Chapter 303 Thessaloniki Is Developing Rapidly

"Our farmers here are very unfamiliar with tobacco as a crop and have no planting experience. Moreover, after tobacco is planted, it needs to be baked before it can be delivered to the cigarette factory. And we also don't understand the tobacco baking technology. The price of flue-cured tobacco is mainly Determined by the quality after curing, the prices of flue-cured tobacco of different qualities vary greatly. Mr. Yakov, if your cigarette factory is in urgent need of tobacco, it is best for you to hire some experienced technicians in tobacco growing and curing. Assist us." After several agricultural cooperative representatives whispered, Kalia said to the two Yakovs.

Yakov's brows furrowed, and his businessman's intuition made him hate any factor that would increase costs. He hired technicians in tobacco growing and baking, and stayed in the small town of Kavala for many years. Unintentionally, this was another expense that cannot be underestimated. .

Noticing Yakov's facial expression, Kalia explained: "Your company requires a large amount of tobacco, and we are farmers with no tobacco growing experience. Once errors and mistakes occur during the planting and baking process, It will have a significant impact on the cooperation between your company and the cooperative. After all, your company is in urgent need of a large amount of tobacco raw materials."

After hearing the news delivered by Lundhart, Kalia and other Bulgarian refugees specifically asked for information about the tobacco growing industry, and were very excited to learn that tobacco is indeed a lucrative crop.

"This will also allow cooperatives to grow tobacco more quickly and get on the right track, and alleviate the cigarette factory's shortage of raw materials as soon as possible."

"Tobacco cultivation is all about seasons and seasons. Once errors occur in every link, planting can only start again in the next season."

"If we just rely on farmers like us who lack relevant experience to figure it out on our own, we can't guarantee when we can deliver flue-cured tobacco to the factory."

Representatives of several other agricultural cooperatives also expressed echoes of their opinions.

The helpless Yakov could only agree. After returning to Salonika, the cigarette factory will hire several senior agricultural technicians to come to Kavala to provide technical guidance to the tobacco-growing cooperative.

"Do you have any other questions?" Yakov patiently continued to ask as he looked at the several representatives.

"Actually, there is one more important question, Mr. Yakov, Mr. Lundhart," Kuduro responded to the two of them.

"Although you said it was a cigarette factory in Thessaloniki, gentlemen, you know that there was no large-scale cigarette factory in Greece before, but now one suddenly appeared and proposed to cooperate with the cooperative to grow tobacco. requirements”

At this point, seeing the unhappy look on Lundhart's face, he quickly explained: "After all, this is related to everyone's livelihood, we must be more cautious."

"What exactly do you want to say?" Yakov asked doubtfully.

"I mean, sir, everyone doesn't know much about Salonika. We need to inspect your factory to dispel our doubts. I don't mean any disrespect."

Yakov was stunned after hearing this. These people were in remote Kavala and did not know him or his identity as a royal advisor.

And this is not Athens or Thessaloniki, and my reputation among the Greek upper class will have no effect here.

Yakov has become accustomed to his identity. In past business meetings, as long as he was introduced by others, Yakov was always the target of business people's talk. He single-handedly developed the Royal Greek Petroleum Company and was the manager of the Purple Robe Foundation. , investment adviser to the royal family, and other titles have no role here.

These people did not know themselves or the Salonoka Cigarette Factory, a newly established cigarette factory, and suddenly asked for cooperation, so it is understandable that they would have doubts.

"This is Mr. Yakov, you guys," Lendhart explained quickly, worried that these guys' questions would anger Yakov.

Yakov raised his hand to stop Lundhardt and said: "Then how can you trust the Salonika Cigarette Factory?"

Several people looked at each other, and then Kalia said: "We must go to Salonika to conduct an on-site inspection of your factory. Sir, we also need to ensure the strength of our partners."

"It's better to hurry up. Our land reclamation work is about to start. It's best to confirm the cooperation quickly. Everyone can't wait to own their own land."

