Chapter 5: Huadong Group

  The elimination rate of the interview at Jiangbei Xunfang Camp is very high, reaching nearly one-third. Those who are too glib in speech and mannerisms are not wanted; such people will be hesitant on the battlefield and easily become deserters. Those without families are also unwanted; soldiers are like sharp blades, while families are like scabbards - a sharp blade without a scabbard can easily harm itself.

  Those with a ferocious and evil appearance are absolutely not wanted, while those with an auspicious appearance, even if their physical quality is not up to standard, can still barely make do.

  Those who have neither auspicious nor ominous signs shall be selected according to normal standards.

  These soldiers are almost all top-notch, young, spirited and unassuming! Overall, they have strong morale and are the best new recruits. In Jiangsu and Sichuan, 1,500 people were recruited in front of and behind, forming three battalions, claiming to be one battalion externally.

  The barracks are being built, and the military uniforms and ammunition have already been transported to the German concession in Qingdao. At that time, customs were all controlled by foreigners, so it was not difficult to smuggle some ammunition in, and there was no embargo at present.

  The amount of military equipment purchased by Jiang Yu is extremely large, but most of it was supported by his father-in-law. Mauser 98K 50,000 rifles, MP18 submachine guns 5,000 branches, ZB-26 light machine guns 3,000 guns, Maxim heavy machine guns 500 guns, 75mm rapid-fire cannons 300 doors, various caliber mortars 800 doors, 50 million rounds of ammunition, and 1 million artillery shells.

  All of these were manufactured by the arsenal itself. Due to some munitions being produced on semi-automatic production lines and with stamping technology, costs are relatively low.

  Apart from this, Jiang Yu also purchased 60 German 105mm howitzers and 36 French 155mm howitzers. The French 155mm howitzer had better performance than the German 150mm howitzer, but the French were too superstitious about the 75mm quick-firing gun. This large-caliber howitzer was a product for foreign sales in France, and the French army did not equip it. It is estimated that the French artillery will no longer use howitzers.

  For arms exports, both Germany and France were very active, because at this stage, whether it was France or Germany, industrial production capacity had already begun to exceed demand.

  What to do with overcapacity?

  It can only be solved by the government purchasing arms, and the purpose of purchasing arms is not to return to the furnace, but to solve the problem of overcapacity through war, and to shift the problem to other countries. Otherwise, once the problem of overcapacity erupts, internal unrest will occur, leading to unstable rule.

  So the German-born cartel is a terrifying monopoly monster, while the British and French cartels are also small monopoly monsters, and the American trust is an even more terrifying super-large monster than Germany.

  It's normal for monsters to fight each other. The outbreak of modern warfare is often related to economic issues, and poor economy is the main factor that breeds war.

  These munitions were smuggled into the German concession in Qingdao, and after Jiangsu took office in Huaiyin, he was busy recruiting soldiers and building barracks and warehouses.

  After the equipment arrived, Jiangbei Xunfangying began training.

  Jiang Yu and Jiang Fangzhen promulgated the military discipline that had been set long ago, and Jiang Yu also inserted his own people into it. There was a shopkeeper named Sun Zhendong who was a disciple of the Jiang family and had been trained by them since he was five years old.

  Jiang Yu had cultivated a group of young apprentices around his age, and now these young apprentices have also grown up. It can be foreseen that in the near future, a steady stream of business talents will emerge under Jiang Yu's leadership.

  Sun Zhendong was appointed as the commander of the Jiangbei Xunfang Camp, where he was in charge of enforcing military discipline and providing ideological education to soldiers.

  The main purpose of ideological education is still to grasp military power. In addition to promoting nationalist ideology, it also needs to instill in soldiers the idea of loyalty to Chiang Kai-shek, making them understand that Chiang Kai-shek is their breadwinner.

  To strengthen this concept, Jiang Yu arrived in Huaiyin and immediately invested in industry and commerce in Huaiyin, acquiring a large amount of land in Huaiyin, under which were iron mines, salt mines, oil fields, and many industrial sites.

  There are many things that can be invested in, but the development of oil and iron ore mining is a must. Jiang Yu found a German drilling team to come to Huaiyin for drilling.

  There are many wells to be drilled, oil extraction requires drilling wells, and underground rock salt mining also requires drilling wells.

  In addition, engineers were also hired from Germany and equipment was purchased to form several engineering teams, which began to build large-scale construction projects in Huaiyin, including factories, dormitories, schools, and hospitals.

  Jiang Yu had made extensive preparations before returning home, Jiang Yu plans to invest in a large shipyard in Hangzhou, and has already purchased three 15,000-ton docks in Germany.

  Before returning to China, Hans was also asked to procure machinery and equipment, and dispatch personnel to set up the Far East Group's synthetic ammonia plant, nitric acid plant, fertilizer plant, mechanical manufacturing plant, machine tool manufacturing plant, electric motor manufacturing plant, engine manufacturing plant, tractor manufacturing plant, automobile manufacturing plant, and aircraft manufacturing plant in China.

  Hans knew that Jiang Yu had such ideas and had already made preparations, but he was not interested in investing in China. The investment in China was still Jiang Yu's own responsibility, so Jiang Yu established a Chinese branch of Far East Group, renamed as "Huadong Group".

  In addition, Jiang Yu wants to set up his various laboratories in China as well and will dispatch some personnel from the laboratories to come to China to participate in research work.

  Additionally, Jiang Yu also had his father-in-law, You Kos, set up a branch of the munitions factory in China. Whose shares they were didn't matter; anyway, they would all belong to Jiang Yu in the future.

  Apart from investing in various factories, transportation and raw material issues must be resolved, otherwise relying on imported raw materials would be too costly.

