Until the last minute, Fan Rui still didn't believe it, after he arrived in Huainan from Shanghai, he only worked for half a month, and was actually sent to Shanghai by the company, when he knew this decision, in addition to the head of the company's personnel section, there was also an army officer, the army officer just saluted him, and then took out a document from his briefcase.

"In accordance with the National Defense Special Recruitment Act, Fan Rui, a first-class technician of Huainan Chemical Company, is hereby awarded the rank of lieutenant of the Guards Army, and the appointment is hereby effective immediately......"

He couldn't remember what happened next, he only knew that when the conscription order came into his hands, he changed from an ordinary technician to an army lieutenant, and then the car that picked him up and several other technicians who also "changed into military uniforms" went downstairs, and everyone only had half an hour to pack their luggage, and the military order was strict and everyone knew it.

Eighty days ago, after receiving that order, he came to Intertek Chemical Company in Shanghai, but he, like his colleagues, did not need to wear military uniforms, and Fan Rui had heard of Intertek Chemical Company as early as when he was studying chemical engineering, which was the first refined salt company in China and a subsidiary of an industrial company.

Western developed countries have clearly stipulated that salt with a sodium chloride content of less than 85% is not allowed to be used to feed livestock; However, many places in China still use salt with less than 50% sodium chloride content for human consumption, and as a result, Western countries ridicule the Chinese as a "soil eating people"!

With the development of domestic industry, industry and agriculture need refined salt and quite a salt industry, so such a harsh reality, as early as before the establishment of the Pudong Development Zone, the industrial company acquired a number of beach salt farms, in the industrial zone to create Tianxiang Chemical Company, to the national uprising, the company's production of refined salt quickly occupied the southern salt market.

However, it was not satisfied with the production of refined salt, and while the refined salt was continuously transported to Huainan to be processed and produced by Huaihua Company, Intertek Chemical Company also began to build an electrolytic salt chemical plant for the production of chlor-alkali products.

In order to obtain the chlor-alkali industrial technology, Intertek not only spent millions of marks to buy technology patents from Germany, but even sold 20% of the company's shares at the reserve price, but it was all worth it, and a larger, wholly Chinese-owned electrochemical plant in Tianjin has broken ground.

Although it holds German shares, Tianxiang Chemical is responsible for Chinese from plant design, capital budget, equipment selection to mechanical installation, and all mechanical components that can be manufactured in China are handed over to Shanghai Qiuxin Machinery Factory and Ma'anshan General Machinery Factory for production, but this does not prevent the company from producing caustic soda, hydrochloric acid and other products not only for the domestic market, but even for export to foreign markets.

Of course, some of these are news reports that he reads, and some of them are hearheard from other people after arriving in Huaihua, such as the "Changlu Chemical" in Tianjin, which is invested and organized by the North China banking community, China's largest chlor-alkali enterprise, and his technology patents were "stolen" from Tianxiang, as for how they were stolen, I am afraid that only the parties concerned know.

Kilometers of cast iron pipelines stretch from the seaside salt pans to the Pudong Industrial Zone, one end of the pipeline connects to the beach salt pans and the other end to the workshop of Intertek Chemical, where the seawater is further processed into other products.

"Minister Shi, now the third phase of the project has been in trial production, in January, the output was 220 tons, in February reached 600 tons, this month has exceeded 900 tons, now the workers have been able to skillfully run the equipment, in order to ensure the supply, the workers of the third phase of the factory are the best workers transferred from the factory."

Fan Rui, the technical director of the third branch of the third factory, who accompanied Shi Si to visit the production process in the factory, explained the problem of output on the side, since just after January, all the projects of Tianxiang Company must make concessions for potassium chlorate, and the potassium chlorate needed by the country.

Even the equipment of the third phase of the project, well, he and his colleagues came here to renovate the equipment here for the production of potassium chlorate, and at the same time as a technical guide for the factory, then no one will know why so many "hazardous chemicals" are produced, and all the explanations are only one "the country needs potassium chlorate", as for why it is needed, it is not what he understands.

"Fifteen hundred tons of potassium chlorate a month, this is no problem at all, and it is expected that by next month, this output can be reached!"

Speaking of this, Fan Rui suddenly looked up at the Minister of Industry of the Empire, who commented in the newspaper that he might be ranked as the founding prince, the Minister of Industry seems to be inconspicuous, but in fact, this Minister of History is in charge of the industrial planning of the whole of China, and more than 100 million yuan of investment and loans of imperial enterprises are under his control, which is almost the first fat difference in the world.

But he is not fat, but he is not fat, but looks a little thin. However, according to the newspaper, this is because he is too tired, and the minister's home is now the office of the Ministry of Industry, and this trip to Shanghai seems to be to urge the factories to speed up production.

