In the second half of the 19th century, the major powers in Europe and the United States formed an industrial system based on six major industrial categories: steel mining and smelting, mechanical machine tool processing and production, steam ship manufacturing, chemical textiles, railway manufacturing, and telegraph information transmission. The development of the country was originally restricted.
Coal and metal ore departed from the colonies and were transported to the host country in large quantities via improved steamships, providing a strong driving force for the development of the European powers.
Rio Grande do Sul spent its precious gold reserves to purchase Prussian industrial equipment, mainly focusing on four aspects: steel mining and smelting, mechanical machine tool production and processing, chemical and textile manufacturing, and military weapons production.
The steel and machinery industry is the core of the development of heavy industry. Sun Bin directly purchased a large steel plant, three medium-sized coal mining plants, two mineral waste processing plants, and three mechanical machine tool production and processing plants from Prussia.
Among them, if the raw materials are abundant, the steel plant can produce up to 10,000 tons of pig iron per year.
The three coal mining plants have a total production capacity of 450,000 tons.
At the end of 1868, among the major European countries, the annual steel output of Austria-Hungary was about 400,000 tons, France was 900,000 tons, Prussia was 920,000 tons, and the United Kingdom was 5 million tons.
British colonies are spread all over the world. The British Empire's navy ranks first in the world. Its naval power is more powerful than the next four countries combined. It has a powerful navy. British merchant ships transport various raw materials around the world and then process them in factories.
The finished products were sold to India and the mainland areas ruled by the Qing Dynasty, and huge profits were made.
Rio Grande do Sul's population and national strength are small, and it cannot smelt steel as much as the European powers and increase industrial output as quickly as the European powers. However, although the joint factory with an annual output of 10,000 tons is not as good as the European powers, it ranks among the major countries in South America.
The large-scale steel smelting plant in China is only slightly smaller than Brazil and Peru, several countries with rich steel reserves.
Weapons and military factories are related to national defense security, and chemical textiles are related to the daily lives of ordinary people. Therefore, factory equipment in these two areas is equally indispensable.
Building telegraph lines is conducive to the transmission of military information. However, because Rio Grande do Sul has a sparse population and the main army is concentrated in a few major strongholds, not much equipment is purchased. Ship manufacturing requires a lot of technical accumulation and financial support, plus transport ships.
The fleet capacity was limited, so only two small shipyards were purchased to produce commercial ships of less than 1,000 tons.
Steel plants, machinery processing plants, weapons and arsenal factories, and textile factories are all established in Passo Fundo. Two small shipyards are established on the west bank of Lake Patos, taking advantage of the excellent port of Porto Alegre. At the same time, because it is located in Paso Fundo
Inside Lake Stu, you can avoid sea attacks from hostile countries.
The second half of the 20th century is the age of the ocean. Rio Grande do Sul is limited in human and financial resources and can only build two commercial shipyards. This does not mean giving up the development of naval power. On the contrary, it should use the two civilian shipyards to accumulate shipbuilding technology and wait until the finances are strong.
, Rio Grande do Sul can purchase a warship shipyard and produce warships made by the Chinese themselves.
On the afternoon of December 12, it took four and a half days to unload all the machinery and equipment on the fleet to the shore. More than 50 inland river vessels carrying disassembled machinery and equipment parts docked at the Guaiba estuary, and were about to sail along the coast.
River to Passofundo.
In December, the Guayba River was in the dry season, with less water and lower water depth. Here came the order for the fleet to set off. Tens of thousands of Brazilian prisoners of war gathered by the river began to pull the ropes to move the ship forward under the supervision of the Chinese soldiers.
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"Kaka", under the heavy pace of the Brazilian prisoners of war, the first inland river ship loaded with machinery sailed out of the shallow water and began to slowly accelerate forward with the help of the sail on the ship.
The first ship left, and the prisoners behind it pulled the ships one by one in order. Two hours later, all fifty docked ships sailed out of the shallow water area. The Brazilian prisoners of war who had completed their tasks left the port in batches and walked to another construction site.
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Brazilian prisoners of war will still participate in labor before the Brazilians redeem them. However, after the peace agreement is signed, the labor time and intensity of prisoners of war will be reduced, and it will not be as hard as it was at the beginning.
The vast majority of the fleet is loaded with mechanical equipment, rifles, and artillery only account for a small part.
Ten thousand Dresser rifles, four infantry divisions with 1,500 rifles each, three mixed brigades with 1,000 rifles each, and the remaining 1,000 rifles are equipped in small quantities with military police regiments, engineering regiments, communications battalions and other units.
In terms of artillery, the purchased artillery will form a new artillery unit according to the following organization:
65mm artillery battery: 6 65mm small mountain guns, 120 people, not equipped with guard soldiers, generally attached to army combat troops.
75mm field artillery battalion: 15 guns, 500 people,
105 mm howitzer regiment: 24 guns, 1,500 people,
155mm heavy artillery regiment: 15 guns, 1800 people.
Three artillery units of different sizes constitute the main artillery branch of the Rio Grande do Sul Defense Forces.
Among them, the artillery brigade was reorganized. The new artillery brigade includes: a 105mm howitzer regiment, two 75mm artillery battalions, five 65mm artillery battalions, a brigade security company, communications company, heavy battalion, medical company, total number of personnel
4000, maintaining full capacity.
The missing artillery units in the field army were also supplemented: each division was equipped with one 75mm artillery battalion and five 65mm artillery batteries.
Each mixed brigade is equipped with one 75mm artillery battalion and three 65mm artillery batteries.
The 155mm heavy artillery regiment is organized separately and is directly under the jurisdiction of the National Defense Forces Headquarters.
Rifles and artillery have been updated. Although the number of the National Defense Force has been reduced by about 5,000, the overall combat effectiveness has been improved. Correspondingly, the National Defense Force has become more dependent on the supply of logistical ammunition.
The Dresser rifle production line and three types of artillery factories will be built. Under the guidance of Prussian technical experts, Chinese apprentices can master the machine operation methods in about half a year to a year. The 155mm heavy artillery has high technical requirements, and Prussia will also
Manufacturing is considered a core military technology and there are no plans to sell it to the Chinese for the time being.
Therefore, the maintenance of the 155mm heavy artillery and the supply of artillery shells still have to be purchased and paid for by Prussia.
A large transaction was completed. As part of the transaction, 700 Prussian technical workers, 300 technical experts, and 200 military commanders also arrived in Rio Grande do Sul with the fleet. They will stay here for the next year.
, responsible for teaching Chinese apprentices to use machinery and equipment. After a year, some technical experts continued to stay, and most of the remaining Prussians left Rio Grande do Sul and returned to Europe in accordance with the transaction contract.
While the 1,200 Prussians stayed in Rio Grande Sul, their wages were paid by the Chinese. At the same time, considering the poor working and living environment in Rio Grande Sul, their wages were paid at 2.5 times the Prussian average standard.
Spending a large amount of gold to purchase equipment, Li Mingyuan did not care about spending more money on technical experts. Therefore, after the 1,200 Prussians disembarked, Li Mingyuan first placed them in the new capital city. After the first batch of Cuban Chinese workers arrived two days later, and
Huagong worked together to select a specific site for factory construction and then put it into full construction.
