Pingxiang Coal Mine

  On the west bank of Huangpu River, between the North Building of Wheel Ship Commercial Bureau and the Public Concession Waterworks, two foundation pits with a length of over 130 meters and a width of 30 meters have been excavated. Two new reinforced concrete docks, one with a capacity of 3,000 tons and the other with a capacity of 5,000 tons, have started to be built. The newly established Hudong Shipyard has shown its extraordinary momentum from the very beginning.

  Lin Xiang spent 40,000 silver dollars in early spring last year to buy out Fajing Machinery Shipbuilding Factory, which was on the verge of bankruptcy after being suppressed by British merchant Ye Song Shipyard and Xiangsheng Shipyard. This modern China's first private national mechanical manufacturing enterprise was able to continue surviving.

  Fa-Chang Machinery Factory has more than 200 skilled workers who can operate various machine tools proficiently, but it has never had its own dock. This puts it at a disadvantage in competing with foreign shipyards. After Lin Xiang took over the factory, he immediately spent nearly 200,000 taels of silver to purchase nearly 1,000 mu of land along the riverbank in Yangshupu, and began planning to relocate the shipyard from Hongkou to the riverside of Yangshupu.

  Demoted and idle shipbuilding expert Xu Jianyin was invited to take up the post of manager of Hudong Shipyard, responsible for planning, design and construction.

  Xu Jianyin initially advocated for building two 2,000-ton wooden docks first, but Lin Xiang insisted on building two permanent docks with the latest European-style reinforced concrete structure. This surprised Xu Jianyin, who had only seen such docks when supervising the construction of the Haiqi and other warships in Germany, and was unclear about how to construct them.

  It's okay, Xu Jianyin had a good relationship with major German shipyards, and in the end, he still managed to get a complete set of construction drawings and several German technical personnel with the help of the Vulkan Shipyard. The set of dock blueprints from Germany included two types: 5,000 tons and 8,000 tons. The cost of building a 5,000-ton steel-concrete dry dock was approximately 30,000 taels of silver, while an 8,000-ton dry dock required more than 50,000 taels. The matching equipment for each dock would require around 50,000 to 60,000 taels of silver, except that some large equipment needed to be purchased from Europe, and the original Fuchang Machinery Factory could also produce some small equipment, which could save a part of the investment.

  According to the plan, the Shanghai East Shipyard will expand the machinery factory, woodworking factory, boiler factory and iron foundry, and later build a new steel furnace, add a 300-ton large free forging hydraulic press and some matching forging equipment, reaching the ability to independently process and produce main components of shipbuilding.

  The power machinery factory will also increase more than 240 sets of various functional machine tools, which can process and manufacture most of the power components including steam engines, main shafts, crankshafts, axle sleeves, gears, etc.

  The initial investment of Hudong Shipyard included the cost of land acquisition and factory construction, which reached around 1.9 million taels of silver, a staggering figure in the late Qing dynasty. After its completion, Hudong Shipyard will become China's largest private shipbuilding enterprise.

  Lun Zijin Lin Xiu has already counted as having not many worries, and larger-scale investments are also no problem. However, the current situation is that China lacks technical workers, and the domestic market still needs to be cultivated. After all, China's shipping industry is currently dominated by two foreign companies, Jardine Matheson and Swire.

  In Hubei, Zhang Zhidong set up the Hubei Ba'an Gunpowder Factory and somehow thought of Xu Jianyin again, sending his son-in-law Chen Nianyi to Shanghai to invite him to take charge of the gunpowder factory.

  Xu Jianyin felt embarrassed, Zhang Zhidong had a favor for him, making it difficult for him to decline, so he came to find Lin Shou.

  "After you left the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, didn't you oversee the construction of four or five arsenals? The Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, Jinling Machinery Bureau, Fuzhou Machinery Bureau, Tianjin Beiyang Machinery Bureau, and Hanyang Machinery Bureau - the guns and cannons they produced were no worse than those of the Japanese. But what was the outcome?

  Lin Shuo counted on his fingers as he enumerated Xu Jianyin's past achievements, then suddenly changed the subject: "In the first Sino-Japanese War, how did the equipment of the Japanese army compare to that of the Beiyang? I'm afraid it wasn't much better. In the battles of Pyongyang and Liaodong, all the stored guns and cannons were used by the enemy.

  And as for the navy, the Battle of the Yalu River was not really a defeat!"

  "Oh, why say that?" Xu Jianyin's eyes lit up. He was the one who presided over the investigation of the results of the Battle of the Yellow Sea after the war. This was the first time he had heard someone say that it wasn't a defeat.

