Chapter 243 The Rise of China's Heavy Industry

The work of salvaging the wreckage of the Japanese submarine is extremely difficult and almost impossible.

In order to further determine the submarine combat capability of Japan, the "Qing" Naval Department can only make a new plan to deliberately use old models of small tonnage merchant ships to transport cheap materials, attracting the Japanese army to continue to use submarines to attack.

From January 4, 1901, the Japanese army continuously sank a number of transport merchant ships in the waters around the big island of Ryukyu, and the submarine forces and surface fleets often exchanged fire with the Pacific Fleet.

During this period, the Pacific Fleet did not rely too much on the sonar system, but only on deep-water bombs for submarine deportation.

Although many transport ships were constantly sunk, many transport ships arrived at the Ryukyu island to provide timely supplies to the troops stationed on the Ryukyu island.

At this stage, China's losses are huge, and the results of Japan are brilliant.

However, the Admiralty Department has basically figured out the surname energy and approximate number of Japanese submarines.

On the northeast front, the Russian coalition forces have advanced to Yanji and Mudan-Ula (Mudanjiang) areas through Vladivostok. The total number of the coalition forces is about 400,000, mainly the Japanese army, and Yang Zongli has carried out interception operations in the Mudan-Ula area.

In February, the northeast weather began to enter an extremely cold situation, and the two sides were forced to stop their troops. Japan immediately increased its attack on the Ryukyu sea area, added the strength of two divisions, and launched a landing attack on Amami Island.

The Pacific Fleet and the Fujian-Zhe Corps have basically completed the integration, and continue to carry out joint operations to counterattack the Ryukyu Islands. The troops invested by both sides in the Ryukyu Islands have reached 60,000.

On February 17, 1901, the Japanese army carried out a bloody massacre in Mingshan Town, which was lost by the Fujian and Zhejiang Corps, resulting in the death of more than 6,000 local residents. On February 25, the Japanese army used mustard gas shells on the second large-scale battle in the battle of Ryukyu County, causing a large number of civilian casualties.

The cruelty of the Japanese army did not scare China, but angered the whole of China. In March 1901, the National Defense War Commission completed the plan in advance to expand the number of reserve recruits to 1.14 million, the total army strength reached 1.75 million, and the total naval force reached 320,000.

In order to make up for the shortage of firearms, the National Defense War Commission transferred a large number of Jiangnan series rifles from various countries in Nanyang, and purchased 350,000 Jiangnan II rifles and 645 light and medium-sized mountain howitzers from the United States.

During the same period, the sales scale of national war bonds also reached 2.38 billion yuan, which was enough to meet the war expenditure.

Every day, every moment, there is too much pain and struggle hidden in Hu Chuyuan's heart. No one can understand his mood, but he knows that although some sacrifices are piercing, he must endure it.

Now is not the time for a full-scale counterattack.

The strategy of the National Defense War Commission remains unchanged... to lure the enemy deep and anniheze it completely.

In early March, Hu Chuyuan secretly arrived in Ma'anshan by ship to inspect the progress of the 9701 follow-up project.

Now, this project has a new code name - "T series", that is, the mass production, logistics maintenance, maintenance and driver training of the three models of T1, T2 and T3.

Ma'anshan County, the city of hope for China's heavy industry.

This new city with a history of flat land is only 17 years old, but it is already the largest steel production base and the second largest heavy industry base in China, second only to Shanghai in terms of the total scale of heavy industry.

Jiangnan Group, which is formed in conjunction with Shanghai Heavy Industries, is the largest heavy industry group in China, with more than 60 subsidiaries, as well as a large-scale Jiangnan Arsenal and Jiangnan Shipbuilding Factory.

In order to adapt to the development of Ma'anshan area, Ma'anshan has been officially changed from a prefecture directly under the central government to a prefecture level, with Yangtze River Prefecture under the jurisdiction of Yangtze River New District, Cihu County, Chaohu County, Dangtu County, He County and Hanshan County.

After arriving at the port by boat, Jiangnan Group specially welcomed it with its own Shenbao car, which let Hu Chuyuan feel the development momentum of domestic cars.

