Chapter 373: Literary Society and Finney Society

Chapter 373: Literary Society and Finney Society

Chapter 373: Literary Society and Finney Society

A pure steam ship without sails is cool to look at. The Sachsen-class ironclad ship has four large chimneys side by side, nicknamed "cement factory", which makes Shao Quanzhong, a loyal supporter of industrialization, particularly like it.

Bismarck's ship, King William, weighed more than 9,700 tons, but all the weight was used in the mast. Although it looked big, its combat effectiveness was crushed by a pure steam ship.

The Minotaur class weighed more than 10,000 tons, and this pure steam ship weighing more than 7,000 tons was crushed as soon as it entered the water.

Seeing Shao Quanzhong's obsessed look, Bismarck smiled and said, "This is a miracle created by our cooperation. It was finally launched before the Devastation. Of these four most advanced epoch-making ironclad ships, we have two."

Shao Quanzhong looked at it reluctantly for a few more times, then shook his hand firmly, "No, we don't have any need for naval warfare in the near future. Our Beiyang Fleet can run rampant in the Far East. You need it most, so I'll give it to you."

Shao is really a very nice person, an absolute staunch ally.

"Then we can't take it for free. From now on, we will be responsible for half of the eight million taels of silver investment in Zhanjiang Shipyard every year."

Bismarck and Shao Quanzhong shook hands warmly and said goodbye reluctantly.

The German fleet left the port, and the visit of high-ranking officials from various countries to the Qing Dynasty came to an end.

The four pure steam-powered ironclad ships had only been launched and still needed to be outfitted and sea trials before they could be put into service. Bismarck could not take them away.

No reporters were invited to this launching activity, which was carried out quietly in the naval port, because this matter touched the sore spot of the British big brother.

The Zhanjiang Shipyard, a joint venture between Qing and Germany, built the world's first pure steam-powered ironclad ship before its British big brother.

Shao Quanzhong doesn't want to be so high-profile, but what to do if it has already been made?
It will take more than a month for the Devastation to be launched. We can't just wait for a month for the sake of our British big brother's face, right?
Zhanjiang Shipyard was established nearly three years ago when Prussia began its comprehensive aid to Qing Dynasty, and from the beginning it aimed at the most advanced shipbuilding technology.

At that time, the 9,700-ton King William had already been assembled at the Vulcan Shipyard. It would be meaningless to simply duplicate the steam-powered sailing ironclad ship here.

At that time, Prussia was short of money, so the investment of 8 million taels of silver a year in the Zhanjiang Shipyard was entirely funded by the Qing Dynasty. Over the past three years, 24 million taels of silver had been invested, and it was making a lot of money.

The Qing Dynasty provided the money and Prussia provided the manpower. Almost all the technical personnel of the Vulcan Shipyard were transferred here. Now a large number of seaside villas in Zhanjiang are owned by German experts.

The combination of Qing Dynasty's silver and Prussia's surplus technical personnel created a miracle. In three years, the first batch of four pure steam ironclad ships were built.

Of course, Sir Edward Reed of the British Naval Construction Bureau who visited the Mingyue Building in London took the top brand of the Mingyue Building home, and the technical data of the "Ravager" that was "accidentally" copied by professional intelligence personnel is now lying in the drawer of the German designer...

Germany had just received 5 billion francs in compensation and was no longer short of money, so the two sides made equal investments in their cooperative factories.

However, the huge investment made by the Qing Dynasty at the beginning definitely greatly promoted the progress of shipbuilding technology in both Qing and Germany.

The Destroyer cost more than 360,000 pounds and weighed more than 9,300 tons. The Saxony cost 420,000 pounds and weighed only more than 7,000 tons. Its combat effectiveness was not as good as that of the Destroyer.

Britain's shipbuilding industry is leading, and the processing equipment and docks are ready-made, which saves money.

This is the first time we have built a large ironclad ship. All the equipment is newly made and has to be included in the cost. It is good enough to be able to build it. It is impossible to surpass the British technology.

Small ships can be built quickly, which is why the Sachsen class was launched later than the Ravage class.

Mahan, who was accompanying him, sighed as he looked at the four ironclad ships, "It's a pity that they were all given to Germany."

Shao Quanzhong patted him on the shoulder and said, "Xiao Ma, we can't be in the limelight. If the Germans want to be in the limelight, let them be. Anyway, the British big brother has already pointed their spearheads at them. Too many lice will not bite. Our small bodies can't stand the British big brother's attention."

"Anyway, during the sea trials, our officers and sailors will conduct joint sea trials with the Germans and learn the ins and outs of operating such advanced warships. Didn't the second batch of Sachsen-class ships have improved technology? We'll have a chance to have a better one later, and we won't make others jealous."

On the tenth day of May, Shao Quanzhong returned to Hailing.

After returning to Hailing, I still didn’t have time to reunite with my family, so I went to the Haoguozi Company first.

