Hu Shi didn't know that he had been sued by Special Envoy Song. At this time, he personally went to New York to discuss the sale of scrap iron with major steelmakers. Hu Shi planned to take advantage of the price increase of scrap iron and quickly sell the 50,000 tons of scrap iron.

In 1940, the annual steel production in the United States reached 60 million tons. More than 50,000 tons of scrap iron were put into the US market, which could not cause any waves. However, for those large steel mills, these scrap iron are also high-quality steelmaking materials. Buying them into steel is a pure profit. Anyway, the British are rich and powerful, so this kind of sucker will not be cheated.

The British urgently needed supplies. As long as there were spot steel, the British would need as much as possible. Even if they were half more expensive than usual, the British would pay without blinking. After all, the British Empire had colonized the world for more than 100 years and had plundered countless gold. Now, in order to defend the country, the British would not be stingy. As long as they could be solved with money, it would not be a problem.

Hu Shi sold scrap iron and made more than 20% of the profit, almost making more than 2 million US dollars. If the two million US dollars were exchanged for weapons and ammunition, it would be enough for the country to fight another battle in Changsha.

Hu Shi did buy all the money for selling scrap iron. At this time, the British also needed weapons and ammunition, so American arms dealers preferred to receive orders from Britain. Although new weapons are not easy to buy, there are many second-hand weapons in the United States. The United States cannot ban guns, and tens of millions of guns scattered among the people, such as weapons from World War I, which are easy to find in the United States, and many of them are even sold by valuation.

American soldiers looked down on those weapons during World War I. After all, the US military was already using submachine guns and semi-automatic rifles at that time. It would take a "tumbling" to point the gun at the enemy. Who would use old-fashioned rifles that pull a bolt and fire bullets? The British did not rely on second-hand Americans. If you want to buy it, you would buy new ones. Anyway, Britain is not short of money.

However, for domestic soldiers, it would be better to pick up the rags from the United States during World War I. Not to mention the lack of equipment, many Chinese troops used "Hanyang" at that time, which was still a weapon from the Eight-Nation Alliance era. The so-called well-equipped Central Army's German-Armed Division only used the m1924 Mauser rifle, which was not much advanced than the equipment during World War I.

Besides, the domestic situation has reached that level, and it is a good thing to buy weapons, and I don’t care about being picky.

Second-hand guns are also cheaper than new guns. Hu Shi originally made more than 2 million by selling scrap iron. Now he buys cheaper second-hand guns. As the number of loans of 20 million US dollars has increased and decreased, he bought more weapons instead.

Hu Shi reported to Chongqing about selling scrap iron and guns, and was naturally highly praised by Chongqing. The reselling scrap iron was naturally ignored by Chongqing. It is the bottom line that can buy more weapons and ammunition. After all, China is not soldiers, but weapons. As long as there are sufficient weapons, some passionate men are willing to go to the battlefield to fight the invaders.

He had no idea that Hu Shi made another great contribution this time! However, for Hu Shi, making contributions may not be a good thing. After all, he offended many people in China. The greater the contribution he made, the more he would be on guard against Hu Shi in Chongqing.

However, the Special Envoy Song was extremely depressed after learning the news.

Previously, Special Envoy Song reported Hu Shi's illegal case to Chongqing, but he didn't expect France to be in ruins so soon. Hu Shi made a big profit in reselling scrap iron, and bought more weapons and ammunition! Hu Shi made a contribution, and Special Envoy Song reported the illegal case, which was naturally self-defeating.

In addition, when Special Envoy Song complained, he pushed all the 50,000 tons of scrap iron to Hu Shi. Although Special Envoy Song deliberately turned the blame and deliberately drew a line with the 50,000 tons of scrap iron. But now he made a profit by selling scrap iron and became a contribution, so this contribution has nothing to do with Special Envoy Song. Even if he wanted to get a piece of the pie, he could not have any chance of getting a piece of the pie. After all, when he complained before, he had already cleared his relationship with 50,000 tons of scrap iron.

This time, Special Envoy Song was considered a loss of rice if he could steal the chicken.

Another person who felt depressed was Japanese ambassador to the United States, Yoeu Matsuoka.

In fact, there is no problem with Matsuoka Yoyu's judgment. After all, with China's industrial level at that time, it could not digest 50,000 tons of scrap iron. If it hurts people more than this, Japan could beat China.

However, the sudden change in the European battlefield was unexpected by Matsuoka Yoyuki. China made a big profit in selling scrap iron and bought weapons and ammunition. The price of scrap iron in the United States also rose by more than 20%. Including the increase in freight costs, the Japanese would have to spend at least 30% more if they wanted to continue buying scrap iron from the United States. Moreover, even if Japan was willing to spend more money, the supply was not sufficient.

