Chapter 590: Greetings
“Your Majesty is welcome to visit our factory for inspection!”
The director of Harare Chrome Ore Factory and the leadership personally welcomed Constantine’s arrival, because Constantine At the request of the king, the chrome ore factory still maintained operations and did not close down due to the arrival of the king.
The thick black smoke and the coming and going of transportation vehicles show the busyness of this factory located on the outskirts of the city. The workers were notified before and worked harder than usual.
From Constantine's perspective, the scale of this factory is much smaller than that of a tobacco factory. This is not in line with Constantine's understanding of industrial and mining enterprises.
So Constantine asked Greining, the senior official of Matabele Province who was accompanying him: "Why is the tobacco factory so much larger than the chrome ore factory, and the equipment is also the same?"
"Your Majesty, This is due to demand. The most valuable industry in Matabele Province is probably the tobacco industry. , this does not refer to scale, but net profit. The tobacco output value of the entire Matabele Province accounts for about 30% of East Africa's domestic production. This is not a small amount, and it also has growth potential. Benefiting from the unique superior conditions of our province, This proportion may grow to more than 60% in the future.”
Graining continued: "As the tobacco processing center of Matabele Province, Harare assumes an important task. Our city supplies almost 46% of East Africa's tobacco exports."
Constantine seemed to understand and asked: "You mean the market determines How big is the tobacco factory in Harare?”
“That’s it, Your Majesty, only when there is demand can we determine the scale of investment. Otherwise, everything is just a castle in the air. And now that the tobacco factory is under the jurisdiction of the industrial department, we are actually more Most of them play a supervisory and supporting role.”
Constantine no longer struggled with this issue, but he felt that the scale of the chrome ore plant was still too small, so he mentioned: "What are the main application areas of chrome ore now? Why does it appear on my itinerary? This resource is very important ”
It’s nothing more than Constantine asking questions one after another. Chromium was discovered in 1797, not much older than Constantine, and the application scenarios are not accessible to ordinary people.
Graining: "This question still needs to be answered by professionals, and we don't know, so Director Hearn, should you answer it?"
He, Director of the Chrome Ore Plant En stepped forward and explained: "Your Majesty, the application of chromium is indeed not very common. It is generally used to produce compounds, which is a bit high-end. Generally only professionals will come into contact with it, so it is normal that ordinary people have not heard of it. I Let’s talk about it briefly
It was first discovered by the French chemist Vauquelin in the red lead ore in Siberia, Russia. Later, he used charcoal to reduce chromic anhydride and isolated chromium in the metallic form for the first time. In the same year, chromium was isolated. Iron ore was discovered, and most of our chromium ore in East Africa exists in the form of chromite, and it is one of Harare's superior resources
For example, the ore used to refine chromium in our factory mainly comes from a small mine in the southwest of the city. It is only a drop in the bucket of the entire Harare city's chromite reserves, but it is enough for our production needs and use.
Of course, the most widely used in industry is tanning agents used in fur production, or to increase the hardness of alloys. I have only heard about this. The specific research seems to be related to the Mbeya City Metal Research Institute. . ”
Constantin was very satisfied with this explanation, because he probably knew how important it was when he heard about the fur industry.
Now fur is a very important material, and this is true in all fields. , because there are not many alternatives, especially for cold regions like Russia or Northern Europe. .
The situation in East Africa is much better, because East Africa is located in the tropics, but the fur industry is not small in East Africa, especially during the colonial era. Fur exports were one of the important sources of income in East Africa, along with ivory and other East African products. products, contributed to the early development of East Africa
Nowadays, the number of wild animals in East Africa has decreased a lot after being cleaned several times in East Africa. However, the livestock industry in East Africa has also developed correspondingly, so the fur business is getting bigger and bigger. Of course, the main highlight is the word leather. The development of the leather industry in East Africa very good.
Constantine: "I just answered the first question, so why does it appear on my schedule?" Greining can answer this question, and this is the director of the chrome ore plant He En didn't understand: "Your Majesty, the industries you inspected are arranged according to the key projects and enterprises in our province. Although the chrome ore plant is not large in scale, its level is in the first echelon. , the most important thing is that this plant was specially mentioned by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.”
Of course Ernst has paid attention to it. After all, the chromium ore resources in East Africa are advantageous resources, so it is necessary to plan in advance. It's very reasonable, but Ernst also has concerns, that is, the "chrome plating" process has not yet appeared, or the electricity price in East Africa is not cheap, so there is no need to develop it in advance.
In addition, chrome ore smelting is inherently a highly polluting industry, so after considering various factors, Ernst does not plan to vigorously develop related industries.
Anyway, chromite is mainly distributed in East Africa and will not be able to escape in the future. Therefore, as long as we continue to make breakthroughs in research, improve usage efficiency, improve production processes, and solve pollution treatment problems, it is not too late to make plans.
Hearn also said: "The use of chromium in the industrial field is not yet widespread, but with the advancement of the times and knowledge of physics, chemistry, etc., it may be able to play a big role in the future, and Harare The city just provides a temporary foothold for this industry and provides reference data, and we do have relevant needs.”
“Okay! Let’s visit the factory first, so we know these professional issues well. That’s it,” Constantine said.
Constantine then began to focus on communicating with grassroots workers in the factory to understand their life and work conditions.
Although Constantine had been to a tobacco factory before, the work intensity in the tobacco factory was not very high, so Constantine did not pay too much attention to this aspect.
"How much is your monthly salary?"
"Forty-five rhine guilders, but last month I received an overtime reward, which totaled 47 rhine guilders."
"This money is enough To maintain a living?"
"Of course, Your Majesty, my family There are currently a total of five people, including my wife and I, and three children, one just six years old, one four years old, and another just born. We don’t eat much, and we have a lot of money every month.”
“Six years old, you should be going to school soon!”
"Yes, Your Majesty, according to the law, compulsory education is compulsory at the age of seven."
"Then what do you think of compulsory education?"
"I'm quite satisfied, doesn't the government always promote it? Knowledge is power. I haven’t read a book for a few years, but I think this sentence is very reasonable. At least it is useful to calculate accounts, write letters, or read newspapers. Moreover, the school also provides meals, which is very useful. Further reduce our burden."
"Well, it is definitely good to study. Just like us in East Africa, many things need to be taught by knowledgeable people, such as the factory design, materials, and machinery of your factory. Equipment is the crystallization of knowledge. In the future, as the industry develops, more intellectuals will be needed to participate in national construction."
Constantine traveled all over the country, chatting with the workers in the factory and asking them questions. A model of benevolence, and the reporters of the official newspapers are also busy writing. After the material is recorded, it will be disseminated through the newspapers to create a charitable image of the royal family.
(End of this chapter)