Xiao Zishan returned from Guangzhou.

I didn't go to Guangzhou to sell things to make money, on the contrary, they were a standard "purchasing group to Yangcheng". Just as in previous years, when the Americans were about to go berserk, the Chinese government always sent out a huge purchase list, and they also had a large number of purchase orders. Each department has a list of what they urgently need, and the largest item is pig iron.

Hainan has the best and largest iron-rich ore in China, but whether it is Tiandu or Shilu, the traverser is not able to develop it for the time being, and Hainan has a rather fatal problem as a coal-iron complex -- it has no coal.

The rise of an industrialized country often plays a crucial role in the establishment of coal-iron complexes. Britain was able to become the first country to industrialize, which had a lot to do with the fact that it was rich in iron ore and coal at the same time; The United States is blessed with the Great Lakes, which not only have supporting resources, but also convenient and cheap water transportation; Russia has the Urals; Germany has the Ruhr. In the past, the Executive Committee only had a literal understanding of these issues, and when it really came to Lingao to try to establish an industrial system, it realized that the problem of steel could not be solved, and industrialization was an empty word. They brought in complete sets of equipment, all kinds of machine tools, all kinds of measuring tools, built power generation equipment, and made cement, but they were trapped by the problem of steel, and without the cheapest coil element steel bar, they could not even make a commonplace reinforced concrete floor slab, a steel nail, and a hammer. There were tons of steel ingots piled up on the ship, all special steel that they could not make in a short time - no one was willing to use them.

After discussion, the leaders of several major groups of the industrial committee decided that even if the development of iron ore could not be done for a while, they would skip the stage of blast furnaces and make steel first! Regardless of the quality, the crude steel that is most in demand on a daily basis is refined. The large amount of pig iron needed for steelmaking was first tried to be bought from Guangdong.

Pig iron can not only be used as a material for steelmaking, but also a very haode material, and some of the more coarse components can be made of pig iron. The purchase list issued by the metallurgical group was to purchase 50 tons of pig iron. It is said that it is the least, and even if only one of the smallest one-ton capacity is started, 50 tons of pig iron is not enough to produce for a month.

This jihua is completely doable on paper. Guangdong's pig iron production in the Ming Dynasty was extremely considerable, according to the 13th year of Jiajing (1534) Guangdong Buzheng Division's statistics on the number of iron classes, the annual output was 6,127,500 catties, or 3,100 tons. 3,100 tons of pig iron is only a few days of output from a small steel mill in modern times, but the total steel production in Russia in 1670 was just over 2,700 tons. The early steelmaking industry of the traverser was based on the import of pig iron, and there was still a certain guarantee.

(Note: The figures for steel production are currently very controversial, and this is purely a fictional need, not a serious one.) ）

But for Xiao Zishan, things are not so simple, although he knows nothing about steel, he still knows about economic history, in Guangdong Province of the Ming Dynasty, I am afraid that there is no iron smelting yard with ready-made 50 tons of pig iron to purchase, and nine times out of ten you have to collect everywhere to get it. How do you get them out when they are collected? Xiao Zishan probably remembered that pig iron seemed to be not allowed to be exported. He is going to load 50 tons of iron on the ship, what will happen if the government finds out? It's enough for him to be nerve-wracking.

It's nerve-wracking, and what needs to be done still has to be done. In addition to buying goods, the task of this purchasing group was to prepare for the establishment of an intelligence network in Guangzhou and to penetrate the wealthy businessmen and even the government in Guangdong. Therefore, the staffing is strong enough, in addition to him as the general leader, he was originally going to send Xi Ya as a military specialist to go together, but later because he couldn't get out of the mass movement in Yanchang Village, he changed to transfer Beiwei out of Yanchang Village, Xiao Zishan thought it was good, there was a scout by his side as a bodyguard, and he could rest assured that he would go anywhere. Beiwei also brought four of the most Haode students in the reconnaissance team to use this trip to Guangzhou as the final inspection of the training.

The team was accompanied by several figures who were preparing to open an advance station in Guangzhou. Yan Maoda, a former manager of a jewelry company, was particularly familiar with the business, and his suggestion to the executive committee was to use the existing real estate facilities in Guangzhou to open a trading house specializing in luxury goods as a cover base - such a trading house had several major advantages: First, it required a large amount of capital and frequent transactions. Huge amounts of cash and frequent movements of people are not easy to suspect; The second is that the contacts are all from the small families of high-ranking officials and nobles, and it is easy to penetrate into the enemy's interior, and the third is that the barriers that can be grandiose are strong.

Lu Rong followed the group as soon as he returned from Li District. He is proficient in a variety of southern dialects, and usually likes to read ancient texts such as "Guwen Guan Zhi" and "Selected Writings", and can write a passable brush hand. Physically strong, equestrian, and knows a little about fists and feet, he is a suitable person to be stationed on the secret front.

