A Man of Science and Engineering in Troubled Times Wandering in the Late Qing Dynasty

Chapter 629 Ghost
Liu Hongsheng and Song Ziwen were very concerned about the automobile factory. During the period of building the factory, they had been working on the supply chain, raw materials, and sales channels.

You don’t have to worry about sales channels. Basically, production determines sales, and you can sell as much as you make.

In terms of supply chain, the main problem is that some parts cannot be produced domestically and need to be imported from the United States. Fortunately, importing parts is much cheaper than importing complete vehicles, and it is very convenient to transport in batches.

In addition, the patent belongs to Li Yu himself, so the price of the finished vehicle will never be more expensive than that of imported vehicles.

Liu Hongsheng worked harder and harder. A few days later, he said to Li Yu: "Yesterday I met some Japanese businessmen at the dock. They were shocked when they heard that we were going to build a car factory, because they haven't even completely finished the structure of the car yet. Understood, it is said that someone is still working on your differential model.”

Li Yu said with a smile: "They are developing airships, a promising and high-end industry."

"Airship?" Liu Hongsheng thought for a while, "Is it that big balloon?"

"Yes." Li Yu said.

"This thing is great!" Liu Hongsheng said, "I remember it was mentioned in the news that airships bombed Paris and London."

"Anyway... the Japanese with lots of ideas are on the right track," Li Yu said. "I guess they will be able to open airship routes this year."

Liu Hongsheng was a little envious: "Mr. President, you are proficient in science, why haven't you built an airship in the sky?"

"It's done," Li Yu said. "Tianjin's Feng Ru Aircraft Factory should be able to launch passenger aircraft in a few months."

"Why did it become a plane again?" Liu Hongsheng was a little confused.

"Um..." Li Yu couldn't explain it well, so he had to say, "Because I think airplanes are a little more friendly to the people. If we develop airships, the cost of building them will be too high, and the ticket prices will also be ridiculously high. Our country is weak and cannot afford it."

"It makes sense!" Liu Hongsheng accepted Li Yu's explanation. "Just like briquettes, we most need this kind of invention that uses technology to improve efficiency."

"This is how technology is used," Li Yu said, "and the aircraft production capacity has climbed to a terrifying level, and the Japanese are probably not willing to get involved."

Liu Hongsheng said awkwardly: "Terrible production capacity? I have never seen it before."

"I'm talking about Europe and the United States. They have been producing aircraft at full capacity in the past two years, which has far exceeded battlefield needs. When the war is over, there will be a large number of idle aircraft and parts." Li Yu said.

"It would be a shame to leave it idle." said Liu Hongsheng.

"At that time, many aircraft will be converted into passenger aircraft to recover costs and create profits." Li Yu said.

This is how the real civil aviation industry in human history started.

Aircraft ushered in a wave of explosive development during World War I. After the war, many larger bombers were converted into passenger aircraft.

The United States also built many aircraft during World War I, but Germany surrendered before they could be used on the battlefield, so they took advantage of the situation and developed the air mail service.

Liu Hongsheng's business nerves were immediately touched: "If it's cheap, it would be suitable for us to buy some planes and come here."

Li Yu nodded and said: "You can buy it. After all, the production capacity of Feng Ru Aircraft Factory is not high."

Liu Hongsheng added: "The Japanese are very careful with their budgets and may also take the opportunity to develop the aircraft and automobile industries."

Li Yu said indifferently: "Whatever they want to do, we don't care, just let them go."

After World War I, an American named Gomler arrived in Japan. He originally wanted to start the aircraft industry, but his business failed because there were too many aircraft parts on the market.

So Gomler was forced to enter the automobile manufacturing industry, helped the little devil build some three-wheelers, and founded a company called Practical Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd. - this company is the originator of Nissan.

A hundred years later, automobiles are Japan's absolute pillar industry, but for a long time, Japan's automobile market has been dominated by American automobiles.

Until 1936, most of the cars sold in the Japanese market were American Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler cars. After preparing to launch a war of aggression against China, Japan's demand for cars increased, so it decided to bypass the United States and build its own cars.

As for the method, on the one hand, we suppress American cars, such as setting sales quotas and not allowing American companies to expand production capacity; on the other hand, we vigorously support local cars in terms of policies.

It is easy to understand the suppression of American automobile companies. Let us talk about how the little devils support the local automobile industry.

Their trick is just one: copycat.

To be more complete, it is about copying European and American cars and protecting copycat car factories.

Many keyboard warriors in later generations complain about copycats of domestic cars every day, but in fact, it is the little devils who are the best at copycats.

