Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 659: Construction Begins

Xiao Wei asked, "I hope nothing bad happens?"

Zhang Jun shook his head and said, "It's nothing, there's no proof. Who would believe you if you went out and told them I have two million?"

Xiao Wei said, "It's alright. Why did he buy all this? So much, is it really for jewelry?"

Zhang Jun said, "No, people in western Shanxi have this tradition. It's like how they like to hoard cash at home. When they have a lot of money, they buy gold and jewelry everywhere. It's easy to store, and it's not afraid of dampness or rotting."

I remember reading a book once that said when the Japanese occupied western Shanxi, they hauled gold and silver out of Lao Cao's house, dozens of carts carrying it for about twenty days. The people there have historically been wealthy; they're good at saving and calculating. The Shanxi merchants were very famous; it was the place in Chinese history where private banks were first established, back then called "piaohao" (票号).

Xiao Wei, a merchant from Shanxi, knew about the Cao family and had also heard of them. They were said to be among the first Chinese merchants to open branches overseas, and the Cao family compound still exists today. It was a legend among Chinese merchants, the most powerful merchants in Northeast China during the late Ming Dynasty, without exception. In 1664, with the Qing army's entry into the Central Plains, the Cao family's business expanded throughout the country.

At its peak, the Cao family had shops all over the country, with more than 640 branches, assets of 12 million taels of silver, and nearly 40,000 employees. At that time, there was a saying that "wherever sparrows fly, there are Cao family businesses."

His family's business ventures extended beyond national borders, reaching as close as Tokyo in Japan, Pyongyang in North Korea, Irkutsk and Kyakhta in Russia, and Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, and as far as Berlin in Germany, Paris in France, and New Delhi in India, even crossing the English Channel to London. Spanning two continents, Eurasia, and covering tens of thousands of miles, their business achievements have created an immortal legacy not only in the history of Shanxi people but also in the history of Chinese commerce.

Moreover, the Cao family forged a "tea route" between Shanxi and Mongolia, the prosperity of which was comparable to the historical "Silk Road".

The Cao family's businesses mainly consisted of two things: making tofu and brewing wine. How powerful were they? Even when Empress Dowager Cixi fled west, she borrowed money from others, and not just empty words, but by pledging her most prized possessions. In the first few centuries of the last century, Taigu County, where the Cao family lived, was considered by Westerners to be one of the financial centers of all of Asia.

In the end, the Cao family's glory was brought to an end by the Japanese. After the Japanese left, they were subjected to land reform, criticism, imprisonment, and forced labor. Now, the descendants of the Cao family still live in that village that once shone brightly in the world. Their ancestral hall and mansion have become a museum open to the world for a fee, while they live a life of poverty, hardship, lack of clothing and medicine. They can only helplessly cry out, hoping that their clan members who have fled overseas can come back for a visit.

"Even the most prosperous times eventually decline; everyone has to have a backup plan," Xiao Wei sighed.

Zhang Jun said, "Times have changed. In those chaotic times, no amount of money mattered. Now, if you had the business situation and power that the Cao family had back then, you would be treated like a king wherever you go. As long as you don't have a bunch of spendthrift children, you can definitely prosper."

Back in the camp compound, Zhang Jun asked, "How are you going to get this money?"

Zhang Jun said, "Take out 500,000 and give it to Xiao Gang and the guards. It'll save us the trouble of accounting for it."

Xiao Wei said, "Brother, this is my own money, that's the company's money."

My sister-in-law said, "That's right, don't listen to your brother. We can't just go along with things, or we'll be in trouble if things don't go smoothly."

Xiao Wei said, "Help me exchange the checks, two million four hundred thousand. Keep thirty thousand for your pocket money."

Zhang Jun laughed and said, "It's alright, it's still manageable. Thirty thousand it is, I don't mind it being too little." His sister-in-law punched Zhang Jun.

The two brothers carried the money upstairs to the finance department to exchange it for checks, and a major matter was finally resolved. From then on, there was no trace of it left.

On the morning of the third day, after breakfast, a group of people came to the construction site.

After a day and two nights of preparation, the machinery and equipment have arrived, and the personnel are basically in place. To be honest, the equipment isn't standard high-rise equipment. Zhang Jian said he'd already gone to purchase it, and it would definitely be in place before the main structure reaches ten stories, so everyone had no choice but to agree and get started. It's already autumn; if they delay any longer, nothing will be completed this year.

Two large pits had already been dug after the foundation was demolished. Now, it's necessary to redraw lines and mark the locations, and then expand the excavation based on the two existing pits. The depth and width are insufficient. Fortunately, the geological conditions here are better than in Wanliu, with an extremely low settlement coefficient, so the requirements for the foundation are not as stringent.

After the 20-odd acres of land were cleared out, it didn't look that big to the naked eye, only about 120 meters square. But when they actually started digging, it felt huge. Four excavators started working at the same time, making a rumbling noise. The volume of earthwork, which was close to 300,000 cubic meters, was not a small amount. Generally speaking, it would take almost a month to dig. Fortunately, part of it had already been dug, but the depth was a little short, which saved a lot of time.

Mi Zhiqi and Wang Honggang got to work, and together with Zhang Jian, Zhang Jianfang's engineers, and the managers recruited by his sister-in-law, they began to discuss the project, formulate process standards and schedules. Xiao Wei was left with nothing to do.

I took some photos with Zhang Jun and his sister-in-law to appease my parents, then drove to a shopping mall to buy local specialties. I also took the opportunity to discuss bulk purchases with the mall, which means wholesale. These things will definitely have a good market back in Liaodong.

Running a business selling these local specialties was something planned a long time ago, but the conditions hadn't been met until now. Xiaowei plans to brand Mongolian specialties and wild vegetables from the county town and sell them in his own shop—basically, opening a specialty product counter.

Neither the grocery store nor the department store had wholesale business; that's how tough state-owned stores were back then—they wouldn't sell. The grocery store manager gave Xiaowei several company and manufacturer phone numbers, telling him to contact them himself.

Back then, state-owned department stores were really too rigid in their operations, lacking both flexible business concepts and systems, which inevitably led to their elimination by the market a few years later.

To be honest, Xiaowei was quite surprised. He really couldn't understand what the manager was thinking. Why not do wholesale business to make some money? Because they didn't have this business, they just gave him the manufacturer's phone number and acted all high and mighty, telling him to contact them himself.

Left with no other option, Xiaowei had to drive to the manufacturers, which was indeed quite troublesome. He would rather spend a little more to get his goods from the grocery store; it was more organized, and he could simply check the goods, pay, and be done with it. Not only were the manufacturers scattered, but ordering would also be a hassle later. In those days, the prices of goods in state-run department stores weren't actually much higher than those at the manufacturers—that was one of the advantages of a planned economy; pricing was unrelated to market costs.

(End of this chapter)