Material Empire

Quwu City, Linxi Province is an important coal producing area known as the coal city in northern China.

Qin Hai and Heizi, who had been on the train for three days and three nights, walked out of the train station with handbags in their hands. Looking at the city blackened by soot, they were filled with emotion.

"The traffic conditions are really terrible. When will the high-speed rail be repaired!" Qin Hai made a rambling comment. He really missed the era when the high-speed rail was everywhere.

"My God, China is too big. How did the Long March come here?" Heizi was very excited about his first trip, looking at the loess on the roadside, flat-roofed houses, and The little donkeys who passed by felt very fresh, and their eyes were not enough.

"Heizi, are you hungry? Find somewhere to eat." Qin Hai greeted.

"Okay, boss, you have to treat me to a good meal. I have eaten dry steamed buns for the past three days. When did I suffer this kind of crime?" Heizi complained.

Qin Hai patted his head and reprimanded: "What do you mean by gnawing dry steamed buns? Didn't I buy you a roast chicken when you passed the Central Plains?"

"That's roast chicken? Why do I think it's not as big as a crow." Heizi retorted ramblingly.

"Just be content, let's go, there is a restaurant over there, let's go and have a look." Qin Hai pointed his finger, and walked forward with Heizi.

Qin Hai and Heizi traveled all the way to Linxi to discuss the purchase of coal. After a period of preparation, Beixi Special Steel Works has started production. In the early days, Beixi Iron and Steel Works could provide them with some excess molten iron, but Xu Yang made it clear that the special steel plant produced unplanned steel and could not always use planned raw materials. If the special steel plant cannot solve the source of raw materials, let alone 200,000 tons of steel a year, 20,000 tons will be a castle in the air, and there is no possibility.

Steelmaking requires molten iron, and smelting molten iron requires various raw materials such as iron ore, coal, and limestone. Among them, iron ore and coal are the most urgent materials. The ore and coal that Beixi Iron and Steel Works can obtain every year are limited. If you want to increase production, you can only find a way to solve it yourself.

Yang Yihe, Chai Peide and others are not the Jade Emperor, and they don't have the ability to turn stones into gold. The reason why they pushed Qin Hai to this position was because of his ability to operate in the market. Qin Hai knew that it was his duty to get supplies, so after the workshop business was on the right track, he took his black son Fu Zhihao on the journey.

Qin Hai's team is still too weak. Ning Mo is in charge of the procurement of Pingyuan Iron and Steel Plant. After more than half a year of hard work, Ning Mo has matured and is able to take charge of his own. Qin Hai couldn't bring Ning Mo out because the production of Pingyuan Iron and Steel Works had to be maintained. In favor of the shortest, Qin Hai had no choice but to choose Heizi as his follower.

Heizi and Ningmo have one similarity, that is, they are both the children of cadres. The difference is that the Qingfeng Agricultural Machinery Factory where Ning Zhongying works is not bad, and Ning Mo has not been reduced to the point where he is a gangster in the society. The Qujiang farm where Fu Wenbin works is in poor economic condition, so Heizi can only take Zhao Hui, Luan Xiaolong and other little brothers to Pingyuan County to entrap middle school students to earn a living.

Because of Wang Xiaodong's incident last year, Heizi and Qin Hai didn't know each other. Afterwards, Qin Hai recruited Heizi and others into Pingyuan Iron and Steel Works as assistant workers. On the premise of respecting their personality, Qin Hai imposed various strict requirements on them, which made Heizi and others change their minds and made a lot of progress. Heizi was quick-witted, knew some tricks of the world, and could play some special roles at critical moments, so Qin Hai took him with him and went to Linxi together to get coal.

"Bosses, what do you want to eat? I just got off the train, how about I bring you two big bowls of stewed noodles and a pot of Fenjiu to relieve your fatigue? What do you think?"

As soon as Qin Hai and Heizi walked into the small restaurant, enthusiastic waiters greeted them and recommended meals to them skillfully. The waiter spoke with a Linxi accent, and Qin Hai couldn't understand two of the three sentences he said, but the title of "boss" seemed crisp, which made Qin Hai feel uneasy.

"Why, it's fashionable to call him boss here too?" Qin Hai asked the waiter with a smile.

The name "boss" was gradually spread from south to north. In southern Guangdong, it is quite natural for people to address themselves as bosses. Because Anhe Province is located in the south, many places now use this name. But in Qin Hai's impression, most of the northern regions, especially the central inland provinces like Linxi, should not be so open. If the waiter calls him "comrade", he will think it is more reasonable.

Hearing Qin Hai's question, the waiter smiled shyly and said, "Boss, you don't know that there are more and more southerners in our place. Everyone calls it that way. Take a look at those tables. They are all big bosses in the south, and they are rich. Chickens are eaten fresh, and fish are also eaten. There is no fish in our place."

Qin Hai looked around, and sure enough, he saw that the small restaurant was very crowded, and several tables of guests were drinking wine and chatting loudly in the southern bird language that Qin Hai could not understand. The gold ornaments on everyone's bodies shone brightly, dazzled Qin Hai's eyes.

