Chapter 10: Settlement in Jinsui

What made Shang Zhen happy was not just that Huamei Company and Sihai Industrial wanted to start industries in Shanxi Provinces, but that he thought of the previous agreement reached by representing Shanxi Provincial Government and Huamei Company on the construction of Pu Railway.

The construction of Tongpu Railway is a major project. Yan Xishan had previously organized personnel to conduct an estimate that if it was built according to the current general wide-gauge railway, it would require more than 90 million yuan of funds, which was definitely not affordable by Shanxi Province's finance at that time. As a result, Yan Xishan had the idea of ​​building a narrow-gauge railway.

In history, Yan Xishan once calculated the "Reasons for Building a Narrow Light Rail Railway in Shanxi Province" submitted to the Ministry of Railways by the National Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Railways: If the wide-gauge railway is built, the Tongpu Railway will require an investment of 90 million yuan. After estimation, it is believed that not only will it not be able to make money within 50 years, but it will also lose 100 million yuan; if the narrow-gauge railway is built, the investment will only require 34 million yuan, and after recovering all investment within 20 years, there will be a surplus of 6.7 million yuan, which will make 100 million yuan in 50 years. It also listed the various basis for the estimate. Nanjing government did not agree to repair narrow rails at first, but Yan obtained approval only by "demolishing narrow rails in the future and renovating wide rails by the Ministry of Railways" as a guarantee.

Many people in later generations thought that Yan Xishan deliberately repaired narrow gauges to increase the difficulties for the forces of other provinces to enter Shanxi, but in fact, repairing narrow gauges was just a by-product of Yan Laoxi's careful calculations. Moreover, in history, when Tongpu Road was built, Yan Xishan had already come back, Shanxi's economic situation had improved, and the Jinsui Army was still a powerful military group in China. Yan Xishan was not worried.

After the Chun Festival, Shang Zhen and Huamei Company decided to use wide rails in the agreement to build the Tongpu Railway, and this agreement was agreed by Yan Xishan. Although the cost of building a wide rail railway was large, if the burden was transferred to Huamei Company, Shanxi Province would benefit greatly from it. Yan Xishan had no reason to disagree with this great good thing.

What Shang Zhen is now considering is that if the Tongpu Railway is successfully built, the financial difficulties of Shanxi Province will be improved. Not to mention anything else, Zhao Zhenzhong, on behalf of Huamei Company, agreed that Shanxi Province's government shares of 20% of Tongpu Railway Company's dry shares would be a big profit. Therefore, Shang Zhen heard Zhao Zhenzhong say that Huamei Company and Sihai Industrial would only be moved by the opening of industries in Shanxi and Suizhou provinces.

When Zhao Zhenzhong saw Shang Zhen move, he was stunned for a moment, but then he understood the reason. However, Zhao Zhenzhong decided to determine other things first and then talk about the Tongpu Railway. He smiled and said, "Of course it's true. But Chairman Shang still needs the help of us so that we can have a place to start industries in northwest Shanxi."

"Mr. Zhao is interested in which county in the northwest of Shanxi?" Shang Zhen was a little suspicious. "To be honest, except for Hequ, which has been a key area in northern Shaanxi since ancient times, and has developed a lot, it is not an exaggeration to say that the other counties are remote areas. Besides, there are close to Suiyuan and northern Shaanxi, and there are often bandits wandering around in that area. How did Mr. Zhao choose to start an industry? The situation in Jinzhong is much better in all aspects. Why would I set a piece of land for Mr. Zhao here?"

"Thank you for your kindness," Zhao Zhenzhong explained with a smile, "According to common sense, starting an industry requires finding places with convenient conditions in all aspects to achieve profits as soon as possible. However, Huamei Company and Sihai Industrial launched industries in Shanxi and Sui provinces, with the purpose of using industrial disaster relief, and naturally combining the profits of the industry with the relief of disaster victims. In Shanxi, there is nothing more suitable than the northwest of Shanxi. Although it is a remote area of ​​Shanxi and has difficulty in livelihood, it also has the convenience of approaching Shaanxi and Suiyuan provinces. Through the Yellow River waterway, the materials transported from the Pingsui Railway can be transferred to Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces through here. At the same time, the opportunity to start an industry can also be used to provide a livelihood for the people of the three nearby provinces."

"As for the counties in the northwest, we hope that Chairman Shang can agree to the place where we choose to open an industry in Baode. However, there is no road to communicate with the outside world yet. If we want to open an industry there, we must first build a road to Shuozhou. We want to recruit disaster victims to build this road through labor-for-relief. This requires the help of Chairman Shang and Commander Xu."

"This is a favorable thing for the people of Shanxi, and the provincial government will definitely help them all. However, the population of the counties in northwest Shanxi is really small, so I am afraid that the labor force for road construction is insufficient." Shang Zhen said thoughtfully, "Hequ is a county with a large population, but it is only in just over 100,000. In addition to the local male NV and young, it also has to add victims who fled there in northern Shaanxi, Suiyuan and other places. The population of other counties is more than 50,000, and the population of the few is only over 30,000, and Baode is only a population of more than 50,000. Mr. Zhao wants to start an industry there and build a road leading to Shuozhou, but he is afraid that the labor force is insufficient."

