The next day, Long Qian took Ning Shijun to visit Zhou Fu at the governor's yamen, and Chen Chao went to the Shandong Machinery Bureau in the north of the city to visit Xu Jianyin, the general office.

Regarding the situation of Shandong Machinery Bureau and Xu Jianyin, Long Qian and the Intelligence Department did not provide much information, only that he was a native of Wuxi, Jiangsu, and that he had followed his father Xu Shou in the Anqing Ordnance Institute founded by Zeng Guofan when he was young, and later moved to the north and south, and worked in the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau and the Tianjin Machinery Bureau, and was one of the few military experts in this era. Especially in the chemical industry, probably influenced by his father Xu Shou, his attainments are particularly profound. Commissioned by Li Hongzhang, with the manufacturing process explored by his father in Jinling, he made bummy water (sulfuric acid) in Tianjin Machinery Bureau, which solved the dilemma of relying on imports. It is important to know that sulfuric acid and nitric acid are the main raw materials of modern explosives, which used to rely on imports, which was costly and troublesome, and very passive. According to their knowledge, the Xu father and son explored the manufacturing process, which can be said to be a great contribution to China, which is extremely backward in basic industry.

Xu Jianyin's greatest achievement in his life was in the Shandong Machinery Bureau. At the age of 30, at the invitation of Ding Baozhen, the governor of Shandong at that time, he founded the current Shandong Machinery Bureau. It is commendable that the establishment of the Shandong Machinery Bureau did not employ a single foreigner, all of them were Chinese. Although Xu Jianyin has only been in Shandong for more than four years to establish the Shandong Machinery Bureau, looking at his 60-year-old career, the establishment of the Shandong Machinery Bureau should be the peak of his life's achievements. Therefore, Zhou Fu recruited with the Shandong Machinery Bureau, and immediately moved Xu Jianyin in Hanyang, and came to Jinan for the second time to take care of the Shandong Machinery Bureau, which he had paid great efforts for.

Chen Chao didn't know that Xu Jianyin was invited by Zhang Zhidong to Hubei to supervise the province's camp four years ago, and almost died in Shandong. It coincided with the national disaster of Gengzi. The foreign powers banned the export of smokeless gunpowder to China, Zhang Zhidong asked Xu Jianyin to help Hanyang Arsenal develop smokeless gunpowder, Xu Jianyin presided over it with great enthusiasm, but the following year there was a major accident, the gunpowder exploded, and more than a dozen workers died at the scene, Xu Jianyin, who was leading the scene at the time, escaped a catastrophe because he went to the toilet and left the workshop, but he was still injured when he just walked to the door of the workshop, and his back was severely burned, and he will rest for several months. This summer. Xu Jianyin returned to Shandong at the invitation of Zhou Fu. Re-appointed as the general office of Shandong Machinery Bureau.

Xu Jianyin is 60 years old this year. The accident three years ago seemed to have destroyed his health and his energy had deteriorated. In the past few years, I have not been in Shandong, but I have heard that two industrial groups mainly engaged in the production of civilian products have suddenly emerged in Lunan, and their products are sold to the three towns of Wuhan. Carriages and novel women's clothing from Shandong have become the favorites of the gentry of the three towns of Wuhan.

Clothing doesn't care much. But Lu Nan's ability to produce such a beautiful sedan and carriage aroused Xu Jianyin's interest. Out of instinct. Xu Jianyin began to pay attention to Lunan's industry, and after a careful understanding, he knew that the core of Huayuan and Zhongxing was not those novelties that flattered the rich gentry. It's steel and coal. This is the foundation of heavy industry. Yanzhou has coal, Yizhou has iron, he knows the way, but in just two years, Lunan actually built a railway to connect the Grand Canal, and even made steel, made fire explosives, and even made several kinds of Western medicine! This made Xu Jianyin impressed. So he asked Zhang Zhidong to collect all the information about Lunan Industrial, and began to study the two industrial groups that suddenly appeared, and the more information he had, the more surprised he became. Due to the miraculous appearance of Huayuan and ZTE, the once proud Shandong Machinery Bureau was eclipsed. Two huge question marks lie in Xu Jianyin's mind, where will the funds come from to build an industrial group of this scale? How do they relate to Long Qian, the right-wing commander of the Sheng Shengjun who presided over the Lunan military? It seems that all this happened when the right flank of the Wasion Army entered Lunan and occupied it.

Wang Chonglie, the wife and nephew of Zhang Zhidong, who escaped from Beijing with Enming and worked at the Hanyang Arsenal, often came to visit Xu Jianyin. explained some of his doubts, mainly Long Qian's career. It was because of the meritorious rescue of the Shandong Qinwang Army led by Long Qian that he was repeatedly promoted, and his department was expanded into the right wing of the Weisheng Army directly under the Ministry of War. Wang Chonglie had seen Long Qian, after all, the tragic experience of escaping death left him too deep a memory, his parents died in the Gengzi national disaster, and then he has been sheltering his uncle, talking about the meeting with Long Qian in the western suburbs of the capital, as if it was yesterday. Wang Chonglie said to Xu Jianyin, Lunan Industry must have a direct relationship with Long Qian, although we only said a few words, but I am sure that that is an extraordinary person, definitely not a reckless and ignorant general.

