Chapter 601 - Xun Suji's Trouble
Such things definitely wouldn't escape Parliament's scrutiny—even the Political Security General Administration would likely investigate. Xun Suji hadn't graduated from the police academy for nothing. If they found nothing wrong, that was fine. But if anything could be criticized, it would cause considerable trouble.
In the end, it was Mo Xiao'an who understood human nature. Xun Suji snapped awake to the reality of his situation—if he married the girl, the Liu family would naturally expect him to help them. But in Lingao, many things simply couldn't be arranged through personal relationships. Each department operated according to its own procedures, so even if he wanted to help, there wasn't much he could actually do. Given the current situation, what could he really offer the Liu family beyond the occasional favor? The most meaningful assistance he could provide was perhaps influencing the distribution of chemical fertilizer—and that was about it.
The realization left Xun Suji quite disheartened.
"If our policies toward the indigenous population were clearer, I'd be able to give you a definite answer," Mo Xiao'an said, spreading his hands. "But currently, even from the Executive Committee's announcements and Parliament's various resolutions, you can't derive a conclusive policy. Is it assimilation? Is it using them as cheap labor—with transmigrators as a ruling class positioned above? There's no conclusion. The whole native policy can be summed up in four words: 'muddling through.' So right now, all I can say is: if you really like that girl, you can bring her home first—doing this should be fine."
He paused. "First bring home a 'room girl,' then upgrade her to concubine, and if she's truly devoted and reliable, eventually upgrade to wife—this gradual approach might be best."
So Xun Suji was hesitating over this matter. Only when Mo Xiao'an summoned him did he reluctantly come over.
"What products are doing well in mainland exports right now?" Mo Xiao'an asked.
"Paper, needles, and buttons," Xun Suji said. "Paper goods are selling well—accounting papers, notebooks, various office supplies. These are also bestsellers domestically. The Guangzhou Station set up two stationery shops last year, and business is booming."
Among these, the bestsellers were actually the cheapest products: account paper and notebooks. This was because Lingao's stationery quality was exceptionally high. The Xuan paper and Mao Bian paper used by Ming Dynasty merchants for accounting and correspondence had a fatal flaw: they absorbed ink. Therefore, Ming people mostly used brushes to write and keep accounts. Lingao's machine-made paper, after undergoing sizing, didn't absorb ink—you could write on it with pen and ink or pencil without blurring. This feature made it extremely popular.
But this paper could only be sold through Purple Treasure Studio's stationery shops—its quality was too good, which was precisely why it didn't absorb ink. Ordinary stationery shops couldn't explain why, so buyers rarely dared to purchase it.
"I know all this," Mo Xiao'an sighed. "But what I want is products with high added value. Paper's added value is too low."
Paper was a thin-profit product—Lingao's advantage lay in its high production efficiency and low cost, not in any technological advantage. Theoretically, similar paper could be made using traditional methods too.
Products with high added value were generally on the Executive Committee's export control list, because they mostly consumed controlled raw materials. Others, like matches and lighters—these involved firearms ignition technology and had already been classified as strategic exports.
"There are still porcelain bathroom fixtures," Xun Suji reminded him.
Mo Xiao'an shook his head: "Capacity is too low. There are so many large households in the Ming Dynasty—every yamen, every gentry residence, every landlord's compound—the demand is enormous. And our monthly output... sigh, you know how tight production is. To complete assigned orders on time, we practically have to beg those lazy bums in the Construction Company."
The ceramic bathroom fixtures were selling exceptionally well in Guangzhou. In the Ming Dynasty market, flush toilets, urinals, and bathtubs that you could see were ceramic products that didn't require any irreplicable special materials or technology. They could be manufactured with Ming Dynasty ceramic-making techniques, but the products themselves embodied technological knowledge this era couldn't access. For example, the ceramic flush toilet's S-bend structure, how excess water should flow and discharge, how the cistern refill valve worked—the average Ming Dynasty craftsman simply couldn't understand these things.
Guangzhou Station had once broken open a flush toilet just to see what was inside. All they found were some wooden valves and hooks, plus a water tank. But even seeing these components, without the corresponding knowledge system, they couldn't understand how they worked together. Besides, the Executive Committee had also prohibited selling complete tank lids—toilet cisterns were sold with permanently sealed lids, and if the cistern broke, you had to buy a new one. So even if you managed to break the lid open, you couldn't figure out what was inside. Though actually, given the poor water quality of this era, the water tank probably wouldn't last long anyway.
