Chapter Sixteen: The Abandoned Steel Mill

  Zhang Lao San was quite straightforward on this matter, saying: "I'm just helping Man Ke get in touch with you, this knife is definitely for you to make. Firstly, I don't have such good steel materials, and secondly, the quenching skills I know were all taught by Master Qin, how can I compete with Master Qin for business?"

  "Hmm, if we're going to make a dagger, the steel material and heat treatment process will definitely be different from what we did yesterday." Qin Hai said.

  "Really?" Zhang Lao San was a bit itchy again, "Master Qin, can you also teach me at that time?"

  Qin Hai shook his head and said, "These techniques aren't considered confidential, but some of the methods for smelting metals can't be done with your iron forge, so even if you learn them, they'll be useless."

  "Hmm, I see." Zhang Lao San didn't insist, he knew Qin Hai was telling the truth.

  Qin Hai Dao said: "Master Zhang, didn't you just say that person wants a good knife and is willing to pay any price?"

  "Right," said Zhang Lao San, "Buluo told me that his nephew is particularly fond of knives. This knife was made by someone he hired at a high price, so if you can make an even better one for him, he's willing to spend some money."

  "In that case, if I make a knife for him that's ten times better than those farm tools from yesterday, I wonder how much he'll be willing to pay." Qin Hai threw out the bait with a smile.

  "This...” Zhang Lao San hesitated, the other party's request was just equivalent to the iron shovel of the Barbarian Ku, but Qin Hai claimed that he could make it ten times stronger than that iron shovel. What a heaven-defying artifact that would be! And such an artifact would definitely require a lot of expense, could the nephew of the Barbarian Ku afford it? For a moment, he began to regret that he had spoken too much earlier.

  "Otherwise, let's do this, Master Zhang. You have your nephew brought over by Master Man'gu, and we'll discuss it face to face. Whatever amount of money he can put out, that's what kind of goods we'll be able to provide. We definitely won't take advantage of him." Qin Hai stated finally.

  That's enough, Zhang Lao San agreed to let someone bring the message to Man Kui tomorrow and see if his nephew who is a soldier is willing to come to the county town for a face-to-face communication with Qin Hai. After chatting about this matter, Zhang Lao San accompanied Qin Hai and others to drink some more wine, chatted about some trivial matters, then excused himself saying he still had things to do at home and left in a hurry.

  As soon as Zhang Lao San walked away, Ning Mo anxiously asked Qin Hai: "Qin Hai, do you plan to make money from that soldier?"

  Qin Hai Dao said: "Is this not an opportunity?"

  Yu Haitao said: "How much money can a soldier have? Moreover, this dagger should be the equipment issued by their troops, how could he possibly spend his own money to find someone to make it?"

  Qin Hai shook his head and said, "This dagger is not a standard equipment, I've seen several military daggers, and this one is different. I'm thinking that this person should be an equipment enthusiast, don't know where to find someone to help him make such a dagger. People like this, seeing good equipment will definitely not hesitate to spend money."

  "But how much can you get for a dagger? 20? 50? Besides, they're soldiers, it's not very suitable for us to cheat them like this," Ning Mo said, he had always had some respect for the military and felt that cheating a soldier wasn't quite right.

  Qin Hai smiled and said, "Remember one sentence: everything is possible. Since we want to make money, we can't just focus on a few hoes. How much money can that bring in? I'm meeting with that soldier mainly to see if there's any way to get in touch with the troops. If we can provide some small equipment for the troops, the profit will be much higher than making hoes and shovels. Don't worry, I won't cheat our troops; it's a win-win situation."

  "Qin Hai, how did your brain grow to be so clever?" Ning Mo looked at Qin Hai with admiring eyes. "I was just thinking of asking him for 10 bucks and we'd make a dagger for him. But you set your sights on the troops instead. However, the equipment of the troops is all made by military factories, their technology is far superior to ours in Qingfeng Factory."

  "An inch has its shortcomings, a foot has its advantages. We also have our strengths, it's not that we're inferior to them in every way. Don't worry, I'll find a way to make them acknowledge us."

  "That's natural, Qin Hai, you take action, what can't be done?" Ning Mo chuckled and Qin Hai's confidence was also infectious.

  "Now that we've eaten our fill, where shall we go and have some fun?" Miao Lei asked his three little companions as he put down the bowl and chopsticks in his hand.

  "Or shall we play cards instead? Landlord, Qin Hai, would you like that?" Yu Haitao asked in a flattering tone.

  Qin Hai shook his head and said, "I haven't played cards for a long time, I've forgotten how to play. Right, isn't the steel factory just over there? Let's go take a look around while it's still light."

  "What's good about the steel plant? It's been closed for over a decade." Yu Haitao said casually.

