Chapter 93

After three or four days, the first batch of brick molds was delivered to the octagonal kiln. This kiln, which combined modern knowledge, could accommodate 400,000 bricks at once. Since it was a new kiln, no one would fill it to the brim. In 26 days, 300,000 bricks were produced, which was already a high efficiency. Around the kiln, three or four more large kilns were being constructed. The brick-making machine produced 80,000 bricks daily, and the speed was continuously increasing. It would take a maximum of four days to produce enough bricks for one kiln. After drying for three or four days, the bricks could be fired in the kiln. To keep up with the brick-making machine's full capacity, at least seven or eight kilns would be needed.

Wei Ming almost spent every day at the construction site. Initially, the brick factory was expected to produce 500,000 bricks, but it quickly increased to about 2.4 million bricks per month. Even in a provincial capital like Taiyuan, this would be a super-large brick factory. After the brick factory was on track, Yang Yuanzhao left it alone. Of course, he signed a sales contract in his name, agreeing to buy all the bricks except for 20% of the gross profit left for the factory.

This profit margin was already quite high. Due to mechanization, the labor cost per brick was reduced to a fraction of what it used to be. Even with the operation of the steam engine, Shanxi, being a major coal province, and the presence of large coalfields in Mongolia, meant that coal was abundant and cheap.

The brick factory was thriving, but the cement factory was still in the planning stage. The location was already determined, in the area Yang Yuanzhao found during his survey in Baotou. This area had a large amount of limestone and clay, as well as some necessary trace elements, making it an excellent source of raw materials for cement production. The cement formula obtained from the Qixin Cement Plant was relatively advanced for the time. For now, high-grade cement was not needed, but once the cement factory was operational, scientific methods would be used for further research.

Standing on the site of the future cement plant, which was currently a wasteland, a small limestone quarry had been opened on a nearby hill. This land belonged to a landlord surnamed Xu, who, like Wu Guangren and Zhao Shuming, was a major landowner in the area, owning hundreds of acres of land, dozens of hills, and mines, making him quite wealthy.

It was not easy for Yang Yuanzhao to obtain the mine from such a wealthy family. Fortunately, Yang Yuanzhao was no longer penniless in Baotou. The large-scale cotton cultivation by the Baokeng Company, which was not affected by seasons, was a significant selling point to Xu. In Baotou, the conditions allowed for only one crop per year, and any additional short-season crops in the fall were entirely dependent on the weather.

Under these conditions, Xu received support from the Baokeng Company, which would provide about 20,000 acres of cotton plants the following year. Of course, this required payment. In return, Yang Yuanzhao obtained 540 acres of land, including about 300 acres of wasteland and 200 acres of a small hill, which was only 400 meters high and entirely composed of limestone, a crucial raw material for cement production.

Dozens of workers from Baotou were busy on the site, and four tractors were happily operating in the center. Yang Yuanzhao had equipped the tractors with bulldozer-like blades, powered by hydraulics and electricity, allowing them to perform simple tasks. While digging might be difficult, leveling the land was feasible.

One bulldozer could do the work of hundreds of people. The remaining workers were mainly engaged in filling gaps and building the outer walls. The first batch of bricks from the kiln would take another half a month to be ready. These bricks were purchased by Yang Yuanzhao from Taiyuan, and this large-scale purchase gave Wei Ming the confidence to fully commit to the brick factory.

The 120 acres of land prepared for the cement factory had been roughly leveled. Currently, there were two sets of machinery, each with an efficiency about twice that of the Qixin Cement Plant, making the total efficiency about four times that of Qixin. This allowed for a daily production of 2,800 barrels of cement. In 1908 China, this was a massive cement factory, but compared to the future, it was a small one. Each barrel of cement weighed about 200 kilograms, so the daily production was around 560 tons, with an annual production not exceeding 200,000 tons.

In the future, even the top ten cement producers in China had an annual production of over 360 million tons, with each averaging over 36 million tons. The largest cement plant produced one billion tons annually, and even city or county-level cement plants had annual productions of over one million tons. A 200,000-ton plant would likely be a high-energy-consuming small enterprise facing shutdowns.

In 1908, building a 200,000-ton cement plant in China was a very difficult task. Others were not optimistic, and the Wei and Yang families did not participate. Only Yang Yuanzhao was eager to independently push the construction of the cement plant. Fortunately, although the Yang and Wei families did not invest or participate, they helped Yang Yuanzhao in other ways. Their branches in Tianjin, Shanghai, and Wuhan were actively poaching workers from the Qixin Cement Plant and other small cement plants in the concessions, offering two to three times the salary. It was expected that results would be seen in one to two months.

However, the number of workers was still insufficient. Cement production is labor-intensive, requiring a large workforce. In the future, with automated management and electronic control systems, a million-ton cement plant would need only 300 to 500 workers. In this era, Yang Yuanzhao could only rely on manual labor, with some tasks being mechanized, such as automatic elevators and cranes. This would only slightly reduce the workforce, and conservatively, it would still require over 1,500 workers.

The number of industrial workers in China was relatively small. Even with the Yang and Wei families offering two to three times the salary to poach workers from other companies, and finding workers from other industries, the total would not exceed 150. The rest would need to be recruited.

Unlike the brick factory, which had many similar factories and relatively low technical requirements, the cement plant would require significant effort to train the workers from scratch.

Yang Yuanzhao was quite troubled. The machinery for the cement plant was already stored in his courtyard, packed and not installed. Some key equipment, such as the cement kiln, which required refractory bricks and steel, was also being quietly produced. It was estimated that the cement plant would take at least two months to start production, during which time the workers could be trained.

The personnel management of the Baokeng Company was handled by Liu Shu. Recruitment was already underway. Due to the high value of cement and the high efficiency of the production line, the wages offered to workers were also quite high. Ordinary workers earned around 20 yuan, night shift workers received a 3-yuan monthly allowance, and skilled workers, after their positions and responsibilities were determined, had wages ranging from 30 yuan for a second-level technician to 180 yuan for a seventh-level technician. Higher-level workers were rare in the world at that time, and even rarer in China.

In the eastern street of Baotou, where the Baokeng Company was located, the scene was bustling. The company had changed significantly from its initial establishment a few months ago. The wheat harvest, cotton cultivation, flour mill, and brick factory, especially the flour mill, had become star enterprises in Shanxi and Mongolia. The Baixin brand of flour was synonymous with high quality and almost monopolized the production of premium bagged white flour in Shanxi and Mongolia. This also raised the status of the workers, who not only received high wages but also special monthly benefits, such as one bag of flour per person, which many envied.

Unfortunately, the Baixin flour mill employed very few people, just a few for loading and unloading. The brick factory, which was established later, also required few workers, similar to the flour mill, and positions filled up quickly, leaving many disappointed. However, the cement plant was different, as it planned to recruit 1,500 workers. The number and benefits immediately caused a sensation in Baotou. From the moment the news spread, the Baokeng Company was surrounded by people, and the crowd continued to grow.