Chapter 735 National Power Competition

   Balikpapan

  This is an emerging oil industry city, located 120 kilometers south of Samarinda. The annual average monthly temperature here is 26~27 degrees. The temperature difference is very small. There is a lush green everywhere and a pleasant climate.

There are spacious asphalt roads from Samarin to Balikpapan. The high-quality asphalt comes from the oil refinery. Today, the roads in Borneo are being asphalted on a large scale, and it supports Shangri-La and Australia, and no import is required. It is all due to the Balikpapan oil field.

The city is prosperous due to the petroleum industry. The urban population has reached 326,000, of which about 1/3 are petroleum workers and their families. Most of the remaining are also engaged in the transportation and trade of the petroleum industry chain and the deep processing of petrochemicals, which is worthy of the name. City of oil.

  In terms of salary level,

  The average annual salary of oil workers has reached 737 Yinyang, which is more than three times the ordinary level. As long as one person in the family works in the oil field, the middle-class living standard can be maintained.

  In Balikpapan, the land price and construction cost are quite cheap.

A five-year salary means that you can purchase an eight-bedroom single-storey house with 6 bedrooms, two living rooms, a study room, a kitchen, two bathrooms with bathroom facilities, and no less than one outside. One acre of lawn and several outbuilding facilities.

  A mansion like this is enough for 10 people.

  The mansion is paved with local specialty teak or marble floors, stone walls, towering ridges and large porches, surrounded by green trees and flowers, and the natural environment is very beautiful.

  If you work in an oil company, you can also apply for preferential housing loans. The 5-year annual interest rate is only 7.6%, the 8-year annual interest rate is 8.5%, and the 10-year annual interest rate is only 9.6%.

  Chinese people are extremely persistent in the concept of starting a family and starting a business. Owning a big house of their own is the ultimate dream of every immigrant, so they would rather buy a house with a loan.

  Here, most oil company employees and local people with stable income will apply for bank loans.

   Therefore, in the Balikpapan area, such eight-bedroom houses have quickly become popular and have become mainstream residences for oil workers and other middle-class families. Those with better conditions can even buy cars produced by Volkswagen.

  As for the bicycle, it has become an indispensable ordinary means of transportation for every family. On the contrary, there are very few carriages, because raising a horse here is really expensive and not cost-effective.

  The city of Balikpapan has more than 30 construction companies, two large cement plants, more than ten brick and tile factories and several quarries, which support more than 7,000 employees.

The core area of ​​Balikpapan is not large. The tallest building here is the 11-story United Petroleum Company Building. The flat and wide asphalt road connects the streets and alleys of the city. The tropical coconut trees and grapefruit trees decorate the city, which is clean and clean. tidy.

From the core area of ​​the city, there are asphalt roads extending in all directions. The entire Bari Baba is surrounded by beautiful residential areas shaded by green trees, spread out like a flat cake. The suburban area is quite large, and the beautiful single-family buildings are not visible at a glance. To the side.

  Most of the buildings here are flat-story high-rise ridges, each with a separate courtyard, separated by white wooden fences, and the environment is elegant and tranquil.

  The more advanced ones are two-story garden houses with white marble columns. They are mainly French and Victorian colonial styles. Generally, there is a sculpture fountain in front of the porch. You can choose sculptures according to the owner's preferences.

  Garden House is a high-end residence, with 8 rooms and 10 bedrooms, equipped with dedicated maid’s room, gardener’s room, and a large dining room decorated with a dome. The price is naturally high, and it costs tens of thousands of dollars.

  Generally speaking, only middle-level and high-level oilfields and local wealthy businessmen can afford to enjoy it. Such a large mansion must be maintained by a dedicated person, otherwise the vegetation will grow wildly and it will only take a year and it will be completely covered in weeds.

   Balikpapan is a city with a short history. It is prosperous and rich because of oil. Life is peaceful and comfortable.

You can often see Volkswagen convertible cars on the road. This is a civilian car that uses a 16-horsepower two-cylinder gasoline engine. Apart from 4 wheels, an engine and a gearbox, there is almost nothing else, so the price is quite low. The price is 6,600 silver dollars.

  Based on the salary level of managers above the middle level of the oilfield, which is just one year’s income, the sales situation is very good, and you can often see it in the streets and alleys here.