At the beginning, Japanese cars directly copied the products of Ford, Citroen and other European and American car companies from the inside out. They were almost identical.

For Japanese cars at that time, the saying of the keyboard warriors can be applied completely: the most important thing in the company is the tape measure department.

Nissan released a car in 1934 that it boasted was "derived from 15 years of experience building light cars," but was actually copied from a British car.

But the little devils were very cunning, and they made changes in some details. There was no complete infringement bill in that era, so the British had no choice but to admit defeat.

Toyota's first car, the Model A1935, launched in 1, was a hodgepodge. The engine was copied from the Chevrolet Six, and the chassis and electronic system were copied from the Ford V8. When the car went into production in 1936, the front looked like a Chrysler Airflow and the rear looked like a Ford V8 station wagon. Its sedan version is directly copied from the Chrysler Airflow, and the engine continues to be copied from the Chevrolet Six. The dimensions are exactly the same, and the displacement is 3389 cc. But the maximum power is only 62 horsepower, which is lower than Chevrolet's 75 horsepower.

In other words, the copying is not complete, and the quality and experience are not comparable to European and American cars.

And it’s not enough to just build it, you have to sell it.

At that time, the price of Japanese-made cars was much more expensive than that of American cars. For example, a Japanese-made Datsun car sold for 300 pounds, and a similar car from Ford in the United States, the Model Y, only cost about 100 pounds, and the performance of American cars was even better. .

But the result is a bit unexpected. The sales volume of this Japanese domestic car is five or six times that of the American Ford!
It’s not that the Japanese are truly patriotic, but driven by policy.

Japan has formulated very strange car regulations: legally, this Japanese-made Datsun car is defined as a bicycle!

Yes, you read that right, bikes!
Therefore, driving a Japanese-made Datsun does not require a driver's license, and the tax rate is very low. And because buying a bicycle does not require a garage, the Datsun is more convenient and can be parked on the roadside.

Note: Japanese law stipulates that if you want to buy a car, you must have a garage at home; in addition, because the roads in Japan are too narrow, you cannot park on the roadside. If we ask more specifically why it is defined as a bicycle, it should be that the Japanese government stipulated in 1930 that vehicles with an engine displacement of no more than 500 cc can be driven without a car license.

Later generations of Japan still continued similar regulations. For example, their unique K-car had very special requirements: length × width × height should not exceed 3.4m × 1.48m × 2m, and the displacement should not exceed 660 ml. You can enjoy many discounts when purchasing and using K-car, such as lower tax rates, no parking space certificate required, etc. Its sales volume in Japan is very large, and it is called a national car.

I remember a few years ago, someone posted a video of a Japanese K-car on a certain website, and a bunch of people showed up and said, "Japanese people know how to live and don't need face," and "A must-buy for introduction! This is a national car!" "such as.

Haha, if these people didn't just talk, Changhe Beiduxing wouldn't be unable to sell.

Moreover, the price of a Japanese K-car is at least RMB 8. With its weak power, shabby configuration, and weird appearance, would a keyboard warrior buy it?

Ahem, I've said too much, and I get angry when I mention little devils.

In contrast, when we vigorously developed the automobile industry in the 1980s and 1990s, our policy of "market exchange for technology" was a bit too kind. After so many years, I found that without replacing any technology, I was given an old Mitsubishi engine and was fooled for countless years.

In parentheses, Volkswagen did not provide much technology to FAW and SAIC.

Foreign car companies have been making money for decades.

Later, we learned from the experience and decided to engage in research and development on our own, which allowed domestically produced cars to slowly take off.

This is a history that many people ignore. After all, most people cannot pay attention to corporate history or business history.

Looking back at the moment, Li Yu knows that sooner or later, Japan will develop the automobile and aircraft industries. He cannot stop it, and there is no need to stop it, as long as he intervenes slightly.

Before World War II, Japanese cars were completely imitations, shamelessly copied from Europe and the United States, and there was nothing they could do with them.

In terms of aircraft, before World War II, the Little Devils put more effort into it than cars, and paid more attention to it (the reason also involves the dispute between the Japanese Army and Navy).

Li Yu can come up with some tricks to trick the little devil, and it's a high-end trick.

Li Yu is relatively orthodox in the domestic automobile and aircraft industries. He has no shortage of patents and there is no need to play tricks. In other words, at the level of the Republic of China government, it is difficult to vigorously protect local enterprises through policies, let alone squeeze them out. Go to foreign capital.

