CH16 : Ulsan

"Blessing ritual!!!"

Sam-bok, who was in charge of the event, shouted loudly.

After many twists and turns, it was finally the day to ship out the initial 200,000 yards of fabric after almost two months.

Once Razak's order was completed, the rest could be shipped out more slowly.

Even if it was just superstition, they prepared for the ritual with utmost sincerity.

Exporting the initial shipment to Singapore felt like overcoming a significant obstacle, and it needed to be celebrated.

Having a feast for a day didn't seem too much.

"To commemorate the first shipment of Daese Industries, we have prepared clean alcohol and food with great care. May the gods of heaven and earth receive this offering and help Daese Industries achieve great success in all their endeavours."

The eldest in the area, Mr. Hwang, read the prayer, and I twirled a glass of makgeolli over the incense burner before placing it on the altar.

The smiling pig's head made me feel that things would go smoothly.

Sam-bok had brought a proper pig's head, proving once again that he could handle any task well.

"Please make Daese Industries soar."

I placed money in the pig's head and bowed deeply.

Although it might seem ridiculous to modern eyes, it was an important event for people of this era, so I bowed with sincerity.

"Please make Daese Industries soar, and let Hyesung Nylon rise along with it."

"Hahahaha!"

"You must stick money in. It doesn't count without it!"

President Hwang Hyesung, with some encouraging words, stuck several bills into the pig's nose.

Following him, the employees of Daese Industries and nearby merchants bowed one after another.

"Offerings for the trucks too!!"

"Please arrive safely."

Following Sam-bok's instructions, I firmly tied dried pollack to the truck's bumper with thick silk thread, sprinkled makgeolli on each wheel, and bowed in front of the hood.

"Everyone, help push the trucks!"

"Go safely!"

"Cross the sea safely!"

The employees and I pushed the trucks together.

Exhaust fumes billowed out, but we didn't mind.

"Waaah!"

As the trucks left the factory, cheers erupted.

The sight of several trucks lined up was quite impressive. Shipping over 30 tons of fabric at once was a monumental event in the Seongsu-dong area in the 1960s.

In a week, Razak would receive the goods, and additional orders would pour in like crazy.

They'd be amazed at the quality and production capacity, for sure.

"The pig's ear should be given to the president, to remind him to listen to others."

"No, we should cut the nose for him, so he can smell money well."

"The cheek meat is the best, a pouch of luck."

As the trucks disappeared, the ladies from the gukbap shop came and cut the head meat for me.

"Everyone, eat to your heart's content. I'll cover the cost of the drinks."

"Waaah!"

The feast began.

"President Woo, don't just focus on exports, sell some to us too."

"Sorry, but even the export orders are tight."

"President Woo, once the exports are done, where do you plan to sell the barter rights? Consider passing them to us. We'll give you a hefty premium."

"Haha, I'll think about it."

"President Woo, pass the defective products to us. Isn't it a waste to burn them?"

"The policy is to discard all defective products, so I'm sorry."

Small company presidents came to offer me drinks, mostly local businesses hoping to get fabric. I politely declined with good words.

Exporting was essential to gather dollars, and only with dollars could the company grow.

Supplying to the domestic market would dry up the dollars needed to import nylon raw materials.

'Once the dollars come in, I'll repay David's loan first. Then, we can enter a virtuous cycle.'

As I chewed on the pig's ear and lost myself in thought, Sam-bok approached with a broad smile.

We filled our glasses to the brim.

"It's a great day, you'll drink today, right?"

"Yes, Sam-bok, you worked hard too."

"What hard work? Honestly, Chansu, you did most of the big tasks."

"What are you saying? You handled the company registration, sample shipments, company accounting, and export-import processing."

"I just followed orders. I couldn't even do that right, making us burn the fabric. Ah, such a waste."

"Still regret it? It was just part of the process."

"True, since then, our employees haven't compromised on the quality standards you set."

Whenever fabric deviated from my quality specifications, the company was thrown into chaos.

The supervisors worked through the night to fix the machines, and Hyesung Nylon collaborated with us to solve any issues.

After some time, the employees voluntarily managed contaminants, and we formed teams to clean the factory, even asking for indoor shoes as an expense.

