Chapter 8: Discussion in the Train Carriage

  A train spewing thick smoke and rumbling loudly left Tianjin Station, then traveled across the vast plain between Tianjin and Beijing. At this time, the sky was drizzling with rain. As the train had just left Tianjin Station, one could still vaguely see the remains of houses burned down during the Wu Xing uprising a month ago along the roadside. Occasionally, when the train passed by an official road, one could also see refugees from the uprising living in thatched huts on both sides of the road.

  The train lurched and screeched as it rounded a curve, and the people in the middle car were jolted awake. Later, the train seemed to be shaking itself straight again, picking up speed beneath them, its iron wheels clicking rhythmically along the tracks, and they relaxed once more.

  At this time, in a relatively luxurious first-class carriage of the train, this group of people from all over the world had been proofreading the company's development plan formulated in the past month. Now, with only about 5 minutes left before the break was over, some were quietly smoking while others were writing scattered and disjointed comments, waiting to start again.

  Paul Radford puffed thoughtfully on his straight-stemmed pipe, then realized the tobacco was burning out and set about dumping the white ash into the car's ashtray.

  "Mr. Li, do you really think it's possible to build this factory as planned within two and a half years?"

  Across from the sofa, Dr. Chapman, a metallurgist hired by Bethlehem Steel Corporation, looked up from the page of the document he was holding in his hand, and others also cast their eyes on Mr. Li.

  To everyone's eyes, the Mr. Li in front of them is undoubtedly an enigma. Half a month ago, he was still unknown, but now? This Chinese man who has become famous in both China and the US arrived in China by ocean liner, bringing with him 86 experts from various fields whom he had hired from the United States.

  It seems to almost everyone that the Mr. Li in front of them is brewing a dream, although it might be more accurate to say planning! But in their eyes, this is undoubtedly closer to a dream, especially after they get to know this country better.

  According to the plan made in the United States, the steel company established by the company in Baotou will be one of the largest in Asia in terms of scale and output. It is a joint enterprise with dozens of factories and mines for mining, ore dressing, sintering, coking, steelmaking, rolling, refractory materials, machinery repair and other systems. The main production departments of each factory and mine adopt advanced technology equipment and new technologies in the metallurgical industry. Its equipment is world-class and also one of the largest steel plants in Asia.

  The main equipment of this factory is completely referenced from the American Lehigh Valley Bethlehem Steel Corporation, even including the factory drawings, which were directly purchased by Taylor from the Bethlehem company. Of course, except for the blast furnace, the rest only need to follow the old drawings for construction, and after the machines are installed, they can start work. Although the factory design phase is saved, everyone still holds a skeptical attitude.

  Although Paul Radford, who hosted the Bethlehem Steel plant planning and design five years ago, believed that he could compress the construction period to within three years, two and a half years was indeed too short, and there were other problems that needed to be solved.

  "I really don't know, Paul, maybe it's possible."

  Li Zichen racked his brains to recall, now there were too many things like this, especially when he was getting closer and closer to the capital, every time he saw the crowd welcoming him at the train station, he would really wonder what was waiting for him behind such a welcome.

  Is it a trap? Or...

  "Haven't I mentioned it before? The design drawings of those factories directly use the old factory drawings, we can do the foundation work after excavating the site, and then install and debug the equipment while constructing the building at the same time. Dr. Hollis, how much shorter do you think the construction period will be if we do it this way?"

  "According to calculations, if sufficient machinery and manpower are invested, taking the largest steel mills and rolling mills as examples, construction can be completed within a year. Of course, consideration must also be given to the proficiency of workers."

  Dr. Horace Van Dusen looked up at Mr. Li.

  "I am very pessimistic about the quality of workers in China. Based on the information we currently have, it will take at least half a year to train just steel plant installation workers."

  Dr. Chapman nodded.

  "It's nothing, it's just this problem, we have no choice but to say that the quality of workers directly determines the speed of factory construction."

  "Yes, sir, in other countries, I have never encountered such a situation."

  Kas Miller said that among the experts hired by Li Zicheng were elites from American industry, and many of those responsible for factory construction had participated in planning, design and construction of large enterprises in the US, Germany and Britain.

  Their words furrowed Li Zichen's brow, perhaps he had thought of the problem too simply.

  "Maybe. Without skilled workers, companies can train! This problem can always be solved."

  Having said that, Li Zichen forced a smile and thought to himself: the experts he had hired were always repeating "this is impossible", "that is impossible". If everything was impossible, then why bother doing anything at all?

  "I think that maybe in the next year, we can recruit workers all over China. Now there are many vagrants in China, I've seen relevant information on the ship, if needed, we can even hire tens of millions of people, and only need to pay a paltry few hundred million yuan per month!"

  Li Zichen's words, however, were met with no response. Perhaps to others, this was just a fantasy. China may be able to provide sufficient labor, but that doesn't mean it can provide sufficient workers.

