Super Dictator

Wei Jichen could only accept Zhou Fu's praise shamelessly.

Yan Dunyuan is the general manager of Anshan Iron Works, and Zhou Fu is the general manager. Zhou Fu was originally a little unhappy about Wei Jichen placing people around him, but in the past few months, Yan Dunyuan has proven with his talents that Wei Jichen's recommendation was correct.

Yan Dunyuan waited until Zhou Fu finished speaking and then reported to Wei Jichen with excitement: "Wei Shuai, the iron ore collected from Anshan was sent to Hanyang Iron Works for smelting. The final smelted steel is qualified."

The iron ore in the Anshan area is widely distributed and has a very complex composition. After Zhou Fu and Yan Dunyuan planned to build the Anshan Iron Works, they collected some specimens from all the places where the miners found iron ore, and then classified them into categories. The iron was shipped to Hanyang, and finally the ore mined from some places was smelted to meet the standards.

What does this mean? It means that we can save a lot of money, just buy a batch of old machines from Hanyang Iron Works at a low price.

Li Hongzhang and Sheng Xuanhuai of Anshan Iron Works are both shareholders in it. Now that Sheng Xuanhuai has taken over Hanyang Iron Works, he will vigorously promote this matter.

Zhou Fu also smiled and took a sip of tea and said: "General Wei always has unexpected solutions. Zhou really admires him."

As soon as Zhou Fu took office, he thought about buying machines from abroad. He expected that this matter would turn out to be a turn of events. Not only did he save a lot of money, but most importantly, he also saved a lot of time, allowing the iron factory to implement it as soon as possible. , this move greatly increased his affection for Wei Jichen.

Wei Jichen laughed and said, "I'm talking nonsense too. Did I ever expect that things would go so smoothly? Now that the machine has been found, I wonder when it will be put into production?"

Seeing Wei Jichen's anxious look, Zhou Fu couldn't help but smile and said: "The factory and mine buildings are already under construction, and the factory technicians have almost been recruited. Now we are waiting for the furnaces from Hanyang Iron Works to be delivered, and when production is completed Steel, it is estimated that it will not be until the beginning of next year.”

The furnace is the main machine, but there are other machines that have to be bought from abroad.

Wei Jichen frowned. He didn't expect that the speed would be so slow after solving the main machine problem.

Seeing his frown, Yan Dunyuan couldn't help but explain: "Wei Shuai, the laborers have to build the factory six hours a day. This is the fastest time."

Six hours, that is, twelve hours.

According to the plan, the Anshan Iron Works will include 20 large and small factories including iron plants, steel plants, and iron foundries, 2 furnaces, 5,000 workers, and 2,000 coal miners. After completion, it will surpass the Hanyang Iron Works and become the first and largest in Asia. Steel Plant.

Wei Jichen said that to produce steel, it does not mean that so many factories can produce it all at once, but that all of them must be put into production. One year is simply not enough.

Wei Jichen thought for a while and asked aloud: "Why not adopt a three-shift system? In this way, the construction speed can be more than doubled."

"Three shifts?" Zhou Fu and Yan Dunyuan heard this name for the first time. They looked at each other and then looked at Wei Jichen in confusion.

Wei Jichen almost forgot that there is no such term yet. He couldn't help but transform into an evil capitalist and began to explain: "Three shifts means dividing the workers into three groups, each group working for eight hours, so that they can be used 24 hours a day. ”

Zhou Fu and Yan Dunyuan were both smart people. When they heard Wei Jichen's explanation, they immediately understood that they didn't have to worry about manpower. They could still recruit if they didn't have enough, but they hadn't thought of using their time at night before.

Although winter is about to begin, some indoor work can be moved to the evening. In this way, with proper planning, the construction time of Anshan Iron Works will be reduced by half.

Zhou Fu murmured to himself: "Three shifts, why didn't I think of this idea!"

He slapped his forehead in sudden realization, then looked at Wei Jichen with a strange expression and said, "General Wei, I suddenly realized that if you go into business, you will definitely make a fortune."

Wei Jichen said lightly: "I have just opened a shipping company, but it is still losing money. It seems that saying it and doing it are two different things."

Wei Jichen's funny words made both of them smile and take a sip of tea.

