Qiao Yu and Wang Dongcheng talked for most of the night and explained everything that might happen. Wang Dongcheng left immediately. His first stop was Wuchang, where he wanted to visit Li Yuanhong on behalf of Qiao Yu.
As a politician, luck is a very important thing. Li Yuanhong is a very lucky person. Before Wuchang Shouyi, he was just a senior military officer. Although he was considered a senior official, he could not be said to be prominent, but he was confused.
He was pushed to the position of governor of Wuchang and became the most righteous hero.
With such a name, neither Sun Wen, nor Yuan Shikai, nor later Duan Qirui, etc. dared to underestimate this Li Bodhisattva. He became a professional president and vice president, and served as the president twice.
, served as vice president three times. Even such a person with incredible luck also has his frustrations.
Li Yuanhong's dilemma is that he has such a great reputation, he does not have a real team, and he does not have enough power. Therefore, it is like a memorial tablet. When someone offered it up, he really lived up to his nickname and became a clay sculpture of Li.
Buddha.
Since Qiao Yu was taught a lesson by his father, he has paid more and more attention to the words "don't dare to be the first for the world". At the beginning of the Republic of China, Lao Yuan still had an absolutely powerful force. It would be bad if Lao Yuan was regarded as the leader.
Therefore, Wang Dongcheng was decided to visit Li Yuanhong, and the two parties reached an alliance that would not only strengthen Li Yuanhong's waist, but also allow Li Bodhisattva to step in and buy Qiao Yu enough time to develop.
After sending Wang Dongcheng away, Qiao Yu took Zhao Baoxuan, Tang Yisheng, and Wu Hengchang, three top students studying in the United States, to inspect the Sichuan Machinery Bureau. The founder of the Sichuan Machinery Bureau is the famous Ding Baozhen. Some people may not know this person, but he invented a
Everyone must be familiar with the dish, which is Kung Pao Chicken. He also killed Ande Hai, Cixi's favorite eunuch, who was also a romantic figure for a while.
Qiao Yu and his party came to the gate of Xialianchi Machinery Bureau in the east gate of Chengdu. What they saw was not the neat factory appearance of later generations. Instead, it looked a bit old and shabby. Many workers had fled since the road protection movement.
Although he has been back for most of the time, production has not really resumed yet. Seeing the appearance of the factory, Qiao Yu felt a chill in his heart. Originally, he even wanted to abandon southern Sichuan and directly attack Chengdu. Isn't it because of this arsenal?
!
But now that I have seen it with my own eyes, I know that what I thought was too simple. After walking into the arsenal, this feeling became even stronger. It is not appropriate to say that Sichuan Machinery Bureau is an arsenal. It is more responsible for maintenance functions and manufacturing.
Most of the muskets are single-shot rifles like Martini.
Zhao Baoxuan and others could not help but shake their heads when they saw this: "Captain, to be honest, this kind of factory is not even comparable to a civilian factory in Europe and the United States. These machines were purchased decades ago. These machines were not advanced at that time. Now
What’s even worse is that it’s powered by water, so it’s completely behind the times!”
"Hey, I thought that by guarding an arsenal, we would soon be self-sufficient in weapons, but now it seems like a pipe dream!"
"Captain, heavy industry is about systems. The only countries in the world that can build industrial systems are the Western powers. Even Japan and Russia have many shortcomings. Although the Manchus and Qing Dynasties established some government-run factories, they are still far behind.
!" Tang Yisheng also sighed.
Several people went to several workshops to see the workers' production operations. After seeing it, they shook their heads even more. These workers were all traditional craftsmen with very low education levels and poor understanding of technical processes. The products they produced were
It's barely usable, but it's still very rough and has a high scrap rate.
Qiao Yu estimated that even if the current Sichuan factory's production capacity is increased to its maximum, it will be able to produce 10,000 guns a year. Many of them are crudely made and cannot meet the needs of the army at all. It seems that after a long time
You still have to buy weapons...
"From mining, to metallurgy, to machine manufacturing, to the production of military products, they are all interconnected and indispensable. Each link requires a large number of talents. What we are lacking now is talents. If the governor wants to develop industry, he must start from
Let’s start with talents! Let’s just say that most of the workers in this Sichuan factory are old-style craftsmen. Although they have been trained by some foreign technicians, it is okay to let them imitate some things, but it is not enough to design them by themselves. It’s not that they don’t work hard.
, but the foundation is too poor. What we lack is a large number of outstanding scientific and engineering talents! What is even more lacking is a real university of science and technology!" Wu Hengchang also felt this.
Qiao Yu was thinking more and more. It wasn't that he didn't know the difficulties of industrial construction, but he just didn't want to miss a good opportunity like World War I. If China could complete its reunification during World War I, it would be able to adopt gradual reforms.
There is a way to get rid of the fate of slavery, and the people can also suffer less. The prerequisite for this is to have a strong army and a certain military industry foundation.
Seeing the state of Sichuan Factory, Qiao Yu suddenly felt that his hope was a little slim. The industrial system is really not a simple matter, not to mention the current situation in China!
Watching the Sichuan Factory for a whole morning, the four people discussed from time to time, and sometimes the arguments were very heated. In the end, everyone reached a consensus. The Sichuan Factory had serious problems in everything from hardware to personnel to management. If we want to
The financial and material resources required to change the Sichuan factory are absolutely staggering.
"Three of you, no matter how difficult it is, must have your own military industry system. I am ready to cooperate with the Germans and let them send experts to help us comprehensively upgrade the Sichuan factory. However, the price will probably be very high! After all, those great powers are all the same
Virtue!”
Tang Yisheng and the other three also knew that in order to transform the Sichuan Factory, the power of foreign powers must be brought in, but the price paid would inevitably be high, and they might even betray national rights. But what can be done now?
"Commander, do you want to talk to the Americans? Although they are a bit weak in the military industry, the United States values business interests, and at most it will lose some economic interests! And they are easy to talk to. I have basically talked about the steel plant.
If we ask them to help us renovate the Sichuan factory, they will definitely be willing!"
When Qiao Yu heard Wu Hengchang mentioned the United States, it seemed that his proposal was right. The United States values commercial interests and can still help him as long as there are enough benefits. However, as a time traveler, Qiao Yu holds in his hands others will never know.
information, although it is true that it suffers more from cooperating with Germany now, but as long as it survives three years and the First World War, it will be able to kick Germany away, and then it will be time for its own independent development.
"If they all use Americans, it will inevitably make the British suspicious. When the British come to suppress it, it will be difficult for us. I think Germany and the United States should introduce it together, and then I plan to mortgage some loans from the British to appease
There are British people living there, and Sichuan’s financial gap is too big, so I’m afraid it won’t work without a loan!”
When Tang Yisheng heard that Qiao Yu was preparing a loan, he couldn't help but feel anxious. It was not easy to borrow money from the great powers. It was basically a bad debt that would never be repaid. In the end, the great powers would only pinch their necks. Isn't that what happened in the Qing Dynasty? Therefore,
He firmly opposed the loan. "We still need to carefully consider the governor's loan, otherwise it may crush Sichuan's finances! And if the financial power is controlled by the British, our industry will be even more impossible!"
"Don't worry, as the saying goes, it will take thirty years to the east of the river and thirty years to the west of the river. Britain will also be unlucky. If it lasts for a while, everything will be no problem!"