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In autumn in England, there is often fog and wet, but when the sun runs out of the clouds, the fog is very thick, although the sun can disperse the fog a lot, but in its countryside, especially in the woods, the fog is still pervasive, as far as the eye can see, there is a fog. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info and in this fog, you can only hear the sound of horses' hooves.

The Western-style carriage is galloping on the gravel road, at this time Xu Jishe will always look at Xu Shushan in front of him with surprised eyes, since a month ago, after seeing this person for the first time, he has been running around with this person, and he has become accustomed to this kind of rush, otherwise, this body will really be scattered, but from half a month ago, once again set foot on the land of the United Kingdom, with its rush all the way, Xu Jishe finally really admired the development of the West.

In the past half month, they visited a number of British companies all the way, the factory that uses a household steam engine as a power, enough to make Xu Jishe shocked, in the lathe and firearms manufacturer Wyeth Iron Works in Manchester, Xu Jishe patiently visited the factory, the process of Westerners making firearms, steps and even the size of materials, the labor organization has made a detailed record, in his opinion, this Western sharpness is all based on guns, which is naturally what he values. However, he found that Xu Shushan didn't seem to care about this, compared to the production of guns, this young man with the same surname as himself was more focused on ironworks, just like now, he talked about the problem with this engineer named Bidaos was the iron factory, and it seemed that he didn't care about the production of weapons at all.

Even the purpose of their trip is an iron factory located in the north of England, where they will continue to visit and learn about the iron factory, but although they can't understand Xu Shushan's lack of knowing what the "top priority" is, Xu Jishe feels in the UK is the developed railway transportation and industrial civilization brought by the large-scale steel industry to the country, and naturally he is not so opposed to the establishment of the iron factory, and even in his opinion, this young man has not seen the "top priority" ****** the country, but it is a good thing.

Naturally, in this kind of thinking, Xu Jishe did not take the initiative to remind, and even occasionally agreed with the British railways and industry, never mentioning the British "sharp foreign guns", for him, this may be a way to maintain loyalty to the imperial court.

“…… The ironmaking equipment used by Wyeth is relatively backward, and I think we should consider other factories! ”

Bidaus, an ironmaking engineer, graduated from the Freiburg Mining University in Prussia, where he systematically studied analytical chemistry, mining, steel smelting and welding, and came to England five years ago to study, enjoying an excellent reputation in British academia and industry, and originally planned to return to Prussia next year.

But now he accepted Xu Shushan's invitation and signed a contract to become a "mining and metallurgical consultant", and even at Xu Shushan's request, invited more than ten alumni to sign a contract as a "mining and metallurgical consultant" to assist "China in building a modern iron factory".

"I personally recommend the Deesside Locomotive Plant in Middlesler, which is a new company with a focus on steel, locomotive construction and other engineering and manufacturing, but because it has just been founded, it uses state-of-the-art equipment......"

While Bidaos recounted his views, Xu Shushan looked at the map again—a map that Huang Deqin had brought with him from China—a large piece of land near the river on which the future iron works would be located. Bidaos and others also supported the site, and their reasons were very simple: the iron plant was close to the Yangtze River, close to the water source; And there is enough land to meet the future expansion of the enterprise; The cost of building an iron plant in an open area along the river is much lower than that in an area far from the river, and only a wharf needs to be built to transport the iron plant equipment to the mouth of the river. And in the future, it is extremely convenient to transport iron ore and coal.

Obviously, the location of his brother-in-law focused on the construction cost of the iron plant, the convenience of the transportation of raw materials and products, and the possibility of future development, which must be considered when planning the foundation iron plant.

But now the question is whether there are iron mines or coal mines in the vicinity, and so far there is only "the benefit of water transportation", and how can a little bit of it meet the needs of the iron works of the future? After visiting several iron works, Xu Shushan had a certain understanding of the planning of iron works.

Coal, iron!

No iron plant can do without these two, and the construction of an iron plant is either coal or iron, and if there is none, then it is impossible to build an iron plant at all.

“…… Regarding the equipment planning of iron works, I think that the iron plant should first start with a coke blast furnace with a daily production capacity of 25 tons, 14 mixing furnaces (1), 20 crucible steelmaking furnaces, rolling mills, plate rolling mills, 7 heating furnaces, 4 calenders, 3.5 tons and 2.5 tons of steam hammers, and 3 sets of heavy shear. and other ancillary equipment, the total investment is expected to be between £17,000 and £20,000......"

