Chapter 2669
According to records in the Sanya Victory Fort database, the Huishan copper mine located in Xianjing Road has reserves of more than 400,000 tons, and the Maoshan iron ore reserves are astonishingly high, ranking first in Asia. In the entire Korean Peninsula, these two places are where the two mineral deposits of copper and iron are most concentrated. They are also key targets marked in the Haihan Mineral Resource Library.
Although Haihan has long understood the situation of these two mineral deposits, due to its geographical location close to the northern border and in the inland mountainous area, the conditions for large-scale mining are not yet mature, so it has never planned to develop them. It was not until Haihan's demand for copper, iron and other metal resources increased significantly in recent years due to industrial development and large-scale infrastructure projects that the Ministry of Industry put the plan to develop these overseas mineral deposits on the agenda.
However, what the two countries have discussed so far is only an intention to cooperate in development, and the mining of these two mineral deposits will not be started so soon. Preparatory work in the early stage requires a large amount of capital investment. The investment proportions and corresponding conditions of both parties have not been negotiated at all, and more in-depth negotiations are required.
For Haihan, although these two mineral deposits have the advantages of large reserves, shallow veins, and high ore grade, the geographical environment severely limits their development value, and the mining difficulty is much higher than that in the Datong River Basin with convenient shipping. After comprehensive inspection, the payback period required for the initial investment will be relatively long, so Haihan hopes to cooperate with North Korea in development through technology investment.
However, North Korean high-level officials, including Li Zhi, also had doubts about this. He did not doubt whether the two mines really had the value that the Haihan people boasted about, but he was worried that after spending all the money on these two projects, they would be overtaken by Li Zhi in the north. Hao picked peaches on the way.
Therefore, Li Zhi asked Pu Hongye to put forward special conditions in the negotiations, requiring that the appointment of mine personnel and the distribution of mineral resources should be decided through consultation between Seoul and Haihan, and Li Hao was not allowed to interfere. In other words, Li Hao must be completely excluded before the project is launched.
Before the relevant report was published in the newspaper, the two parties had basically negotiated the terms of cooperation, and Li Zhi's special request was recognized by Haihan. If everything goes well, then maybe in a year or two, part of the steel production capacity forcibly taken away by Haihan can be made up through the output of the new mine.
Li Zhi actually understood that this was a disguised compensation given by Haihan to North Korea, but after careful calculation, North Korea would not get much benefit. In the future, a considerable part of the output of the two mines will be supplied to Haihan. .
Moreover, Haihan specifically stated in the agreement that due to objective conditions, only the equipment required for primary smelting can be provided to these two mines. This means that although these two mines will have supporting smelting capabilities in the future, the output will only be crude copper and pig iron, which need to be transported to the smelting plant controlled by Haihan for refining before they can be turned into higher value products. product.
Such a distribution model is of course very unfair to North Korea, but Li Shi knows that apart from providing the resources Haihan needs and doing some low-end supporting processing for Haihan, North Korea currently has no other better way to develop its own industry.
But even with this status, not everyone can enjoy it. As far as Li Zhi knows, at least the two old neighbors, the Manchus and Japan, are almost blank in terms of industrial development and have fallen far behind North Korea.
Although North Korea's current industrial level is still in its infancy and relies on Haihan's support for everything from technology to management, its military strength has surpassed those of its two neighbors based on its rapid increase in production capacity in steel, shipbuilding and other fields in recent years. Now even if Haihan is not allowed to intervene, Li Zhi is confident that he can deal with the military threats from the two countries alone.
North Korea's current relations with Japan have tended to normalize. Maritime trade between the two countries in the Tsushima Strait is in full swing. The Port of Busan in Gyeongsang Province has become one of North Korea's busiest commercial ports. Although the war between North Korea and the Manchu Qing Dynasty was not so fierce, there was also a certain scale of land and sea trade on the northern border.
In order to facilitate trade, both countries also have relevant operating agencies in Seoul. Of course, the personnel stationed here may not be here to do business, and both parties are well aware of this. Li Zhi believed that among the crowds who went to the Han River to visit the Haihan battleship two days ago, spies from the two countries must have been indispensable, and these people would not miss the upcoming joint military exercises between Haihan and North Korea. Li Zhi also wanted to take this opportunity to let the two countries take a good look. At this time, North Korea already had military power that was beyond their reach.
According to the exercise plan agreed upon by both parties, the fleets of both sides set off from the river bank near Seoul and headed for the maritime exercise ground located outside the mouth of the Han River.
The enthusiasm for the opening of the Haihan Fleet to visit has not faded away, so when the fleets of the two countries set off from the pier of the Han River, thousands of people once again flocked to the riverside to watch this rare and spectacular sight.
The large and small ships of the two fleets lined up on the river for several miles, and the sailors on the ships lined up on the side of the ship, which was very majestic. Although he was only on an exercise mission, he showed his determination to rush to the battlefield and fight to the death.
The largest ship among these ships is the flagship of this exercise, the Glory-class first ship Zhoushan. At this time, the North Korean King Li Zhen was on the bridge of the Zhoushan, listening to Shi Chengwu and others introduce to him this new warship that represented the most advanced combat power of the Haihan Navy.
This battleship brings together almost all of Haihan's advanced technologies in shipbuilding and ship-borne armament. Even its hull appearance has been subversively changed compared to the previous Majestic-class battleship. For example, the view where Li Zhi is at this time is wide. The bridge is a facility that did not exist on previous sailing ships.
More powerful power, higher speed, better seaworthiness, more intense shipboard firepower, almost every feature required by a warship has been significantly upgraded.
"It is difficult for me to clearly explain to you the level of combat effectiveness of this warship, but you can simply understand that it is the most powerful naval warship in our country's current comprehensive strength. There is no other naval warship in the world that can compete with it. A rival appears. ”
Shi Chengwu's description made Li Zhi feel jealous. He had no doubt whether the ship was really as powerful as what the other party described. He just wondered how long it would take for his country to build a warship of the same level.
But the reality is that North Korea can currently only build warships with a displacement of about 500 tons on its own, and the relevant technology and some key components are still provided by Haihan. North Korean shipyards cannot even build Majesty-class warships, let alone new-type warships like the Glory-class, which have larger hulls and more complex hull structures.
(End of chapter)