Next came the meaty drama, and Wei Jichen said calmly: "It's luck, I saved a British princess in Lushun not long ago."

This was still a secret and only a few people knew about it. Now that Wei Jichen said it, it immediately attracted the attention of Zhou Fu and Yan Dunyuan.

"Rescued a British princess?" Yan Dunyuan said with some astonishment: "The British princess actually ran to China."

Zhou Fu also found this matter very strange and interesting, and he couldn't guess why Wei Jichen mentioned it at this time. His ears were perked up, waiting for Wei Jichen's next words.

"The ideas of foreigners are naturally different from ours. Let's not talk about it for now. The most important thing is that this Maude, uh, Maude is the British princess." Wei Jichen said it too intimately, but fortunately he stopped in time. , continued: "This Princess Maud is very kind, very grateful for our life-saving grace, and always wants to repay us with something."

repay? Zhou Fu's heart moved, and he looked at Wei Jichen with unblinking eyes.

Wei Jichen felt uncomfortable being stared at by the two people, so he had to say quickly: "When she said that at that time, I started to think about it. Now that I am building a factory and running a mine in Liaodong, why don't I need machines? So I proposed, Let Princess Maud help us arrange the connections and purchase the machines we need from the UK.”

In the past, when China purchased machinery from the UK, it was entrusted to the minister in the UK. Many of them were deceived by the British, such as buying guns and cannons. What was installed on the outside were new guns and cannons of the same color, but there were hidden things inside. A large number of old guns and ammunition were used indiscriminately.

When Zhou Fu and Zhou Fu heard what Wei Jichen said, they gasped loudly. They didn't expect Wei Jichen to actually make a request. Maybe the British princess just said it casually, and you really asked another princess to do something for you. Isn't this trying to repay a favor?

My dear, there will be more after this chapter^.^,

Although the two of them found it incredible that Wei Jichen said that he saved the life of the British princess, they could still accept it. After all, Wei Jichen could not lie to them about such a big thing, and as long as the matter was secret, they could still find out by asking around. of.

Wei Jichen didn't know that the two of them were slandering him in their hearts, but he continued calmly: "The British will benefit, and the British royal family also has business. Unexpectedly, I made this request, but Princess Maud smiled happily. Why do you think so? It turns out that this Princess Maud actually started a company of her own.”

"The princess also started a company herself, and the foreign culture is really open." Zhou Fu could not help but admire Wei Jichen's good luck.

Yan Dunyuan asked, "What kind of company has this Mod Company opened?"

Wei Jichen gave him an appreciative look and said that Dunyuan was a good young man who knew how to follow his words.

Wei Jichen calmly took a sip of tea, cleared his throat, and then continued: "This Mod Company has opened a transit company, well, it is also a comprador company. As long as she charges a small intermediary fee, she can Buy us the latest, most authentic, and cheapest machines.”

Zhou Fu couldn't help lowering his head when he heard this and considered it carefully. For the sake of reputation, the British princess should not lie to others. Although she had to charge some intermediary fees, the price of the machine she purchased was definitely cheaper than purchasing it herself, and it would not Being deceived.

"What does Commander Wei want?" Although Yan Dunyuan understood what Wei Jichen meant, he still asked.

"Yes, I want to entrust her with the purchase of all the machines our Anshan Iron Works needs." Wei Jichen said with a smile.

Although Wei Jichen could force Zhou Fu to obey him, it would be unwise to do so. In addition, Anshan Iron Works has many shareholders who work as officials to supervise merchants and run enterprises. If they find out that he is harming the public and enriching himself, they might have a plot. Something happened, so he spent a lot of time trying to convince Zhou Fu.

Although Zhou Fu was recommended by himself, he is now the general manager of the Fengtian Coal and Iron Administration and is a person trusted by all parties.

"General Wei, let's do this. Let's purchase a small amount of machines from the British princess and give it a try first. If it's really of high quality and low price, it won't be too late for us to start long-term cooperation." Although Zhou Fu was convinced by Wei Jichen, But the trouble was serious and the money spent was millions, so he had to act cautiously.

"Brother Zhou's words make sense, and that's exactly what I think." Wei Jichen smiled and agreed.

