Chapter 79

The steam engine had been started early, just like yesterday, but this time, it was the Zhao family's tenant farmers who were putting more than 200 burlap bags of wheat grains into the large feed opening. The massive feed opening, like a ravenous beast, devoured everything. The drive shaft connected to the machine, and as the machine operated, layers of fine flour slowly flowed down from the stone mill, eventually gathering into the prepared bags. No one needed to do anything; it was incredibly convenient and magical.

The machine operated almost without stopping. Today, there were slightly more wheat grains. According to yesterday's efficiency, Yang Yuanzhao instructed everyone to leave and come back in the evening.

Leaving a few people to watch over it, Yang Yuanzhao continued to immerse himself in his research. After the tractor and the flour mill, the next steps were the brick kiln and the cement plant, especially the latter. Cement was a more important building material compared to bricks. In this era, if the production and price of cement could be significantly reduced, the construction of roads and large-scale investments would also develop, which was crucial for the future.

Immersed in his research, he almost forgot the time. Liu Shu came to knock on the door at some point, and Yang Yuanzhao realized that everyone had gathered in front of the flour mill again.

Zhao Shuming was now counting the flour produced. Following Yang Yuanzhao's instructions, all the flour produced was neatly stacked. Zhao Shuming quickly finished counting and reported a number: "640 bags!"

640 bags, this number not only stunned everyone, including Yang Yuanzhao. He had estimated that the flour mill's efficiency would be around 1,500 bags per day. In less than 8 hours, 640 bags meant that the flour mill's efficiency was 2,000 bags per day, which was a very good efficiency.

Yang Yuanzhao had previously convinced everyone with his substantial capital and overseas background. Whether the cotton project would succeed was still questionable, but this flour mill had completely颠覆了 everyone's concept of a factory. No one was needed; the machine could operate automatically. What was the point of having workers? Wei Ming, standing to the side, was deep in thought. He had been hesitant about whether the brick factory could produce such a large number of bricks with so few people. Everything in front of him now clearly proved that Yang Yuanzhao was not exaggerating; he truly had the ability to create machines that saved labor and were highly efficient. This would save on labor costs and increase efficiency, making it a promising venture.

Zhao Shuming and Wu Guangren's eyes were filled with joy. Yang Yuanzhao had promised to partner with them to build a flour mill. Now, they could see the prospects right in front of them, how could they not be excited?

Compared to Wu Guangren, Zhao Shuming was more calculating. When the steward was bagging the wheat grains, he had already calculated that each bag of wheat grains was about 100 pounds on average. With 640 bags of flour, each bag being 25 pounds, the total was 13,000 pounds. This meant that the flour loss was only 20%. Just the flour yield alone made it necessary to join this flour mill. Ordinary farmers achieving a 60% yield was already quite remarkable, let alone producing high-quality flour.

As a knowledgeable landlord, Zhao Shuming was proficient in mathematics and had a clear understanding of the purchase price of wheat and the selling price of flour. A quick calculation showed that the gross profit of one bag of flour was at least 1 yuan. Even with a 50-cent deduction for loss, each bag could still earn 50 cents. With 640 bags produced in 8 hours, a 24-hour operation would produce 2,000 bags of flour per day.

Zhao Shuming was stunned by the numbers. As a large landlord with hundreds of hectares of land and a net worth of several hundred thousand taels, he still had limited cash on hand. Land was a fixed asset and would not be sold unless in dire circumstances.

Northwestern China was vast and sparsely populated. During the Mongolian reclamation, they had taken over a large area of fertile land, laying the foundation. In old China, agriculture relied on the weather. Even with tenant farmers, a yield of 30 to 50 cents per mu was already good. With tens of thousands of mu, the annual income would be several thousand taels.

But now, everything was being overturned. A machine could earn 1,000 yuan per day, 365,000 yuan per year. This was a staggering amount, even just the gross profit.

Wei Ming, as the manager of the Wei family's bank in Baotou, was also very sensitive to prices. 200 bags of wheat grains turned into 640 bags of flour, each 25 pounds, with a better appearance than imported American flour. Even at the same price, the value of this flour was very significant. Looking at the raw materials, the 200 bags of wheat grains were almost at rock-bottom prices. This seemed to be a very good business.

Everyone around was filled with hopeful gazes, even Liu Shu. Yang Yuanzhao felt a surge of excitement. This was it—using profit to attract people. The more advanced productivity represented by capitalism was about the benefits and aggressiveness brought by increased productivity. In the current Baotou, even light industry had great potential, let alone heavy industry.

The ironclad facts dispelled all doubts. Faced with a business that was guaranteed to make money, no one considered the investment amount. Everyone was thinking about the share of the business they could get. To achieve this goal, even the two landlords were willing to sell their land.

Yang Yuanzhao pointed to the flour mill and said calmly, "In the United States, a machine that can produce 500-600 bags of flour per day costs between 5,000 and 10,000 US dollars. This, my cousin Ji, can vouch for!"

"That's right, that's the price, and that's the price in the United States!" Yang Yue nodded, saying. As an agronomist, he was very familiar with agricultural equipment. He had been interested in flour mills, but the high price and the many issues with transporting them to China had discouraged him. However, he knew the price.

Wei Ming laughed and said, "Brother Yuanzhao, how could we not believe you? What about this machine?"

"I won't overcharge. Business is about harmony!" Yang Yuanzhao observed everyone's expressions and then said, "Let's set the price of this machine at 50,000 yuan."

50,000 yuan was not a large sum. Considering its efficiency, it was comparable to buying several small imported machines, excluding shipping and the markup by foreign trading companies. Zhao Shuming and Wu Guangren breathed a sigh of relief. Zhao Shuming said, "Nephew Yuanzhao, we'll follow your lead. What scale do you want?"

"The larger, the better. I can provide the machine, and you only need to pay one-third of the machine's cost. The rest will be for building the factory, collecting raw materials, and hiring personnel. I will take half the shares in the flour mill."

The smiles on everyone's faces grew even wider. From previous dealings, they had already understood Yang Yuanzhao's character. This time, it was confirmed again. Yang Yuanzhao was very fair. He seemed to be building the factory for the sake of building it, making significant concessions on profit.

Their thoughts aligned with Yang Yuanzhao's. Industrialization was not the work of one person, one family, or even one city. Even with the help of the integrated machine, Yang Yuanzhao was alone. His individual strength could make him a tycoon or take decades or even centuries to complete the initial accumulation of capital. But with proper leverage, it was different. For example, the Yang family, though an old-time chamber of commerce, had over 100,000 people, with a network spanning Northeast, North China, Central China, and East China, almost the entire country. Even in more prosperous cities, there were branches of the Yang family.

This massive force was beyond Yang Yuanzhao's control, but he could reasonably leverage it to gather a group of industrial workers. With the integrated machine, money was not his biggest concern. The 700 tons of gold in Baotou alone were enough to make him one of the richest men in the world. If that wasn't enough, there were several large gold mines discovered in the 21st century, the closest of which had a reserve of 1,200 tons.

So, money was not a problem. Since his arrival, he had always been thinking about how to use existing resources to gather a group of people. Cotton was a good project, but it was a primary industry and took a bit longer to see results. Light industry, especially short-term, high-efficiency light industry, was the key to rallying these Shanxi merchants.