It goes without saying how important steel is. If you look at the steel production of major industrial countries, especially the steel production before and after World War II, you will know what steel means to a country.
To put it bluntly, before the third industrial revolution, steel was really the keystone, and the output of steel, coal and oil determined everything.
Of course, in this era, the understanding of the importance of steel was not so profound. After all, in this era, even more bronze was used to make artillery, and most of the artillery was made of copper.
Even most battleships are still made of wood, and the more advanced ones are only covered with iron sheets.
In addition to these, the amount of steel needed for infrastructure construction is not as much as that of later generations. After all, there are not so many skyscrapers in this era, and not much steel is needed. The big consumer of steel is to build railways, and rails consume a lot of steel.
In fact, Li Xiao is planning to build this iron plant. On the one hand, the steel industry will be a key project for the next hundred years and is of great significance to the country. On the other hand, Alexander II is planning to build several railways, which require a large amount of steel.
.It is better to invest in advance to seize this opportunity.
It's just that he didn't expect Muravyov to be very interested in investing in a steel plant. Before Li Xiao finished speaking, he asked excitedly: "Build a steel plant! This is great. I have long thought that we should make steel in a big way."
, whether it is building guns or cannons or ships, a large amount of steel will be needed in the future, and a new steel plant should have been built long ago!"
Before Li Xiao could speak, he asked again: "How big of a steel plant do you plan to build?"
Li Xiao was stunned by him, but since Muravyov was so interested, it would be better. He replied happily: "We are going to build a steel plant with an annual output of 10,000 tons of iron. This steel plant
Steel will be produced using my latest invention of the converter steelmaking method..."
If he had traveled back in time, Li Xiao would never have been so shameless and would never have claimed to have invented the converter steelmaking method. But who allowed him to travel through time?
He had no psychological pressure to pirate this low-tech technology. As early as 1852, he began to study this technology, and it took nearly two years of experiments to achieve success, which was a little earlier than Bessemer.
leave.
It would be too early to apply for a patent one day earlier. Anyway, Li Xiao has no psychological pressure and is actively promoting this new technology throughout Europe in exchange for patent fees.
Of course, Bessemer's converter steelmaking method actually has very high requirements for ores. If the ore has a relatively high phosphorus and sulfur content, it will not be used at all.
Fortunately, there are still abundant reserves of high-quality low-phosphorus iron ore in this era. There is still a market for Bessemer's acid converter, and it is not difficult to promote it.
However, the steel plant that Li Xiao wanted to invest in actually did not use the pure Bessemer process, but the Bessemer converter steelmaking process that was improved later. Instead, it was later improved by Massit with the addition of specularite.
Improved converter technology.
You ask Li Xiao why he doesn’t promote the improved technology in one step. That’s not simple. The patent of the Bessemer process can be sold for a profit, and then the improved technology can be sold for a profit. If you solve the problem in one step, it’s not self-defeating.
Road!...
Li Xiao can't get along with anyone, but he can't get along with money. After all, the old imperialist bastards in Western Europe in later generations have done much more than this unscrupulous thing by relying on their skills. Anyway, Li Xiao doesn't have any psychological burden at all when he cheats them.
"Ten thousand tons of steel!" Muravyov gasped, shocked by Li Xiao's courage.
Please note that this is definitely not an irony. Perhaps in later generations, steel plants with an annual output of 10,000 tons of steel would be considered backward production and must be eliminated immediately. But in this era, an annual output of 10,000 tons of crude steel would be extraordinary.
It is definitely a leading company.
Muravyov asked again: "With so much steel, can it be used up?"
"The railway consumes a large part, and the new shipbuilding plans of the Baltic Fleet and Black Sea Fleet also require a large amount of steel. Sales are not a problem! I even judge that we will have to import a large amount of steel in the next few years to meet the demand!"
This is thanks to Grand Duke Constantine, who finally replaced Menshikov as the new Minister of the Navy. He just came to power and launched an ambitious naval revitalization plan, preparing to build four ships in the next five years.
New steam-powered battleships and more than eight new frigates.
According to his requirements, these new warships will not only use steam power, but also use steel keels, and even part of the hull will be laid with iron sheets.
As a result, a large amount of steel will inevitably be purchased, and for the time being, Britain has rejected Russia's request to purchase steel. Except for France, which can meet part of the demand for this part of steel, it has to find its own way for the rest.
Although the relationship between Li Xiao and Grand Duke Constantine was very tense, because of the existence of Nikolay Milyutin, getting this order was not a big problem. The real problem was that it was difficult to get the order from the other side of the railway.
After all, Alexander II was eyeing the new railway project, and he didn't like Li Xiao at all, so there was a high chance that he would set up obstacles.
However, Li Xiao is not completely helpless. He plans to recruit Duke Alexander Gorchakov or Duke Ordorf to join the group, and even considers gifting shares to these two. As long as these two are willing to endorse, even Alexander II
Opposing Li Xiao can also take a big bite out of the railway.
"In that case, if you let me invest, I will be taking advantage of it," Muravyov is also a real person. He said very honestly: "Well, if there are really no shares left, then I will not invest. But you
If you are short of money, I can personally lend you 50,000 rubles without any interest. You can just pay it back to me when you have enough money. This will be regarded as my contribution to the country's steel industry!"
Muravyov is authentic. Li Xiao naturally has to be honest. He certainly can't really do this. After some explanation, he just gave Muravyov 5% of the shares.
In this way, everyone was happy. Not only did everyone get closer, but they also found the goal of the next stage of struggle. After a heated discussion, the meeting ended and went home. When Li Xiao said goodbye to Leonid,
This friend, who was sometimes very stubborn and awkward, suddenly said to him:
"Andrei, I know that we had differences of opinion on many issues when we were in Wallachia, and sometimes there were even frictions and conflicts, but I always think that these will not damage the friendship between us...
"
Li Xiao was confused by him and didn't understand what he meant by suddenly raising this topic. He was about to say that he could understand, but Leonid stopped him and said firmly...