Nowadays, Daye Steel Company not only takes the lead in mass-producing mild steel and obtains huge profits, but also takes the overall situation into consideration. Under the leadership of the Ministry of Industry, they license the technology patent of Daye Steelmaking Method to other steel companies. However, this patent authorization They have to charge money, and the price is high. For this reason, they have obtained huge patent income.
This has also inspired other steel companies to become more determined and confident in researching new technologies.
There is no way. Although they have obtained patent authorization for the large-scale steel smelting method, it will take at least one or two years from obtaining the patent to purchasing equipment and completing the transformation of the production line. Then the production must be continuously debugged to stabilize production. I’m afraid it will be three to five years later.
In the past three to five years, Daye Steel Company has been full of food.
It's as uncomfortable as it is to not make money yourself, but to watch your competitors make a lot of money.
Although these steel companies are all government-run enterprises, profits are not the only criterion for measuring the performance of the leaders of these steel companies, but the output and technological advancement brought by the profits can promote national defense and industrial development, solve employment, etc. But it is an important criterion for measuring political performance.
It is said that the general office of Daye Steel Company will be transferred back to the Ministry of Industry of Gyeonggi Province this year. By then, he will be at least a third-level director with real power. In another two years, he may even become a high-ranking official at the level of minister.
Everyone is an official, who doesn’t want to be promoted?
And the competition brought about by this mentality is very important.
Officials at the Ministry of Industry are quite experienced in guiding healthy competition among their companies, and they plan to do the same in the steam engine industry.
The final meeting was finalized, and it was initially planned to allow three government-run machinery companies to carry out the industrial mass production of steam engines.
They are Dangtu Machinery Company, Guangzhou Machinery Company, and Tianjin Machinery Company.
These three companies are all large machinery companies under the Ministry of Industry. They are companies with strong technology and strong funds. In addition, these three companies are located in the Yangtze River Basin, Pearl River Basin and the northern Bohai Sea region. The geographical distance is relatively far. Considering the transportation Due to cost reasons, there will not be much vicious competition between them in the early stage.
This can also better cover the three major regions of the south, central and north.
Once it is developed, the Ministry of Industry will take the lead in allowing coal mines and other mines in need as well as enterprises in need to purchase and trial it.
However, the Ministry of Industry will only take the lead in allowing companies in need to try out one or two, and will not force companies to use steam engines on a large scale. This is unrealistic.
At the same time, in order to support the steam engine industry, companies that produce and use steam engines will be given certain corporate tax exemptions, reduce the production and use costs of steam engines, and reduce the burden on enterprises.
Through this series of measures, the Ministry of Industry estimates that next year the Dachu Empire will be able to put a small number of steam engines into actual production and use, and then increase the production and application of steam engines year by year.
It is hoped that in five years, the actual application scale of steam engines will reach 1,000 units, and will be expanded from mines and enterprises lacking rivers to traditional enterprises built along rivers, so as to gradually replace water-powered machinery.
After the preliminary plan is finalized at the meeting, the Ministry of Industry and other departments will continue to communicate to improve the support and promotion development plan for steam engines.
This plan will inevitably require a lot of funds from the imperial government. After all, the support funds are mainly distributed through tax incentives. However, there is not much difference between collecting less money and paying directly. Preliminary estimates It is estimated that the first batch of subsidy funds will reach two million yuan, and will be gradually increased depending on the situation.
One of the most important subsidy preferential policies is the long-term tax reduction and exemption for steam engine manufacturers. The entire preferential policy is twice as much as the preferential policies for other technology-based companies.
The tax exemption time has been directly extended from three years for ordinary new technology enterprises to five years.
The half-tax period has also been extended from two years to five years.
The tax reduction and exemption policy for ordinary new technology enterprises is generally three-year exemption and two-half tax, while the steam engine industry has been specially approved for five-year exemption and five-half tax.
This alone is a hugely favorable policy that can greatly reduce the financial pressure on companies that are about to enter the steam engine production industry, allowing them to invest more in technology research and development and production to continue to reduce the production cost of steam engines. , improve the performance of steam engines, and finally allow steam engines to enter ordinary factories and become the real power engine for the industrial development of the Dachu Empire!
Just when the high-level officials of the empire formulated corresponding policies to support the development of steam engines, the industrial community actually took action earlier, especially mining companies. After they got the news that steam engines could be used, they quickly launched corresponding measures. action.
The first to take action was the Chizhou Coal Mining Company. This was a mining company that was not very famous among the large number of mining companies in the Dachu Empire. Moreover, it was not a government-run company, but a purely private capital company.
