Hearing Pei Guoan's words, the worries on Zhang Degen and Accountant Wu's faces faded, and they looked at Pei Guoan with expectation: "Guoan, do you have any ideas?"
"I know there's a brick and tile factory near the provincial capital. It's much larger than the one in Zhaojia Village, and the quality is also excellent. The bricks and tiles made there are definitely better quality than those made in Zhaojia Village. It's just far away, so we have to hire a large truck to transport them, which is an extra expense."
"An extra expense isn't a problem, and our village can afford it. But will the brick and tile factory agree to sell bricks and tiles to our village?"
At this time, you can't buy things just because you have money. Instead, you have to beg to buy them. It's also because the attitude of the Zhaojia Village is too bad and their calculations are too ruthless, otherwise they would not make other plans.
"That's no problem at all. I'll go there in person and arrange this matter."
Li Miaomiao listened from the side and knew that this was a matter of making Pei Guoan owe someone a favor. Not only that, the village would have an additional expense. Although this solved the problem, it did not slap the people of Zhaojia Village in the face. No matter how you thought about it, it was not the best choice.
"I wouldn't say it's a last resort. It's best to find another way to solve the problem. We need a lot of bricks and tiles to build a factory. Even if the village can come up with money now thanks to the workshop and is not as tight as before, it's still best to save on such a large expense."
Pei Guoan nodded when he heard this: "That's right. If there is any other way, going to the brick and tile factory in the provincial capital to order bricks and tiles is indeed not the best option. This can only be a fallback for us."
"But they must know we've been to Niu Village in Zhaojia Village. If we go there now, they might ask for a huge price."
Zhang Degen was extremely worried. The people in Zhaojia Village had made their attitude clear early on. Building a factory was obviously a good thing, but it had turned out like this. It was really upsetting.
"Then we should order from Niujia Village. Didn't you say that although their bricks are not good, their tiles are still passable? I think it's a problem with their firing technology. As for firing tiles, I actually read some techniques and methods in a book before. It's time to go over and discuss with them to see if they can improve their firing technology based on this. As for bricks, we can use earthen bricks. We don't have to ask for help from others, and it can also reduce costs."
"But Guoan wife, we are building a factory this time. Wouldn't it look awkward if we used mud bricks?"
"There's nothing wrong with it. We built the factory to meet production needs, not to compete with anyone. We wanted red bricks because they make a stronger factory. But the earth bricks we made ourselves are not bad either. They're stronger than ordinary earth bricks, so we'll use them."
Li Miaomiao felt that because of the soap workshop, the villagers were a little arrogant, including Zhang Degen and Accountant Wu. When building the factory, they did not consider using earth bricks, but wanted to use more expensive and better red bricks. It was nothing more than that they still had a competitive spirit in their hearts.
Li Miaomiao said this, and Zhang Degen and Accountant Wu both agreed that the earthen bricks made in their village were indeed very strong and durable. In fact, they were all very confused about this, because the village had made earthen bricks before, but they were not as good as these.
But after these earthen bricks dried, their hardness was not much different from that of red bricks.
It's not just Zhang Degen and Accountant Wu who are confused about this. Everyone in the village is also confused, but they can't explain why. Could it be that they slightly changed the ratio according to Li Miaomiao's instructions?
"Okay, let's use mud bricks. If that's the case, I'll go get everyone in the village to work. The weather has been nice lately, sunny all the time, so the mud bricks will dry faster."
They acted immediately. Zhang Degen and Accountant Wu decided to organize the villagers, while Li Miaomiao planned to go to Niujia Village with Pei Guoan to see the specific situation of the tiles.
When they arrived at Niujia Village, the village chief knew Li Miaomiao's purpose. "Our village's paper brick and tile making skills are indeed not as good as those of Zhaojia Village. Their master chef went there specifically to learn. Our village's master chef was originally just an apprentice in making tiles. Life in the village was so tight that he passed on his limited skills to everyone in the village. He can barely make tiles, but not bricks. We figured out the formula ourselves, so there's always something missing."
When Li Miaomiao heard Captain Yang from Niujia Village speak so honestly and without any intention of hiding anything, she felt a little more favorable towards him.
"Captain Yang, I've heard from our captain and accountant Wu about your situation. We plan to have the tiles for our factory expansion custom-made here."
As soon as Li Miaomiao said this, everyone in Niujia Village was overjoyed. Everyone knew that the soap workshop in Fanglin Village was doing very well. The expanded factory building was also very large, and it would definitely require a lot of tiles. With this income, the village could barely have a better New Year this year.
Captain Yang, however, was not carried away by his joy. Instead, he looked at Pei Guoan and Li Miaomiao and said, "You should know that the tiles made in our village are indeed not as good as those made in Zhaojia Village, but our prices are cheaper. And you don't have to haul them here. Once they're done, we'll bring them to you on ox carts."
"The quality of the tiles in your village is indeed worse than those in Zhaojia Village. Even though they are cheaper, the subsequent costs we pay are actually higher."
When everyone heard Li Miaomiao's words, their hearts sank and the smiles on their faces turned into silence.
Li Miaomiao felt bad seeing them like this, especially when she saw that the people in Niujia Village really lived in poverty and didn't even have to go to their former Fanglin Village.
"So what I want to say is that lowering prices is not the way out for your village. What you need to do is improve technology and the quality of bricks and tiles."
Captain Yang said bitterly, "We know what you're talking about, but the people in Zhaojia Village are not stupid. They wouldn't ask us to learn the technology. We've been working on it for so long, and we can only make the tiles better."
"I know what the situation is like in Zhaojia Village. We can't count on them. I have read a few books before that have some information about making bricks and tiles. I wrote down some of what I thought of. You can take a look."
Li Miaomiao bought a book in the system mall, copied down some content that could be used in Niujia Village, and handed it to Captain Yang.
Upon hearing this, Captain Yang excitedly took the book and read the contents. It mentioned the material ratios for firing bricks and tiles, the firing temperature and some precautions. It was very detailed and exactly what they needed.
"I'm an outsider and don't know anything else. This is all I can do. Try the above ratios and see how it works."
"Great! I'll arrange for someone to conduct experiments right away! According to the above ratio, I'll notify you immediately if there's any news."
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