Yakov nodded and agreed. After all, it was a very legitimate request.

Without wasting time, Lundhardt helped several people buy ferry tickets that afternoon. Kavala in the northern Aegean Sea is not far from Thessaloniki, only more than a hundred kilometers away. Since Kavala is a new city in Greece, Into the rule, the railway to Thessaloniki is still under construction.

Therefore, the most convenient route to get from Kavala to Thessaloniki is to take a ship, go around the Halkidiki Peninsula and cross the Thermaic Gulf.

On August 14, 1913, at the height of summer, the ship, which had been drifting at sea for two days, finally sailed into the port of Thessaloniki.

The pier is crowded with people, and the whistles of ships are constantly buzzing. Under the tug of barges, they are leaving or docking at the pier.

A neat row of cranes in the cargo area of ​​the dock lift cargo to or unload the ship.

After the ship docked, what appeared in front of everyone was such a busy and orderly scene.

After wandering at sea for two days, it happened to be noon, and Yakov placed Kalia and others in a dock hotel to rest temporarily.

The waiter served each person several cups of drinks made from coffee beans.

The decoration in the hotel lobby was very simple: limewashed walls, ordinary birch furniture, simple chairs made of logs, and only two candles on the candlesticks, but fortunately the room was clean.

It was noon, and at Yakov's call, the waiter quickly served them a simple and hearty lunch.

Kalia glanced casually and saw that the main food for lunch was mashed potatoes, several balls of which were placed on a porcelain plate.

The side dishes were very rich: pan-fried cod, honey pork jerky, fried eggs, fried sausages, vegetable salad with a strong olive oil flavor, shell seafood soup, and cream-baked mushroom soup.

Several representatives came from the remote Kavala, and Kalia was a refugee in Bulgaria. It was rare to see such a hearty dinner, and such dishes were really rare.

"You are here to inspect the cigarette factory, so the food and accommodation expenses for this inspection will be borne by the cigarette factory." Yakov, as the host, warmly entertained everyone.

Kalia thought to herself while eating. Just now, seeing the waiters' relaxed attitude towards these dishes, they should be able to enjoy these meals often.

In other words, even lowly waiters can often enjoy such rich food. The people of Thessaloniki are really rich.

After finishing the meal and taking a short rest, Kalia and Yakov boarded three T-type taxis, left the hotel in the dock area, and drove towards the Thessaloniki Industrial Zone.

These taxis are the imitation T-type taxis purchased by the Thessaloniki Municipal Government from Andros Machinery Company. Now the taxis are in operation.

Although Thessaloniki has been controlled by the Kingdom of Greece for only about a year, it has developed very quickly. The government has introduced a series of measures to make Thessaloniki a new industrial zone in Greece.

After the government's plan to build a railway with Thessaloniki as a sea and land transportation hub was announced to the public, a large number of companies heard the news and moved their factories to Thessaloniki, which has a more advantageous geographical location.

Compared with Athens, Thessaloniki is not only an excellent deep-water seaport, but also radiates the entire Macedonia region. There are many rivers and plains nearby, which are suitable for agricultural planting and industrial production.

These conditions are undoubtedly extremely superior to Athens, the southernmost part of the Balkans.

After the war, the industrial zone of Thessaloniki ushered in a climax of development. A large number of large heavy industrial enterprises such as steel mills and power groups also began to settle in the industrial zone.

For example, Andros Machinery Group, after raising funds through listing, spent a huge amount of 12 million drachmas to build a brand new automobile assembly plant in the Thessaloniki Industrial Zone, fully producing cars and trucks.

The T-type taxi that several people took was produced by Andros Industrial Group in the industrial zone of Thessaloniki.

The car drove smoothly along the way, and it can be seen that the road is wide and flat, which surprised Kalia and others.

The street is wide enough to run four such taxis in parallel with redundancy.

The crowds of people on the roadside were crowded on the gravel road outside the famous white lines on both sides of the street.

