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On May 6, 1914, in Paris, at nine o'clock in the morning, the sound of firecrackers was heard in almost every neighborhood. Most of the French people coming and going looked curiously at the department store behind the smoke of firecrackers. The plaques of the department stores were clearly written in Chinese and

It says "Carrefour" in French.

“Welcome to Carrefour’s opening today, 20% off on all products”

At the opening of a medium-sized department store, Li Mu, who was wearing a suit, kept greeting the customers entering the department store in somewhat stiff French.

There was a smile on his face. There were not many Chinese in Paris, only a few thousand, and many of them did not speak French. It was difficult to find a decent job. The main way to make a living was to work as a "promoter".

"Selling" means taking some handkerchiefs, keychains and various small handicrafts and walking around the streets to sell them.

Li Mu, who came to France more than ten years ago, also engaged in the purchase business. But half a month ago, everything changed. The Chinese Business Association advanced funds to open 200 department stores in Paris. The department stores were funded by the Business Association.

The business association also advances funds to sell goods, and even each store has five hundred francs of funds. If it is successful, as long as the business association advances the money, the store will belong to the person in charge. In the future, the "Carrefour Distribution Company" will continue to provide various funds to each store.

The only requirement for branch stores is that all Carrefour department stores can only order goods from the Carrefour distribution company. After several selections, Li Mu was lucky enough to get one of the department stores.

Different from the French or Jewish department store openings, posters offering 20% ​​off the entire store were posted on the glass windows of department stores. After seeing the posters or being introduced to them, many people rushed into the department stores.

Although the store is small, the products are very complete, and there are still a few people at the street corner spreading flyers, all of which are spreading information about the opening discounts of Carrefour department store.

Every leaflet without exception has this slogan written in French.

“What we offer is the most affordable and high-quality products in France”

"Let's go to the subway station"

In the evening, Wu Qiliang pulled Mu Yangxin, the deputy manager just sent by the company, towards the subway station opposite the office building. Before the evening newspaper was delivered, the easiest place to collect information was the subway station.

Mu Yangxin, on the other hand, followed the manager, who was only two years older than him, with a confused expression. In the subway car, just after one stop, Wu Qiliang heard everyone's comments about Carrefour.

"Have you heard? Two hundred Carrefour department stores are opening in Paris today, with a 20% discount on all products."

"No, I took a look and found that even one kilogram of pork is 12 centimes cheaper than a butcher's. Others are also much cheaper..."

"Yes, yes, it can't be a lie, right? Nothing has ever been sold so cheaply?"

“Their number is to provide the most affordable and high-quality products in France”

Listening to their conversation, a smile appeared on Wu Qiliang's lips. At the same time, he looked around again. Sure enough, everyone was interested. No matter what, at least the people in this car would definitely go to Carrefour.

"Do you know what are the advantages of our manufacturing in China?"

Wu Qiliang looked back at Mu Yangxin and asked in Mandarin.

“It should be cheap”

After thinking for a moment, Mu Yangxin pointed out the advantages of Chinese industrial products. Even though freight and tariffs are included, the price is still lower than that of French products. China's labor costs are low, and more importantly, most of the products are from Lianyungang.

New-style factory production, the production efficiency of those factories is higher than that of old-style factories.

"That's right, so let's not think about buying into Galeries Lafayette, don't think about competing with those famous brands, just like the chairman said, now, now we just need to let them know and understand Chinese products at low prices.

Only then can Chinese products truly enter thousands of households in France.”

"But, Carrefour department store also sells French products?"

Mu Yangxin asked back. He had just arrived in Paris and had no idea how Carrefour department stores operated. In his opinion, although most of the department stores were Chinese goods, there were also many French goods.

"And their prices..."

“Their prices are the cheapest in France”

A smile appeared on Wu Qiliang's face. He was just applying the purchasing and selling methods of China Trading Company to department stores. Even the so-called "cheap" French goods were purchased at less than half the market price. They were sold at 20% off and were still close to that.

Double the profit. Anything someone buys in an ordinary store has changed hands many times. First, the manufacturer sells it to a large dealer and makes a profit; secondly, it changes hands to various parties through the large dealer.

Small and medium-sized dealers make a fortune; then, small and medium-sized dealers in various fields sell them to merchants and make another fortune; finally, when people buy from merchants, merchants make another fortune.

After an ordinary product changes hands several times, the price will naturally be very high. The fundamental reason why China Trading Company can engage in a price war with its competitors is that the manufacturer supplies directly, completely eliminating the intermediate link. Now the products sold by Carrefour Department Store also use

For the same reason, there are two hundred department stores in the community where more than half a million Parisians live. These Parisians need a large amount of daily consumer goods and food every day.

It took Wu Qiliang a month to sign supply agreements with those French manufacturers and farms. On the basis of eliminating the intermediate links and supplying from the source, even if the goods sold were 40 yuan lower than the market price, they could still make a profit as an ordinary department store.

Gradually, when people form the habit of shopping at Carrefour, they can use a large number of Chinese products instead of French products. Now Chinese products are sold together, but in as little as six months and as long as a year, Chinese products will occupy Carrefour's counters.

"It's a pity that we have too few people. Otherwise, I would have to open Carrefour in all cities in France..."

The reality that there are too few Chinese in France made Wu Qiliang sigh helplessly.

"If that happens, I can guarantee that I can crowd out all the Jewish shops and occupy most of the French market."

