Chapter 36: Steel Mill Resumes Operations
Da Xin Steel Plant is the largest private steel enterprise in Shanghai.
Da Xin Steel Plant, which mainly produces small steel ingots and cast steel parts, has introduced advanced foreign electric furnace steelmaking technology and is equipped with the first 0.75t electric arc furnace in the country in the 1930s.
But this requires Boss Yu to return to the country in 1933 and open a steel factory with his friends before it can happen.
As for now in 1931, this steel factory has not yet appeared.
However, Zhou Wenhua discovered in his father Zhou Jiawei’s hidden assets the reason for his conflict and contradiction with the Japanese Army, which is that his father owns a steel factory.
And the future He Xing Steel Plant, China Iron Factory, Xing Steel Plant, and Da Xin Steel Plant, these private steel enterprises, all belong to small-scale steel factories with limited production capacity and not high steelmaking level.
Although Shanghai’s steel industry originated from the late Qing Dynasty’s foreign affairs movement.
And before the outbreak of the Second Battle of Shanghai, there also appeared Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau Steel Plant, Hanyang Arsenal, Daye Iron Factory, Taiyuan Northwest Steel Plant, Wang faction Central Steel Plant, Chongqing Special Steel Plant, Central Machinery Factory, and Xiangtan Central Steel Plant, as well as the famous Shenyang Arsenal.
And among these steel plants and arsenals, Commander Yan’s Taiyuan Northwest Steel Plant and the Northeastern Army’s Shenyang Arsenal are the most complete, capable of self-produced and self-sold weaponry and ammunition, as well as steel.
Unfortunately, the Northeastern Army’s Shenyang Arsenal has already been occupied by the Japanese Army.
As for Commander Yan’s Taiyuan Northwest Steel Plant, since Commander Yan is too shrewd, it can be disregarded.
And the development of the other steel plants is not very good.
There are no more established, like the Northeastern Army’s Shenyang Arsenal, such complete arsenals and steel plants capable of self-produced and self-sold.
It is also because of this, in the Republic of China’s most golden decade of development time, the highest level of industry in the Republic of China era is making Zhongzheng Rifle, or 24-style heavy machine gun and Czech light machine gun.
But most firearm parts rely on imported parts from foreigners and Japanese homeland arsenals to be assembled and developed.
This is completely different from the Northeastern Army and Commander Yan’s arsenals.
While Zhou Wenhua was distracted in thought, riding in a car under the protection of his bodyguards,
When he arrived at his father’s hidden asset, Tian Jin Steel Plant located in the suburbs of the capital Nanjing,
He also began to enter the factory, accompanied by the current factory director Li Zhipeng, to tour and inventory what kind of equipment is in the steel factory.
He soon roughly knew that the main equipment in the steel plant includes one 30-ton iron smelting furnace and its auxiliary equipment.
In addition, there are two 1.5-ton Bessemer steelmaking furnaces, one 3-ton electric furnace, one each of 10-inch and 17-inch rolling mills; mining equipment includes 250 air drills with direct-pound hoisting equipment, 4 100-ton ore crushers, 500-ton ore bins.
In addition, there is the original “Nittetsu” with storage of over 1.2 million tons of iron ore.
The reason there is still so much iron ore storage is entirely because this steel plant, after several months of losses, began a production halt.
And Zhou Wenhua’s purpose in coming here is to research and produce vanadium steel for automobile use.
Vanadium steel is alloy steel with vanadium as the main alloying element or playing an important role.
This is one of the steels used by Ford Motor Company for manufacturing automobiles.
This was discovered by Henry Ford in 1905 during a French race car competition, where a certain race car used steel that was not only very light but also tough.
So in his research and investigation, he found that this was vanadium component in French steel, that is, vanadium steel.
So he found a British engineer to conduct blast furnace tests in a small steel plant, developed this kind of vanadium steel, and finally paired it with 20 different steels to manufacture various automobile parts.
