Antimony Company

  A newly built high gate house in the suburbs of Shanghai, with a few camellias transplanted in the courtyard. In the main hall, several people are sitting idly drinking tea. Outside the half-open vermilion gate, beyond the green glazed tile wall is a large expanse of lush tobacco fields, and Chen Yiru's home is right here.

  "This heart is at peace where I am, a fleeting glance at the flowers in the dust and mist. How many people are left who understand me? The new tea is faintly scented with the fragrance of bamboo."

  "Haha, this tobacco is an ordinary thing, but after Anhua said it, it has a different charm!" Wang Shouchang put down his teacup and couldn't help but praise. Lin Chong's face turned red, thinking that he could only apologize to Old Zhu, who was only four or five years old at the time and couldn't compose such a poem, so he had to plagiarize.

  Wang Shouchang graduated from Fujian Shipbuilding Academy, and Chen Yiru was also a student of the third batch of ship politics who traveled to Europe. This time, he left his post at Hanyang Machinery Bureau, but was recruited by Lin Rong to take charge of the machinery power plant at Hudong Shipyard. It is said that Chen Yiru lived nearby and had not yet started work when he took Lin Rong and others to visit him.

  Lin Xue this time found Chen Yiru, is to discuss with him the preparation of a new set of textbooks for the Commercial Press.

  The Commercial Press, which would later become a household name, was at this time still a small printing factory. Due to the keen eye of its general manager Xia Rui Fang, its publication of "Hua Ying Chu Jie" and "Hua Ying Jin Jie", a series of foreign language textbooks adapted from Indian English teaching materials, became bestsellers, gradually gaining fame.

  In 1902, the Commercial Press expanded its scale and established a joint-stock company. Lin Xue introduced Zhang Yuanji, who was in charge of the Translation Bureau of the Commercial Press, to invest 40,000 yuan, accounting for 40% of the total capital stock, becoming the largest shareholder of the Commercial Press. Not long ago, the press increased its capital by 100,000 yuan again, setting up a printing factory, a translation office and a distribution office, introducing advanced Western printing technology and machinery.

  At this time, the imperial court had already decided to abolish the imperial examination system and required each region to establish new-style schools. However, the imperial court did not take charge of compiling new-style textbooks, so the Commercial Press decided to edit a full set of new-style textbooks suitable for primary schools on its own initiative.

  Due to inexperience, Xia Ruizhi hired two Japanese experts, but Lin Xiu suggested that they should draw on the strengths of many houses, and have the Translation Bureau translate elementary school textbooks from England, France, Germany, the United States, Japan, etc. Take the excellent chapters of each country's teaching materials, divide the new teaching materials into subjects such as Chinese, arithmetic, natural science, geography, music, fine arts, history, etc., and publish them in a hierarchical order from shallow to deep. This idea was recognized by the majority of colleagues, including the two Japanese experts.

  As Chen Shoupeng had been in England, France and other countries for many years, Lin Chong thought of inviting him to take charge of the translation of English and French textbooks at the Translation Bureau when he came with Wang Shouchang.

  Chen Yiru's face fell after listening to Lin Chong's introduction, "This matter of compiling teaching materials, if there is a slight mistake, it will lead to great errors, and if not, it will mislead future generations. This task requires someone who is well-versed in both Chinese and Western learning to do it perfectly. I know that my stay in the West has been short, so I hope that my brother can take on this responsibility."

  "Oh, which brother is it?" Lin Chong asked.

  "My brother, Jingru, along with Wei Han, Chen Zhaochong, Liu Buxian, Lin Taiyin and others were originally the first batch of students sent to Europe by the Ship Administration. After completing his studies, my brother served as a counselor at the embassy in Europe for over a decade, but was later dismissed and returned home due to some trouble with foreigners involving Li Zhongtang's case. Now he is living idly in Shanghai." said Chen Yiru.

  "Is it Mr. Chen Jingru, who once served as the Director of Foreign Affairs of the Taiwan People's Republic? I met him in Xiamen with my uncle when I first came ashore, and he had helped the Lin family a great deal back then." Lin Rong said.

  "It's true, I forgot that Anhua also returned from Taiwan." Chen Yiru also smiled.

  "That's perfect, let's go invite Mr. Jingru together!"

  "My older brother is currently free from any troubles, but now there's a troublesome matter that's been bothering him, he needs to solve this first before he can extricate himself."

  "What's wrong?"

  "Does Anhua know about Qingxi Iron Mine in Guizhou?"

  "I did go there once, but the traffic in that place is really inconvenient, it's not suitable for opening an iron factory now." Lin Chong nodded and said.

  "Anhua's vision was indeed extraordinary, but at the time when Guizhou was developing its iron mines, Pan Zuyin didn't have such foresight. He only thought about how to quickly open up the mine and start a factory, changing the poor situation of Guizhou's people. Seeing that Qingxi had coal and iron, he vowed to build an unprecedented large factory. However, the iron factory he worked so hard to establish was in trouble from the moment it started production, mainly due to transportation difficulties. Despite Pan Zuyin's efforts, the iron factory eventually went bankrupt, and his brother died of exhaustion due to the factory's affairs. Pan Zuyin felt guilty and ashamed, having lost over 30 million silver dollars on the iron factory venture. He couldn't face the hundreds of thousands of Guizhou merchants and citizens, so he ended his life in regret, with a tragic outcome.