Pity

Thinking that he could easily occupy the huge French market, but because there are too few Chinese in France, he cannot open more branches. Wu Qiliang inevitably feels a little regretful, but at the same time he is also a little worried. Perhaps worrying is more accurate.

Some.

Now Carrefour is better in its operating model, and it only takes a few months for outsiders to see the secrets of this model, and then use the same model to compete with Carrefour, especially those Jews. Compared to the Chinese, those Jews

There are thousands of people living in France and the whole of Europe. They have already built a complete business network, and grocery stores and department stores are the livelihood of most ordinary Jews. Once they discover the secret of Carrefour's low prices, those who were originally known as

If the Jews, who are known for their unity, join forces, I am afraid that the future will not be good.

"Manager, if there is indeed profit, it doesn't necessarily have to be opened by us Chinese. I think the most important thing for us is to occupy the market, so we can use the French and their money to open a new Carrefour and help us

Dominate the market?"

"you mean……"

Mu Yangxin's words only made Wu Qiliang's eyes light up. Use the French and French money to occupy the market, and before the Jews and local businessmen react, selectively select some businessmen, yes, to join, just like allies.

, let them carry the Carrefour brand, and then Carrefour will distribute the goods and price uniformly. In this way, not only will it save money, but it will also be able to expand the market to the entire France in a short period of time, squeeze out some retailers with low prices, and occupy some markets.

, if even half of what these stores sell is Chinese goods, that is an astronomical figure.

The most important thing is to be able to establish a complete business network. Isn't this what I dream of? It is also what the chairman requires. Nothing can be compared with a complete business network. After establishing a French business network, you can

Let the business network unfold naturally in the French colonies.

It seems that there is a head start, and more than just a head start, there is a lot to be done.

"Let's get off at the next stop and go to the telegraph office."

Having made up his mind, Wu Qiliang said without any hesitation. Perhaps this is the advantage of Ningbo people. They will never delay even a minute on something they are sure about. He should report this matter to the chairman in advance.

This is a floating warehouse, nearly 20 meters long, built almost entirely on the sea, with only a few meters connecting to the beach. At this time, the sky was slightly brighter, and the sun had not even jumped out on the far horizon.

sea ​​level.

The cool sea breeze blew in, and the light bulbs hanging under the steel beams emitted orange light. People standing in the passages on both sides of the warehouse looked with interest at the objects floating on the seawater in the center of the passage.

At this time, a plane was parked quietly on the sea.

"Well, this is a seaplane."

Looking at the plane, Li Zicheng's voice sounded quite happy.

"Maybe the world's first seaplane"

Those with pontoons installed under the wings are called seaplanes, while those with the body itself made into a ship are called airships. However, in this era, at most, there are only seaplanes.

Feng Ru, who was standing on the pontoon and inspecting the aircraft, turned around and shouted after hearing his husband's words.

"Sir, four years ago, Henri Faber of France had solved the problem of taking off and landing a seaplane and made the world's first seaplane."

"Well……"

Li Zicheng, who was a little embarrassed, smiled and pointed at the plane.

"Then this is at least the largest airplane in the world right now."

Li Zicheng was very confident about this. The fuselage of the bi-wing seaplane in front of him was about eleven meters long. There were two pontoons under the wings. With the support of the pontoons, he looked at the seaplane.

It can't help but make people feel a little superior.

In front of the radial engine protruding outward at the nose of the aircraft is the propeller. Behind the engine above the aluminum fuselage is the cockpit. The enclosed cockpit, which occupies one third of the length of the aircraft, has two seats at the front and rear. The wings, the fuselage

The upper part of the body and the pontoon is dark green, and the lower part is off-white.

The Liuhe emblem is painted on the side of the fuselage, and "Water Attack 1" is written on its vertical tail. Yes, this is an attack aircraft.

This aircraft was completely manufactured according to the drawings of the AR-95 water reconnaissance/torpedo aircraft. Although it does not have any "autonomous" content, in this era, imitation is equivalent to a shortcut to a certain extent. At least the manufacturing of this aircraft was successful.

As a result, he owned an aircraft manufacturing factory. Although he only had six engineers, 43 trainee assistants composed of Dehua University students, and 257 workers, he could only build at most ten seaplanes per month.

But no matter what, China now has its first aircraft manufacturing plant, producing the world's most advanced aircraft, far ahead of the world's level, and a very special type of water torpedo aircraft.

At this time, looking at this aircraft alone, perhaps no one would have imagined that for Lianyungang’s industrial capabilities, just producing such an aircraft would be a huge challenge. Although Lianyungang has machines and drawings, this aircraft

However, the aircraft industry gathered 21 companies affiliated to Liuhe and worked together to provide airborne equipment other than radio stations.

From engines to propellers, to various special-shaped profiles, to cockpit instruments such as altimeters, it can be said that the successful manufacturing of this aircraft has greatly improved the technical level of Liuhe's subsidiaries to a certain extent.

And this is the biggest advantage of imitation engineering. Compared with being able to own a product in a short period of time, the most important thing is to have a group of highly skilled engineering and technical personnel, although real Chinese technicians are still very rare.

"He's definitely the biggest"

Han Wu, who came to Lianyungang from Nanjing, sounded quite happy. When he stood in the warehouse and looked up at the plane, all he could see was the plane flying in the sky.

"Believe me, this aircraft can change a lot of things... It can not only fly long distances, but it can also carry out torpedo attacks."
To be continued...