Zhang Tie told Li Tao to show them around this high-power alcohol production base while the other guards continued to patrol in the base.
This alcohol production base belonged to Zhang Tie. However, it was Zhang Tie's first time to be here. Watching those tall iron tanks and pipes, Zhang Tie felt it was a fresh experience.
"The guards of this base are well arranged. They respond very fast. Are they your new guards?" Zhang Tie asked Li Tao as he watched those facilities in the alcohol production base.
"Master, those bodyguards are the bodyguards of Zhongpin Business Group run by me. After the alcohol production base was built, I transferred some of them here to be responsible for the safety and security of this alcohol production base. A few days ago, the catastrophe of bloody figures broke out in Tongzhou Province. It's said that many bloody figures entered Yangui Mountain Range from Tongzhou Province. I'm worried that something might happen here. Therefore, I transferred all of them here!"
"You live here too?"
"There are less than 5 LV 9 powerhouses among these guards. All the others are between LV 4 and LV 8. It's said that all the bloody figures are LV 9 fighters. In case that these guards couldn't cope with them, I moved to the alcohol production base!"
Li Tao was already a LV 13 battle general. With his defense here, he could never defeat 10 bloody figures. Even if a great batch of bloody figures attacked here, he could at least resist them for a while. During this period, as long as he sent a distress signal, the powerhouses and guards of the major clans in Dongyang City would come here to support him.
"As you live in the alcohol production base and transfer all the guards of Zhongpin Business Group here, the business of your business group would be delayed!"
"Compared to what you're going to do, head, it's nothing serious even if I lose my business!" Li Tao said carefully without showing off or being arrogant. Instead, he still looked prudent.
Zhang Tie threw a glance at Li Tao as he sighed with emotions inside, 'Li Clan of Wanshengtang Palace, Wuhua Prefecture, Zhuozhou Province is really a disciple of a major clan. His insight and means could never be matched by common businessmen. Li Tao knows that as long as he could handle this task well and satisfy Zhang Tie, he would have a chance to change his fate. His Zhongpin Business Group which could only make hundreds of thousands of gold coins a year was nothing in the eyes of an earth knight like Zhang Tie. It was nothing but a child's play.'
Additionally, Zhang Tie knew that Li Tao had really spared no efforts to build this alcohol production base in the past half a year. The budget of this alcohol production base was 5 million gold coins. Actually, in order to accomplish the task that Zhang Tie assigned to him, Li Tao had invested 600,000 to 700,000 gold coins into this alcohol production base.
Firstly, the money was used to let some equipment suppliers in Yanzhou Province provide all kinds of equipment needed for this production base. Secondly, it was used to coordinate the resources and relationships of various parties. Thirdly, it was set up to reward those workers, technicians and engineers who were invited by Li Tao to work overtime to finish the work with high quality and quantity. Under Li Tao's coordination and hard work, this production base was indeed built in less than 100 days within 3 months. Those gold coins were all the profits that Li Tao had made over these years. As for a small business group like Zhongpin Business Group, 600,000 to 700,000 gold coins was enough for a business group to suffer a great loss. It was also the greater part of Li Tao's wealth. However, Li Tao didn't complain about it; neither did he ask for more money from Iron-Dragon Sect. Instead, he just completed this task.
The construction of this alcohol base was completed in three months, and Li Tao's contribution could be ranked first.
Given Li Tao's look, Zhang Tie could see Li Tao's hard work. Over the past half a year, Li Tao had become much thinner than when Zhang Tie saw him for the first time.
What was more, after the first batch of alcohol was produced, Li Tao had already known that the alcohol produced here was extraordinary. As long as he took it out, it would arouse the attention of all parties. However, this news didn't leak out until Zhang Tie came back. What counted most was that those high-power yeasts in the reactor of the alcohol production base were not taken away from here. As the creator of those high-power yeasts, if those high-power yeasts were taken away or had any problem, Zhang Tie would know it without coming back.
As Li Tao had made alcohol production before, he knew what was the most important thing in this alcohol production base. However, he didn't do anything when Zhang Tie was not here. As he had passed the test of interest, he was absolutely trustworthy.
Of course, Zhang Tie would not let such a capable, insightful and loyal person who dared bet on Zhang Tie suffer a loss. Additionally, Zhang Tie would promote Li Tao to an important position and make him extremely glorious. What Zhang Tie lacked right now was a capable and loyal person like Li Tao. Therefore, Zhang Tie brought Zhang Su and Donder to Fire-Dragon Prefecture.
"Do you still remember what I told you before? As long as you do this well, I will gift you with riches and honor. One day, you will be able to return to your hometown in glory. Even the elders of the Li Family of Ten Thousand Sound Hall will have to be polite to you!"