Among the countless cities along the Yangtze River, only this city is called the Yangtze River City, and only this area is called the Yangtze River Mansion, which shows the importance Hu Chuyuan attaches to here.

As the prime minister of a country, the biggest advantage is that you can formulate the city name and overall plan according to your own ideas.

Therefore, he can change Bazhou to Beiping New District, set it as the new provincial capital and economic center of Hebei, form a stable triangular urban area with Yanjing and Tianjin, and develop petrochemical, electrical and heavy industries.

He can set Kaifeng as the economic center of Henan and maintain the status of the current provincial capital. He can set Zibo as the economic center of Shandong and the future provincial capital.

He can set up Zhili prefectures such as Ningzhou and Shanshan in Xinjiang Province, and use local mineral resources to replace the traditional cities of Urumqi and Turpan.

In Anhui, he can focus on building Huizhou with his own preferences. He has set up China's largest optical glass instrument manufacturing factory and the first camera manufacturing plant in Huizhou. There are also two coal-coal power plants and a geothermal power plant in Huizhou. A large-scale hydropower plant is being built. There is vanadium industry refining locally. The factory is also the largest nickel metal smelting base in China.

Through the railway network of Huizhou, Wuhu and Changjiang City (Ma'anshan) to the north, Huzhou and Hangzhou to the east, Jingdezhen to the west, and Jinqu Basin to the south.

Today's Huizhou is known as Little Shanghai. Because Huizhou is still the most concentrated area of private capital in China, the headquarters of Huishang Bank is located here.

Similarly, the new "Yangtze River City" on the map of China is also an emerging big city, which is destined to become the second largest city along the Yangtze River after Shanghai.

Because it has the full support of Hu Chuyuan.

Because it is a new city built by Hu Chuyuan. Almost 70% of the population comes from other places, and 50% of the population has a junior high school degree or above. Such population quality is a special case in China.

China's first 110KV transmission line across the Yangtze River is designed for it. More than 30% of the metal ore in Jiangxi and Anhui provinces are transported here for smelting. The headquarters of MCC and China's largest arsenalarmeries, Jiangnan Arsenal, are located here.

There is the widest inland river port along the Yangtze River, with more than 100,000-ton cargo ship berthing docks.

There are also many universities such as Yangtze University, University of Science and Technology of China, China University of Mining and Technology, Anhui Institute of Technology, Anhui Vocational and Technical College and so on.

Hu Chuyuan believes that in another 30 years, the world's largest higher education center will be formed with Changjiang City and Nanjing City as the center, providing enough professionals for the development of the whole Jiangnan.

Shenbao sedan is the world's first van with a horsepower of more than 75 horsepower. It also has advanced spark ignition technology, four-cylinder water-cooled engine, and excellent shock absorption.

In the Shenbao sedan, Hu Chuyuan was quickly convinced... China's automobile industry is at the forefront of the world. This is the way. Jiangnan Automobile Factory manufactures this Shenbao and the new Buick car launched by International General Motors, as well as the new Mercedes-Benz car launched by the German Mercedes-Benz Automobile Company, is completely a model. However, the development of this model was carried out entirely in Shanghai and Changjiang City.

Sitting in this epoch-making car, Hu Chuyuan's heart is very strange.

Looking at the brand-new urban buildings outside through the window glass, he can feel very clearly... This is a new urban area completely different from Yanjing Hutong, the new world, which is a beautiful industrial city like a garden.

From the day the city was founded, the city has seven large city parks, five in the city center area and two in the Yangang Industrial New Area.

Most of the city's architectural complexes are specially hosted by foreign and domestic designers, following the most traditional white-walled and black-quality style in Anhui, sometimes westernized, sometimes modernized on the basis of tradition, or the traditional Ming and Qing dynasties architectural style, and even the style of the Tang and Han Dynasties.

Here, even if you buy a piece of land by yourself, no matter what kind of building you build, it needs to be approved by the urban public committee. First of all, it depends on whether your design style is integrated with the urban style, and secondly, whether there is a supporting cleaning and sanitation system.

