"At that time, the Chinese workers were in hardship and turmoil, and the sun was in turmoil, that is, sometimes it made rapid progress, like the prosperity of the European war era, and then it was only a flash in the pan." Zhu Zhiyao turned around and touched the machine behind him again, his face full of vicissitudes: "Zhiyuan, I am more heartbroken than anyone else when my fifteen years of hard work are burned." ”

"Then Zhu Lao should cheer up, especially for a factory that can independently manufacture machinery for the new machinery factory, which is the basic industry of various industries, and the people's power is provincial, so that the country can be rich and strong." Cheng Nuo came to Zhu Zhiyao and said firmly: "If we give up the pursuit of innovation at this time, the industrial foundation that we have worked hard to develop, and the spirit of tenacity and hard work for decades is equivalent to a waste!" ”

"Enough, do I want to give up? Am I willing to let half of my life's hard work be in vain? Haven't I thought of a way? In an instant, Zhu Zhiyao, who was originally covered with the color of twilight, was completely angry, like a mad lion, his eyes widened with anger.

The above words almost exerted all his strength, and every time he said a word, he had to take a step closer to Cheng Nuo, and when he reached the last syllable, he was even more hoarse.

"I'm trapped here today, I'm dead this day, it's not a crime of war, young man, I'm still too young after all, cough ...... Ahem. ”

The sudden moment made Jiang Zuo next to him also stunned: "Old Zhu, we really want to come over to help you, your body is important, don't be excited." ”

Zhu Zhiyao shook his head, sighed, and turned around to turn off the roaring oil press behind him.

"Han Yeping stopped because the economy had no success, sought innovation and returned to the legal person to operate because of business failure, Xingfarong fell into the hands of the Japanese and reorganized and eliminated, and Gongxing also failed and rented to the Japanese."

Picking up the rag on the iron shelf, Zhu Zhiyao prepared to wipe the dust on the machine.

Seeing this, Cheng Nuo hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed the rag and persuaded: "Old Zhu, you sit over there and rest, we young people will do this work." ”

Zhu Zhiyao originally wanted to be humble, but seeing that Cheng Nuo was sincere, he nodded: "If you are okay at night, come to my house and sit down, someone just sent me two Wuchang fish, I am old, my appetite is small, and I can't eat it alone." ”

Cheng Nuo wet the rag in his hand and said politely: "Don't be so troublesome, let's just come over and take a look, and then go to the house to disturb Zhu Lao, it's really a shame not to go, besides, the family has prepared food for the two of us, don't go home to eat the night market waste." ”

As he spoke, Cheng Nuo also glanced at Jiang Jiang Zuo on the side, for fear that he would tell him through.

"Huh? Oh, Zhiyuan is right, the two of us have a lot of food, and if we don't go back to eat the cooked meal, it will be wasted. Jiang Jiang Zuo was stunned for a moment, and after meeting his eyes, he instantly understood, and hurriedly cooperated.

"In this case, then you can go back with my family and take the fish away." Zhu Zhiyao's face was slightly disappointed, but he didn't delay too long on this topic: "Having said that, it's not that I want to give up seeking innovation, but that the public family has given up seeking innovation, which is very important." ”

Compared with Yu Qiaqing, whom Cheng Nuo had contact with before, Zhu Zhiyao was briefly involved in politics, but the focus of his activities has always been on the industrial and commercial fields. The capital of the Qiuxin Machinery Factory, which he operated as a sole proprietorship, increased from 48,000 taels in 1904 to more than 300,000 taels in 1910, and developed rapidly.

However, as mentioned before, most of the funds used by Zhu Zhiyao for enterprises are borrowed from real estate and corporate shares, mortgages from Crédit Agricole CIB and churches, and he bears a heavy annual interest burden.

In order to postpone the repayment of the debt, the repayment period of the Crédit Agricole CIB loan was extended by four years, that is, at the end of 1917, with a guarantee from the Ministry of Finance of the Beiyang government. With this fund, Zhu Zhiyao's development has reached a new level.

Although Jiangnan Shipyard has undertaken four 10,000-ton giant ships, it has an official background and can be called the only enterprise with high-end manufacturing capacity in China. Although the Qiuxin Machinery Factory was weaker, it undertook several 3,000-ton cargo ships, which was the largest tonnage ship manufactured by the China National Machinery Factory at that time.

When World War I broke out, steel prices soared, and raw materials were not available for a while. In order to deliver the goods as agreed, Zhu Zhiyao did not hesitate to purchase steel plates from Hanyeping Company at a high price, and then handed them over to Jiangnan Shipbuilding Institute for restructuring because the specifications did not meet the specifications, and the cost was more than twice the original import price.

Although it was able to be delivered on time, it lost 500,000 taels of silver.

It was in this context that Zhu Zhiyao began to arrange for the development of iron and steel refining in the new machinery factory, but unfortunately the technology was not up to par, and the iron-making furnace burst again and again, and kept losing money, causing Zhu Zhiyao's debts to rise higher and higher, and he fell into a desperate situation.