Ever since Emperor Zhu Di of the Yongle reign had used that European-style toilet chair, no one in the Ming Dynasty had made any improvement in this area. Transmigrators who had crossed two time-spaces brought this product to the Ming Dynasty—and it immediately became a must-have for wealthy families. The latest model, with a hand-pumped pressurized flush, still required manual pumping but was more effective. Advanced installations could use an elevated water tank for gravity-fed pressure, achieving true automatic flushing. But this required the building to have sufficient height and structural strength, which was rare.
Purple Treasure Studio in Guangzhou sold both complete fixtures and accepted orders for "bathroom renovation projects," providing one-stop service for demolition of old bathrooms, pipe-laying, fixture installation, and debugging. Full payment was required before work began—either cash or a Delong Bank promissory note. A bathroom renovation for a major household typically cost between one hundred and three hundred taels, depending on the project scope. The store had been flooded with orders since opening and couldn't keep up with demand.
From a profit margin perspective, the bathroom renovation business was the highest—the fixtures were expensive to make but even more expensive to sell, with profit margins of three hundred to four hundred percent. Including the entire renovation project, profits grew even more substantial. It essentially turned one unit of fixtures into two units of profit.
But there was no way to increase production. The entire transmigrator collective had only one ceramics workshop, with just one kiln producing sanitary ware. This kiln couldn't keep up with internal demand, let alone satisfy the Guangzhou market. There was also the Coal-Iron Complex's ceramics workshop, which made chemical and electrical porcelain. Those products weren't sold externally and hardly ever had any surplus anyway.
"Aren't we expanding the ceramics workshop? They're building two new kilns, right?"
"Still not enough. My idea is this: we need to expand the ceramics factory. Both regular ceramics and sanitary ware—I think the market in Guangzhou could absorb at least ten times our current production capacity."
Mo Xiao'an had already written a report to the Executive Committee requesting expanded investment in the ceramics industry and submitted it to the Manufacturing Superintendent. The question was whether there were production conditions to support it.
Paper products' added value was too low. Without new products, their only option was to expand the porcelain industry. Lingao's soil and fuel were both suitable, and the Danzhou area in the north had abundant kaolin resources. Ceramic products weren't on the prohibited list and could be mass-exported without restrictions.
"I want to have a proper discussion with Zhou Dongtian about this. But I also wanted to hear your thoughts first," Mo Xiao'an said. Before Xun Suji could speak, he continued: "Actually, I called you here mainly to discuss something else."
"What is it?"
"The Liu family's matter."
"How did you know?" Xun Suji was taken aback—was this news already public? He'd tried hard to keep it quiet.
"Liu Guang found me," Mo Xiao'an said. "After you seemed to be dragging your feet, Liu Youren suspected you might have concerns. So he sent Liu Guang to probe me. As your direct superior, I guess they thought I'd know."
Xun Suji scratched his scalp: "Yes, I do have concerns."
"I think you should have concerns. This involves policy matters," Mo Xiao'an said. "However, everything has its solutions. Whether we permit marriage with indigenous people or not, I believe that once the Executive Committee or Parliament issues clear regulatory documents on indigenous policy, there will be relatively clear provisions in this area. The question is just whether it will be more lenient or stricter."
Mo Xiao'an continued: "My personal view is that a complete ban on intermarriage with indigenous people is impossible. But there will likely be some conditions attached, such as background checks and registration—nothing can escape registration, after all."
"So my suggestion is: if you genuinely like that girl, bring her home first. Get to know her over time, and only consider marriage once there are clearer regulations. By then, you'll also have a better understanding of her."
"The Liu family probably won't wait much longer. They've been hinting for a while now."
"I can stall them for you," Mo Xiao'an said. "You're not the only person the Liu family can approach. Since colonization in the Sanya area is about to begin, more indigenous laborers will be needed. Some of this labor will definitely be recruited from mainland settlers, with the Liu family acting as intermediaries. As long as we give the Liu family this opportunity, they'll certainly take it."
When Zhou Dongtian arrived, he found Mo Xiao'an and Xun Suji already deep in discussion about expanding the ceramics factory.
