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

Chapter 678, Industrial Upgrading and Industrial Transfer
July 53, 7rd year of the Han calendar, Chang'an City, Chang'an Tractor Factory.

Shaofu Ling Liu Heng and Mohist Deng Tong led Pingyang Hou Cao Qiu to visit the largest tractor factory in the Han Dynasty.

Cao Qiu drooled as he looked at everything in front of him and said enviously, "I've been living with the barbarians in the New World for so long that I'm almost assimilated. Only by coming to Chang'an City can I see what the future will look like."

Maybe it was because he hadn't been to Chang'an for several years. This time when he came to Chang'an, he felt that the city was even more magnificent. Even this factory looked extremely spectacular to him. He had visited this factory a few years ago, but it felt like this factory was more than twice as big.

The tractors on the assembly line made Cao Qiu drool. The production efficiency was so high. The tractors moved like assembly water on the production line. The craftsmen around them assembled the parts calmly and rigorously. Not long after, a brand new tractor came out of the production line.

"It's so advanced!" Cao Qiu said enviously, "This is the tractor production line I've always dreamed of."

Even though the Han princes tried their best to civilize the savages of the New World, and even though the Han Dynasty had hundreds of thousands of immigrants every year, and tens of thousands at least, and the demographic dividend brought by technology, the entire New World still only had a population of 2000-3000 million, with hundreds of vassal states.

The vast New World is still sparsely populated, especially since the New World is not like the mountains in the north of the Han Dynasty, where only the Central Plains is relatively easy to cultivate. In the New World, except for the mountains on the east and west sides, the entire continent can be said to be a vast plain. The tractor, which has high efficiency in land reclamation, began to replace oxen and became the most important production tool in the New World.

In the New World, there are no policy restrictions on the citizens who want to reclaim land, but there are restrictions on labor. In the case of almost infinite land, no one wants to be a tenant. In the New World, the Han citizens are only divided into small landlords and large landlords, and the presence or absence of tractors has become an important tool for distinction. Because although the wasteland is almost infinite, the labor cost of reclaiming it is extremely large. Yinzhou in this era can also be called the lungs of the earth. The area covered by trees occupies more than half of the continent, and these trees are towering giant trees dozens of meters high. This leads to the extremely high cost of reclaiming an acre of land.

Over the past decade, tractors have been in short supply in the New World. Every year, the princes and lords of the New World have to find ways to request more tractor quotas from the imperial court.

However, the technical content of tractors is extremely high. In the early years, Dahan’s talent reserve was insufficient, and the production line was difficult to expand rapidly. Moreover, the demand for tractors in Dahan is also extremely high. Now there are 1500 million households in Dahan, of which tens of millions are farmers and herdsmen. If the service life of a tractor is 20 years, Dahan needs 50 tractors each year. But the actual demand is several times this number. After all, this is a blue ocean market.

The Han court's principle of distributing tractors was that half would remain in the Han mainland, and the other half would be distributed to the various vassal states of the Han Dynasty in proportion. Even though the Han Dynasty now produces more than a million tractors each year, only a few thousand are distributed to the Cao State each year. The Cao State was looking forward to the tractors for land reclamation, and it was really eager.

After last year's World Expo, the Han Dynasty began internal industrial upgrading, replacing steam engines with electric motors. A large amount of originally backward production capacity needed to be eliminated, and soon these eliminated factories were targeted by the local princes of the Han Dynasty. These factories and machines may be slightly backward for the Han Dynasty, but for most of the princes of the Han Dynasty, they are ten times more advanced than their local factories.

In this situation, the Han Dynasty wanted to eliminate the old machines, and the princes of the Han Dynasty wanted to take over the Han Dynasty's industrial chain. Therefore, the princes and envoys of the Han Dynasty stayed in the Han Dynasty, and conducted a large-scale investigation of the backward production capacity of the Han Dynasty, hoping to take over part of the production capacity back to their own vassal states. Cao Qiu was one of them, and he had a financial advantage over other princes of the Han Dynasty.

When the princes of the Han Dynasty opened up the New World on a large scale, the agricultural production capacity of the New World began to increase rapidly. In the beginning, they could only rely on potatoes and sweet potatoes to meet the needs of the citizens of the New World. However, as the Han Dynasty tamed the native cattle of the New World and later had the addition of tractors, the New World opened up 500 million acres of new arable land almost every year. After a few decades, the area of ​​arable land in the New World was almost the same as that of the Han Dynasty.

