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Text Chapter 371: Labor Exchange for Steel Plant

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    In the early morning, in the two conjoined docks of Jiangnan Factory No. 45, two rusty but slender Atlantic cruise ships were lying quietly. The master workers were using air hammers to break apart the rivets of the steel plates to remove rust from the interior and perform special modifications.  .

    Bernard and Kant rushed to the shipyard as soon as they learned that Yang Qiu had arrived in Shanghai. They were not surprised that the Atlantic cruise ship appeared in front of them.  Since 1911, Yang Qiu has been crazy about buying cheap second-hand steel. From 2012 to the outbreak of the European War, he imported a total of about 3 million tons, which effectively made up for the shortage of domestic steelmaking. This also led many European shipowners to simply sell old steel.  Ships are brought in for dismantling and sold at high prices. Even navies from various countries send many old warships with their weapons dismantled to make money.  .

    The two ships must be thanked to Lan Xinhui's Lu Bicheng. When she went to the United States to negotiate for oil cracking patents, she accidentally learned that two Atlantic cruise ships that had been in service for five years had been sent to the Bethlehem Shipyard in the United States to be scrapped. She thought that there were no such ships in the country.  The experience in large-scale shipbuilding was bought back at a low price and handed over to Jiangnan Factory for research.  After all, two large ships with a displacement of more than 1 ton are of high research value to the re-starting domestic shipbuilding industry.  It was her thoughts that enabled Jiangnan Factory to finally build its own 10,000-ton wheel after two years of research.  At the beginning of the year, the factory was preparing to dismantle the two cruise ships after completing research and reverse mapping. However, the Navy's five-year expansion plan gave them a new life, because Yang Qiu planned to convert them into aircraft carriers (known to the outside world as seaplane carriers).  To this end, Jiangnan also purchased four large hydraulic lifts and a complete set of technology from Italy.

    Europe has also modified many aircraft carriers with civilian ships. The United Kingdom alone has modified seven simple aircraft carriers, and three were dispatched in the Battle of the Dardanelles.  In two years' time, the world's first "Jing Shen", which was a real aircraft carrier from the beginning of its design, will also appear. Therefore, the US government has no voice at all about Yang Qiu's conversion of an old cruise ship sold by himself into an aircraft carrier.  Even Bernard and Kant, who were present now, did not take a second look. After all, let alone them at this time, even the most discerning Whitehall generals only used aircraft carriers as second-class battleships for reconnaissance and naval supplements.  They were chosen instead of the coal ships that were previously considered more suitable for modification, mainly because domestic coal ships are too short. Although these two cruise ships are very old and the price of hull renovation is not cheap, in order to pursue speed, the hull length was sufficient.  It is a full 200 meters long. Unfortunately, due to internal structural problems, even after modification, it can only carry up to 3 aircraft, and the speed can only be up to 26 knots, so it is mainly used for training and gaining experience.

    After a night of madness, Yang Qiu returned to seriousness and seriousness. On the contrary, after Lu Bicheng took off her cheongsam and put on professional clothes, she seemed to have transformed from a female boss of an oil company into a capable female secretary.  Only the flirtatious eyes coming from her could make Yang Qiu feel the reality of last night.  Bernard and Kant also didn't feel any surprise when she appeared next to Yang Qiu in public for the first time, because all their attention was focused on the signal revealed by this woman last night.

    When Japan has yet to approve the dispatch of troops and workers, this signal is really important to Britain and France, who are anxious about the war and are beginning to be short of human resources!  Only Cai Gongshi, who was next to him, secretly laughed in his heart. This was originally part of Hou Yi's huge plan, to export labor and troops to Europe before Japan, completely cutting off their chance to make a fortune and recover from the European war.  Just wanting to send troops is not that simple. Even within the national society, there is a strong voice against sending troops. The dispatch of workers in the name of the country is also controversial because of worries about the newly established good Sino-German relations.  Everyone believes that we should take advantage of the European War to focus on industrial, commercial and domestic political reforms to prepare for the turmoil that may arise due to the Taiwan issue in five years. Even if Yang Qiu is the chairman, he must respect the following ideas.

    That¡¯s why we finally came up with the idea of ??issuing European labor certificates, first dispatching Chinese workers and some military forces to Europe in the name of private companies and security guards, and at the same time, we would find ways to break through congressional restrictions at home.

