Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 291 Population
Regarding the mining industry on the company's territory, Lin Hai actually did not want to adopt a government-run model. He preferred to have private capital operate it, because the mines required too many people, and the government-run model would inevitably lead to inefficiencies.

But because it requires a lot of manpower, the capital requirements for mining are also relatively high. At present, there are too few rich people in Jinhe, and the richest people are those on the board of directors. Lin Hai will not let them start their own business.

Therefore, the only feasible way to mine large mines such as Keelung Coal Mine or Jinguashi Gold Mine is to have it run by the government.

Originally, Lin Hai planned to wait until domestic private entrepreneurs grew up, or Li Guozhu introduced a group of Chinese businessmen with strong capital from overseas before considering the mining of large mines. However, since layoffs are needed now, it is better to start the Keelung coal mine first.

Those who were unwilling to leave the Engineering Bureau were arranged to work in the Keelung Coal Mine, where the harsh conditions would naturally drive them away. This process would certainly not be accomplished overnight, so Lin Hai could gradually replace free people with slave labor imported from overseas and drive them to private enterprises.

In fact, although Keelung Coal Mine was a large mine, it did not require many workers. In the seventh year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, the annual output of Keelung Coal Mine reached more than 5 tons, with only a thousand workers - of course, this was mined by machines and transported by horse-drawn railways.

But Linhai didn't need that much coal. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the annual coal production in China was only 9000 tons, which accounted for 70% of the world's annual coal production, just the same as the proportion of iron production.

If the Keelung Coal Mine were to employ a thousand or so people, it would probably be able to produce considerable output. However, the company can currently only employ this many people in the mining industry. If it employs more, human resources will be too tight.

As for why we should open coal mines first, there are two main reasons:
First, for underground mining, the coal mine shaft support, underground lighting, ventilation, drainage and other technologies are more sophisticated. The company can use this to set a good benchmark for the future private mining industry.

Second, the company really needs coal now. As an indispensable fuel for both industry and life, the price of coal is about one-third of charcoal, and its mines are almost inexhaustible.

Although Jinhe Kingdom also has large timber reserves, the amount that can be easily cut down is limited. Moreover, the good timber is used for shipbuilding or furniture making. The efficiency of logging cannot be compared with coal mining in any way.

By the time the iron mines in Qiongzhou were developed, charcoal resources became even more scarce. In those days, it took four tons of charcoal to smelt one ton of iron, and five tons of wood to smelt one ton of charcoal. No matter how many trees there were, they would not be enough.

Of course, iron used for weapons had to be smelted with charcoal because of its high quality. Coal-based ironmaking inevitably brought harmful impurities such as sulfur and phosphorus, which is why Fujian and Guangdong iron in the Ming Dynasty were considered good iron, because most ironmaking in the north used coal, while in the south it was mostly charcoal.

Coking technology was already available in the Ming Dynasty, but coking requires coking coal, and the producing areas of coking coal are basically not within Lin Hai's sphere of influence, so using coke to make iron is not feasible.

Fortunately, for the industrial needs of this era, the most important thing is not how much good iron there is, nor how much steel there is, but whether there is enough iron. To put it bluntly, from now until the Industrial Revolution, the output of iron is more important than its quality.

Of course, the two large iron mines in Qiongzhou have very good reserves and grades. Among them, the Tiandu Iron Mine can be mined in the open air, and sea transportation is very convenient.

However, the local malaria was extremely deadly, and the mortality rate of miners was quite high, so a steady stream of slave labor had to be imported from overseas.

After finishing the arrangements for Keelung Coal Mine, Lin Hai motioned for Lun Diyi to continue.

"The other three bureaus of the Construction Department are mainly military-related. The general manager has previously explained that military-related industries are not included in the scope of this decentralization of government-owned industries, so we did not consider these three bureaus..."

Lun Diyi hesitated for a moment before continuing, "However, Deputy Director Qian of the Ship Bureau proposed that he wanted to purchase a mud dock in Danshui to build civilian ships. We can't make a decision on this matter, so we can only wait for the general manager to come back and make a decision."

"Sure, tell him that he can build not only civilian ships but also military ships. As long as he builds better than the Ship Bureau, or cheaper, the company can buy his military ships!"

Lin Hai's words surprised everyone present. This Deputy Director Qian was originally in charge of the Ship Bureau, but he was marginalized after Pan Xuezhong's father came. Everyone originally thought that Lin Hai had a deep prejudice against Deputy Director Qian, but they didn't expect that he would support him so much in this matter.

In fact, Lin Hai really had no prejudice against Lao Qian. In his opinion, although Lao Qian was not suitable for public office, he would definitely be a talent if he were his own boss. At least he had the style of later capitalists when it came to exploiting cattle and horses.

After Lun Diyi reported on the decentralization of government businesses, Fang Xiu'e reported to Lin Hai the personnel plan for the Economic Development Department. Of course, she had discussed it with Zhu Niang in advance and was just waiting for Lin Hai to come back and make the final decision.

Lin Hai was very satisfied after listening to it. Although some of the candidates were not the best options in his mind, he did not raise any objections.

As a leader, you should try not to deny the proposals put forward by your subordinates if you can. Especially for someone like Fang Xiu'e who is about to be promoted unconventionally, you should praise her more and deny her less. She will be stage-frightened because of her sudden promotion to a high position, and denying her will make her shrink back.

"Very good! This personnel plan is impeccable. I can't raise any objections!" In order to support Fang Xiu'e, Lin Hai did not hesitate to speak very confidently, even though this might very well dig a hole for himself. If something went wrong in the personnel plan in the future, wouldn't it damage his reputation as a wise and brave man?
Fang Xiu'e was very happy to hear this and said hurriedly, "I am so ashamed to receive the compliment from the CEO!"

Lun Diyi was originally happy for his sweetheart, but Lin Hai's next words made his face change drastically: "Xiu'e, in view of your past work performance, Zhu Niang and I have discussed that we will promote you to the position of Director of the President's Office of the company, and will nominate you as a director of the company at the next board meeting!"

Fang Xiu'e was at a loss, Lun Diyi was stunned, and for a moment you could hear a pin drop in the house.

Lin Hai then explained in detail what powers this new position had, but Lun Diyi was clearly not online the entire time. Four words kept echoing in his ears: "Company director? Company director!"

It was not until the topic later returned to the Economic Development Department that Lun No.1 came to his senses...

What Lin Hai talked about later was actually mainly about the industries that the Economic Development Department will focus on supporting in the future, mainly camphor, tea and furniture.

These are the pillar industries of modern Taiwan, and are also what the company is currently unable to take care of.

As for why I didn't do it, the reason is simple, there are not enough people...

Now that we want to develop the private economy, these things must naturally be put on the agenda.

However, private enterprises also need people. As can be seen from the example of the decentralization of state-owned enterprises in the Engineering Bureau, state-owned and private enterprises actually compete for population.

To put it bluntly, the Economic Development Department is only to revitalize the existing population. The core factor restricting the company's long-term development is still the total population.

Lin Hai couldn't wait to set up the Ministry of Transport as soon as possible. Whether it was recruiting immigrants, purchasing slave labor or attracting overseas Chinese businessmen, he had to rely on this department.

Seeing that the first month of the first year of Chongzhen was drawing to an end, and Xu Yilong from Fujian and Ou Zuoji from Nagasaki had not arrived yet, Lin Hai couldn't help but feel a little anxious.

(End of this chapter)