Chapter 232 Anshan Iron Works

"Namo Amitabha, Dotagata,..." When Wei Jichen returned to the city from Haikou, he heard a powerful and low Buddhist mantra floating in the wind.

When he looked up, he saw Monk Guixi sitting cross-legged on the city wall, his eyes closed, holding the Amitabha seal, and chanting Buddhist secrets with a solemn face. His shoulder-length white eyebrows moved without wind. I don't know if it was an illusion or something, Wei Jichen seemed to see a faint red light emanating from him, like the Buddha descending to the world.

Wei Jichen stopped unconsciously and closed his eyes. He could feel that his body was getting lighter and lighter. The wronged souls in the city all went to the west, and there was no longer the previous oppressive and gloomy feeling.

Slowly opening his eyes, Wei Jichen found that his heart was calm and relaxed.

"This is the mantra of rebirth!" Wei Jichen muttered to himself without a teacher.

"Wei Shuai." Wang Huaiqing saw Wei Jichen open his eyes and speak, and walked over with a strange look.

"What's wrong?" Wang Huaiqing's look made Wei Jichen a little confused.

Wang Huaiqing said hesitantly: "You have been standing here motionless for an hour."

Could this be the sudden enlightenment of Buddhism? Wei Jichen looked at the monk Guixi on the top of the city wall with a complicated expression.

"Did you hear the monk chanting?" Wei Jichen turned his head and asked Wang Huaiqing.

Wang Huaiqing shook his head.

"Then did you see the monk sitting on the city wall?" Wei Jichen pointed to the top of the wall and asked again.

Wang Huaiqing replied with a smile: "Such a big living person, of course I saw it."

Fortunately, at least the monk is real.

In the next three days, Wei Jichen saw the monk Guixi sitting on the city wall for three days and three nights without eating or sleeping, and kept chanting the mantra of rebirth. The atmosphere in the whole Lushun city gradually became relaxed. Of course, this may also be Wei Jichen's psychological effect.

Under the care of Yiktang'a, Wei Jichen and others, the Fengtian Coal and Iron Mining General Administration was finally quickly established in Haicheng. It was originally chosen to be established in the provincial capital of Fengtian, but because the iron mine was close to Haicheng, Wei Jichen proposed to set it up nearby.

The general manager of the general administration was Zhou Fu, the former prime minister of the Front Camp Office, who asked to resign due to poor health after the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki. Zhou Fu was considered to be Li Hongzhang's capable general in foreign affairs, and Yan Dunyuan was the co-director.

When Zhou Fu was Li Hongzhang's staff, he actively planned to establish the Beiyang Navy. He also founded the first military academy in China, Tianjin Military Academy. He followed Li Hongzhang in foreign affairs for more than 30 years and started the Chinese commercial railway. Later, he served as the Governor-General of Liangjiang and Minister of Nanyang. In foreign affairs, he was able to maintain national integrity and his ability was unquestionable.

After the defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Zhou Fu wrote a poem, "Since ancient times, only teachers can defeat the enemy. How can one seek medical treatment only when one is in a hurry?", expressing his resentment and indignation, because before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, he saw that the Beiyang Navy was not strong enough and should purchase more warships, but the ministers in the court were too drunk to pay attention to him. His son Zhou Xuexi was also a big industrialist in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China.

Zhou Fu originally came back to power in 1898.

This time, the coal and iron business in Fengtian could not be done without capable and experienced talents. Yan Dunyuan was still immature, so Wei Jichen sent a telegram to Li Hongzhang to invite Zhou Fu to come out of retirement. After several persuasions and words, he finally persuaded Zhou Fu.

As soon as Zhou Fu took office, he set up the Anshan Iron Works and began to raise funds. As the government-supervised and business-run model was adopted, the initial establishment funds were set at 3 million taels. The Ministry of Revenue directly allocated 700,000 taels, Fengtian Prefecture contributed 500,000 taels, and the rest of the funds were raised from the private sector. Wei Jichen invested 500,000 taels through Zhang Zuolin and Yan Dunyuan respectively, and publicly contributed another 300,000 taels. Li Hongzhang and Sheng Xuanhuai of the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company raised 500,000 taels, and Wang Wenshao, Yiktang'a and others also invested 500,000 taels.

The initial funds were in place, and they just waited to purchase equipment.

At this time, the Hanyang Iron Works run by Zhang Zhidong was not suitable for refining due to the high phosphorus content in Daye Iron Ore, so Wei Jichen set his sights on this.

The iron ore composition in Anshan area is complex. Daye Iron Ore is not suitable, but it does not necessarily mean that Anshan Iron Ore is not suitable.

Wei Jichen knew that after Sheng Xuanhuai took over the Hanyang Iron Works, he would send people to inspect abroad and purchase other equipment, and a batch of old equipment would be put aside.

So Wei Jichen suggested that Zhou Fu first mine some iron ore and transport it to the Hanyang Iron Works for refining. If he could refine steel that met the requirements of railway rails, he would buy the machines at a low price. If not, he would buy new machines from abroad.

Zhou Fu certainly had no objection.

The ironworks finally got on track, but Wei Jichen became worried. Why? Because he was running out of money. Wei Jichen estimated that his money was only enough to build the port on Changxing Island. After that, he would be penniless and return to the pre-liberation era overnight.