    ??The British are not yet in urgent need of a large number of Chinese workers. As long as there is India, they will not be short of human resources, but Kant is already ready to be slaughtered.  Because after the cocktail party last night, he had already learned that the German army used terrible poison gas bombs on the Western Front. In just a few days, more than 20,000 coalition soldiers lost their lives due to poison gas!  What is the population of mainland France?  The total number of German-occupied areas is only about 40 million. Now one-fifth of the population of the occupied areas and casualties has disappeared. Excluding the elderly, children and women, it is very rare for the country to be able to scrape together 20 million available labor.  But at present, the army alone (including logistics personnel) has reached almost 7 million!  Therefore, almost all important industrial areas in Paris and Bordeaux stopped working, and even the naval industry in Marseille came to a standstill.

    In addition to labor, France also hopes that China will participate in the war, especially the outstanding combat capabilities and qualities displayed by the National Defense Forces in the Sino-Japanese War, which allowed Europe to change the mentality of the late Qing army's cowardice and incompetence.  But sending troops is obviously much more difficult than sending workers. This first requires unanimous approval by Congress and the withdrawal of the previous diplomatic commitment to remain neutral.  So Yang Qiu spread his hands and deliberately pretended to be embarrassed: "Your Excellency Kant,?As a member of the free world, I am more than willing to help your country, but you must take into account the concerns of our citizens about sending labor and troops to Europe.  What's more, our conflict with Japan is not really over yet, Taiwan.  He glanced at Bernard, meaning that if the British Empire had not been deliberately biased and there was no Taiwan issue, he would not have strengthened his military build-up, and continued: "I have to think more about it."  "A member of the free world? But he would not be sarcastic at this time. After all, France is a more important ally. He said: "We understand your concerns, but can we send workers first?  "

    "Of course, Miss Lu Bicheng has convinced me." Yang Qiu looked at Lu Bicheng with a hint of tenderness in her eyes: "As a peaceful person, she also hopes to help Europe end the war as soon as possible."

    The two warm eyes made Lu Bicheng smile slightly, then rolled his eyes and quietly looked away.  Kant has no interest in this pair of "dog men and women" flirting with each other by taking advantage of the opportunity of work. The five hundred thousand labor plan is the focus!  He hurriedly asked: "Then what are you waiting for?"

    "Waiting for your price." Cai Gongshi, who knew Yang Qiuyan's hair-plucking temperament, secretly laughed in his heart. With such a large-scale labor dispatch, how can it be done without bleeding?  Yang Qiu glared at him who was suppressing a smile, and continued: "Half a million workers is not a small number. It will definitely arouse a strong response from the public opinion and people of our country. I need to convince them."

    Bernard suddenly wanted to point his nose and curse, "You didn't even say hello to the cabinet about such a big thing as the Sino-Japanese War. Now you just send some workers and you are clearly a partisan dictator! You are still trying to convince the people!"  He was indeed angry because Kant had told him that Yang Qiu's condition was that he hoped to go to Najd to explore for oil. Although it was limited to two areas, it was still regarded as an "invasion" of the traditional sphere of influence of the British Empire.  Said: "Your Excellency, Vice President, we are willing to hire workers at a price of 30 francs per month per worker. The French government is also willing to open 100,000 entry-level worker positions, and can even help you train them into qualified workers.

    Bernard raised the price and saw through Yang Qiu¡¯s idea of ??using labor to train domestic workers.  He didn't pay attention to this little thought, but he didn't mention oil exploration in his words. It was obvious that he refused to allow Chinese forces to enter Najd and the Persian Gulf.  But for Yang Qiu, this is the best time to enter the oil circle of the Persian Gulf, because it is now the most urgent and weak time for Britain and France. Looking at him, he said: "Sir Bernard, I know you are worried, but please also  Please consider the realistic pressure of our country's extreme lack of oil. At present, the Han River and Yanchang can only provide 50,000 barrels of crude oil per month, but the military alone needs 80,000 barrels per month. I have no intention of damaging your country's interests. If you feel that Nei Zhi  If not, can you help convince the Netherlands to allow me to enter Borneo to explore for oil?

    Bernard had a headache and it was absolutely impossible to enter Borneo!  It would be better to let him go to Najd to limit power projection in the Indian Ocean and the Strait of Malacca than to open to him the closer and crucial Southeast Asia region.

    God knows whether this madman who just said that he would export the National Socialist International to the outside world will take Britain's weakest opportunity to attack the closer Nanyang.  If his army lands in Borneo, maybe the angry Netherlands will join Germany, resulting in a fatal gap in the North Sea defense belt!  It is his true intention to get oil and make the country rich and powerful, but Bernard always feels that there is something else that cannot be explained deep down.