  "The real strategic goal of this naval battle was to compete for control of the sea. Without control of the sea, the Japanese army would not have dared to land on a large scale in Korea or even Liaodong, and the war could only be restricted within the borders of Korea, evolving into a local conflict. The primary target of the Japanese Navy to seize control of the sea was to sink the ironclad warships Zhen and Ding. However, they failed to achieve this goal during the battle. As for the five cruisers that were sunk during the battle, it was not a military mistake, but rather an inevitable outcome given the old wooden warships could not compete with the latest steel warships. As long as the Zhen and Ding warships remained, the Japanese Navy would not be able to gain control of the sea, and the course of the battle also showed that the Japanese warships were fundamentally unable to sink the Zhen and Ding warships. On the contrary, after the battle, the Zhen and Ding warships were trapped in Weihaiwei, watching as the Japanese army landed in Liaodong without any resistance, not daring to go out to sea to fight back, and handing over control of the sea to the Japanese, which was the real defeat."

  "At that time, the two warships were really unable to go out to sea. At that time, there was no dock in the country that could accommodate such a large warship for repairs." Xu Jianyin said.

  "Why can't any dock accommodate two ships? When these two warships were purchased, it should have been thought that they would need repairs. Can a damaged warship be sent back to Germany for repair after half the battle is fought? If the Beiyang government has no money, why can it spend over 20 million taels of silver building fortresses and artillery in Lushun and Weihai, but not spend tens of millions of taels to build two docks that can accommodate 8,000-ton warships for repairs? This is a matter of concept. Even the best guns are useless in the hands of cowards like Ye Zhi-chao, they're no better than a beggar's club! I've said all I need to say, if you think making gunpowder is more important than building a shipyard, then I won't stop you, but please build the docks first before making any decisions!"

  Don't even joke about it, if you go to Hanyang, you'll definitely get blown up. Lin Chao read an article that mentioned when Xu Jianyin was in charge of the Hanyang Steel Plant, he discovered that the equipment used in the factory was exactly the same as the machines he had used ten years ago while studying in Germany. He even found a mark he had made on one of the machines himself. The price at which this old equipment was purchased was exorbitant. Xu Jianyin was an upright and straightforward person, and he was furious about this matter. He insisted on investigating who had embezzled money during the purchase of these machines. As a result, a group of officials who had benefited from the purchase of the machines colluded to set him up, and the explosion that killed Xu Jianyin was actually a human conspiracy.

  Lin Xiao would never watch Xu Jianyin go to his death, if all else fails, he would use kidnapping to let Old Xu escape this disaster, such a person is really hard to find.

  Xu Jianyin saw Lin Cuo's words were very serious, the shipyard was indeed built halfway, and he couldn't just abandon it and leave. As Lin Cuo said, even if he helped Xiang Shuai build another arsenal, what could be done? Wouldn't the Eight-Nation Alliance still occupy Beijing, and the Emperor would still be too afraid to return home until now?

  Xu Jianyin found Chen Nianxun and explained that he really had something important to attend to and could only decline the offer of Xiang Shuai. Afraid that Chen Nianxun would not believe him, he took him on a tour around the shipyard construction site.

  Zhang Wei was enthusiastically visiting Lin Xiang's newly opened shipyard. With business going smoothly, he also looked radiant and spirited, as if his originally gray hair had turned black again, no longer with the worried look on his face and seeking help everywhere as before.

  "Mr. Ji Zhi, how did you end up at the shipyard? Is something wrong with the silk factory?" Lin Chong said.

  "This time I didn't come for the silk factory's business, but someone came to me with a request, and this person is also familiar to Zhong Hu."

  "Who is that?" Lin Xiao immediately recognized Xu Jianyin's familiarity, guessing that the person was either a technician or an official from the Xīnzhèng Party.

  "Wen Ting Shi's Wen Yun Ge," said Zhang Duan. "This Wen Yun Ge was wanted by the imperial court a while ago, and Sheng Xuanhuai took advantage of the situation to kick him when he was down, trying to get his hands on the Wen family's coal mine. The 'Guang Tai Fu' coal company under Wen Yun Ge is barely holding on due to Sheng Xuanhuai's oppression. I heard that my silk factory made a profit, so they came to me for help."

  "It's interesting, this Mr. Wen Ting-shi also has a coal mine, I didn't expect he was one of us." Lin Chong smiled and said that Wen Ting-shi was a big name in the Guangxu years, as a disciple of Chen Rong, a famous scholar from Lingnan, had entered the mansion of General Zhang Shunfu in Guangzhou, and had close ties with his son Zhi Rui. He had also been a family teacher for Concubine Jin and Concubine Zhen, who later became favorites of Emperor Guangxu. He was one of the main figures of the "Qingliu" and "Imperial Party" in the court, along with Wang Wenzheng, Zhang Zhidong, and others, known as the "Six Gentlemen of the Wen Gate". Due to his relationship with Concubine Zhen, Wen Ting-shi received Emperor Guangxu's favor and was promoted to be a lecturer for the emperor, responsible for recording the emperor's daily words and deeds.