It was invested and constructed by a large local gentry family in Chizhou. The amount of coal it produces is not large, and it mainly supplies major enterprises in the downstream Dangtu Industrial Zone, especially the Dangtu Steel Plant, which is their main customer.
There are actually many small and medium-sized mining companies like Chizhou Coal Mining Company.
The prosperity of the steel industry and the rise and widespread use of private briquettes have led to a sharp increase in the demand for coal in the market. Although official capital has invested in the construction of a large number of coal mining companies, such as Jiangxi Pingxiang Coal Mine, Anlu Huainan Coal Mine and Hebei Luanzhou Coal Mine. , several large coal mines in Liaodong, and the Annan-Guangning coal mine in overseas territories, etc., but coal is still in short supply.
At the same time, the Dachu Empire did not restrict private capital from entering the mining industry. Let alone the mining industry, there were no restrictions even in the steel industry. If you have money, you can do it.
Compared with steel, smelting and other industries, which have high technical requirements and huge differences in investment, investment in small mines is controllable and technical requirements are not involved. Anyway, coal mining is done by hand these days, but it is far from mechanical mining. level of coal.
This has also led to the numerous coal companies in China, and a considerable number of small coal mining companies are invested and operated by private capital.
Chizhou Coal Mining Company is such a small mining company. They operate a small coal mine in Chizhou Prefecture, and also own several small coal mines in several nearby counties.
The overall market value is not high, but the profits are not low. After all, the coal business is still very profitable these days.
The small mining industry, shipbuilding industry, and small and medium-sized machinery industry are the best areas for domestic private capital to enter heavy industry. Other industries are too suitable for private capital to enter, because the investment is too large and the return cycle is too long.
After An Songhua, the general manager of Chizhou Coal Mining Company, learned that the Royal Institute of Technology had developed a steam engine, he wanted to get a few steam engines back to pump water in its coal mines.
Several coal mines of Chizhou Coal Mining Company all require digging, and there is water seepage... They have spent a lot of manpower and material resources on drainage, but the effect is not very good.
Moreover, if the pumping capacity is insufficient, coal mining operations will be difficult to carry out on a large scale, and a lot of coal will not be dug out.
If the coal cannot be dug out, all money will be lost.
And An Songhua is also a courageous person and has a strong ability to accept new things. It was he who persuaded his old father and several uncles to spend a large amount of money to bid for the mining rights of these coal mines. Entered the coal mining industry.
It is expected that the demand for coal will increase sharply, and the coal market is improving.
Now, after seeing the steam engine, he also wanted to build a steam engine to pump water.
For this reason, after he learned that Dangtu Machinery Company had obtained the patent authorization for steam engines and was preparing to produce steam engines, he immediately came to the company in person to prepare to place an order.
Dangtu Machinery Company also attaches great importance to the orders from Chizhou Mining Company. This is the first mining company to come to its door.
As for the others, either they are not well-informed enough to know, or they just want to wait and see for the time being.
After all, the steam engine is a new thing. You don't need to ask to know that the price must be very expensive, and the cost of maintenance and use will not be low, and the overall risk is relatively high.
But Chizhou Coal Mining Company came directly to the door, which was equivalent to sending a start-up order.
You know, at this time, Dangtu Machinery Company had not even figured out the process of producing steam engines, and the factory building was not there yet...
In order to show respect for its first customer, Dangtu Machinery Company said on the spot that it would give Chizhou Coal Mining Company a 20% discount on its order for five steam engines, and promised to provide free operational training, free technical support for at least three years, and Warranty service for core parts within three years.
Warranty is not common in contemporary industry. Warranty services generally only appear in some special industries, such as expensive large-scale equipment, especially some core components of hydraulic machinery and equipment.
As for ordinary commodities, and even some ordinary machinery and equipment, it is popular these days to pay for it and deliver it at the same time. As for after-sales service, it is impossible.
If it's broken, you either need to fix it yourself or ask me to fix it... As for fixing it for you for free, that's a nice thought...
But for a new thing like a steam engine, it is foreseeable that there will be many faults after actual use. If it does not provide maintenance guarantee, it is estimated that few people will buy it. In addition, steam engines are inherently expensive large-scale machinery. equipment, so Dangtu Machinery Company decided to pay additional costs to provide certain warranty services.
Based on the test prototype (Watt type) given by the Royal Institute of Technology, Dangtu Machinery Company estimated that the production cost of each component and its own comprehensive assembly cost were added up, and the manufacturing cost of a 16-horsepower steam engine was probably It costs three to four thousand Chu Yuan. Even if it doesn't make any money, it will cost more than four thousand Chu Yuan. The minimum selling price for each horse is at least two hundred and fifty Chu Yuan.
