Seaplanes are unique in their ability to moor on any surface of water as far as the eye can see, making them much less restrictive to pilots. Because of this remarkable feature, the entire seaplane series has won the favor of domestic naval ships and a large number of civilian flight enthusiasts since its birth.

"Hey, old Fang, you really do the navy! Even if you build an airplane, it's a seaplane, hahahaha. ”

After a little visit to the facilities inside the plane, Chen Zeyu left the berth where the seaplane was located, and joked to Fang Boqian beside him while walking.

"Hehe, the Führer praised!" Fang Bo, who accompanied him on the side, responded modestly.

"Don't be embarrassed, your seaplane is well built," Chen Zeyu said in admiration.

With this kind of aircraft that can dock on the water, in the future, our large fleet can carry several such seaplanes in battle, and hoist them to the surface of the sea during each voyage, so that it can reconnoiter the enemy's situation around the fleet, and it is always no problem to anticipate the enemy's first opportunity."

Fang Boqian said happily, "I didn't think so much about building airplanes at the beginning, but I couldn't afford to build them myself." ”

"Haha, I really wish there were more idlers like you," Chen Zeyu said with a smile, "I heard that your aircraft company has also set up a special cargo transportation department to do the business of flight transportation?" ”

Fang Boqian replied, "That's right! At first, it was proposed by a few young workers in the company, and several early planes were idle in the warehouse, so I agreed to it, mainly to take orders from customers, and sometimes to bring some individual passengers in an emergency. ”

Chen Zeyu nodded, and the group got into the car and drove towards the industrial zone.

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While Chen Zeyu was stranded in Shandong to inspect the local aviation industry, his own right-hand man, Sheng Xuanhuai, the vice minister of commerce of Seris, was also rectifying the local Hanyang Iron and Steel Plant, a former Qing government-run enterprise, in Wuhan.

Wuhan is the largest commercial city in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, second only to Shanghai and Nanjing in the economic status of the Yangtze River basin, dozens of domestic and foreign banks have been opened in the whole city, in addition to the local geographical location is also very prominent, the world's third largest river Yangtze River and its longest tributary, the Han River, traverse the urban area, dividing Wuhan into three, forming Wuchang, Hankou, Hanyang, three towns across the river pattern.

However, since the opening of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge across the Yangtze River in November last year, the three towns have gradually merged geographically and economically, and since the beginning of 1898, the central government of Seris has officially established a new Wuhan prefecture-level city.

Wuhan in March is a good festival to see the Yellow Crane Tower, but Sheng Xuanhuai, vice minister of the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, who came from Beijing in a hurry, did not have the intention of visiting at this time, and he came here this time to be specially instructed by Chen Zeyu to come to Wuhan to solve the problem of the suspension of production of the local Hanyang Iron Works.

After resting for a day at the local Wuhan government guest house, Sheng Xuanhuai and his entourage rushed to the Hanyang Iron Works not far from the city center the next day.

Accompanied by the new mayor of Wuhan, Ji Xinwen, Sheng Xuanhuai first walked around the deserted factory area, and then went to the wharf and took a boat to Huangzhen on the south bank of the Yangtze River to inspect the local Daye iron mine.

The inspection of the iron works in the past two days was not optimistic, and Sheng Xuanhuai was troubled and had to record the problems one by one.

A few days later, Sheng Xuanhuai took the river ship to Jiangxi again, Nanchang Pingxiang County, and the vice minister of the Ministry of Commerce came here with doubts in his heart.

It wasn't until the accompanying ore exploration technician reported to him that he had discovered a natural open-pit coal mine with huge reserves in the local area, that the vice minister of commerce came back to his senses, and at this time he finally understood why Chen Zeyu had to let him bring people to Pingxiang that day.

Wuhan's Hanyang Iron Works was originally a government-run enterprise set up by the local governor Zhang Zhidong in the former Qing Dynasty, and it was still operating well at the beginning, and even cooperated with the Avalanche Iron and Steel Heavy Industry in Nanyang for a period of time, and undertook the main source of steel supply in China at that time in the former Qing Dynasty, which was very prosperous for a while. But with the passage of time, the dilemma faced by the iron plant began to be revealed one by one, the enterprise was overworked, inefficient, and there were many idlers, and the officials of the management were even more up and down, corruption was prevalent, and when the former Qing collapsed, the whole enterprise was empty, and many valuable equipment was even taken away by the employees, and when Sheng Xuanhuai came here, several furnaces of the entire Hanyang Iron Works had ceased fire for several years, and many expensive factory equipment had already been scrapped, which made Sheng Xuanhuai, who was in charge of the economy, heartbroken.