  After the Wuwu, Wen Tingshi was dismissed by Cixi and sent back to his hometown. Because of his agitation for reform, after the Wuxu coup, he was secretly arrested by the imperial court, and Wen Tingshi escaped to Japan after receiving the news. Later, during the Gengzi year, Wen Tingshi returned home and joined with Kang Youwei, Yan Fu, Zhang Binglin, and others in Shanghai to establish the "Chinese National Assembly". After Tang Caichang's Self-Strengthening Army uprising failed, Wen Tingshi became a "rebel" again. Who would have thought that such a person actually had coal mines at home?!

  The Wen family's "Guangtai Fu" had dozens of mines and a dozen coking furnaces in Pingxiang, and the Pingxiang coal mine was one of the few high-quality coal mines in southern provinces. After Sheng Xuanhuai became the general manager of Hanyang Iron Factory, he began to covet the Pingxiang coal mine. Initially, he was still wary of Emperor Guangxu and Weng Tonghe's relationship with the Wen family, so he signed a long-term coal supply agreement with "Guangtai Fu". After the Boxer Rebellion, Weng Tonghe had been dismissed from office, and the emperor seemed to be in danger of losing his throne as well, being imprisoned in Yingtai. Sheng Xuanhuai was no longer restrained and immediately lowered the purchase price of coke, causing "Guangtai Fu" to suffer heavy losses, and he also wanted to take over all of Wen's mines through this.

  Wen Tingshi is now hiding in the French Concession, and recently there have been rumors that he might be caught. He can only rent a house within the concession, where the Qing government has no jurisdiction, which is almost like fleeing abroad. However, judging from the situation, it's also quite embarrassing.

  Lin Xiao accompanied Zhang Wei to the stone gate courtyard in Fengqingli, French Concession. Wen Ting-shi heard it was Zhang Wei and personally ran to the door to welcome them into the living room. Lin Xiao didn't see anything special about this renowned elegant young man, but instead sensed a hint of decline from the host.

  At first, Wen Tingshi thought Lin Xue was just a student of Zhang Yao, and it was only slightly unexpected that Lin Xue looked robust and not very much like a scholar. It wasn't until Zhang Yao made a special introduction that Wen Tingshi realized that this unimpressive young man in front of him was the main person they were negotiating with today.

  The price of mines in Pingxiang is similar to that in Wan Nan. The reason for Wan Nan is that most of the mountains and forests have tea gardens, mulberry gardens, etc., while in Pingxiang it is because many of them have coal fields underneath. However, due to the fact that manual mining is not very cost-effective, high-quality coal can only be sold locally for two or three silver coins per ton, and sales are not very good either.

  Although the Han Yang Iron Factory sold each ton of coke for 16 taels of silver, the cost of transporting coal from Pingxiang to Hanyang was more than 8 taels per ton. Due to backward technology, local blast furnaces in Pingxiang could only produce a little over one ton of coke with two tons of coal, and by-products like coal tar were not recovered or utilized.

  Lin Xiao listened to Wen Ting's detailed introduction, gradually understanding the reasons why Pingxiang Coal Mine was in trouble. This is also a common problem faced by modern Chinese industry and commerce: transportation difficulties. This is the main reason why economic development is faster in southeastern coastal areas and along rivers, but more difficult as one moves inland.

  To get rich, first build roads.

  This slogan still makes sense in modern times.

  In the era without cars, this road refers to the railway, and building railways requires a large amount of investment. The investment per kilometer of railway is approximately 30,000 taels of silver. Places that want to build roads cannot come up with such a large sum of money, while wealthy compradors are often concentrated in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin and other treaty ports, and few people have the foresight and courage to invest inland.

  Sheng Xuanhuai was a man of vision and courage in this era, but he had a fatal flaw. In fact, Sheng Xuanhuai was good at dancing with long sleeves, spending other people's money lavishly. The Sheng family came from an official background and were not wealthy merchants to begin with.

  Moreover, Sheng Xuanhuai was quite greedy and could not bear to let shareholders get rich together.

  For example, the Huasheng Textile Factory was rebuilt in 1894 as a joint-stock company supervised by officials and merchants. At first, Sheng Xuanhuai had only more than 20% of the shares, but under his management, the factory suffered financial losses year after year. Sheng Xuanhuai used various methods such as selling, renting out, changing the name of the factory, etc., and embezzled public property from the China Merchants' Steamship Company which he managed, to gradually take over the rights and interests of other shareholders and turn Huasheng Textile Factory into a private property of the Sheng family.

