[Updated, the 5K chapter is still the same~~]

In the Mawei Artillery Bureau, Qin Kai is discussing with the leaders of various technical research teams, as the current leader of the Mawei Shipbuilding Technology, Xu Guofang's status is hot, but his relationship with Qin Supervision Office is also irreproducible.

Xu Guofang first summarized the situation of each R&D and research team, so to speak, with the reward, salary and work performance linked, Mawei Shipbuilding broke out with amazing enthusiasm for work, and there are currently 23 teams that have achieved R&D results, not including the special research designated by Qin Kai in the Artillery Bureau.

These R&D projects are mainly focused on steel mills, rolling mills and steam engine workshops, and the application of mechanical grinding machines has greatly improved the quality of steam engine production. Moreover, as a key research project, Li Xiong, who is responsible for this research, has produced a new type of double-expansion steam engine according to the drawings provided by Qin Kai.

The power of the new steam engine has been greatly increased, which has greatly improved the efficiency of the Mawei shipyard, and more obviously, the consumption of coal has also been reduced accordingly.

Hearing Xu Guofang's introduction to the new achievements of the steam engine workshop, Li Xiong raised his hand and said happily: "Supervision, this new steam engine is really easy to use, and it is very smooth to process with the grinding machine you designed. ”

For the results achieved in the steam engine workshop, everyone is envious and jealous, the efficiency of this double expansion boiler can be increased by seventy percent compared with the original single expansion single tube boiler, it seems that this technology can definitely become a strong contender for the next shipbuilding "May Day Labor Medal".

Qin Kai naturally did not have this idea, although Mawei Shipmaster had the ability to imitate the steam engine, but the old steam engine more than 20 years ago was imitated in the past, for this kind of technical thing, he also understood that it was difficult to achieve it overnight, so he chose to let the steam engine workshop first imitate the double-expansion steam engine, and at the same time let the German technician participate in the imitation, which is a very different working principle.

In the successful imitation of the steam engine, the difference between the steam engine made by the same drawing, the sample completed by the German technician and the completed by Li Xiong's group after transmission, is close to two percent. Li Xiong's research team was also surprised by this, but he immediately put down the shelf of the team leader, humbly consulted the German technicians, and tackled many problems through guò, improved the process on the cylinder of the steam engine and shortened the length of the steam transmission channel, and finally learned and understood the process of the double expansion steam engine.

And this is obviously not the type of steam engine he will choose in the end, after the R&D team led by Li Xiong completed the prototype of a number of double-expansion steam engines, and after the technical understanding has been thoroughly understood, Qin Kai put the three-account steam engine on the agenda, which is what Qin Kai needs, and the power source prepared for the battleship.

At the same time, there are also water tube boilers on the agenda, water tube boilers and fire tube boilers have caused a big controversy in the history of the British Royal Navy, known as the "boiler war", after the intervention of the British Navy special investigation team, the water tube boiler finally won the final victory, but this does not mean that the fire tube boiler is the product of failure.

At present, the boilers used by Mawei Shipbuilding are all fire-tube boilers, for small steam power, fire-tube boilers are a good choice, the research and development time is early, and after continuous improvement, the steam pressure generated by the fire-tube boiler has also been excavated enough, focusing on the maturity of the technology.

But after the production of the water tube boiler, this kind of water tube boiler that can produce higher steam pressure is obviously an excellent power source for large warships, when he got the research and development task of the water tube boiler, Li Xiong was somewhat surprised, the boiler they are familiar with is to use high temperature hot gas to flow in the pipe to heat the water in the boiler, and at the same time produce a large amount of steam, this research and development task turned out to be the opposite, the pipe is water, and the gas heated at high temperature outside the pipe heats the water in the tube.

Lord Qin said that this scheme can produce greater steam pressure, and greater steam pressure means that after the action of the steam engine, it will produce a higher speed.

Of course, at Qin Kai's request, the research and development of this boiler was completely required to be carried out in a state of secrecy, and all German technicians did not need to involve them in it, these technologies were all things that could make the Germans pay for them!