  Ning Mo raised his hand and tapped Yu Haotao's head, saying: "What do you know? Qin Hai said he wanted to go to the steel factory for a spin, he must have had an idea. What do you understand? Right, Qin Hai?"

  Qin Hai Dao said, "I don't have any specific ideas yet. However, just now when you mentioned the steel factory, it did spark some interest in me. Since it's still early, I think I'll go take a look."

  "Let's go and take a look." Ning Mo responded enthusiastically.

  Four people stood up together and walked towards the gate of the steel factory under Ning's lead, or more precisely, towards the gate of the ruins of the steel factory.

  Pingyuan Iron and Steel Plant was built in a period of striving for the top, and it is a product of surpassing Britain and catching up with America in steel production. After spending a lot of money to build it, the iron and steel plant faced the troubles of shortage of raw materials and backward technology, and has been in a state of huge losses for a long time.

  The main raw materials needed for steel production are iron ore, coal and limestone. The latter two can be met locally in Pingyuan, but the first one is quite difficult to obtain. At that time, Pingyuan County organized a large number of personnel to search for iron ore in various mountainous areas within its borders, and some iron ore was indeed found, but its grade was surprisingly low, and other elements mixed with the iron ore were very complex, making it difficult to remove them during smelting, which seriously affected the quality of steel products.

  In terms of technology, Pingyuan Iron and Steel Plant is a typical " indigenous promotion", with various equipment being very backward, resulting in high production costs. The locally produced cast iron and steel prices are even higher than those from other provinces that have undergone long-distance transportation.

  Pingyuan County, with the spirit of "puffing up a swollen face", managed to keep this enterprise going until the early 1970s. In the end, it was unable to hold on any longer and had to announce that the factory would be shut down. The original workers and cadres were transferred to various enterprises, leaving only a few people to guard the large area of the factory and the equipment that was gradually rusting away.

  Qingfeng Agricultural Machinery Factory was also forced to use the products of Pingyuan Iron and Steel Factory under pressure from the county government in its early years, which almost dragged Qingfeng factory into the abyss. Later, Ning Zhongying went to the county to make a big fuss, promising to pay 5,000 yuan every year as compensation to the iron and steel factory, on the condition that the county would never again force the inferior products of the iron and steel factory on Qingfeng factory. This subsidy continued for many years until the iron and steel factory closed down.

  Earlier, Ning Mo brought Qin Hai to this stall at the entrance of the steel mill to eat stir-fried noodles and had already told him about the past and present life of the steel mill. Of course, for some technical issues, Ning Mo was unclear, and Qin Hai could only use his own imagination to make up for it.

  After listening to Ning Mo's introduction, Qin Hai had been thinking about this factory all along. He wanted to see if there was still any potential in this abandoned factory that could be tapped.

  If we were to select the material that has made the greatest contribution to human society, steel would undoubtedly be ranked first. Perhaps because steel is too common in people's lives, many people think it's not worth paying attention to. But Qin Hai, as a materials expert, had done the most research on steel in his previous life, and his mind was filled with countless wisdom about steel. Things that others couldn't find value in might just become magical in his eyes.

  "Where are you from?!"

  A group of people had just walked through the gate of the steel mill when an old man emerged from the guardhouse, shouting at them. The old man was wearing a faded old military uniform with a red armband on his arm, giving off quite a bit of the air of an old Red Guard member, but unfortunately what he held in his hand wasn't a Hanyang rifle, but rather a wok spoon that he hadn't had time to put down.

  "We are Qingfeng!"

  Ning Mo and others were rushing out to eat as soon as they got off work, so they didn't even have time to change their work clothes. On the chest of each person's work uniform, there were a few small words "Qingfeng Agricultural Machinery Factory", which was unmistakable. The old man's gaze turned around on several young people, his attitude slightly softened, and asked: "Where are you going?"

  "We'll go in and have a look around, fall in love, how about that?"

  "You four... are dating? The old man was a bit confused, what kind of lineup is this?"

  He walked up quietly, pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and stuffed it into the old man's mouth, saying with a smile: "Alright, Old Wang, the steel mill has been closed for decades, what could possibly be stolen? Don't worry, we're just full and have nowhere to go, so we came to the factory to take a stroll. We won't steal anything."

  The old man was defeated by the silent cigarette, he took it out of his mouth, looked at the brand, and carefully tucked it behind his ear, preparing to savor it slowly later. His mouth still muttered softly: "This broken factory, what's good about it... You're really not here to steal iron?"

  "What are we, stupid?" Ning Mo said indifferently. "Just these iron scraps left in your factory, even if you give them to me for free, I don't want them. You'd better hurry up and cook, I can smell the food burning in your pot from here."

  "Just take a walk around, don't cause any trouble!" The old man had also smelled the burnt smell coming from the guard room and hastily reminded them before hurrying back to continue stir-frying.