In 1892, for the first mining company in France, Gormounti-Folchampander Mining, it was a bit too cruel. In Gormounti and Montevik's coal reserves were almost exhausted, and the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. General Manager Fayol had to reorganize the company again and made a painful decision to close the large steel mill in Formounti and concentrate production in Montluken to achieve economies of scale.

Today, Fayor forced himself to attend the auction, and the Forchampud Steel Plant will be dismantled as a large pile of scrap iron. When he thought that tens of thousands of tons of steel were disposed of as scrap iron, Fayor's heart was twisted, and it felt like his penniless parents were forced to sell their children.

But what Fayol did not expect was that a total of 47,000 tons of equipment, including a blast furnace of 500 tons, a whole steel plate production workshop, and a lifting equipment of 200 tons. All of these equipment cost at least tens of millions of francs in the purchase. There was no quotation for three consecutive times, and the price was reduced from 300,000 francs to 200,000 francs.

Still no one offered, Jofar was almost crazy, he grabbed a man's hand and asked loudly:

"Sir, I wonder why you have no interest in Forchampud Steel Factory?"

The gentleman thought that Yol was really pitiful, so he told Fayol the truth:

"This steel mill is too big, and the old equipment in the 1970s accounts for the majority. Although there are some more advanced equipment in the 1990s, it is only a few. The production efficiency is low, and the cost per ton is 40 francs higher than that of the new open furnace. The auction report states that in the past five years, due to the decline in steel prices, the steel mill has lost as much as 2 million francs per year. In addition, his blast furnace is suitable for high-grade ore, and in mining areas like France, it is very rare, so "he shrugged his shoulders."

"This steel mill is not suitable for me."

This gentleman said it was right. Jofar gave up because of these reasons, but Jofar still could not accept the cruel reality.

Fifteen minutes passed, and the price of the steel mill was as low as 10,000 francs. Jofar saw several scrap steel buyers eager to try. Sure enough, a buyer raised the sign in his hand, "Ten thousand francs, someone finally offered to buy it. There was also the gentleman who wanted to buy the steel mill, forty-seven thousand tons of scrap steel, equivalent to one ton, only sold for twenty raw dimes..."

The auctioneer did not continue to say anything, Jofar rushed to the stage like an angry lion, and his hands stuck the auctioneer's neck tightly.

"Bastard, that's a steel mill, a beautiful steel mill, not scrap iron."

Jofar was soon subdued by the guards who rushed over. Because Jofar had good character, he was avoided punishment and was taken to the end of the auction house by the guards.

At this time, a young man raised the sign,

"Ten thousand francs, and the gentleman wants to buy a steel mill, ten thousand francs..."

After a fierce auction, the young man raised the sign in his hand again.

"Eighty thousand francs, eight thousand francs, and that gentleman... has completed the deal."

The auctioneer made the final decision and sold the steel mill to the young man holding the sign.

The young man who had successfully auctioned turned his head and walked to Jofar. The noon sun shone on the young man's black hair, forming a beautiful aperture.

"Mr. Yofar, my name is Zhao Gang. I'm very happy to know you." After saying that, Zhao Gang stretched out his hand and looked at Yofar with a smile on his face.

Jofar did not reach out, raised his head tiredly, and looked at Zhao Gang with gray-brown eyes:

"The barbarian of the Qing Dynasty..." Yofal muttered softly, and anyone could see that Yofal looked very disdainful.

Zhao Gang was furious and shouted to Yofar

"Mr. Jofar, I see you as a gentleman, you see me as a savage. In fact, we are both wrong."

Everyone around him cheered for the young man's answers, and Jofar blushed and had to apologize for his rudeness:

"Sorry, young man, I'm in a bad mood today, my steel mill was auctioned..."

Jofar talked endlessly. When he was a child, he worked as a sorter, when he was young, and when he was a general manager, he worked step by step to his current position. After accompanying him through decades, he had to sell... everything was told.

Zhao Gang listened aside, but only occasionally expressed some agreeable opinions. He knew that the old man was depressed, but he just wanted to find someone to talk to.

Jofar said for a long time and finally stopped:

"Zhao, forgive me for being rude just now. You are a good person. And I am a bad person."

