Beginning in the 1860s, a Westernization Movement of "strengthening the barbarians to improve themselves" swept across the country. During the suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Nen Army, Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and other Xianghuai troops rose up. The big bosses are busy setting up businesses and making guns in their respective jurisdictions. In 1861, Hunan Army Commander Zeng Guofan established the Anqing Nei Ordnance Station in Anhui; in 1862, Huai Army Commander Li Hongzhang established the Shanghai Ocean Artillery Bureau and Suzhou Yang Artillery Bureau in Shanghai and Suzhou, respectively; in 1865 Li Hongzhang established the Jiangnan Manufacturing General Administration... …
During the Sino-French War, weapons supply was made difficult by various countries
In the 1980s, the Hanyang Armory, the most famous arsenal in modern Chinese history, began to be built. However, this arsenal was not originally built in Hanyang Town, one of the three towns in Wuhan, but in Guangzhou City on the coast of the South China Sea. In 1883, the Sino-French war broke out on the southeast coast and the Sino-Vietnamese border. Zhang Zhidong, who had just been promoted to the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi at that time, sought to purchase overseas at a great deal of money to ensure logistical supplies. However, European and American countries use their strict "neutrality" as an excuse, or refuse to sell weapons, or hoard them and ask for prices. In fact, because French warships are patrolling and intercepting at sea, even if the arms can be bought, it is difficult to transport them back home in time.
to build a gun factory but received a transfer order
In order to completely get rid of the plight of being constrained by others, Zhang Zhidong mobilized the Guangdong civil and military officials and salt merchants to donate 800,000 taels of silver , Procurement of machinery and equipment from Germany, and hire of personnel to prepare to open the Guangzhou Gun Factory. But just as Zhang Zhidong was building a gun factory in full swing, the transfer order came unexpectedly, making him rush to Wuhan and transfer to the governor of Huguang. Originally, the transfer from Guangdong and Guangxi to Huguang was purely a level transfer, but the future of the Guangzhou Gun Factory really entangled Zhang Zhidong.
Unfortunately, whatever you are afraid of. Zhang Zhidong's successor, Li Hanzhang, asked to close the gun factory when he took office because he was unwilling to bear the unsettled balance of his predecessor and the recurring expenses after the opening. More importantly, and more obscurely, Li Hanzhang is the brother of Li Hongzhang's compatriot. This time the Guangzhou Gun Factory has been closed. He can just move all these brand new German machines to the Tianjin Machinery Bureau under Li Hongzhang.
encountered a fire before it opened
After Zhang Zhidong refused to give up the results of his hard work and finally ruined others, he asked to continue running the gun factory by himself. After a discussion between the government and the people, they finally reluctantly agreed to relocate the gun factory from Guangzhou to its Huguang Governor's Mansion, Wuchang, Hubei. When construction was about to start, a fire broke out in the gun factory. " house material Pinus tabulaeformis is hot due to the iron tiles, the factory door is closed, and the atmosphere is blocked ", plus " strong wind, electro-optical lasing " in the early morning, lightning hit the plant and caused a fire. The fire caused the iron tiles to fall, and 20% of the gun-making machines were crushed. In addition, they were smoked by fire and deformed when exposed to heat. The repair cost alone would cost 300,000 taels of silver. The direct consequence of the
fire was that the gun factory could not be started as scheduled. At the time when the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 was about to break out, the imperial court had repeatedly asked about the repair situation of the gun factory. It’s complicated, I’m going to buy and ship to foreign countries, and I’m afraid that I’m in a hurry. What’s the current plan? Can it be expanded in time and managed to make it so that it can be distributed and applied?” “When can the Hubei Gun Factory start? How many?"
The ruling and the opposition, the arsenal almost closed
It is conceivable that the arsenal that cost a lot of money to build is unsuccessful at the critical moment, what will happen to the ruling and the opposition All of a sudden, Zhang Zhidong’s political opponents attacked and shut down the Hubei gun factory. Fortunately, there are still sensible people in the dynasty who are waiting for a bachelor's degree in Wen Ting-style to turn the tide, calmly saying that they can't give up because of choking, and this saves the fate of the Hanyang Armory.
In the winter of 1895, the rebuilding of the Hubei Gun Art Factory was completed and mass production began. In 1896, the Hanyang Factory ran full power and used imported equipment to continuously improve the production of 1300 rifles.In the vicinity of Hanyang, this batch of bolts of the same type will have a simple and resounding nickname "Made in Hanyang."