    "I need to report to the country." Bernard finally turned his eyes.  Yang Qiu also knew that he had no authority to make such an important decision, so he bowed to Bernard: "Thank you for your help." After speaking, he turned to the anxious Kant: "Your Excellency, in order to show my sincerity, I  We will persuade Congress to issue a labor export license to Ms. Lu Bicheng¡¯s company as soon as possible. If it¡¯s quick, I think the first batch of workers will be able to leave Shanghai early next month.¡±

    Kant was very happy. Although he knew that this first batch was only symbolic and the main force of labor would definitely not set off before Britain reached an agreement on oil exploration in the Persian Gulf, this frankness still opened the prelude to cooperation between the two countries.

    Lu Bicheng took advantage of the opportunity and quickly reached a cooperation agreement with Kant whereby France would provide 100,000 entry-level jobs and be responsible for training them. The other 400,000 workers would supplement the logistics support for the French army to alleviate the dilemma of insufficient human resources and allow France to  Front-line recovery workers set in motion the necessary machinery and equipment to end the war as quickly as possible.  At the same time, she was shrewd and saw the embarrassing reality that French steel companies had insufficient manpower and had basically stopped production and the equipment was slowly rusting. She reached an agreement with Kande to continue to maintain a low salary of 20 francs per month, but France would dismantle a million-ton steel company from the country.  All the equipment of the plant will be used as shares in the name of the French Schneider Company to jointly establish the Sino-French joint venture "Hubei-Schneider" Changchun Iron and Steel Plant project.  The second large-scale steel plant with a scale of one million tons was built in Northeast China.

    After doing the math, Kant agreed to the cooperation intention.It turns out that it is no longer possible for France to keep so many steel plants operating at the same time. Once the steel-making furnace is shut down for more than half a year, it will be completely scrapped. Scraping is a hundred times better than using it for share investment in the increasingly hot Chinese market, not to mention that it can also open up a war.  Later, French capital once again entered the door of the Chinese market.  Secondly, France will benefit greatly from this business!  Because in the pre-war international market, all the equipment of a million-ton steel plant cost about 100 million francs, and even second-hand goods cost about 10,000 francs, which is about 10,000 U.S. dollars or 10,000 yuan.  Based on the reduction of no francs per person per month, if the war continues for another two years, half a million workers can save France 1 franc in consumption. Calculated, this business is actually equivalent to helping France earn back a new steel mill.  Europe has no shortage of manufacturing capabilities. Anyone who can use old equipment to open up a market of 400 million people and earn a new steel plant for himself would do it. If the U.S. steel industry were not operating at full capacity, there is no old equipment, and the government's strict regulations  The sales restriction order has probably been taken by Wall Street long ago.

    Bernard who was standing next to Lu Bicheng, who was smiling beautifully, couldn't help but admire her. Putting aside her resentment and resentment towards Yang Qiu, this woman indeed possessed all the strengths of a strong woman.  Beautiful, smart, capable, and discerning, people are addicted to it without knowing it, and they take out everything from their heart.  Even Yang Qiu was surprised because Lu Bicheng didn't tell him in advance about the laborer's change to the steel factory. She only said that she wanted to get more benefits. So when she proposed this plan, she was happy and shocked and hated that she couldn't repeat the madness last night.  Thank you very much.

    Because this proposal not only allowed the French government to earn back a new steel plant, but also helped the country significantly improve the level of its steel industry!  Even with old equipment, a million-ton steel plant can still make China's steel industry develop by leaps and bounds.  More importantly, she gave France 30% of the shares under Yang Qiu's instruction, allowing the French government to preserve the opportunity to enter the Chinese market after the war.  For a country with a population of 400 million, once it enters the high-speed construction track, the industrial investment it will bring will reach at least

    Japan has been expelled from this feast that is destined to show its signs. The United States has used its previous relationship to seize the opportunity. Germany still maintains vague contacts. France can now use this opportunity to ensure a share of the pie in the future. The only thing is  The British government has not yet had any chance to intervene!  In this era of great reshuffle of the world structure, is it too conservative to continue to support Japan's idea of ??containing China?  Should there be a need to establish a new Asian order with him at the core?

    It¡¯s my turn to work overtime every ps day.  I want to apologize, because this holiday has been extremely confusing for Hippo. Because all the home appliances and furniture that I bought for my new house were deliberately scheduled to be delivered during the holiday, it caused extreme confusion and time delays. Hippo himself was also unlucky, and his thoughts were all interrupted.  .

    In fact, it is better to go to work. Although it is busy and monotonous, it is also very fulfilling.

    By the way, Hippo will move to a new home on November 27th, so he will soon be able to code in peace without having to worry about messy chores.

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