At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 478, Industrial Upgrading Plan

"The ship is coming!" Just when Chen Sheng and Zhao Gao were struggling with the lack of funds for the development of Luzon, someone on the dock suddenly shouted excitedly.

Chen Sheng and Zhao Gao looked out to sea and discovered a small fleet slowly approaching the port of Luzon. The fleet consisted of three ships, one ship of 10,000 tons and two medium-sized ships of 5,000 tons.

After the three ships docked, the Indians with dejected expressions got off the ships one by one.

Hu Hai noticed Chen Sheng and Zhao Gao walking over and said with a smile: "Duke of Luzon, I didn't expect to see you. What do you think of these Indian laborers? They all know how to farm, and many of them even have good carpentry and blacksmithing skills."

Chen Sheng said with a fake smile: "Boss Zhao, your business is getting bigger and bigger. You even have business in Tianzhu, thousands of miles away."

Although Luzon is remote, people would buy newspapers and periodicals from the Han Dynasty to learn about what was happening in the Han Dynasty. The Tianzhu Trading Company founded by Hu Hai was no small matter. It was a newly discovered civilization after the development of the South Seas, which caused a huge impact on the entire Han Dynasty, especially for the maritime merchant groups. Faced with increasingly slim profits in maritime trade, the discovery of Tianzhu found them a new and vast market.

Especially a few months ago, the shareholders of Tianzhu Trading Company brought back a large amount of goods. According to the data of their sales, the newspapers of the Han Dynasty estimated that Tianzhu Trading Company had made at least 20 billion yuan. The whole world was shocked. Tianzhu had become the new wealth hotspot of the Han Dynasty. Countless fleets rushed to Tianzhu. Hu Hai was considered the pioneer of this great geographical discovery.

As a noble of the new dynasty, Chen Sheng was very disgusted when he saw Hu Hai living a comfortable life. A remnant of the previous dynasty like you should not live in fear like a mouse, how come you, Hu Hai, live such a comfortable life.

Zhao Gao held Chen Sheng and said to Hu Hai with a smile, "I wonder what the price of these craftsmen is?"

Hu Hai said, "We are only making money for the boat tickets, so each person is worth ten thousand coins. This time I brought 810 Indians with me, so for the sake of my position as the Prime Minister of Zhao, I will count it as eight million."

Zhao Gao said, "It is settled."

Luzon is really short of labor. They dare not exploit the Han people, and the local natives know nothing. I watch them work, and they can come up with any shocking things. The Indians have made up for the shortage of coolies in Southeast Asia.

Since the first half of this year, coolies from India have begun to appear in the territories of the major princes in Nanyang. After the princes of the Han Dynasty used these coolies from India, they all gave them a thumbs up.

These Indian coolies eat little and work a lot, and just a bowl of rice and dried salted fish is enough to make them burst into tears. What's more important is that they are not like the natives of Southeast Asia who know nothing. They know how to farm and can quickly learn some carpentry and blacksmithing skills. They are first-class, high-quality labor force.

For the Kingdom of Luzon, these Indians are the best candidates for miners. The Han people cannot afford to die, and the local indigenous people have been complaining because too many people have died in mining. Even though they have repeatedly increased the miners' salaries, the number of miners has not increased. Instead, Luzon has begun to spread legends about demons devouring lives in the mines.

Zhao Gao had been planning to buy a group of Indians to work as miners, and now my wish has come true. I have also brought a group of Indian coolies here.

Hu Hai smiled and took out a box of gems and said, "I have brought a lot of gems from Tianzhu. If the Duke of Luzon likes them, I am willing to give them to you."

Hu Hai noticed that Chen Sheng disliked him, but he was not disturbed at all. Luzon was the most important base of Fei Hai Money House in Southeast Asia. Its deposits accounted for 15% of Fei Hai Money House, and remittances accounted for 20%. It could be said that Chen Sheng was giving him a job out of courtesy. Even if such a big boss gave him the cold shoulder, he would find ways to please him. Making money was not shameful.

After Hu Hai's gem box was opened, sapphires and rubies shone with various lights.

Chen Sheng took a look and said calmly: "It's not easy for you to make money. I don't want to receive rewards without any merit. Take it back."

Zhao Gao said, "Duke, let me handle the transaction."