This cost is quite high... You must know that the total assets of many small factories are less than 4,000 yuan!
As for a hydropower equipment that can stably provide 16 horsepower, the cost of the machine itself, the installation cost, and even the cost of aqueducts, etc., add up to about 800 yuan.
The cost of each horse is about fifty Chu Yuan.
In some places with convenient terrain, such as no need to dig aqueducts and sufficient hydropower resources, the overall cost of setting up hydropower equipment is even lower, and the cost per horse can be reduced to twenty or thirty yuan.
This is why factories these days like to build factories near rivers, especially in places with abundant water power.
With the current manufacturing cost and high selling price of steam engines, it is actually very difficult to promote the use of such an expensive thing.
Not to mention that the subsequent maintenance costs are also not low.
Although the maintenance cost of hydraulic equipment is also quite high, it is not as high as the cost of steam engines!
To put it simply, if the current textile factory uses steam engines for production, even if the steam engine itself is given to others for free, the textile factory will lose money... It was discussed in an internal meeting of the Ministry of Industry that, judging from the situation of the textile industry, if you want The use of steam engines on a large scale is still profitable, and optimistic estimates are only ten years away.
Before this, steam engines could not hope to enter the textile industry or other similar industries where production cost control was extremely strict.
Chizhou Coal Mining Company ordered steam engines out of its own urgent needs. This is just an example.
Therefore, Dangtu Machinery Company also attached great importance to it and even sent technicians to the Chizhou Coal Mining Company for on-site inspection of the coal mine to understand the actual needs of the coal mine and the installation and use environment in order to improve the steam engine and finally design a usable steam engine pump.
The only technical information that Dangtu Machinery Company obtained from the Royal Institute of Technology was the steam engine itself. After all, the Royal Institute of Technology steam engine project team only worked on the steam engine itself. As for the specific application design of the steam engine, that was not within the scope of their research.
If you want a steam engine to pump water quickly and in large quantities, with a stable and reliable structure, but without high costs, this requires the Dangtu Machinery Company to work hard on its own.
Dangtu Machinery Company, which has a start-up order for five steam engines and water pumps, is very optimistic about the steam engine project and has great confidence.
They believe that although steam engines are expensive and have high maintenance and use costs, they still have great application value in specific industries, such as the mining industry, especially coal mines.
Secondly, there is the machinery industry in areas lacking water power resources. In these places, water power machinery is not available. If you want to obtain high-horsepower mechanical power, you can only use steam engine power.
Finally, there are some machinery industries with high gross profit, but high demand for high horsepower and very high requirements for power stability. In order to obtain more horsepower and more stable power, they are willing to pay high costs, such as those in arsenals. Especially the artillery factory.
Their demand for power seems to be endless, which can be seen from the extremely exaggerated and super large hydrodynamic equipment they built... Nima, the artillery factory affiliated to the Dangtu Arsenal next door, in order to process the gun barrel quickly and stably, customized A series of large equipment such as ultra-large boring machines, cranes, and furnaces have been installed. To drive these large equipment, considerable power is required.
In order to meet the power demand, the hydropower equipment they developed is very exaggerated...
This has actually spurred the rapid development of the hydropower industry. Hydropower equipment has evolved from the original waterwheels, to waterwheels with more optimized structures, and now to water turbines that have begun to be used on a small scale. Hydropower equipment is actually also Continuous development and continuous progress.
However, hydrodynamic equipment is inseparable from the natural flaw of water flow, which is destined to have huge limitations in application.
Mining, areas lacking water power resources, and high-profit industries that require high-performance and stable power are all potential application markets estimated by Dangtu Machinery Company executives.
Once it is opened, the steam engine project will be on the right track. After large-scale mass production, production and R&D costs will continue to be reduced and diluted through large-scale production, especially after companies in the upstream supply chain will also reduce costs. Then the production cost of steam engines may be reduced to a hundred yuan or even tens of yuan per horse.
By then, more industries will be able to afford steam engines.
Given the scale of the Chu Empire's huge industrial system, once steam engines were fully used on a large scale, the market size would be almost unimaginable.
However, if you want to capture this huge market in the future, you will have to drive down the costs!
If you want to drive down costs, you must first break out of several key industries such as mining.
If we want to tap the demand in these key industries, product quality must keep up.
For example, the steam engine and water pump required by mining companies, in addition to the steam engine itself, the water pumping equipment must also keep up.