Several people were surprised by the crowded crowd on the street. Yakov explained considerately: "It is noon now. The factory is taking a lunch break. The workers have to go out to eat."

"These are factory workers who are off work. They will come to the commercial area to buy some daily consumer goods such as tobacco, alcohol, sugar, coffee, and fruit."

This surprised Kalia that these ordinary workers could afford these luxury goods.

"Do they have a high income? Can they afford these goods?" Kalia asked subconsciously.

Yakov's explanation shocked several people, especially Kalia from Eastern Rumelia.

"The monthly salary of workers in the Thessaloniki industrial zone is about 500 to 600 drachmas. For them, buying some consumer goods is not a problem at all."

Faced with Kalia's question, Yakov, who was accompanying her, patiently explained to her that those who can often visit the commercial district are generally skilled technical workers in the factory, teachers, military officers, government workers, businessmen and wealthy farmers nearby. Their annual income is generally more than 5,000 drachmas, and they belong to the middle class in Greek society.

Kalia was silent, and the scene in front of her had a great impact on her.

Compared with Thessaloniki in Greece, the consumption capacity of the people in both the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Bulgaria is very different.

Since Eastern Rumelia was ruled by the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Bulgaria successively, Kalia, who was born in Eastern Rumelia, could deeply feel the gap between the people of the two countries and Greece.

Whether it is a Turk or a Bulgarian, if they do not have a position in the government or the army, and their families do not have land and factories, it is unimaginable to imagine the workers in Thessaloniki living like this.

Kalia herself knew how big the gap between the rich and the poor was under the Ottoman Empire, and how poor the lives of ordinary farmers were.

In Bulgaria or the Ottoman Empire, farmers relied solely on the food produced from the land to make a living. They were typical small peasants and could only be self-sufficient. They had no concept of consumption at all because they had no money.

In fact, Thessaloniki is currently the place in Greece where workers have the richest incomes besides Athens. After all, the companies gathered in the Thessaloniki Industrial Zone are the backbone of Greek industry. It is normal for workers working in these factories to have high incomes.

Other cities are far less prosperous than Thessaloniki, a commercial port and industrial city.

Even so, for several people, the income of workers in Thessaloniki is very high.

Kalia was a little confused, because now she didn't understand how huge the gap was between industrial countries and agricultural countries in the efficiency of creating material wealth.

Even though the Kingdom of Greece is still a semi-industrialized country and has not completely completed the industrialization process.

But her efficiency in creating material wealth is far from that of traditional agricultural countries such as the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria.

Greece is now a fairly mature commercial society, where people divide the work and cooperate to carry out social production efficiently.

Now with the advent of the second industrial revolution, under the spring breeze of the times, Greece's electricity and internal combustion engine industries have also begun to flourish, driving Greek society to catch up with the trend of the times and explosively improving productivity.

Industrial countries and agricultural countries are completely in different dimensions in terms of wealth production efficiency and social organization system.

Crossing this street, which is about 150 meters long, the taxi passed a gate and entered the core area of ​​the industrial zone.

As the industrial zone of Thessaloniki, this can be said to be the core area of ​​Thessaloniki Port.

Along both sides of the road, cotton textile mills, arsenals, steel mills, power plants and other factory areas, towering chimneys stand in rows, billowing black smoke rises up, and it is so eye-catching against the blue sky.

Looking at this magnificent scene that she had never seen before, Kalia was shocked.

There were also many workshops that used coal as fuel in the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Bulgaria, but they had never seen such towering chimneys as the ones in front of them.

According to Kalia's simple understanding, the taller the chimney, the larger the scale of the factory, the more workers employed, and the greater the output.

If a person in the 21st century saw the scene of billowing black smoke and chimneys in front of him, he would not only not take it seriously, but also associate it with industrial pollution and environmental protection issues.

However, in the early 20th century, chimneys with billowing black smoke meant the breath of wealth, strong industrial strength, and rising national strength. The more the better.