The situation at the Hanyang Iron Works was so bad that I didn't know how to explain it to the Führer when I went back.

Before leaving, Chen Zeyu explained to Sheng Xuanhuai, asking him to count the specific situation of Hanyang Iron Works after coming to Wuhan to see if there was still a possibility of rectification. In other words, if the situation allows, the future Wuhan Iron and Steel Group will be built on the basis of the former Hanyang Iron Works. But now it seems that through Sheng Xuanhuai's own investigation of the iron factory, he has rejected this idea in his heart.

"Alas," Sheng Xuanhuai couldn't help but sigh, "If the Xiangshuai was still there in the past, I don't know what I would think when I saw the scene of Hanyang Iron Works today?" ”

Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang, died unexpectedly in the domestic liberation battlefield in his early years, I have to say that this is a big loss for Wuhan, many people were also very surprised, when the domestic liberation battlefield was like a bamboo, when Li Hongzhang, Liu Kunyi, Cheng Dequan, Shen Baozhen and other former Qing ministers unloaded their armor and returned home to be a foolish duke, Zhang Zhidong, a Hanchen who also belonged to the former Qing Dynasty ministers, was loyal to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and organized the green battalion in Hankou to snipe the Republic army crossing the river.

Thinking of the past of the former governor of the two lakes, Sheng Xuanhuai was embarrassed.

No matter how much he, the governor, used to be stubborn and stubborn, at least this Zhang Xiangshuai still did a lot of practical things for the two lakes. Even if you don't count the Hanyang Iron Works, which have long been ruined, including the Hunan Silk Reeling Factory, Hubei Weaving Layout, Hankou Manufacturing Bureau, etc., which have long been contracted by the private sector and are still in operation, Zhang Zhidong handled them single-handedly in the early years, and the construction of more comprehensive water conservancy facilities in the two lakes area, and the emerging hydropower modernization municipal projects in the three towns of Wuhan are all full of the painstaking efforts of this former handsome. It can be said that the entire city of Wuhan can now become the most prosperous economic center in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and the former Qing governor has contributed a lot.

Thinking of Zhang Zhidong, Sheng Xuanhuai suddenly remembered the Lianghu Academy established by the deceased governor in his early years.

In 1893, in order to train local talents for the construction and maintenance of Hanyang Iron Works, Zhang Zhidong began to set up a technician school in Lianghu Academy, and now this school has been operating non-stop despite the ups and downs, and has cultivated a large number of high-level technicians for the country. Thinking of this, Sheng Xuanhuai, who had been frowning for many days, lit up in his eyes and silently wrote it down in his heart.

Through the past few days of investigation and visits, Sheng Xuanhuai, who is well versed in the way of economy, has a plan for the Wuhan Iron and Steel Group to be built in the future.

On the night of March 22, the vice minister of commerce of the Republic of China sent a telegram to Chen Zeyu requesting instructions.

"To the Head of the Republic Chen Zeyu:

Since the beginning of the month ago, Xingsun has been coming to Hubei for some time, and after many analyses and surveys, the following conclusions have been drawn. One. Pingxiang Coal Mine has now confirmed that the reserves are considerable, which can supply the needs of our future steel mills for hundreds of years; Two. Daye Iron Mine is operating well, and the accompanying ore exploration technicians have praised its local iron ore taste, saying that its ore is not only rich in iron stone, but also very rich in non-ferrous metals nickel and tungsten with mining value, so that the taste of ore is not difficult to smelt excellent steel in the future; Three. The original Hanyang Iron Works in Jiangbei has been destroyed for many years, the loss of personnel, the equipment is also more waste and unusable, and after the observation of the post, the original site of Guishan selected by the old factory is not in line with the economic layout, its land is neither close to the coal mine, nor near the iron mine, and far away from the Yangtze River, its factory is 246 miles away from Daye Iron Mine, and the terrain is high, the daily needs of the iron plant, iron, lime, and water sources need to be transported by manpower for a long time, which costs a lot, and greatly increases the production cost of the iron plant. Now that it has been destroyed, it is better to relocate and set up a new factory...... Today, the lower grade has requested to set up a new factory site in the former Wuchang Town on the south bank of the river to build the Wuhan Steel Mill, which is close to the Daye Iron Mine and has the advantage of shipping on the Yangtze River. And not far away in Pingxiang, Jiangxi Province, there is a railway with it, which is enough to supply the daily coking coal needs of the new plant, and it is a good site for building a natural factory!

In addition, it is advisable to expand the local Lianghu Technician School for future construction.

Seris Ministry of Commerce, Deputy Minister Sheng Xuanhuai wrote on the night of March 22, 1898. ”