Zhao Gang smiled slightly, revealing his white teeth, and his face with clear lines, successfully made the ladies in the distance dizzy for a few minutes:

"Mr. Jofar, don't care, I can understand your mood. The steel mill is where you place your spirit, just like the mark of your life, which nothing can be erased."

After hearing this, Yofal remained silent. Zhao Gang said something to his heart. Yofal raised his head hard, took a deep breath, and made up his mind to ask.

"Zhao, do you want to remove the steel mill and sell it at a price of dozens of raw dimes per ton (one franc is equivalent to one hundred raw dimes)?"

Fayol's eyes were filled with fear, as if the prisoner was waiting for the judge's verdict.

Zhao Gang said:

"Mr. Jofar, you're half right, I'll tear down the steel plant."

Yofar's shoulders sank a little, as if something heavy was pressing him. Zhao Gang couldn't bear it when he looked at it.

"But I will not make it a pile of scrap iron, I will bring it to China. Set up home in a huge coal-iron complex and continue its brilliant history."

When Yofar heard Zhao Gang's words, he was like a drowning man falling into the water and hugging Zhao Gang in his heart:

"Zhao, you must be an angel, otherwise why would you say such wonderful words?"

"Zhao, you have helped me a lot. You must visit my house today. I will find you information about the steel plant."

In early November 1892, Zhao Gang rushed to France with 500,000 taels of silver. He originally wanted to find Rudolph Diesel (the earliest inventor of the oil production engine). However, after receiving the news that the Forchampud Steel Plant was about to be auctioned, Zhao Gang immediately put down his work and hurriedly commissioned others to contact Rudolph and others, and then rushed to the Forchampud Steel Plant for inspection overnight.

Zhao Gang, who originally wanted to buy a few steelmaking blast furnaces, after carefully examining the equipment status, decided to buy all the equipment in the entire links such as sintering, coking, ironmaking, steelmaking, continuous casting, and continuous rolling. There are six factories in the Forshanbude Steel Plant, which can produce 160,000 tons of steel and 120,000 tons of iron each year. It can be regarded as a first-class large steel plant in Europe. The original value of the equipment is 34 million francs, and it is still worth 9 million francs after depreciation.

The Forchampud Steel Plant has six factories, which can produce 160,000 tons of steel and 120,000 tons of iron each year. It can be regarded as a first-class large steel plant in Europe. The original value of the equipment is 34 million francs, and it is still worth 9 million francs after depreciation.

These six factories are actually a complete assembly line from sintering to profile production. Although some equipment has been rusted in recent years, the key 50-ton blast furnace, closed coking plant, continuous casting, rolling mill and other major equipment are operating well. Zhao Gang is confident that this assembly line will run. In the end, Zhao Gang only paid 80,000 francs for this second-hand equipment.

The happy purchase ended, and the arduous demolition work followed one after another.

The Financial Times described the demolition scene at that time in the report:

"A huge 50-ton furnace installed in a 60-meter-high factory building, a hot steel machine with a roll length of more than one kilometer, a sintering machine, a 120-ton blast furnace, and many other components. All equipment is packaged in wooden crates, stuffed into containers, loaded on ships, and then unboxed near Lushunkou. On the flat alluvial plain in the northeast, strictly follow the appearance in France, a screw is reassembled. The total weight of the equipment transported is 45,000 tons, plus 40 tons of documents explaining the reassembly process in detail. The whole project is very complicated."

"The unprecedented industrial relocation in European history." said the American Entrepreneur.

"Creating the Eighth Miracle of the Industrial Age" Germany's "Frankfurt Massacre"

French newspapers reported this feat overwhelmingly, and France's most famous newspaper, Le Figaro, even reported on the great demolition process of Zhao Gang on the front page.

At that time, the Chinese faces in Forshanbude City had increased by at least twenty times in a while. Some were workers from the Jilin Manufacturing Bureau and some were Chinese living in Europe. The demolition progress was assessed every day and summarized based on the demolition situation every day.

Zhao Gang's cost control concept was fully demonstrated in this demolition. Forshanbude initially refused to be dismantled by China, and Zhao Gang made a ruthless move: I don't want the Chinese construction equipment. On December 1, 1892, Zhao Gang brought 1,000 Chinese workers to "Forshanbude", of which 200 were from the Jilin Manufacturing Bureau.