By the end of this year's debts, Zhu Zhiyao was unable to repay the debts at all, and the Beiyang government refused to continue to provide guarantees, and even asked the new machinery factory to sell to repay the debts.

Although in essence, the new machinery factory has not been completely taken over, but Zhu Zhiyao knows that it has already been completed, and even the state does not support the national industry, so how can there be any chance of turning over, and now he still insists on being in the factory, which is just a little thought in his heart.

"There is neither state support nor tariff protection, but all the factories with a small scale in China have ended up with the fate of being acquired. After talking about the past and present life of the new machinery factory, Zhu Zhiyao's body began to grow a twilight color again.

Jiang Jiang Zuo also felt deeply: "If the European war is really as Cheng Nuo judged, it will not be long before it will end, then it is estimated that many of the machinery that countries expanded their production during the war to manufacture military equipment will have to be transferred back to the method of people's livelihood, and it just so happens that China is the largest population market."

As a dumping ground for commodities, all kinds of industrial products may flock to our country for sale, and it will be an unprecedented crisis for our national industry! ”

"If you look at it from a macro point of view, when strategic industries are in the embryonic stage, it is very necessary for the state to establish a protective mechanism for them, especially to avoid the strangulation of mature products from developed countries." Cheng Nuo changed the rag and said with emotion: "It's a pity that our first defensive barrier, the tariff, has been lost. ”

Feeling that the time window is getting smaller and smaller, Cheng Nuo also feels an unprecedented sense of urgency in his heart, and he really wants to extend it indefinitely.

In terms of country-to-country differences, although Japan also signed unequal treaties with the great powers, the great powers on our side had too many privileges in China, and it was difficult for our national industry to have a good environment for development, that is, to take advantage of the market environment similar to that of Japan during the First World War, which was pitiful and pathetic.

"No, I can't manage so much, we must not let the new machinery factory be sold, otherwise it will not only be a blow to the domestic national industry, but also for the development of the Academy of Sciences, the goal is getting bigger and bigger.

After Cheng Nuo secretly finished thinking in his heart, he washed the rag and put it aside and said in a deep voice: "At present, it has not yet reached the final delivery step of the new machine factory, which proves that the matter is not completely over, and there is still a trace of vitality, and we must not give up lightly." ”

Although Zhu Zhiyao was almost desperate at this time, after a short period of contact, he also had a good impression of Cheng Nuo, a young man.

In order not to discourage the vitality of young people, and for the faint light in his heart, Zhu Zhiyao encouraged: "Let's talk about it, anyway, the factory is like this now, no matter how bad it is, how bad it can be, if it is really feasible, then do as you say." ”

Feeling the kindness in Zhu Zhiyao's eyes, Cheng Nuo was very grateful: "Lifu should know that I still have some understanding of the domestic cotton textile industry, and I have a good friend with Zhang Jian and Zhang Lao of Dasheng Yarn Factory. ”

Jiang Jiang Zuo replied: "Yes, there is such a thing, this time you came back from Europe, Zhang Lao always wanted you to come over as a guest, and urged him several times, saying that if you don't come again, he will come by himself." ”

"That's unacceptable, I'm done with this, oh no, I'll see him in a few days." Cheng Nuo smiled, and continued: "Speaking of the cotton textile industry I am familiar with, the European war brought prosperity to China's cotton textile industry, but the interruption of the export of machinery to China by the great powers during the war caused China's cotton textile enterprises to encounter substantial difficulties.

For example, Rong Zongjing and Rong Desheng brothers want to expand the scale of production, but there is no place to buy machinery, Mr. Mu Rongchu may be a little luckier, can go to the United States to order, but the machine can not arrive, missing a great opportunity for development. ”

Zhu Zhiyao was deeply touched by this: "Why shouldn't I? We know that this is a huge opportunity for development, but we can't seem to do anything, and it is a painful feeling to see the opportunity pass through our hands like sand. ”

Cheng Nuo sighed, then cleaned up his mood, and an inexplicable smile appeared on his face: "Zhu Lao, you said that the development of the cotton textile industry has fallen into a bottleneck, and our machinery manufacturing industry is struggling, can there be a linkage between the two?" ”

"Linkage, it seems...... Somewhat...... It seems to be ......" Zhu Zhiyao was moved, but also a little hesitant.

Jiang Jiang Zuo's brain was more active, and through Cheng Nuo's click just now, he directly replied: "Cotton and iron cooperation!" ”

But as soon as the words came out, he immediately began to doubt himself again, and said with some uncertainty: "It should be possible to cooperate, right?" ”

"Of course, we can cooperate, and the prospects after cooperation are even broader." Without waiting for Cheng Nuo to answer, Zhu Zhiyao replied: "Not only that, but it can also play the effect that one plus one is greater than two, cooperate with each other and rely on each other, am I right, Professor Cheng Da?" ”

"Old Zhu, don't be like this, just call me Zhiyuan." Cheng Nuo hurriedly humbled and said with a smile: "Do it yourself, have enough food and clothing." Since the public can't count on it, let's unite and keep warm. ”

Recently, there has been a little time, so let's make up for what I owe

(End of chapter)