Wei Jichen now has three businesses. The first is the brothel, which is very profitable, but the money earned is small; the second is the Kuaima Shipping Company, which has a balanced income and expenditure, and Wei Jichen occasionally takes on some official work through his connections; the third is the escort agency, which has a good business development. Due to its strong manpower and strong horses, it already has more than a thousand escorts, and has won the trust of merchants in the three northeastern provinces. It has already developed vigorously, but Wei Jichen will not withdraw funds from here, because the escort agency still needs to be vigorously developed.

Money, money, Wei Jichen stood on the deck of the small steamer to Changxing Island, and began to think about it in a distracted manner. Running an industry makes money slowly, what can make money quickly? Rob a bank, Wei Jichen thought of this and laughed.

However, the word "rob" made him think of another way out, not robbing a bank, but robbing bandits and horse thieves. Well, it's time for Unit A to enter actual combat training.

"Shuai Wei, the ship has arrived at the shore!" Wang Huaiqing's reminder interrupted Wei Jichen's thoughts. When he looked up, he saw that Changxing Island had arrived.

At this time, there were only a few small fishing villages on Changxing Island. Wei Jichen planned to move these people to Lushun to free up the island. Today, he brought a group of technical personnel borrowed from the Navy Yamen to investigate.

The first thing you see is a lush virgin forest with rolling mountains and lush trees.

The small ship sailed into the fishing port. There were four or five fishing boats moored inside. The people on the boat looked at Wei Jichen and his party curiously.

However, the eyes of the technicians behind Wei Jichen were shining. One of them came forward and said excitedly to Wei Jichen: "Congratulations, Commander Wei, this is simply an excellent natural port. The usable coastline is probably no less than 30km. The water is deep and the waves are small. There is no silt, and with a little expansion, large cargo ships can be docked. If Wei Shuai is not satisfied yet, even a warship like the Dingyuan can be docked with a little more investment. "

Even though Wei Jichen knew it well, as soon as he arrived at Changxing Island, he heard the technicians say this and couldn't help but put a smile on his face.

"It is best to divide the port into two parts, one for small and medium-sized cargo ships, and the other for large cargo ships in the future." Wei Jichen said with a smile.

"There is no problem with this. After I lead the others to conduct a careful investigation, I will definitely be able to give Wei Shuai a satisfactory answer." The leading engineer said without any pressure.

"Well, I'll trouble you." Wei Jichen nodded and walked onto the plank. The small ship had already stretched out the plank and set it on the shore.

The technical engineers were busy carrying instruments and going to investigate, while Wei Jichen took his entourage to the fishing village.

Since the Japanese occupation was too short, they had not had time to harm this remote place, so the small fishing village still looked peaceful and quiet.

The smoke from cooking fires slowly rises into the sky, four or five children are playing in the village, and the fishermen go home with a smile on their backs carrying fishing nets and bamboo cages. It is obvious that the day's harvest is good.

If possible, Wei Jichen is not willing to disturb the peace here, but in order to keep it secret, these people will be moved to Dalian, Lushun and other places.

"Sir." After receiving the news, the village chief led several men and hurriedly came to see him.

"The old man is so polite." Wei Jichen stepped forward to help him up and said with a slight smile.

"I would like to invite you to go to this little man's house for a short rest. I wonder why you are here today?" The chief asked cautiously as he looked at the high-ranking official wearing a flowered feather on his head.

"Old man, you must also know that Lushun and Dalian were invaded by Japanese pirates. The city's population is less than one in ten, so some people need to be supplemented from nearby areas. I am here to investigate and deal with this matter." Wei Jichen said straight to the point as he walked.

Not long after, they entered the house of the elder's family. The house was made of local materials and the structure was made of wood. Wei Jichen stepped on the floor and made a crunching sound.

Moving? Although it was difficult to leave my homeland, Dalian Bay was right across the street, not too far away. The old village chief did not object, but asked about the time of relocation.

"I will build a port on Changxing Island, so the men in the village can go and work to earn some money. I'm afraid it will take two or three months after the port is built. You can set off again in due course." Wei Jichen said calmly.

While Wei Jichen was working on building the port, a British merchant ship set off from Dagukou. This ship would sail to Nagasaki, Japan.

On the passage outside the first-class cabin, Princess Maud, wearing a sky blue dress, leaned in front of the guardrail, her eyes quietly looking at the blue sky.

Several guards were standing guard from a distance, and the old attendant stood behind her with his head lowered, obeying Maud's orders at any time.

"Japan is the last stop, right?" Maud asked, slightly opening her lips.

The old attendant took a step forward and whispered: "Yes, Your Royal Highness, from now on you will go from Vladivostok, via Siberia, to Moscow to congratulate the Russian Emperor on his coronation."

Nicholas II was Maud's cousin-in-law, and Wilhelm II was Maud's cousin.

"Your Royal Highness, the Danish royal family has called again to urge you to go back quickly." the attendant reminded.

The second son of King Frederik VIII of Denmark proposed to Maud, and Maud's father, Prince Edward, had already agreed. Although Maud had never met the prince, political marriages were like this. She had seen a lot and understood it well. Opened, neither disgusted nor happy at all

"Louis and little Victoria both cruised the Mediterranean and India, and received imperial medals, and I, Maud, will cruise the entire globe and become the first British princess to leave footprints around the world. After arriving in Nagasaki, you call me back and say I’ll get married again at this time next year,” Maude said calmly.

Louise and little Victoria were both Maud's sisters.