Another important figure is Guo Yi, who was entrusted with the task mainly because the concept of the secret front in the group is all from movies and novels, and he is the only person who has really come into contact with practice. Guo Yi suddenly found out that he was no longer a miscellaneous member of the public security group, but had become the person in charge of the advance station, and was going to the city of Guangzhou in the Ming Dynasty to engage in spy activities -- this made him feel the impermanence of life, and less than three months ago, he was still engaged in anti-spy activities in the city of Guangzhou in another time and space......

In addition to a dozen or so traversers, some natives were also needed. The people of the Bairentan production team who have come back sporadically are either locals from Lingao or Fujian shooters, not to mention going to Guangzhou, many people have never even been to Qiongzhou Mansion. Among the captives captured after breaking Goujiazhuang, there was Guangdong who came, but they had not yet passed the political trial, so they did not dare to use it rashly. Zuihou still found a breakthrough from Yanchang Village.

Tan Guihuang, the deputy director of the village committee of Yanchang Village (the director was of course his uncle and brother Tan Guiqiong), heard that the short-haired old man was looking for a few reliable people to go to Guangzhou with him, so he recommended Liu Gang, a salt merchant from Leizhou, to them.

This Liu Gang is very familiar with Yanchang Village because of the relationship between salt trafficking. Tan Guihuang crossed the sea to contact a salt merchant to buy salt, and he was the first to come, and he also brought the grain and cloth that the village urgently needed at that time. Tan Guihuang felt that this person's righteousness was reliable. And although he settled in Leizhou, he is a native of Nanhai County, Guangzhou Prefecture, and he often goes to the vicinity of Guangzhou to do business, so he is familiar with the situation on the road. It would be fitting to be accompanied by him. Tan Guihuang and Liu Gangyi said that they were naturally full of promises -- it was not possible to agree if they wanted to, and he still wanted to continue selling salt in this Yanchang Village. He also got the news that this group of shorthairs was the backstage of Yanchang Village, and it was they who took action to give the result to the local tyrants who controlled the Yanchang Village. In this way, the salt merchants who are used to the rivers and lakes naturally dare not offend.

In addition to the necessary dry rations, weapons, and money, there were also radio stations, hand-cranked generators, solar panels, and other items needed for the construction of the Guangzhou intelligence station.

However, the ships owned by the traverser are so eye-catching that no matter which one they sail past, they will cause a sensation. Let's keep a low profile for the time being. asked Tan Guihuang to come forward and buy a Lingao tow from a local fisherman. With a length of 22 meters and a displacement of up to 78 tons, this vessel is a large fishing vessel in the truest sense of the word. Going to Guangzhou to engage in short-distance trade is a trivial matter.

(Note: Lingao Tuofeng is a famous large-scale traditional fishing boat in Hainan, but its appearance is relatively recent)

With a ship, there must be sailors, and this kind of large sailing ship cannot be served by ordinary people. This kind of talent is not easy to find, although Wu De is a fisherman, but he has grown up watching sailboats since he was a child, Zuihou or Lin Chuanqing volunteered to be the captain, this fisherman-born smuggler head because of work needs, everything at sea will be drummed twice. Several sailing enthusiasts from the North American detachment immediately became sailors.

A cadre in North America has not been able to get any position since he arrived in Lingao, because Qian Shuiting is engaged in investigation and statistics, he has given points to deal with numbers in the Planning Commission, and Qian Shuixi and Zhou Weisen have been on errands in the military group every day, and they have all faded out. They are not as deep as Lin Shenhe, and they can soak in the mechanical group to engage in weapons research and development and other things after work every day. This time I went to Guangzhou to recruit sailors, so I signed up, and it was a pastime, and several people also used their own small calculations, brought a lot of their private weapons, and pulled Lin Shenhe on, ready to do the pirate trade at sea. Lin Chuanqing is not a good man or a woman, several people hit it off, ready to do it as soon as they have the opportunity.

However, it is still a bit difficult to do pirate trading, Lingao Drag Wind is a hard sailing ship, and this group of sailing enthusiasts in the 21st century time and space is a soft sailing ship. Although after several sea trials, I have generally mastered the method of use, but it is difficult to say how much proficiency there is. After discussing it with a few people, they went to Xiao Zishan and said that for the sake of ease of operation and safety -- after all, the coast of Guangdong is not very peaceful, and it is better to turn the ship into a sailboat -- several people in North America knew that Commissioner Xiao was the most cautious and concerned about his own safety, so this suggestion was immediately approved by him. The industrial team was allowed to modify the hard-sailed ship and add two 12 kilowatt single-cylinder diesel engines powered by Chang Diesel, which the industrial sector brought with a lot, its simple structure, easy maintenance, and extremely versatile, except that it could not be used as an aircraft engine.