Chapter 22 Someone is going to lose the chain at the critical moment
() In October 1890, with the efforts of the local government and foreign engineers, the Changhua Iron Mine in Qiongzhou Prefecture finally opened for business. The proven iron ore is located 50 miles east of Changhua County, next to the Shilu River, and the ore
The quality is very good and the burial is very shallow, making it suitable for open pit mining.
Changhua County is not densely populated, mainly composed of local soldiers and some mainland immigrants. However, it is surrounded by places where the Li people live together, with high mountains and dense forests. The local Li people make a living by hunting, fishing and gathering, and are very poor.
Mining can hire local mountain people, and the wages they receive can improve their living conditions. Liu Fu also planned to use mechanical mining at first, but encountered opposition from the local government and villagers. They believed that the machines were monsters and would disturb them.
life and destroy their feng shui.
Liu Fu had no choice but to adopt artificial methods, laying small railway tracks, using manpower or animal power to pull the mine carts, loading them on ships from the Shilu River, and going down the Changhua River, and then into the sea through the estuary in the south of Changhua County.
.Since the original Changhua Wharf was too small to dock 10,000-ton ships, Liu Fu had to build a mine and a wharf at the same time. It was not until July 1891 that it was officially mined, and the wharf could dock a 30,000-ton ship.
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As high-quality iron ore from Shilu was continuously shipped to Taiwan, Keelung's steel mills were finally able to have enough to eat. Thanks to Zhang Zhidong's relationship, Keelung's rails also entered the market of the Qing Dynasty. Liu Fu was still there
Near Keelung, a large piece of wasteland has been opened up to store various resources. Inexhaustible coal, ore, etc. are piled here to form small hills.
The factory protection team expanded its recruitment for the fourth time this year. The 2,000 new recruits were dispersed and mixed with veterans. The original training base could no longer accommodate these thousands of people, so Liu Fu opened two more in the north and west of Keelung.
The camp, together with the original camp, surrounds Keelung on three sides: north, west and south.
This year the Keelung Research Institute imitated a new type of semi-automatic rifle with a 10-round magazine, automatic loading, firing 7.62 caliber bullets, a range of more than 800 meters, and an effective range of more than 300. After several modifications and trial production
, final decision
The model is an AK-01 rifle. This rifle and bullets are only produced in small quantities in the small firearms factory affiliated to the research institute. The output is not high, about 100 per month. Some of the equipment is given to the backbone of the factory protection team. Ordinary
The factory protection team members still use the 1887 Committee.
Several small patrol boats built by the shipyard have been launched, and now they are working together on torpedo boats and submarines in accordance with Liu Fu's orders.
Liu Fu's idea for the torpedo speedboat is to use a hydrofoil structure, which can run very fast even when the power is not very strong. Liu Fu has ridden on a hydrofoil several times in his previous life, so he knows its general appearance.
, but the shape, strength, angle, etc. of the hydrofoil must be tested slowly.
The progress of the submarine is not ideal. The double-layer pressure-resistant shell proposed by Liu Fu is still being tested, and the snorkel technology has not made much progress. In short, there is no hope for the submarine in a short time.
Large-scale marine diesel units and electric units are being imitated. Since we have prototypes for reference, the progress is quite satisfactory. The parameters of the previous unqualified products have far exceeded any current engines of the same size. However,
People at the research institute and shipyard are still not satisfied, because the parameters are too far from the prototype. If they can't even imitate, they will be sorry for the high salary and benefits.
There has been a breakthrough in the research of torpedoes. Due to the increase in the power of explosives, the caliber of the torpedo has been reduced from 533mm to 450mm. The lighter weight reduces the requirements for the engine and can increase the speed. Although there is no prototype for research, but
The book "Ship Knowledge" brought by Liu Fu introduced the general principles of the thermodynamic steam gas torpedo before World War I. Based on this article, researchers imitated a thermodynamic engine to enable the torpedo to reach a speed of 35
knots, but the range is still relatively short, only 1,000 meters. In addition, there are some problems with the imitation German trigger. Nearly 30% of the torpedoes hit the target without exploding.