Zhou Fu is very famous and has a wide network of friends. He has friendships with many industrial figures among the Westernization faction. If the leather bag company that Maude is about to register can gain trust from him, it will surely become famous in China through him. , when the time comes, business will roll in, and your money will also roll in.

Mining and iron smelting was just a prelude to Wei Jichen's plan. His main purpose was to build railways, build arsenals, and even build docks to build his own ships.

It's just that for the construction of the railway, even the Qing government had to consider the amount of money spent. He couldn't afford it alone, and Wei Jichen was not willing to be taken advantage of.

However, this road has to be repaired. After it is repaired, the benefits will be even greater.

Wei Jichen started to have a wrong idea again. Zhou Fu once pioneered the commercial railway in China. Now that the Anshan Iron Works is being built, it would be best to build a railway to Fushun first. This will make coal transportation much more convenient. This railway is shorter. , the Qing government should be able to afford it.

However, what Wei Jichen wanted to build was a major railway line connecting the three eastern provinces, and the cost would probably be astronomical. At this time, the Qing government was financially strapped, and even if it allocated funds, it would definitely not be enough to build it.

Therefore, Wei Jichen thought of the road protection movement in Sichuan in later generations. At that time, the Sichuan-Hankou and Guangdong-Hankou Railways adopted the method of collecting private shares, which were supplemented by rent shares, rent shares, rice donation shares, and salt shares under the taxation items of the local government. Donate shares, house shares, etc. to raise funds for road construction, so not only the gentry, merchants and landlords in the four provinces became shareholders, but even some farmers also held stocks.

Later, under the pressure of the great powers, the Qing government wanted to nationalize these two railways and auction them to the great powers. This caused public outrage and a road protection movement, which eventually led to the collapse of the Qing court.

Wei Jichen now wanted to encourage Zhou Fu to write to the court to use this method to build the railways in the three eastern provinces. As for why he didn't write the letter himself, it was because he liked to hide in the dark.

"Brother Zhou, after the iron plant is built, I wonder if Brother Zhou has thought about the market for the steel produced?" Wei Jichen asked in a nonchalant manner.

Zhou Fu said without thinking: "Of course it will be used to build railways."

Wei Jichen nodded with a smile and said: "A lot of steel is used to build railways, but Brother Zhou has never thought about it. There is Hanyang Iron Works in the south. The steel they produce will definitely be used on the railways in the south. And our Anshan Iron Works is like this With such a huge scale, if there is no sales, it will eventually go bankrupt at a loss.”

Zhou Fu didn't expect that the factory hadn't been built yet, and Wei Jichen was worried about sales. However, Wei Jichen had been too dazzling in the past, so he started to follow Wei Jichen's train of thought.

"So, what General Wei means is that if the steel from our Anshan Iron Works is to be marketable, the north must also vigorously build railways?" Zhou Fu was a smart man and immediately understood what Wei Jichen meant.

Wei Jichen showed an appreciative smile and said unhurriedly: "Nowadays, all provinces want to build railways, but the imperial household department is empty. Where is the extra silver? In the end, I don't know which province can take the lead. If we can find a unique way , and if we raise money, we will definitely get the approval of the court, so we can start it first.”

"Oh, I wonder if General Wei has any clever plan?" Zhou Fu asked curiously.

Wei Jichen smiled lightly and calmly described the method of preparing the Sichuan-Hankou Railway.

Zhou Fu and Yan Dunyuan were stunned for a while after hearing Wei Jichen's method.

"What does Wei Shuai mean, is that even ordinary people can get shares in the railway?" Yan Dunyuan asked with a cautious look.

Wei Jichen said nonchalantly: "What's wrong with ordinary people owning shares? They don't have management rights. As long as we give them some dividends when we make profits, this railway is ultimately controlled by our local government."

"What General Wei said is not unreasonable. Zhou is willing to take the lead and write to the court to facilitate this matter." Zhou Fu knew the reason why Wei Jichen told him this method, so he immediately accepted it.

It is very simple for Wei Jichen to do this, that is, to activate private capital, and the copper coins that the landlords and old money keep at home can be used for me. Not only will the iron factory not have to worry about sales after it is built, but also the railway built through raising funds will , whoever dares to sell them to other countries will surely bear the wrath of the people.