In fact, for the past few years, he has been thinking about how to build a modern iron factory in Prussia, but his iron factory is larger, but he has no personal funds, all this is just an idea, and it is because of this that he will accept an offer from China, which can realize his ideals, and more importantly, after the Chinese factory is put into operation, he can use it for China's success. The financial circles that lobbied Prussia financed him to build the same factory.

"Of course, this is only an investment in equipment, in the future when the equipment arrives in China, you also need to pay freight, the weight of the equipment should be about 2,000 tons, this freight can be consulted with the shipping company, and after arriving in China, you also need to take into account a series of expenses such as land acquisition, as well as equipment installation, it is expected to invest 50,000 pounds in the iron plant, but when the second ironmaking blast furnace is expanded, its construction cost will drop by 50%!"

When Bidaos explained the total investment in the factory, Xu Shushan only nodded slightly, 50,000 pounds may be a huge amount of money, but his brother-in-law gave him 100,000 pounds to invest in the iron factory, and the tea and raw silk that Huang Deqin brought to England are worth more than 450,000 pounds, and this money will be used entirely for the factory.

Even now, the reason why Xu Shushan is welcomed by those business owners everywhere he goes is precisely because he "has pounds in his hand", and those British business owners are all looking forward to signing contracts with him to sell the most advanced machinery and equipment to "rich Orientals".

"Mr. Bidaos, I said that the design of the ironworks is entirely based on your opinions!"

This is not because Xu Shushan is polite, he is indeed a layman for metallurgy, although he is now studying metallurgy, but as a layman, he has no intention of influencing the decisions of these professionals.

"I have a question about the iron works, what if there is neither coal nor iron near the iron works?"

More than anything else, this is what Xu Shushan is most concerned about, because on this map, there is no indication that there are iron or coal mines there.

"Quite simply, by rail, but, given that the factory is located on the riverside, it can be used to transport coal and iron ore by ship in the short term, but in the long run, I would prefer that you consider building a steam engine

A modern railway that drives large trains to transport iron ore, and of course this railway is made of iron produced by the iron mill to roll rails! ”

"The railway will definitely be built in the future, but just close to the Yangtze River, how can it solve the coal and iron needs of the iron factory for future production?"

The brows were slightly furrowed, and Xu Shushan's expression was still a little worried.

Seeing that his young family was actually annoyed by this, for fear that his ambition would change, Xu Jishe, who turned to Yingyi Firearms, immediately spoke.

"Shushan is too worried!"

As if stroking his beard proudly, Xu Jishe looked at Bidaos and said in a triumphant tone.

"Although Britain seems to be prosperous and developed, but it is only a small country in the West, in terms of its size, even less than a province in China, my China is a vast land, the abundance of coal and iron is far beyond people's imagination, the Yangtze River stretches for thousands of miles, passing through more than a dozen provinces, and there is no coal and iron along the river?"

In Xu Jishe's view, the problem he is worried about is not a problem at all, what does China have? Looking at the proud Xu Jishe, Xu Shushan wanted to explain but couldn't explain, what he was thinking about was the cost. If the cost of transportation is too high, how can it be an advantage?

Just when Xu Shushan's eyebrows were not spread, Bidaos explained directly on the side.

"Mr. Xu, you must know that for China, this factory is not about how much iron it produces, but its most fundamental role is to further develop and train a group of China's own technicians, and accumulate production and management experience in the iron factory, which is the most important thing."

Perhaps, for Bidaos, he doesn't know China, he doesn't know the East, but he knows very well that this iron factory is the first iron factory in the modern sense for China, this is the information he got from Xu Shushan, and because of this, in Bidaos's view, the problem that the other party is worried about is not a problem at all.

"That is true, but we must consider the profits of the company!"

Regarding Xu Shushan's stubbornness, Bidaos shrugged his shoulders helplessly and said,

"The most important thing now is to determine the machinery and equipment we need, and as for the further location of the factory, we can wait until we arrive in China and explore the vicinity before making a decision, what do you think?" (To be continued.) )