How Zhang Zhidong founded Hanyang Steel Plant

In the winter of Guangxu 15th year (1889), Zhang Zhidong arrived in Hubei. He spent a lot of energy on military and civilian industries, first of all, the establishment of Hanyang Iron Works. Zhang Zhidong, a businessman, once played some jokes. He telegraphed Xue Fucheng, the ambassador to Britain, to buy the machine furnace of the steel mill. The boss of the Tissett factory in England replied, "To run a steel plant, we must first send iron, stone, coal and coke to the factory for testing, and then we will know what the texture of coal and iron is, and what steel can be smelted, that is, what furnace to use, which is a thousand miles away." Zhang Zhidong boasted, "Given the size of China, why not? Is it necessary to find coal and iron before buying a furnace? But according to British users, a penny is worth a penny. " British factory owners have to obey. Therefore, the machine furnace is located in Hanyang, Daye is iron, and Maanshan is coal. Maanshan pays equal attention to coal and ash ore, so it is impossible to make coke, so we have to buy thousands of tons of coke from Germany. From the 16th to 22nd year of Guangxu (1890- 1896), it cost 5.6 million yuan, and it has not been refined into steel. Later, the coal from Pingxiang, Jiangxi Province was used, and the steel made was too brittle and easy to crack. Zhang Zhidong knew that the machine furnace he bought was acidic and could not be dephosphorized. Steel with too much phosphorus is brittle. So he borrowed 3 million yuan from Japan to change the original mechanical furnace into an alkaline furnace, thus producing high-quality Martin steel. In Xuantong Yuannian (1909), Ye Jingkui, the manager of Hanyeping Company, commented: "If Zhang Zhidong is established, the pioneers will go abroad for detailed investigation, which may be faster and save waste. But at that time, the atmosphere was obscure and it was stupid in North Korea. If there is no Zhang Zhidong, it is reckless, that is, it is afraid of smelting iron and coal. It is still unknown, and it is hard to say that it is a crime. " Hanyang Iron Works is an iron and steel complex. Guangxu 19th year (1893) started construction, including 10 steel works, iron works, iron works, two furnaces, 3,000 workers and 1000 coal miners. This is the first large-scale steel industry produced by capitalist machines in modern China, and it is also the largest steel plant in Asia. The construction of Japanese steel mills is several years later.