"It is because of the shortage of labor that we can recruit disaster victims from Shanxi, Shaanxi, Suiyuan and other places to work there." Zhao Zhenzhong explained, "Not to mention opening an industry, the labor required for the road more than 300 miles long is a big number. We just use the construction of this highway to provide disaster victims with a way to make a living this winter so that they can survive this most difficult time."

"Mr. Zhao is in love with him, and Shang admires him." Shang Zhen sighed, "Since Mr. Zhao has chosen Baode, I agree here. If there is anything else that needs help, just say it."

"If you want to ask Shanxi Provincial Government to assist Mr. Zhu and the North China Charity Federation to jointly carry out the work together to maintain the order of construction personnel and avoid the occurrence of hunluàn, you have to ask Commander Xu to help." Zhao Zhenzhong laughed, "Of course, during the construction period, the treatment of relevant assisting personnel of Shanxi Province and the Shanxi Sui Army will be borne by Huamei Company."

"Mr. Zhao, it's fine to arrange a small number of Shanxi-Suizhou troops to maintain construction order. However, I can't speak loudly." Xu Yongchang frowned and said, "I shouldn't object to the good things like recruiting victims to build roads, but according to the living conditions of most people in our country, we can't afford to sit on cars at all. Wherever cars go, we even become a place where luxury goods spread, and automobile roads have become a construction for the expansion of foreign economy in our country. Building automobile roads is too harmful to us, a country that can't produce cars, nor can we produce automobile fuel, and lack industrial products to exchange for foreign exchange. As the car roads grow and there are more cars, our country's economy will become stronger in dependence on foreign countries. This is by no means a good thing."

Zhao Zhenzhong was stunned after hearing Xu Yongchang's statement. He did not expect Xu Yongchang to have such knowledge about cars and roads. No wonder he was optimistic about the Dodge trucks last time but was unwilling to accept his kindness. What Zhao Zhenzhong didn't know is that it is precisely because of this understanding that Xu Yongchang could take a rickshaw when leaving the Mén unless it was a critical situation. After considering it in his mind, Zhao Zhenzhong said, "The concern of Commander Xu does make some sense. As far as our domestic situation is concerned, we do lack effective means to exchange foreign exchange. Basically, some agricultural products and mineral resources can be exchanged for foreign exchange, and there are very few industrial products. In terms of automobiles, the country is indeed unable to achieve complete independent production. But this should not be a reason for us to reduce the use of cars and not repair automobile roads."

"Just like railways and trains, cars are just a tool for communication." Zhao Zhenzhong said, "Train and railways were originally introduced from foreign countries, and most of our country's railways are now designed and built by foreigners. However, as the railways extend in China, we Chinese have gradually mastered the ability to design and build railways. The Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, built with Mr. Zhan Tianyou as the chief engineer, is the most typical example. Even though our country is still far from the survey, design and construction of railways in China, it cannot be denied that our people have made great progress in the construction and maintenance of railways over the years."

"That's true for trains and railways, can't cars and roads really be used by our people? I personally think this is completely possible. Now the cooperation between Minsheng Factory in Shenyang, Northeast China and Huamei Company in automobile manufacturing has been underway for half a year, and the related work is indeed effective. It is estimated that the assembly and production of cars can be fully realized around the Chun Festival. With the staff's in-depth understanding of relevant technical fields, it is not far from the day when we design and manufacture our own cars in China. In fact, Huamei Company, formed by Chinese in the eastern United States, has already designed and manufactured cars by itself in the United States. However, due to the huge gap in domestic conditions, Huamei Company was unable to copy the American automobile industry to the country for the time being. Among them, the biggest problem is not the capital and equipment, but whether the domestic stability and whether the staff with professional knowledge of automobiles are stable."

"Commander Xu must understand that the stability of the political situation is crucial to the development of an industry. But in addition, the key to whether a modern industry can develop continuously depends on whether there are enough skilled workers. Without enough skilled workers, no matter how well the design and advanced the equipment, you cannot turn the things on the drawings into reality. Now, there are very few people in our country who have research on the automobile industry, almost a blank space. Huamei Company still has a long way to go to transplant the automobile industry to China, and can only take it step by step. Of course, if there is no major change, Huamei Company will build an automobile parts factory on Baode. If it develops well in the future, it may not be impossible to develop into an automobile manufacturer."

"In addition, when we are now building automobile roads, we are basically used to transport goods. We cannot develop highway access like Western powers, and most of our people in China can't afford to ride cars. However, this is exactly the direction we need to work hard."

"Mr. Zhao's words make sense. Railways, roads, trains, and cars are just tools of communication. I am a bit biased." Xu Yongchang pondered for a while and nodded, "If we can really produce cars in our country as Mr. Zhao said, then it would be a great thing, and it is also necessary to build highways."

Seeing that Xu Yongchang no longer had any objections to the construction of the road, Zhao Zhenzhong breathed a sigh of relief. Shang Zhen couldn't help asking: "Mr. Zhao, Huamei Company and Sihai Industrial have opened industries in Shanxi, and there is no problem in building highways. I wonder if we can continue with the agreement we reached with Pu Railway before?"
Chapter completed!