Set a standard, and diligent workers will strive to meet it. In short, I had hired the right people.

"President, there's a telex."

"Oh, Miss Kim."

Out of nowhere, Miss Kim came running. She was an office worker who helped with paperwork and accounting.

"It's urgent. Urgent!"

"Urgent?"

There shouldn't be any urgent telex.

「To: Daese Industries) Chansu Woo

From: India Chamber of Commerce) Abdul Razak

First shipment balance payment completed: $130,000

Urgent additional order: 300,000 yards

Requested schedule: ASAP

Requested unit price: $0.65/yard

Requested model: Same as the first shipment」

"Razak made a payment?"

"What? We've already received the money?"

How could this be? The notoriously difficult Indian merchant paid before receiving the goods.

And an additional order? Even larger than the first?

"President, payment confirmed. The bank manager personally called to thank us for depositing $130,000."

"Waaah!"

"Hurrah! The export payment is already in!"

"Cheers! Drink! Drink!!"

"Hurrah!!!"

At Miss Kim's words, Sam-bok and the employees jumped for joy.

"Not only the payment but also placing an additional order before receiving the products? How can this be?"

I was so delighted I was speechless.

Our fabric quality was outstanding, but how did Razak know and place an additional order?

"President, that's not all. More orders, big and small, are coming in from Singapore."

Miss Kim handed over a bundle of telex messages.

"Whoa!"

Not just Razak, but numerous small customers in Singapore had placed additional orders.

Combined, it was over 400,000 yards.

Amazing! Amazing!

"Wow, now I get it. Razak must have already received the samples sent by air. That's why!"

Sam-bok clapped his hands in joy.

"Is that so?"

If they saw the samples, they'd be amazed at the quality.

At that price, such high quality was unthinkable.

"Chansu, you're a genius at business."

"Waaah! President, you're incredible."

Everyone jumped with joy.

I had sent samples ahead, worried Razak might doubt the quality, and he placed an additional order as soon as he saw them.

"Drink! Drink!!"

"Yes, yes. Everyone, drink up. Drink!"

"Hurrah! Daese Industries, hurrah!"

"Hurrah! Hurrah!"

I cheered with joy, but it felt strange.

If it was only Razak's response, I'd understand, but the small Singapore customers placed additional orders too?

They hadn't even seen the samples.

'Could it be that the incident in Vietnam happened?'

As I drank the makgeolli, a sudden thought struck me.

If something happened in Vietnam, the fabric supply in Southeast Asia would immediately plummet, causing prices to skyrocket.

That incident was the explosion at the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam, killing hundreds of Americans, and leading the U.S. to engage in a full-scale war in Vietnam.

Though I didn't know the exact date, I knew the explosion happened in 1965.

Could the incident have happened now?

Given that the South Korea-U.S. summit was supposed to happen around mid-1965, it wouldn't be surprising if the embassy bombing occurred now.

No, it was likely that the bombing had already happened.

The urgent request for ASAP delivery meant the situation in Southeast Asia was very dire.

I needed to verify, but for now, I had to respond to the additional orders.

"Sam-bok, can we handle the additional order within three months?"

"No way. We're barely managing the current orders."

"The supervisors have mastered the quality specs. Let them handle it here, and you can go around developing more subcontractors."

"Hmm, we might manage fabric production. But raw material supply and dyeing outsourcing are impossible. Those are our trade secrets."

"Let's ask Hyesung Nylon to increase their capacity. If they say they lack funds, we can invest."

"Wow, we have a lot of money, President."

"Sam-bok, I'm not joking. Now that we have export performance, we can borrow money from the bank with a letter of credit. If we need more, we can sell barter rights at a premium."

"Oh, right."

We had to increase production capacity to match the growing orders, rowing while the tide was high.

This way, we could grow so much that competitors couldn't catch up.

Besides, Hyesung Nylon was almost an affiliate of Daese Industries.

They taught me all their know-how, and I took all their produced raw materials.

"What? Is our factory being discussed?"

"Welcome, Mr. Hwang."

"Shouldn't you receive a drink from me? Isn't that right, President Woo?"

"If Mr. Hwang offers, I must accept."

"Cheers!"