Then they are also preparing to build steam engine tractors to make it easier for mining companies to pull coal out of mines.
They need to consider many potential application scenarios and carry out corresponding technical development.
You can't just give a steam engine and then let the customer figure out the rest.
Daye Machinery Company sells water power machinery and equipment, and at least it also provides technical support to assist customers in building a series of supporting equipment such as water diversion channels and power transmission equipment.
If the steam engine equipment of Dangtu Machinery Company is to be recognized by customers, and it is used when the customer has no experience in using it, or even has no reference object, it is necessary to provide operational training, equipment installation, supply and installation of supporting equipment, etc. A range of services.
In short, the customer's mentality is to just pay and you have to take care of the rest.
Otherwise, if you just give me a steam engine, I won’t be able to use it.
Under such circumstances, the first steam engine research and development project launched by Dangtu Machinery Company was not to develop seemingly high-end core technologies such as better coal consumption and higher power, but to focus on a series of supporting facilities. on the device.
Especially water pumping equipment.
Dangtu Machinery Company plans to use steam pumps for mining as its flagship product and promote their use to a large number of mining companies in the empire that have water pumping needs.
But even if the design and production go smoothly, it is estimated that the first steam pump will not be produced until next spring.
Before that, Dangtu Machinery Company took advantage of the close distance and close relationship to find the Royal Institute of Technology and purchased two sets of prototypes from the steam engine project team for early testing of various supporting equipment.
Dangtu Machinery Company is one of them. In fact, Tianjin Machinery Company and Guangzhou Machinery Company are not far behind. They are allocating a large number of technical personnel and funds to prepare to work hard on the steam engine project.
Whether they make money or not is secondary. Even if they lose money, they have to do it. The key is to get enough political capital.
And this kind of system that must be forcibly launched at all costs is also the main purpose of the Dachu Empire to establish government-run enterprises.
Many of them are related to a century-old plan, and the R&D and production tasks for national development can only be accomplished by relying on official capital, regardless of the cost, even at a loss!
Count on private capital? People will ignore you only if there is no profit in the short term!
Pure capital is short-sighted and greedy. If it is not restrained, it will have extremely serious negative consequences for the economic system and even the entire society.
However, it is impossible to directly ban capital completely, because capital can also make the economic system run more smoothly and provide assistance for social development.
What Luo Zhixue did was to put capital in a cage... On the one hand, he established a sound financial system and used numerous complicated laws, regulations, and various restrictions to prevent capital from getting out of control.
More importantly, the government directly stepped in and controlled a large amount of capital to guide the operation of the economic system.
When capital is controlled by the government, capital becomes a toothless tiger that can cut off meat from time to time to feed the people.
The use of official capital to invest in heavy industry and various advanced technologies is an important manifestation of this.
It is unreliable to rely on private capital alone to research and develop steam engines, or even to promote the application of steam engines on a large scale in this era. However, considering the important strategic role of steam engines in the development of industrialization, it cannot be done without it.
At this time, the importance of official capital is reflected.
Regardless of costs, temporary gains and losses, and even capital's own interests, everything is only served for the interests of the empire. This is the biggest and most important characteristic of official capital, and it is also the fundamental reason why Luo Zhixue values official capital.
The three major machinery companies have begun to show their talents and are preparing to spend money to launch steam engine projects. This has naturally attracted the attention of related domestic industries.
There are many coal mining companies or other enterprises in the same situation as Chizhou Coal Mining Company.
It can even be said that most coal mining companies will have this demand, and most of them also have the funds to purchase steam engines. At the same time, because they produce coal themselves, their costs of using steam engines are low enough.
All this was given to various mining companies, especially coal mining companies who were very interested in steam engines and water pumps.
After Chizhou Coal Mining Company placed the order first, other coal mining companies followed suit. Of course, most of them ordered one or two units first to test the waters.
They still have to see if this thing actually works.
If the steam pump can play its due role in actual use, then with the size of the contemporary coal industry and its abundant financial reserves, the rapid application and even popularization of steam engines can be triggered in minutes.
The three major machinery companies are looking forward to this, and so is Luo Zhixue!
Once the application of steam engines starts in coal mines, it can be declared that the Chu Empire has entered the middle stage of the industrial revolution: the large-scale application of steam engines!
To a certain extent, the large-scale application of steam engines is more in line with later generations' impressions of the first industrial revolution... Although it is not, it does not prevent people from thinking so.
But these are not important. The important Chu Empire is about to usher in an industrial explosion, and this explosion will not only bring changes in industrial production, but also huge changes affecting all aspects of society!
82 Chinese website
