The hammer fell freely from a height of twenty feet and slammed into the specimen with a thud; Then it slowly rises again, stops at the same height, falls, and hits again. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 The info technician unveils the prototype and begins a measurement and inspection.

Chen Wenqiang sat in the office on the second floor, looking at the busy workers in the workshop through the glass, his fingers lightly tapping a handful of chemical analysis reports, thoughtful.

According to the laboratory analysis of Qiangzhuo Chemical Laboratory and German experts, Daye iron ore contains 60%~65% iron, which is a good ore, but the phosphorus content is high (>0.1%); Coke is of good quality; Due to the high phosphorus content in the steel, which exceeds the allowable phosphorus content of the rail, the phosphorus is high and the steel is cold and brittle, so brittleness occurs.

Theoretically, this is the reason why the rails made by Hanyang Iron Works are easy to be brittle, resisted by users, and have poor sales and long-term losses. In fact, whether this is the case, Chen Wenqiang still needs to be verified. Therefore, he sent people to buy iron ore and coke from the Hanyang Iron Works, and used the Yazhou Iron Works to adopt the refining methods formulated by experts for practical tests.

From Cen Chunxuan's telegram, it was learned that the matter of taking over the Hanyang Iron Works was almost certain, and as long as Chen Wenqiang really found the cause of the poor quality and had a way to improve it, he could straighten his waist and put forward his own conditions.

First, the Hanyang Iron Works (including Daye Iron Mine) and Pingxiang Coal Mine were merged to establish a steel and coal joint company;

Second, the joint company must be a pure commercial office, Chen Wenqiang injected 2 million capital, and recruited 3 million commercial shares to negotiate the purchase of equipment and expand the factory, so as to make it a "Dongya Xiong Factory";

Thirdly, the United Smelting Company guaranteed to make a profit within one year, and the annual output thereafter should not be less than 15,000 tons when the production ceased in 1903. Calculated from the date of profit, 30% of the annual profit shall be paid to the imperial court, for a total of 20 years, in order to repay the investment of Hanyang Iron Works, Daye Iron Mine and Pingxiang Coal Mine in advance;

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Dare to put forward these conditions. It was a judgment reached by Chen Wenqiang, Zhang Jian, and other constitutionalist businessmen through constant deliberation.

What kind of person is Sheng Xuanhuai, in terms of being an official, the highest in his life is only a scholar; In terms of morality, his corruption has always been an inexplicable mess. Everyone knows that he has a lot of flowers, but everyone can't do without him. This is also true of Cixi, the supreme ruler.

The reason is very simple, the railways, steamships, and telegraphs run by Sheng Xuanhuai were all basic industries at that time, and they were one of the few large industries that could make money in government-run enterprises. One is very important, the other can make money, Sheng Xuanhuai has these in his own hands, and his importance is self-evident.

But the premise that Sheng Xuanhuai could not give up was that no one could replace him, and he was widely connected during the Gengzi Incident and realized mutual protection in the southeast. Ignoring the imperial court, Cixi still remembers this account. However, at that time, many of the businesses managed by Sheng Xuanhuai, such as telegraph, mining, customs, and railways, were the main income of the Qing court, so he could not be reconciled, but praised him for protecting the peace of the Yangtze River valley.

And Chen Wenqiang has risen to prominence in a few years, whether it is fame or achievements, he has come from behind, as if he has suppressed Sheng Xuanhuai. Opposite. Sheng Xuanhuai's career has been taken away by Yuan Shikai from the railway and telegraph, and now there is only one Hanyang Iron Works left in his hands. The opportunity for the imperial court to take revenge has come.

In addition, the reason why Sheng Xuanhuai was not completely hollowed out before was because Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang, was protecting him to the death, and Wuhan was Zhang Zhidong's sphere of influence, so of course he didn't want Yuan Shikai to get involved. can be replaced by Cen Chunxuan, the anti-Yuan faction, and Chen Wenqiang, a constitutionalist rookie, to take over, and Zhang Zhidong's attitude is a little different.

Zhang Zhidong didn't like Sheng Xuanhuai. Because he has always criticized Sheng's private morality, but he has to use him. At that time, Zhang Zhidong created the Hubei Railway Political Bureau, and after spending 6 million taels of public bank, it was ineffective, and the department was responsible. When Zhang Zheng was at a loss, it coincided with Sheng Xuanhuai's arrival in Hubei. The two struck a deal. Sheng Xuanhuai helped Zhang Zhidong take over the mess of the Hanyang Iron Works, and Zhang Zhidong helped him settle the impeachment matter, and promoted him to be the minister of the Luhan Railway. It can be said that Zhang Zhidong has exchanged his political advantages for an economic weight.

