It’s October in the golden autumn, and it’s been more than half a year since the economic crisis broke out.
The consequences of the economic crisis have caught everyone off guard.
Prince Su Shu was appointed by Emperor Su He to conduct research in areas of the empire that were deeply affected by the economic crisis.
The imperial court needed to understand the true status quo of the empire, not the peace that various places glossed over in their reports.
Prince Su Shu took a nap for a while. He felt the huge vibrations of the train and finally woke up.
Zhao Shiheng, the minister of the Ministry of Industry who was accompanying him, said respectfully: "Your Highness, we have arrived at Anshan Prefecture in Liaodong Province.
Anshan Magistrate Yu Kejing and Anshan Iron and Steel General Manager Zhao Dayong are already waiting for His Royal Highness at the Anshan Railway Station."
Prince Su Shu stood up and straightened his clothes.
As he walked, he said: "Anshan Iron and Steel is one of the largest steel plants in the empire.
Anshan's iron ore is of high grade, and there are also high-quality coal mines locally.
There are large coal mines in Benxi Prefecture and Fuxin Prefecture, not far from Anshan.
The Northeast region is the most important heavy industrial base of the empire.
The problems that broke out here are extremely typical.
My father and Prime Minister Lin Wenjing are still waiting for the results of our investigation."
Prince Su Shu once again reiterated the importance of the investigation in Anshan Iron and Steel Company to the accompanying personnel, telling them that they must take this matter seriously.
When the accompanying personnel heard Prince Su Shu emphatically explaining this issue, their expressions became more serious.
Anshan prefect Yu Kejing and Anshan Iron and Steel General Manager Zhao Dayong saw Prince Su Shu and his entourage stepping off the train.
They immediately led officials from Anshan Prefecture and Anshan Iron and Steel Group to come forward to pay tribute.
Yu Kejing, the prefect of Anshan, learned the news yesterday and he felt very uneasy.
If Prince Su Shu finds out some problems in Anshan Mansion, his career will end.
Until he learned further news, Prince Su Shu came to inspect Anshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd.
Yu Kejing, the prefect of Anshan, relaxed a little. He was not the one who should be nervous.
However, he also summoned officials at all levels in Anshan Prefecture overnight and asked them to strictly control the situation and not to cause any trouble for Prince Su Shu.
After Prince Su Shu waited for the officials to salute, he directly ordered: "No need to hold a reception, go directly to the Anshan Iron and Steel Factory.
I came here this time to understand the problem and solve it."
The group of people took a vehicle and headed to the Anshan Iron and Steel Factory.
Prince Su Shu was far away from the Anshan Iron and Steel Factory when he saw dozens of columns of black smoke floating into the sky one after another, forming a large black cloud.
Shuntianfu has moved all its heavy industries to surrounding areas.
Prince Su Shu had not seen this kind of scene for a long time except when he was a child.
Some scholars now point out that the black clouds emitted by steel plants may cause harm to people around them.
But this spectacular sight is indeed a symbol of industrial strength.
Prince Su Shu knows that everything has a good side and a bad side.
The contribution of the steel plant to the empire far outweighs the damage caused by the black smoke, so the steel plant is worthy of vigorous development.
Prince Su Shu asked Anshan Iron and Steel General Manager Zhao Dayong: "I saw the report that eleven furnaces of Anshan Iron and Steel's steel-making furnaces have been shut down.
I remember correctly, the steel-making furnaces in steel plants cannot be shut down easily.
Cleaning the remaining molten iron after cooling in the steel-making furnace is a very troublesome process and may also cause complete damage to the steel-making furnace."
Anshan Iron and Steel General Manager Zhao Dayong said helplessly: "Your Highness, if we do this, we will have no choice.
Anshan Iron and Steel's steel accounts for about 10% of the market.
The procurement quantity of government-owned companies remains about the same.
This is mainly because the imperial court built the Hamo Railway, and our alloy steel from Anshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. is cold-resistant and corrosion-resistant.
Obtained a contract for the procurement of rails for Hamer Railway.
If it were not for the huge number of rails purchased under this contract, Anshan Iron and Steel would not be able to maintain its current scale and would definitely have to lay off employees.
Regardless of whether they are government-run or private, shipyards, steel bars, and major machinery factories are not performing well.
This is a major steel purchaser, and their purchase volume has been almost halved.
Without enough orders, Anshan Iron and Steel can only shut down its steel-making furnaces, otherwise it will be a waste.
If the steel produced cannot be sold, it will slowly rust away in the warehouse, which is a waste of the empire's assets."
Prince Su Shu also expected this situation.
The essence of economic crisis is overproduction.
There are too many factories, and there is not enough market for the products produced, which leads to an economic crisis.
As the crisis spreads, all companies in the entire industrial chain will be affected.