However, the population of the New World is only more than one-third of that of the Han Dynasty, and its consumption level is far lower than that of the Han Dynasty. Coupled with the improvement of shipping level, the trade between the Han Dynasty and the New World has undergone tremendous changes. Various agricultural products have changed from exports to imports. Now, cotton, soybeans, cocoa beans, tobacco, rubber, sugar, and flour from the New World have fully occupied the northern market of the Han Dynasty.

The production capacity of various agricultural products has skyrocketed, causing the price of crops in the New World to drop nearly tenfold. Wheat, which sold for 300 coins in the past, now can't even be sold for 30 coins. High-yield crops such as potatoes and corn have even become feed. There are actually quite a few caravans that make these low-priced crops into feed and then sell them to the Han farms. Although the profit is low, it is stable.

The New World has experienced decades of deflation, and the prices of agricultural products are even 30% lower than those in the Han mainland. The prices of light industrial products are also gradually approaching those in the Han mainland. Only those heavy industrial products with high requirements are slightly more expensive.

But there are two commodities that have remained strong in the long-term deflation in the New World. They are gold and silver. Cao Qiu felt that he had done nothing, but his wealth increased more than tenfold. The princes who had gold and silver mines became local tycoons in the New World.

Other vassal states took over the industrial transfer of the Han Dynasty. Due to the lack of money in their own countries, they relied on loans from global development banks. However, Cao Qiu brought all the treasury of his own vassal state, intending to take over the high-quality industrial transfer to the Han Dynasty.

The tractor factory manager enthusiastically introduced: "A tractor assembly line can produce about 200 tractors a day in three shifts, with an annual production capacity of 7 tractors. According to the current price of tractors, this is a production line with an annual output value of 7000 million yuan, which can make 2000 million yuan a year."

The Shaofu has formulated a strict industrial upgrading system. Only when an old production line is eliminated can a new one be replaced. The tractor factory director now wants to complete this deal more than Cao Qiu.

Cao Qiu fiddled with the big gold chain around his neck and said nonchalantly, "It doesn't matter whether it makes money or not. What I want most is for the people of Cao to use tractors so they don't have to wait in line all the time."

Liu Heng said: "According to the price appraised by the Shaofu, if you pay 1 million, the Shaofu will transport this production line to Cao State. The Shaofu will arrange ten master craftsmen and 2000 artisans to go to Cao State, but you have to pay for the round-trip ticket, and the salary of the craftsmen will be twice as high as that in the Han Dynasty."

Cao Qiu said proudly: "No problem, brother, please ask if there are any master craftsmen willing to stay in my Cao State. I will give 5 yuan as resettlement allowance to the craftsmen and 20 yuan as resettlement allowance to the master craftsmen. The salary is twice as much as that of the Han Dynasty."

Faced with such a generous client, Deng Tong immediately said, "I can ask for Pingyang Hou, but I can't guarantee how many people are willing to go to the New World."

After all, although the New World has been well developed in recent years, it has become a barren land for the people of the Han Dynasty.

However, now the Mohists have to find ways to encourage craftsmen to go out to sea to make a living. The upgrading of the Han Dynasty's industries not only improves production efficiency, but also advances science and technology. In the past, those who could repair and operate steam engines were considered excellent talents, but now those who understand motors and can operate them are considered excellent talents.

Industrial upgrading is constantly creating a large number of jobs, but it is also destroying a large number of people's jobs. However, these two processes are not synchronized, and the demands for talents are also different.

Now, while the Han Dynasty and the Mohist School are working together to expand new production positions, they are also finding jobs for skilled workers from the old era, giving craftsmen some buffer time during industrial upgrading.

Cao Qiu said: "The Han people always look at the New World with the old perspective. Now the New World has a population of tens of millions, and the prosperous cities are not inferior to those in the Han mainland. Even the price of food is lower in the New World than in the Han mainland. Every year, the food, soybeans, rubber and other crops transported to the Han Dynasty alone cost tens of billions of dollars."

Liu Heng reminded: "Opening a factory is not like mining or farming. It is not something that can be achieved by working hard. A factory needs a large number of excellent craftsmen and masters, who are honed step by step through factory labor. The tractor you order may cost a little more at the beginning, but you must be patient, manage well, and grasp market risks at all times."