A 50,000 tons of scrap iron is reduced by one tenth of Japan's steel production, which is still very important for Japan's entire industry. If only 50,000 tons of scrap iron are reduced by a certain month, Japan's primary resistance will pass, but 50,000 tons are short of each month, so it cannot be resisted. Moreover, the situation in Europe is so tense, and the world's raw materials will be given priority to Europe, and Japan will obtain less and less raw materials. In other words, in the future, Japan's industrial raw materials will inevitably become increasingly lacking.

When Japan really cannot obtain raw materials in the future, it can only attack Southeast Asia. From then on, Japan will start a war with the United States head-on.

...

Chen Qiang didn't know that Special Envoy Song would lose rice if he could steal chickens, but he could make a fortune by reselling scrap iron and buy a lot of more weapons, which also made the Japanese uncomfortable, which made Chen Qiang very satisfied.

The war in Europe had no impact on New York residents, but instead brought more business opportunities. The United States could not only sell more goods, but many British people came to the United States to take refuge, so New York landlords also made a lot of money.

However, Chen Qiang was in trouble at this time, and his chain gym could no longer expand.

The reason is also because of the price increase of steel.

The main raw material of fitness equipment in the gym is of course steel. Now that the price of steel has increased, the cost of manufacturing fitness equipment has increased, so the cost of opening a gym will also increase significantly, which discourages many franchisees.

More importantly, those manufacturers that produce fitness equipment now have larger orders, that is, to produce the materials needed for the war for the British.

At a metal processing farm in the suburbs of New York, the factory owner said to Chen Qiang with an apology: "Mr. Chen, I'm very sorry, we really can't take your order now. Not long ago, a canning factory gave me a big order. They needed 500,000 canned boxes. Now my factory is working overtime and is fully producing canned boxes."

"I can understand your situation. Then I won't bother you anymore. I'll go to another factory to take a look." Chen Qiang sighed helplessly.

"Mr. Chen, please be honest, nowadays, it may be difficult for you to find a factory to take your order. At least in the short term, it is impossible for someone to produce fitness equipment for you, unless you are willing to pay a high price." The factory owner shrugged and continued: "You only need dozens of fitness equipment for an order. Now, the surrounding factories are orders of hundreds of thousands of products, so no factory will waste production capacity on these dozens of fitness equipment."

Chen Qiang sighed helplessly. He knew that what the factory owner said was true. Nowadays, metal processing factories across the United States have started production at full capacity. Higher levels can produce industrial parts, and lower levels can also produce items such as canned boxes, metal dining plates or metal cups. In the war, metal pots and pans are obviously the best necessities for life. They are strong and strong and not easy to break, and can be used to smash people at critical moments.

The factory owner continued: "I am already expanding the production scale. I plan to open two more production workshops. Who knows how long this war will take! Now other factories in New York are also crazily recruiting people to expand their production scale. So I think it won't take long. When the production scale of all factories increases, there should be additional production capacity to produce fitness equipment for you."

"I hope that day will come sooner." Chen Qiang said helplessly.

"Actually, this may not be a bad thing for you. After all, the price of steel is so expensive now, and the production cost of fitness equipment will be very high. If you place an order now, it is equivalent to spending more money to buy more expensive products." The factory owner said with a smile.

"I think as long as the war continues, the price of steel will continue to rise! Maybe after a while, the price of steel will be even more expensive." Chen Qiang replied.

"I think the price of steel will drop after a while." The factory owner smiled mysteriously and then said: "The price of steel is relatively expensive nowadays, mainly because people's demand for steel has increased greatly. The steel production capacity has not increased for a while, resulting in a shortage of supply, so the price of steel will rise sharply. But it won't take long to go, and steel will increase production capacity and the price of steel will drop."

The factory owner said, leaned forward and lowered his voice and continued: "As far as I know, the major iron ores in the United States have not yet been mined at full capacity, and our iron ore can still have a greater production capacity. In addition, there will be a large amount of iron ore transported in the Caracas mine in Brazil. When the price of steel raw materials is reduced, the price of steel will inevitably drop."

The factory owner's words made Chen Qiang feel much more comfortable. He just hoped that things would be as the factory owner said. After a while, the United States' steel production capacity will be fully released and the steel price will really drop.

The factory owner was a little talkative. He continued: "In fact, it's not just you, but many industries that need to use steel will be affected. For example, those real estate development companies have greatly increased costs. A friend of mine who started a real estate company, used to develop apartment buildings, has now switched to house rental business, and has rented the house to Jews who escaped from Europe, making a lot of money."

"Indeed, the rent market in New York is very hot now. Not only Jews, but many British people have also fled to the United States." Chen Qiang said casually.

"Yes, there are more people living in New York and the demands are increasing. This is really a good opportunity for your gym to expand. Unfortunately, fitness equipment requires steel. It would be great if there were such fitness equipment that did not require steel!" the factory owner sighed.

Chen Qiang was stunned when he was turned on, and the last words of the factory owner made him look inspiration!

