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

Chapter 701, Golden Years of Development
Next, under the guidance of Yan Zhu from the county, they visited the bus production line, agricultural machinery production line, three-wheeled vehicle production line, and machinery factory.

Each factory was extremely large, and the cars coming off the assembly line were too much for them to keep up with. For the first time, they discovered that there were so many types of cars and that the internal combustion engine was so versatile. The internal combustion engine was a strong substitute for the steam engine. The internal combustion engine could do everything that the steam engine could do, and it was smaller and more efficient.

Thinking of the huge steam engine market in the Han Dynasty, if all of them could be replaced, it would be a trillion-level market. Thinking of this, Liu You and others were excited and saw countless money pouring into them. Of course, 3/4 of this money flowed to other regions, which made them dissatisfied.

Because the adaptability of internal combustion engines is too high, Chenjun’s financial resources alone cannot support the construction of so many factories and expanded production.

After Liu You and his companions visited the place, they had to admit that compared with the automobile industrial zone in Yangxia, the automobile factories in other regions were just makeshift ones, even Kuaiji County was the same.

Kuaiji County seems to be richer than Chen County, but its wealth depends on the trade system and on wealthy businessmen from all over the world coming to invest in the Han Dynasty. Its pillars are trade and finance, and the best talents also like to enter the financial industry.

But Chenjun is different. It is a city of craftsmen, and outstanding talents prefer to engage in manufacturing. This is the most obvious difference between the two places.

Afterwards, Liu You's people invested in the factories they favored. Together, these wealthy businessmen invested 3 billion yuan in the Yangxia Automobile Industrial Zone and generally acquired 10% to 20% of the shares.

This is also something that makes them feel helpless. If they take into account such a huge investment, it would take up at least more than half, let alone one or two percent.

But in Chenjun, as shareholders, they can only own 25% of the shares at most and enjoy 25% of the dividend rights. Even if they are optimistic about these factories and want to increase investment, the factories without Chenjun will not accept it at all.

When leaving Chen County, Wang Lun said angrily, "Why are you so arrogant in Chen County? When you go back, send craftsmen here to learn. When they are good at learning, build a car factory in Kuaiji County. Let you see the power of three shifts and take away all your market."

Because of the interests, Wang Lun reluctantly invested 5 million in the automobile manufacturing area, but the arrogant attitude of the Mo family made Wang Lun a little unbearable. As the saying goes, the one who pays is the boss, they paid the money, not only did they not enjoy the status of the boss, but they were also restricted from making more money, which was completely begging on their knees.

Liu You comforted him, "Think on the bright side. The Mohist School still wants us to pay. We are the boss and they have to work for us. For capable retainers, even if they are the four great masters, they have to endure their tempers."

His fourth brother Liu Heng graduated from Mozi Academy and is currently the Minister of the Imperial Household. All of his subordinates are from the Mohist school. Based on this relationship, it is difficult for him to say anything bad about the Mohist school.

Kuai Xu's eyes lit up. The Kuai family was already the richest businessman in Jiangnan, but their products were basically light industries, mainly grain processing.

In recent years, cities in the Han Dynasty have absorbed a large number of rural population. According to the court's statistics last year, the urban population exceeded the rural population for the first time. These wealthy people need a large amount of grain, fruits, vegetables, tea and other agricultural and sideline products. Therefore, Jiangnan has accumulated huge wealth in recent years by relying on the development of agricultural and sideline products and light industry.

But in recent years, the development of his Jiangnan Bank has been stuck in a dilemma. The reason is very simple, that is, there are too many competitors.

Since the court formed a global alliance, all the vassal states and civilized countries of the Han Dynasty have come to Chang'an to ask for the emperor's support. The court's foreign investment has increased exponentially, exceeding 500 billion last year and expected to exceed 800 billion this year.

The investment of these funds led to the improvement of productivity and the increase of production capacity of agricultural and sideline products in major vassal states and countries. In order to develop industry, these countries and vassal states could only export agricultural and sideline products to the Han Dynasty in exchange for Han Dynasty's industrial products. This led to another drop in the prices of agricultural and sideline products in the Han Dynasty in recent years.

Kuai Xu understood that it was time for Jiangnan money houses to transform, otherwise they would be abandoned by the times. The automobile industry was an industry that he was optimistic about. He had also invested in more than a dozen automobile companies in Kuaiji County. However, after coming to Chen County this time, he was greatly enlightened. This was a truly industrialized production model, far from being comparable to that of a backward small workshop.