Good Fruit Company has a new French vice president, um, a French-American, Hotchkiss.

The owner of a small arms company that relied on his personal skills was noticed by Shao Quanzhong and appointed as the vice president of a huge military-industrial complex. This was considered a meteoric rise, and Hotchkiss was full of energy.

"Boss, the Germans' processing technology level is beyond my expectation. Good Fruit Company can actually produce the rapid-fire cannon I designed, just like Armstrong Company. If we compare individual factories, our company is already the world's top arms company."

When Shao Quanzhong accompanied Bismarck on his inspection tour, he deliberately cried poor, so that Bismarck could see the backwardness and poverty of the western part of the Qing Dynasty, giving people the feeling that the Qing Dynasty was still far from being a true world power.

In fact, the development of the Qing Dynasty was quite unbalanced. After receiving sincere assistance from Germany, France and the United States, the prosperous regions such as the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta had a population and total industrial output that exceeded that of most powers, but they were only inferior to Britain, the United States, France and Germany.

The per capita industrial level of the Qing Dynasty was a mess, but competition between countries depends on total volume.

The Qing Dynasty also had the added bonus of a huge economy from silk, tea, and porcelain. In fact, it could afford to equip hundreds of thousands of mechanized troops, but this could not be made known to the public right now.

After sighing at Shao Quanzhong's willingness to spend a lot of money on military industry, Hotchkiss smiled and stretched out his right hand, "The land combat model you want is already available, please follow me."

This thing is simple. It just replaces the base when installed on the warship with wheels. It does not require any technical content, so of course it can be produced quickly.

Shao Quanzhong stroked the shiny Hotchkiss 37mm rapid-fire gun with a gentle look, more attentive than he was to his son, "Ren Jun, the Huai Army will order of these in the first phase. They must be equipped to every squad and the Williams rapid-fire guns will be phased out."

"Wait!"

Hotchkiss quickly stopped him, "Boss, if you have that much budget, you can try out the 47mm model I designed. Although the firing rate is 20 rounds per minute, which is one-third of the firing rate of the 37mm model, and the weight has also increased from kilograms to more than half a ton, its power has greatly increased."

Shao Quanzhong waved his hand and said, "Let's do it at the same time. The order quantity of the 37mm model remains unchanged. When the 47mm is manufactured, I will order guns in one phase and equip them to the company to correspond to different combat objectives."

Hotchkiss left in great joy. Having a boss who was not short of money was the greatest fortune for a technical talent like him.

Ren Jun did not place an order, "Brother Shao, does the Huai Army have so many soldiers?"

"Just order it if I tell you to. This stuff will not be outdated for decades, but it will be too little when you need it. When needed, the Huai Army can mobilize a million troops. I'm just taking it easy."

"Prepare the corresponding shells for me, and equip the warships produced in Zhanjiang and Zhenjiang with this stuff."

Ren Jun finally figured it out. Shao Quanzhong returned to his hometown to live in seclusion? What the hell! To live in seclusion, he had to order 18,000 rapid-fire cannons?
"By the way, Brother Shao, Liu Mingchuan and Yang Fuqing have both sent people to buy shotguns and Gatling guns from us. Should we sell them to them?"

"Did you get kicked in the head by a donkey? You run an arms company, why don't you sell it if you can make money? Sell it at will. By the way, you won't sell the latest rapid-fire cannons. I'll let the Wen Chamber of Commerce sell all the Williams rapid-fire cannons that we have eliminated to them."

"No, which side are we from?"

"As an arms dealer, why do you care so much? The two sides in the fight in Japan are buying weapons and selling them openly. Just worry about making money."

"Yang Fuqing wants to buy Krupp guns and armored vehicles, are they for sale?"

"Didn't I tell you that we sell everything except the new rapid-fire cannons? What if you didn't hear me clearly? Get lost!" It was already two or three in the afternoon when Shao Quanzhong came out of the Haoguozi Company, and he finally returned to Qiao Garden.

He and his adoptive father Qiao Songnian traded the Leopard House for Qiao Garden, and the housing shortage at home caused by having too many wives and children was finally improved.

After returning to China, he accompanied visiting dignitaries from various countries with full concentration. When he arrived at Qiao Garden, he fell asleep as soon as he lay down. Apart from kowtowing to his parents, he had no time to see his wife and children.

This time I finally had some free time, so I went to see Wenxiu first, but Wenxiu pushed me out.

"You weren't home when Ping'er gave birth to her daughter, and now you haven't even seen the child yet. You're ignoring them both. You shouldn't do that. Go to Ping'er right away!"

Well, it’s because Ping’er gave birth to a girl. If Shao Quanzhong had a son, he would have to go if he could find time.

Ping'er gave birth in October of the lunar calendar last year. Shao Quanzhong was fighting in Europe at the time, so how could he have time to take care of her?
His eight-month-old daughter was delicate and pretty, so Shao Quanzhong named her "Shao Jimin" and left it at that. In the end, he went to accompany Wenxiu.