Zhao Gao also realized that Chen Sheng did not like Hu Hai, but now the Kingdom of Luzon really needed Hu Hai, so he simply took over the task of communication.

Chen Sheng nodded and left the dock.

Zhao Gao looked at Hu Hai and said, "You are now completely different from what you were before. Even His Majesty would be very pleased to see you now."

If we were to ask who in the world knew Hu Hai best, it would undoubtedly be Zhao Gao. It could even be said that he watched Hu Hai grow up, and it was also Zhao Gao who provided Hu Hai with his enlightenment education. Before the demise of the Qin Dynasty, Zhao Gao's evaluation of Hu Hai was that he was a dandy boy who was a bit clever. People like him suffered the pain of the country's demise, and they were lucky to survive.

Even Zhao Gao could not have imagined that Hu Hai would be so successful in the Han Dynasty. Not only did he become one of the richest businessmen in the Han Dynasty, but he also established a foundation in India. If Hu Hai's identity had not restricted him, according to the Han Dynasty's system, it would have been possible for Hu Hai to be granted a title of nobility and establish a country.

Hu Hai laughed and said, "I can't compare to you. Even in the Han Dynasty, you can hold a high position. This is what you really have."

The two men had some friendship. When Hu Hai came to Luzon and established the Fei Hai Money House, he did so through Zhao Gao's connections. It was at that time that Zhao Gao discovered that his student had become a wealthy businessman in the Han Dynasty and could become his helper, so the two sides began to interact more frequently.

Zhao Gao asked: "Can your Tianzhu Trading Company transport 10,000 Tianzhu laborers to Luzon within one year?"

Hu Hai was surprised and said, "What kind of big project does Luzon have? They actually need to transport so many workers. These Indians are different from the natives of Nanyang. They are people with civilization and background. They will not recognize the identity of Han people just because a few Confucian scholars fooled them. There are too many Indians in Luzon. Be careful of the emergence of anti-Tian Gang."

Zhao Gao said calmly: "Don't worry, the Kingdom of Luzon wants these Indians to be miners, they won't live long enough to rebel against the Tiangang."

Hu Hai nodded. He knew what the Luzon mines were like. The average miner would not survive more than 5 years. Only those who were desperate would go mining.

"If there is surplus copper in the Luzon copper mines, I would also like to order several million kilograms." Hu Hai thought that with more miners, more ore would be mined. The quality of the Luzon copper mines is very high, and after refining it generally reaches 70%. As long as copper ingots can be produced, it will be money.

Now the price of a stone of copper ore in Dahan is about 3000 coins. If you build a blast furnace to smelt copper, the profit can be increased by % to %. This can be said to be a good deal with huge profits. The most important thing is that after the team arrives in Luzon, a lot of positions will be released. Buying copper ore can increase the profit of sea trade.

Zhao Gao said: "Use the Indian laborers to exchange for copper ore. I will give you as much copper ore as the number of Indian laborers you bring."

Hu Hai said: "It is settled, I will exchange all these 800 Indian laborers for copper mines."

Zhao Gao thought for a moment and said, "My Luzon Kingdom wants to borrow money. How much money can you give and what's the interest rate?"

Hu Hai was now interested and asked, "How could the Duke of Luzon, sitting on a mountain of money, be short of money?"

Zhao Gao said: "Who doesn't need money these days? Even the emperor needs money."

Hu Hai said: "It seems that the Duke of Luzon is not short of small money."

Zhao Gao said, "The Duke of Luzon wants to build a railway. According to the general's calculation, the cost of this railway is as high as 5 million coins. Can your Feihai Bank afford this money?"

Hu Hai said: "We can get it, but what can the Duke of Luzon use as collateral?

5 million is not a small number. Even if it is the imperial court, it has to think twice. I can't just give the money because of a word from the Duke of Luzon. After all, my Feihai Bank is a private bank and must be responsible for its own profits and losses. "

Zhao Gao said: "Use the Luzon copper mine and copper smelter as collateral. The Duke of Luzon will own 5% of the copper mine and copper smelter. The annual income will be million yuan. I guarantee that you will not suffer any loss."

Hu Hai said happily, "I can go find the shopkeeper now to draw up a loan document and guarantee to lend the money to the Duke of Luzon at the lowest interest rate." It is no exaggeration to say that the Luzon Copper Mountain is the purse of the Han Dynasty. If Chen Sheng really used it as collateral for a loan, Hu Hai even hoped that Chen Sheng would breach the contract.