At this time, Zhang Zhidong took a fancy to Sheng Xuanhuai's money and used Sheng to help him solve the trouble of Hanyang Iron Works. Now, Sheng Xuanhuai's power has decreased, Hanyang Iron Works has not improved, Yuan Shikai is pressing forward step by step, and the intention of the imperial court to settle accounts after the autumn has also been revealed. Under the trade-off, it is more advantageous for a third-party force to take over than Sheng Xuanhuai, who is criticized by outsiders for harming public and private interests.

In short, it would not be surprising if Chen Wenqiang could really bring the Hanyang Iron Works back to life in a short period of time and squeeze out Sheng Xuanhuai. And Chen Wenqiang's vow, abundant funds, and generous profit sharing will undoubtedly make the imperial court moved.

"Mr. Chen, this is the result of the test just now." Lu Bai, the German chief engineer hired by the Yazhou Iron Works, walked into the office with the form and handed it to Chen Wenqiang, "After two impacts, the rail did not have any cracks, and the permanent deformation of the rail after each fall did not exceed four inches." ”

"So you're fully qualified?" Chen Wenqiang glanced at the form and asked.

"Yes, judging from the various test indicators, the quality of the rails is excellent." Lu Bai nodded very definitely, and a hint of smugness flashed on his face.

If the problem of poor product quality of the Hanyang Iron Works is solved, Chen Wenqiang will have seven or eight points of certainty when he takes over the Hanyang Iron Works. After taking over, it was time to purchase equipment and expand the factory. Chen Wenqiang has verbally promised that if this task can be completed, all the required machinery and equipment may be ordered from Krupp, and Krupp will be responsible for installation and commissioning.

According to the preliminary expansion plan, a 250-ton iron-making blast furnace, a 150-ton iron-mixing furnace, four 30-ton Martin converters, a primary rolling mill, a steel plate rolling mill, and other auxiliary facilities, totaling no less than 3 million yuan, is a big business for the Krupp company.

"Good." Chen Wenqiang let out a long breath, groaned for a while, and said slowly: "The products of Yazhou Iron Works are mainly supplied to Huangpu Shipyard for shipbuilding purposes; The Hanyang Iron Works is mainly planning to produce rails and parts for the railway. However, the expansion of the Yazhou Iron Works should be accelerated, and the output should not only meet the needs of shipbuilding, but also meet the needs of manufacturing guns. Because I want to expand in the fields of heavy industry and military industry, I will collapse or acquire the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau and the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau within five years. Formation of domestic monopolies. ”

"What an ambitious plan." Lu Bai didn't understand the meaning of Chen Wenqiang's words, but just complimented him.

"If you want to form a monopoly, you must have great advantages in quality and cost." Chen Wenqiang smiled faintly and continued: "And the Krupp company is world-famous and technologically advanced in making guns. I am looking forward to in-depth cooperation with your company, I wonder if your company has this intention? ”

Lu Bai pondered for a moment and said tentatively: "Regarding military manufacturing, Krupp has always cooperated with the officials of your country. If it's with your company—"

"I represent the official." Chen Wenqiang seemed to smile instead of smiling, and said slowly: "During the Gengzi Incident, the north fought fiercely, but the southeast had a mutual insurance agreement and stayed out of the war. Now, I am representing the officials of one or more provinces in the south. And not the imperial court in Beijing. You know about the formation of the new army, right? The imperial court spent all the money on the six towns of Beiyang, and the new army in the south had to recruit its own troops. So, they entrusted me as an agent for the production of munitions in order to form a new army. But this matter is not easy to make public, they are afraid that the court will know that the weapons manufactured are used by the court, and even the factory is controlled by the court. This is the situation in China. You may not understand it very well, but just know that the cooperation is also official. That's enough. ”

"Local, and central contradictions?" Lu Bai thought he was smart, and he thought he knew more about China's power structure and situation, so he nodded with a smile and said, "I understand, I understand. So that there will be no problem. Just need to keep it a secret, right? ”

"That's right." Chen Wenqiang fooled this self-proclaimed smart foreign devil and said with a smile: "I made it myself, but I said to the court that I bought it from outside, a small trick." The reason why Yazhou was chosen. It is also because of the need for secrecy. ”

"If the manufacturing is carried out by your company, the quality and cost are guaranteed, and it will definitely be more competitive than the official enterprises in your country. Therefore, I believe that the company is also willing to carry out in-depth cooperation with you. Lu Bai has been in China for a long time, having worked in several government-run factories, and is well aware of the shortcomings.