But investing in Chenjun can only make a little money at most. The gap between the industrial transformation he imagined was too big, but Wang Lun's words just now opened his mind at once, but he couldn't make a profit in Chenjun. But he could let them cultivate their own talents.

As a shareholder, I would like to ask you to help train a few craftsmen. This is not too much, right? After these people are trained, I will integrate the automobile workshops I invested in and open a car factory in Jiangnan.

The industrial base in Jiangnan is too poor. More than a decade ago, the Mohists supported retaining some industries based on steam engines, but the tax revenue was still mainly from agricultural and sideline products. If there was an automobile factory with an output value of 10 billion, those prefects would definitely support their actions.

Wang Lun, Liu You, Kuai Xu and other Han merchants left Chen County with mixed feelings. But after visiting Yang County Automobile Industrial Zone, they left with 3 billion investment, which shocked the whole Han Dynasty.

Everyone in the Han Dynasty knew that Chenjun was the city of Mohists. The people most excluded by this city were the wealthy merchants. The place that the wealthy merchants of the Han Dynasty disliked most was Chenjun. The system of dividing the profits among four horses was the policy they hated the most.

But even if they could only hold 30% of the shares, these wealthy merchants in Dahan still left billion yuan. These wealthy merchants in Dahan may be rich but unkind, or have low character, but everyone still believes in their vision. Even they have made a large investment, which shows the strength of Chenjun Automobile.

For a time, all the counties in the Han Dynasty that had automobile industries sent Han officials and craftsmen to visit the Yangxia Automobile Industrial Zone, and even Han officials from those who did not have automobile factories came to learn.

Then they saw an industrial area that was like half of the city. The entire factory area was connected by roads built to the highest standards. The efficiency of the assembly lines in the car factories shocked them. It was no wonder that the wealthy merchants of the Han Dynasty invested in these car factories with such production efficiency.

Then they started to learn how to copy. Most people believed that if Chen Jun could do it, they could do it too. They did not ask for a car factory to be as big as Chen Jun's, as long as it was half as big as Chen Jun's, it would be enough for them to be rich.

But the idea is beautiful, but the reality is extremely cruel. The car looks like an upgrade of the steam locomotive, but the technical precision and difficulty have been improved by more than ten times. The precision of the internal combustion engine is higher than that of the steam engine. At the same time, the parts need high-hardness alloy steel, and processing these parts made of alloy steel requires high-precision lathes and powerful hydraulic presses. In order to obtain high-hardness materials, Chenjun experimented with hundreds of alloy formulas and developed new high-precision machine tools. In order to press out qualified car shells, Chenjun gathered the best craftsmen to develop a 5000-ton hydraulic press. Only with such a powerful hydraulic press can the car shell of steel plates be easily die-cast.

This is just a technical problem. The most complete industrial chain required for automobile manufacturing and the supporting factories to ensure automobile production are difficult for other counties to learn. And in fact, almost the entire Han Dynasty is learning from Chen County, but not many have made real achievements.

In the 57th year of the Han calendar, the entire Han Dynasty produced 10 cars. The output value of automobiles exceeded 15000 billion for the first time, becoming the fastest-growing industry in the Han Dynasty. Half of them were produced in Chen County, and % of the remaining half were produced in Chang'an City, Kuaiji County, Luoyang City, and Linzi County. The remaining cars were produced in hundreds of counties and prefectures of the Han Dynasty. These workshops were either hand-made or the goods were imported parts from Chen County. The annual production capacity was dozens or hundreds of vehicles.

These car factories also know that assembly lines are highly efficient, but they don't have the capital. One assembly line requires hundreds of high-precision machine tools, which cost more than 100 million yuan. Such a high threshold directly makes most workshop-style car factories a reality. In the small counties of the Han Dynasty, the pillar industries are generally agricultural and sideline products. One or two factories are considered the local pillar industries. The finances of these counties can only barely maintain balance. If they want to build infrastructure and large factories, they have to rely on transfer payments from the court.

