Chapter 323: The road to industrialization is still long
Fan Yuanrang was born in Xiangyin County, Changsha Prefecture, Hunan Province. His grandfather had been the magistrate of Daxing County, and his father was a teacher. When he was in his teens, he followed his brother Fan Yuanlian to enter the Hunan Current Affairs School and participated in the Reform Movement. After the failure of the Reform Movement, his brother went to study in Japan, and Fan Yuanrang stayed at home to continue his studies.
Later, Fan Yuanlian returned to China to participate in the Self-Reliance Army Uprising, but failed again. He planned to take Fan Yuanrang to study in Japan. When they arrived in Shanghai, they happened to meet the enrollment of Aurora College. Fan Yuanrang had heard of Zhang Xingjiu's name a long time ago, so he went to apply and was admitted to the preparatory class.
After careful consideration, Fan Yuanlian continued to study in Japan, while Fan Yuanrang stayed at Aurora College. After a period of hard study, he was successfully admitted to the undergraduate chemistry department with excellent grades.
Zhang Xingjiu discovered this talent during class. Perhaps not many people know the name Fan Yuanrang. It would be different if he had another name. In the original history, Fan Yuanrang would change his name to Fan Xudong in the future. He successively founded Jiuda Refined Salt Company, Yongli Alkali Factory, and Yongli Calcium Factory. He produced China's first batch of ammonium sulfate products, successfully researched and developed a new combined alkali production process, and was called the father of China's national chemical industry.
He was a famous chemical industrialist in the Republic of China, the founder of China's heavy chemical industry, and was praised by his teachers as one of the four great industrialists that the Chinese people cannot forget.
Originally, Fan Yuanrang should have studied in Japan at this time. A few years later, he was admitted to the Department of Chemical Industry of Kyoto Imperial University. When he graduated, the Xinhai Revolution had just succeeded. He returned to China to start a business with a heart to serve the country through industry.
Now he has won the favor of Zhang Xingjiu, who regards him as a key talent in the Department of Chemistry. Fan Yuanrang has a very solid foundation and has participated in many important experiments with Zhang Xingjiu. All he lacks is practical experience in industrialization.
Zhang Xingjiu planned to use this opportunity to let him practice and accumulate some experience, and then recommend him to study in Germany to familiarize himself with the most advanced chemical technology in the world today. In this way, his achievements should be greater than in the original history.
Zhang Jian did not have the foresight of Zhang Xingjiu. He knew that Fan Yuanrang was a rare chemical genius. When he saw that the visitor was only in his early twenties, he felt a little unhappy. As the saying goes, a man without hair on his lips cannot do things well. So what could he see when he was so young?
He was also somewhat dissatisfied with Zhang Xingjiu. He had spent a lot of money and used a lot of connections to build Tongrentai Salt Company. Now the company encountered technical difficulties. It would be fine if you didn't come in person, but at least send a teacher? Why did you send a young boy? So he said indifferently, "Mingjun, you have come a long way. I have asked people to prepare a welcoming banquet. After dinner, take a rest for a day and start checking the situation of the salt field tomorrow, right?"
Fan Yuanrang had been absorbed in studying and was not familiar with the ways of the world. He did not notice Zhang Jian's thoughts and responded immediately, "I have been exercising at school and I am in good health. This journey was not hard. I don't need to rest. I have eaten. I can go check on the situation now."
These words made Zhang Jian change his mind greatly. No matter what the ability was, this attitude made people feel comfortable. After persuading him a few words, but seeing that Fan Yuanrang was determined, he no longer insisted and sent a few people to take Fan Yuanrang and others to check around.
Fan Yuanrang worked very seriously. He visited almost every corner of the salt company, from the salt field to the grassland to the frying room. He paid the most attention to the test room, board drying room, salt frying room and salt gathering room. The salt drying board, salt frying house, ash field and salt stove were the most important. He personally operated almost every process.
The inspection lasted for a whole week. Just when Zhang Jian was about to lose his patience, Fan Yuanrang finally came to report to him. He invited Zhang Jian and several senior executives of the Salt Company to the conference room, and holding a thick notebook, he introduced to them in detail the technical problems of the company.
A lot of problems were found from the technical route chosen by the company to the equipment and the workers' operation. At the beginning, Zhang Jian listened with great interest, but when he saw that Fan Yuanrang had been talking for more than an hour with no intention of stopping, he really couldn't bear it anymore.
After all, he was born into a family of scholars who studied the Four Books and Five Classics. He was not very interested in the specific technical details, and he did not understand Fan Yuanrang's increasingly in-depth content. So he interrupted him and asked, "Mingjun is so dedicated to his work. I really admire him. There is no need to discuss these details for now. I just want to ask one question. If Mingjun is allowed to make adjustments, can Tongren Tai Salt Company turn losses into profits?"
Fan Yuanrang answered without hesitation, "From a technical point of view, I am confident that the salt company can produce refined salt with better quality and higher output, and can also reduce production costs. However, there are many factors involved in a company's profitability. I only know chemistry, not sales or management, so I can't guarantee you anything."
This was also what Zhang Xingjiu told him. The shareholder structure of Tongrentai Salt Company was relatively complicated, and many things were involved. Fan Yuanrang was young and could not quite grasp it, so it was better for him not to get involved. He should just do the technical things well and let Zhang Jian worry about the rest. If it still could not be resolved by then, he would come forward to coordinate, after all, Aurora University also had shares in the company.
Zhang Jian had been running a business for many years, so he naturally knew what Fan Yuanrang was talking about. He immediately appointed a confidant to assist Fan Yuanrang in making rectifications. All technical issues were handled by Fan Yuanrang, and management issues were resolved by him.
At the beginning, Fan Yuanrang's rectification went relatively smoothly. The shareholders had invested so much money and had been anxious for a long time because they had not seen any returns yet. Now that they heard that there was hope of turning losses into profits, they would naturally support Fan Yuanrang.
Fan Yuanrang did not disappoint their expectations. In just over a month, he enabled Tongren Tai Salt Company to produce refined salt of better quality, greatly increased output, and greatly reduced production costs. As long as the company continued to operate as it is now, it would surely receive generous returns.
After dealing with the technical issues, Fan Yuanrang returned to Aurora University with the gratitude of Zhang Jian and other shareholders, and continued to learn German in preparation for studying abroad.
Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. Tongren Tai Salt Company ran into problems again. This time it had nothing to do with technology, but came from other aspects. Tongren Tai Salt Company made such huge profits that it attracted a lot of flies. Even Zhang Jian could not bear it and had to transfer part of his shares with great reluctance.
It would have been fine if they just wanted to make money, but they also had to fill the factory with people who knew nothing but liked to give orders. The good times for Tongren Tai Salt Company didn't last long before its profit margin dropped again.
Coupled with the factors such as the imperial court's levy and other places prohibiting the company's salt from entering the local market, the Tongrentai Salt Company's days became increasingly difficult.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xingjiu could only sigh that the road to industrialization is still long.
Tomorrow's update may be late
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
