PS: In the previous chapter, the Shanghai brand car had a horsepower of 40 horsepower, but this data is incorrect, it should be 25 horsepower, which is 5 horsepower higher than the Model T (20 horsepower) that rolled off the assembly line in 1908.

…………

Song Zi'an inspected the production of the automobile factory, came to the assembly workshop to watch the workers assemble the engine, suspension system and other accessories, and watched his Shanghai brand car off the assembly line, his heart was full of a sense of accomplishment, the company was on the right track.

In order to increase car sales, he invited the owners of taxi companies in Shanghai to "drink coffee". When I got home, I was caught by the third sister and asked: "You have incorporated all the bosses of taxi companies in Shanghai?" Pay them back the loan? ”

"Co-optation? Barely counted, the total number of cars of more than a dozen taxi companies in Shanghai is less than 100, and their strength is limited, and it is more than enough to absorb them.

I am optimistic about the future of the taxi market, and as for the loan, I discussed it with my second brother, and he also agreed that our family's Shanghai Commercial Bank would come forward and provide a loan to the taxi company for the purchase of our car.

Now the banking industry is also bullish on the taxi market, and if this model is successful, we can roll it out across the country. ”

Song Zi'an said with a smile.

"There is a car mortgage, and the bank is not afraid of the taxi company running away, and the taxi company is not allowed to work for the car factory and the bank."

Song ML quickly figured out the thoughts of the two younger brothers, nodded and smiled.

"It's just a mutual benefit." Song Zi'an said lightly, and said with some dissatisfaction, "It's really unfair to say, our automobile company has to be self-reliant, and the Dasheng Automobile Company can easily receive an order for 500 trucks from the military!" ”

Song ML looked at his younger brother's unconvinced look and smiled: "The load of people can reach one and a half tons." The technology comes from the American company Dodge. The power adopts the engine cooperated by Meihua Electric and Yangzi Machinery Company. You have to admit that Dasheng's truck is much heavier and more powerful than your nondescript pickup. Even if Ziwen comes forward to help you fight for it, the odds are not great. ”

"Why is the pickup truck nondescript? The owners of garment factories and wineries in Shanghai like pickup trucks, which can carry people and goods, and the prices are cheap, and the vegetable sellers in the suburbs also use them to transport vegetables! ”

Song Zi'an saw that his sister belittled the pickup trucks produced by his company, and had to retort.

The Shanghai pickup truck is also a variant of the Model T, with the butt cut off and the body loaded. With a load of four or five hundred kilograms, it is suitable for both passenger and cargo use, which is very suitable for small bosses and shopkeepers in the city.

"Yo, still guarding your car factory like an old hen? There is no room for anyone to say a bad word. ”

Song ML glanced at her younger brother, she and Song Ziwen were not good at expressing their public stance on the competition between Dasheng Automobile and SAIC Motor, and compared with the famous Shanghai Automobile Company, the more powerful Dasheng Automobile Company was more inclined to cooperate with the military.

Dasheng Automobile Co., Ltd. chose to cooperate with Chrysler Automobile Company to import automobile manufacturing technology from Chrysler Automobile Company. How much is because Chrysler Motor Company made tanks and armored vehicles during World War I and has an advantage in the military industry.

Dasheng Automobile Company is also manufacturing civilian cars. After the introduction of Chrysler Motors' airflow brand car technology, it took the route of mid-to-high-end automobiles, and the prices of the cars manufactured were more than two or three thousand yuan, which were welcomed by the rich, and the sales situation was relatively flat.

There are some secrets that Song Ziwen and Song ML know, but they can't tell their younger brother Song Zi'an, but it's okay that SAIC Motor Company takes the civilian route, which just allows Song Ziwen to reduce attacks from political enemies.

"Third sister, don't look at the sales of Shanghai brand cars, which are very popular in the market, but we basically don't make money, and we are all supported by loans and premise investment."

Song Zi'an mentioned the situation of the automobile company, he complained again, and after complaining, his face was not in a hurry at all, but a little confident.

"If you are short of money, my sister's newspaper group can lend it to you." Song ML said generously.

"No, it's not necessary, the financial problem is not the main thing, the market environment restricts the development of the automobile factory, to be precise, the road problem."

Song Zi'an said this, glanced at his sister, although the third sister resigned, but the influence of the Wuhan government, no worse than the eldest brother who was the prime minister, or even stronger, if the third sister came forward, the government may be much easier to introduce policies to encourage the development of automobiles.

