These seven people stayed behind, but their attitude wasn't particularly resolute. A thousand yuan was no small amount. Moreover, Feng Xingtai had said there was no upper limit, the more the better.
These seven people all had private farmland in the low-lying areas by the river. They didn't have to pay grain or taxes, and whatever they harvested was all theirs, which gave them a bit of extra money. For example, if it weren't for borrowing the Feng family's tractor to cultivate the land this year, Liu Jichuan's family wouldn't even be able to come up with a hundred yuan without affecting their household's living standards. In this team, the gap between the rich and the poor had already widened.
"Xingtai, tell us clearly, where will the factory be built, what will it produce, will we do it ourselves, or hire others, and where will the processed goods be sold? If we invest a thousand yuan, how much profit can we expect next year?"
Feng Xingtai turned to look at his son for help, but Feng Yu hadn't gone into much detail with him yesterday.
"Uncle Liang, we have two locations in mind for the factory. The first is the site of the old chicken farm. The chicken farm has closed down, so that area is available for rent or purchase. The second location is behind the brick factory, but since it's close to the brick factory, even though it's upwind, it might affect our reputation."
"Right, right, right, next to the brick factory definitely won't work. If brick dust gets mixed into the flour, who would still buy it?"
"The factory will mainly process grains, such as pressing soybean oil, grinding wheat and corn into flour, and making sugar from beets. Pressing oil and making sugar are the most suitable. Even if the flour and corn flour aren't very fine, the impact isn't significant. But pressing soybean oil is different. The higher the oil yield, the better the quality, the better the taste, and the higher the price. We can sell it in the city. The same goes for sugar; the more and finer the sugar, the more we earn."
"Can our small private factory really compete with the grain warehouse?"
"Absolutely no problem, because we plan to introduce advanced Soviet equipment, which is at least ten years ahead of the grain warehouse's equipment!" Feng Yu once again invoked the Soviet banner, as people at the time had a blind admiration for the Soviet Union.
"Soviet equipment, how much will that cost!"
"This equipment belongs to my brother-in-law and will be converted into shares. I guarantee that if you invest a thousand yuan, it will become ten thousand yuan in three years! The more you invest, the more you earn. Whether you invest a lot or a little is entirely up to you!"
"Xingtai, your second son is quite the talker, isn't he? A thousand yuan will become ten thousand in three years? If I invest five thousand, will it become fifty thousand in three years?"
Feng Yu was frustrated; his image as a child clearly wasn't working. Although he was already in high school, in front of the elders in the team, he was always a child. Was his passionate speech just now ineffective?
Feng Xingtai, seeing Feng Yu's determined look, nodded vigorously: "Yes!"
"Good, Xingtai, you said it. Are you willing to sign a contract?"
Feng Xingtai's boldness rose: "Why not? I'll sign a contract for each of you. If I can't fulfill it in three years, you can take the machines!"
"Good, then I'll invest... ten thousand!"
Feng Yu looked up, and it was no wonder this person was the first to get rich in the team, indeed generous. But he had a tractor and a harvester, and was one of the earliest to cultivate private land, so earning more was normal.
With someone leading the way, the others also nodded, one three thousand, another two thousand, they all invested whatever they could afford, which was much better than putting it in the bank!
"Uncle Wen, Dad, let's go to the field office and find the director."
These seven people had only agreed, but Feng Xingtai hadn't collected the money yet. He would do so after finalizing the location with the farm.
Wen Deguang excitedly got into the car, and Feng Xingtai was a bit surprised: "Captain, I can handle this myself, no need to trouble you."
Feng Yu rolled his eyes; he knew Wen Uncle wasn't there to help but to show off. Economic performance was the key, even in the farm. This investment was in the millions, and Wen Deguang had brought it in, which would certainly count as a political achievement.
"Dad, say it this way..." Feng Yu began to instruct his father.
The director looked at the three people in front of him. He recognized Captain Wen Deguang, but the other two were strangers. However, Wen Deguang said they were from his team and, after his persuasion, planned to invest a million yuan to build a food processing factory on the farm!
The director's eyes widened at the mention of a million yuan! When had the farm produced such a big businessman, and as the director, he had no idea.
"Mr. Feng, with a million yuan, why invest in food processing? You could do something else, like livestock farming. Whether it's poultry or livestock, we have experts from the division and even the city who provide regular guidance," the director, who had long wanted to develop livestock farming, said, but it had never reached a scale. A farm to the north had quickly become a major tax contributor thanks to a big businessman's pig farm.
"Director, although I don't do livestock farming, we can produce feed. I originally planned to build the factory near Bingcheng, but if it weren't for Captain Wen's persuasion, I wouldn't have considered our farm."
Hearing this, the director knew he couldn't speak carelessly, or Feng Xingtai might really build the factory elsewhere. The factory would still be for food processing, which aligned with the division's encouragement. Moreover, this was a million yuan investment, a significant political achievement for him.
"Then you'll need quite a few workers. I can help introduce some suitable workers."
Feng Xingtai glanced at Feng Yu; the director's words sounded just like Feng Yu's.
"I've already discussed this with Captain Wen. We'll use people from our team first, but if the director has suitable people to introduce, we can take five or six, with a monthly salary of no less than eighty yuan!"
The director laughed heartily and gave Wen Deguang a deep look. This old Wen was quite good at dealing with people. He not only secured some worker positions for his team but also left a few for the director, giving him some room to maneuver.
Hmm, Deputy Director Gu is retiring, and he's been worrying about a successor. He'll recommend Wen Deguang. With the achievement of attracting a million yuan in investment, becoming a deputy director and getting a recommendation from the old leadership should be no problem! It would also be good to have Wen Deguang oversee the factory, as he knows many people and can handle things well.
"This factory will be a partnership among our farm people, and the farm will give you some benefits. One year of tax exemption, and half the tax for the next two years, I can promise you that. The land can be used by you, but if you want to buy it, it will cost you one or two hundred thousand yuan."
Feng Xingtai smiled: "I have prepared three hundred thousand yuan. If the land can be a bit larger, I'm willing to spend all three hundred thousand!"
"No problem, I can promise you that! When can we start construction?"
PS1: Wow, we finally made the list, but there's also an unfortunate piece of news: we'll be off the list after 200,000 words. We're currently at a bit over 190,000 words, which means we'll be off the list after four more chapters. I, Old Four, am shameless and have decided to update twice tomorrow, so we can stay on the list until Sunday. The missing update will be made up on Sunday night or Monday morning.
PS2: Thank you, Snake, for the two donations, thank you, Sunshine Moon, for the donation, and thank you, Enjoying the Thrill, for the donation. Do you still have recommendation tickets? We're hanging by a thread on the list, and it's not very stable.
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