Steel plants are companies in the upper reaches, and they have been more seriously affected.
The car quickly entered the Anshan Iron and Steel factory.
Anshan Iron and Steel General Manager Zhao Dayong led Prince Su Shu and others to visit Anshan Iron and Steel's major factories.
They stood outside the heavy iron door and looked at the situation inside the steelmaking plant through the small glass window.
Zhao Dayong, general manager of Anshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. said: "The Anshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. factory has completed the electrification transformation, and a large number of motors and control switches have been involved in every aspect of steelmaking.
Previously, workers needed to use a winch to move the steelmaking furnace.
Now you only need to press a button, and the electric motor can drive the steelmaking furnace to move.
The electric motor is more stable and precise.”
Prince Su Shu saw that not only workers were busy in the steelmaking workshop, but there were also technicians holding record books and recording information.
He was very satisfied with Angang's performance and praised: "Based on the present and facing the future.
Anshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. will not stop its technological exploration even if it is more difficult now.
Private steel plants have no technology accumulation at all.
They can only smelt steel and pig iron of unstable quality.
The reason why Anshan Iron and Steel Group Co., Ltd. has maintained a certain market share despite the economic crisis is because it has unique alloy steel."
When Zhao Dayong heard the praise from the prince uncle, he said excitedly: "Your Royal Highness, technological foundation is the belief inherited by Anshan Iron and Steel Company, and Anshan Iron and Steel people will definitely continue to adhere to it.
Current alloy steel technology, unlike chemistry, can rely on reaction formulas to guide production.
The cold-resistant alloy steel we developed is just a batch of steel mixed with some impurities.
Other steel mills occasionally find that they have made a good batch of steel, but they cannot recover.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! We at Angang Steelmaking have detailed records and can restore them.
It can also form experience and allow technicians to explore the smelting of similar types of alloy steel."
Prince Su Shu was very satisfied with Anshan Iron and Steel's approach, so he set up his first stop in Anshan Iron and Steel.
That's because Anshan Iron and Steel is typical enough. Promoting the spirit of Anshan Iron and Steel can help confused companies find the way forward.
The economic crisis is also a process of waves washing away the sand.
The companies that can survive the economic crisis are the only ones that are outstanding.
Prince Su Shu continued to visit the steel forging workshop.
The 5,000-ton hydraulic press in the factory squeezes the hard steel blocks like dough.
Steel blocks are extruded into strips of steel and, after multiple processes, become universal rails.
Prince Su Shu looked at the rails that had just left the factory and had a metallic luster on the surface.
He lamented: "Nowadays, the process of making railway tracks is so complicated."
Zhao Shiheng, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, introduced: "Your Highness, the rails before the empire were just ordinary steel.
The hardness of rails is higher than that of train wheels.
Train wheels are relatively easy to replace and can be replaced quickly after wear and tear.
Once the rails are worn out, if you want to replace them with new rails, the railway must be out of service, and replacement is extremely troublesome.
Train technology was upgrading so rapidly that the early rail tracks of the empire were already overwhelmed.
The Ministry of Industry is investigating and some overburdened railways need to be re-laid.
The technical standards for this new rail track are very high.
The technological development of railways and trains has almost reached its peak.
The current railway construction requirements must be able to last at least fifty years."
Prince Su Shu did not understand such details clearly enough.
He heard what Zhao Shiheng, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, said, and agreed: "This is the attitude of the Ministry of Industry.
These are century-old projects that require high standards and strict requirements.
We will never allow shoddy work and shoddy projects."
Prince Su Shu quickly finished visiting the factory and refused Zhao Dayong's request to host a banquet.
He took his entourage directly to the Anshan Iron and Steel Workers Canteen.
Prince Su Shu saw that the food in the factory was very rich.
The staple foods include rice and various kinds of steamed buns. Steamed buns made from wheat flour are the most expensive, while steamed buns made from mixed noodles are the cheapest.
The dishes are very rich, the cheapest stewed cabbage only costs three pennies, and there is meat in every dish.
A bowl of braised pork only costs fifteen cents.
Zhao Dayong saw Prince Su Shu ordering several dishes.
He immediately stepped forward and walked to the dining table with a plate of food.
Zhao Dayong and others accompanied the prince Su Shu and had a big pot of rice together.
He introduced on the side: "The factory's ingredients are all purchased from farms, and we can get preferential purchase prices.
Especially in recent times, crops have not been sold at high prices.
If the imperial court had not set a unified minimum purchase price, the farm would have been extremely difficult.
The factory gives monthly meal subsidies to workers, and everyone has different habits and tastes, so they can choose what kind of meals they eat."
Prince Su Shu tastes the big pot rice from Anshan Iron and Steel Factory.
