"That's because aluminum is too expensive to afford in many situations, and if it's cheap, I'm sure it will be used more." Contini smiled, "I can tell you my idea: if the price of aluminum alloy doors and windows can be reduced to twice the current steel doors and windows, I will use aluminum in all the houses built by United Real Estate - aluminum looks shiny, much more textured than steel, and does not need paint and anti-rust treatment, it may not be much more expensive, but the overall housing grade and external image will be rapidly improved - you know that the houses we sell to the outside world are all mid-to-high-end residences, which are to lead the Italian fashion. How can you be worthy of the middle class without better materials? ”

It dawned on Toth that at least 400 kilograms of aluminum should be used for a house, and 50,000 units would be 20,000 tons of aluminum.

"Second, you have to think about the future of the aircraft...... Airplanes are getting heavier and heavier, and I think there will be pure aluminum alloy airplanes in the future, and if I produce 5,000 to 10,000 airplanes a year, and each aircraft is estimated at 2 tons of aluminum, how many aluminum ingots do you think will be needed? Contini continued, "Thirdly, the engine, whether it is aviation, automobile or motorcycle engines, can be made of aluminum alloy, which is lighter and more fuel-efficient, and although cars and motorcycles are still dominated by steel, aluminum manufacturing components are indispensable, which also takes up part of the aluminum ingots, so 50,000 tons seems to be huge, but in fact I don't think it is enough at all." ”

Aluminum alloy doors and windows are completely used for external gimmicks, and Contini's real purpose is to turn aluminum ingots into airplanes - during World War II, the annual production of American aircraft was calculated in units of 100,000 aircraft, and many of them were 4 heavy big guys, the three Axis countries combined were less than 100,000, and the most pitiful Italy did not even have 10,000 - he would never tolerate this situation!

Without aluminum, no matter how good the aviation industry is, it will not be able to turn into an airplane, so now it is necessary to grasp the foundation of aluminum ingots: compared with the more than 800,000 tons of aluminum produced by the United States in World War II and the more than 200,000 tons of aluminum produced by Germany, 50,000 tons is still a lot worse. It will take 4-5 years to build the power plant, and it will take another 2 years to support the electrolytic aluminum plant, and it will take at least 1930 for Libya to have 50,000 tons of aluminum. The aluminum ingot is only the first step, from the aluminum ingot to the manufacture of various materials of aluminum alloy, aluminum products need to consume more electricity, and at the same time the United Group's thriving industries also need electricity, so he believes that the future power gap will be very huge, so he launched 4 million kilowatts of installed capacity in one go, which is equivalent to a four-fold increase in Italy's current installed capacity.

Of course, the construction of a 4 million kilowatt power plant cannot be completed in a year, at least 7-8 years. If Italy's electricity demand doubled every four years, and by 1934 it would need almost 4 million kilowatts of installed capacity. From the perspective of construction logic, it should be the previous one and the previous one, and always keep a tight match, but His Excellency the President has no mind to wait for a power plant to be built before building the next one, and is more willing to start construction at the same time.

In Toth's eyes, this is a complete waste: he estimates that Italian electricity cannot soar at a compound annual growth rate of 20%, which is not in line with the logic of industrial development. Even if there are so many power plants, where will the energy come from? Now it costs almost 500 grams of coal to generate 1 kilowatt of electricity, and 360 kilowatts (excluding the part of natural gas power generation) is nearly 13 million tons - Italy can only meet 10% at most, where will the rest of the coal come from? Who has the ability to pay to cover the cost of this coal?

"Don't worry about coal, I signed a long-term supply contract with the Soviet side, they have coal to export, Turkey has it, and more conveniently, Germany - you don't know that Germany has produced more than 100 million thermal coal, right? I have no problem importing some from Germany,...... "Contini added, "and there is no need to talk about imports, I can sign a barter contract with the German business community to exchange crude oil for coal – God is fair, they gave the Germans coal and gave Italian oil." ”

"This explanation is here for the time being, what you said makes sense, I'll think about it when I go back." Toth flipped through his notebook, "The second item is steel, I see that the first phase of United Steel's production plan is 400,000 tons, which is no problem, and now Italy's steel production is small, but the second phase is planned to be 1 million tons, the third phase is planned to be 2 million tons, and the fourth phase is planned to be 5 million tons - by 1937, no later than 1940, Italian steel production will reach 10 million tons, this plan makes me feel very terrible." ”

"You don't believe that there are countries in the world that produce 10 million tons of steel per year?"