Song Ziwen walked into Li Yu's room with a stack of documents and said to him: "The Sheng family agreed and will provide steel according to our requirements."

"Hard work." Li Yu said.

Song Ziwen took a sip of water: "Fortunately, I have worked at Han Yeping Company for a while, so we are familiar with each other."

In fact, he didn't want to go to the Sheng family anymore because of "sentimental injury"; the Sheng family finally agreed because of the relationship between Li Yu and Sheng Xuanhuai and Sheng Xuanhuai's dying instructions.

Li Yu asked casually: "How is the performance of Han Yeping Company now?"

Song Ziwen said: "It's very good, but it's a pity that the heir of the Sheng family doesn't take it seriously and doesn't have the ability to take the overall situation into consideration."

Li Yu was shocked after hearing this. Song Ziwen's tone was full of disdain for Sheng Enyi, the heir to the Sheng family. Many years later, he might have the idea of ​​annexing Han Yeping Company again.

After Li Yu intervened, the Republic of China government did not use Han Yeping Company as collateral to borrow money from Japan, so Han Yeping was still in the hands of the Chinese.

But this also virtually cleared the way for Song Ziwen.

Li Yu felt a little overwhelmed and didn't know what to do next. As expected, the butterfly effect was hard to guard against.

Seeing that Li Yu didn't reply, Song Ziwen continued: "The quality of the ore produced by the Daye Iron Mine under Han Yeping is very good. Part of it has been exported to Japan's Yawat Iron Works, and the Japanese are full of praise."

"They are not only full of praise." Li Yu said, but did not say the second part: In fact, the Japanese are even more salivating.

Historically, after Japan controlled Hanyeping through borrowing, it carried out predatory development of Daye Iron Mine for a long time. Yawata Iron Works, Japan's largest state-owned steel plant, most of its raw materials were plundered from Daye Iron Mine in the early days, and the quantity may be several million tons.

Needless to say how important the steel industry is to heavy industry, it later became a tool for invading China.

Song Ziwen showed great enthusiasm for the construction of Asia's first automobile factory. He later became a senior official in the Kuomintang who showed a tough attitude towards Japan very early on. In this regard, he had many conflicts with Chiang Kai-shek.

Song Ziwen was extremely excited when he thought of what Li Yu said about exporting cars to Japan in the future, "The Japanese never dreamed that we can do things they can't handle."

Li Yu smiled and said: "Shopping malls are like battlefields. The Japanese are very vicious when it comes to business wars. They sometimes mobilize political forces, so don't underestimate them."

"What the president said is true," Song Ziwen said solemnly, and then said, "I have contacted some big figures in the Shanghai business community in the past two days. Whether it is Mr. Yu Qiaqing, Mr. Zhu Baosan or others, they all support our industry and have expressed their support for the establishment of the company. Provide capital to help establish the factory.”

Li Yu said: "The support of the Shanghai business community is a great benefit to us. From now on, you and Liu Hongsheng will have a good relationship with them here."

Song Ziwen said: "Supporting each other is the best way to fight against foreigners. We must strictly implement the president's requirements."

Liu Hongsheng said: "In the future, we might as well build our own dock, which will save money on berthing and management costs. As for transportation, we have Yu Qiaqing's fleet, so there is no need for the Japanese."

Li Yu smiled and said: "I will do as you say, but I don't know much about the dock, so please take care of yourself."

"My coal industry business originally needs a wharf, so it can serve multiple purposes." Liu Hongsheng said.

With big names like them in the business world taking action, and with Li Yu's patent, there is no need to worry about the subsequent operation of the car factory. What we should probably worry more about is what to do if it gets bigger...

In addition, thinking that without Han Yeping, Japan might find opportunities to plunder elsewhere, Li Yu sent another telegram to Zou Rong, who was responsible for infiltrating the Manchuria Railway Company, that night.

From his reply, we learned that Japan had indeed established an Anshan Iron and Steel Works, a Manchurian steel company, in the Northeast to meet the needs of expanding its armaments.

This incident further revealed the Japanese ambitions. They teamed up with the traitor Yu Chonghan to establish the Sino-Japanese Joint Revitalization Iron Ore Co., Ltd., but it was said to be a Sino-Japanese joint venture, but in fact it was completely controlled by the Manchurian Railway.

The Japanese immediately carried out uncontrolled mining of several mines covering a total area of ​​tens of thousands of acres.

If the economic crisis and the cessation of armament expansion after World War I had not dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese steel industry, the scale of plunder in the Northeast might have reached an extremely terrifying scale many years in advance.