Whether Long Qian is different from ordinary generals, Xu Jianyin does not care about it. He returned to Shandong again and took over the Shandong Machinery Bureau, which he had created, and found that the situation was not optimistic, although the Machinery Bureau had been established for more than 20 years, the product and scale had not developed, and it was almost still his original regulation. On the surface, the main reason for the restriction of development was the lack of funds, but in fact, the successive general offices lacked the courage and the support of the government.

Part of the backbone of the Machinery Bureau was brought by him from the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau, and the old boss re-presided over the business of the Machinery Bureau, and these people were very happy, saying that when you come back, the Machinery Bureau will have a future. Xu Jianyin didn't like to hear this, but learned from them about the development of the two major industrial groups in Lunan. That's what he's most concerned about.

These people said that the rapid development of Lunan is mainly due to the strong support of the province. It is said that the envoy of Long Zhen, who presided over the military of Lunan, had a good relationship with Zhou Futai, and the Lord of Futai even took his son Zhou Xuexi from the position of the general office of Shandong University Hall and sent him to Lunan. Now Tuesday Gongzi is the president of Huayuan Industrial. Our machine bureau is in Shandong, which is not as beautiful as when Lord Ding was Futai.

That is to say, there are two main reasons for the restriction of the development of the machine bureau, one is the incompetence of the leaders, and the other is the lack of government support.

It is a fact that the government is short of money. When Guangxu ascended the throne, the imperial court's finances were much more generous than they are now. At least there is no need to pay monthly reparations to the Great Powers for defeat. The two wars of Jiawu and Gengzi exhausted the vitality of the dynasty. Especially after the Gengzi national disaster, the already stretched finances of the imperial court have become even more difficult, and the limited funds are mainly used to train the new army, and the local industries can only be supported by the imperial court's policies, and almost no actual help. It is such as Zhang Zhidong, which is also self-funded. Support his situation in Hanyang.

Xu Jianyin believes that in order to revitalize the Machinery Bureau, it must receive strong support from Shandong Province. If the province doesn't pay for money, it will be difficult for the Machinery Bureau to do it. So Xu Jianyin submitted a special report to Zhou Fu on the revitalization of the Machinery Bureau, listing a package of plans for the Machinery Bureau, requiring the province to allocate 200,000 taels of silver per month for the purchase of equipment and recruiting training personnel, so as to expand the output of existing products. Other than that. Xu Jianyin also made a special request. That is, please ask the governor Yamen to give an order, so that the Shandong garrison, whether it is the fifth town of the Beiyang New Army or the patrol battalion, all the officers and troops on the ground in Shandong. Bullet gunpowder required. All orders are made from the Machine Bureau. It is no longer purchased from a foreign country. The Shandong garrison can be self-sufficient in ammunition, which will play a signboard for the Machinery Bureau, if half of the Beiyang New Army, which is close at hand, purchases bullets and gunpowder from the Machinery Bureau. The machine bureau will be profitable in no time.

These two requests were put forward, but Governor Zhou Fu was very embarrassed, saying that he could not help. The province will definitely not be able to allocate 2.4 million taels of silver every year. It is a good thing that the army is purchasing the products of the Machinery Bureau, but the governor's yamen cannot directly order. Not to mention that the fifth town is a new type of army directly under the central government, and there is no command in the province, even the local defense battalions also need to greet Lord Admiral Long.

Zhou Fu's attitude disappointed Xu Jianyin and felt that he was tricked by Zhou Fu. The heart said, "Why did you recall me from Hanyang with such an attitude?" Xu Jianyin mentioned Lunan Industry and believed that the province should not invest all the funds in Lunan, after all, it is a mountainous area, and the development prospects are far inferior to the plains. To develop Shandong's economy, it should lay out the three prefectures of Jinan, Qingzhou, and Laizhou, rather than Lunan. Zhou Fu replied that the construction of Lunan Industry was completely self-funded, and the province hardly invested a penny in Lunan. Since Lu Nan can raise funds by himself, why can't the Machine Bureau learn from Lu Nan?

The provincial government didn't even invest a tael of silver in Lunan? Xu Jianyin didn't believe it at all. How so? As far as I know, the capital investment of the two major industrial groups in Lunan is tens of millions of taels, how did they raise such a large amount of funds?

