Among the Beijing divisions, whether to discuss the matter of Song Biao's division of the feudal domain is decent, such a discussion has even spread to the government and the opposition throughout the country, and there are many attackers, many of whom are seriously opposed, and some people say that Song Biao himself asked for the title of king, and for a while, it seems that the whole country has crusade words.

The government and the opposition are full of jealousy and hatred, and the government and the opposition compare Song Biao to Wu Sangui, Shang Kexi, and others.

Song Biao really didn't think that Qing Zhengaxe would consider dividing the domain for him, let alone take the initiative to put forward such an idea.

For the sudden swarm of infamy, Song Biao chose to treat this matter with a calm indifference, Zhang Zhidong knew that he did not have such a request, sent a telegram to him, and persuaded him to play his own expression, Song Biao was too lazy to make a generous statement to himself, but called Zhang Zhidong back "If you want to add to the crime, there is no excuse".

The staff of the Secretariat were also surprised, some persuaded Song Biao to force the imperial court to divide the feudal domain, and some persuaded Song Biao to shirk himself, so as not to worsen the situation, Yuan Jinkai even prepared four drafts of Song Biao with different wordings within the Secretariat, but Song Biao coldly rejected all suggestions.

He can't tell what kind of conspiracy is behind this matter, but he is not afraid of conspiracy, his strength and initiative are in his hands, and the outcome of the matter is always up to him.

He didn't show himself, he wanted to see how the Qing Zheng Axe planned to end.

The Beijing division was in a mess, and the people in the three eastern provinces were also panicking, and in such an atmosphere, Song Biao instead arranged a trip to Fushun to inspect the coal industry.

On January 7, after New Year's Day in 1908, Song Biao arrived at the Fushun Coal Mine by train.

After the end of the war, Song Biao used the Far Eastern Railway Corporation to recover half of the ownership and management rights from Russia and invested funds to increase and repair the railway plan.

Because of the good railway conditions, the first batch of large-scale coal mines put into development after the establishment of the Far East Mining Corporation were in Fushun, which were five coal mines in the West Open-pit, East Open-pit, Dongzhou, Qianjinzhai and Laohutai, with the largest mining scale in the West Open-pit and the East Open-pit, with 23,000 miners in these two mines alone, and a large number of electric and steam-powered coal mining machines were purchased from the United States, and the Fushun Power Plant was built nearby.

The person in charge of the Fushun Coal Mine is Kuang Jingyang, who is greeting him in Fushun, and Wu Yangzeng, as the chief director of the Mining Corporation, personally accompanied Song Biao to inspect the mine.

Song Biao took a special railway to inspect the Fushun Coal Mine, and visited five mines on a slow-moving train, and finally stopped at the West Open-pit Coal Mine, the headquarters of the largest and Fushun Coal Mining Company.

Still on the train, Song Biao could see the huge coal field, the black coal field seemed to be like a black sea, and more than 10,000 miners in the coal field were densely distributed all over the place, as if it was like countless lonely fishing boats in the coal sea.

The basis of industry is first of all metallurgy, and the basis of metallurgy is mining in the first place.

Since entering the three eastern provinces, Song Biao has always attached great importance to the investment in mining exploration and mining, and coal and iron are the most of them.

Coal has been the world's most important mining resource in the second half of the 19th century and the first two decades of the 20th century, compared with the oil in the middle and late 20th century, the status and value of coal in this period is more important, oil and electricity are the soul of the 20th century, and coal in this period is both oil and electricity, all industry and life are inseparable from it.

Song Biao knows this, but he really lacks some more in-depth experience.

…… With the improvement of the Northeast New Army, the design of military uniforms has more pre-World War I characteristics, following the development of the entire world trend, and generally keeping pace with the development of military uniforms in the Tsarist Russian Empire.

Considering the cost of fabric processing, as well as maintaining the distinctive characteristics of the whole, the Northeast New Army chooses a unified blue-gray military uniform in the four seasons of military uniforms, and the main difference between the Russian army in terms of style is the use of short and medium wool military uniforms, and the winter tweed military uniforms are set up with inner liners, the outside is blue-gray tweed, and the inside is a thick cotton coat.