Mr. Hwang toasted with me and downed his makgeolli in one go. He seemed close to seventy but was remarkably vigorous.

"Tell me, what should I do?"

"Please expand the factory."

"Hah, I just expanded recently, and now you want more?"

"Please set up proper facilities, including a wastewater treatment plant for the dyeing line."

"Hah, a wastewater treatment plant? How big are you thinking?"

"About ten times the current size. Monthly 2 million yards?"

If Razak reacted this way, we had secured a primary customer base. Now, we had to crack the U.S. market.

To be precise, the U.S. military uniform market during the Vietnam special demand.

In history, Japanese companies capitalized on this demand, but this time, I would dominate.

To do that, we needed to increase production capacity.

Missing orders because we couldn't meet them would be like losing fish that had jumped into our lap.

"Chansu! 2 million yards a month?"

"... Isn't that too much?"

Sam-bok shouted in surprise, and Mr. Hwang asked with concern.

"Don't you have confidence in that scale?"

"It's not that. For 2 million yards a month, this site is too small. Producing that much raw material requires over 300 tons a month."

300 tons was indeed surprising, but the calculation made sense. Shipping out 200,000 yards weighed over 30 tons.

"Is the land too small?"

"More than that, for such a scale, it's better to build a factory near the petrochemical complex. Why transport raw materials far for polymerization?"

"!!!!!"

Oh, that's why in history, Hyesung Group moved to Daegu in the early 1970s.

To easily transport raw materials from the nearby Ulsan petrochemical complex.

No, instead of Daegu, it should be Ulsan this time.

We should establish a base in the petrochemical complex from the start.

The complex wasn't completed yet.

'Wait, wait... if we build a nylon factory in Ulsan, it'll be a plant. So, why limit it to a nylon factory?'

Building a plant was my specialty.

If we were to build a plant, why stop at nylon polymerization? We should produce higher-grade fibres.

Honestly, to my knowledge, producing polyethylene or polyurethane would be easier than nylon.

We built plants day and night at Daese Construction Plant Division.

"Mr. Hwang, may I borrow your son?"

"Woo wants to borrow Hyesung?"

"Sam-bok, would it be okay if I'm away for a month or two? Can you handle the export front?"

"What are you saying? With orders flooding in, how can the president be absent? Can't you see the additional orders?"

Mr. Hwang crossed his arms and tilted his head in confusion, while Sam-bok looked distressed.

"Precisely because of the additional orders. We need to prepare now to soar."

Even if Sam-bok complained, he had to be entrusted.

Even without me, they should manage this level of production to allow me to realize my vision.

"President Woo, you're planning to soar?"

Speaking of the devil, President Hwang Hyesung appeared out of nowhere.

"President Hwang, welcome. How about going to Ulsan with me?"

"Ulsan?"

"How about building a big factory in Ulsan?"

President Hwang tilted his head but didn't seem entirely averse.

"Chansu, what are you saying? Our company is here. What if Hyesung Nylon moves to Ulsan?"

"Who says the factory must stay here? As the company grows, we'll need to expand to places like Ulsan."

"True, seeing how you operate, you'd sell not just 2 million but 10 million yards."

Sam-bok downed his makgeolli, seemingly resigned.

"Haha, Mr. Lee. Let's hold the fort together. Looks like President Woo is planning something big again."

Mr. Hwang laughed heartily, patting Sam-bok on the back.

With the phone here at the factory, I could occasionally manage things via the line.

"President Woo, but who's the sponsor? Building a new factory isn't cheap."

President Hwang seemed to think the sponsor was in Ulsan.

Well, he wasn't entirely wrong.

"We'll find a sponsor once we're there. If we show our technology, anyone would want to invest."

"..."

"Hey, don't frown. Just follow President Woo's lead and assist him well."

Mr. Hwang smacked President Hwang Hyesung on the back.

"Let's toast. Whether it's Ulsan or anywhere, I'll follow."

"Follow me! Cheers!"

"To our success!"

"To our success!"

At that time, we cheered "to our success" no matter the toast.

Not knowing what we were toasting, we all cheered together.

'To heavy industry!'

I silently cheered for heavy industry.

Let's fully enjoy the Vietnam special demand!