"It seems that there is really no money in the public pocket right now."

Looking at the newspaper that had just published the news, Jiang Jiang Zuo's joy of victory in the European war was completely washed away, and was replaced by the sorrow that had been accumulated in his heart for a long time.

"What's the matter, isn't it obvious that the public has no money? It's nothing more than borrowing some money from Japan today and continuing to sell a mine tomorrow, which is no longer big news. After making two cups of hot tea, Cheng Nuo brought it over.

"No, it's not the same as before." Jiang Jiang Zuo moved from the sofa, spread out the newspaper and pointed to the article on it and said: "On the 6th of this month, the bank group of the four countries handed over 4.5 million yuan from the salt tax to the Beiyang government to maintain the ...... of government expenses."

"Are they so kind, how do I remember the last time the consular corps of the Entente countries in Tianjin asked Britain and France to jointly administer the Tianjin German and Austrian concessions, such unreasonable requests were naturally rejected by our side, but I didn't expect it to be changed this time? It was really the sun coming out in the west. Hearing the back, Cheng Nuo said curiously.

Jiang Jiang Zuo shook the newspaper in his hand and rattled: "Whew, one yard is one yard, these two things do not conflict, it is not a war between the north and the south, I am afraid that the Beiyang government will fall?" Where will they go to find this good agent when the time comes? ”

Cheng Nuo didn't answer in a hurry, but took the newspaper and looked at it himself, but he didn't expect him to find something out: "No, you look at this news, if we think about it, it seems to be very helpful for us to develop our industry." ”

Hearing this, Jiang Jiang Zuo was immediately full of interest, and quickly leaned his head over, the title said.

"The Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce Receives Sino-German Joint Venture Minerals"

Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce...... Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce. After Jiang Jiang Zuo muttered a few words in his mouth, his eyes instantly lit up: "This is a great thing for us, the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce happens to be Mr. Zhang Guogan, who is good friends with us, if we take the initiative to communicate with him this time, we don't have to worry so much about the problem of steel raw materials." ”

Speaking of which, this Jingcheng mineral is located in the foothills of the Taihang Mountains in the west, and the mineral resources where it is located are very rich, such as limestone used to make alkali, calcium carbide and special cement, and silica for refractory materials, dolomite for metallurgy, etc., and the most important thing is that Cheng Nuo is quite interested in coal resources.

At the same time, during this period, the Jinghan Railway and the Zhengtai Railway were completed and opened to traffic one after another. Due to the different times when the Jinghan and Zhengtai railways were built to Shijiazhuang, and the track gauge was also different, Shijiazhuang, as the intersection of the two railways, became one of the hubs of the modern North China railway transportation network.

It is precisely because of this special transportation location that not only makes a large number of coal and iron resources in Shanxi Province in mountainous and inconvenient transportation be transported, but also promotes the development of coal and iron mining in Shanxi Province, and also makes the local area a place that cannot be ignored in the development of steel and coal industry in China.

The so-called Jingcheng Minerals was the three major coal production and trading companies together with Zhengfeng and Baojin at that time.

Take out a pencil to circle the word "Jingcheng" on it, Cheng Nuo emphasized it: "From the geographical point of view, it takes about 7 and a half hours to take the Jinghan Road train to Beijing, 243 kilometers to Taiyuan in the west, and about 8 hours to take the Zhengtai train, and there are highways in Zhaozhou, Luancheng, Ningjin, Longping, Baixiang and other counties in the east. ”

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that the location of the place was superior, Cheng Nuo simply found a large piece of manuscript paper, drew a map on it, and introduced while drawing: "There is the Jintuo River in the north, and when the water rises in summer, you can go directly to Tianjin by boat, which can not only connect Pingjin and communicate Shanxi, but also reach as far as the Northeast and the Central Plains." ”

Looking at the map, Jiang Jiang Zuo couldn't help but say: "The barrier land of North China can choke the throat of several provinces!" ”

"Yes, that's it!" After drawing the map, Cheng Nuo directly threw the pencil in his hand: "Even if there is no railway, the coal of Jingcheng Mineral can still be transported by carts, water and even donkey carts, there are thousands of roads, and there is always one that can transport this mineral resource out." ”

After carefully weighing the pros and cons, Jiang Jiangzuo said: "Compared with the various modes of transportation, the cost of inland water transportation is the lowest, followed by railways, and other modes of transportation are too expensive and can only play an auxiliary role under special circumstances." ”

