Liu Kunyi, the governor of Liangjiang, passed away in the autumn of the 29th year of Guangxu's reign. Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang, was temporarily transferred to Liangjiang. The governor of Huguang had just been temporarily appointed by Duan Fang, the governor of Hubei. Lin Shuo received a telegram from Duan Fang, informing him that Yuan Shikai, the minister of Beiyang, had I am borrowing money from my mother to bury her. On the way back, I will pass through Wuchang and want to visit Hanyang Iron Works.
Lin Shuo showed the telegram to Zhang Jian. Zhang Jian had a teacher-student relationship with Yuan when he was working as a staff member under Wu Changqing. Yuan Shikai always respected Zhang Jian as his master in his letters to Zhang Jian, but there was no conspiracy between them. Later, he was appreciated by Weng Shuping, won the first prize, and became a member of the imperial party. However, Yuan Shikai belonged to the Beiyang faction.
Zhang Jian had a difficult official career, and finally returned to his hometown to start an industry. However, Yuan Shikai had a prosperous official career. After Li Hongzhang lost power, he won the favor of Wang Wenshao, Ronglu and others, and became governor of Shandong in a few years. During the Gengzi Revolution, Yuan Mingzhe protected himself and actively participated in the "Southeast "Mutual protection". Before his death, Li Hongzhang did not know where he had made the mistake, and he strongly recommended Yuan Shikai to take over Beiyang for him.
Now Yuan Shikai has become the leader of the Xinjiang officials and also controls Beiyang. This is something Zhang Jian never expected at the beginning.
Zhang Jian knew that Lin Shuo wanted him to go with him to see Yuan Shikai, and he looked embarrassed: "I haven't had any contact with Yuan Weiting for a long time. The letters we have occasionally written are in general terms. To meet each other so presumptuously seems to be a sign of flattery."
"No, Ji Lao is willing to give Xiang Cheng face. He should feel honored. How can we flatter him? He insists on coming to us." Lin Shuo said, not just to catch up with Lao Yuan, What do I want from you?
After much coaxing and lying, Zhang Jizhi finally agreed to go to Wuchang with him.
After Yuan Shikai took leave to return to his hometown to bury his mother, he took a detour from Xinyang to the south of the Yangtze River. He was actually well prepared.
It turned out that after he became the governor-general of Zhili, Li Hongzhang's confidant and advisor Yang Shixiang, the inspector of Zhili, gave him advice: Those who could hold high positions for a long time in the officialdom, from Zeng Guofan to Zuo Zongtang, and then to Li Hongzhang, were all in his hands. An important minister with military power. Now that Gongneng has taken control of Beiyang, it is also because he has a well-preserved new army in his hands. If Gongneng does his best to expand and train the new army in his hands, and uses his own people to control this army, then he will have His ability to control the situation of the government is as looming as Mount Tai and Beidou, and everyone in the world looks up to him!
Yang Shixiang's words played into Yuan Shikai's ambitions, and he decided to take advantage of the imperial court's opportunity to train a new army to expand his military power in order to protect his power and position.
However, the cost of expanding the new army is huge. In addition to the military expenditures allocated by the court, according to Yuan Shikai's plan, there are still millions of funds that need to be raised by himself. Moreover, if he wants to truly maintain military power, he must continue to manage the powerful and powerful men in the capital. Winning over. All these require money, and Yuan Shikai also wants to implement the "New Deal", build railways, start industries, set up new schools, etc., which all require large sums of money.
How to broaden the financial avenues became the main factor in Yuan Shikai's success.
After attending the funeral of his biological mother, Yuan Shikai deliberately detoured from Jiangnan to Shanghai. One was to inspect Jiangnan's maritime industry, and the other was to seize control of Beiyang's Steamship Merchants Bureau and Daqing Telegraph Bureau from Sheng Xuanhuai. The company makes huge profits every year.
