If the partial opening of coastal railways has brought about the economic vitality of coastal towns, including Songjiang Town, and provided smooth channels to the market, which in turn promoted the great development of agriculture and animal husbandry.

The benefits of Songjiang Town are not only that. With the official start of the construction of Songjiang Reservoir, the first batch of 60 hand-held tractors were all put into the reservoir construction. Tens of thousands of construction workers gathered in Songjiang Town, bringing huge demand for life and goods, attracting the influx of surrounding immigrants like magnets.

The Songjiang Cement Plant was completed and put into production, the foundation was officially laid by Wool Textile Factory No. 4, the planned Australian General Dynamics Machinery Company was selected and built, and the Songjiang Base of Hongshan Iron and Steel Plant was officially included in the planning blueprint. The rise of this central industrial center is completely worth looking forward to.

Early April

Red River Valley Pier

The 5,000-ton cargo ship "Longhushan" that just returned from the United States was docking at the dock. It was unloading brand new hand-held tractors through cranes, neatly arranged on the dock, and the number had exceeded hundreds.

"Sir Earl, hand-held tractors are now extremely popular all over the world. Orders from Europe have been scheduled to August next year. This batch of unloaded hand-held tractors are supplied to three important enterprises at designated locations, including 80 flat panels, 40 low-held trays, Wool Spinning Factory No. 1 and Wool Spinning Factory No. 2, 50 high-held trays, Hongshan Coking Coal Factory No. 1, 100 high-held trays, Hongshan Shipyard 20 flat panels, 30 low-held trays, and 320 units in total."

After listening to the person in charge of the dock, Li Fushou said with a slight hint, "Is there a supply plan in Songjiang? Songjiang Reservoir is the top priority of today's construction. All resources must be tilted to meet the construction of Songjiang Reservoir. This is the current No. 1 project."

The head of the dock replied respectfully; “Report to Lord Earl;

Mayor Xin has already arranged that due to the strong demand of various enterprises, it partially meets the urgent needs of Hongshan Iron and Steel Plant, Coking Coal Plant and Honghe Textile Plant.

There are also 300 hand-held tractors on the Longhushan. After this part of the goods is unloaded, they will be loaded with the building materials and daily necessities needed by Songjiang Town. They will be sent to Songjiang Town soon. All 300 units are supplied for construction and use by Songjiang Reservoir.

These 620 hand-held tractors are the full production capacity of Kagill Steam Machinery Factory from January to February. They are currently making every effort to increase equipment and recruit workers to expand production capacity.

In two months, it will quickly increase from 320 units per month to 1,500 units per month, greatly alleviating the current supply and demand contradiction.

As the urgent demand orders from Europe and the United States are to meet the urgent demand orders, the next batch of hand tractors is expected to arrive in August, with a quantity of 1,000 units, which will be mainly provided for the construction and use of Songjiang Town, Beilun Town and Twin Cities Railways."

After hearing this introduction

Li Fushou couldn't help frowning and turned around to ask his accompanying secretary Hou Guangde. Hou Guangde had just returned from North America and had personally participated in the patent negotiation of the new diesel engine and the trial production of the new engine and development of the tractor of Kagill Steam Machinery Company, and had a very good understanding of the relevant situation.

"Guangde, if only import engines, does Red River Valley have the ability to produce hand-held tractors on its own?"

"Reporting to the master, the plan is feasible, but it is necessary to integrate the relevant machinery factories in Honghe Valley, and to update some equipment to adapt to the production of hand tractors. The accessories of the carriage, railing, chassis and beams and steel plate shock absorbing springs should be no problem. The main thing is the tractor steering mechanism and gear shift mechanism, and brand new equipment is needed to be introduced for production." Hou Guangde answered respectfully.

"According to your estimate, how long will it take?" Li Fushou thought about it and asked again.

Hou Guangde replied, "You can place an order through Cargill Steam Machinery Company. All that is extra is transportation and equipment installation time, which will be delayed by about one and a half months. This means that skilled American workers participate in the installation and construction, and teach us step by step that the production speed of new employees will not be high in the initial stage. There should be a process of running-in and gradual release of output for 4 to 5 months. In the end, the monthly output level should be 1,500 units. If you calculate this, the first tractor is optimistically expected to leave the factory until the end of the year."