"When I visited the United States, major cities in the United States built expressways, and highways extended in all directions, but Shanghai's highway traffic may not be as good as that of New Tangshan, and the area from Jiangwan to Baoshan Xingang Industrial Zone is better."

Song Zi'an said.

"What do you mean-" Song ML probably understood his brother's thoughts, and Song ML thought to himself, Song Zi'an is on the right path to devote himself to the automobile industry.

Dasheng Group and the Song family set up an automobile company in Shanghai, they themselves are large local enterprises in Shanghai, and it is also because they see the huge potential of Shanghai's automobile market.

"You don't have to worry about highways, the Bank of America, China Bank, Bank of Communications and the government have already prepared, and the investment is no less than the investment in railways back then." Song ML laughed.

"Sister, it turns out that you have been prepared for a long time, so that I have to worry about cat and mouse in vain."

Song Zi'an complained, looking curious, chasing Song Meiling to inquire about the highway.

……

Kadoorie Jr. and Sassoon met for the second time and implemented an agreement to cooperate in the development of the second phase of the Jiangwan project, and the American Chinese Bank gave Sassoon a loan.

After the incident, little Kadoorie asked Sassoon if he wanted to invest in the expressway, and the Shanghai Municipal Government wanted to build the expressway, giving the expressway company many preferential policies, and the principle was that whoever invests will benefit, and have the opportunity to give priority to the development of land along the route.

Sassoon's eyes lit up, and he had no intention of investing in the expressway, but he saw the business opportunities brought by the appreciation of the surrounding land brought by the expressway project, so he did not refuse little Kadoorie.

"HSBC must have liked this project very much, didn't they also invest in the Guangdong-Hankou Railway back then?" Sassoon suggested with a smile. The goal was achieved, he was in a relaxed mood and recommended HSBC to little Kadoorie.

HSBC has a long tradition of investing in China's infrastructure, and HSBC was involved in the Qing Dynasty's railway projects. If it weren't for the birth of the American-Chinese Bank, the Guangdong-Hankou Railway would have been swallowed by HSBC.

Little Kadoorie certainly knew that HSBC was interested. Except for the American-Chinese Bank. HSBC is the largest foreign investor in China. After years of running-in, the relationship between the two families is both cooperative and struggling, and they are very familiar with each other.

In the face of Sassoon's kind proposal, little Kadoorie said lightly: "In fact, we have reached a consensus on the expressway and formed a bank consortium to jointly invest in the expressway." ”

"Then count me in, I invested 2 million yuan in fiat currency." Sassoon shrugged.

As Kadoorie Jr. said, shortly after meeting Sassoon, the U.S.-China Bank took the lead in forming a banking syndicate. More than a dozen large banks, including HSBC, Citibank, Bank of China, Bank of Communications, Siming Bank, and Zhejiang Industrial Bank, participated in the negotiations with the Ministry of Communications on the expressway plan.

In order to promote the road transportation industry and drive the development of its steel, automobile, construction and other related enterprises, the United States and China Bank and the major banks in Shanghai formed a banking group to cooperate with the government to form a highway company, including Shanghai-Nanjing, Shanghai-Hangzhou two expressways.

The Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge and the Qiantang River Bridge are also related to this. It is connected to the expressway.

At the beginning of 1930, the Wuhan government proposed a national highway construction plan. It kicked off the first large-scale construction of expressways in China's history.

Unwilling to be lonely, Song ML attended the meeting as a representative of Shanghai Women's Bank, which is also a member of the banking group and one of the shareholders of Meihua Bank, and with the support of the banking group and the government, Song Meiling is confident that she will take the initiative in this strategic project.

"Sister, what's the situation? When will the construction of the expressway in Shanghai begin? ”

As soon as Song Zi'an got home, he asked Song ML.

Automobile companies are one of the beneficiaries of the expressway plan, although they do not directly benefit from Baoshan Iron and Steel, Ma'anshan Iron and Steel, Qixin Cement, Yangzi Machinery and other raw material providers and construction machinery providers, but it is definitely an opportunity for SAIC.

Imagine, after the Shanghai-Nanjing, Shanghai-Hangzhou expressway is completed, the automobile market in East China will soar, in addition to Shanghai, as well as Wuhan and Guangzhou, also launched the expressway plan.

The more Song Zi'an thought about it, the more he felt that it was too right to invest in an automobile company.

"The big principles have been discussed a long time ago, and there are still some small issues, and it is estimated that they will have to quarrel for a few days."

Song ML yawned, and after a few days of meetings, her face was a little tired.

