But no matter what, it is better to have hardware conditions than nothing, as long as there is a suitable design plan, and then organize cadres and workers to work hard to tackle key problems, Qingdao shipyard will be able to produce our own torpedo boats sooner or later. And just when Hu Weidong put his mind on self-reliance, there was another great news from Lanzhou

"Old Ford has visited China?" After receiving the telegram, Hu Weidong was pleasantly surprised that he had wanted to send an invitation to the industrial giant when he went to the United States to purchase, but considering that he did not have such a big authority, and the war was raging in China, he still didn't say it in the end

Because the coastal areas of China were basically occupied by the Japanese army, the old Ford had to go to Germany first, and then transfer to the Soviet Union into the Northwest Frontier Region, because he had a good relationship with the Nazis and the Soviet Union (there are factors in this regard, but in the final analysis, it is because people have money), passing through both countries were forced to stay for a period of time to accept hospitality, as a result, from the time of departure, it took more than three months to come to Lanzhou, the capital of the border region, fortunately, the daily work of Ford has already been handed over to his son, Old Ford was happy to see it as a once-in-a-lifetime trip around the world. However, when he learned that Hu Weidong actually led the army to take Qingdao, the old man still regretted it, "I would have left later if I had known, although I didn't have a plane as fast as the sea route, but there was no delay, so why wouldn't it take so long"

"Although I have won some battles, I am not sure whether I can hold Qingdao. We lack qualified personnel who meet the requirements of a modern Navy. It will take time for the captured warships to become proficient in operation, not to mention that even if the training is completed, with that warship, compared with the powerful Japanese Navy, it will be completely impossible to confront head-on. Hu Weidong, who rushed to Lanzhou by plane after receiving the telegram, shrugged his shoulders and said truthfully.

"That's just as well. However, with the skills of your Red Party, I believe that there will be new miracles. Old Ford laughed.

Hu Weidong was a little surprised by this. He knew that although Ford Sr. was one of the first Western capitalists to do business with the Soviet Union, he was resolutely anti-communist politically, and he said such things. It's a bit of a surprise. Hu Weidong asked to know that the old Ford had arrived in Lanzhou the day before yesterday, and that day Taizu and Zhou Gong talked with him for several hours, and the interest of both parties was quite high

Obviously, both sides gained a lot during the talks, and for the first time, the Red Party represented by Taizu discovered that there were alternative capitalists like Old Ford in the world, and they changed some of their views on capitalists, during which Taizu also laughed and said, "If capitalists are like you." Where is there anyone who is willing to make a revolution with us? The elder Ford also noticed the obvious difference between the Red Party and the CPSU, and was keenly aware of the huge business opportunities contained in it.

Of course, there are differences of opinion between the two sides, for example, Taizu believes that relying on the old Ford as a demonstration alone proves the feasibility of the cycle of "capitalists pay high wages to employees, employees have increased spending power, capitalists sell more products, get more profits, and can issue higher wages". But it is not enough to make all the capitalists follow suit, after all, direct and brutal exploitation can lead to more profits, at least in the short term, and the capitalists are always much short-sighted, but it is only after the rise of the communist movement that the capitalists have become aware of the liliang of the working class, and they have to start making some concessions

But no matter what. Seeking common ground while reserving differences has always been the keynote of the talks in the context of the great common interests of the two sides, and the elder Ford, a wealthy man, did not disappoint the leaders of the Red Party, and his main purpose in coming to Lanzhou was to use the iron ore mines of Jingtieshan and the coal mines of Shizuishan to build a large Shijie-class steel plant in Gansu. Because of the use of advanced oxygen top blowing converter steelmaking, the molten iron directly enters the converter to make molten steel after being baked, so Lanzhou No. 2 Iron and Steel Plant has realized the one-stop production of ironmaking and steelmaking. Because of this, although the investment amount of this "Lanzhou No. 2 Iron and Steel Plant" is slightly smaller than the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Plant built in the second five years of the Soviet Union, the design production capacity is twice as high, and after completion, it can produce more than 3 million tons of crude steel per year, which is equivalent to more than 30 times the steel output of Chinese mainland (not counting the three eastern provinces occupied by the Japanese army) in 1937, and the speed of construction is much faster than that of the historical Magnitogorsk Steel Plant. It is expected to take up to five years to complete the project, and tapping is much sooner

In addition, Ford did not forget his old business, but because the development time of the northwest border area is too short, road construction has just started, even if a large number of cars are produced, there is nowhere to drive, so the old Ford had to change the original Jihua, not to engage in the car factory, but to build a bicycle factory in Lanzhou, after the completion of the annual production of more than one million bicycles, it will not be long, the vast and sparsely populated northwest region can be used by every family

The Ford Company will establish a large-scale agricultural machinery factory in Urumqi with an annual output of a large number of agricultural machinery, including more than 30,000 large tractors, which is undoubtedly a relief in Xinjiang that is suitable for the development of mechanized agriculture but lacks hardware conditions. What Hu Weidong is more concerned about is that the production line of large tractors can be completely changed to a tank production line when needed, which is of great practical significance to the mechanization and modernization of the Chinese army.

What's even more rare is that the old Ford adopts a joint venture method, and the Ford company produces machinery and equipment (the corresponding Jishu border area is basically there, but because of the weak industrial base, it is difficult to quickly expand production capacity. A joint venture with some management and Jishu talents, while the border district government is responsible for providing the site, plant, manpower, and all the resources that are currently able to provide, otherwise even with Ford's financial resources, if it wants to invest in so many large projects, I am afraid it will not be enough, right? Unless the elder Ford was ready to shift his company's focus to China, which was not the case, and his investment in Germany and the Soviet Union during his trip around the world was even greater than that of the Northwest Frontier

Hu Weidong couldn't help but be a little surprised, although Ford was strong, but because it was an industrial group, the cash flow had always been insufficient, and the relationship between old Ford and the Jewish consortium had never been good, why did he suddenly have so much money to invest in foreign countries? Fortunately, the old Ford had no intention of concealing it, and without waiting for Hu Weidong to ask questions, he took the initiative to tell the story, and Hu Weidong couldn't help but feel very glad that he had taken the risk of sending Mao Zemin to the helm of Zhongfu International......)