"Yes, if General Machinery Company is handed over to you to organize production, how long will it take to produce the first qualified hand-held tractor?" Li Fushou was very decisive.

With the influx of a large number of Chinese immigrants, the need for population consumption is no longer sufficient through industrialization and infrastructure, and new large employers must be opened up.

There are not many realistic choices before Australia. Developing mechanized agriculture is a good way to solve the increasing demand for grain and vegetables, and at the same time expand the production and export of canned fruits.

Don’t ask for much profit, the minimum goal is to digest huge amounts of agricultural output.

Li Fushou's idea was to start some demonstration farms first, and teach Chinese immigrants to go from facing the loess and facing the sky, and to reclaim land with one hand and one foot to become a new type of farmers who drive iron ox farming, laying the foundation for the development of personal farms.

Hand-held tractors are very simple to use. Even illiterate can get started quickly and gradually learn to use agricultural machinery to harvest and plant.

The demonstration farm is like an agricultural university. While providing more agricultural and sideline products, it cultivates more and more Chinese farmers to learn to use machinery.

When they have money in their pockets, they can purchase land and set up private farms based on family clans. Huitong Bank will provide agricultural loans to produce a continuous stream of products to enrich the market.

Of course, this will happen a few years later.

There are also thousands of white farmers in Australia, which one does not need several hand tractors?

The whole of Australia is based on animal husbandry and gold mines as its economic pillars, and the demand for rival tractors is tens of thousands. It is not feasible to rely on Cargill Steam Machinery Company alone because it is facing a larger European and American market.

When Hou Guangde heard that the Count wanted to hand over this burden to him, he was so excited that he couldn't suppress it. He thought it carefully and replied firmly;

"Reporting to the master, it is early April. Guangde is confident that he will produce the first qualified hand-held tractor on September 15 and is willing to issue a military order for this."

"Okay, General Machinery Company will leave it to you in the future." The major event in Honghe Valley has always been Li Fushou's decision, and there is no need to ask others' opinions; "I authorize you to integrate the steel machinery companies in Honghe Valley and approve a sum of funds to import necessary equipment, and ask Mayor Xin to give strong support. Jun has no jokes. On September 15, I will see the first hand-held tractor leaving the factory."

"Guangde swears to complete the task to the death and will never dare to let down the master's high expectations." Hou Guangde took the initiative and tried his best to complete the oath.

Li Fushou was very satisfied and nodded, "The planned Australian General Machinery Company will not only produce hand tractors, but also the new diesel engine produced by Kadir Steam Machinery Company will also be launched on the market as the flagship product of Australian General Machinery Company.

The new factory will be located in Songjiang Town, which has abundant power supply and provides broad space for the development of general machinery factory...

Therefore, after integrating the Honghe Valley Steel Machinery Enterprise, your focus of work should be shifted to Songjiang Town to prepare for the introduction of new diesel engine production equipment and debugging production.

As Australia's first high-tech industrial enterprise, Australia General Machinery Company will be a large enterprise based on the production and development of power machinery equipment and taking into account downstream products.

We not only need to produce hand-held tractors, agricultural machinery, and mining machinery, but also to cooperate with Siemens to produce diesel generators to extend development tentacles to more areas and support the continuous development and growth of enterprises.

I hope one day it will support half of the sky for the Red River Valley, Guangde, my expectations for you are huge."

Li Fushou's affectionate explanation made He Guangde very moved, and he realized that the heavy burden on his shoulders was as heavy as a mountain. He replied with a solemn expression, "Guangde will use his life to fulfill his promise, swear to follow the master's instructions and unswervingly implement the master's strategy, and develop General Machinery Company into a pillar enterprise to support half of the sky for the Red River Valley."

"Then it's a matter of determination."

Li Fushou held He Guangde's hands tightly, and a secretary was reduced to his side and a general was added.

Hou Guangde is an elite talent who has followed Li Fushou to travel around Europe. After years of cultivation, he has grown up and has a global perspective.

The number of people in the Secretariat has increased instead of decreasing. All 12 students from Jiangnan have entered the Secretariat since August last year. They are now scattered on important infrastructure projects in various places. They have shown excellent abilities and overall situations, and the future is worth looking forward to.

