Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 78 Big Project

Kuala Lumpur, Lee family.

It was rare for Zheng Yi to come back, and now he was treated like a VIP. When the old lady Gan heard that he was back, she flew back specially.

Li Jiazhi cooked personally, and Zheng Yi also helped her, even showing off his cooking skills and making a few signature dishes. It was almost like a family dinner.

"Here I am, Chairman, Madam, come and try my Dongpo pork elbow and this one, crab meat and lion's head. I also have a dish of braised sea cucumber with scallions in the pot. It will be ready in a moment."

On the side, Li Xiaoshi joked: "You are from Fujian, but you can cook Sichuan cuisine, Huaiyang cuisine, and even braised dishes. Why didn't I see you cook when you lived at my house before? Now that you are here as a guest, you know how to show off your skills."

Zheng Yi laughed and said, "There's no chance to show it off. I'm just throwing a brick. The one on the other side is the jade. This is just put on the table to make up the number."

As she was talking, Li Jiazhi asked the maids to bring over her specialties, which were still a combination of Chinese and Western cuisine: French foie gras, Russian beef, Cantonese steamed fish and sweet and sour pork.

Li Xiaoshi couldn't help but jokingly said, "I think you two are getting along better and better. Hey, when are we going to get married? Let's make it even closer. I'll call you brother-in-law now."

Upon hearing this, Li Jiazhi's face turned red, but she lowered her head and said nothing.

It means that the marriage is arranged by parents and matchmaker.

Her social circle is narrow, and she doesn't come into contact with many boys on a daily basis. Someone as outstanding as Zheng Yi is even rarer.

After all, there is the key factor of saving his life, and the relationship between Zheng Yi and the Li family, so Li Jiazhi is actually at least not opposed to Zheng Yi, and also approves of him.

Zheng Yi hesitated for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said, "I have to wait until this busy period is over. I've been so busy lately that I sometimes forget I'm still alive.

I don't have any time to relax at all. After a while... I'll probably be even busier, so I really don't have time to think about my own affairs."

Li Jiqian: "Are you very busy? I see you've lost a lot of weight in the past few months. There's a rumor going around that you're going to be collaborating on a big deal with Shell Oil and becoming Penang's tax collector. Is that true?"

Zheng Yi naturally spoke his mind at the Li family and said, "It's all true. The tax contractor thing is also being handled by Mr. Henry from Shell Oil. There shouldn't be any problems."

Li Xiaoshi: "What kind of project is this? Is it like the permanent magnet motor? I see Mr. Henry personally makes many trips to Nanyang. He seems to be taking it very seriously. Will the investment be huge? Do you want to help?"

Zheng Yi nodded and said, "According to preliminary estimates, the investment for the first phase is 30 million US dollars."

After saying this, everyone at the Li family table was stunned.

Thirty million US dollars is something that ordinary businessmen like them cannot even think about.

Nanjing's annual fiscal budget seems to be less than 30 million US dollars.

They thought Zheng Yi was quite capable, but they never expected the project to be so big.

A project worth 30 million was actually led by a Chinese like him?

Li Xiaoshi: "Is this... chemistry?"

Zheng Yi nodded. "Yes, it is indeed a chemical project, and it is currently considered a cutting-edge industry worldwide. Do you know anything about stockings?"

The crowd shook their heads.

They didn't know what stockings were, but they were really scared by Zheng Yi.

In the past, they thought Zheng Yi was just bragging when he said he was good at chemistry, but now it seems that he was telling the truth.

As for why not take them to play chemistry together.

Isn't that nonsense? In the entire Nanyang region, who can afford to play chemistry? "So for such a big project, are they going to give you shares?"

Zheng Yi shook his head and said, "The terms I negotiated with them were for a joint venture. This was also a prerequisite for the project to be invested in Penang. It was also because of this project that the Penang tax contractor thing came about."

"Of the 30 million US dollars, DuPont will contribute 10 million, mainly for technical equipment and some necessary initial investments.

Shell will contribute 10 million and be responsible for some of the petrochemical equipment. Since we don't have a decent large-scale refinery in Nanyang yet, we're planning to use it as a supplement. I'll also contribute 10 million, mainly responsible for the site, construction, and installation."

"In terms of shares, the three of us hold 33%, 33%, and 34% respectively. Since I am the actual manager, I hold an additional 1% of the shares."

Li Jiqian: "Ten million dollars, kid, where are you going to get ten million dollars?"

Li Xiaoshi looked at him without saying anything.

Li Jiqian: “…………”

Zheng Yi: “…………”

Li Jiqian: “…………”

Zheng Yi: "Such a large sum of money, in the whole of China, except for the Kong and Song families, no one can come up with it.
Of course, I can't claim that I alone will own 34% of the shares. That's simply unrealistic. If all the Chinese in Nanyang can help me raise this million US dollars, we Chinese in Nanyang will stand up in the future."

Li Jiqian and Gan exchanged a glance and said, "How much can we squeeze out if we squeeze in at home?"

"In cash, it would be around two to three million Malaysian Ringgit, I can't even think about US dollars."

"Cash is definitely not enough. What if I mortgage my property to the bank?"

"I was just thinking about this. If I mortgage all my mines, rubber plantations, factories, ships, and shops, I should be able to get about $700,000 or $800,000.
If Taiyou Machinery goes public, his shares should be able to cover some of the cost. I can barely make up one million, kid, but you still have to figure out how to raise the remaining nine million."

Zheng Yi nodded upon hearing this: "I understand. Thank you, Madam. Your one million is a great help."

On the side, Li Xiaowu asked curiously, "Brother, I don't understand either. What kind of factory is that? What does it produce? Why is the investment so huge?"

Zheng Yi explained: "Simply put, the main raw material used in the company's production is petroleum, which is processed to produce gasoline, diesel, and lubricants. Shell is responsible for this part.

The remaining naphtha can be made into asphalt, plastics, chemical paints, and chemical fibers through chemical processing. DuPont provides the equipment, I provide the technology, and I also designed the design of the entire factory."

"That chemical fiber is the new material that DuPont and I have just developed, and it's also the focus of this collaboration. How should I put it? It's something similar to cotton, but it can be woven into cloth and made into clothing that can be worn."

After saying this, everyone understood and found it novel.

"Wearing oil on your body is a novelty."

Zheng Yi: "It's not just new. With this technology, we in Nanyang can develop the textile industry. This factory, even in its first phase, can produce chemical fiber equivalent to 40 mu of cotton fields and about million cotton spindles."

"With the raw materials, all we need is textile machines, and Nanyang's textile industry will flourish immediately and become a world-class textile base. Because we are the only ones who have this new material, no one else has it. It's a unique business, and we can generate revenue with just a click."

"The textile industry is a labor-intensive industry. It can absorb as many workers as there are. With chemical fiber textiles as its foundation, our cotton textile industry can also develop along the way. Those unemployed Chinese in Southeast Asia will have something to do."

"Furthermore, Japan is currently the world's largest textile country, and the textile industry is also Japan's pillar industry. Nanyang's annual imports from Japan account for almost 40%, and almost all of them are textiles."

"Developing Nanyang's own textile industry is far more effective than blindly boycotting Japanese goods. This is the only way to completely cut off the Japanese roots."

(End of this chapter)