Chapter 525 Nanyang Locomotive (Third update, please subscribe)
In fact, if you were in Chang'an, Li Yian would definitely go to the show.
The performance by the French Ballet Company is a feast for the eyes. How could a normal man miss it?
However, Li Yi'an is not in Chang'an. In fact, just after New Year's Day, he started an inspection of the island. After nearly five years of construction, the five major cities in Borneo have now been connected by the island expressway.
Li Nian took a train from Chang'an to Kuching. The East Coast Railway, with a total length of more than 1,000 kilometers, is the only railway in Nanyang. It was built in Borneo and Sarawak before the war, with more than 100 kilometers in between. Kilometers of area were not connected until 1946 when they were joined together to form the East Coast Railway of Borneo.
There are plantations on both sides of the train track. Tropical crops such as rubber, oil palm, pineapple, and coffee are scattered in the plantations. The train's iron wheels rattle regularly on the track.
In the luxurious carriage, more than a dozen secretaries from the secretarial office have been proofreading the investigations conducted along the way, and exchanging opinions from time to time. At the moment, some of them are smoking cigarettes silently, and some are writing scattered and incoherent analyses, and then consolidating them into simple and concise reports before sending them to the president.
While the secretaries were busy, Li Yian was also not idle in the compartment of the box. He was looking through the report that had just been sent. Even on the special train, he still had to deal with various issues. kind of affairs.
With a cigar between his fingers, Li Yian was reading the report and giving instructions. He didn’t know it was too much. He realized that the end of the cigarette had been burned out, so he started to put the cigar butt into the ashtray and pressed it. Mie, then said.
“When I inspected Foton Motors in Nanhai, I could urge them to develop heavy-duty trailers. The future is the era of containers, and containers are inseparable from heavy-duty trailers.”
Containers and container ships are only a part of the shipping revolution. The popularization of containers also requires flatbed trains, heavy-duty trailers, and the establishment of corresponding logistics and distribution systems. Only in this way can a new era of logistics and transportation be truly opened. Of course, it is also an international The new era of trade. After all, a core link in the era of globalization is the transformation of logistics and transportation centered on containers.
Not far from the desk, Yu Xiangdong, who was sitting on the sofa and looking at documents, raised his head and said.
“Okay, I understand.”
“Also, the construction of the South China Sea deep-water port should also fully take into account the main focus on containers and port equipment. The need for container transportation.”
Li Yian tried his best to recall what he discovered during the South China Sea inspection. There were too many such things.
In fact, although Nanhai is the east gate of Chang'an, to a certain extent, it is not suitable for industrial development. The old name of Nanhai is "Kota Kinabalu". Known as "Jeselton" to pre-war Europeans and "Kota Kinabalu" in another world, the city is located on a narrow north-south coastal plain as a connection point for rail, road and sea transport. , leaning against the hills. But now with the development of the city, the hills behind the city have become a green space in the city center, and are developing towards Chang'an along railways and highways. Eventually, they will be connected to Chang'an.
In the early development of Borneo, because there were a number of undestroyed local factories, a series of simple factories were built. After years of development, to a certain extent, the South China Sea and the West China Sea are almost equivalent to Chang'an. The left and right wings. Together they form the Chang'an Metropolitan Area.
Although this metropolitan area is a bit... more than 200 kilometers away, it is indeed a bit far away.
But such a small distance is not a problem. Once the high-speed railway research is successful, nothing will be a problem.
After all, according to Li Yian's plan, Nanyang will be connected to each other using airplanes and high-speed rail in the future. The main island will be connected by airplane and high-speed rail, while the main island and the outer islands will be connected by airplane.
But now both are under development, Li Yian said when thinking of high-speed railway.
“Is Nanyang Locomotive Company the target of our inspection in Kuching?”
Nanyang Locomotive Company is the only train locomotive manufacturing company in Nanyang, and the company is not located in Chang'an. But in Kuching, this was also a deliberate adjustment based on the need for regional balanced development. After all, in the early stages of Borneo construction, Chang'an had already concentrated too many enterprises. Therefore, in subsequent planning, large enterprises The distribution is more inclined to other regions.
Yu Xiangdong nodded and said.
“Yes, it is on this inspection list, but Nanyang Locomotive Company’s operations are very difficult this year because Nanyang’s own railways are limited, so it relies heavily on the export market, especially Tangshan. Two years ago, Nanyang Locomotive exported 713 locomotives and 12,576 various carriages to Tangshan. It can be said that Tangshan is the largest market for Nanyang Locomotive, but now..."