Similarly, for the R&D team that has achieved key research results, Qin Kai immediately issued a commendation order in the name of Mawei Shipmaster, and posted a list of teams that have achieved results within the shipyard, and each team gave special rewards according to the effect of producing results, which made the workers who did not participate in the research and development of the project can only envy and hate, with the power of example, some technicians who had given up the project to tackle key problems once again germinated new combat effectiveness. ,

Qin Kai had a map on his desk, and He Xing and Wu Jingui were sitting next to him with a stack of telegrams discussing something, but it seemed that Qin Kai, the conspirator and planner of the whole thing, didn't seem to care about the issues discussed between them.

He Xing cleared his throat, turned his head to look at Qin Kai, and said: "Gale, the price war of Shanghai ocean cloth is intensifying, Hu Da's shopkeeper sent a telegram, they and the four textile factories in eastern Zhejiang have been fully engaged in the production of cotton cloth, according to the price drop plan you designed, half a penny and a penny fell slightly, and the trading volume of foreign cloth on the port really fell sharply." ”

"The foreign cloth transactions in Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Xiamen, Ningbo, Fuzhou and other places are also in the low-price sell-off of our association, and they have fallen into a temporary stalemate, and the daily transaction is only tens of thousands of horses! In the past month, the British have basically sold the Indian Ocean cloth at a lower price, and there has been no record of the Indian Ocean cloth being shipped at various ports for nearly a month," Wu Jingui said proudly.

"Yes! Very good! Wu Da shopkeeper, can this Japanese foreign cloth merchant make a move? Qin Kai is still very concerned about this.

"Yes, Hu Da's shopkeeper is now fighting with Japan's Mitsui Yofu, and Fukang Silver has sent people to the mainland to buy cotton raw materials, ready to spend it with Japanese merchants!"

"Mitsui!" Qin Kai smiled, he had already studied the history of Little Japan in his light brain, Mitsui Chaebol is a big guy, a big textile star in Little Japan! We can despise little Japan as ugly, cruel and despicable, but we can't help but face up to the many people in this era of little Japan.

The Mitsui chaebol advocated the textile industry at the beginning of the Meiji Restoration, and in less than ten years, he started from a silk shop, and in a short period of time developed into a textile giant with an astonishing output...... Qin Kai secretly considered.

Over the past decade or so, the textile industry in Japan and the British colonies has created a huge industrial advantage, which has given rise to even the strangest foreign trade characteristics of China's era. Cotton exports have soared year by year, and under this surface, people simply do not realize that this is the result of the complete squeeze of the domestic handmade textile industry.

Although the imported foreign cloth in this era is as many as millions of horses, but at that time accounted for more than seventy percent of the country's cotton cloth production and consumption, but not imported foreign cloth, but the domestic cotton cloth all over the country hand-woven cotton cloth, the early handmade cotton cloth is naturally produced with cotton as raw material, but the process from cotton to cotton yarn is very cumbersome, this efficiency and cost accounting, it is better to buy Japanese cotton yarn directly and spin it into cotton cloth, but also to obtain extremely meager profits.

At that time, foreign merchants did not understand the thriving handmade textile industry in rural China, and bought imported cotton yarn, spun it into cotton cloth, and then sold it in the market town, and the profit obtained was only one or two percent, but the huge peasants of the Qing Dynasty were not tired of this, and they could understand that even the small profits after the hard work of weaving could support the survival of the hard-working Chinese peasant family.

At the same time as the cunning Japanese exported cotton cloth, they bought Chinese cotton and dumped it into cotton yarn and dumped it in China, resulting in a large amount of domestic cotton hoarding, and the vast number of cotton farmers eventually became the raw material suppliers of the great powers, despicable!

Since Mitsui still wants to resist hard, then let's cut the meat with a soft knife, Qin Kai smiled.

In Shanghai, Li Donglai was still collecting information on foreign cloth transactions from foreign compradors everywhere, and he also leaked some important price reduction trends and other analyses from time to time, and the information he collected was soon gathered in a Chinese-style mansion near the Bund, which was the house of Hu Xueyan, the big proprietor of Fukang Yinhao, the largest cotton cloth seller in Shanghai port.

