Qiao Yu and Wang Dongcheng talked for most of the night, and explained everything that might happen, and Wang Dongcheng also set off immediately, his first stop was Wuchang, and he wanted to visit Li Yuanhong on behalf of Qiao Yu.

As a political figure, luck is a very important thing, Li Yuanhong is a person who has been fully lucky, he was just a senior officer before Wuchang Shouyi, although he is also a big official, but it must not be said that he is prominent, but he was pushed to the position of Wuchang Governor in a daze, and he became a hero of Shouyi.

With such a name, whether it is Sun Wen, Yuan Shikai, or Duan Qirui in the future, etc., they dare not underestimate this Li Bodhisattva, he has become the president and vice president, and has served as the president twice and vice president three times.

Li Yuanhong's predicament is that he has a great reputation, and he has no real team and not enough power, so it is like a tablet, and he was offered, and he really responded to his nickname and became the clay sculpture of Li Bodhisattva.

Since Qiao Yu was taught a lesson by his father, he has paid more and more attention to the sentence that he dare not be the first in the world, at the beginning of the Republic of China, Lao Yuan still has absolutely powerful power, it would be bad if Lao Yuan was regarded as a bird, so he decided to let Wang Dongcheng visit Li Yuanhong, and the two sides reached an alliance, which can not only make Li Yuanhong's waist harder, but also allow Li Bodhisattva to top the cylinder, and give Qiao Yu enough time for development.

After sending Wang Dongcheng away, Qiao Yu took Zhao Baoxuan, Tang Yisheng, and Wu Hengchang, three high-achieving students in the United States, to inspect the Sichuan Machinery Bureau, the founder of the Sichuan Machinery Bureau is the famous Ding Baozhen, this person may not know, but a dish he invented must be familiar to everyone, that is, Kung Pao Chicken, he also killed Cixi's favored eunuch An Dehai, and he was also a romantic figure for a while.

Qiao Yu and his entourage came to the gate of the Lianchi Machinery Bureau under the east gate of Chengdu, what caught their eyes was not the neat factory appearance of later generations, but it looked a little old and dilapidated, because many workers have fled since the Baolu Movement, although most of them are back now, but they have not really resumed production, seeing the appearance of the factory, Qiao Yu's heart is a chill, originally he even wanted to give up southern Sichuan, directly attack Chengdu, what he did was not this arsenal!

But now after seeing it with my own eyes, I know that I think too simply, after entering the arsenal, this feeling is even stronger, it is not appropriate to say that the Sichuan Machinery Bureau is an arsenal, it is more responsible for the maintenance function, and the musket made is mostly a single-shot rifle like Martini.

Zhao Baoxuan and the others couldn't help shaking their heads when they saw it: "Du Du, to be honest, this kind of factory is not even as good as a civilian factory in Europe and the United States, these machines were purchased decades ago, and these machines were not advanced at that time, and now they are even worse, and there is still water drive in power, which is completely behind the times!" ”

"Hey, I thought that guarding an arsenal would soon be self-sufficient in our weapons, but now it looks like a dream!"

"Governor, heavy industry is systematic, the countries in the world that can build an industrial system are only the Western powers, even the capital and Russia have a lot of deficiencies, although the Manchus have established some government-run factories, but the difference is still too far!" Tang Yisheng also sighed on the side.

A few people went to a few workshops to see the production of workers, after reading it, they shook their heads even more, these workers are the traditional kind of craftsmen, the level of education is very low, the understanding of the technical process is not in place, the products produced can barely be used, but it is still very rough, and the rejection rate is very high.

Qiao Yu estimated that even if the current production capacity of the Sichuan factory was maximized, it would be able to produce 10,000 guns a year, and there were many shoddy ones, which could not meet the needs of the army at all, and it seemed that they would have to rely on buying weapons for a long time.

"From mining, to metallurgy, to machine manufacturing, to the production of military products, interlocking, indispensable, and every link needs a large number of talents, what we lack now is talent, the governor wants to develop industry must start from talent! Let's just say that the workers in the Sichuan factory, most of them are old-style craftsmen, although they have also been trained by some foreign technicians, but let them imitate some things, if they design their own is not enough, not that they do not work hard, but the foundation is too poor, what we lack is a large number of excellent science and engineering talents! What is even more lacking is a real polytechnic university! Wu Hengchang also felt it.

Qiao Yu thought more and more in his heart, he was not unaware of the difficulties of industrial construction, but he really did not want to miss such a good opportunity as World War I, if China could seize the reunification during World War I, it would be able to get rid of the fate of enslavement through gradual reform, and the people would be able to suffer less, and the premise of this was to have a strong army and a certain military industrial base.

Seeing the appearance of the Sichuan factory, Qiao Yu suddenly felt that his hope was a little slim, the industrial system is really not a simple matter, not to mention that China is such a status quo!

I watched the whole morning in the Sichuan factory, four people discussed from time to time, sometimes the argument was still very intense, and finally everyone reached a consensus that the Sichuan factory from the hardware, to the personnel, to the management are all serious problems, to change the Sichuan factory needs to spend financial and material resources is absolutely amazing.

"The three, no matter how difficult it is, must have their own military industrial system, I am ready to cooperate with the Germans, let them send experts to help us comprehensively upgrade the Sichuan factory, but I am afraid that the cost will be very large! After all, those powers are a virtue! ”

Tang Yisheng and the three of them also knew that in order to transform the Sichuan Factory, they must introduce the power of the great powers, but the price they paid would inevitably be very large, and they would even betray the interests and rights of the country, but what can be done now?

"Governor, do you want to find the Americans, although they are a little weak in the military industry, but the United States values commercial interests, and at most loses a little economic interests! And they are also easy to talk, I have basically talked about the matter of the steel plant, let them help us renovate the Sichuan factory, presumably they must also be willing! ”

As soon as Qiao Yu heard Wu Hengchang mention the United States, it seems that his proposal is right now, the United States values commercial interests, as long as there are enough benefits, it can still help itself, but as a traverser, Qiao Yu has information in his hands that others can never know, and now it is a loss to cooperate with Germany, but as long as he survives three years, when it comes to World War I, he will be able to kick Germany away, and then it will be time for his own reading ability to develop independently.

"If the Americans are used, it will inevitably make the British suspicious, and when the British suppress it, it will be difficult for us to do it, I think it is still Germany and the United States to introduce together, and then I am ready to mortgage a little loan from the British to appease the British, in addition, Sichuan's financial gap is too big, I am afraid it will not work if I don't take out a loan!"

When Tang Yisheng heard that Qiao Yu was preparing a loan, he couldn't help but feel anxious, it was not easy to borrow money from the powers, it was basically a bad debt that would never be finished, and in the end, he could only be choked by the necks of the powers, isn't this the case in the Qing Dynasty, so he resolutely opposed the loan. "The matter of the governor's loan still needs to be carefully considered, if it is not done well, it will be able to crush Sichuan's finances! And if the financial power is indulged by the British, our industry will be impossible to talk about! ”

"Don't worry, as the saying goes, thirty years in Hedong, thirty years in Hexi, Britain has also reached the time of bad luck, and if you stay up for a while, everything will not be a problem!"