This is an urban beautification trend that emerged in the United States in 1880, and it is also spreading in China.

The reason why Hu Chuyuan's heart is strange is that he saw that after 17 years of long-term investment, he finally saw the fruits of a bumper harvest in this new city.

The car drove on the spacious streets, looking at the bustling streets on both sides, looking at the beautiful city squares and central sculptures, looking at the young students, looking at the rich citizens, looking at the cultural elements, looking at the busy workers... Looking at those amazing buildings with more than a dozen floors.

Hu Chuyuan was extremely satisfied and proud in his heart, and really gained a particularly real sense of achievement.

No one can deny that there is at least half of his credit.

This 17-year-old new city has a population of 2.14 million, less than half of the agricultural population, and the vast majority are workers. Combined with Shanghai industry, it accounts for almost 40% of China's steel production and shipbuilding tonnage.

If China can have ten new cities of this size, which other country in the world dares to provoke China?

No, absolutely not, unless it wants to die, it completely loses its mind.

Unfortunately, there are only three such large-scale industrial cities in China, namely Shanghai, Fuzhou and the Yangtze River, followed by Laiwu, Zibo, Tangshan, Tianjin, Anshan, Guangzhou, Haiphong, Hangzhou, Qingdao, Quanzhou, Hangzhou and other cities. Although they are larger in scale, they are not yet heavy industrial cities. .

The four cities of Laiwu, Zibo, Weifang and Qingdao add up, the scale of heavy industry is only comparable to that of the previous three industrial cities.

In order to expand the production capacity of Chinese Army armored vehicles, at present, the main production capacity and production lines have been concentrated in Changjiang City.

The fleet that greeted Hu Chuyuan drove directly into Ma'anshan Machinery Factory. In this huge industrial zone, the production capacity of armored vehicles was increased to 240 vehicles per month.

When he got out of the car, Hu Chuyuan, accompanied by Zhang Xianghe, the general manager of the machinery factory, visited the tractor assembly workshop directly.

Dozens of T2 infantry cannon armored vehicles are undergoing final commissioning, and more than a dozen self-propelled artillery are being assembled. The large barrel is being craned in mid-air by the vehicle, and the master responsible for welding and construction is measuring the pipe distance.

Zhang Xianghe is the second batch of young children studying in the United States. He is from Wu County, Jiangsu Province. After graduation, he worked in the Carnegie Steel Factory for two years and returned to China in 1890. Since then, he has been working as an engineer and workshop director in Ma'anshan Iron and Steel Machinery Factory. Last year, he was promoted to the general manager of Ma'anshan Machinery Factory.

When he went to the United States to study in 1873, he was only 11 years old. He was the youngest with Rongkui, Zeng Pu and Tang Yuanzhan.

Now, at the age of 38, he is not only proficient in mechanical engineering science, but also has financial expertise and many years of factory management experience. Because of his excellent performance, Hu Chuyuan once wanted to directly mention him as the general manager of Jiangnan Group.

For Zhang Xianghe, Hu Chuyuan is not only his benefactor, but also a national leader, but also his boss's boss. This feeling is... kind and complicated.

He accompanied Hu Chuyuan all the way and explained every detail to Hu Chuyuan.

Hu Chuyuan is very satisfied and very happy. Obviously, the current production capacity can continue to increase. In the entire industrial system of Changjiang City, all the parts of the three series of armored models can be produced locally. Only the engine model is too special, which is completely a military industrial product, processing accuracy and material selection. The selection is very fine, and can only be produced in Shanghai and Fuzhou for the time being.

Although Weifang Diesel Engine Factory has a production line, the current production efficiency is not very high, and many supporting materials and parts have to be purchased from Shanghai and Changjiang City.

When Zhang Xianghe finished talking all the way, Hu Chuyuan found a simple iron stool in the workshop lounge and sat down. He was extremely happy and forgot the cruel facts on the battlefield for a moment, as well as his cruelty and viciousness.

Because he knows that China can indeed win this war.

The answer is right in front of you.