Hongshan Shipyard

Along the wide water surface of the Brisbane River Fjord, a series of eight huge ships are building 12,000-ton ocean freighters, some just laying keels, and some are already building tall steel masts.

The shipyard workers were densely packed with ants attached to it, and the work scene was full of work, all of whom were busy.

The steam pipes as thick as fists on the ground were densely packed, and each one was connected to a heavy rivet hammer in front of it, hitting the steel plates, making a deafening echo sound like they were passing through tofu, densely packed.

The diesel hand-held tractor drove by in black smoke, and various steel components and rivet hammers were placed in the truck's bucket, and the flat tractor transported steel plates and long channel steel, which was a busy scene.

...

"Lord, three of the eight new 10,000-ton ocean freighters we are producing now are the mission of United Shipping Company in the 19th century. The remaining 5 are all orders from the west coast of North America. The customers are quite satisfied with our 10,000-ton freight ships. Currently, the shipyard holds 21 orders, including 6 from United Shipping Company in the 19th century, and the others are orders from customers from Germany, Britain and Italy. The production plan has been scheduled to be in the first half of 1882, and the current situation is very good."

The shipyard manager is British Fox, a 46-year-old professional manager with rich production experience in the shipyard. He is an entrepreneur who has high demands on work and is very dedicated.

Fox's annual salary is 550 pounds, and the majority of his income lies in equity dividends. He enjoys 1.7% of the equity dividends in the shipyard. His total income in 1879 was 2,721 pounds, so he is very enthusiastic about his work.

Li Fushou looked at the well-organized shipyard production, and currently provided 6,600 jobs, and 720 shipyard riveters were under training, and felt quite satisfied.

"Mr. Fox, first of all, I would like to congratulate you for your outstanding work. Secondly, I want to see the Seagull Patrol ship getting out of the water to test sailing one day." Li Fushou said as he walked forward, with his expression full of expectations; "The route from Australia to the Far East is always threatened by Spanish pirates. Although we have taken a variety of measures to ensure safety, two ocean freighters have been attacked recently, killing and injured dozens of people. I believe you have also seen the relevant reports. We need our own escort force."

"Dear Lord, please continue to move forward." Mr. Fox accompanied Li Fushou all the way forward, introducing as he walked;

"At present, the shipyard is fully committed to producing 10,000-ton ocean-class ships, with the ability to build 8 ships at the same time, and the annual delivery of 120,000 tons of water is also squeezing into the top 15 in the world. As a shipyard that has been born only three years ago, this is an amazing achievement.

According to the expectations of the Lord to develop the ocean fishing industry, we have introduced the world's latest ocean fishing vessel design from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, with three models respectively.

One is an 86-ton offshore fishing boat worth £1,080, which can operate 13 people and has a seawater tank that can store 44,000 pounds.

One is a 150-ton midshore fishing boat worth £2,750, which can operate 22 people and has a seawater tank that can store 127,000 pounds.

The largest is a 350-ton long-sea fishing boat, worth £8,200, which can operate 31 people and has a seawater tank that can store 290,000 pounds.

Because ocean-going fishing boats need to be equipped with reliable steam engines, small diesel engines that drive fishing net equipment and a large number of fishing gear, the construction cost is higher, much greater than that of ordinary ships.

The high-quality fishing boats produced by Hongshan Shipyard are 30% lower than similar products in Europe, and the quality is not inferior. This is the advantage we are proud of."

Regarding Mr. Fox's bragging, Li Fushou nodded frequently and agreed with his opinion.

Shipyards are typical labor-intensive enterprises, with steel costs accounting for more than 70% and labor costs accounting for more than 20%. What remains is management costs.

First of all, from the perspective of personnel salary, Australian shipyard workers are only 1/3 to 1/2 of those in European and American countries, and their labor efficiency is not inferior.

At this point, there are obvious advantages.

The construction of fishing boats only uses ordinary marine thin steel plates, and due to the price advantage of steel plates supplied by Hongshan Steel Plant, it is also ahead of European companies.

It is estimated that the fishing boats built by Hongshan Shipyard are at least half lower than similar ship types in Europe.

Obviously, the guy Fox still buried the meat in the bowl.

As a small shareholder of the shipyard, Fox's interests are closely linked to the interests of the shipyard. Of course, I hope that the shipyard can leave more profits, which is undoubtedly the case.
Chapter completed!