On January 18, Wang Chenhao's fleet arrived in Shanghai and stayed there for a day.

The reason is not that Wang Chenhao wants to hunt for treasure in the waters near the mouth of the Yangtze River, but that Wang Chenhao wants to meet with Wei Han and explain the future work of Shanghai Shipbuilding Industry by the way.

Wei Han was still very capable, and as soon as he took over the work of Shanghai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry, he immediately launched a thorough and detailed work arrangement, and the original six 4,500-ton dry docks of the Jiangnan Shipyard were expanded into 5,400-ton dry docks after Wei Han's improvement, so as to meet the needs of building 5,500-ton armored cruisers. Docks No. 3 and No. 4 were marked and prepared for expansion into the docks needed for large armored cruisers of the 10,000-ton class. The No. 5 and No. 6 docks have also been marked, and after the base markings are cut and expanded, they will be able to repair 20,000-ton large warships, which is enough for the logistics and maintenance of Dengyun-class battleships.

The six docks were divided into 5,000 tons, 10,000 tons, and 20,000 tons, and Wei Han had already deployed the work that Wang Chenhao was going to give him in advance, which made Wang Chenhao impressed. But soon Wang Chenhao was relieved, Wei Han was originally an expert in shipbuilding, and this kind of thing didn't need Wang Chenhao's extra reminder at all.

Wang Chenhao has always liked to bow down and do it himself, he always doesn't believe in the IQ of domestic talents in the late Qing Dynasty, and now he gradually finds that many things don't need to be done by himself, and he doesn't even need to remind his subordinates to think of and take the initiative to do it.

After Wei Han came to Shanghai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry, he can be said to be full of enthusiasm, because Wang Chenhao provided him with a broad platform for him to play and abundant funds for him to do what he dreamed of before but could not accomplish. If you have to use idioms to describe it, I'm afraid that being like a fish in water can reflect Wei Han's state at the moment.

Among the shipbuilding equipment of the former Jiangnan Shipyard, gantry cranes and hydraulic presses can continue to be used, but only for the construction and maintenance of 5,000-ton warships. Docks of more than 10,000 tons need larger gantry cranes and hydraulic presses, and the main reason why the dock is expensive is that the main money-eating equipment is the gantry crane and hydraulic press. These two are the main equipment for the construction of all-steel warships, and they cannot be played without either.

Wang Chenhao combined the development trend of the navy in the next five to ten years, considering the current high prices of gantry cranes and hydraulic presses in the world, and decided to purchase four 500-ton gantry cranes and two 2,000-ton hydraulic presses to meet the needs of building ships in the next ten years. Five to ten years later, Wang Chenhao hopes that China can produce larger gantry cranes and hydraulic presses, so that it can save five or six million taels of silver, and it will be better if it can be exported to earn foreign exchange.

Wei Han's work arrangement made Wang Chenhao extremely satisfied, in addition to Wang Chenhao's strategic vision to guide Wei Han, other aspects are more laymen than others, and there is nothing to add.

After Wang Chenhao handed over the Shanghai Shipbuilding Industry to Wei Han to take care of, he went to the public concession and met some celebrities in Shanghai there. Since Wang Chenhao took over the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau under the banner of raising funds from the private sector, he had to make a show and set up a joint venture with some celebrities in Shanghai. Of course, Shanghai Shipbuilding Industry Co., Ltd. must be Wang Chenhao's own sole proprietorship, and he just took out the army equipment manufacturing part of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau as a joint venture with others.

Participating in the investment in Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau are several big money banks in Shanghai, such as Yuanfengrun, Yishanyuan, Jinde Firm, etc., which are all one of the few big money banks in Shanghai with strong strength.

In particular, Yishanyuan, its major shareholder is Li Jingchu, the son of Li Hanzhang, the governor of Liangguang, and Wang Chenhao's dealings with him are mainly based on Li Hongzhang's face.

Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau was renamed Shanghai Arsenal, which was operated by more than a dozen Shanghai businessmen such as Yuan Fengrun, Yishanyuan, and Jinde Firm, raising 1.2 million taels, and Li Jingchu was the major shareholder, but the position of the general office was still held by Wang Chenhao, because the imperial court only allowed officials to supervise business offices, and Wang Chenhao was an official who had to serve as the general office. Of course, Wang Chenhao didn't care at all, and all the power was handed over to Li Jingchu and the board of directors to deal with, in fact, it was completely implemented under the banner of official supervision and business management.

Wang Chenhao only stayed in Shanghai for one day, and that night, Li Jingchu invited Wang Chenhao to his mansion for a banquet.

Qiao Zhiyuan is the cousin of Jin merchant Qiao Zhiyong, who followed his cousin-in-law Hu Xueyan to hoard raw silk and tea in the early years, but unexpectedly accompanied him to the bottom. At that time, Qiao Zhiyuan borrowed 800,000 taels from Yishanyuan to make a living, using the Jinde firm as collateral. Later, as Qiao Zhiyuan's cousin Qiao Zhiyong made a fortune in Shanxi, the ticket number business became bigger and bigger, and Qiao Zhiyuan got Qiao Zhiyong's help to quickly stabilize the Jinde business name and make it a bridgehead for Jinshang in Shanghai.

However, just as Qiao Zhiyuan was about to return the money to Yishanyuan, the major shareholder of Yishanyuan was replaced. After Li Jingchu became the major shareholder, he did not recognize the agreement between Qiao Zhiyuan and the previous shareholder, refused Qiao Zhiyuan to repay the money, and asked Qiao Zhiyuan to hand over the Jinde firm as soon as possible. This is obviously the most naked power to take by force, but how dare Qiao Zhiyuan confront the rich second-generation Li Jingchu, and it is useless to pull the relationship in many ways, and when he is about to watch the ancestral property being taken away, Qiao Zhiyuan suddenly found that Wang Chenhao seems to have a sense of justice, and his arrival in Shanghai makes Qiao Zhiyuan feel that he still has a glimmer of life.

When Qiao Zhiyuan met with Wang Chenhao, he did not directly explain his original intention, but first took Wang Chenhao's good impression of him.

"The grass people know that the adults have a salvage team and unearthed a large number of antiques, but as far as the grass people know, the price of these antiques sold by the adults to the Tianjin Antiques Chamber of Commerce is too low.

Wang Chenhao looked at Qiao Zhiyuan in surprise, secretly asking him to know a lot, it seemed that his salvage team had attracted the attention of the outside world.

Qiao Zhiyuan explained with a smile: "Adults may not know that the number of antiques that come out of your hands is large and valuable, and it is impossible not to be noticed. ”

Wang Chenhao nodded, and then said, "I won't tell you, I don't know how to do this." It is inevitable that the expiration date of those annihilated merchants will be completed. ”

Qiao Zhiyuan said: "If the adults don't dislike it, the grass people know some masters in antique appraisal, as far as the Han, Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties, as far as the Ming and Qing dynasties, and even foreign antiques know a lot." ”

Of course, Wang Chenhao was unwilling to be deceived and squeezed by the group of antique dealers in Tianjin, so he was overjoyed and said: "If Mr. Qiao knows an expert in this field, but can recommend it, I will be a guest." It's just that I'm leaving Shanghai tomorrow morning, I don't know where the person Mr. Qiao is talking about? I sent someone to invite me. ”

Qiao Zhiyuan said: "It seems that the adults are in a hurry, so the adults will leave it to the grass people to handle it, and tomorrow the grass people will definitely send the people to the adults' boats in the morning." ”

Wang Chenhao said happily: "I won't tell you, I am going to find more treasures along the way this time, and I really need some experts in this area to be firm." If Mr. Qiao can do it, I will be grateful. ”

Qiao Zhiyuan saw that the time had come, so he said: "Actually, the grass people also have something to ask for help from adults!" ”

Wang Chenhao didn't think about it, and immediately replied: "Mr. Qiao, but it doesn't matter, as long as I can help, I will do my best." ”