The cool breeze blew out the candles on the table, and the waiter had to come over with an apologetic smile to light the candles. Chen Wenqiang, www.biquge.info of the pen "Fun" Pavilion, nodded lightly, and his thoughts were churning, like a wave in the distance.

Benefits, both sides of the cooperation for this purpose, he made concessions, but first invest and then acquire, which will be more convincing, and will also get greater gains.

It's just that what he is thinking about now is not this, but a conversation when he visited the governor of Qingdao during the day. The site of Dehua University was finally settled in Yazhou, where factories and enterprises will be a good place for students to practice and better apply what they have learned. What made Chen Wenqiang think about it was the governor's flickering and vague hints: The British Rear Admiral will visit Japan next year, and there is no direct conflict of interest between China and Germany, and Chen Wenqiang's cooperation with the Krupp Company, Volkeng Shipyard, Carl Zeiss Mirror Company, and Siemens Company is very gratifying, but if it can go deeper into politics from the economy, it is even more exciting......

If others did not understand these hints, then Chen Wenqiang had already understood the intention of the German government that the governor was trying to express by probing the governor's psychology, and expressed his support and approval to the governor with the same vague answer.

"Your country should pay the utmost attention to secrecy in handling diplomacy, and diplomats must also have a global vision."

The governor's words were still in his ears, and Chen Wenqiang guessed that it must have been the corpses of the Qing court who showed their ugliness in the initial temptation in Germany. The British Admiral will visit Japan next year, and the growing solidity of the Anglo-Japanese alliance has made Germany want to find another channel to test the possibility of establishing an alliance between China and Germany and the United States.

Obviously, in order to remedy the image of the United States in the minds of the Chinese, US President Roosevelt is also shaking an olive branch to China, such as suggesting that the Chinese and US envoys be upgraded to ambassadors, announcing the return of China's Gengzi indemnity, and so on. Coupled with the fact that after the Russo-Japanese War, Japan further expanded its influence in the Far East and the Pacific, where aggressive expansion seriously threatened American interests. Based on such considerations, the Sino-German-American alliance still has great hope of successful negotiations.

But the reality of the situation makes Chen Wenqiang have little hope for the Sino-American alliance. As long as the Qing court is still around, with the vision and diplomatic ability of those stupid officials and idiot royal families, it will be extremely difficult to complete this kind of cooperation and horizontal that affects the pattern of Asia and even the world. Moreover, if this matter is made public, it will not only become an international laughing stock, but will also make Japan wary of it and do everything possible to sabotage it. This will affect the future development.

The Germans still don't know about the situation in China, especially the situation in the imperial court, and they don't know how incompetent those corpses and vegetarians are!

Chen Wenqiang sighed with emotion, he was not prepared to try to promote an alliance, because it was impossible, but he wanted to maintain the possibility of an alliance in the future, and benefit from the expectation of Germany or the United States. How to say it, how to arrange, this is quite a difficult thing to think about!

"I never understood. Why do we do everything we can to help them? A somewhat angry voice interrupted Chen Wenqiang's thoughts, and he frowned slightly and looked at the other table.

An elderly lady was talking to her table mates, her cheeks sunken, her face pale with powder, and her deep, hoarse voice with an increasingly agitated emotion, "As for the woman...... That Empress Dowager Cixi...... Hum! If Queen Victoria were still alive, we would never help them, right. I'm convinced. ”

As if sensing Chen Wenqiang's gaze, the old woman shrugged her shoulders lightly. Turning her head, she was anxious to find a more worthy topic for her to vent to.

Chen Wenqiang listened to the British at this table talking about China, including customs officials, and he realized that the so-called help was to control China's tariffs, and he couldn't help but be very disgusted. He stared at a pea that had fallen on the table, and then peeked at the British. Wickedly, he suddenly stretched out his finger and flicked it violently.

With an exclamation, the old woman had just brought the fork to her mouth when her hand was hit by something, and the tip of the fork immediately made a scar on her face. Beads of blood immediately poured out. She dropped her fork, covered her face, and screamed at once to make her table busy.

Hahaha, hahaha, Chen Wenqiang burst out laughing out at an inopportune time, and after laughing, he slowly got up, faced the angry British, and vigorously gestured out a middle finger.

The fight was short but not intense, and one Englishman crooked his neck and saliva ran down his shoulder; The other jaw dropped, whining and gesturing. The old woman and a middle-aged woman stared at Chen Wenqiang in horror and disbelief.

"The British, damn opium dealers." Chen Wenqiang stretched out his middle finger again and scolded: "Bullshit Victoria, you should dig her out of the coffin, cut her belly open, and stuff her with opium." ”

"Sir, here—" The two waiters rushed over and stared at Chen Wenqiang with unkind faces.

