Qingdao County New Steel Plant.
"Pass the emperor's order to order your factory to postpone all orders from this moment on. Prioritize the completion of national orders."
The director of the Qingdao County New Steel Plant quickly stood up, with a look of embarrassment on his face: "Boss, those orders cannot be pushed back. If those orders are pushed back, our factory will have to pay a lot of liquidated damages. The reputation will also be reduced."
If you were placed in the era of the Kyushu court, you would do whatever the emperor asked you to do. Who would dare to negotiate terms with the country
But now I dare.
Du Tianzi personally issued the order, but Qingdao County Xin Steel Plant still resisted.
The official who delivered the order had a serious face: "Director Zhang, you have to take care of yourself. This batch of national orders is a top priority. It is a project jointly discussed by the Kyushu Academy of Sciences and the New Kyushu Government. Your Qingdao County New Steel Plant is fortunate to receive this A batch of orders is your honor. After the completion of this project, the reputation of Qingdao County New Steel Plant will rise to a higher level again. This is also the national support policy to support steel plants in various places. You are the only one in Dongzhou who has received one-eighth of the orders. , all states in the country except Western States have chosen a steel mill to receive this order. Think about the magnitude of it."
Director Zhang complained endlessly: "But we still have a lot of orders. It's not that we won't accept this order, but don't let us put down other orders."
"No, this batch of orders is a high-level national secret. You cannot accept other commercial orders while producing this batch of orders. Of course, in cooperating with the government, you are indispensable. Director Zhang, you can transfer the orders in your hands to Orders are contracted out to other steel mills. This is also an option."
"Then can you tell me what is being produced this time?"
"Rail..."
After the official explained the idea of the railway, Director Zhang’s eyes lit up and he immediately said, “We’ll take it.”
"Why are you happy again?"
"Hahaha, when we reach the level of Dongzhou No. 1 Steel Plant, money is no longer important. What we want is honor."
"Didn't I ask for honor just now?"
"Hehe... I didn't expect the honor to be so great."
"Didn't Director Zhang say forget it?"
"How can this be forgotten? But I only have one request. :"
"you say."
"Each section of the rails produced by our Qingdao County New Steel Plant must be printed with the words 'Qingdao County New Steel Plant'. After the train is opened, a Qingdao County New Steel Plant station will be set up around Qingdao County. Set up After the new steel plant station, all excess rail materials will be provided by our Qingdao County New Steel Plant, without the country paying a penny more."
"The first request can be agreed, but the second request is exempt from discussion. The railway line will not be spared."
“…”
At the same time, steel mills in eight states across the country except Xizhou have received orders.
This is a method of equalizing rain and dew, although it will slow down the process and increase the cost. But it was done intentionally by the government.
Railways are destined not to be limited to Laoshan to Quancheng County. One day, they will blossom everywhere in New Kyushu.
This time, the rail orders were distributed to eight states and eight steel mills. They also wanted other states to start learning technology and accumulating experience. When the country asks which state to start building railways, it will not be blinded on the spot, at least there will be manufacturing experience to follow.
When the time comes to assemble the railway from Laoshan to Quancheng County, it will also be done by people from the steel factory. Let them practice first. If you don’t understand, the Kyushu Academy of Sciences will explain it in a unified way, so that you can truly save costs.
This is the principle of equal exposure to rain and dew.
Qingdao County New Steel Plant, Kyushu Academy of Sciences sent a technical consultant here.
"Director Zhang, you have already seen the drawings of the rails. Is there anything you don't understand?"
Director Zhang held the drawing in his hand: "Although this rail is I-shaped, I don't understand one thing. How can it stand stably? If a train passes over it, will it tip over?"
"No, first of all, this kind of rail must be double-layered parallel. There are wheels on both sides of the train rolling on it, and the force is even. Secondly, there are cross beams connecting the two rails on the left and right. Finally, the rails are It should be buried in the filler and fixed by some parts. It is not as complicated as you think. Just make sure it is smooth, no bends, always straight, and no cracks. But you should not take it lightly. This will be harmful to your factory. The smelting technology is a test. The rails produced must all be of the same specifications, and there can be no mistakes at all."
Director Zhang nodded: "I understand. By the way, are we really not allowed to let trains pass through Qingdao County? Can we set up a new steel plant station in Qingdao County? Our factory is willing to bear all the excess rail materials."
"Hehehe."
“…”
At the same time, the line from Laoshan to Quancheng County also began to be measured.
"The straight-line distance from Laoshan County to Quancheng County is three hundred kilometers."
"But if we bypass the mountain in front of us, we will need to add twenty kilometers to the route. Do you think we should build a bridge to let the train pass through the mountain, or dig through the mountain and build a tunnel?"
"Hahaha, you are really fantasizing about building a bridge on the mountain... In my opinion, it is more reliable to build a tunnel out of the mountain."
"Have you calculated the cost? How much does it cost to dig through this mountain?"
"The cost of digging a tunnel is about 50,000 gold coupons for a distance of one meter. To dig the mountain to a distance of at least four kilometers, it would cost 200 million gold coupons..."
Everyone looked at each other and couldn't help but take a breath of cold air. Two hundred million gold coupons. Astronomical figures.
According to the figure given by the Cost Bureau, 200 million is probably the total cost of all the rails plus a train. It turns out that just digging four kilometers of the mountain requires 200 million gold coupons, which is a bit scary.
In fact, it's not just the mountain in front of you that needs digging. According to the straightest route possible, ten more tunnels need to be dug along the way, and the total length of the tunnels is 20 kilometers. After digging through these 20 kilometers, the railway will be a straight line with a total length of 300 kilometers.
If these twenty kilometers of tunnels were not dug, a detour would be needed and the length would be increased. The total length becomes 420 kilometers. A full one hundred and twenty kilometers of route were added.
In Quancheng County, Du Taiping was a little confused after hearing the report: "Increasing the length by one hundred and twenty kilometers will theoretically increase the journey by at least one hour and twenty minutes. But after digging twenty kilometers, The tunnel will cost more than one billion as expected!”
The secretary-general of the office grimaced: "One billion. Isn't the cost of building this railway too high?"
"It's not that the cost of building the railway is high, it's that the cost of digging the tunnel is too high. To dig or not to dig? Send a telegram to the Kyushu Academy of Sciences and ask Dean Li to make a decision."
"Then what if Dean Li says not to dig?"
"If he says he won't dig it, he won't dig it."
"What if Dean Li digs?"
"Then... try to convince him not to dig. One billion gold coupons are enough for anything."
“…”
(End of chapter)