As soon as he sat down, the accompanying Secret Service commissioners sent him hot tea.

Hu Chuyuan poured a cup of tea for Zhang Xianghe with great interest and asked, "With your experience over the years, do you think there is anything to be improved by the three models of armored vehicles?"

Listening to this, Zhang Xiang was a little surprised. After a while, he said, "Luo Guorui's ability is beyond doubt. It should be said that he is the best overall mechanical designer in China, and his team should also be top talents in all walks of life. Let me see, the three models of armored vehicles are very good, but the design did not take into account the production problem, especially the No. 3 model. The turret design is too forward, and the shooting is very stable. It is difficult to produce. It is difficult for workers to find the gun distance at one time, and it is difficult to dock. At present, the No. 2 car is indeed the most suitable model. The output is large and the surname can be stable. The surname we produce in large quantities is very reliable. The key problem of the No. 3 car is that the production capacity cannot keep up. Our factory is the largest in China, and the monthly production capacity cannot exceed 30 vehicles.

Hu Chuyuan didn't notice this problem.

He thought for a moment and said to Zhang Xianghe, "Have you told Luo Guorui?"

"This...?"

Zhang Xianghe was a little embarrassed and said, "He is in Fuguo Heavy Industry. It's hard to say. Our Jiangnan Group has robbed more than half of the production contracts. The people in Fuguo Heavy Industry are already a little unhappy. Recently... I'm a little embarrassed to talk to him. A few days ago, he came to check the production quality. At that time, I had a quarrel with him.

Hu Chuyuan smiled and said, "At this throt, everyone should be open-sighted. When you have time to contact him again, you can tell him that I will not treat their meritorious officials, let alone Fuguo Heavy Industries. Then, you can talk to him about the problem that the barrel is too forward.

Zhang Xianghe nodded his head and said, "Ok, well, I'll go to Laiwu in person and talk about some of the problems we encountered in production. In fact, to put it bluntly, everyone is a sect. Isn't the boss all you? Don't care about these little things.

"Alas...!"

Hu Chuyuan hurriedly shook his hand and said, "How can the boss be me? You should be clear that I divide you into four large groups. In addition to the needs of regional economy and group expansion and development, it also requires some market competition. Sooner or later, the four major groups will be listed one after another. Your boss is all the shareholders and yourself. Like you general managers and chief workers, you all have shares in your hands. Now you feel that the amount is not a lot. When you go public, you are at least a millionaire or even a multimillionaire.

Speaking of this, he remembered that JP Morgan once wanted to join hands with him to integrate the entire American electrical industry into one. At that time, he said that the market needed competition.

He rejected JP Morgan for this reason.

Thinking of this, Hu Chuyuan also talked about it with Zhang Xianghe. It can be said to be gossip, but it can also be said to be a kind of business concept exchange. He insisted on believing that competition is the soul of the market.

Zhang Xianghe listened very carefully. To be honest, the opportunity to sit with Hu Chuyuan and talk about business is very rare. Isn't this imperial prime minister the most powerful businessman in the world?

He believes that many years later, as long as people talk about Hu Chuyuan, they will definitely connect Hu Chuyuan and Lv Buwei.

Hu Chuyuan still likes this Zhang Xianghe very much. It's not very shrewd, but it's very practical and delicate.

It was almost time, so Hu Chuyuan asked Zhang Xianghe to accompany him to the next stop to have a look.

Hu Chuyuan's next stop is the Ma'anshan Branch of Jiangnan Shipyard in Hegang. At present, it has just been reorganized into the Yangtze River Shipyard. The three 10,000-ton docks here are used to build 10,550-ton Weiyuan-class battlecruisers.

Compared with Liangzhou-class, Ningyuan II-class battleships and Jinzhou-class second-class battleships, the manufacturing cost of Weiyuan-class battlecruisers is very low, and the construction cycle will be reduced by 35%.

Since the Weiyuan class also has a 305mm caliber main gun, which can be deployed with the main battleships, at present, it is mainly producing warships of this level in China for rapid expansion of naval strength.