The development of naval mines has been smooth sailing. It started with imitating German anchor mines and slowly replaced the explosive system, electric ignition system and triggering system, making the new anchor mine smaller, more powerful and more accurate than the prototype. Now it has begun.
Mass production of this new type of anchor mine named "Sea Urchin" by Liu Fu is planned, with an annual output of about 5,000 pieces.
The water patrol team finally had a boat for training. Although the several self-produced inshore boats were not armed, they were barely enough for training. In order to let these young sailors grow up quickly, Liu Fu divided them into batches.
After getting aboard the "Helena" shipping company, it not only ran the Fula mine in Qiongzhou, but also sailed to San Francisco and other ports on the West Coast of the United States to transport various supplies to Keelung Port.
The remaining patrol members took turns using three American Holland Type 2 submarines for submarine training. Although the time was still relatively short, they were able to safely submerge out of the port and use torpedoes to simulate attacking target ships.
At the end of 1891, a sudden bad news frightened Liu Fu: his father Liu Mingchuan had suffered a stroke. Liu Fu originally thought that everything was on the right track, and if he could endure it for another two years, he would be able to protect himself. Who would have thought that thousands of
After all, it didn’t take into account his father’s health. Liu Mingchuan is only 55 years old this year, which is nothing at this age in later generations, but he was already considered old in the Qing Dynasty.
After leaving all his work, Liu Fu quickly ran back to Taipei to visit his father. Lying on the bed, Liu Mingchuan's right half of his body was no longer flexible, and his speech was a bit slurred, but his mind was still clear. When he saw Liu Fu coming, he asked the maid to
Lifting up half of her body to lean on the pillow, Liu Fu sat on the stool at the head of the bed and brought some tea to her father.
Liu Mingchuan took the tea with his left hand, but did not drink it. He looked straight at Liu Fu, and after a while he said vaguely: "Third brother, my father's health is in jeopardy. I'm going to beg for his bones."
"Dad, your illness is fine. I'll ask a foreign doctor to take a look at you. I'll make sure..." Liu Fu heard that Liu Mingchuan was planning to retire. His heart skipped a beat and he quickly offered words of comfort, but Liu Mingchuan raised his hand and said:
Cut off Liu Fu's words.
"Your two brothers are both in the capital and have official status. Your brother is still studying. Only you are doing business. But you have done too much and are still alone overseas. If I leave, I'm afraid
You are in trouble. As for those foreigners around you, others may not be able to tolerate them. I want to discuss with you how to deal with Taiwan's industry."
"Deal it? Are you planning to sell these properties?" Liu Fu was a little surprised after hearing what Liu Mingchuan said.
"You can slowly pass it on to others, or you can disperse and move back to our hometown. I don't worry about you being here alone without me watching." Liu Mingchuan explained slowly.
"Dad, how have I done in the past few years?" Liu Fu knew that Liu Mingchuan had good intentions. His father was afraid that the next governor would not be able to accommodate him. No wonder, Liu Fu's activities were too big. There were nearly a thousand people in Guangyang.
There are tens of thousands of workers, and the entire Keelung Port has formed a large city of more than 100,000 people, which is several times larger than Taipei City. The annual income is not known, but the annual expenditures are hundreds of millions. Except for my father, I would not change it for anyone.
No one dares to let him go through such trouble.
"If you were a few years older and had been practicing in the officialdom for a few more years, you would be no worse than Li Hefei. It's a pity that your father's body can't help you." Liu Mingchuan said with great regret.
"Who do you think can take over my business? Who can do it well next?" Liu Fu asked again.
"This can be discussed slowly. After I leave, you can't leave here immediately. You have to make arrangements before you can rest assured." Liu Mingchuan did not understand what Liu Fu meant.