In this way, the two parties made a verbal agreement, and Hu Hai immediately found the local Fei Hai Money House owner and clerk, and went together to inspect the copper smelting plant and copper mine.

Kingdom of Luzon, Duke's Palace.

Zhao Gao reported to Chen Sheng the idea of ​​borrowing money from Feihai Money House to build a railway project.

Chen Sheng hesitated and said, "Hu Hai's Fei Hai Bank really has such a huge capital. Even the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty would think twice before taking 500 million yuan. Can he just take it out as he pleases?"

Zhao Gao said, "Money houses are all about lending. They rely on accumulating small amounts to make large amounts. They use the people's money to do business. Hu Hai may not have that much money, but Fei Hai Money House is the largest money house in Nanyang. Millions of people's money in Nanyang must pass through his hands. Let alone 500 million yuan, he can take out even several times more."

Chen Sheng was stunned. He knew that money houses made money, but he didn't know that they had such great power.

"If that's the case, why don't we, the Han people, open a bank in Southeast Asia?"

Zhao Gao said: "Opening a bank in Nanyang is risky, and Nanyang is made up of islands, which are too fragmented. The bank managers in the Han Dynasty are not willing to do this hard work."

Chen Sheng said: "Hu Hai can open a bank, and we in Luzon can also open our own bank, why should we let Hu Hai go through us?"

Zhao Gao said: "We don't have such management talents in Luzon. Money houses are not a business that guarantees income regardless of drought or flood. The risks involved are also huge."

"The economic crisis 10 years ago caused more than a dozen vassal states in my Han Empire to go bankrupt, and three marquises even mortgaged their fiefdoms. If you set up a money house, you have to bear joint and several liabilities. Hu Hai's Fei Hai Money House also went bankrupt during the last economic crisis. He was lucky to be able to come back to life. If you also want to set up a money house, you must be prepared for Luzon to be taken back by the court."

When Chen Sheng first heard the news, he was extremely surprised, but he made up his mind that the Kingdom of Luzon would not touch the money houses, and he also warned his descendants not to touch the money houses, because he knew from Xu Fan that after the industrial revolution of the Han Dynasty, economic crisis would follow like a shadow, and would erupt about every 10 years.

He is the king of Luzon, which is a foundation that can be passed down for thousands of years. If he loses his fiefdom because of the money house, he will lose the big picture for the small. He has reached his position and does not need to take risks for the sake of interests. Being able to rule Luzon forever is the greatest interest for him and his descendants. Anything that goes against this fundamental interest is not worth doing.

But Chen Sheng thought about it and said, "Our Luzon copper mine has an annual profit of more than 5 million coins, but we only borrowed million to build a railway track. This is too wasteful. Didn't the Prime Minister say that Hu Hai can raise more money? Luzon should simply borrow more money to build the industrial zone we want to build."

Chen Sheng summoned Zhao Hong, the Minister of the Imperial Household of Luzon, and asked him, "If Luzon had 20 billion yuan, which workshop do you think should be built first?"

Zhao Hong thought for a moment and said, "The first thing to build is a timber processing plant. Luzon has abundant timber resources, but now ordinary people use them as firewood, which is a waste."

"If we build a wood processing plant near a copper smelter, we can use the high temperature and dry air from the copper smelter to build a large drying kiln, and use the high temperature from the copper smelter to dry out the moisture in the wood. In this way, the wood that would take three years to dry in the shade can be dried in less than a month."

"These timbers can be sold to sea merchants at a high price, or they can be kept in Luzon to make wooden tools and furniture, etc., or we can build a shipyard ourselves. The Indian civilization was discovered by our Han people, and it is said that there are other civilizations outside of India. Obviously, the prosperous period of maritime trade has not ended, and the shipbuilding industry can still prosper for decades."

"In addition, the small earthen kilns in Luzon should also be upgraded. The population of Luzon is increasing, and more and more brick houses have been built in recent years. Bricks in Luzon are already in short supply. The brick production capacity of those small earthen kilns is limited. They can only produce a few thousand or tens of thousands of bricks at most, which wastes a lot of fuel, takes a long time, and the price of bricks is also expensive."