At the same time, Ford bought a lot of land in Brazil to plant rubber trees, with the aim of having a self-produced and self-sold tire factory for his automobile manufacturing, without needing to purchase externally.
Of course, the vanadium steel used now is completely different from the high-strength steel types used in later automobiles, such as dual-phase steel, complex-phase steel, transformation-induced plasticity steel, martensitic steel, quench-and-tempered steel, twinning-induced plasticity steel, and so on.
Anyway, for Zhou Wenhua now manufacturing automobiles of this era, he plans to first adopt Henry Ford’s vanadium steel, and pair it with 20 different steels to manufacture various automobile parts.
As for the steel manufacturing process,
Mainly for the aforementioned steelmaking process, it can be divided into long process and short process.
Long process: Coking + Sintering + Blast furnace + Converter
Short process: Electric arc furnace
In the long process, steel plants purchase iron ore to generate sinter and pellets through sintering, and produce coke through purchasing coking coal.
Then, coke, iron ore, and flux （ mainly limestone ） are fed into the blast furnace, generating molten iron through redox reaction, and the molten iron is then injected into the converter for steelmaking.
The short process mainly feeds scrap steel and a small amount of molten iron into the electric arc furnace, which can produce molten steel.
Then
In short, to build an automotive factory industry chain, funds, technology, machines, talent, and industry chain are indispensable, so Zhou Wenhua must first solve the problem of manufacturing steel for automobiles.
The first step is to develop vanadium steel, the second step is to pair various steels to develop the remaining automobile parts, and finally purchase plantations in the domestic rear areas to establish rubber factories to produce tires and other industrial products and daily products.
“How many workers and masters are still in the factory without leaving?”
“Or have they all left?”
After Zhou Wenhua finished inspecting the ‘Tian Jin’ steel factory left by his father,
He immediately asked the current factory director Li Zhipeng who had been following him.
“They haven’t left yet, because they haven’t found new work in steel factories, and they are also expecting our steel factory to continue having work! So as not to let them be unemployed!”
“Because they are all familiar with this industry, it’s not that easy to switch suddenly!”
“Young Master!”
Regarding Zhou Wenhua’s inquiry,
Current factory director Li Zhipeng responded very frankly.
“Mm! Have them resume work tomorrow!”
“Has the previous wages all been paid to them?”
“If not, have the finance department give me the accounts, I will settle their wages, and then recalculate the new month’s working wages!”
Upon hearing that the workers and masters of the steel plant he wanted had not left,
Zhou Wenhua was immediately delighted and told them to resume work.
“Yes! Young Master!”
“By the way! Young Master, recently those Japanese people wanting to acquire our steel plant come every day to ask for the price, and besides these Japanese devils, there is also Boss Lu from He Xing Steel Plant, because his request to the Commerce Department for a large sum of money to assist in resuming operations and developing He Xing Steel Plant failed again, so their boss has also been coming every day these few days to find Young Master and Boss!”
“They want to inquire if we can jointly invest in a new steel plant with them, for saving the nation through industry and such.”
“Now that Young Master you have come to our steel plant to take over all the business and finance here, do you want to meet Boss Lu from He Xing Steel Plant?”
After Zhou Wenhua finished speaking,
Current factory director Li Zhipeng, after agreeing, immediately changed the topic and reported.
“Mm? Boss Lu from He Xing Steel Plant actually came to find us?”
“Alright! You go tell him, we can arrange a time to meet and discuss the matter of cooperating to establish a new steel plant!”
“As for those Japanese devils, no need to pay attention to them, starting tomorrow I will dispatch a security team to station here, if they dare to cause trouble here, I don’t mind letting them know the consequences!”
Upon hearing this,
Zhou Wenhua thought for a moment and then decisively replied.
“Yes! Young Master!”
Current factory director Li Zhipeng was also delighted inside and quickly nodded in agreement.
Because he has a somewhat good relationship with Boss Lu from He Xing Steel Plant, so this time being able to help the other party with his long-cherished dream of reviving his steel plant business, he also feels in a good mood.