The voice paused and Yu Xiangdong said.
“We have lost this market, and these motorcycles also involve financial loans. The Bank of Borneo has been negotiating with both parties about loans.”
“Hey, this is also for immigration. The price paid..."
Sighing, Li Yian frowned. Although he knew the changes in the country, he still provided locomotives, carriages and railway equipment to Tangshan through loans. He said it was to make money, but In fact, it is for immigration. "The long-term war of resistance has left a severe shortage of locomotives and carriages on the Tangshan railway. If there are not enough locomotives and carriages, we cannot transport so many immigrants in the short term. In the final analysis, this loss is the price paid to obtain immigrants. ”
The price is very heavy, hundreds of millions of dollars.
But thinking that these locomotives would play a big role in the construction of Tangshan, he reluctantly smiled. As for the loss, judging from the negotiation situation, it is estimated that it will be a confused account in the end.
Can this final account be settled clearly? I'm afraid only God knows, but for Nanyang, this account is worth it to a certain extent. After all, through this account, Nanyang used railways to transport a large number of immigrants.
Maybe this is also a kind of self-comfort.
Seeing that Your Excellency did not speak, Yu Xiangdong took off his glasses, raised them to the light, and then put them on again.
...
One day later, in the production workshop of Nanyang Locomotive Company in Kuching, Li Yi'an saw several unfinished steam locomotives.
"Your Excellency, this is the "Nanyang-1" steam locomotive produced by the company. It is produced using the drawings of the German BR52 steam locomotive. This kind of locomotive produced by Germany during the war is not only outstanding in design It simplifies the process and greatly reduces the use of precious materials, and its production cost is only equivalent to 40% of that of ordinary locomotives..."
As a locomotive company manager, Walter was once a middle-level supervisor of the German Bosch Company. This company was the first manufacturer of the BR52 steam locomotive. In the process of establishing the Nanyang Locomotive Company, it was under his suggestion that the BR52 steam locomotive was produced. It not only has a simple process, but also adopts lightweight measures. , so that the axle load does not exceed 15 tons and can run smoothly on lines with different load standards. It is very suitable for the low load standards of railways, bridges and roadbeds in Asia, so it is very popular in the market. Of course, the most The most important thing is that it is cheap, the price is only half of that of American motorcycles.
“Since it was put into production, it has been the company’s flagship product. It was not only exported to many countries, but also used to be the main locomotive on the Nanyang Railway. However, due to the situation in Nanyang, all locomotives were converted from coal-fired locomotives. It was converted into a fuel-fired locomotive, and the coal bunker that originally carried coal was transformed into an oil bunker to expand the loading capacity. ”
However, with the electrification of locomotives in Nanyang, the original steam freight locomotives have been eliminated. But even so, steam locomotives are still the most important product of Nanyang Locomotive. After all, the world is still dominated by steam locomotives. Its simple structure and low price have always been welcomed by various countries, especially in backward areas.
Listening to Walter’s introduction, Li Yian nodded slightly and said.
"So how is the company's business situation now?"
"Well..."
After a moment of silence, Walter said,
"This year will be very difficult. At present, in addition to the 75 motorcycle orders from India and Pakistan, the company only has 7 motorcycles from Vietnam. The current orders can only maintain production, and the banking industry in Nanyang is now unwilling to provide customer financing loans. Although our sales staff are trying to open up markets in South America and other places, if banks are unwilling to provide loans, the results may not be optimistic."
Li Yi'an nodded slightly, knowing the reason, and asked Yu Xiangdong. said.
"Secretary Yu, come back and communicate with the bank in the name of the official residence. Don't stop eating because of choking, and don't throw in the towel just because of a loss."
Someone must handle that account. The bank will still suffer losses, but it will not affect the normal operation of the company. At this time, official coordination is needed.
“Yes, Your Excellency,”
Yu Xiangdong nodded quickly.
Walter and other managers of the motorcycle company were all pleasantly surprised when they heard this. Walter could only pat his chest and promise that as long as he had the financial support of the bank, he would be able to open up the South American market.
In fact, selling goods in this era is similar to that of later generations... With financial loans, bulk industrial commodities can easily enter large markets that have never entered the market before.
Then Li Yian asked again.
“By the way, Manager Wo, how is the research on high-speed trains going now?”
(End of this chapter)