In the Chang'an Palace, before all the army and navy generals arrived, Li Mingyuan was listening carefully to the annual development reports of various central departments in the Zhongji Hall.
"In 1880, local crude steel output was 36,000 tons. Compared with the annual output of 7,000 tons in 1878, the production capacity increased more than five times. Such rapid progress in crude steel output is due to the hard work and efforts of local steel workers.
It would also be indispensable for you all to perform your duties.”
Li Mingyuan looked through the 1880 steel industry development report data presented by the Ministry of Industry. After a few words of appreciation, he continued to encourage, "In recent years, the heavy industry technology and steel production capacity of European powers have developed rapidly. Comparing the data of various countries two years ago,
At the end of 1878, the annual crude steel output of the United Kingdom was 998,000 tons, the United States' output was 744,000 tons, Germany's output was 489,000 tons, France's 313,000 tons, and Russia's steel output was 95,000 tons. The domestic crude steel output was 7,060 tons, and Japan's crude steel output was 998,000 tons.
The output is 2000 tons,
Just two years later, at the end of 1880, the crude steel output of the world's major industrial countries reached 4.4 million tons.
The United Kingdom continues to rank first in the world with an annual crude steel output of 1.316 million tons. The United States' crude steel output exceeded one million tons, ranking second in the world with 1.267 million tons, and Germany ranked third with a production of 624,000 tons.
Although France ranks fourth in the world with 389,000 tons, the gap with Tsarist Russia has gradually narrowed. Tsarist Russia's crude steel output reached 308,000 tons, ranking fifth in the world. As the only country in the Far East that fully learns from the West,
Perhaps stimulated by the speed of industrial development in the empire, Japan's crude steel output increased by about 800 tons, reaching an annual crude steel output of 2,800 tons."
Li Mingyuan paused for a while, waiting for the heads of departments in the palace to digest the previous information, and continued, "We need to see the gap with the European powers. The local crude steel production has increased from 7,000 tons to 36,000 tons, and the annual production capacity has increased by 2.9
Thousands of tons, while the increase in crude steel production capacity in the United Kingdom, Germany, and France is calculated in units of 100,000 tons. If the United States is also included in the example of increasing crude steel production capacity by more than 500,000 tons within two years, local steel
The industry still has a long way to go.”
"Your Majesty, please admit that since the founding of the People's Republic of China, there has been only one comprehensive steel enterprise in the country, the Iron and Steel United Group. In 1880, 71% of the local crude steel production capacity and 53% of the pig iron production came from the Iron and Steel United Group.
If it is required to continue to increase steel production capacity, there are only two ways to go. One is to choose a suitable location to build a new coal and steel complex; the other is to continue to purchase smelting and forging machinery and equipment to expand the scale of the steel complex and improve production capacity.
.”
Chen Shen, Director-General of the Ministry of Industry, took a step forward and explained.
Hanguo Iron and Steel United Group is located in Xing'an County (Paso Fundo), Yangzhou (Rio Grande do Sul). The entire group's industrial park includes smelters, forging plants, pig iron plants, Besse Ma Steel Plant, Siemens Steel Plant, and rail plants.
, iron goods factory, wrought iron factory, machine factory, iron foundry, blacksmithing factory, fish fillet hook and nail factory, arsenal, gunpowder factory, needle and nail factory, gun factory, artillery shell factory, a total of seventeen large-scale steel and military industries
The factory area, as well as hundreds of related supporting factories, are the core of Han's heavy industry and the only industrial complex covering the entire production process.
Building such a heavy industrial complex is not a simple matter for a country that develops industry from scratch.
Going back ten years, in 1895, the Japanese Meiji government used Manchu indemnity to establish the Yawata Iron Works, which started production in 1901. Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, established the Hanyang Iron Works in 1890, and it was completed and put into operation in September 1893.
Since the Hanguo Iron and Steel Group established its first small steelmaking plant at the end of 1869, it has spent twelve years gradually ordering medium and large smelting equipment, as well as supporting facilities such as forging and cutting. After paying two to two dollars more than ordinary Western experts,
After three times the salary, hiring steel and military industry experts, and suffering many failures, Han Guo United Steel Group developed into a heavy industrial complex with more than 300 large and small supporting factories.
If the Han government's current financial resources are to rebuild a steel complex, it would be better to invest funds in the Han State Iron and Steel United Group, purchase more and more advanced equipment, introduce more mature industrial technology, and try to build it up
Serve as an incubator for the development of local heavy industry, consolidate local heavy industry technology accumulation and reserves, and then, when conditions permit, draw skilled technicians and experts from the Iron and Steel United Group to replicate a new heavy industry complex based on the Iron and Steel United Group's plan
body.