In addition to the normal dark brown, there is also a special black military uniform, which is also a short and medium hem characteristic of the Northeast New Army, which is cut higher than the Russian army's tweed uniform, which is usually required to be 1.5 inches higher than the knee of the soldier.

Song Biao's military uniform is relatively more special, with cashmere tweed on the outside and a soft leather liner on the inside, which is better and more comfortable to keep warm.

The saber of the Northeast New Army has always continued the Chashik style, the initial models are ordered from Russia, and now they are customized and produced by the local knife factory, the handle is made of brass produced in the Hunjiang region, and the curved arc of the handle is smaller than that of the traditional Chashik saber, and the black scabbard and brass are generally used to decorate the sheath tip sleeve.

Unlike the Russian [***] sword, the saber unification of the Northeast New Army is engraved with the three-gun symbol symbolizing the three eastern provinces.

As for the gilded St. George saber presented by the Russian emperor, if it were not for special etiquette needs, Song Biao would not usually continue to carry it with him, and he wore a locally produced Northeast saber improved from the Chashik saber most of the time, because it was customized in the Benxi knife factory, this Northeast saber is also called the Benxi saber.

Song Biao appeared on the coal mine today wearing a black military uniform, white gloves, a Benxi saber tied around his waist, and a pair of deerskin cavalry boots that were almost difficult to change.

Wu Yangzeng and Kuang Jingyang carefully accompanied Song Biao, and Kuang Jingyang explained the development of the Fushun Coal Mining Company of the Far Eastern Mining Corporation, as well as some interesting anecdotes about the construction of these coal mines, and after two years of huge investment, especially in the large-scale development of the four major open-pit coal mines, the scale of the coal industry in the three eastern provinces had reached the scale of 700,000 tons per month by the end of 1907, meeting the requirements set forth at the annual meeting last year.

Combined with the Kailuan Coal Mine and the Shanxi Coal and Iron Franchise purchased from the British Fu Company, and the Zibo Coal Mine and Laiwu Coal and Iron Franchise purchased from the Jiaodong Peninsula, the Far East Mining Company will be able to produce more than 4 million tons of coal per month in three years, and even if it continues to develop on this scale, China's total coal mining volume is only a negligible force in the whole world.

From 1870 to 1913, the total amount of coal mining in Britain, France, the United States and Germany increased from 189 million tons to 1,126.7 million tons, and in 1907 there were 925 million tons, and Wu Yang's estimate of domestic coal mining was that according to the current investment level, it would only have a production capacity of 70 million tons in 1910, let alone in the whole world, even if it was a fraction of the number compared to any country in Britain, France, the United States and Germany.

Of course, this has something to do with the Far East consortium's decision to shift more capital to other industries, because the total demand for coal in Asia is limited, and even the country itself is a major net exporter of Asian coal.

It is clear that this is not the time to talk about nature conservation and the greenhouse effect, and how to increase the country's coal consumption capacity is becoming an urgent issue for discussion at the Far East Foundation's mid-year quarterly meeting.

Song Biao and his entourage of dozens of people appeared on the mining site, he stood in the center of the crowd, accustomed to using binoculars to observe the operation of the entire coal mine, most of the workers are from Zhili and Shandong, the weather is already so cold, most of them are wearing very thin autumn clothes, it does not look very painful.

The Chinese are so easily satisfied.

This is a great era of population congestion, in Zhili, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, southern Fujian, Guangdong these areas, the land can no longer support enough people, a large number of people can not find suitable employment opportunities, the slightest famine can only face the tragedy of being starved to death.

The three eastern provinces now provide millions of jobs every year, and these jobs have led to a boom in business, which has greatly stimulated the financial growth of the three eastern provinces.

Song Biao sympathized and thanked them from the bottom of his heart, sympathy because of what happened to them, and gratitude because they were working hard for themselves to amass more huge wealth.

The west open-pit coal mine is 2.2 kilometers wide on average, 7.3 kilometers long, and the estimated coal reserves are about 250 million tons.