Cao Qiu smiled and said, "Don't worry about this, brother. Our Cao country also has a certain industrial foundation. Moreover, our Cao family's ancestral motto is to leave professional matters to professionals. As long as this tractor factory can produce qualified tractors, it won't be a loss for me." "The New World is full of plains. After traveling around the New World, agricultural scholars estimated that the amount of arable land in the New World is more than three times that of the Han Dynasty. We are still at a disadvantage. The tractors in the New World are not numerous, but too few. Too much land is wasted as pasture for bison."

Cao Qiu then signed a contract with the tractor factory director to purchase the production line.

That night, Liu Heng returned home tired, but he did not expect that his sixth brother Liu You, who was a businessman, had returned.

As soon as he saw Liu Hengyou, he complained, "Fourth brother, why didn't you tell me in advance that the Han Dynasty was going to go to war with the Xiongnu and blockade them? Did you know that I lost nearly 10 billion this time? All the money I earned in the Xiongnu Kingdom over the years was lost."

Liu Heng said, "How dare Fourth Brother disclose such a military and national event? In business, there are gains and losses. With your family background, this little money is nothing. Just start over."

Then he suddenly thought of the imperial ban and said seriously: "Money is just icing on the cake for my Liu family. Sixth brother, you must not be foolish at this time and violate the imperial ban and do business with the Xiongnu."

The Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu Kingdom used to have an annual trade volume of over 200 billion, and most of this trade was contracted by the big families of the Han Dynasty. After all, in this era, only big families could afford ocean shipping. Now the Han Dynasty's ban has cut off the financial resources of many families. Liu Heng was worried that Liu You would violate the court's laws for some profits.

Liu You said awkwardly: "I will follow my father's teachings and will not do anything illegal or disorderly."

However, he was still extremely distressed in his heart. The trade volume of more than 20 billion was suddenly cut off. It was not only the Huns who suffered, but also countless families in the Han Dynasty who were wailing. Even those families that had invested in the Huns suffered heavy losses.

However, where there is a ban there is smuggling. In the past, it only cost hundreds of thousands of coins for the Huns to import machines from the Han Dynasty, but now the price has skyrocketed by 4-5 times. Also, a barrel of Huns' oil used to cost 120 coins, but now it costs less than 60 coins. So if you dare to take the risk at this time and continue to trade with the Huns, your profits can directly increase tenfold.

Such high profits, not to mention that businessmen can't resist such temptation, even few countries can resist such temptation. There is a classic case in later generations. Bald Eagle issued tens of thousands of bans to the Russians. As a result, the company under his rule smuggled all kinds of goods to the Russians and resold cheap oil. Even the world hegemon can't control such things.

Fortunately, the Han Dynasty was still in its ascendant period. Small smugglers dared to do such a beheading business, but the upper-class families with some connections knew that the emperor could really kill people. Therefore, the Han Dynasty's ban was still well enforced.

Liu You thought for a moment and asked, "Brother, do you know when this war will end? When the imperial court lifts the ban on the Xiongnu, I will buy the bottom of the Xiongnu stock market and recover some of the losses."

The war between the Allied Forces and the Xiongnu Kingdom is now a hot topic in the Han Dynasty's newspaper industry. In every tavern and teahouse in the Han Dynasty, there are gossipers discussing this war. In order to attract customers, some taverns and teahouses have even specially obtained Seleucid battlefield maps. The more upscale taverns and teahouses have even made sand tables, and displayed the offensive and defensive situations of the Allied Forces and the Xiongnu on the sand table.

For a while, the tea was filled with powerful generals who explained their strategies to the tea and drinking buddies around them. However, in terms of the battle line, the Allied forces were still at a disadvantage, because at the beginning of the war, the Seleucid rebels lost nearly 5 troops, causing the Huns to be in a state of attacking their fiefdoms. In addition, the military officials were very good at using the Seleucid native puppet troops.

While Zhou Yafu was still integrating the forces of the allies, Junchen had already found a way to recruit 2 puppet troops to the front line. Then, under the surveillance of the Huns, the 2 Seleucid puppet troops launched a fierce attack on the city of Antioch.

This situation on the battlefield made the people of the Han Dynasty extremely depressed. What they wanted to see was a hearty victory, just like Han Xin, the Duke of Mobei, who defeated the Huns in one battle and killed the Huns' Chanyu on the battlefield. But the current situation on the battlefield was that the allied forces were passively beaten.