  Being close to the water and terraces is the first month. Oilfield workers can buy gasoline at a preferential price. Therefore, it is much cheaper to use a car than to raise a horse. This quickly popularized Volkswagen cars and became the next item that middle-class families desperately want to buy.

  Under the pleasant climate of Balikpapan of 26 or 7 degrees, it is undoubtedly a very pleasant thing to drive the open-top Volkswagen to swagger through the market.

  As for the sun, it’s good to wear a hat. In case of rain, the foldable canvas can be propped up if the speed is fast, and if the speed is slow, it will be poured into a soup.

  Compared with the convenience and attention that the car brings, these little troubles are nothing.

  Volkswagen's 95-type convertible sedan was very popular once it was launched, and it sold almost crazy in Australia.

  A large number of affluent social groups are pursuing fashion. Buying a Volkswagen brand 95 convertible is the best choice. There is no one.

  Not only brings great travel convenience, but also costs less than raising a horse. Don’t bother to feed and shovel **** every day...

  Due to insufficient production capacity, this car is prioritized for supply to the local Australian market. If you can buy it, you can earn it.

  Although many foreign importers are eager to buy it, it was basically impossible to get the goods before August 1897. After August, only a few products were available to test the market.

  This Volkswagen brand 1895 car, adhering to the principle that the simpler the craft, the better, the shape is like a rectangular box, which can minimize the cost and mass production.

  The chairs are all custom-made, with a sponge under the bottom and a sponge wrapped in canvas on the back. It is very simple.

  The car is started with an iron crank, which requires pressing the igniter with one hand and shaking the car vigorously with the other to start the car.

As for the starter, there is no windshield wiper or headlights. The horn is replaced by a copper bell. Whenever it happens, knock it with your hand. There is no water pump or anything. It is on a 16-horsepower engine. There is a water storage tank, which circulates automatically when the engine is running. Add water when the water is dry.

  Fortunately, people don’t pay attention to it in this era. Compared with the convenience brought by cars, these small troubles are drizzle.

The subversive significance of Volkswagen brand cars lies in lowering the price level to the level acceptable to the common people, which greatly expanded the audience of automobile consumers and became the root cause of the success.

  In Australia, owning a car is considered a face-saving thing.

  The high-end Crown brand sedan that can only be owned by the nobles has a production volume of only a few hundred a year. It needs to be supplied to the world. It is a high-end product that ordinary people are not blessed to enjoy. Everything is luxury, and the price is even higher.

The first-phase production of Volkswagen brand sedans reached 3,000 units. By the end of the year, there will be two phases of plant production. The annual output can reach 8,000 units, which can basically meet the local demand in Australia.

Facing the surging overseas ordering intentions, the Volkswagen plant decisively started the construction of the third phase of the project. After it is put into production in August next year, it will be able to double the existing basis and reach an astonishing annual output of 16,000 vehicles. Sales exceed 5 million pounds.

Leaving the suburbs of Balikpapan along the road, you will soon be able to see the kowtows one after another among the lush hills, as well as the tall drilling towers, which are extracting precious oil resources to support the economy of the entire kingdom. Development of the overall situation.

  At the oil refinery with vertical and horizontal pipelines, King Li Fushou led relevant experts and high-level government officials to listen to reports, and thoroughly inspected the discovered oil reserves in the area and the prospects for the development of the petrochemical industry.

  Compared with Citi, the world’s largest oil producer, Li Fushou felt the heavy development pressure.

  Ocean Kingdom’s oil industry has a short development time, is small in scale, and has a single product category. Compared with the world's advanced level led by Citigroup, the gap is quite large.

  Only from the data;

  1896

  Ocean Kingdom’s oil production was 5 million barrels, and Citi’s oil production increased from 500,000 barrels in 1860 to 55.62 million barrels in 1896, which was 11 times the oil production of Ocean Kingdom.

Just looking at the numbers is boring. Huaqiguo has developed a relatively complete range of petrochemical equipment production and petrochemical industries, and a chemical industry giant headed by DuPont was born. It has the world’s top production capacity in this field and can produce a wide variety of chemicals. product.