Yuan Shikai kept his vehicle simple and took only more than thirty people with him. After arriving in Wuchang, he was accompanied by Hubei Governor Duan Fang. He first visited the gun factory and the cotton, linen, silk and woolen bureaus run by Zhang Zhidong. The next day, he was interested again Arrive excitedly at the large-scale Hanyang Iron Works.
The Hanyang Iron Works has been undergoing transformation since Lin Shuo took over. The four re-ordered steel-making furnaces have not yet arrived, but the original Martin furnace has been put into operation and can roll out high-quality rails. The iron plant has resumed operation.
Partially normal production, although the output is limited, has basically been able to maintain capital.
Yuan Shikai was in high spirits, and what made him even more happy was that Zhang Jizhi also appeared here. This old master who had always looked down upon him unexpectedly praised him a few words, which made him feel very satisfied. Smell
Yuan Shikai, who was very keen, learned from Duan Fang
From his words, he knew that the young general in front of him was the real leader of the Hanyang Iron Works. He didn't care too much about Lin Shuo's age. It was not uncommon for children from rich families to inherit the family business. Liu Jinzao, a bachelor in the cabinet who he knew, was said to be worth a fortune.
There are also one to twenty million.
In this era, most of the children of aristocratic families clung to their ancestral business and did not want to make progress. They bought houses and bought land to play with antiques, calligraphy and paintings. Generally, businessmen also worked as compradors, opened banks, etc. There were not many who were willing to go to the trouble to start a business. Another point is Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai was very curious when he noticed that Lin Shuo was dressed as a military attache. In these days, civil service was valued over military affairs. A third-rank military officer had to bow his head when meeting a fifth- or sixth-rank prefecture.
Hanyang Iron Works, founded by Zhang Zhidong, is the largest in Asia in terms of scale. It has six major plants: pig iron plant, Beisema Steel Plant, Siemens Steel Plant, iron cargo plant, rail plant, and wrought iron plant.
It is connected to four small factories including a machine factory, an iron foundry, an ironworks factory, and a fish fillet hook and nail factory. From a distance, the factories are connected with numerous chimneys.
The pig iron plant has two iron-making blast furnaces made in Belgium, which can produce 200 tons of iron every day. The Bessemer steel plant is equipped with two Bessemer acid converters purchased from the United Kingdom. Due to the iron ore produced by Daye
Containing high levels of sulfur, phosphorus and other impurities, and acidic steelmaking furnaces cannot remove sulfur, phosphorus and other impurities in the furnace. These two steelmaking furnaces
The furnace could not produce qualified steel at all and could only be used as a decoration. Fortunately, when the Hanyang Iron Works was built, the German Minister Xue Fucheng in Britain was very cautious when ordering equipment for the iron plant and ordered it from Siemens in Germany.
An alkaline "Martin furnace" was built so that all the steel produced by the iron plant would not be unqualified.
The Hanyang Iron Works relies on the Siemens Steel Plant, a small open-hearth furnace with a daily output of 50 tons, to maintain production without labor force. However, insufficient operation also affects the efficiency of the iron plant.
It has been more than half a year since Lin Shuo took over the iron factory. The four steel-making furnaces ordered from Germany have not been built yet. Although he is anxious, he has no choice. Building a steel-making furnace will take a year at the fastest, plus sea transportation.
It will take another three months to install and debug, and the new steelmaking plant will not be put into operation until at least the year after next.
We still have telegraph connections with Europe. If it had been earlier, it would have taken less than five or six years to build a large-scale steel plant. It would be unthinkable.
Lin Shuo accompanied Yuan Shikai to visit the ironworks first. Just as the No. 1 blast furnace was about to tap out the iron, the group stood on the iron frame tapping platform not far from the blast furnace, waiting to watch the scene of the molten iron coming out. At this time, Lin Shuo
Let me explain to you
He also explained to Yuan Shikai the differences between ironmaking and steelmaking. Yuan Shikai stared at the taphole from time to time, but in his heart he secretly praised Lin Shuo for his demeanor of neither being humble nor arrogant, and having the air of a general.