Li Mingyuan preferred another option, so he agreed, "Then choose the second option. Your Ministry of Industry will take the lead and discuss with the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to first list the machines and equipment that need to be purchased.
The list will then be submitted for review and confirmation by me.”
"Your Majesty, what is the approximate amount of funds allocated? The Iron and Steel United Group uses money in many places. Paying for foreign experts, technicians, local employee training, and purchasing new smelting equipment all require considerable expenses."
"Within three years, 4 million Han yuan (equivalent to 2 million taels of silver) will be specially allocated to the Iron and Steel United Group. There will be no more. Moreover, the Iron and Steel United Group has the Manister Steel Pipe Rolling Method and the Haffield Discovery in its hands.
Refining method of manganese steel, (Chapter 265 above),
Although the government has exchanged 13 technologies involving steel production with the Germans using the Manister steel pipe rolling method and new manganese steel technology, during the local ten-year development plan, industries such as railways and infrastructure construction are in urgent need of steel raw material supplies.
There is no shortage of sales for the crude steel, pig iron and deep-processed steel pipes, rails, nails and other products produced by the United Steel Group. The funds raised from the sale of steel products can be used in the United Steel Group itself, which can also fill a large gap in funds.
Therefore, the money allocated by the government is only 4 million Chinese yuan for the time being, and if we need to purchase unplanned machinery and equipment, you have to find a way to solve it yourself."
Manganese has been used as an additive in steelmaking before. When the dosage is not enough, it cannot change the brittleness of the steel. When it is increased to 12 to 13%, the brittleness effect disappears. Then it is heated at 1000 degrees and quenched in water. The steel
Harden, and the crude steel refined in this way is used to make rails. The life of the rails is 15 to 20 times that of wrought iron. For cost-saving reasons, it took two years after the method of making manganese steel was discovered in December 1878.
After trial production and the matching and improvement of related smelting technologies, it was not until the beginning of 1881 that the construction of railways using manganese steel as raw material instead of wrought iron as rails was promoted on a large scale.
Following the annual work report of the Director-General of the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Accounts, the Ministry of Finance and other departments also reported on the work results of the past year.
Throughout 1880, 6 new counties and 52 towns were established in the mainland area, and a new Yizhou Islands administrative region was established in the South Pacific. In late July this year, the French Polynesian Islands of Nicea, which were exchanged from the French, were also established.
It was incorporated into the administrative jurisdiction of Yizhou Islands, and the administrative level of Yizhou Islands was correspondingly raised to the prefectural level.
At the same time, with the addition of more than 5,000 square kilometers of territory in the South Pacific, Pahiti, the former capital of French Polynesia, will serve as a South Pacific base with equal emphasis on Apia, the capital of Samoa. From a long-term strategic perspective, Pahiti
The status of Ti Island is more important than that of Apia, and it is not an exaggeration to call it the Hawaii of Han Dynasty.
In addition to the joy that the increase in local steel production brought to Li Mingyuan, the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Immigration Management Department, which is responsible for immigration affairs, also brought good news. The expenditures and income of the immigration operation had reached a balance, and in November 1880, for the first time
Profitability occurs.
The expenses of the immigration transportation operation mainly come from bribery, bribery of officials in coastal areas of the mainland, transportation between the Far East and South America routes, living expenses, consumption of medical supplies, funds to purchase transportation ships, crew salaries and other early transportation costs, as well as official information provided by the authorities after arriving in South America.
long-term costs such as food, livestock, simple wooden houses, and newborn education.
Two important expenditures have caused the immigration transportation operation to suffer losses all year round. The government needs to provide financial subsidies every year to maintain normal transportation operations. However, as time accumulates, the potential economic benefits brought by the two-year voluntary labor of newly naturalized residents gradually become apparent.
benefits, and the immigrants quickly settled down in the homeland. By engaging in farming, animal husbandry, industry, marine fishery and other labor, they gradually accumulated a certain amount of funds, and had the ability to repay the original loan from the government to purchase agricultural tools, land, etc.
As a result, since 1876, the amount of loan funds recovered by the government gradually increased. By 1880, after more than ten years of continuous immigration transportation operations, the potential economic effects contained in it were finally intuitively reflected in the summary of immigration affairs revenue and expenditure.
show.
The income and expenditure of the immigration transportation operation have been balanced, which has relieved the government of a financial burden. However, local infrastructure construction and the army and navy armament plan have become the government's other two major financial consumers.
Infrastructure projects such as railways, water conservancy, and canal excavation are costly and delayed for a long time. However, because some foreign funds and private capital are allowed to intervene, and the project time span is long, the government can always find a way to deal with it by squeezing in other places.
, However, when it comes to military construction related to national security, it is impossible to save money even if you want to.