Chapter 284: Buying an Iron Smelting Plant

The factory manager also spoke very clearly over the phone.

The equipment at the Iron Factory is all from the past, not the latest iron smelting equipment; many modern iron smelting plants have already adopted electric iron smelting, while the Sanjiang Iron Smelting Plant still maintains traditional iron smelting methods, requiring coal and falling far behind the times, which is why they thought of transferring it.

When Bai Wei heard this, her heart blossomed with joy.

Daliang cannot afford electricity, and even if they had Solar Power panels, the stored electrical energy would be far from reaching the level required for electric iron smelting, whereas traditional coal-based iron smelting fits the production mode over there perfectly.

Thus, she immediately made an appointment with the factory manager to go and see the factory in the afternoon.

If it was suitable, she would take over the entire Iron Factory.

Bai Wei drove to the Iron Factory.

The location was in the neighboring Sanjiang Town, and the distance was not far.

The factory manager stood at the entrance with a few people, waiting anxiously; it was clear he really wanted to transfer the factory.

Bai Wei got out of the car and walked toward the entrance.

The factory manager was very surprised to see Bai Wei.

He probably hadn't expected that the person wanting to take over the Iron Factory would be a young girl.

"You are Bai, the one who wants to take over the Iron Factory?"

Bai Wei smiled and didn't commit herself, "I'll take a look at the situation in the factory first before deciding."

"Alright, then I will take you for a tour." The factory manager nodded hurriedly and made a "please" gesture.

Bai Wei followed behind the factory manager and walked into the Iron Factory.

The factory manager introduced the history of the factory while leading Bai Wei on a tour.

This Iron Factory is privately owned and has been open for nearly thirty years; back then, business in the town was very booming, and they even produced quite a few iron basins for export overseas.

But with the development of the times, the Iron Factory's equipment has become old and outdated, and business has plummeted.

The factory manager sighed, "Nowadays, business for iron smelting plants is getting harder and harder to do, especially for factories like ours that rely on coal for smelting; not only is the efficiency slow, but we also have to be inspected by various organizations, and the internet even says our coal ash pollutes the environment."

"Many iron smelting plants now use electricity; it's clean, hygienic, and highly efficient."

Electricity?

Bai Wei also considered it for a moment.

If Beijiang could adopt electric iron smelting, that would truly be for the best.

She asked the factory manager, "If it were wind power, could it smelt iron?"

"It could." The factory manager nodded, "Wind power is much better than coal power; it doesn't consume much and is environmentally friendly. It's just that building wind power requires a certain level of technology."

Bai Wei dismissed the thought in her mind.

Beijiang is in a high-altitude, cold region where the wind on the mountains is not small, but building wind power towers requires modern technology, and the technological content is too high.

Even if the craftsmen of the Daliang Kingdom have learned some modern knowledge now, they are still far from the level required to build a wind power station.

It still has to be coal power.

She looked around and saw the Small Blast Furnace, Hot Blast Stove, and other machines standing in the factory, so she asked, "The equipment in your factory should all be able to be dismantled, right?"

"Dismantled?" The factory manager was startled, but then nodded, "These machines can all be dismantled; we have veteran masters in our factory."

Bai Wei felt a surge of joy; she hadn't expected that even though the factory had collapsed, there were still technical personnel.

"If I plan to take over the factory, could I have the veteran masters record a few learning videos on iron smelting techniques? If I recruit workers, I can have them follow the videos to learn."

This request was not excessive, and the factory manager agreed readily.

"No problem. If you encounter any difficult problems with iron smelting later on, I will have the masters answer them for you."

Bai Wei followed the factory manager to a workshop.

Seeing a batch of abandoned machines piled up in the workshop, she was taken aback.

"What are these mechanical devices?"

The factory manager took a look and smiled bitterly, "These are Thermal Power Generation Equipment I bought before, wanting to follow the trend and use coal to generate electricity, but I didn't expect the pollution to be severe, and there were all sorts of problems, so these machines were left idle here."

"Thermal Power Generation?" A wave of pleasant surprise washed over Bai Wei.

Electricity is very scarce in Beijiang, and currently, they rely on Solar Power to barely accumulate some electrical energy.

This electrical energy is usually used to charge Agricultural Machinery, and the streetlights at night can only stay on for one hour, yet the power is often not enough.

If they had Thermal Power Generation Equipment, Beijiang would have sufficient electricity!

She kept her composure and asked.

"Factory manager, will you include this batch of Thermal Power Generation Equipment in the transfer along with the factory?"

The factory manager was also shrewd and caught the subtext, "I originally intended to dispose of them, but if you want them, I can let them go to you for a cheaper price."

"Then how much is the transfer fee for your factory?"

The factory manager hesitated for a moment, "We have five workshops here, and counting this batch of Thermal Power Generation Equipment, the final price is five million."

"Too expensive." Bai Wei was noncommittal.

When she was on her way over, she had gone online to check the transfer fees for iron smelting plants.

Iron smelting plants with similar conditions only cost about four million.

This factory manager was clearly seeing that she was a young girl and was asking for an exorbitant price.

"Two million." Bai Wei slashed more than half the price directly, "Your Iron Factory is already behind the times, and the facilities are very old; even if I take it over, it will be phased out in a few years, which means I'm just taking over your mess."

"Bai, the equipment in my factory is all top-notch." The factory manager waved his hand hurriedly, "Two million is too low a price; besides, this set of Thermal Power Generation Equipment of mine is all in good condition, not damaged at all."

When it came to the price, Bai Wei and the factory manager began to haggle.

Half an hour later.

"Two point five million, and not a cent more." Bai Wei gave a final price, playing a psychological game with the factory manager, "There are other iron smelting plants in the nearby town; if you don't agree, I'll go take a look at the other ones."

She even deliberately mentioned Yangjiatun.

"The village chief of the Yangjiatun Iron Factory also called me to go over and take a look."

After speaking, Bai Wei even showed the factory director the phone number for Village Chief Yang on her mobile phone.

Once the factory director saw it, he became a bit anxious.

It was said that the village-run Iron Factory in Yangjiatun was also doing poor business, and the village chief had been looking for someone to take it over.

She had not expected that Bai Wei would actually have Village Chief Yang's phone number.

His iron smelting plant had already posted a transfer notice for quite a while, but because the equipment was too outdated, he had been unable to find anyone to take it over.

Now that Bai Wei had finally come, and had even readily expressed that she could take it over immediately, the factory director was afraid of missing this opportunity and could only grit his teeth.

"Fine, two point five million it is. As long as you can transfer the money now, I will hand the plant over to you."

Bai Wei smiled, "Director, you are indeed straightforward; I will transfer the money to you right now."

What a joke!

She had several hundred million in her account and was not short of money at all; transferring two or three million was just a drop in the bucket.

Bai Wei went to the factory director's office and quickly signed the transfer agreement for the "Sanjiang Iron Smelting Plant".

After signing, she and the factory director took the agreement, drove to the bank in town, and completed the transfer procedures.

The factory director was very surprised, "I really couldn't tell, you young lady are actually a rich woman."

Bai Wei smiled and took out a Tablet Computer.

"Director, have the veteran masters in the plant record a few videos on learning how to smelt iron; I will take them to train the new workers."