It's not that they can't spend hundreds of millions of dollars to support the local automobile industry, but that the price is unaffordable. The imperial court has always been clear about the powers and responsibilities. If the local governments dare to act recklessly and build large-scale projects, then the debts will be borne by the local governments themselves. The experience of eating dirt for ten years happened frequently in the Han Dynasty, which cultivated a more conservative behavior habit among Han officials. Even if the county magistrate or the county governor wanted to take risks, the local Han officials and wise men would stop them.

Although the automobile industry has a bright future, its cruelty is also evident. In the brutal competition, more than half of the Han Dynasty's automobile factories went bankrupt. Even gambling is not so dangerous. This is a game that only the big counties with capital can afford to play.

In the 58th year of the Han calendar, the production of various types of automobiles in the entire Han Dynasty increased to 18 vehicles, and there were more than a thousand supporting factories. The entire automobile industry exceeded billion. The automobile industry drove the development of industries such as steel, machinery, rubber, and petroleum.

Among them, the vassal states whose mainstays were rubber and oil industries were overjoyed. After the Han Dynasty's large-scale global investment, the prices of various agricultural products such as grain, rubber, tea and other cash crops around the world began to fall generally. The reason was very simple. Production capacity increased, but the market could expand simultaneously. At the same time, the only buyer was the Han Dynasty. In order to compete for the market, the vassal states with these industries could only lower prices.

However, due to the rapid growth of the automobile industry, the price of rubber tended to stabilize and even increased slightly. For the oil industry, the emergence of automobiles was a life-saving straw. Electric lights caused the kerosene market in Han to shrink, especially with the large-scale promotion of electricity in Han. In just a few years, the kerosene market in Han shrank by half.

But once cars appeared, gasoline, which was originally only used as military supplies, became a civilian product. A car in the Han Dynasty consumed about 200 liters of gasoline per year, which was equivalent to the annual consumption of 200 kerosene lamps. The 20 cars in the Han Dynasty completely made up for the reduction in the kerosene market. What made the global oil-producing countries even more happy was that the expansion of the scale of automobiles was visible to the naked eye. According to the Han Dynasty, 2000 million horse-drawn carriages were all replaced by cars. This market can be expanded hundreds of times. In the foreseeable future, a huge amount of wealth will flow into their country.

The bright future of the automobile industry is already in sight, but many people in the Han Dynasty have fallen on the eve of this bright future. After more than a year of competition, the gap between them and Chen County has not only not narrowed, but has widened.

In 58 AD, Chen County produced 10 cars, accounting for 16% of the world's total. Under the pressure of Chen County, the car factories in small counties and prefectures of the Han Dynasty almost collapsed. Now the entire Han Dynasty, namely Chang'an City, Kuaiji County, Luoyang City, and Linzi County, are still expanding the scale of the automobile industry with the support of the local county magistrate's office. There are only factories in the entire Han Dynasty that are still producing cars. However, these are not makeshift workshops, but factories with at least one automobile production line.

The automobile industry is just a microcosm of the second scientific and technological revolution. A large number of emerging industries are developing rapidly. The most basic electric power industry is developing at a speed that is not inferior to the automobile industry. Coal power plants and hydroelectric power stations are being built everywhere in China to meet the country's industrial demand for electricity. Electric lights, phonographs, radios, cameras, and movie cameras began to appear and changed the lives of Chinese people.

Under the guidance of Deng Tong, Donghai County invested all its resources into the radio industry. He established the first radio broadcasting station and a crystal radio factory in Donghai County. Deng Tong also assisted counties and prefectures of the Han Dynasty to establish their own radio broadcasting stations at extremely low prices. The county governors of the Han Dynasty at that time gladly accepted such a good thing. As a result, the crystal radios of Donghai County were sold all over the Han Dynasty, and the annual output of 100,000 units was still in short supply.

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The phonograph became a fashionable home appliance for the Han people. The middle class of the Han people liked to buy a phonograph at home, listen to a song by themselves, or listen to a storytelling session.

The first camera factory was established in Donghai County, and new things like photo studios began to appear. It became popular for the people of the Han Dynasty to go to photo studios to take family portraits.

At the same time, young people from wealthy families also began to take photography as their hobby, starting a life where SLR cameras would make them poor for three generations, photography would ruin their lives, they would have to constantly change equipment, and their wallets would be as thin as a needle.

The first movie camera and projector factory was built and the first cinema in the Han Dynasty was renovated in Donghai County. The film industry officially emerged, and these cinemas quickly popped up all over the Han Dynasty like mushrooms after a spring rain.