"Who said that fitness equipment must be made of steel. In addition to steel, there should be many other materials to use! Without the butcher Zhang, is it really a pig?"

...

Before World War II, almost all raw materials for industrial products were steel, so people were used to making things with steel. For example, the radios were iron-shelled, the TVs were iron-shelled, and the clocks were iron-shelled, and I believe many people have seen the iron kettle outer gland.

In that era when the materials industry was underdeveloped, steel represented almost everything.

However, Chen Qiang from later generations knew that there were too many materials in this world that could be used as substitutes for steel to produce industrial industries.

For example, plastic!

The largest material in the world in the future will not be steel, but plastic. In the late 1970s, the United States' plastic production exceeded the steel production. In terms of volume, the total volume of plastic produced in human history also exceeded the total volume of steel produced in human history. It should be noted that humans have used steel for thousands of years, while plastic is only used for decades.

In the 1930s and 1940s, the oil industry was not very developed, so plastics were not popular. At that time, the plastic industry was still in its early stages, and there were very few products made of plastics on the market.

Chen Qiang did not know the oil industry in 1940. If he wanted to know how much plastic developed at that time, he needed to visit professionals, so he found the Beckland Company in New York.

This Beckland Company is a company specializing in the production of plastic products. The founder of the company is Leo Beckland. He was a Belgian. He later moved to the United States and obtained a doctorate in chemistry at the age of 20. Beckland invented a photosensitive paper that looks like a photosensitive paper, so he has endless money to spend in his whole life. With money, Beckland built a laboratory at home and was addicted to chemical experiments.

As early as 1907, Beckland used formaldehyde and phenol for experiments, and then he developed an artificial plastic, that is, the most primitive phenolic plastic. Then Beckland established a company that specializes in the production of plastic products.

Now that Leo Beckland has passed away, the company is inherited by his son Beckland Jr. Coincidentally, Chen Qiang also knows Mr. Beckland Jr.

So Chen Qiang went directly to visit the little Beckland.

...

Bakerland Company.

Little Beckland took Chen Qiang to the company's laboratory, and then introduced plastic products to Chen Qiang.

"Our company first developed phenolic materials, and we have rich experience in this regard. In addition, we are also studying polyethylene materials. Unfortunately, we missed polyamide and ended up being the first to be launched by Carrothers. Otherwise, the company would definitely make a lot of money." Little Beckland said.

The polyamide mentioned by Beckland is commonly known as "nylon". When it comes to nylon, everyone will definitely be very familiar with it. They will think of nylon stockings. In many time travel novels, the protagonist will invent nylon stockings to make a fortune.

In reality, the inventor of nylon was Carrothers, a famous American scientist. As early as 1930, Carrothers had successfully synthesized polyamide high-polyester compound. Then it took him eight years to fibrillate it, which means it became what people call "nylon". After nylon was invented, it took more than a year of research to be able to be industrially produced. The first nylon product, the nylon stockings launched in May 1940, sold for 5 million pairs in the first month.

Next to it, Little Beckland continued: "Our current phenolic compounds are mainly used to make bakelite, which is also the main product of our company. Of course, we have been developing some plastic products, such as plastic toilet lids, which are waterproof and not easy to deform, and are lighter than wooden ones. Come on, I'll take you to see the samples."

Little Beckland took Chen Qiang to the sample room, where there were a bunch of novel items, all of which were experimental products of Beckland Company.

Little Beckland took a plastic dock cover and handed it to Chen Qiang. Chen Qiang looked at it and said, "I think you can add a few rubber under this gasket. If you sit down, you won't slip and you will be much more stable."

Little Beckland was slightly stunned, then thought about it carefully, and said, "Chen, you are such a genius, this is such a good idea! After I make the first batch of products, I will definitely give it to you for trial!"

"It's very honorable." Chen Qiang said politely.

Chen Qiang then visited the sample showroom. As Little Beckland said, most of the samples here were bakelite.

The so-called baicalensis is phenolic plastic, which is the first type of plastic to be put into industrial production. It is mainly used to manufacture switches, lamp heads, telephone cases, instrument cases, etc. Since these are all electricity, "baicalensis" is named.

Suddenly, a plastic tube came into Chen Qiang's eyes.

Chen Qiang picked up the plastic tube and looked at it carefully.

"This is a pipe made of polyethylene, but at present, it seems that this kind of thing is not very useful, mainly because it is not strong enough, and its load-bearing capacity is too poor. I originally wanted to try to use it as a water pipe, but it is too easy to break, which is far worse than an iron pipe." Little Beckland introduced.

"Can this thing be made more detailed?" Chen Qiang asked with interest.

"Of course, but it's not durable to make thick ones, and it's easier to break if it's fine." Little Beckland answered.

"It doesn't matter, it's better to be more detailed, it won't be too heavy." Chen Qiang said casually.

At this time, Chen Qiang looked at the polyethylene pipe in his hand and had already thought of a business that made a lot of money.
Chapter completed!