"They attacked me first." Chen Wenqiang stretched out his finger and pointed to the two Brits, who could no longer be justified, and then shrugged his shoulders, "I am justified defense." ”

"But—"

"I can testify that this gentleman was indeed unjustifiably attacked." A voice sounded next to him, "He indisputably exercised his right to justifiable self-defense." But, this gentleman, please give these two Englishmen a cure, or send them to the hospital......"

A woman, a young foreign woman, stood up from her seat, her white face and a pair of big blue eyes raised, and defended Chen Wenqiang very succinctly in German.

Chen Wenqiang was a little surprised, thought about it for a while, stepped forward and roughly twisted, pushed, hit, and wrenched, and reset the dislocated necks and chins of the two Brits. Then he took a few steps back, put his right hand on his chest, and bowed slightly to the foreign woman. And what impressed him was that the woman was holding a book in her hand, a book with Chinese characters written on it.

The waiter retreated, Chen Wenqiang nodded to the foreign woman again, and then walked out.

……………

The schedule is tight, and regardless of whether the cooperation can be negotiated or not, Chen Wenqiang must act according to the planned schedule. Fortunately, the German BASF company replied quickly, and his proposal was approved, and he hoped that Chen Wenqiang would visit Germany as soon as possible.

Even if BASF refuses to cooperate, Chen Wenqiang is ready to visit Germany. First, the equipment and technology required for the industrial production of synthetic ammonia cannot be completed in China, and countries with high scientific and technological and industrial levels such as Germany and the United States must be selected; Secondly, regarding the Sino-US and German alliance, Chen Wenqiang is ready to use his opposition position to lobby and reserve room for negotiation and renewal in the future.

Depart by boat from Qingdao. Chen Wenqiang only stopped in Shanghai for a while, and after waiting for the accompanying cadres to board the ship, he sailed into the Yangtze River as planned, went straight to Wuhan, and went to take over the Hanyang Iron Works.

Although the problem of poor steel quality at Hanyang Iron Works has been identified, it is necessary to make it develop smoothly. Chen Wenqiang believes that management is the more critical factor. It is not an easy task to change the system of the old factory, which involves the interests of the original factory officials, down to the foremen and workers.

Therefore, Chen Wenqiang not only brought a lot of engineering and technical personnel with him on this trip, but also transferred 60 capable members from the Shanghai business group, all armed with pistols, to serve as his escort. So solemn, Chen Wenqiang is ready to take over and transform the Hanyang Iron Works with an iron fist. Other than that. Under Cen Chunxuan's recommendation and operation, although the imperial court agreed to Chen Wenqiang's conditions, in order to make the Hanyang Iron Works operate normally, Chen Wenqiang knew that there was still Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang, to pass.

……………

Wuhan is the general name of the three towns at the confluence of the Han River and the Yangtze River. When Chen Wenqiang set foot in Hanyang, he looked at and observed this place in the heart of China with a kind of scrutiny.

The towering chimneys of the steel mill stood in the distance, with no smoke in sight, and the losses had caused it to stop production for more than a year; The streets are crowded and dirty. This is similar to Shanghai, and the deformed economic prosperity is only the happiness of a few. Most people don't improve their lives because of this.

Turtle Mountain and Snake Mountain stand on both sides of the river, and the rocky slopes by the mountains and rivers are crowded with large and small shacks. Passing through the small town of Hanyang, you can see blast furnaces and piles of coke from afar.

"I settled in the factory first, and immediately after taking over, I started to rebuild and expand as planned, and then I went to meet Zhang Zhidong." Chen Wenqiang looked at these scenes. I knew that it would take a lot of time to get the Hanyang Iron Works back to the boom it was when it was first built.

The way insiders and laymen solve problems is completely different, and the progress of science and technology and the research of experts have also made it possible to take a shortcut to the renovation of the Hanyang Iron Works instead of the historical complete demolition and reconstruction.

Hanyang Iron Works has two 100-ton iron-making furnaces. One 10-ton Martin furnace (i.e. open-hearth), two 5.5-ton Bessemer converters and some rolling equipment. The converter was discontinued due to the poor tapping quality, and only the open-hearth furnace could still produce some parts such as fishtail plates.

Because the 30-ton open-hearth furnace ordered from Germany would take more than a month to arrive, and Chen Wenqiang needed immediate results, Lu Bai, a German hired as the chief engineer, proposed to renovate the Bessemer converter, that is, to change the original acid silicic acid lining to an alkaline furnace lining, and add limestone at the same time as the blast during the converter smelting, so as to smelt high-phosphorus iron into dephosphorized steel.

Resuming production while waiting for equipment to be in place for expansion, this is in line with Chen's requirements. And when Chen Wenqiang led hundreds of people into the steel plant, an unexpected surprise was waiting for him.