He ate with gusto and praised the chef in the cafeteria for his excellent skills.
Prince Su Shu is not a person who has endured hardships.
He served in the Royal Navy when he was young, and traveled around the world in the early days when various equipment was immature.
In order to avoid scurvy, he ate unpalatable raw bean sprouts mixed with vinegar on the ship.
I drank water that was already covered with algae and had a strange smell when I re-boiled it.
The food in Anshan Iron and Steel Canteen already tastes better than that in many private restaurants.
Prince Su Shu finished visiting Anshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd., which is the company least affected by the economic crisis in Northeast China.
But he also discovered problems at Anshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd.
The most important problem is that there are too many people to do the work, and the workers at the bottom are very motivated.
They just work to support their families, and everyone does their own skilled work.
The middle management of Anshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. are just a group of people who want to get by.
These people earn high wages, but they read and read newspapers every day and do nothing practical.
These people regard Anshan Iron and Steel Company as a springboard, and they plan to use this springboard to enter the officialdom.
Prince Su Shu walked out of Angang with a displeased look on his face. He had already made up his mind to deal with these people.
He is not prepared to touch the workers at the grassroots level.
If we really want to kill the people who do the work, Anshan Iron and Steel will be paralyzed.
But for these middle-level people, nothing will happen to them no matter what they do.
Prince Su Shu took charge of the work and arrested all the officials in the area, leaving only a few officials.
As long as there is a person who can call the shots and direct these officials to do their work, the local area will soon return to normal.
The lesson Prince Su Shu learned from this is not to take down all the managers.
Even if you take down most of the managers, as long as you don't move the people who are actually doing the work, it won't have much impact.
Anshan Iron and Steel General Manager Zhao Dayong was extremely worried.
He was not happy to see Prince Su Shu leave Shi.
Prince Su Shu had always been smiling, but when he left, his face suddenly turned bad.
Zhao Dayong couldn't understand, what did Prince Su Shu see?
…
Yu Kejing, the prefect of Anshan, asked respectfully: "Where does His Royal Highness want to go to Anshan Prefecture? I can lead the way."
Prince Su Shu waved his hands and said: "Don't go anywhere, just take a stroll in this industrial zone.
I am very satisfied with the situation of Anshan Iron and Steel, but the Great Depression caused by the economic crisis did not happen.
I want to take a look at the depressed industry in the Northeast. What does it look like?
Once we see how serious the problem is, we can find ways to solve it."
When Yu Kejing, the prefect of Anshan, heard what Prince Su Shu said, the smile on his face became even brighter.
It's great that Prince Su Shu doesn't run around and just strolls around the industrial area.
There is some chaos in the industrial zone now, but the reason is that the factory has been hit by the economic crisis, not because of poor governance by the prefect.
Prince Su Shu also anticipated the situation in the industrial zone, and he did not need to take the blame for most of the problems discovered.
Prince Su Shu and his party, under the protection of Ouchi guards, went to the industrial area near Anshan Iron and Steel.
The Ouchi guards have already occupied all possible sniping positions in advance.
While protecting the safety of Prince Su Shu and his party, snipers also constantly observe suspicious people and deal with them promptly.
The industrial area is a mixed bag of good and bad, and his situation is completely different from Anshan Iron and Steel. The expressions of Ouchi's guards are even more nervous.
Prince Su Shu was not afraid, he knew the accuracy of firearms at long distances.
If the army wants to kill the enemy hundreds of meters away, it relies on volleys rather than precise shooting.
He had already put on a body armor, and he did not believe that anyone could break through the heavy protection of Ouchi's guards.
Prince Su Shu also knows himself and will never go to a truly chaotic area.
The actions of Ouchi's guards and government personnel made the major factories in the deserted industrial zone lively again.
As soon as he entered the industrial area, he saw a garment factory relocating equipment.
Prince Su Shu immediately called the person in charge over.
Yang Dafu saw a group of people coming to the door of his factory.
These people have extraordinary aura, and at first glance they are not ordinary people.
The most important point is that the magistrate, who is usually unattainable to him, is by his side with a smile on his face.
This must be a big shot with a higher official position than the prefect.
He couldn't understand why these big shots came to see him, a businessman whose factory was about to close down.
Yang Dafu was a little nervous and was thinking about how to say hello?
Yu Kejing, the prefect of Anshan, greeted: "Boss Yang, I'm calling you, come here quickly."
Yang Dafu was shocked and immediately walked towards Prince Su Shu and his party.
He said nervously: "Prefect, my factory is about to close down, and the commodity circulation tax should be suspended."
When Prince Su Shu heard what Boss Yang said, he was shocked.
He remembered correctly, there is no such tax in the empire.
When Yu Kejing, the prefect of Anshan, heard these words, his face immediately turned extremely pale.