  The only thing that can be compared is Germany. Since the 1870s, in the second wave of industrial revolution marked by electrification, the German Empire began to take off with the help of national unity and huge war reparations of 5 billion francs.

  It took only 25 years for Germany to get on the Industrial Revolution Express, and it completed the journey of industrialization that the UK took 80 years to complete.

  In 1850-1886, Germany’s net national product value increased from 10.5 billion marks to 28.5 billion marks. The absolute value of industrial production has increased by nearly 4.5 times.

During this period,

  The coal mining volume in Germany increased from 34 million tons to 149 million tons, and the iron output increased from 1.39 million tons to 7.52 million tons.

In the 1860s, the German chemical industry was almost blank. However, in the 26 years from 1870 to 1896, the output of basic chemical raw materials such as acids and alkalis increased by 7 times, and the output of dyes increased by 3 times. First in the world.

The total output value of the electrical industry increased six times between 1891 and 186, almost doubling every year. At the end of the nineteenth century, Germany had actually caught up with Britain in terms of industrial output value, but neither the United States nor the result could shake the British pound. The dominance of the international financial market.

  As an economic power, Citigroup has made its debut. In 1894, its industrial output value surpassed Britain to rank first in the world.

  In the period 1859-1886, the industrial output value of Citigroup increased from 1.88 billion US dollars to 8.907 billion US dollars.

  In 1860, Citi’s pig iron output was only 840,000 tons, but by 1886 it had soared to 11 million tons. In 1860, steel output was only 12,000 tons, and in 1860 it reached 8.35 million tons.

  So far, Citigroup has replaced Britain as the world's largest steel producer, and the industrial development momentum is very rapid.

  As of 1886

  The output value of Citi's machinery manufacturing industry is equivalent to half of the total output value of European countries, and the nation's power generation has reached 3.8 billion kilowatt-hours.

this age

  The indicator to measure the economic strength of countries in the world is the gross industrial output value, not the GDP (gross domestic product) concept.

  Industrial output value only takes into account the industrial output value of various countries, but does not take into account industries such as agriculture, finance, tourism, etc., and cannot fully reflect the economic status and strength of each country.

The United States indeed surpassed the United Kingdom in terms of industrial output value after the 1880s. However, as the old hegemon, the United Kingdom still holds the global financial hegemony. With a total population of 450 million people, the economic circle of the British Empire (including the Ocean Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa) is not an absolute advantage that Citigroup can compare.

  A dragon gives birth to a dragon, and a phoenix gives birth to a phoenix. Mouse’s friends will make holes.

It is precisely because of his goal to target advanced industrial countries in the world, Li Fushou can feel the heavy development pressure. While the Ocean Kingdom is developing rapidly, other world powers are not idle, especially Citigroup and Germany. develop.

Instead, the veteran powers such as Britain and France are gradually falling behind. Not only did the United Kingdom fail to catch up with the electrification process of the second industrial wave, it was seriously lagging behind in this field, and it also fell into the second echelon in the petrochemical field.

   While France has become a usury country, keen on money games, issuing large amounts of high-interest loans to Citi, Tsarist Russia, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, keen on global colonization, and ignoring the process of industrial development.

  Ocean Kingdom is different. As an emerging Chinese country, Li Fushou has a very high spirit. He has always aimed his development goals at advanced industrial countries and has strict requirements with high standards and dare not slack.

  Compared with advanced industrial countries, he feels that there is still much lacking.

   Balikpapan has proven oil reserves of 1.7 billion tons, and has the basic conditions for the development of petrochemicals.

Based on

He put forward the three key requirements of key investment, key support, and key development. In view of the huge amount of investment in the development of petrochemicals, 20 million gold yuan will be invested in the first phase of the 10,000-ton ethylene project, in addition to acid-base and dye chemicals. The government will raise funds from the society, supplemented by bank loans to give priority to construction.

  The royal family fund and government funds will be invested as the leading force. Through market-oriented operation, it will form the leading force of Ocean Kingdom in the chemical industry, and drive social capital investment for common development.

  Li Fushou knows well;

The competition between countries is never a military victory or defeat, but a long-term competition for comprehensive national strength. This involves population, territory, military, economy, industrial and agricultural development levels, science, technology and culture. Long-term layout, down-to-earth development.

  (End of this chapter)