Zhou Fu smiled and said, this is their ability. As far as this official knows, there are roughly three sources of funds, the first is the investment of the ticket number, the Jinyuan ticket number that rose in the year of Gengzi was run by Shanxi people, and his family had an old relationship with General Long Qian, and a large amount of silver was invested in exchange for the shares of Lunan Industry; The second is the investment of foreign funds, for example, the Americans invest a lot, but do not control the shares, and are considered minority shareholders. The third is personal shareholding, and the Lunan gentry almost all regard investment in industry as a beautiful thing. Fortunately, since the establishment of the two major industrial companies, they have lived up to the trust of shareholders.

Xu Jianyin is a technical official, and he is very confident in researching and tackling technical problems, but he is really not an expert in running a business. After listening to Zhou Fu's words, he asked, Lord Futai, do you mean to ask the Machinery Bureau to sell shares in exchange for funds? No, the machine bureau must not be sold to individuals, especially foreigners!

Zhou Fu twisted his beard and smiled, Zhonghu (Xu Jianyin) brother, your heart is good, and the official is completely clear. The creation of the Machine Bureau, the elder brother is really the first credit. But this official suggests that you go to Lunan and see the situation in Lunan on the spot. Foreigners' funds are not easy to use, but if they are properly controlled, it is not a way. Lunan Jianxi Pharmaceutical Factory, if it were not for the technology of the United States, where would it be built? Nowadays, the aspirin and other Western medicines they produce are selling very well. The new explosives they produce are also from the skills of foreigners. Some truths were realized by the official after looking at Lunan's industrial construction. Now General Long Qian is leading troops to fight the floods along the Yellow River, and he really has no time, otherwise, this official must have asked him to explain to you the wonderful method of setting up an industry.

It turned out that Wang Chonglie was right, the young man who was blue-eyed because of Gengziqin and Wang Meng's Empress Dowager was really the driving force behind Lunan Industry.

On the day Chen Chao came to visit, Xu Jianyin had just returned to Jinan from Tianjin. I heard that Chen Chao, the boss of Huayuan Industry, visited him and immediately greeted him in person. Okay, I was trying to understand the operation secrets of Huayuan Industry, and my family came to the door. Xu Jianyin was very enthusiastic, had a long talk with Chen Chao, and listened to Chen Chao's detailed introduction to the development process of Huayuan, and Xu Jianyin was deeply inspired and greatly admired. Chen Chao invited him to go to Lunan for a field trip, and he immediately agreed. As for Chen Chao's proposal to join hands to develop Shandong industry to increase national strength, Xu Jianyin deeply agreed.

Only on the matter of attracting investment from foreign powers, Xu Jianyin expressed his doubts.

Chen Chao had already made up his mind before he came, since Huayuan was going to come to Jinan for development, and Long Qian had plans to plan the Shandong Machinery Bureau, then there was no need to hide it from Xu Jianyin on some issues, such as Huayuan's development history. However, the plan to cooperate with the Machinery Bureau should not be mentioned in a hurry, and it is best to wait for Xu Jianyin to realize the strength of Huayuan Company. However, seeing Xu Jianyin's attitude, he tentatively put forward a request for cooperation, saying that Lunan Industry and Shandong Machinery Bureau have their own advantages, and full cooperation should be established to avoid vicious competition.

Xu Jianyin actually agreed.

Chen Chao naturally did not go to the details of the cooperation, and it was very satisfying to be able to talk about this point for the first time. Moreover, how to cooperate, Huayuan currently has no specific plan.

After talking about the most lucrative, Chen Chao pulled out Long Qian, "Lord Xu, Long Qian, the commander of the fifth town of the Beiyang New Army and the governor of Shandong, is in Jinan. Most of the construction of Lunan Industry came from the hands of General Long. He once personally told Chen about his admiration for Master Xu. In today's world, there are very few discerning and pragmatic officials like Lord Xu. In fact, General Long Qian was extremely wary of the foreign powers, but he also knew that our country was backward in science and technology, and if he did not introduce foreign funds, especially technology, everything would depend on his own exploration, and I was afraid that it would be too late. He advocated self-reliance, supplemented by the introduction of foreign skills and funds. In particular, in the fields of iron and steel, munitions, and other fields, which have a bearing on the national economy and the people's livelihood, we must not be controlled by others. ”

"Okay, Lord Admiral has this insight, Xu is relieved. Mr. Chen, when will you draw a thread for me? Xu wanted to visit the Admiral. ”

"This one is convenient. I can get him here. Chen Chao saw Xu Jianyin's puzzled eyes, "Don't hide it from Lord Xu, Long Qian is my niece and son-in-law." ”

"It turns out that Mr. Chen is an elder of the Admiral, and he is disrespectful." Xu Jianyin suddenly realized and saw the ceremony again.

"Don't dare, Lord Xu is not only a chief, but also a senior. In the future, the revitalization of Shandong industry will rely on Lord Xu to raise some points. (To be continued......)