Industrial development is inseparable from coal as an energy consumable, and coal resources are relatively scarce in South America. The coal mining areas in Brazil are mainly located in the three southern states, and coal resources are concentrated in the southern Santa Catarina state and northern Rio Grande do Sul.
distributed.
The Brazilian forces evacuated the two southern states, and the Chinese troops took over the three open-pit coal mining plants left by the Brazilians. Then, under the guidance of the captured Brazilians, they discovered two more coal producing areas that had not yet been mined.
Three of the five coal mining areas are located near Passu Fundu, and the remaining two are in the east-west section of the Uruguay River within the Chinese-dominated area. They rely on hydraulic transportation of the Uruguay River and then are transported by land to Passu Fundu. There are cost issues during transportation.
Within the acceptable range.
Passo Fundo is located in the center of the coal-producing areas of the three states in southern Brazil, backed by the Guaguaiba River. It is an ideal industrial construction base. Therefore, Li Mingyuan sent a large number of retired soldiers to the local area in advance to carry out basic engineering construction, preparing to transfer from Prussia to
The shipped steelmaking, muskets, cannons, ammunition and other factory equipment were placed here.
The topographic map around Passo Fundu was placed in the center of the hall by Li. Li Mingyuan pointed to the Guayba River mouth area south of Passo Fundu and said: "In the future, an industrial base, steel smelting plant, and weapons and ammunition production plant will be built here along the river bank.
Layout: Weaving factories, match factories, flour mills and other light industrial factories are placed in the outer reaches of Passo Fundu.
Taking advantage of the Guayba River connecting to the coastal ocean, we purchase iron, copper and other metal ores from the outside, and then send the processed products along the river banks to various regions of Rio Grande do Sul to solve the supply of living materials for ordinary Chinese in the territory and realize weapons
We are basically self-sufficient in ammunition.”
There are five prerequisites for a large-scale industrial system: sufficient domestic and international markets, sufficient funds to purchase machinery and equipment and pay for labor, abundant metal mineral resources, mastery of relevant technologies, and a well-trained and skilled technicians.
However, there is a big problem in front of Li Mingyuan. Among the five prerequisites, Rio Grande do Sul only has enough funds to meet the requirements. It has a small domestic population, insufficient coal, metal and mineral resources, no industrial technology, and no skilled workers, and its industrial base is extremely poor.
.
Among various disadvantages, population size is the biggest obstacle restricting the development of industry in Rio Grande do Sul.
Industrial technology, industrial equipment, and mineral resources can be bought with money, and skilled workers can also be hired to be taught by foreign technicians. Only population is the basis for a country's industrial development.
The human resources in the mainland are saturated, and there are a large number of Chinese workers in Southeast Asia and Cuba who can immigrate. The population problem that restricts the industrial construction of Rio Grande do Sul can be solved to a certain extent after a large number of immigrants.
"Purchasing muskets, artillery, and ammunition from Europeans costs a lot of money every time. If we can build our own weapons factory, we can save a lot of money every year."
He was not very clear about the industrial issues discussed by Li Mingyuan and Liu Pu, but as the chief steward in charge of the financial logistics of the Chinese army, he had seen the expenditures for purchasing weapons and ammunition every time. Therefore, no one among the Chinese had a more personal experience of establishing the establishment of the Chinese army than he did.
The necessity of weapons factories.
"Sun Bin sent a telegram. There are 700 Prussian technicians in the returning fleet. After they arrive in Rio Grande do Sul, they will serve as workers and trainers to install factory equipment. We must carefully select retired soldiers to join the factory and learn operating skills from them, and train them as soon as possible.
Produce your own skilled workers.”
"The first batch of Cuban Chinese workers will arrive within ten days. Together with the following and retired soldiers, more than 100,000 young Chinese workers should be able to select enough apprentices."
After Liu Pu answered Li Mingyuan's question, he felt that something was not right. He continued, "How to build a factory is not as clear as the foreigners, but to develop industry, coal and iron ore are needed. There is no iron ore in Rio Grande do Sul. The Brazilians signed
The contract promises to lift the embargo on supplies to us, but they will not sincerely sell us iron ore. Even if they sell it to us, the price will be higher than usual.
Without iron ore, weapons factories were established without production raw materials, and muskets and ammunition were still not self-sufficient.
Your Majesty, if the issue of the source of iron ore is not solved, Rio Grande do Sul’s future development path will continue to be restricted, and we must consider solutions to this problem in advance.”
“The lack of mineral resources is a major shortcoming of Rio Grande do Sul. To obtain raw materials, we need to purchase metal ores from other places besides Brazil.
South America, Brazil and Chile close to us, Venezuela and Colombia on the Caribbean coast, and Peru, our country, all have a large amount of mineral resources.
Peru is the closest to us, but it is blocked by Bolivia and Paraguay along the way. Chile and us are separated by Argentina. It is difficult and impossible to purchase metal ore from these two countries in the short term. Therefore, before we have our own iron ore producing area, we can only
First import iron ore from Venezuela and Colombia."
The minerals in Colombia and Venezuela are mainly in the hands of British and American businessmen. Will the Chinese's rash intervention cause their dissatisfaction? Liu Pu secretly speculated.
The British were the undisputed world hegemons in the 19th century. They used warships and cannons to open the door to China. The Taiping Army, which fought against the British in the south, had seen their power. Therefore, when thinking about the problem, Liu Pu subconsciously considered the British.
Attitude.
Sensing Liu Pu's worries, Li Mingyuan smiled and said, "We won't compete with the British for what they like. We can buy land and mineral mining rights from Colombia and Venezuela, and then send people to explore and develop it, without losing anything to the British."
Interests."
"But Your Majesty, how do we know where there are mineral resources? If we buy land but cannot find metal deposits, will it be a waste of money?"
Where are Colombia and Venezuela? Liu Pu only has a rough geographical location in his mind. Not only has he never been there, but Li Mingyuan and most other Chinese workers have also never been there. Will Liu Pu be more successful in detecting mines in an unfamiliar place?
Not sure.
"Brother Li Han was passing through Colombia when he first contacted us. He discovered an unexploited open-pit iron mine deep in the local mountains and told me about it."
It was impossible for Li Mingyuan to tell Liu Pu his secret, so he could only blame Li Han for the news.
Li Mingyuan's reasons were lame. Liu Pu discovered many loopholes from the beginning. Li Han secretly crossed the border from Colombia and was pursued by Colombian troops. How did he find the iron mine so lucky?
Li Mingyuan had many secrets that others didn't know. He didn't want to tell them, and Liu Pu couldn't ask more questions, so he had to arrange for the people below to do things according to his instructions.