"It is also said that although the railway freight is not as low as the river transport, it has the advantages of large volume, high efficiency, fast speed, and is not affected by the season, and the economic benefits are very obvious." At this point, Cheng Nuo's words changed: "But there are some things that we can do without, but we can't do without, who knows if there will be problems with the railway one day?" ”

Jiang Jiang Zuo nodded: "That's right, it seems that it is necessary for us to take down this Jingcheng mineral." ”

Unexpectedly, here, Cheng Nuo took the initiative to veto this proposal: "How likely do you think we can give this Jingcheng mineral to the next?" At the moment, the European war has just ended, and we are not the only ones who smell the smell of fish. ”

Jiang Jiang Zuo suddenly realized, and sat back in his position: "If according to the legal provisions on the surface, the private property of the enemy country shall not be confiscated, used, or leased. Since Jingcheng Minerals is jointly organized by China and Germany, I believe that the post-war disposal will not be so simple. ”

"That's what sets us apart from the British and French Entente." Cheng Nuo raised his eyebrows, held the teacup in his hands to keep warm, and said: "As far as I know, the Beiyang government has been very tolerant of the direct liquidation and sale of the property of the enemy and overseas Chinese by Britain and France, and it is now more of a collateral for post-war compensation. ”

Jiang Jiang Zuo pondered: "Can I understand it this way, it is precisely because of the difference between us and the British and French Entente countries in the treatment of German property that their countries are dissatisfied with us. ”

Cheng Nuo took a sip of tea and said: "There is no problem with your understanding at all, during the war, because our public did not strictly clean up the enemy's property, the Entente countries were deeply dissatisfied with this, even when the European war was about to end, we had to warn the public that they did not do their best to help, if we took advantage of it a little......"

Jiang Jiangzuo instantly understood the meaning of his words, which was nothing more than pretending to step on the side of the great powers to threaten the Beiyang government and let it "properly" handle the ownership of Jingcheng minerals.

Then the two discussed in detail some details, and the greater the possibility of winning the Jingcheng minerals, the greater.

But after all, the plan is just a plan, and when it comes to the variables, Jiang Jiangzuo is worried, and then proposes: "If it is really as you said, the Jingcheng minerals belonging to Shijiazhuang are strategically located, why don't we simply establish our industrial base in the local area, wouldn't it be better?" ”

In this regard, Cheng Nuo certainly knows that the mass production, distribution and circulation of industry is based on the possession of transportation, especially railway transportation, and only railway transportation can enable the raw materials and products required by industries in various places to flow more stably and effectively in greater quantity and at a faster speed, so as to stimulate the sustainable development of industry.

But the problem is that the railway is also too vulnerable to the turbulence of the times, and its location in the Central Plains is basically unsafe.

"The confrontation between the north and the south has been fought for so long, you and I should be clear about how much negative impact it will have on this railway, and when the war will end, the vast majority of people cannot give a definite date." Cheng Nuo picked up the cup and took a sip slowly: "Even if this confrontation ends, will there still be a next civil war?" ”

Just the impact of the civil war, it is not too bad, but the problem is that in the back, especially when rushing to the Central Plains War, Jiang Guangtou directly transferred a large number of wagons for military use, not to mention that commercial transportation and passenger transportation cannot be guaranteed, and even the name of the goods in it, this initiative is not in his hands.

"This is not good, that is not appropriate, if you come to see, how should we do it, we can't just simply get this Jingcheng mineral, and then we have to say whether we can get it." Jiang Jiang Zuo said in a hurry.

"If you don't drink it again, the tea will be cold after a while." Cheng Nuo pointed to the teacup in front of the other party and said with a smile: "As the hub of Shanxi coal export, we naturally can't look at it as simple as that, but the success is also advantageous, and the defeat is also advantageous, what we have to do later is to have a local station." ”

Talking puzzled: "Stationed? What does that mean? ”

Cheng Nuo smiled: "Send some of our personnel to build a storage station in the local area, and we can usually purchase and hoard raw materials locally, and then use railways or waterways to transport resources to our other industrial bases." ”

After going around for most of the day, in the end it was just such a result, Jiang Jiang Zuo couldn't help but hesitate: "Such a big battle, but in the end there is only such a point, isn't it a bit too conservative?" ”

Cheng Nuo put the cup down and said with a wry smile: "Conservative? I don't think it's conservative at all, take the Han Yeping company that we are more familiar with as an example, aside from Xinhai / Revolution / Life, the second / Revolution / Life, during the protection / law / war, it was the time when the price of steel soared, and the company's production determined how much to profit, but why did he still lose? ”

Jiang Jiang Zuo replied tentatively: "Because they adjusted their business strategies and missed this peak period? ”

"Definitely!" Cheng Nuo shook his head again and again: "This is because of social turmoil, wars, so that their fuel supply has encountered great difficulties, although the company spans several provinces, but it is regarded as the throat of the transportation line connecting Jiangxi, Hunan and Hubei provinces, but the problem is that this place is the area with the most frequent turmoil." ”

It is no wonder that our modern iron and steel industry has not developed, as the industry leader of Han Yeping Company, every turmoil has hit Han Yeping's fuel transportation, and eventually led to the cessation of steel smelting activities.