Shao Quanzhong was free on his first day back home, so he went to accompany his wife, and Ping'er had no chance to argue.

However, looking at Shao Quanzhong's back, Ping'er felt very uncomfortable. Giving birth to a daughter was a blow to her.

The Empress Dowager became the Virgin Empress Dowager only after she gave birth to a son. I can’t do that.

"Little Stick, have you mailed the gifts for Jiming, Jisi and Jishu in London?"

The maid nodded.

"Have you sent off the Jiangyan hometown dishes, Langjun wine and Zhaowang wine to Lin Bozi of Guangzhou?"

"Ah."

"Has the Wen Chamber of Commerce's newly produced high-precision globe been sent to Hong Kong for Liao Rong?"

"I asked a merchant ship to bring it over."

"Please invite Hu Xiansheng to come to me."

A twenty-year-old young man came in with his arms swung, "Sister-in-law, you looking for me?"

"I brought you here from Texas. How have you been these days?"

"Sister-in-law, you take care of me and treat me better than my sister does. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known that my sister was the concubine of Prince Rui. My sister is so unreasonable."

"Sister-in-law, you give me so much money, it's enough for me to spend, but it's embarrassing not to be an official. My brother-in-law is back, I have to ask him for an official position."

"You don't understand your brother-in-law's temper. If you don't have the right skills, you will be scolded out if you ask for an official position. Don't go. If you go, you won't be able to be an official at all. I'll write you a note and you can go to the governor of Taizhou. He can arrange a position for you as the head of the yamen runners, where you can enjoy good food, good drinks and great prestige."

"Thank you, sister-in-law."

Ping'er waved her hand, and Little Stickhead handed over an exquisite box. "This is the latest Colt breech-loading revolver produced by Good Fruit Company. I give it to you. It will be impressive when you are an official."

"Sister-in-law, you are such a good person. I will definitely ask my sister to say good things about you in front of my brother-in-law."

"No, that's useless. It's enough for your sister to remember my care for you."

…………

The next day, Shao Quanzhong got up and had no interest in visiting Qiao Garden. He prepared to go to the tractor factory to inspect the design of new tanks and armored vehicles.

Le Sen came in without notification. He was one of the few people who could see Shao Quanzhong directly.

"General, the latest intelligence from the Intelligence Department is that rebels such as the Tiandihui, the Hongmen, the Triads, and the Red Flower Society have begun to infiltrate the new armies in various places."

"Have they opened a temple to recruit people in the new army?"

"No, they formed a new group called the 'Literary Society'."

"Oh wow, this gang has also learned to be treacherous, and has changed its appearance. What kind of literature can a bunch of rough men study?"

"They really were leading the new army soldiers to learn taboo records such as the Yangzhou Ten Days, the Jiading Massacre, and the Huguang Population in Sichuan."

"There are also foreign ones, such as the Glorious Revolution in England, the biography of Cromwell, the history of the French Revolution and the First French Republic."

"They are indeed a group of traitors. We will ignore them."

"But they are infiltrating our Huai Army New Army in Guangdong, Guangxi and Liangjiang."

Shao Quanzhong glared at him, "No way! Get rid of him!"

"But we can't prevent it. The head of the literature club is Tian Xing, and it's hard for us to expel him. In addition, Liao Rong's navy is full of triad members, and they have already established many literature clubs."

"The Navy doesn't care. Oh, by the way, didn't Zeng Xiaoyi set up the Finnish Society in the Navy? Didn't he win over one-third of the people? How is it going?"

"The books that Finney learned were all about economics, capital, and Hegel."

Shao Quanzhong patted his forehead and said, "What Sven is doing is serious. It is the right thing to do to develop the economy and build the country. Unlike those rebels who are always deceiving people and instigating them to rebel."

Shao Quanzhong closed his eyes and thought about it. It would be bad to reject Brother Tian openly and not give him face. So -

"Tell Sven, the head of Finney International, that I want to be the helmsman of the Chinese Finney Society."

"Go tell Zeng Xiaoyi that we should openly set up the Fenian Society in the Huai Army. Let Sven send me a few hundred red-haired Irish instructors. How much money is needed to build the Fenian Society to the company level? Tell Xiaoyi to ask Xiu'er directly for it."

"This involves my control over the Huai Army. It's worth spending any amount of money. This way, no literary society can infiltrate us."

"Marshal, do you know what the Finney Society does?"

"I don't understand Hegel and Baigel. Sven told me that the purpose of the Fenian Society is to concentrate its efforts on major projects, rapidly develop industry, and allow poor people to live a good life. That's right. We Chinese have a large population, and if we concentrate our strength, we can overthrow the British big brother."

"I don't care about the details. Let Xiao Yi be the general secretary and I, as the helmsman, will be in charge of the money. You can make the arrangements."

(End of this chapter)