Movies that could display images quickly became popular among the young people in Han Dynasty. People started to meet the girls they liked in movie theaters instead of going to theaters. With the popularization of these electrical devices, the entertainment industry began to rise in Han Dynasty.

Relying on these new radio industries, Donghai County's industrial output value has hit new highs and its economy has grown rapidly. From the end of the second tier, it has made rapid progress and has already shown a trend of surpassing Luoyang City. Given time, Donghai County may become a new first-tier county of the Han Dynasty.

Although Kuaiji County lost to Chen County in the automobile industry, other industries were also growing rapidly. For example, in the shipbuilding industry, with the new electric-driven lathes and hydraulic presses, the efficiency of ship production was rapidly improved, and the emergence of electric welding was an extremely revolutionary leap. Its efficiency was more than ten times that of rivets. It used to take a year to manufacture a 2-ton ship, but after using electric welding technology, the Han Dynasty only needed months, saving six times the time and reducing the cost by half.

It happened that at this time, because the Han Dynasty had integrated the global industrial chain, the shipping cost increased, and after improving the welding technology, the shipyard of the Han Dynasty did not expand, but the production capacity increased sixfold. For a time, ships made money and became famous in the Han Dynasty. Kuaiji County's economy took off further thanks to the rapid development of the shipyard.

At the same time, the petrochemical industry began to emerge. Dahan's engineers extracted two new materials, plastics and artificial fibers, from petroleum. Now Dahan has begun to conduct application research on these two new materials.

The electric cars that Chang'an City has been working hard on have also made new discoveries. Although the capacity of car batteries has increased three times after several years of research, this increase is obviously not enough to commercialize electric cars. Instead, the emergence of various home appliances in Donghai County has provided batteries with unexpected application space.

Of course, this small market is not even enough for Changan. Changan's masters have not given up on the route of electric vehicles. After discovering that it is difficult to make breakthroughs in the field of batteries, they have taken another approach. Since the problem of battery capacity cannot be solved, they simply don't need batteries. As long as there are electric wires and the electric vehicles are connected to the wires, the power problem will be solved.

At this time, the Han Dynasty's power grid had undergone several rounds of upgrades. Electric lights appeared in thousands of households in Chang'an City, and electric wires began to appear in the city. As long as a special power network was established, the energy supply of trams would be solved. These masters did what they said, and in the 59th year of the Han Dynasty, the first tram line in the Han Dynasty began to appear.

Even Shuzhong took advantage of this industrial upgrade. Relying on cheap local natural gas, Shuzhong built the first synthetic ammonia plant with an annual output of 5 tons. The fertilizers it produced were sold at a price % lower than other areas in the Han Dynasty, and it began to continuously conquer cities within the Han Dynasty.

A number of small fertilizer factories in the Han Dynasty were beaten so badly that they kept going bankrupt. In order to survive, they had to move their factories to Shuzhong, which then became the fertilizer production base of the Han Dynasty.

October 60, 10th year of the Han calendar, Chang'an City, Prime Minister's Mansion.

The annual accounting is about to begin. Chen Lei looks at the economic data collected below and a satisfied smile appears on his face.

These few years have been the most comfortable years for him since he became prime minister. The economic data of the Han Dynasty is too good. Not just good, nor just good, but very good. In the past two years, the fiscal revenue of the Han Dynasty has been either more than 20% or 30%. Under his governance, the fiscal revenue of the Han Dynasty has quadrupled. The emperor said that electricity and internal combustion engines can drive the second revolution of the Han Dynasty, and this statement is indeed true.

Money makes things easier, and this also applies to the prime minister of the Han Dynasty. With sufficient financial support and visible growth, the Han Dynasty has been in a stable political and popular situation in recent years. If the county governors want to build power stations, he can apply for approval. If they want to build hydropower stations, as long as they are not too ambitious, such as building the Yangtze River Hydropower Station, they can generally get approval.

In the past two years, the Han Dynasty has built hundreds of thermal power stations and started construction of more than 50 small and medium-sized hydropower stations. Meeting irrigation needs is secondary. The main thing is that they can provide local electricity support, accelerate local industrial development, and enable the Han Dynasty to meet the demand for electricity access in all counties. The next step is to build thermal power stations in every county of the Han Dynasty to achieve electricity access in all counties. Of course, this is left for the next prime minister to do.

(End of this chapter)