To the common people who remained in the Han Dynasty, how could it be that the Allied Forces were being beaten?

It's clearly the Huns slapping them in the face.

The people of the Han Dynasty were also full of complaints about Zhou Yafu. It would have been fine if they could not achieve a resounding victory, but they should not have passively accepted being beaten like this. Zhou Yafu was truly an example of a tiger father and a dog son, and he was unworthy of his father Zhou Bo, who had been tough all his life.

Of course, the lower-class people of the Han Dynasty viewed this war as a spectacle, but for a tycoon like Liu You, this war was a huge business opportunity. He understood that even though the Allied Forces were at a disadvantage, the Huns could not be a match for the Han Dynasty, and that the Huns would only be defeated sooner or later. However, the most important business opportunity would be to buy up the Huns' assets when he knew of their defeat.

Liu Heng shook his head and said, "I am not a general in the Taiwei Mansion, so I know very little about this war. I basically read the news from the newspapers. However, after the Xiongnu Kingdom suffered this blow, I am afraid that it will be difficult to do business in the future. You can try to go to Tianzhu. The King of Tianzhu is cracking down on Tianzhu tyrants and building Tianzhu's local industry. There should be a period of prosperity in the next ten years or so."

Liu You said angrily, "Fourth brother, you'd better stop giving random advice. You've been in the officialdom for too long, saying that Tianzhu is a good place to do business. Although the Huns are rude, they can at least make some money, but the Tianzhu people are full of liars. Over the years, except for the armed plunder of the Tianzhu Trading Company, few people have made money in Tianzhu. The King of Tianzhu wants to develop industry, I believe it, but gods and demons are easier to deal with than ghosts, and Tianzhu is full of ghosts."

September 53, 9rd year of the Han calendar, Chang'an City, Taiwei Mansion.

Xu Aimin looked at the offensive and defensive situation on the sand table and said with some dissatisfaction: "Zhou Yafu has not yet sent out his troops. Does he intend to watch Junchen completely conquer the Seleucid Empire?"

The war between the Allied Forces and the Huns had been going on for nearly half a year, but the result disappointed Xu Aimin extremely. He also wanted a resounding victory to declare the Han Dynasty's global hegemony and establish his prestige as the leader of the global alliance. However, the current situation has undermined the prestige of Junchen.

Junchen used the power of the nobles of the Seleucid Empire to recruit 10 Seleucid pseudo-troops. Junchen also recruited 2 Huns from the rear to enter the Seleucid Empire. Now Junchen had 15 troops. With such a huge army, the Huns were in a fierce offensive and completely conquered the nobles of the Seleucid Empire. They defected to the Huns and became Hun nobles. Then they helped Junchen to collect food, set up troops, protect the food route, and maintain the stability of the territories conquered by the Huns.

Because of the support of these Seleucid nobles, the Huns went from being outsiders to conquerors. Junchen used 10 troops to suppress the newly conquered territories and protect their own food supply routes, and troops continued to attack Antioch. In terms of the battle line, the Seleucid Empire was almost occupied by the Huns. Zhou Yafu led the main force of the alliance army into Damascus, but soon he stopped moving forward, which was what Xu Aimin was most dissatisfied with. He knew that the strength of the alliance was not as good as the standing army of the Han Dynasty, but you can't just not fight like this.

The military officer Chai Wu immediately consoled him, "Your Majesty, don't think that I am always on the offensive. The Huns are now at the end of their strength, while Zhou Yafu is constantly arming and training the Seleucid army. He is using these armies to clear the Seleucid land, attack the Huns' food supply, and weaken their military strength. Not only can I not suck blood from the Seleucids, I am also constantly losing blood. It won't be long before the trend of strength and weakness is reversed, and the Huns will continue to decline. If I don't retreat by then, the 50,000 Huns will be wiped out by Zhou Yafu."

General Ding He also said, "I think Zhou Yafu's strategy of training the righteous army, strengthening its strength, and clearing the countryside is correct. The Xiongnu is already in an economic crisis. The Xiongnu are good at quick battles, not long battles. The Allies have global resources and can fight the Xiongnu for a year or two. It is you who are anxious now, not the Han Dynasty."

(End of this chapter)