"No, there is! The United States produces more than 20 million tons of steel, and Germany can reach more than 10 million tons, but Italy ......" Toth paused, "IMHO, it seems incredible to grow from 1.2 million tons to 10 million tons in 15 years, and it will increase sevenfold in 15 years, and no country has ever done it." Germany wants 10 million tons of steel, I think it has real value, Italy ......"

Contini thought to himself: I still haven't seen the world, it took Comrade Steel 10 years to increase the output of steel in the Soviet Union by more than 10 million tons, without such a large base, how can the sea of tanks soar out?

For Italy, in addition to tanks, there are also warships, but these words cannot be said to Toth, so Contini can only talk about other areas.

"There is also demand in Italy, and the current construction of high-speed railways with heavy rails weighing 75 kilograms per meter, plus a variety of components, spikes and joints, consumes 400-500 tons of steel per kilometer, which is a large number; In terms of real estate, we have to invest 5 million square meters of housing construction every year, at least 80-85 kilograms of steel per square meter, which is also a huge number, because Italy cannot only build 5 million square meters a year; Then look at cars, ships, bridges, factories, all of them are big eaters of steel......" Contini blinked, "Now we don't have enough steel every day, all imported from Germany and Belgium, I hope that in the future it will all be localized, and the main industrial products of a great power need to be solved by imports, I don't think it is in line with Italy's identity." ”

Toth smiled wryly: Italy, a great power, really has some such potential, but the words can't be said clearly.

"My goal is to turn this incredible into a miracle in the world, in fact, the data is not as exaggerated as you say, even if it increases by more than 7 times, it only means an average annual compound growth rate of about 16% in 15 years, do you know why I set the growth rate of electricity at 20%? In order to match this 16%, Italy lacks coke, and I will use the electric furnace steelmaking method as much as possible when developing the steel industry! ”

Next, the chemical industry, shipbuilding and other industries were taken out by Toth for argumentation, but the final results all coincided with the cruel fact that Contini set the main industrial development target for Italy is an average annual compound growth rate of 12-14%, of which the United Group will contribute more than half. If measured by the median of 13%, these industrial plans of the United Group are indeed not outrageous, but the average annual compound growth rate of 13% in 15 years is what a miracle on earth? Thoth couldn't believe it, and he couldn't imagine it! If he continued at this pace, he could be sure that by 1940 Italy would surpass France in industrial size.

"Your task is very arduous, you need to coordinate the order of the engineering project, labor demand and organization as soon as possible, I hope that this project can form a supporting industry synchronous promotion instead of taking care of one or the other, the chaotic situation of mutual containment, can not let the brilliant business of the United Group become a joke." Contini explained, "At the moment, every section leader will emphasize the importance of the unit from the point of view, and I need a character who can jump out of the block and the idea of the book to help me and Uncle Antonio deal with this situation - I have no experience in charge of specific affairs, Uncle Antonio is too old to be busy alone, and he urgently needs an assistant." Doctor, I think you have the initial ability to do this, and you will be the conductor of this symphony! ”

"Your Excellency, I admire your grand blueprint, and I now understand what a great cause you have in mind, but ......," Toth hesitated, "I will last say that I don't like to hear, such a large industrial layout, such a grand vision If realized, the United Group will become the largest force in Italy and even Europe, and will control 90% of Italy's chemical industry, 80% of the household appliance industry, 70% of the steel industry, 60% of the aircraft industry, 50% of the metallurgical industry, and 40% of the vehicle manufacturing industry. 30% of the transportation industry, more than 20% of real estate and construction, in politics? ”

"I have always regarded the United Group as a national policy group layout, scale and integrity are the first, profitability is not very important, as long as other Italian companies can be profitable, I am only responsible for strengthening the Italian industry." Contini turned to look out the window, "In 15 years, I will be almost 40 years old, and in Italy, there are many people who have taken up important positions at the age of 40, and I thought I could try it too." ”