GBP Chapter 602 Dacron is popular
Chapter 602 Dacron is popular
Zhang Chi also knew that traditionally, meat farming and slaughtering in various parts of Southeast Asia were definitely monopolized by various local tyrants, big and small.
He brought in Gu Gengyu, an "outsider", to start a large-scale livestock breeding enterprise, which must have infringed on the interests of these local tyrants, big and small.
It can even be said that Chen Qiyuan, a native Malay, is not so interested in animal husbandry because he may have been influenced by certain local families.
However, Zhang Chi was not worried, because as the commander-in-chief, his power was unlimited.
Those who do well get promoted, and those who are disobedient get demoted. This has been the case since ancient times.
If anyone dares to pierce him, the National Defense Forces under his command will not be vegetarians...
However, compared with the possible conflicts of interest in the livestock industry in the future, Zhang Chi is now more concerned about another industry that has already ignited the market - the textile industry.
Historically, the John people relied on the sheep-eating-man movement and the booming textile industry to completely lead the first industrial revolution.
Before Zhang Chi traveled through time, New Daxia also relied on exchanging shirts for airplanes in exchange for the start-up capital for modernization.
The textile industry plays an important role in driving the development of the entire country. Zhang Chi naturally invested a lot of money and exchanged production lines that were ahead of their time from the system.
At this moment, a new type of chemical fiber fabric called "Dacron" (i.e. polyester) is sweeping across the entire Nanyang and even the surrounding areas at an astonishing rate.
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What is Dacron?
It is a synthetic fiber, scientifically known as polyester fiber (polyester).
It was not until 41 that it was officially launched by DuPont of White Eagle and the trademark "Dacron" was registered. Historically, Daxia cleverly named it "Dacron" based on its Cantonese pronunciation (dik1 dak1 loeng4) and the meaning of "really good".
It is completely different from natural fibers such as cotton, linen, silk, wool, etc. It is extracted, polymerized and spun from petrochemical products.
Zhang Chi's production line is a more advanced production line that uses the direct esterification method in the 60s. It not only directly circumvents DuPont's patent, but also has better costs and reaction efficiency.
At this moment, in the important city in central Bago, in the former Mandalay City, which was renamed Bianzhou City by Zhang Chi, a jaw-droppingly long queue had formed in front of the largest Nanhua Department Store at dawn.
The line stretched from the entrance of the department store to the corner of the street and continued to get longer.
The people queuing included men, women, young and old, but most of them were dressed simply, some in shabby clothes, with eagerness and anticipation on their faces.
New immigrant Shui Gan is one of them.
He had just come to Nanyang from his hometown in Fujian Province a few months ago, squeezing in the back of a truck with his fellow villagers across the Stevenson Highway, and was settled in a reclaimed area outside the city of Bianzhou.
The young man was wearing a coarse cloth jacket with several patches on it, his trouser legs rolled up to his knees, and a pair of straw sandals that were almost worn through. He stood on tiptoe and looked forward anxiously.
He deliberately got up before dawn, walked more than ten miles on dirt roads, and spent a few cents to take a ride on a fellow villager's ox cart. Finally, he squeezed into the middle of the line before the department store opened.
"Oh my God, please don't sell out." Shui Gan muttered to himself, his palms full of sweat due to nervousness.
His only purpose in queuing was the rolls of brightly colored, supposedly extremely strong Dacron cloth in the department store.
This thing has been popular in Southeast Asia for almost half a month, and the news has spread to every corner of the city and countryside like wings.
The legends about it are amazing: it can be woven without cotton, the price is only one-third or even one-quarter of cotton, it is wear-resistant and durable, dries quickly after washing, is not easy to wrinkle, and has bright colors that do not fade...
For most poor people who have only two sets of clothes to wear when going out, and who can only wear even more worn clothes or even go shirtless when doing heavy work in the fields, each of these advantages hits the heart.
After all, who doesn’t want to have a new piece of clothing that is durable and washable?
Finally, the heavy door of the department store creaked open amid countless expectant gazes.
The crowd suddenly became agitated and rushed forward like a flood breaking through a dam.
"Don't push! Line up! Everyone line up! There are enough goods today!" The salesperson tried his best to maintain order, but with little effect.
Shui Gan used all her strength to follow the crowd and squeeze into the textile counter area.
The scene before him stunned him.
Behind the counter, rolls of Dacron fabrics of various colors were piled up like a small mountain.
But the crowd in front of the counter was even more crazy, with countless hands holding wrinkled Nanyang dollar banknotes and reaching out to the salesperson.
"Give me ten feet of navy blue!"
"I want the checkered one, yes, that one, give me one zhang!"
"Pretty girl, take my money first. I only want five feet to make a new dress for the child to wear to school."
The noise, shouting, and the sound of counting money mixed together and almost blew the roof off.
Shui Gan finally squeezed to the front and pointed at the cheapest, plain, light grey Dacron cloth. He practically yelled at the salesperson, "Give me this... 15 feet!"
He calculated that fifteen feet would be enough to make a pair of sturdy trousers for him and his wife, and there would be some scraps left over to sew a schoolbag for the baby.
When Shui Gan finally got the slippery, slightly stiff, and evenly colored Dacron cloth in his hands, he breathed a long sigh of relief, as if he had accomplished a major event in his life.
He rolled up the cloth carefully, held it tightly in his arms, as if he was holding some rare treasure, and squeezed out of the still surging crowd.
Standing at the door of the department store, looking at the roll of cloth in his arms and touching the remaining money in his pocket, Shui Gan's dark face showed a simple and satisfied smile.
This cloth feels a bit hard and is not as soft as the homespun cloth from my hometown. I heard that it is not breathable and very stuffy when worn in summer.
But in Nanyang, when you can have a "main garment" that is wear-resistant, washable, dries quickly and is so cheap, those shortcomings are nothing.
This cloth is indeed of very good quality.
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The Dacron storm not only swept the terminal consumer market, but also set off huge waves in the entire industrial chain.
In the industrial zone east of Bianzhou City, in a small workshop called "Yonggu Machinery Factory", the young boss Lin Yonggu was looking at the account book with a frown.
Three months ago, he saw the opportunity of Nanyang's vigorous development of light industry and the rapid increase in urban population, and resolutely mortgaged his family's half-dying rubber plantation to the Nanhua Commercial Bank, borrowed 20 Nanyang dollars, and bought this small factory.
He scraped together some old machine tools and started to imitate and produce the fashionable new foot-operated sewing machine with a wooden table that could be flipped down and used as an ordinary table when not in use (pictured).
The author has a similar one in his hometown.
He had calculated it well. With so many new immigrants and families in Southeast Asia, and with Chinese women traditionally staying home to sew and mend clothes, there was bound to be a huge demand for sewing machines. This market was a blue ocean.