In the early morning of December 2, 1892, the steel mill removed the first screw. At the celebration ceremony that day, the Qing Dynasty celebrated the start of construction by dancing dragons, but the French were quite sad. In the Hulstfalon district of Forchampud, several generations of people have made a living by relying on the steel mill. For nearly 60 years, the factory has been smelting iron. Now, the factory is about to go to the east. Jofar's eyes are filled with tears in his eyes and lost voices several times, and the French workers in the audience are also very sad.

During the dismantling process, 30 French technicians were accompanied throughout the process, and those French signs such as "Open Flames are forbidden" and "Passing on the right" were all marked in Chinese. The residence of workers and engineers in the Qing Dynasty was the original office building of the factory, with fifteen and six beds in each office.

These Qing dynasties seemed to be workaholics, working more than 16 hours a day, and not resting even on weekends. This made the labor department in Forshanbud very nervous. At first, the labor department had to force the demolition team to rest for two days a week, but it was impossible to do it. Finally, an agreement was reached that one could work overtime on Saturdays and a half day off on Sundays. However, this was usually not effectively implemented.

In order to prevent the Qing Dynasty from working overtime secretly, the Hulstfalon District arranged two hundred fixed patrols and fifty mobile patrols in the streets, but it was still useless. The Qing Dynasty people worked overtime on Sundays in an endless stream: they did not disassemble from the highest place, secretly hid in the workshop to pack, pack, and remove smaller equipment indoors... The labor department repeatedly "educated" Zhao Gang, but did not correct Zhao Gang's bad habit until the end.

This is also a difficult game process. In order to save transportation costs, Zhao Gang hopes to use the gap space as much as possible under the weight of the permitted volume and install more parts. However, Yofar is extremely tough and not compatible. He insists that one thing can only be packaged. After several fierce quarrels, Zhao Gang gave an ultimatum. Three days later, Yofar finally made a concession and packed it according to the plan of the Manufacturing Bureau.

The Jilin Manufacturing Bureau originally planned to dismantle the factory in half a year, while Forshanbud believed that it would take at least five years, but in the end, Chinese workers left with 45,000 tons of equipment in just four months, and took another two months to clear the site.

At the factory site determined by Benxi, the dismantled "Folshanbude" steel plant was reorganized. Zhao Gang hired the world's most famous engineering design and metallurgy company to redesign, evaluate and transform "Folshanbude". Including equipment purchase, transportation costs, as well as subsequent technical transformation and factory construction costs, the Jilin Manufacturing Bureau invested a total of nearly 400,000 taels of silver. In three months, it finally built a coal-iron-iron consortium with an annual output of 150,000 tons. Usually, from purchasing new equipment to completing and unloading, the construction cycle of a steel production line of similar scale is 3 years, and the total investment is as high as 23 million taels of silver.

Audefore, project manager of Audefore, mechanical design and process of Audefore, said in an interview with the American Entrepreneur, "Audefore has not undertaken a larger industrial design project than this, and it is the most successful one so far, which is a great challenge for all parties involved."

On June 18, 1893, on the eve of the production of the first thick steel plate, Zhao Gang moved a stool and sat next to the renovated "Folchampud" rolling mill, with a focused and nervous expression, "like a child waiting for Christmas gifts" (Odefort). On June 19, 1893, the factory successfully coordinated debugging at one time, producing the first batch of steel plates in the history of the Manufacturing Bureau.

"At that moment, everyone felt that they had become heroes." Roland, the project manager of Aogang Automation, who was present, said that he had such a strong sense of accomplishment for the first time in his career. He had done various engineering projects around the world, and had never seen the highest leader in person like the Manufacturing Bureau.

What impressed him and his team was that "there are many experienced employees in European steel companies that can produce high-quality steel, but are also limited by their own experience. Although the steel workers in the Manufacturing Bureau are not as experienced as Europeans, they are very hardworking, which will eventually make them stronger."

After the manufacturing bureau developed the first batch of thick steel plates, it was divided into two parts, and part was renamed Benxi Coal-Steel United Company (Bengang) and the other part was renamed Shengjing Manufacturing Bureau (Bengang).
Chapter completed!