There are 3,000 miners working in such a sub-mining area, and there are more than 60 sets of machinery and equipment imported from abroad, because the price of manpower is cheap, even horses are rarely used here, and a number of coal transportation paths have been set up in the spacious coal area, and five or six miners are responsible for pulling coal with two horses or mules, and other miners are working both sides of the path, constantly filling each person's coal basket, and carrying it on their own shoulders to the path according to the amount of accounting.

Here, the price is calculated according to the volume, and the more work you get, you may be able to earn a lot more salary, but you are overdrawing their bodies.

Most of the workers here are men, but there are also women who do some lighter manual work, and there is not much technical work, just the number of people and a small amount of machinery to determine the capacity.

A narrow coal track is being improvised at a distance from Song Biao, which will undoubtedly save a lot of manpower and labor.

Song Biao looked at everything in front of him with a cold expression, and his heart was constantly pierced by a short needle, but he decided to get used to this kind of pain.

A coal industry group of the Research Bureau of the Governor's Office came earlier than Song Biao, and was also in the West Open-pit Coal Mine, not far away to do some statistical work, and Kuang Jingyang was personally walking over to invite them over.

Song Biao put down the binoculars, looked at everything around him coldly, and asked Wu Yangzeng, who was accompanying him, "How much do workers generally earn every month?" ”

Wu Yang once said: "As long as you are down-to-earth and willing to work hard, and your body can support it, it is possible to dig out fifteen quintals of coal every day and earn twenty silver yuan a month, which is probably not lower than the salary of the new army." Under normal circumstances, you can earn about 145 or 5 yuan. Open-pit mining is relatively more profitable, and coal mining in the mine is lower because of the main mechanical input, the mining cost is high, the profit is thin, and the wages to the workers are lower. On average, a miner can mine about 30 tons of coal per month, the United States because of the high degree of mechanization, the average mining volume of each miner can reach 450 tons per year, the United Kingdom is not good now, the efforts in mechanization are very low, plus the income of miners is getting lower and lower, although coal production is increasing every year, the overall income of workers is getting lower and lower. Our level of mechanization is also low, but we mainly rely on the per capita mining volume of open-pit coal mines, and we have to calculate wages, although our wages are the lowest, compared to the income from doing other things, it is still very good. ”

Song Biao knew in his heart that the profits he earned here were very rich, so he instructed Wu Yangzeng: "You general directors and general offices must have a spectrum in their hearts, my factory can't be too bad for workers, the wages are the same as other people's factories, and other aspects should be better, eat better, live better, and care more." For example, when the weather is cold, you can buy coarse cotton clothes in batches and send them down, and customize them according to the characteristics of labor, such as using canvas. Even if it is inconvenient to wear cotton clothes when working, such as gloves and shoes, these can also be sent, and there should be better beds and bedding for accommodation at night, for example, pay for workers to apply for disability insurance in Xinhua Insurance Company, think about themselves and others, although we are not short of workers, and we are not afraid of lack of workers, but we are better to workers, and workers will be better to us. Take 10,000 steps back and say, who doesn't know that these are the factories of Song Biao, the governor of my three eastern provinces, you are not good for the workers here, and it is not good for my reputation to spread it! ”

Wu Yang hurriedly agreed: "What the Governor said is very true, I will let people handle it immediately!" ”

Song Biao instructed: "The other factories are the same, tell Rong Xingqiao, don't lose my face, the money must be earned, and the reputation cannot be lost." ”

Wu Yang bowed silently.

At this time, Kuang Jingyang brought several staff members of the Research Bureau to Song Biao, because Ouyang Xi, who was responsible for leading the team, was recommended by Ouyang Geng to study in the United States for a doctorate in economics, and had just obtained a doctorate from Yale University and was invited by the Research Bureau to return to China as an economic consultant.

No one expected to meet Song Biao here, and everyone seemed very happy.

Song Biao asked Ouyang Xi with great interest: "What are you here to investigate this time?" ”

Ouyang Xi replied: "We are inspecting Frederick in the coal industry. Taylor's piecework wage system, in addition, should also examine the labor efficiency of workers, hoping to summarize the labor skills of workers, save physical energy, enhance efficiency, and thus achieve the goal of increasing the productivity of a single person. ”

Because this new management theory is now popular in the United States, Ouyang Xi, who has just completed his doctorate in economics from Yale University, can't wait to promote this new management theory in China.