  Sheng Xuanhuai relied on his position as the head of the national enterprise to embezzle and misappropriate public funds, which enabled him to become rich, but he did not care about the development of the enterprises under his management.

  The Shanghai Steamship Company, which was founded by Beiyang, was in the hands of Tang Tingxu at first. Every year, it could add two or three new ships, and its scale and efficiency had already surpassed those of British companies such as Jardine Matheson & Co. and Butterfield & Swire. However, after it fell into the hands of Sheng Xuanhuai, no new ships were purchased for over a decade, and the business shrank day by day. The annual profit of over one million was all embezzled. And yet, Li Hongzhang called him "a business genius", which is truly absurd. It's only in the Qing dynasty that such talents can emerge.

  Sheng Xuanhuai's greed for money grew, and his position in the officialdom became more stable. Even Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Hubei and Hunan provinces, treated him like a treasure and invited him to take charge of the Hanyang Iron Works. Sheng Xuanhuai took advantage of his official power and prestige to force small mine owners in Pingxiang to sell their mines to the newly established Anyuan Mining Bureau.

  In name, this mining bureau belongs to the state-owned assets of Hanyang Iron Factory, but in the end it can only become a cash machine for the Sheng family.

  Lin Xiang looked down on Sheng Xuanhuai, a corrupt official of state-owned enterprises. What was unbearable was that Sheng Xuanhuai used every means to make money and mortgaged most of the Daye Iron Mine under the name of Hanyang Iron Factory to the Japanese a few years later, allowing the Japanese to gradually control the Daye Iron Mine. During World War I alone, the Japanese made nearly $300 million in profits from the price difference of iron ore from the Daye Iron Mine.

  Japanese running dog! Traitor! These words are not unjustified when worn on Sheng Xuanhuai's head, every time Lin Xue reads these histories, he hates it so much that his teeth ache.

  As a basic awakening as a Chinese, Lin Xiang had to take action against Sheng Xuanhuai.

  He was motivated by a sense of justice, while Wen Tingshi was related to his own interests, and another Zhang Jizheng was ashamed of Shengshi's behavior, but the three had only one goal and the person they were dealing with.

  "The Pingxiang Coal Mine needs at least 8 million to truly operate. The machinery and equipment needed for a large coal mine alone would cost 4 or 5 million, and building a railway to Zhuzhou would require another 2 or 3 million." Lin Xuan thought about this for half a day before looking up and saying, "But Shen Xuanhua doesn't have the money, and even if he did, it's impossible for him to invest it in the mine."

  "So he can only gather merchant stocks or borrow foreign debts!" Zhang Jue said.

  "It's hard to gather merchants' shares, as the Hanyang Iron Works has always been losing money and is not attractive. Sheng Xuanhuai can only resort to borrowing foreign loans." Wen Tingshi said, "To make a big fuss and stop Sheng Xuanhuai from borrowing from foreigners, the imperial court still attaches great importance to this aspect."

  "It's not necessarily the case, since the Boxer Rebellion, the imperial court may not dare to intervene. Haven't you seen how Empress Dowager Cixi has been following the foreigners' wishes and had those princes and high-ranking officials executed? Zhang Ji said, "But if there are merchants willing to take on the task, the imperial court will still prioritize domestic affairs first. In that case, even Governor Zhang can't say anything."

  "I'm willing to take on the responsibility of Zhaoshang's shares, so please don't worry about it. A few hundred thousand taels of silver is nothing, I can afford it myself." Lin Xiu saw Wen Ting's face turn pale and immediately tried to reassure him, but Wen Ting was left speechless, his mouth agape.

  "There's another thing, Yuanzhou is the territory of the two rivers, and the two rivers want to run their own coal mine, so it's not good for Zhang Nanpi to stretch out his hand again. As for Yan Shuai, he still needs to ask Seasoned Old to come out and talk about the item." Lin Xuan turned his gaze towards Zhang Zhen.

  "That's no problem, I'll take care of Liu Dashi. Zhang Yi readily agreed, "But for the gentry in Yuanzhou, we still need to ask Yunge to make an appearance and stir them up."

  Lin Hui's real goal in his heart was the entire Hanyang Ironworks and Daye Iron Mine, which he did not say out loud. By taking down Pingxiang Coal Mine, it would be equivalent to controlling the lifeline of Hanyang Ironworks. It would still be better to let Sheng Xuanhuai know difficulty and retreat at that time.