If there are no surprises, she will lead the expressway project, and the government, banks, and industry have recognized Song ML's role in this round of expressway planning.

"That's great news. I'll just say, the old lady is out of the horse, who dares to disagree? Song Zi'an patted his ass, and shook Song Meiling's arm a little coquettishly, with a smug look.

Song ML nodded: "Well, another round of wealth feast, who is not tempted?" The approach is similar to that of the earlier railway project, and this time the road project has involved a wider range of enterprises, many of which have developed in a few years, and even the Englishman from Sassoon actually subscribed to the bonds of the highway company in large quantities.

Foreigners are like this, and the rich people in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai are not far behind! ”

Speaking of this, Song ML smiled confidently and encouraged Song Zi'an: "Everyone is optimistic about the road transport industry and is willing to spend money to build highways." In contrast to reality, the number of domestic cars is seriously insufficient, and I don't need to say that you should understand! ”

Song Zi'an nodded, and asked again: "I heard that a large number of trucks are required to build roads, and the orders have been sent to Dasheng Automobile Company?" ”

Song ML nodded: "Otherwise, why do you think Dasheng Automobile Company focuses on truck manufacturing, in addition to the military's orders, people have been preparing for the highway project early in the morning."

The Wudou Tractor Factory in Wuhan gave up the car plan, mainly receiving orders for tractors and construction machinery. When I came from Wuhan, not to mention the steel company and the cement plant, Yangzi Machinery, Meihua Motor, Meihua Motor, and Meihua Power, which are subsidiaries of Meihua Electric, also shifted part of their production capacity to construction projects and provided all kinds of machinery and equipment.

Before you came back from the United States, Dasheng Automobile Company had already developed a heavy-duty truck using the diesel engine developed by Meihua Power, which was obviously also prepared for highway engineering. ”

"Huh? No way! I didn't hear anything about it. ”

Song Zi'an touched his head, very surprised, he thought that he was leading Dasheng Automobile Company in the field of car manufacturing. I didn't expect the other party to lay out so far. There are also a lot of unseen stories behind it.

Think about it too. The Dodge truck production line that Dasheng Automobile Company moved back from the United States to manufacture trucks is mainly used for urban road transportation, and it seems that it is really not as good as the combination of Dasheng Automobile and Meihua Power!

The eldest brother Song Ziwen and the third sister Song ML must know the inside story, but they don't tell themselves, hmph, Song Zi'an was a little unhappy in his heart, and soon understood their intentions. I don't want to be distracted, after all, my car company is still too weak compared with large machinery companies such as Dasheng Automobile, Yangzi Machinery, and Wudou Tractor.

It is still necessary to concentrate on the localization of the Model T, absorb foreign automobile manufacturing technology, and manufacture cars independently without relying on outsiders.

After Song Zi'an figured it out, he no longer envied the orders of Dasheng Automobile Company, increased investment in technology, purchased a number of machine tools, milling machines, planers and other equipment from Wuhan Yangzi Machinery Company and Guangzhou Ziqiang Machinery Company, and established a second automobile engine production line in Shanghai. The annual output is 30,000 units.

There are more and more cars in Shanghai, especially the Shanghai brand thousand-yuan cars that can be seen everywhere in the streets and alleys. The image of yellow paint and the word "rental" on the roof was accepted by the public after its launch, and Shanghai entered the taxi era.

Walking in Shanghai, I really have the feeling of walking in an American city more than ten years ago, and you can see simple and lively Model T cars everywhere.

Shanghai brand car adopts the Bauhaus design style, and the body stamped out by the domestic punch press has a smooth curved surface, which is much better than the T-type car with a square head and a square brain, and is more in line with the aesthetics of the Chinese people.

If it weren't for the low-grade Shanghai brand car, Little Kadoorie really wanted to change to a good domestic car.

Half a year has passed in the blink of an eye, Shanghai has entered the summer, the expressway project was started three months ago, tens of thousands of Chinese workers in the construction corps are building high-standard roads in Shanghai, Wuhan, Guangzhou and other places, and the Chinese are building their own country with great enthusiasm.

Even if the situation in the north was turbulent, Zhang Zuolin, the king of the Northeast, was blown up and killed Huanggutun, the young marshal came to power, and then purged the old faction of the Northeast Army, and then fought with the Soviet Union for the Eastern Railway, the good drama never stopped, which did not affect the industrial development of the south, and made achievements that amazed the world in the first five-year plan.

Entering the second five-year plan, the expressway has become the biggest highlight.