"Xiaguan Li Weige, the general office of the Hanyang Iron Works, has completed all the archives after receiving the imperial court's decree, and the personnel sent by Lord Chen have already begun to work...... "Although Li Weige, the general office (director) of the iron works appointed by Sheng Xuanhuai, showed loss and sorrow, he still reported to Chen Wenqiang respectfully and meticulously.

Chen Wenqiang turned his head to look at Lu Bai, the foreign devil who rushed to the iron factory in advance, shrugged his shoulders, and said with a smile: "The transformation of Bessemer's converter is underway, General Manager Li is very cooperative, and the workers are also very cooperative, and the workers are also very strong, and it is expected that this work will be completed a week ahead of schedule." ”

Chen Wenqiang nodded, and when he looked at Li Weige again, there was already appreciation in his eyes, and when Li Weige finished his report, he smiled and said: "General Manager Li's office is conscientious and admirable. If General Manager Li has nowhere to go, he will stay for the time being and help his own officials to restore the operation of this iron plant as soon as possible. ”

Li Weige was originally scheduled to be invited by Sheng Xuanhuai to go abroad to inspect the new ironmaking method and negotiate the purchase of equipment, but Chen Wenqiang intervened sideways and squeezed out Sheng Xuanhuai in the sunset, which also made his errand hang. The Hanyang Iron Works was restructured into a commercial office and was taken over by Chen Wenqiang, and the will of the imperial court was already stated, but his position was not reassigned. Chen Wenqiang's intention to stay is naturally a good thing. Moreover, Li Weige was a responsible person, and when he was hired as the general manager of the iron factory, he also had great ambitions, and he wanted to run the iron factory well, and his hard work was not in vain.

"Lord Chen is kind, how dare the lower officials refuse?" Li Weige smiled bitterly and said: "Hanyang Iron Works is the creation of East Asia, and it is not a good thing, but since Zhang, Sheng Ergong (referring to Zhang Zhidong and Sheng Xuanhuai) and the people used by Ergong, all of them are laymen, secretly groping, how can they enter the room?" Since Xia Guan took over the general office of the iron factory, he has been thinking hard and studying, but he does not know the disadvantages of the iron factory, and he is really unwilling. Lord Chen was far away in Yazhou, but he had already known it before he arrived at the iron factory, which made the officials admire him. If it can solve the confusion in the heart of the lower official, the lower official is very grateful, and is willing to stay in the iron factory for the time being, and make a modest effort. ”

"I have a good experience, but the factory staff do not understand technology and blindly order equipment, which is the biggest problem." Chen Wenqiang smiled and said, "Then let's work together and wait and see!" ”

Not knowing how to pretend to understand, and being an official patting his head to make a decision is one of the drawbacks of the Westernization Movement.

When preparing for the construction of the Hanyang Iron Works, foreigners once reminded that "if you want to set up a steel mill, you must first test all the iron, stone, coal, and coke factories, and then know what the quality of coal and iron is, what kind of steel can be smelted, that is, what kind of furnace to use. But Zhang Zhidong said: "With the size of China, why not, why not find coal and iron first and then buy a furnace?" But according to the British use of the purchase of a penny. ”

The results can be imagined, first of all, the coal in Ma'anshan could not be coking, and coke had to be purchased from Germany; Later, it switched to coal from Pingxiang, Jiangxi, and because the purchased cannon was an acidic configuration, it could not be phosphorus. After five or six years of tossing and spent, five or six million silver was spent, but the qualified steel has not yet been smelted.

As soon as Chen Wenqiangfu took over the iron factory, he began to work vigorously and resolutely, throwing hundreds of thousands of yuan down, summoning the scattered workers of the former iron factory who looked like beggars, starting the construction of the Martin furnace, renovating the converter, repairing the plant, overhauling the equipment, and the two ironmaking furnaces also adopted the new technology to make fire and make iron.

Columns of smoke emerged from the towering chimneys one after another, and the anger gradually returned to the Hanyang Iron Works, which had been closed for a long time, and spread to Hanyang Town, where the faces of the workers who earned their wages showed smiles and their families swept away their sadness. Amid the sound of firecrackers and gongs and drums, rice shops and grocery stores named Huaqiang Company opened one after another, and ships from Shanghai docked from time to time to bring in various commodities.

In a prosperous atmosphere, several newspapers in Shanghai and Wuhan published that the Hanyang Iron Works had fully resumed work, and one open-hearth furnace and two converters had been transformed into steel after process and equipment transformation. According to the test and determination of the steel by the professionals of the Krupp company, the quality of the steel is all up to standard, and the rails can be rolled with the current equipment to manufacture the parts required for the railway.

………….. (To be continued.) )