Song Biao bowed slightly, expressed support for Ouyang Xi's idea, and said: "I heard that before you returned to China, you made a special trip to Yueben to investigate the current situation of Yueben's economy. ”

Ouyang Xi sighed in surprise and sighed: "In terms of judging the economy, I am afraid that the judgment of Mr. Zheng Guiting and Mr. Rong Xingqiao is different, they both think that the economy will be more difficult in the next five years, and I doubt it." Judging from the current situation, after all, there are two colonial markets that can share the pressure, the economy has been recovering rapidly, and the scale of state-run investment and support has reached a new height. Twenty years ago, in 1885, the total economic output value was estimated to be only 500 million yuan, the agricultural output value was 75 percent, and the industrial output value was only about 130 million yuan. Today, although it suffered relatively great trauma in the Russian-Russian war, the total economic output value of the capital is still maintained at the scale of 2 billion yuan, and the industrial output value accounts for about 40 percent. According to some information that I know now, the total import and export volume of Qingdao Customs accounted for 7 percent of Shandong's total import and export volume, and the total import volume of Qingdao port last year was about 16 million taels of silver, and textiles accounted for 60 percent, and this textile accounted for 60 percent of them. Since the First Sino-Japanese War, the total annual import of domestic textiles has increased from 44.9 million silver yuan to 87.24 million silver yuan according to customs statistics, doubling in 15 years, and the share occupied by the book has surged from less than 1% to half, and there is an inflow of nearly 40 million silver yuan of silver into China's textile exports alone every year. I have read the Far East Textile Corporation's plan to compete with the textile industry, and my personal view is that in the next five years, if there is no net investment of more than 50 million silver yuan, it will be difficult to reverse the competitive gap in the textile industry. From this point of view, I suggest that the Far Eastern consortium should still focus on the coal industry, the worldwide demand for coal is still increasing rapidly, the cost of coal in the three eastern provinces is relatively low, as long as the demand for coal is appropriately increased and guided by domestic residents, as well as the expansion of exports, and constantly improve labor efficiency in a scientific way, increase the proportion of mechanization, the coal industry in the three eastern provinces is promising, and it is feasible to increase the annual output of 50 million tons of coal mines in about ten years, and there will be no impact on the international market. Sales are definitely not a problem, the coal industry is relatively easier to develop than the textile industry, and the lack of large and open pit coal deposits in this area makes it impossible to compete with us in this area. ”

Because he has not had the opportunity to talk to Song Biao formally after returning to China, he has not been able to prove his worth for a long time, and this time he met Song Biao, Ouyang Xi couldn't wait to seize the opportunity to express his views.

Song Biao can't say that what Ouyang Xi said is right or not, standing from different angles, the way of thinking about the problem must be different, and it is normal to draw different conclusions, not to mention that it is grandstanding, it is inevitable that there will be exaggeration.

At least at first glance, Song Biao felt that Ouyang Xi said it very well, and said: "That's true, the coal industry must be grasped, and the textile industry can't let go, it's difficult to choose, you try to think more comprehensively, and submit a detailed report to me in the near future." ”

Ouyang Xi secretly agreed happily and said, "Yes." ”

Wu Yangzeng naturally hoped that the Far East Consortium would strengthen its support for the coal mining industry, and he immediately persuaded Song Biao and said: "Your Excellency, we have such a good natural foundation, it would be a pity not to make good use of it. ”

Song Biao thought about it, and asked Wu Yangzeng, Ouyang Xi and others: "How many tons of coal is currently mined every year?" ”

"Last year, it was about 15 million tons, and if you add the capacity of North Korean and Taiwanese coal mines, the total coal mining volume last year was close to 20 million tons," Wu said. ”

Song Biao said: "Do you think that the future of the coal industry will develop faster and bigger, or the textile industry will develop faster and bigger?" ”

Everyone was stunned when they heard this.

