beverage market. There is a soda called "Ba Wang Si" in the three northeastern provinces; and "Vitasoy" is much healthier than soda, so if it really takes off, the prospects are limitless.

With adequate publicity, it may even become a "national brand", just like the importance of milk to Europe and the United States.

The construction funds of "Vitasoy" are invested in batches. In the early stage, it can be considered to "withdraw" from the profits of Changjiang Real Estate, and then formally apply for a loan from the bank later.

On this day, Changjiang Taxi added two new taxis, brand new Chevrolet taxis that had been repainted. The exterior was blue and white, which was very pleasing to the eye.

Chen Guangliang also put on white gloves and experienced the whole process of "driving a taxi" because he always believed that without investigation, there is no right to speak.

So even though he now has a lot of work, he decided to work as a taxi driver for 12 hours to truly understand this industry.

He got his driver's license in the International Settlement, and he has no problem driving in Shanghai, but if he goes to Beijing or Guangzhou, he needs to register again. The current driver's license is not valid nationwide.

Another requirement for driving a taxi is, of course, familiarity with Shanghai's topography, given the high cost of gasoline in those days. Chen Guangliang knew the city's topography down to the smallest alleys, so finding one wasn't a problem.

"006 (taxi code), go to No. 272, Lane 3, Fuzhou Road, and pick up a Mr. Wang to go to the Commercial Press on Baoshan Road in Zhabei. When you come back, please find Zhang Erhe, the assistant in Zhabei, to take an order back to the city." The dispatcher came to Chen Guangliang and said in a businesslike manner.

Naturally, I was wondering in my heart that this boss really did everything himself.

At present, Changjiang Taxi's dispatching generally adopts a combination of telephone dispatching and assistant dispatching to dispatch its seven vehicles.

"receive"

With Chen Guangliang's answer, the car rushed towards Fuzhou Road.

At that time, there was a speed limit in Shanghai, which was within 20 kilometers per hour, and in the Chinese area, the speed could not exceed 24 kilometers per hour.

Along the way, Chen Guangliang obeyed all traffic rules.

If he needs to turn left, he needs to stick his hand out of the window and make a counterclockwise circle; if he needs to turn right, he needs to stick his hand out of the window and make a clockwise circle; if he needs to stop the car, he needs to stick his hand out of the window and press down to signal.

Because cars in this era do not have turn signals or brake lights, traffic signals can only be made through manual operation.

However, these movements are not a problem for Chen Guangliang, who has been driving for nearly 20 years, especially since he has an excellent memory.

After arriving at Fuzhou Road, he immediately spotted the guest and Chen Guangliang took the initiative to get out of the car and open the door for the guest.

"Mr. Wang, I hope I didn't waste your time!"

The customer was a young man under thirty, full of the air of a progressive youth, and he must have come from a well-off family. I could tell this because even the great writer Lu Xun didn't always take taxis.

"You came quite quickly. Your company is quite good."

"Thank you, please."

After a while, Chen Guangliang drove the taxi towards Zhabei.

The Commercial Press, Chen Guangliang arrived first.

He is very familiar with this place. He was recently looking for books related to "World Beverages" and "World Business", so he came here to rent books.

The part of the Commercial Press open to the public is called the "Oriental Library". In fact, it also has corresponding facilities such as the general management office, compilation office, four printing plants, warehouses, and Shanggong Primary School.

The books and materials here are of considerable value, conservatively estimated to be worth 2000 million silver dollars.

Chen Guangliang knew about the bombing of the Commercial Press during the Battle of Shanghai in 1932, followed by arson by Japanese ronin, which resulted in over 80% damage. This loss, along with the burning of the Old Summer Palace, was later considered one of the most heartbreaking civilizational tragedies in modern Chinese history. If possible, Chen Guangliang might consider intervening, though he would certainly do so covertly, though the outcome was uncertain.

After taking orders continuously for 12 hours, Chen Guangliang found that his total income was more than 26 yuan, of which the driver earned 2.6 yuan.

The income is quite high, a driver's salary is at least 70 yuan per month.

It seems that "technical jobs" in this era are valuable. Car mechanics actually eat Western food and wear suits.

After Chen Guangliang finished running, he wrote down his day's experience in a document so that he could use it as a reference later.