  Chen Yiru paused slightly before continuing: "My brother was entrusted by the iron factory to act as an intermediary and borrowed a sum of foreign funds from Ruiji Foreign Firm. However, after Qingxi Iron Factory went bankrupt, he and the firm's manager, Dai Maode, went to Guizhou to settle the debt. Unexpectedly, they did something foolish during this process. The two of them purchased tin mines in Shuikoushan and Xinning from Ou Yang and Zhu, committee members of Hunan Province Mining Bureau, on behalf of Ruiji Foreign Firm while they were in Guizhou settling accounts. This was a common practice abroad but unacceptable domestically. As a result, someone reported this to the authorities, and the two committee members from Hunan Province Mining Bureau were reprimanded by the governor and willing to go to Shanghai to apologize. However, my brother colluded with foreigners to dispute this matter, thinking he could use foreign funds to achieve something. But being so ignorant of national sentiment, how could he succeed?"

  Having said that, Chen Yiru couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

  Lin Xiao listened and smiled, "If it's Ruiji Yanghang and Daimade, this matter is easy. I'm currently entrusting Ruiji Yanghang to handle equipment worth several million marks, and at this time, the Arnold brothers of Ruiji Yanghang are in need of me."

  Chen Yiru was overjoyed when he heard the news and immediately set off with his wife to Chen Jingru's home in the French Concession, accompanying Lin Xue.

  Lin Xiao did not expect that Chen Jingru also lived in a courtyard on Hengfeng Road, not far from his own home. However, since he was often away from home and rarely returned to the Lin family garden within the concession, he had never seen her before.

  Chen Jingru was just over fifty, with a fair complexion and a handsome beard, looking like a charming young man in his youth. His wife, Emma, was a genuine French beauty, but she wore a Manchu-style robe, which made her look somewhat incongruous.

  Chen Yiru first told Lin Chou's intention to him, Jingru listened to say that Lin Chou was a person from the Lin family of Wufeng and couldn't help but take a few more glances at him, then brought up some old things from those years in Taiwan.

  Now that the matter has been brought up again, Chen Jingru said: "It would be best if Lin Gongzi could take over the mining rights from Dai Maode. I just resent the fact that our countrymen do not keep their promises and arbitrarily tear up contracts, which has damaged my reputation. It's really unbearable, so I want to help the foreigners with this lawsuit."

  Lin Xiao only found it amusing, Chen Jingru had been in the official circle for many years, but was still so naive, possibly because he had stayed in the West for too long, his way of thinking was somewhat like that of Westerners, no wonder he was not well received at home.

  Chen Yiru and Wang Shouchang persuaded Chen Jingru again, who finally agreed to persuade Dai Maode to transfer the mining rights of more than a dozen mines in Hunan and Guizhou provinces to Lin Xiang. This difficulty was not great, Lin Xiang had a way to let Arnold Brothers, the boss of Ruiji Yanghang, hand over these mining rights.

  Then Lin Xiu shifted the topic to compiling and translating the latest Western textbooks, Chen Jingru readily agreed.

  The newly appointed Hunan Governor Zhao Erxun also thought that one less thing was better than one more, seeing the foreign firm's willingness to transfer the mine to the Hanyang Iron Works as a godsend, instructed the Ministry of Commerce to issue a license as soon as possible and settle the dispute.

  Lin Qiu smoothly obtained the mining rights of more than a dozen mines, including Shuikoushan and Xikuangshan, as well as the exploration rights in Hunan Province, among which the most important one is the antimony mine of Xikuangshan, known as "war metal".

  The Hunan Mining Bureau was founded in 1895 by Chen Baochen, the then governor of Hunan Province. It began to vigorously promote the establishment of mines through public offerings. Since 1896, it has successively established large-scale state-run enterprises such as Changning Shuikoushan Lead and Zinc Mine, Xinhuaxi Tin Mine, Yiyang Banxi Antimony Mine, Pingjiang Huangjindong Gold Mine, etc., among which the Shuikoushan Lead and Zinc Mine was the first. The production of lead and zinc showed a rising trend year by year.

  Due to coinciding with the economic crisis in 1898, metal prices fell on the international market, and Hunan Province's mining industry had difficulty raising capital, business was poor, and various mines were in a state of shutdown.

  Lin Xiu found Liang Huan-kui, who was operating the Banxi tungsten mine. This "god of wealth" of Hunan in the early days of the Republic of China is now also struggling to make ends meet and barely maintaining production at Jiushe Company. This is also the true situation of China's national industry at its inception. Due to insufficient funds, small scale and scattered operations, technical strength was weak, and lacking state support, most mineral resources eventually fell into the hands of foreign merchants.

  Lin Chao proposed to invest 200,000 taels of silver in the company and hold 40% of the shares of Banxi Tungsten Mine, but the company would still be managed by Liang Huan-kui, without his interference. Lin Chao believed in Liang Huan-kui's ability, so he proposed very favorable conditions, and Liang Huan-kui had no reason to refuse.

  Lin Xiang invests in factories and mines, but generally does not participate in operations, at most occasionally offering some suggestions. In fact, the country is not lacking in business talent, but rather lacks support and cooperation. What he is doing now is just helping them get through the difficult times. As long as they can overcome the initial hurdle, most enterprises will enter a normal development path.

  One person can have so much energy, so he rarely manages specific affairs. His investment is to let more people participate in management, rather than squeezing others out.

  This instead earned Lin Xiu a good reputation, he wouldn't invade small shareholders' rights like others.

  So Liang Huankui soon agreed to cooperate with Lin Xiang, jointly developing Hunan's mineral resources and naming the new company Huachang Mining Company, a very famous mining company in the early Republic of China that was five years ahead of its time.