  If it were a developed country, it would be easy to say that the raw materials are naturally better for others to dig up. However, Jiangsu and Chongqing currently do not have this capital, so they must take the road of self-reliance.

  Therefore, he again circled iron ore and coal mines in Wuhu, Anhui, and immediately contacted technical personnel from Germany and manufactured various equipment from Germany.

  The German Far East Group can already manufacture most of the equipment, and this year's equipment and machinery are mainly looking at people. Handicraft manufacturing has not withdrawn from industrial production, even in the 21st century, because manual work is always the most precise and flexible. An eighth-level craftsman is absolutely a treasure.

  The German craftsmen were among the best in the world at that time, so they could make the most precise machines.

  After the establishment of Far East Group, all the equipment to be purchased were bought, a large number of senior technicians were hired, and Jiang Yu arranged for many Chinese workers to work in the factory as technical apprentices. At the same time, German engineers were employed to take charge of technical matters, plus some advanced mechanical manufacturing knowledge provided by Jiang Yu, making Far East Group one of the most advanced machinery and equipment manufacturing groups in Germany.

  The equipment of the steel mill also needs to be built, and Jiang Yu's proposed converter top-blowing steelmaking method has been tested successfully. This technology is strictly confidential, and the laboratory is owned solely by Jiang Yu, with Hans being unaware of its existence.

  In order to build Wuhu Iron and Steel Base and Synthetic Ammonia Manufacturing Base, Jiang Yu specially ran to Anhui to visit Zhu Jiabao, the Governor of Anhui.

  He stuffed silver and gave 30% of the shares. Zhujiabao became Jiangyu's official protector in Wuhu industrial construction.

  The reason for giving shares is that Jiang Yu didn't care about Zhu Jia Bao's investment at all, and once the Xinhai Revolution broke out, he could kick Zhu Jia Bao out with one foot.

  Day and night rushing to work on the construction, the steel plant basically also started production around the time of the Xinhai Revolution, but Zhujiabao didn't even get a single cent when it first started production.

  That 30% of shares are just like flowers in the mirror and moon on the water, empty checks.

  At the same time, a railway from Huaiyin to Wuhu and another from Huaiyin to Lianyungang and Nantong will be built, with a total length of 360 kilometers. It is estimated that it will cost around 36 million silver dollars, as the Tianjin-Pukou Railway costs an average of 100,000 silver dollars per kilometer.

  Of course, there is some water in the Jinpu Railway, and many things need to be imported. Although Jiangyu also needs to import, he has connections in Germany, so the import price is much cheaper.

  As for those machinery manufacturing plants that require a lot of steel, they can be built directly in Wuhu and Ma'anshan areas. The coal mines needed on the Huaiyin side can be temporarily imported first, then transported to Lianyungang, and finally transported from Lianyungang to Huaiyin by train.

  In order to reduce costs, Jiang Yu sent people to surrounding provinces to recruit a large number of vagrants and poor people, with very low wages, but the greatest attraction was being able to eat their fill.

  Jiang Yu who had investigated in Western countries understood that the demographic dividend of workers is the greatest guarantee for industrial development in the initial stage of industrialization.

  To build up these industries, Jiang Yu invested nearly 30 million pounds. He mortgaged the French company, Yves Saint Laurent, to a French bank and the US subsidiary of Yves Saint Laurent to an American bank, borrowing 5 million pounds. Through his father-in-law's connections, he also borrowed 10 million marks (worth about 1 million pounds) in credit from Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Bank, and Commerzbank. At the same time, he mortgaged shares of Far Eastern Group in Germany to Deutsche Bank, obtaining a loan of 15 million pounds.

  Jiang Yu, who felt that he was short of money, immediately developed the light industry in Huai'an with great effort. The investment in light industry is small, and it works quickly, and can also improve people's quality of life.

  At this time Britain was talking about free trade, and if light industry did well it could be sold overseas.

  Jiang Yu can only call up ￡3 million, and there is also over ￡13 million that can be called up at home, but this money is used for the production, processing and export of raw silk, tung oil and tea leaves, and cannot be moved.

  Three million pounds was enough, and Jiang Yu immediately set up a cigarette factory in Huaiyin, as well as a textile mill, a refined salt factory, a match factory, and a paper mill.

  Another hardware processing plant was also set up in Wuhu.

  With so many factories, it's natural that there are power plants under construction. The factories run by Jiang Yu basically no longer use steam engines, but have started using electric motors.

  The motor is more lightweight and stable, which is a benefit brought by the advent of the electric age. The motor makes machine tool processing more precise and makes the efficiency of machine operation higher.

  A large number of factories were built in Huaiyin, Wuhu and Ma'anshan, and naturally, many workers were needed. The families of the Jiangbei Xunfang Camp became the first choice.

  Jiang Yu gave the dependents of the patrol camp soldiers better treatment, with a monthly salary of three silver dollars (ordinary workers half a silver dollar), and also provided food and accommodation. As long as they came to work in the factory, they would have no worries about food and clothing.

  Having a carefree life with food and clothing is something that many people envy, often hearing from the mouths of ordinary people that their livelihoods are just for the sake of making a living.

  Jiang Yu provided such an opportunity for the families of soldiers in Jiangbei Xunfang Camp, and soon most of the soldiers brought their families to Huaiyin.

  Here, military personnel's family members are assigned jobs, with no worries about food and clothing. When they fall ill, hospitals provide free medical treatment. If there are children, they can be sent to school for free.

  The conditions here are not generally good.

  Of course, Sun Zhendong also took the opportunity to publicize it. The soldiers understood that since they had brought their families to Huaiyin, they were on the same war chariot as Jiang and Yu.

  Their relationship with Jiang Yu will be one of mutual prosperity and shared loss.

  With a grip on the military family's scabbard, Jiang Yu can sheathe and unsheathe this sharp blade at will.