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As the four operating workers turned the furnace door with long drills in their hands, suddenly, a dazzling red light lit up from the furnace mouth, and then the hot molten iron spewed out of the furnace like lava and flowed down the field.
The molten iron ditch flows rapidly, shining brightly towards the molten ladle on the side. The molten iron splashes everywhere, as brilliant as fireworks.
Everyone present was amazed at such a spectacular scene and marveled at the magic created by modern industry.
Yuan Shikai, who was in his prime, actually visited the iron factory for a day. He was very interested and asked Lin Shuo about anything new he saw. This move made him suffer a lot for the officials from Hubei who came with him. By 4 p.m.
At that time, Duan Fang, the acting governor of Huguang, saw that some people were really unable to walk, so he suggested to Yuan that they go to Qingchuan Pavilion first, where he had already prepared a banquet.
Qingchuan Pavilion is located at the east end of Guishan, about five miles away from the iron factory, close to the river. At the foot of the mountain, there are huge rocks, which cut directly into the waves of the Yangtze River. This is Yugongji, and Qingchuan Pavilion is built on it.
Heri
At this beautiful time, I climbed up to the Qingchuan Pavilion and looked at the towering Yellow Crane Tower on the opposite bank. I saw in my eyes the mighty river water, cascading thousands of miles, with white sails on the waves undulating in the wind, and dots of river gulls. It made me feel relaxed and happy, and I was suddenly filled with pride.
Yuan Shikai looked very easy-going after changing into casual clothes. When entering the banquet, he deliberately pulled Zhang Jian and Lin Shuo to sit next to him, which made Lin Shuo feel a little uncomfortable.
Yuan Shikai didn't drink, but after the opening greetings were over, he started to eat arrogantly. Duan Fang had no choice but to start drinking with Zhang Jian and other scholars and scribes.
"Brother Anhua, you are indeed a promising young man. When we met today, I felt that I was very attracted to him." Yuan Shikai ate very quickly, and Lin Shuo watched him dumbfounded as he swallowed a roast duck for no apparent reason.
But he saw him pick up a handkerchief and wipe his greasy hands, and then pulled away from him, "When I was as old as you, I was still helping with camp affairs in the Qing army, and I didn't know anything."
"Your Majesty, you're welcome. When you led troops to quell the Renwu Rebellion in Korea, you were younger than I am now." Lin Shuo smiled and said, "If Korea hadn't been ceded to Japan after the Sino-Japanese War, your actions would have been like those of the Han Dynasty.
Ban Dingyuan is famous enough to go down in history!"
Everyone wore colorful hats, and Yuan Shikai's smile became even brighter as expected, "Anhua, now the court wants to implement a new policy to enrich the country and strengthen the army, and I also want to set up industry and commerce in Zhili. I don't know what good way to do it?"
"Building industry and commerce is the foundation for making the country rich and powerful. When it comes to this, the younger generation actually has some experience. If you want to strengthen industry and commerce, the first thing is to build roads and build ships. Why is industry and commerce developed along the coasts and rivers? There is no other reason, just because they have convenient transportation.
.I have heard what Hongjiang businessmen said: Ten people are not as good as a pack, ten packs are not as good as a cart, and ten carts are not as good as a boat. This saying is just like the business saying. The younger generations also have teahouses in Tianjin, Zhangheng, Guihua and other places in the north, and they often
If you sell tea here, just sell brick tea.
Let’s talk about one thing. Each thirty-nine brick piece of tea in the tea factory of the younger generations in Wuhu cost only about one cent and two cents of silver when shipped out of the factory. For example, when one hundred thousand brick tea was sold to Tianjin at a time, the ex-factory price was twelve thousand taels, and it was shipped from Wuhu.
, the freight to Tianjin is less than
Two hundred taels, plus 600 taels for miscellaneous fees, taxes, etc., the cost is only thirteen thousand taels. If sold to be naturalized, each brick tea can be sold for three taels of silver, and these 100,000 brick teas can be sold for 30,000 taels of silver.