Generally speaking, the theory behind the taxi business is that an old taxi can pay back its investment within a year, and a new one within two years. This assumes there aren't unexpected events (such as the January 1932 Incident of , or the global economic depression that also affected Hohhot).

In late August, the new 'Yangtze River Motors Headquarters Base' was reopened.

After nearly two months of reconstruction, Chen Guangliang built eight brick and wood structures on the three mu and seven fen of land. One was to be used as the office for Changjiang Real Estate, two were to be used as offices and R&D labs for Vitasoy, and the remaining five were to be used for Changjiang Motors.

In today's carriage shops, there is no longer the laughter and playfulness of the drivers. The drivers' "boiling water supply" has been moved to the 13-acre land of the "big bed".

In other words, these eight brick and wood structures will truly become office areas, and of course cars will also be delivered, rented, repaired and maintained here.

"Deming, please make some arrangements. I plan to set up a 'soy milk' factory, which is a company that specializes in producing beverages similar to milk, but the main raw material is soybeans. Please help me handle the company's articles of association, and recruit relevant R&D personnel and ordinary employees." Chen Guangliang called Guo Deming to the office.

Currently, Changjiang Real Estate has six employees who can be seconded for use.

Guo Deming was a little confused and said, "Boss, are you talking about soy milk?"

Chen Guangliang smiled and said, "If it's soy milk, why would we need to build a factory, and why would we need to bottle it? I want to make soy milk that's similar to a beverage. Simply put, it's refined soy milk, adding sugar and other substances the human body needs, then high-temperature processing and pasteurization. After bottling, it can be stored as a drink that can be eaten in restaurants. This will replace the regret of Chinese people not being able to drink milk and improve their physical fitness."

Guo Deming understood a little and said, "That's a very good idea. I'll go prepare it!"

"Well, hurry up. If you have any questions, just ask me. I'll temporarily borrow you."

"it is good"

Guo Deming and Lu Yuantai knew that their boss had recently set his sights on the "beverage" industry, but they did not expect that it was a completely new field, an industry they had never heard of.

The more this happened, the more they felt that this matter had a great chance of success, because doing business is about doing things that others have not done, so as to maximize the guarantee of success.

In addition, making soy milk definitely requires the use of mechanical equipment. Not to mention the subsequent filling technology, the previous soaking, peeling, grinding, heating, filtering, mixing, and sterilization are all done with modern production technology.

Soaking and peeling can be done manually, and the steps are nothing more than soaking + boiling + cooling.

In short, mechanical equipment can be ordered overseas, but in the early stages you mainly have to design the "production line" yourself, which is more troublesome.

Chen Guangliang walked out of the office.

At first glance, the area looks more like a factory. Eight houses and a carport take up about a third of the area, forming a "three-sided enclosure" shape, with more than two-thirds of the space in the middle open.

Now that the three companies have come together, they are quite popular.

"boss"

Zhou Xinggao came forward, thinking that the boss was going to arrange for him to go out.

"I'm not going out, just looking around. How are your wedding arrangements going?"

As a happy event for the "Changjiang Group", Chen Guangliang also hopes to win the hearts of his subordinates through "Zhou Xinggao's wedding" and at the same time bring double joy to the Changjiang Group.

Zhou Xing said happily, "Manager Pan is helping with the arrangements. We've already confirmed ten tables for the banquet and have contacted the caterer."

It's held here, so it's good to have ten tables of people. After all, Zhou Xinggao has only been in Shanghai for a year and a half, and in fact, most of them are Chen Guangliang's subordinates and friends.

"Well, hurry up and get your sister-in-law pregnant. Don't miss the opportunity."

"Yes, I will work hard. This woman is really good at spending money, I have to control her!"

Zhou Xinggao couldn't help but mutter something in the end.

Chen Guangliang had told him before that these dancers were ambitious and spent a lot of money, so he had to be prepared when marrying them.

Of course, Zhou Xinggao can still afford to marry her with his monthly income of 600 yuan.

But just in case, women should be forced to give birth to children desperately, so that they will be easier to train and manage in the future.

Chen Guangliang patted his shoulder and said nothing more!
I understand your feelings, but since you are getting married soon, it is not appropriate to gossip about anything.

(End of this chapter)