  Paul Radford slowly wiped his hot pipe bowl. Horace Van Dusen took off his horn-rimmed glasses, held them up to the light and then put them back on. Cass Miller chewed quietly on a piece of straw, gazing down at the somewhat worn carpet. Since getting off the boat from Tsingtao, despite having gotten off the train only once along the way, he had found this country more backward than they had imagined.

  "Alright, training the installation workers is easy, but what about the technical workers in the factory? How can this problem be solved? Moreover, Mr. Li, the factory needs a large number of workers. Perhaps we can set up hundreds of factories within a year, but training tens of thousands of workers within a year is extremely difficult!"

  These experts' refutations left Li Zichen speechless.

  "Alright,"

  Li Zichen said, running his hand through his already grown-out short hair.

  "The workers' problem can be solved, we can recruit from other factories, set up training schools, and even hire some workers from the United States to come over. Of course, we want the best ones. Perhaps they don't speak our language, but at least they can get our machines running!"

  After a moment of silence, Li Zichen's eyes swept across the so-called luxurious private room, where the experts were members of his own "expert group" who were supposed to help him design and build a world-class steel company in Asia.

  From the faces of these people, he could see some tired expressions. In nearly a month's journey, from trains to the Pacific, from the ocean back to trains, they had been working all along, and everyone was very tired. However, Li Zichen still decided not to care about these things and put his eyes close to the manuscript in his hand again.

  "Oh, now, let's talk about another issue!"

  Li Zichen paused for a moment and looked at Sirtis, who was his own appointed railway expert.

  "According to the current situation, although the government had planned to build the Beijing-Suiyuan Railway many years ago, after the completion of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, the Zhangjiakou-Suiyuan Railway started construction at the same time. Last year, when the railway was built to Yanggao, Shanxi Province, an uprising broke out in the south, and due to the lack of timely funding, the railway was forced to be suspended, so this is what we must solve."

  "Not bad."

  Listening to Xierdis' words, Li Zichen nodded and repeated, checking the yellow draft in his hand.

  "The transportation of equipment for building the steel mill and the future product shipment both rely on this railway, it can be said that this railway is the lifeline of the enterprise."

  "But now this 824-kilometer-long railway has only been repaired to Yanggu County, and there are still 491 kilometers of railways that have not been built! Moreover, the Chinese government seems to be unable to continue repairing this railway, at least for now, they do not have a corresponding plan, and even if they formulate a plan, it is difficult to match our plan!"

  Sirtis added that after boarding and disembarking, when he first reviewed the Beijing-Zhui Railway materials, he proposed that the company undertake the repair of this railway. In his view, the investment in this railway is worthwhile and can be recovered in 30 years.

  "I think that before all the work unfolds, on this trip to Beijing, we must take down the Beijing-Suiyuan Railway, and obtain the right to build the Yang-Sui section. Then, recruit as many workers as possible, and start phased bi-directional construction in the 56.6 km section from Yanggu to Datong, and the 44.8 km section from Datong to Fengzhen, in order to speed up progress. At the same time, make preparations for the 240.3 km section from Fengzhen to Guiyang, so that the final sections of Fenggui and Guibao can be constructed after the Yanggu-Fengzhen railway is completed."

  As a railway expert, Seles has hosted thousands of miles of railway construction in the United States and put forward suggestions from his professional perspective. In his view, this may be the only option to speed up the construction period.

  "How much investment is needed?"

  "It is estimated that building the entire railway will require a direct investment of $12 million!"

  Upon hearing this number, Li Zichen gulped down the coffee in his cup and stood up, remaining silent for a long time. This amount of money was beyond his expectations, it was... a bit too much, $120 million... The investment in the steel factory didn't even reach this figure, Fortunately, he could afford it.

  "If the railway is not repaired, it will be difficult for large equipment of steel mills to reach their destination."

  Taylor, who had been silent all along, spoke up at this time and reminded him.

  "Alright, gentlemen."

  Facing such a huge sum of money, everyone's eyes were on him, and Li Zichen finally walked over from the window to sit down beside the sofa.

  "This time we go to Beijing, we must get the commercial rights of this railway!"

  "May..."

  Paul Radford looked at Li Zichen and reminded him once again.

  "I need to remind you again, Mr. Li, that even if we can possibly repair the railway within a year and a half, it is impossible to build an iron and steel plant within one year, so it is necessary to reconsider the location of the iron and steel plant!"

  Here is this problem again!

  Furrowing his brow, Li Zichen fell into deep thought. Since he announced the location of the steel plant, they had been talking about one problem after another, and the most fundamental problem was transportation and site selection.

  The railway does not reach Baotou, so it is impossible to transport equipment to Baotou. If the equipment cannot be transported to Baotou, the construction of the steel plant will be delayed, this is basically...

  "Reach for the distance!"

  The door of the private room was suddenly pushed open, and Yang Du came in with a smile on his face.

  "The capital is almost here, and the President himself will come to Qianmen Railway Station to pick you up!"