Last year, the southern army occupied Changsha and banned the transportation of coal and coke to Hubei. Later, the southern and northern armies held each other in Yuezhou, and there were many incidents of looting merchant ships. In desperation, the company purchased Kaiping coal and coke, but due to the scarcity of vehicles when transporting troops, it could not arrive as scheduled.

Finally, the domestic situation was relatively stable, the European war was over, and steel prices plummeted, completely missing this valuable development opportunity.

If Cheng Nuo just wants to manage the one-third of an acre of land in the new machinery factory, then whether it is steel or coal, Cheng Nuo will not worry too much, and basically the local output can meet the needs.

But once Cheng Nuo wants to leverage the entire industry to develop through the new machinery factory, then the problem of raw materials is the sword of Damocles suspended above Cheng Nuo, which is an unavoidable thorny problem.

The steel industry is a fairly large material production sector, from the mining of ore to the smelting of pig iron, and then the smelting of pig iron into steel, and finally the rolling of steel into various specifications and models of steel, its production process is quite complex, and the dependence on natural resources is quite high.

Coal is one of the most important fuels in steel production, although our coal resources are abundant, but the distribution is extremely uneven, mainly located in North China, Northwest and Southwest China, and iron-making coal is also particular, coking coal is metallurgical coal or main coking coal.

But it is precisely the coking coal needed for ironmaking, we have very small reserves, only about 4% of the total, so that many coal resources cannot be used for steel production, in addition, not to mention the relatively scarce iron ore resources, all of which combine to make Cheng Nuo a headache.

"According to the data from my survey, for every 1 ton of steel we produce, the average freight volume inside and outside the factory needs to be 20 tons, including raw materials, fuel, finished products, semi-finished products, etc., transportation is also a problem." Cheng Nuo said in a deep voice.

Jiang Jiang Zuo sighed: "Except for a few rivers in the south that can be used, in the northern region with rich coal and iron resources, it is almost impossible to find this cheap mode of transportation, whether it is to build railways, roads or dig canals, this is not something we can afford." ”

Cheng Nuo took a sip of tea and made up his mind: "Iron and steel production is essentially the polymerization of coal and iron, and the most ideal state is naturally that coal and iron are gathered in one place, and there are convenient water conservancy and transportation resources transfer products, so if we want to develop iron and steel enterprises, we must follow this direction." ”

"Coal and iron gather in one place...... Jiang Zuo frowned and repeated it a few times, then suddenly thought of something, and hurriedly said: "Although this ideal state is rare in China, it is not impossible!" ”

Cheng Nuo was surprised: "What place?" ”

The corners of Jiang Jiangzuo's mouth rose: "Of course it's the Northeast, and the coal and iron resources are relatively rich." ”

Originally, Cheng Nuo thought that he had neglected some places, so that Jiang Jiang Zuo had made up for the gaps, but he didn't expect to say that it was the Northeast, and he said with a smile: "That's the land of Longxing in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but then again, the place is good at the moment, is there a place for us to intervene?" ”

Originally, Jiang Jiang Zuo regretted it a little after speaking, but when Cheng Nuo said this, he didn't know how to end it, so he had to hook his head: "Although there are rich iron ore deposits along the Yangtze River and convenient transportation, coal resources are poor, but you can't have both fish and bear's paws." ”

Knowing that the other party was also well-intentioned, Cheng Nuo suddenly said confidently: "The state of natural resources is by no means a decisive factor affecting the development of our steel industry, and with the development of our industrial industry, its negative impact is bound to be further reduced." ”

Jiang Jiang Zuo was curious: "How can you see it?" ”

Cheng Nuo said with a smile: "Because it is easier to change the layout of mineral sources than to change the layout of steelmaking and ironmaking, which is also the reason why we want to get Jingcheng minerals, and it is also the reason why we develop the shipbuilding industry!" ”

(End of chapter)