Speaking of the ceramics industry, this actually fell under Premier Wen De's area of responsibility, but Wen De had little interest in commercial matters, so the ceramics business was essentially handled by Mo Xiao'an.
When Zhou Dongtian learned they wanted to expand production capacity, he immediately agreed: "Tiles alone require enormous quantities. Right now, the Construction Company asks me for tiles every day. We're firing two kilns around the clock, and we still can't keep up. Basically, we can only supply projects specifically approved by the Executive Committee and major communal facilities. As for private residences, forget tiles—even bricks are in short supply."
"So when the time comes, the ceramics factory should be listed as an independent enterprise," Mo Xiao'an said. "We'll call it East Gate Ceramics Factory."
Zhou Dongtian smiled without responding—giving up part of one's department wasn't something to simply nod along to. But this so-called light industrial ceramics factory would essentially be under Mo Xiao'an's sole control. Setting aside everything else, he could at least designate more production capacity for sanitary ware.
"The industrial expansion plan in the Sanya-Yulin area should include the ceramics factory. Sanya has abundant clay resources, and the ceramics plant there could specialize in building materials," Mo Xiao'an said. "Tiles, bricks, drainage pipes—those kinds of things. Production here could focus on sanitary ceramics and daily-use ceramics."
"And what about chemical porcelain and electrical porcelain?"
"That stuff has to stay at the Coal-Iron Complex. It can't be separated from industry."
The three of them discussed the ceramics factory expansion project for a while. Since they agreed on the general direction, Mo Xiao'an then brought up the question of exporting ceramics.
Currently, Lingao's main ceramic export product was sanitary ware. The Guangzhou Station's ceramics orders for Purple Treasure Studio alone exceeded the workshop's annual production capacity by three to four hundred percent. Mo Xiao'an estimated that if business developed normally, this figure would rise even higher.
But sanitary ware was structural material—it couldn't be installed without accompanying renovation work. Renovating buildings had rather strict technical requirements. Yet most of the time, it wasn't Purple Treasure Studio's own personnel doing such renovation projects—it was trained indigenous workers. These indigenous renovation technicians had limited skill levels and could only remodel residences meeting a certain structural standard. This significantly limited the market for sanitary ware.
"What I'm thinking is, we could consider developing daily-use ceramics. Tableware, tea sets, and the like."
In the late Ming Dynasty, Chinese ceramics were exported in huge quantities to Europe, Japan, and Southeast Asia. They were a pillar export product. If Lingao could leverage local ceramic resources and produce exportable daily-use ceramics, the market potential would be enormous.
"The problem is capacity. The expansion of the ceramics factory will mainly go toward daily-use construction materials—tiles, pipes, bricks. Sanitary ware is selling well, so production will definitely increase, but not by much." Zhou Dongtian said. "When it comes to daily-use ceramics, I believe we'd first need to solve the problem of a dedicated production line."
"There's also the question of glazes and decorative painting," Xun Suji added. "Glazes require specialized raw materials, which takes time to source and prepare. Decorative painting requires skilled artisans—training them would take even longer."
Mo Xiao'an nodded. These were real problems. Simply expanding capacity wasn't real expansion if core technical issues remained unresolved.
"I have another idea," Zhou Dongtian said. "Why don't we consider acquiring an existing kiln from the mainland?"
"Acquiring a kiln?"
"Yes. Jingdezhen isn't the only place that makes porcelain. There are kilns all over the country. Some are large, some small. Smaller private kilns with lower reputation levels wouldn't be too expensive to buy. We could recruit the craftsmen to work for us, using our methods to reform their production processes."
This was worth considering. If they could find a suitable small kiln, they could quickly establish a production base. Training local craftsmen in new techniques while gradually introducing more advanced production methods—this could work.
"Good idea," Mo Xiao'an said. "I'll submit a proposal to the Colonial Trade Department. Let them look into this when they send trading expeditions to the mainland."
The discussion had been productive. At least now they had a direction for developing export ceramics. As for the specific implementation details, those would require more investigation and planning.
After Zhou Dongtian left, Mo Xiao'an returned to his own concerns. The export product issue wasn't fully resolved, but at least ceramics offered a promising path forward.
He looked at the pile of documents on his desk. There was always more work to be done.
(End of Chapter)