Material Empire

While Qin Hai and Xin Jinlong were observing the production site of Tongxin Steel Plant, Lu Dashuang was also sneaking eyes at this group of uninvited guests who claimed to be from the south.

Two days ago, he received a message from Gao Xuejian from Wang Yue, saying that a working group sent by the central government had entered Xingchuan County and might go to various small iron and steel factories to investigate at any time, so he must be careful to deal with it. When the accountant Xiaomei reported that Lu Jianzhong had brought a southern boss, his first reaction was to suspect that this was a buyer pretended by the working group, so he had to be vigilant to avoid being scammed of important information.

When seeing Xin Jinlong, Lu Dashuang's heart was basically relieved. He remembered that Wang Yue said that the person in charge of the working group was a young official in his early 30s, while the person in front of him was a bloated uncle in his 50s. From inside to outside, Xin Jinlong exudes the air of a bumpkin who got rich overnight, which is an image that no government official can pretend to be. As for Qin Hai and Ge Dongyan who were following Xin Jinlong, Lu Dashuang didn't care too much at all. Wang Yue said that the team leader Qin of the working group is a big shot with a lot of background, how could such a big shot follow a wealthy local man to carry his bag for him?

Every day, businessmen from different places would come to Xingchuan to purchase steel, and there were not a few of them who came directly to Dongdaogou Village. Lu Dashuang cannot give up the sales opportunity just because of the threat of the central working group. Xin Jinlong was carrying a Mercedes-Benz 600 sedan with a license plate from Yunjiang Province, a big gold chain around his neck, and attendants and bodyguards by his side. He was no different from other businessmen. Cloud Nine has gone.

"Boss Xin, look, this is my production workshop. Look at this electric furnace. Don't look a bit old. This is an authentic imported product. I got it from Yanning Iron and Steel Works." Lu Da double-fingered Looking at the medium-frequency induction furnace, he said proudly.

"It is indeed an imported product, made in Belgium, a product in the late 1960s." Qin Hai introduced it to Xin Jinlong with a voice that could just be heard by Lu Dashuang. He played the role of a technician under Xin Jinlong, and it was very necessary to show off his profound knowledge in a timely manner. Qin Hai is very familiar with Lu Dashuang's electric furnace. If he is not mistaken, it may be the second-hand product that Chen Hongcheng bought from Europe more than ten years ago. It is an advanced equipment.

Xin Jinlong falsely nodded to Qin Hai, indicating that he had understood the situation, then turned to Lu Dashuang and asked, "How many tons of steel can you produce in a month?"

"It depends on Boss Xin's request." Lu Dashuang said, "When I drive at full speed, I can produce 20,000 tons a month at most."

"20,000 tons?" Qin Hai looked at Lu Dashuang, "Just with your electric furnace? You can produce 20,000 tons. I think Ding Potian is 5,000 tons, right?"

Lu Dashuang and Qin Hai raised their thumbs and said, "This brother is knowledgeable. That's right, with my electric furnace alone, it is about 5,000 tons a month. However, there are more than a dozen factories in our village, not who Everyone can have work at any time, and I will borrow a few electric furnaces to produce 20,000 tons a month. It is absolutely no problem, but I don’t know what amount Boss Xin wants.”

"20,000 tons a month, so so-so." Xin Jinlong obviously didn't want to reveal his hole card. He didn't delve into the issue of production, but moved to another question: "What I just said, 12 rebar, can you give At what price?"

"2000... Forget it, I won't go around with Boss Xin anymore, 1850 a ton, what do you think?" Lu Dashuang said.

"1850?" Qin Hai sneered, "Boss Lu, are you kidding? Now the rebar produced by the genuine factory is only 2,250 yuan per ton. You, a small workshop, dare to ask for 1850? Are you bullying us for not understanding the market? ?”

"This brother..." Lu Dashuang said with a bitter face, "Of course I know that you are all engaged in big businesses and have a lot of experience. But it is not easy to engage in the steel business now. The price of scrap steel in the market, It costs 1,100 yuan per ton, and I still need to smelt, roll steel, and freight. I finally figured it out, and the cost of one ton is more than 1,700 yuan. You also know that the country is now very strict on small steel pipes. In the past two days, a working group from the central government has come to our Xingchuan."

"Working group? What do you mean?" Qin Hai asked, seemingly taking over Lu Dashuang's words casually.

"It's the working group to rectify the small iron and steel industry. If it doesn't work out, our factories won't be able to continue." Lu Dashuang said.

"Can't go on?" Qin Hai frowned, and said to Xin Jinlong, "Boss Xin, we didn't know about this situation in advance, look..."

"You mean you're closing soon?" Xin Jinlong knew what Qin Hai meant, he looked at Lu Dashuang and asked displeasedly.

