Some short stories from the Westernization Movement

When Zhang Zhidong first set up an iron smelting plant, he entrusted Minister Xue Fucheng to purchase new foreign equipment. Send samples of iron ore and coke used in the smelting plant to the manufacturer of the equipment for testing before ordering. Zhang Que replied that China is a vast country with abundant resources and there are no mines. If you want to send samples, just buy a set. As a result, the equipment ordered by Xue did not match the mineral quality of the mine used to set up the factory. When choosing the site for the factory, Zhang insisted on setting the site at the foot of Hanshan Mountain, far away from the iron ore and coal mines, in order to be able to see the smoke coming from the factory's chimney from his governor's office. For this reason, not only did it greatly increase the cost of operating coal and iron, but also In order to select the factory site and build the factory foundation, more than 1 million taels of silver were consumed. We know that from the perspective of reducing production costs and improving economic benefits, industrial layout must consider how to be close to raw materials, fuel production areas and consumer markets, so as to save transportation costs and reduce production costs. The above factors should be considered especially for the steel industry. Zhang Zhidong violated this principle and caused huge waste.

Sunny days, cloudy days, rainy days, foggy days--