How much do you think I can earn?"
Yuan Shikai thought for a while and realized that the price difference was seventeen thousand taels. After accounting for the corresponding expenses, there should be a lot more, so he said, "Is it possible to earn ten thousand taels from this?"
Lin Shuo smiled and continued: "I will give you a detailed analysis of the cost. To transport this batch of goods from Tianjin to the capital, whether by railway or canal, basically the labor and donations combined will be about one thousand taels."
Not enough, and when we get to the capital, we can only switch to camels for transportation. The normal cost of each camel from the capital to the naturalization is about fifteen taels. Since my tea house is naturalizing all the year round, Zhang
Heng does business and is a big merchant. He is familiar with the camel team that usually only costs about 12 taels. However, each camel can only carry 200 bricks of tea at most. This batch of goods alone requires 500 camels, which is about 8,000 taels.
Including several tax bureaus on the road, hiring bodyguards, etc., this is another seven or eight thousand taels. In fact, if I can earn two thousand taels from this batch of goods, it will be very good."
Seeing Yuan Shikai's shocked and complicated expression, Lin Shuo continued to light the fire, "If you want to develop industry and commerce, you must first improve transportation. This means that most of the profits that should have been made were consumed on the road due to inconvenient transportation. This is also due to convenient transportation.
The reason for the prosperity of local industry and commerce. In the agricultural economic period, this impact was not obvious, but in the industrial period, it greatly hindered economic development. It is difficult for domestic industry and commerce to compete with foreigners. Tax inequality is on the one hand, and on the other hand
It is because of this traffic obstruction that it is difficult for businessmen to gather surplus capital and invest it in mining and setting up factories.
For example, when purchasing wool in the northwest, the price is only two or three taels of silver per load. When sold to foreign banks in Tianjin, it can be sold for sixteen or seven taels, and sometimes even more than twenty taels. However, the profit from selling wool is not large, and most of the price difference is also
It is wasted on transportation. If the people are not rich and cannot pay taxes, how can the country be strong? Another example is Shanxi Coal and Iron. I heard that the coal in Shanyou is only two to three liang per ton. If the iron ore is mined by machines, it will also
Only about three taels. To make one ton of iron, two ounces per ton of coal are consumed, and less than three tons of ore. The raw materials are only twelve or thirty taels, and the labor is only sixteen or seven taels. Why do I have no intention of opening an iron factory in Shanxi?
Since there is no railway, if we use carriages and horses, each ton of steel would cost more than ten taels of silver to be transported to Tianjin, so where would the benefit come from? If there were a railway from Shanxi to Tianjin, the freight rate would only be less than one tael per ton.
, how can foreign iron compete with it? If the price is this, even if it is exported overseas, it is not impossible! People say that businessmen are profit-loving, but in fact, money and capital are also profit-loving. If there is enough profit to attract it, your Majesty will start a business.
In industry and commerce, even if you want to raise tens of millions or even tens of millions, it is really easy!"
Yuan Shikai is a smart man. After thinking for a moment, he understood the truth and said excitedly: "Anhua is a talented person, after listening to your words, I have a sudden enlightenment! When opening a mine and setting up a factory, you must first consider the issue of profit. If it is profitable, the capital will automatically
Come and invest, the so-called prosperity in the world is all for profit, and the hustle and bustle in the world is all for profit. I understand. Please come to Beiyang more in the future, and I will ask for more advice!"
"Your Majesty, thank you for your compliments. However, if there is any use for this junior now, please just give me your order and I will serve you." Lin Shuo was also hesitating. Yuan Shikai's intention to win over was already obvious, but if he could easily surrender to his subordinates,
Wouldn't it be too easy for them to feel it and not take it seriously?
Yuan Shikai also knew that he should not be too anxious about everything, so he smiled slightly and changed the subject.
After a long conversation, Lin Shuo opened his eyes again.