Only then did Lu Dashuang realize that his words had had a bad effect. His original intention was to let Xin Jinlong know the difficulty of the small iron and steel, so as to gain some weight to negotiate the price. Unexpectedly, what Xin Jinlong thought of was that these small factories in Dongdaogou Village might go bankrupt, making the signed order contract impossible to realize. Imagine, who wants to do business with a business that is about to close? Xin Jinlong's mentality at this time should be the same, right?

"Boss Xin, don't get me wrong." Lu Dashuang said hastily, "I just said that our production will be a little troublesome if there is a working group here, but don't worry, we have been engaged in steel production in Dongdaogou for five or six years. Last year, the county sent armed police, but they failed to shut down our factory. There is absolutely no risk for you to do business with us."

"Didn't you say that the working group was sent by the central government? Can your county withstand it?" Xin Jinlong asked.

If Xin Jinlong had asked such a question as soon as he came, Lu Dashuang would definitely not have answered it directly, because he would have to worry whether the people in the working group were playing tricks on him. But when the two sides talked to this extent, it was only natural for Xin Jinlong to raise such concerns, and it was only right for Lu Dashuang to give a clear answer.

"Don't worry, there are policies at the top and countermeasures at the bottom. Even people from the central government can't ignore the reality of our Xingchuan, right? There are tens of thousands of people in Xingchuan who rely on steel for their livelihood. If the top wants to shut down all the small steel Now, the jobs of tens of thousands of people have been ruined. How big of a deal do you think this is? Now, from top to bottom, the maintenance of stability is demanded. Who has the guts to make such a big noise?" Lu Dashuang argued eloquently. Said confidently, strengthening Xin Jinlong's confidence.

"I still don't understand, if the government insists on shutting down your factory, how can you guarantee the supply to us?" Qin Hai pretended to be stupid.

Lu Dashuang said: "If the government dares to forcefully shut down our factory, everyone in our township will go to petition. At that time, it will not be a matter of three or two people, but tens of thousands of people. Brother, do you think the government dares to ignore it? "

"It's like this..." Qin Hai got the information he wanted to know, so he shook his head, pretending that he didn't want to delve into the matter further, and returned to the question at the beginning: "Anyway, at the price of 1850, we are definitely not I will accept it, you should say another suitable price."

"1800, how about it?" Lu Dashuang asked.

"Too high."

"1750?"

"Is it interesting to drop 50 yuan? 20,000 tons a month is a decrease of 1 million. Is this to send beggars?" Qin Hai said in a dissatisfied tone.

"Brother, don't say that." Lu Dashuang pretended to be crying. He was actually older than Qin Hai, but in order to pretend to be pitiful, he simply called out to Qin Hai, "What you are doing is big. Buying and selling, 1 million is not a big deal. In my small factory, I can’t even earn 500,000 in a year after deducting people’s food and horses. 1750 is my guaranteed price. If it is lower, I will lose money and sell my pants. .”

"Really?" Qin Hai snorted, he took a few steps forward, pulled a two-meter-long rebar on the ground with his feet, turned his head and said to Ge Dongyan: "Old Ge, come and try this steel Sample."

Ge Dongyan stepped forward, reached out to pick up the rebar, first weighed it in his hand, then swung it up, and slammed it down on a piece of scrap steel next to it.

There was only a "staggering" sound, which caused the workers in the workshop to turn their heads to look this way, not knowing what happened. Qin Hai took a closer look and saw that the steel rod in Ge Dongyan's hand was only less than 1 meter long, and the rest had been broken into several pieces, which fell to the ground, and the fracture was gray and white, like a fracture of a stone.

"Boss Lu, your rebar is too watery, isn't it? It's more brittle than glass." Qin Hai picked up a small section of steel, tossed it lightly in his hand, and casually said to Lu Dashuang.

The word steel is generally used by people to describe a strong attribute. Among them, steel and iron are different. Iron is known for its hardness and lacks toughness; steel emphasizes toughness and can withstand repeated bending and forging without cracking. If it is qualified rebar, if it is tapped like Ge Dongyan just now, it will bend at best, and it is absolutely impossible to break into several pieces. The low-quality steel produced in this small iron and steel factory contains a lot of impurities, and the smelting temperature is not enough, so the toughness of the material is extremely poor, which is why this situation occurs.

Lu Dashuang saw that Qin Hai didn't seem surprised by the broken rebar, which showed that he was psychologically prepared for the quality of the steel in Tongxin Steel Plant. As for asking Ge Dongyan to do such an experiment, it is nothing more than wanting to use the quality of steel as a reason to lower the price, which is also understandable.

"Brother, what do you expect from 1,750 tons of rebar? Anyway, when you buy it, it will be sandwiched in concrete. Who can see it?" Lu Dashuang said.

Qin Haidao: "That being said, we didn't expect high quality, but steel like yours, if we use it in engineering, the building will collapse before the completion of the project, and we won't be able to afford it. Let’s go. I said, as long as you can improve the quality a little, we will accept the price of 1750 per ton. Boss Lu, what do you think?”