"Minister, is it that the army needs potassium chlorate!"

Fan Rui asked suspiciously, he didn't know where the potassium chlorate produced here was used, but almost every day, he would receive a telegram urging potassium chlorate, anyone who studied chemistry knew that potassium chlorate was an explosive, but potassium chlorate was too sensitive to be used in the military.

During the national uprising, the low output of picric acid explosives of Huaihua Company seriously affected the production of military industry, artillery shells, grenades, and explosives boxes all need explosives, and the Guangfu Army, which emphasizes firepower first, needs a large number of shells and grenades. Although explosives can be imported, they are limited by customs, transportation and other restrictions, and it is impossible to meet the needs of factories and the military in a hurry.

It was under this demand that Shi Si remembered a paper on potassium chlorate explosives that he had read abroad, the power of potassium chlorate petrolatum explosives was equivalent to 60% TNT explosives, and these two items were extremely extensive, and finally it took him nearly three months to develop a new type of potassium chlorate petrolatum explosives, which increased the explosive power by adding aluminum powder, reaching 67% TNT power.

In the past, the use of picric acid or TNT explosive charge will lead to the granulation of the fragments of the casting shell due to excessive power, resulting in a decrease in power, and the power of potassium chlorate explosives can meet the needs of fragments, and the most important thing is that the cost is low, the production of one kilogram of picric acid can produce thirty kilograms of potassium chlorate explosives, and potassium chlorate explosives do not use expensive nitric acid.

Cheap explosives allow the Guards to fight a war at a lower cost, like the cost of artillery shells, which accounts for as much as 50% of the cost.

"Xudong, it costs 9.7 yuan to make a grenade shotgun, it costs 1.3 pounds to import a Krupp howitzer shotgun from Germany, that is, 12 yuan, and we produce a grenade of the same caliber for 5.485 yuan, which can produce 120 mm mortar shells, only 1.789 yuan, which means that with the same money, our firepower density on the battlefield is 10 times that of Ben! So"

Turning to look at Fan Rui, Shi Si spit out a few words seriously.

"It's the war that needs potassium chlorate!"

Walking to a wooden barrel marked with the word Tianxiang, Shi Si glanced at the 100kg marked on the barrel, and these finished products will finally be sent to Ma'anshan for mixed packaging, and then transported by rail and waterway to the "assembly houses" of the provinces that undertake military production.

"Cheap explosives are the basis for guaranteeing whether we can win this war, the war in the northeast lasted only eight days, regardless of how many mountain artillery shells and mortar shells the army consumed, explosives alone, that is, nearly 2,000 tons were consumed, if we used picric acid, this alone would cost nearly 20 million yuan, but how much potassium chlorate explosives were?"

Fan Rui, who is responsible for the production of "mixed medicines", would not know that compared with picric acid explosives that require phenol and concentrated nitric acid as raw materials, the ex-factory price of potassium chlorate is only 100 yuan per ton, which can indeed be described as good quality and low price.

"We are a poor country, and even if we break a penny into a penny to spend it, it will be difficult to support this war. You are now the largest explosives factory in China, supplying 50% of the country's explosives, in order to produce enough grenades and mortar shells, even the blacksmith shops and carpenter shops in Sichuan are producing grenades, if there is no explosives, there will not be enough grenades and mortar shells on the front line, without these two, we want to win this battle is a dream! ”

As the Minister of Industry of the Empire, Shi Si said this with some helplessness, China is using an agricultural country to support this war, the provinces of the earth iron shop cast grenade shells, handles, and then sent to the provincial capital assembly station to load explosives, detonator cables, and then packed by railway, waterway or even dry road to Hankou and other places, and then sent by railway to the north, Hunan, Jiangxi production of mortar shells produced in Hanyang, in the provincial car to add the shell, and then sent to Hanyang to load the tail, Hanyang then use the fuse made in Shanghai, explosives to complete the sequential processing.

If we look at the quality of the military industry, the pig iron grenades weighing more than 700 grams produced by the small workshops are simply defective products, but on the front line, the soldiers of the Guards must take this kind of defective grenades to fight with Yue himself, and regular arsenals such as Ma'anshan, Huainan, Hanyang, Jiangnan, Guangzhou, and Dezhou must spare their production capacity to produce mortar shells and mountain artillery shells.

"Minister, aren't you already negotiating in Nanjing?"

Fan Rui asked with some curiosity.

"No one can say clearly what is happening at the negotiating table, the East Indies have been talking for so long, and there is no result, let alone the Northeast!"

Shi Si has a good reason that this war will continue to be fought, on the surface China now has the opportunity to cease the war, but in fact, until the advantage of the armistice is obtained, His Majesty will never stop his steps, otherwise he will not supervise the production of arms again, as long as it continues to fight, explosives will definitely be needed.

(To be continued)