A four-lane, reinforced concrete, straight, fully enclosed highway is much higher than asphalt roads in every respect.

After returning from the inspection project, little Kadoorie met with Sassoon in Jiangwan, Sassoon's investment in the second phase of the Jiangwan project was very smooth, and after watching the horse race from the Jiangwan Racecourse, you can see that Sassoon's construction site has built a small half of the building.

Under the leadership of the Chinese Bank, in cooperation with Sincere Department Store and local construction contractors, a large commercial and residential community was built near Jiangwan Racecourse, integrating business, residential, entertainment, shopping and other elements.

Shanghai's wealthy, movie stars, and celebrities have already intended to buy property and do business in Jiangwan when they see the advertisements posted by Sassoon.

In addition to real estate advertisements, gasoline and lubricant advertisements have gradually increased, indicating that the oil market has entered an era of more fierce competition.

"The highway project from Jiangwan to the Bund is progressing much faster, unlike on the highway side, for the gas station, the United States and China Petroleum Company and the National Oil Company are almost going to fight!"

Little Kadoorie shook his head and complained.

"Oh? Kong is a kind businessman, he will quarrel with people? Sassoon asked curiously.

In recent years, Kong Xiangxi has become more and more arrogant, expanding vigorously within the national oil company, constantly squeezing out the influence of the US-China consortium on the national oil company.

This time, even the expressway, the Confucian family's Yuhua Bank should be involved, but what is unpleasant is that the Kong family is not greedy enough, and strives to compete for the surrounding interests of the expressway, and grabs the development rights of a lot of land along the route.

Not to be outdone, the U.S.-China Petroleum Company plans to build 200 gas stations in the country, with the first 50 on highways.

There are also Asia and Mobil, not to be outdone, and all sides are vigorously competing for the Chinese oil market.

As for the commercial chains that have developed in recent years, such as the Madebao fast food chain and the motel chain, which are also participating in the highway plan, it is just pediatrics.

Borrowing the power of the Song family is certainly one thing, and the imminent success of the Wuhan petrochemical industry project has given Kong Xiangxi great confidence that a group of forces dissatisfied with the US-China consortium in the United Nations are fighting with the US-China consortium for control of the national oil company.

Meihua Petroleum sold its stake to the Wuhan government one after another, and now the Wuhan government owns 50% of the shares of the national oil company, which is worthy of its name.

The fly in the ointment is that, apart from the Jianghan oil field, the National Oil Company has achieved little success in domestic oil exploration, has not discovered any new oil fields, and still has to import oil from Nanhua, and it still depends on the face of the Meihua Oil Company.

It is said that in order to obtain crude oil, Kong Xiangxi cooperated with the Soviet Union to import crude oil from the Soviet Union, and at the same time vigorously developed the distant Yumen oil field.

Of course, the US-China Bank is on the side of the US-China Petroleum Company, and Kong Xiangxi wants to fly, far away. Even the National Oil Corporation is losing out on the competition for highway gas stations, as the Chinese oil company is one of the main investors in the highway project.

Little Kadoorie briefly said a few words to Sassoon, and he sneered: "If it weren't for Song, that fat man would be nothing!" ”

"Song is a powerful woman, it's normal for you to suffer a loss when you meet her!"

Sassoon nodded and said, speaking of Song Meiling, he also admires, half of Shanghai's newspaper industry is controlled by this woman, has strong media resources, and is good at showmanship, her personal image is so good that it is a mess, this woman is really few men dare to easily compete with her.

"Well, a very difficult woman!" Little Kadoorie nodded.

Song Meiling did not interfere in the affairs of the Meihua Bank, she presided over the highway plan, favored the Kong family a little, and Little Kadoorie also admitted it.

Of course, Song ML is only biased in favor of the Kong family at most, and he can't do too much, how do Song Ziwen, Lin Yimin, Xiao Jiadaodao, and Situ Nan behind them treat the Kong family, even if Kong Fatzi takes care of the National Oil Company, there is no possibility of taking it for himself.

"In contrast, the younger brother of the Song family is interesting, and he actually came to cooperate with the US-China Bank to do car loan business, and also cooperated with the US-China Petroleum Company to engage in joint car promotion. It's a good idea to buy a car and get gasoline! ”

When it comes to Song Zi'an, little Kadoorie is full of praise.

In the past six months, car sales have exceeded 10,000 units, basically digesting the T-type car technology, and the 1,000-yuan cars launched are still in short supply. (To be continued.) )