"I remember!" Li Tao replied carefully.
"That's great. Don't do that Zhongpin Business Group anymore!" Zhang Tie said calmly.
Li Tao's footsteps became slightly sluggish.
"That business group is too small. It could only make a lot of money a year. It's not worth for you to do it. Just stay on my side as the general manager of energy in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory!" Zhang Tie threw a glance at Li Tao with an interesting look, "This alcohol production base in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory is just a start. The scale of 500,000 tons is just the first step. In the future, the production of high-power alcohol in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory will reach at least 2 million tons. When the conditions are ripe, I will also establish bases in Youzhou Province, Yanzhou Province and Tongzhou Province. You will be responsible for all the alcohol production bases across Northeast Military Region. As for your remuneration, when I came to Youzhou Province, I was the dean of the Provincial Court of Youzhou Province. The salary of the dean of the Provincial Court of Youzhou Province was 1,000 stones of gold per year. You could choose 1,000 stones of gold per year or 1% of the profit of the entire alcohol industry across Northeast Military Region.
You can choose 1,000 stones of gold per year or 1% of the profit of the entire alcohol industry across Northeast Military Region! "Li Tao's face blushed as he took in a deep breath and bowed towards Zhang Tie once again," My lord. From now on, Li Tao would like to serve my lord like a dog. Li Tao is confident about your alcohol business. I would like to choose 1% of the profit of this alcohol industry across Northeast Military Region as my reward! "
Zhang Tie burst out into laughter, 'Li Tao is really smart and sensible. He could seize the opportunity at once.'
After this, Li Tao became the first henchman that Zhang Tie subdued; instead of a commoner in the administration of Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory, Li Tao became the first henchman that Zhang Tie subdued.
In Taixia Country, the relationship between henchmen and masters was as close as that between masters and apprentices. Henchmen could enjoy a lot of special rights; however, they would also be subject to many restrictions. Power and obligation were the same everywhere. If Li Tao was not Zhang Tie's retainer, Zhang Tie would be guilty of murder if he killed Li Tao without any reason; however, after Li Tao became Zhang Tie's retainer, Zhang Tie could kill Li Tao according to the family rules. Similarly, if Li Tao had enemies before, Li Tao could only deal with them by himself; now that Li Tao had become Zhang Tie's henchman, Zhang Tie would deal with them by himself.
All the major clans in Taixia Country had their own henchmen, such as Lord Guangnan's Mansion and Huaiyuan Palace. The more powerful henchmen a clan could have, the more powerful they would be, which reflected the overall strength of a clan and a knight.
As Zhang Tie had determined to take Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory as his foundation in Taixia Country, of course, he had to consolidate this foundation in all aspects and expand his subordinates to rule Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory. Zhang Su was his cousin; Donder was his master and friend. Neither of them could be his henchmen. Therefore, Li Tao was fortunate to be the first henchman on Zhang Tie's side.
Bai Zhengnan and the others watched Zhang Tie subduing Li Tao in a few words. Bai Zhengnan and the others didn't know what Li Tao had done before; however, they could see that Zhang Tie valued Li Tao very much.
When he realized that Li Tao might be responsible for Zhang Tie's business of high-power alcohol in the future, even Bai Zhengnan threw a deep glance at Li Tao as he kept this person's look in mind.
As the sun rose, the workers in the alcohol production base started to arrive at their posts on time. At the same time, the chimneys of the base started to emit black smoke which represented production. These workers were all from Li Tao's former alcohol factory; some of them were recruited by Li Tao.
Li Tao took them to visit each production link of this alcohol production base.
Bai Zhengnan and the others saw hill-like corn straws in the base. They saw the corn straws being sent to the huge grinder by the conveyor belt. After being smashed by the machine, they were steamed in the steam workshop. After that, they were diverted into those huge reaction kettles for fermentation.
This fermentation reaction process required 21 days. After 21 days, the substances in the reactor would be separated again. Connected to the reactor, there was a high-pressure steam pipe. Through the high-pressure steam, the substances that were separated from the reactor would enter different places again.
The pale yellow liquid flowing out of the top pipe of the reaction kettles was high-power alcohol; the liquid flowing out of the middle pipe of the reaction kettles was plant fiber slurry; the residue at the bottom of the reaction kettles was a special organic fertilizer...
The plant fiber pulp once again entered a new production line. After mixing it with a pile of crushed coarse coal cinders, it turned into lumps of flammable black balls that looked like honeycomb briquettes, which were then hauled away by truckloads (to be continued).
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