The Westernization Movement has been carried out for many years, but the products are really not flattering, the cost is high, the quality is low, and it is even more expensive to manufacture it yourself than to purchase it. Why?

First, the purchase of rebates. Kickbacks given by Chinese businessmen to officials have been a matter of course since ancient times, and there is no need to mention them again; Foreign businessmen have dealt with Chinese officials several times, and they have also adopted local customs. For example, Krupp, not long after entering China, learned to set aside a special proportion of the contract money to send rebates.

Second, the labor cost is high. It is understandable that foreigners who come to work in China earn much higher wages than those who work in their home countries. China has no technical backbone, can it not seek foreigners? The problem is that many well-connected Chinese are trying to squeeze into these "rich" foreign affairs units. For example, the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau was led and managed by only 40 officials at first; In just ten years, that number has doubled, and 80 officials have taken the card.

Chen Wenqiang also saw this very clearly, and the reason why he wanted to change the Hanyang Iron Works into a commercial office was indeed that he was worried that the "official supervision and commercial office" would become a huge obstacle to the profitability of the Hanyang Iron Works.

"There is no doubt about the sincerity of our cooperation." Chen Wenqiang smiled slyly and said, "If I take over Hanyang Iron Works, I hope to have a comprehensive cooperation negotiation with your company and solve all matters in a package." ”

Lu Bai understood, with a reluctant smile on his face, but he admired Chen Wenqiang's shrewdness in his heart. Obviously, if Krupp wants to get a large order for the expansion of the Hanyang Iron Works, or even a stake, it will have to make appropriate concessions and concessions in other cooperation. For example, the drawings of guns, the technology of production and manufacturing, and so on. But on the other hand, the relevant manufacturing equipment, such as lathes, milling machines, guillotine machines, etc., as well as related supporting facilities, do not have to be purchased from Krupp, but also have to hire German technicians, which is also a lot of income for Krupp.

"I think, if Mr. Chen wants to buy a warship for the Guangdong Navy, it should be—" Lu Bai did not directly say the word bribe, but the expression on his face meant this, "It's an exchange of benefits with the official, right?" In the future, a large number of orders for weapons and ammunition will make Mr. Chen a fortune. ”

Foreign devils have also learned this set, which shows that Chinese society and unspoken rules are really a big dye vat. Chen Wenqiang sighed in his heart, but nodded to Lu Bai with a smile, and said: "This is also the reason why the purchased ships cannot be too good, the largest and best warship of the Beiyang Naval Division of the Imperial Court should be the 'Hairong', with a displacement of less than three thousand tons, and the local naval division is naturally not good to exceed too much." But I don't want it to be too old, and it costs too much to build a new ship. So—"

As a major maritime weapon system, submarines did not grow thanks to a large-scale naval battle. Since the advent of submarines, for a long time, the navies of various countries have not had a sufficient understanding of their role and status in warfare, and have only used them as an auxiliary force for coastal purposes. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the United Kingdom, the United States and other naval powers still regarded submarines as nothing more than a sneak attack weapon for weak and small countries.

However, Germany and Russia inadvertently realized that submarines might become a practical weapon, so they successively invested in the development and construction of submarines.

In 1901, Russia built a submarine with a surface displacement of 60 tons and two torpedoes. In 1903, after the launch of the first "Dolphin" submarine, six more "Dolphin" submarines were built. After the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, Russia purchased one "German" submarine from Germany, and six submarines of the "Holland" and "Lake" types from the United States, and used them in actual combat.

Just after the completion of the "German" submarine ordered by Russia, the German Admiral Tibitz decided that the German Navy should also be equipped with a large number of submarines, and put into the development and manufacture of the "German" improved submarine, which is the famous U-boat.

In the two world wars in history, German submarines can be said to have outstanding achievements, and the name of "Sea Wolf" will go down in military history. Chen Wenqiang naturally knows this. Although the current submarines have many defects due to the limitations of manufacturing technology, their performance is not perfect, and there are many defects, but their potential power and development prospects still make Chen Wenqiang determined to order submarines from Germany.

It is quite necessary whether to continue to order in the future, to study and build it yourself, or to train the crew as a training boat. In the initial stage of development of anything, especially science and technology, it is always not too difficult to learn and master, and it is much easier to catch up later.

………….. (To be continued.) )