Song Biao continued: "The coal industry should be developed, and the entire mining industry should also be developed, but the problem of the textile industry will become particularly urgent in the next five to ten years, so I think the current funds and policies should give priority to ensuring the development of the textile industry." What to say about the coal industry, its development generally depends on your natural resource base, and it may not matter much if it is developed in time for a year or two. Some accounts, I am afraid, do not simply look at whether it is easy to make money and whether it is easy to develop, but to look at the long-term. If the three eastern provinces want to develop, it is destined to fight with the industry and start an economic and trade war with the industry, so everything must be considered on this basis for long-term consideration! ”

Wu Yang could only sigh when he heard these words, and admired: "What the Governor said is very true, I have been taught. ”

At this time, the accompanying officials and adjutants of the military department who followed behind Song Biao also praised the "military seat" and "governor" for their cleverness, Song Biao seemed very indifferent, and didn't seem to like to listen to these flattering words, but instructed Ouyang Xi: "What you should write or write, maybe we can see some other omissions that have not been taken into account, or there are special reasons, such as taxation and the like, who is the priority is a matter to be comprehensively weighed, if there is a way to vigorously develop at the same time, it is naturally the best thing." Mr. Ouyang, do you think that's the truth? ”

Ouyang Xi cautiously agreed: "What the Governor said is true! ”

In the depths of his heart, he silently shouted: Bullshit, what are you talking about, taxes, taxes, what else can a political axe talk about without taxes, you really don't understand!

Wu Yang once continued to praise behind Song Biao, and introduced the advantages of the coal and iron industry in the three eastern provinces, as well as the development prospects of various other mining industries, although he was said to be the same as Ouyang Xi everywhere, but he didn't really take the textile industry to heart, he and Rong Xingqiao calculated the account, no matter how it was calculated, investing in coal has a higher rate of return than investing in the textile industry, and it is easy, as long as it is a man, he can be a miner.

Therefore, within the Far East consortium, it has always used its own capital and loans to invest in the mining industry, especially the coal industry, and fundamentally cooperated with enterprises outside the consortium, while the textile industry has always been based on joint ventures, selling bonds and stocks as much as possible to raise capital, and borrowing external forces to develop the textile industry.

Although you can't go against Song Biao's wishes, there are always tricks that go against the yang, even if you know that the textile industry is really important, you can make a lot of money in the future, and you have been carrying out a long-term layout, steady and steady, but this kind of thing has always been evil, first make cash and good money is the last word, when you don't make money, you will pull others to toss together, and then kick others out to do it alone.

As for whether Song Biao understands or not, Wu Yangzeng can't say clearly, anyway, Song Biao has no habit of directly managing the Far East consortium.

Making money is the last word, everyone is greedy, everyone has to wait for dividends, and wait to buy shares according to each other's performance.

Wu Yang didn't know what Song Biao really thought in his heart, and Song Biao didn't care what others thought, because he knew that he couldn't control everyone's inner world at all, so he rarely interfered in the actual operation of the various companies of the Far Eastern Group.

Shopping malls are like battlefields, even more insidious than battlefields.

Song Biao chose to stay away, his consistent policy is to say ugly things in front, no matter what others do, whoever makes a mistake will get out, and the power of life and death is in his hands, so he is calmer than anyone else, and can see it.

As for the question of whether the economy can recover quickly, Song Biao is not very concerned, after all, it is now a stage of extremely abundant labor, there are two colonial markets in Korea and Taiwan, there is such a large market space in China, there is a large number of cheap labor, as well as good talent and technical reserves, it is not difficult for the economy to re-embark on the road of high-speed development, and the difficulty lies in whether the economy can find more funds.

Song Biao really doesn't care, no matter how strong or weak he is, how strong he is, how weak he is?

In Song Biao's view, in his era, as long as he chose to confront China, the final outcome would be the same, if there was a navy, he would take turns to fight, and if there was no navy, he would build planes and blow them up.

Song Biao just stood on the clouds so coldly and looked down on various changes in the overall situation, calmly deciding his own countermeasures, as well as the glory, wealth and life and death of others, and even the glory and disgrace of other countries.

He was apathetic, because there weren't many things that could really affect his fate.

(To be continued)