At this time, there were already seven or eight shopkeepers in the house sitting to discuss the matter of this foreign cloth, sitting at the top, wearing a purple horse coat, a slightly gray beard, a slender face and a smile, it was Hu Xueyan, who had been famous in the north and south of the Yangtze River for more than ten years, and was quite legendary in later generations.

And what he is popular with the Chinese people is not the legend of his red-top official businessman, nor the romance of his twelve aunts, but the business training of "heaven, earth and people" that he relies on to gain a foothold in the business world, heaven is the innate wisdom and the foundation of business; The earth is cultivated, and it is established by integrity; People are benevolent and righteous, understand trade-offs, and pay attention to "a gentleman loves money and takes it in a good way".

It's a pity that the profiteers of later generations have long forgotten the righteousness of their ancestors to "take it in the right way", and abandon righteousness with small profits, from the tonic eaten by the elderly to the milk powder of babies, from the pork to shark fin bird's nest, it is pervasive, and the difference is embarrassing. ,

And his only pharmaceutical creed that Hu Qingyutang passed down to future generations, "abstain from bullying" and "true price", is enough to shoot those sluts in pharmaceutical companies and black-hearted hospitals who shout "serve the people" all day long. Of course, Hu Xueyan is also a mortal, and at this time, he is worried about the intensifying price war.

"The big shopkeeper, the strength of this Japanese merchant is not small, our current warehouse stock is only sixty, all the machines are working overtime 24 hours a day, and now the British Indian cloth has been out of operation for more than half a month, is it not that our side is also slowing down, so that the price of this foreign cloth is stable!" Wu Tian, the shopkeeper in charge of the silk factory in Fukang, cautiously said.

"That's right, Hu Da shopkeeper, your inventory is still sufficient, and our small factories in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are only three percent of their inventory now!" Immediately, other cloth merchants chimed in.

This fierce war between domestic and foreign goods, which has never been before, came so suddenly, even Hu Xueyan, who originally intended to compete with foreign businessmen, did not expect that it was very timely and important for him to get the support of such a large number of peers to participate in it, which made him, who was still a little worried, participate in it without hesitation.

Hu Xueyan started as a comprador and understood the concept of the market very clearly, and the target of this foreign cloth price war was the Japanese businessman, the opponent squatting at the doorstep, if he could not be completely defeated, he would face the future with the strength of a family against a country's textile industry, and now is the time to clench his fists, how can he let go.

"Ladies and gentlemen, when the China Textile Association discussed, I was unable to participate due to something, but I fully trust the strength of the association, and you must have this confidence!" Hu Xueyan saw that the shopkeeper below was a little confident when he mentioned the Textile Association, smiled and continued.

"Now in this foreign cloth market, if we can't force the Japanese merchants, we will drink soup at most, and we will have to grab cotton and raw silk with the Japanese merchants in the coming year! You have to understand that this Japanese merchant has been making huge profits on this foreign cloth for seven or eight years, if the time comes to grab the raw materials, the price of the raw materials will rise, and our advantage over the Japanese cloth will be offset! ”

When everyone heard this, they naturally figured out the main point, once the Japanese people fought for the fate of the cloth to dump, in the snatch of domestic raw materials, there is only one result, that is, the collapse of many growing textile factories in China.

"Therefore, we must continue to maintain the current trend of price reduction, now the price of 9 taels of a horse, we still have a small profit, the Japanese people can lose at least more than 10%, they sell a piece of cloth, they lose a tael of silver, we can afford it, they can't afford it! Wu Tian, you pay more attention to the silk factory, make every effort to produce, let the silver number from all over the country, prepare enough silver to buy lint from the locality! Hu Xueyan gave the order loudly.

Seeing the decision of Fukang Yinhao, the small textile factories in Jiangsu and Zhejiang naturally looked forward, but there was a bit of a heart-pounding feeling.

Two days later, the price of cotton cloth has dropped to 8 taels and 7 yuan, and compradors all over Shanghai are exclaiming, this Fukang silver number is fighting hard to fight with the Japanese merchants to the end, seeing the self-improvement of domestic products, even if it is a foreign comprador, it is also a happy thing from the bottom of his heart, but Li Donglai, who knows the inside story, knows that the situation is not as optimistic as imagined.