"They are the bosses, and we are part-time workers. How about this, as you said just now, two bowls of stewed noodles, two liang of Fen wine, and a plate of cooked meat." Qin Hai explained to the waiter, and then pulled Heizi to the door Sat down at a small table next to him.

"Boss, these people are also here to buy coal. I heard that coal was mentioned in their conversation." After sitting down, Heizi reported to Qin Haihui in a low voice.

"Can you understand what they are saying?" Qin Hai was a little curious. He could hear that those people were speaking in Hong Kong Island dialect, but he didn't know what they were talking about.

Heizi smiled and said: "Although I have never been to Hong Kong Island, I have seen many videos. I can understand 70% to 80% of what they say. They are talking about how to deal with the mine managers of several large state-owned mines, and find ways to get rid of them. to coal."

While talking, someone came in through the door curtain again. This is a big black man with stubble on his face, like an old buyer. Since the other tables were already full, the waiter brought the big black man to Qin Hai's table and let him sit opposite Qin Hai.

"Braised noodles, a pot of wine, and two heads of garlic." Hei Dahan ordered the waiter in a simple and concise language, so that people could tell that he often came and went in this area.

"This is the first time you two have come to Quwu, right?" After dismissing the waiter, the big black man turned his attention to Qin Hai and his party.

Qin Hai chuckled, and said, "Brother has really good eyesight, and this is indeed the first time for my younger brother to come to Quwu."

"Haha, what a good eye. You can tell that you haven't done any shopping just by looking at the little wine in front of you. This little wine is not enough to feed the cat." The big black man said.

"Does this purchase have anything to do with drinking?" Qin Hai asked knowingly, he is not a young man, of course he knows how prosperous the wine table culture is in China, but the other party can tell from their drinking capacity that it is their first time to Quwu , which made him feel a little curious.

"Get to know me, I'm a buyer from Chayang Steel Factory in Dongyuan Province, and my name is Li Shangming." The big black man introduced himself boldly, and he really looked like a buyer.

Qin Haidao: "I am the buyer of Beixi Special Steel Factory in Anhe Province. My name is Qin Hai. This is my colleague Fu Zhihao."

"Oh, Xiao Qin, Xiao Fu, they're all young, haven't they reached 30?" Li Shangming asked.

"No." Qin Hai replied, meeting by chance, he naturally couldn't rush to tell others that he was only 19 years old. After spending a few days on the train, he and Heizi were both disheveled and looked a few years older than their real age.

Li Shangming said: "You are too young, and your factory manager is really relieved. He dared to send you two young people to engage in coal, and they are two young people who can't drink. By the way, you just asked me, drinking What does it have to do with purchasing, there is a lot of knowledge here..."

As soon as he said this, the waiter brought all the wine and noodles he wanted, Qin Hai thought to himself, and told the waiter: "Excuse me, bring us another pot of wine and two good dishes, hurry up."

As soon as Li Shangming heard Qin Hai's words, he knew that the other party was going to treat him, so he couldn't help blushing a little, and didn't know where to start when he wanted to say something. Qin Hai cupped his hands to Li Shangming, and said, "My younger brother has never done shopping before, so I'd like to ask Brother Li to teach me a little bit, ordering two side dishes, and it's my thank you gift."

"How appropriate is this, you young ones..." Li Shangming faltered, and finally didn't say any bold words such as letting him pay the bill. It seems that this gentleman is also very cash-strapped, so he dare not treat guests with arrogance.

"Let me tell you, drinking has a lot to do with purchasing." Perhaps because of his cannibalism, Li Shangming cheered up and began to teach Qin Hai his experience: "You must all know that now the whole country is There is a shortage of coal, coal is used for power generation, coal for steelmaking, and coal for burning cement. There are also ordinary people who don’t burn firewood now, but instead burn briquettes. Good guy, do the math, this year you have to burn How much coal did you drop?"

"We have already experienced it." Qin Hai nodded and said. In fact, there are many coal mines in Anhe Province, and the output is reasonable. But this time Qin Hai went to contact several coal mines in the province, and they all said that the coal supply was extremely tight and could not meet Qin Hai's needs, otherwise Qin Hai would not have to go to Linxi.

Li Shangming continued: "Quwu is a well-known coal city in the country. It has a lot of coal, and the quality of the coal is good. It is rich in coking coal for steelmaking. No, people from all over the country come here to buy coal. You will know if you stay a few more days, here, you can hear the dialect of any province."

"But, what does this have to do with drinking?" Heizi couldn't help but interjected. He realized that the strange uncle in front of him was really good at talking, and he didn't know where it went if he wasn't paying attention.

"That's right, let me tell you about drinking." Li Shangming also found that he was digressing, and he said: "There are a total of 6 large state-owned mines in Quwu City and some coal mines in small towns that can provide coal. I won’t talk about it. The mine managers of these six big mines are all good at wine. If you want to talk about coal with them, you have to drink first. When you are happy with drinking, when can you start talking.”