Three docks can build six ships at the same time. All components are modeled production, making full use of the entire industrial system in Jiangnan. Three ships can be born every 7 months, or even about 6 months.

This construction speed is very crazy.

First of all, you have to be extremely rich.

This is a construction in the rush of the construction period. All workers will be rotated for you according to the three-shift system, working 24 hours a day, and the cost of each Weiyuan class will have a premium of 30%, reaching 17.2 million yuan.

If it is a Liangzhou-class main battleship with a displacement of 12,000 tons, the premium of a single ship is at least 25%, and the price will not be less than 35 million yuan.

Hu Chuyuan's current estimated total military expenditure is 3 billion yuan, about 500 million pounds. He will start a comprehensive counterattack in July next year or March the year after next. If it doesn't work, he will donate 100 million pounds himself, and Congress will allocate another 100 million pounds.

There can't be any more.

No matter how much it goes on, the political axe can't stand it. Even if it can stand it, the long-term damage to China's economy will be very serious.

His current plan is to strive for results as much as possible within the range of 3 billion yuan.

Therefore, he took the Weiyuan class as the main warship construction project, which was cheap and easy to use. It was basically enough to fight against Russia. He used submarines to fight France.

China's submarines are not as simple as Japanese and French can imagine.

In the past decade, the warship export contracts of the Chinese Admiralty have been growing. In 1897, it has surpassed the United Kingdom, with a total export tonnage of more than 194,000 tons. Most of them have been appropriately modified according to the needs of other countries on the basis of the mature ships of the Chinese Navy. In the early days, it mainly exported destroyers and defense ships, and began to export cruisers and battleships in 1895.

The main buyers are South America, Southeast Asia and other countries, especially the vassal states of China, as well as the Ottoman Empire, Persia, Spain and other backward powers, and even Australia.

In the continuous stimulation of domestic purchase and domestic demand, the production capacity of China [***] industry is very strong. The Yangtze River Shipyard alone has seven special docks for warships, three of which belong to the 10,000-ton class, two belong to the 5,000-ton class, and two belong to the 2,000-ton class.

This scale is still relatively small among the three major shipbuilding bases in China. The scale of Fuzhou and Shanghai is larger. In addition, Weihai, Qingdao, Tangshan, Haiphong, Ningbo, Guangzhou, Dalian, Tianjin and Qinhuangdao all have a certain scale of shipbuilding capabilities.

France said that the three countries of Russia are also building ships on a large scale. Now they not only have to be richer than anyone else, but also better than anyone else, and who can build more and faster.

After inspecting the Yangtze River Shipyard, it was already evening, but Hu Chuyuan did not stay here, but continued to take the special train to Fuzhou.

From Changjiang City, through Huzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo and Wenzhou, all the way south, you can reach Fuzhou through the Zhejiang-Min Railway.

That's the last stop for Hu Chuyuan.

In more than 40 system engineering research and development plans formulated between 1896 and 1898, almost all ship-related projects are located in Fuzhou. In terms of production capacity scale, Fuzhou Hyundai Heavy Industry is indeed not as good as Jiangnan Heavy Industry in Shanghai and Ma'anshan, but in terms of ship manufacturing technology and research and development skills, the two There is still a big gap.

It can be said that China's best experts in overall ship design and system engineering, ship dynamics, metal mechanics, internal combustion engine and steam turbine dynamics are almost all in Fuzhou.

Hu Chuyuan put the aircraft project of the 9603 series in Zibo, Shandong Province. On the one hand, Zibo has the largest aluminum industry base in China, and on the other hand, it is to improve the level of Shandong's economy. However, in actual research and development, researchers are basically transferred from Fuzhou.

Why is Fuzhou Heavy Industry called "Hyundai Group" precisely because it is the cradle of China's modern industry. China's first system project ahead of the world, the Chunyu-class destroyer, was born in Fuzhou. Since then, it has opened up China's advantages in the field of steam turbines and laid a solid foundation for the export of China's [***] ship. A solid foundation.

The real rise of China's heavy industry... actually started in Fuzhou.

(to be continued)