Obviously, it is unrealistic to ask small Japan to get out of this Greater China market by itself, and now the news is good and bad, most of the goods shipped from Guangzhou, Quanzhou, and Fuzhou are Indian Ocean cloth, and they have already been almost out, and the Japanese merchants there are not enough to survive, and there is not much movement.

But the Japanese merchants in Shanghai in the price step by step to keep up, as if here has become the focus of the Chinese market competition, small Japan iron heart to a little breakthrough, and then full flowering, according to the shore of the Japanese steamship estimates, the inventory of this foreign cloth is also very sufficient, it can even be said that than Fukang and Jiangsu and Zhejiang weavers of the inventory is more sufficient, but in their own land, that is there a home advantage, a steady stream of increasing textile machines, is in 24 hours in a hurry, the deer died in the hand, it is still unknown!

Hu Xueyan sat in his spacious and exquisite study room and thought quietly for a long time, and a woman with outstanding demeanor and good looks helped him pour tea, this woman was the head of Hu's mansion - Mrs. Luo Si.

"Master, let's drink a cup of ginseng tea brewed by the concubine first, and warm up your body!" Seeing Hu Xueyan's stern expression, the woman who was amazed by Hu Xueyan's sigh said softly. ,

Hu Xueyan showed a smile on his face, looked at his confidante, nodded and took the ginseng tea, and looked thoughtfully at a few account books on the table, this is the shipment of cotton cloth in the Fukang warehouse in recent days, and now the profit of foreign cloth has fallen to one and a half percent, although he is very confident in his heart, even if the labor of this country is cheap, the cost of this cotton, this freight is real silver, and the cost must be higher than his own.

But from the 25th, more than ten days, the foreign cloth of the Japanese country chased its own price code, and kept shipping, and the Chinese Textile Association is also very well-informed, these days the goods of the Japanese country to the port are also clearly checked, and the news is delivered to their side, but the clearer the strength of the other party, the more Hu Xueyan feels the pressure.

At this time, a thin black old man suddenly rushed in from outside, probably because he had run a lot of distances, and he was wearing a robe and horse coat, and he was already panting when he arrived at the door, Hu Xueyan naturally knew that it was his housekeeper Hu Ping.

Hu Ping saw that the big shopkeeper was there, took a breath, waved a piece of paper in his hand, and shouted: "The big shopkeeper, the big shopkeeper, the Wu family in Fuzhou has sent a telegram, a great thing!" ”

Hu Xueyan was also happy, the news of the Wu family represented the attitude of the Textile Association, took the telegram and read it carefully, the original worry on his face was swept away, and he laughed and said, "It's really timely rain!" ”

He immediately called Wu Tian, the shopkeeper in charge of his subordinates, and Wu Tian was also excited after seeing this telegram, "Big shopkeeper, now we have the bottom in our hearts, you see if we need to mobilize some cotton cloth from the southern port to come up, and strive to completely defeat the cotton cloth shop of the Japanese country!" ”

Hu Xueyan thought for a while, "How much cash is there on our silver account?" These days, semicolons everywhere are buying lint, and it shouldn't cost much! ”

"Hmm...... The quasi-number can't be calculated for a while, and the inventory seven days ago is 16.4 million taels of silver," Wu Tian thought about it and immediately gave an answer, he smiled and continued: "Big shopkeeper, your reputation is also one of the best in our Great Qing Kingdom, and now which official doesn't trust our Fukang Silver Number!" ”

Hu Xueyan naturally liked to hear this, and smiled slightly, "Hmm...... It's good to have enough cash on the books, this time the cotton cloth has overwhelmed the Westerners, and it seems that it can defeat the Japanese people, and after the New Year, I will go to talk to the Xi family, prepare enough silver, and strive to give the silk goods to the circle as soon as the spring starts, in that case, we can also snatch back the silk business from the hands of foreign merchants. ”

"The big shopkeeper is really far-sighted, after this cotton price war, there can be more than 5 percent of the quota in this country, with the output of our 300 looms, it will account for more than half of it!"

When the two were planning the future of this Fukang Yinhao, Mitsui was also planning a big conspiracy.

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