"He Dahan has developed a new rotary kiln technology. A brick kiln has more than a dozen holes, and each hole can hold tens of thousands of bricks. When the bricks in a hole are fired, the hot air is isolated and the bricks are transported out without extinguishing the fire. The hole is stopped, but the kiln is not. The brick-making capacity of this rotary kiln has increased by dozens of times, which can maximize the use of fuel and reduce the cost to only one-third."

"I saw a rotary kiln factory in the Mozi Monthly Report. A normal kiln can produce 30,000 red bricks, and can earn tens of millions of dollars a year. If Luzon has two such rotary kiln factories, it will be enough to meet the country's brick-making needs."

"There are also new cement plants. The slag from copper smelting in Luzon can be used as raw materials for cement plants. Steam crushers can be used to make the raw materials finer, making the cement produced more viscous and at a lower cost."

"There are also textile factories. Our country of Luzon consumes hundreds of thousands of pieces of cloth every year. This is a huge waste of money. If we build a textile factory in Luzon, we can be self-sufficient."

Chen Sheng had already said how to spend the 20 billion, so Zhao Hong naturally wanted to upgrade all the small factories in Luzon.

What era is this? The Han people keep saying that industries must be industrialized and machines must be steam-powered, but there are only a few steam engines in the entire Luzon. All you can see are 10 steam engines humming lonely on the wooden tracks.

Zhao Hong also wanted to promote industrialization in Luzon. He had thought about the various machinery and factories he wanted to purchase countless times in his mind, and now he said them all out in one breath.

Chen Sheng was dumbfounded when he heard this. He had thought that 20 billion yuan would be difficult to spend, but he didn't expect that after what Zhao Hong said, 20 billion yuan would only be enough to build a few large factories. He looked a little unsatisfied, and he wanted to build more factories, which would exceed the limit of 20 billion yuan.

But he saw that the factories Zhao Hongbao reported were just upgraded versions of his Luzon National Five Small Industries, and there was no high-tech industry involved.

Chen Sheng said: "The Shaofu may have made a mistake in his calculation. The Duke of this country said 2 billion coins, not 200 million coins."

Zhao Hong said: "I'm right. I can upgrade the five small industries in Luzon with 20 billion yuan. This is the result of careful calculation. If we add some paper mills, dye factories, and food factories, 20 billion yuan will not be enough."

"But there is no large steel mill, no machinery factory, no steam engine factory. How can the price be so high?"

Zhao Hong said helplessly: "Your Majesty, you have been in Luzon for too long. You don't know how much it costs to open a factory in the Han Dynasty."

"It cost more than 10 million for merchants in Sanchuan County to jointly open a large steel plant. If the total cost of supporting facilities upstream and downstream of the steel plant is calculated, it would take at least billion to build a complete steel industry chain. billion is really not a lot for Luzon."

Chen Sheng said: "No wonder my brother-in-law always says that no matter how much money he has, it's not enough. Industrialization is really a money-eating beast. It costs so much money to build just a few factories."

Chen Sheng said: "But if our Luzon wants to develop, no matter how difficult the road to industrialization is, we must take this step. Shaofu Ling, you must prepare a memorial to upgrade the industrialization of our Luzon according to the quota of 20 billion coins."

Zhao Hong said excitedly: "I will definitely spend little money to accomplish great things, so that every penny spent by the king will be worthwhile."

On the other hand, while drawing up the plan for Luzon's industry, Hu Hai and his party stood outside the copper mine to inspect whether Chen Sheng's collateral was worth anything.

The mine director Chen Fei personally came to receive Hu Hai and his party, and then found a high point where they could overlook the entire mine and took Hu Hai and his party there.

Hu Hai and his companions saw densely packed mine caves on the mine, countless ores as high as hills piled up on the open space, and mine carts entering the mine. There was a thing with claws like a gantry crane that could fill a mine cart with just one grab, which left Hu Hai and his companions stunned.

Chen Fei said proudly: "The mine can dig out 10 stones of copper ore every day. This large mine cart can carry 100 stones of copper ore at a time. 200 mine carts transport copper ore to the copper smelting plant day and night. There are 2 craftsmen working day and night for this copper mining area."

Hu Hai was shocked and said: "This is the power of industry."

This kind of scene is impossible to see in India. With such a strong contrast, Hu Hai felt that the Han civilization was far beyond the reach of other civilizations, and he seemed to have stepped into a new world.

(End of this chapter)