Film and Television World Life Record

The main problem was that domestic trading companies and merchants monopolized the supply channels and then added layers of markups. What sold for $260 abroad, plus shipping and tariffs, would only cost a little over $300, but domestically they would directly mark up the price to over $800, making them practically making money off of nothing.

Moreover, this is not an isolated phenomenon; it is the case in many industries.

It is said that because the profits from this were so high, some armies and warlords in coastal areas also frequently smuggled cars and other goods.

Why did Guangzhou, an important metropolis during the Republic of China era, fall so quickly? It is said that smugglers led the Japanese troops along secret military smuggling routes, penetrating deep into Guangzhou's heartland and causing its rapid capture.

Of course, the fact that the principal withdrew a lot of troops from nearby areas to participate in the Battle of Wuhan was also a reason.

After a moment of wild speculation, Li Mu spent $72,000 to acquire the six Bofors 75mm mountain guns, and then placed another order for thirty more. He figured he had to build an artillery regiment.

The shells weren't cheap either, at fifteen dollars each. There were a total of one thousand shells in stock, costing $15,000, which Li Mu bought up.

After purchasing weapons, the next step is to purchase cars and trucks.

By this time, the overseas automotive industry was already quite advanced. After much consideration, Li Mu chose to purchase a Ford light truck. It could carry a load of 1.5 tons, was inexpensive, and of decent quality.

This is unlike purchasing domestically, where there are no tariffs or layers of dealer markups. You can get the goods directly from Ford's Southeast Asian dealers, and the price isn't much higher than the factory price.

However, the dealer currently only has eighty vehicles on hand, which Li Mu bought up in bulk at $1,200 each, totaling $96,000.

After looking around again, I decided to purchase some more heavy trucks and finally chose the Mercedes-Benz L 6500 heavy truck.

This vehicle was introduced in 1935. It was originally a civilian truck, and its basic design was mainly for civilian use. However, after the outbreak of World War II, it inevitably became a military vehicle and became one of the heavy transport vehicles of the German army in World War II.

This type of heavy-duty truck is considered an excellent civilian heavy-duty truck in this day and age. It is a two-axle truck with dual rear tires, a wheelbase of 5.1 meters, and is equipped with hydraulic drum brakes.

The vehicle is 9.45 meters long, 2.5 meters wide, and 2.42 meters high. It weighs approximately 6.65 tons, has a maximum load capacity of approximately 7 tons, a maximum speed of 75 kilometers per hour, and a fuel consumption of 38 liters per 100 kilometers.

Both its speed and load capacity are excellent. Of course, it's not cheap either, at $5,200, and there are only ten available.

After a moment's thought, Li Mu took it. After all, the light truck's load capacity was only 1.5 tons, and some machinery or weapons could only be transported by heavy trucks.

They spent $52,000 to acquire these ten heavy trucks.

Li Mu originally wanted to buy some more Jeeps, as this vehicle would become quite famous in later generations. Unfortunately, Jeeps had not yet been invented yet, and he would have to wait another two years.

Next, I needed to buy myself a few cars. Major well-known brands from this era and later generations had already emerged.

Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Chevron, Chevrolet... Li Mu even spotted Rolls-Royce Phantom, Bentley, and Lincoln – this was during the Republic of China era.

The Rolls-Royce Phantom I was developed by Ford Motor Company in 1927. It could reach a speed of 120 kilometers per hour, but it was ridiculously expensive. At that time, there was only one in China, and it was driven by a foreigner.

There's also the 1929 Bentley Blowe, with a top speed of 160 kilometers per hour, making it arguably the fastest car in the world. It was also ridiculously expensive and never made it into China during the entire Republic of China era. The reason was simple: at the time, China simply didn't have roads suitable for such a vehicle.

In China, only a very small number of people could afford the luxury car brand Lincoln. Ford, Chevrolet, and Citroën dominated the market, while Mercedes-Benz and BMW, which would later become more famous, had very low sales at that time.

Compared to ordinary civilian cars, these luxury cars are also ridiculously expensive, ranging from several thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars. This is an era when one dollar is equal to one gram of gold.

Li Mu made a few purchases at random, including Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Chevrolet. Bentley and Rolls-Royce Phantom were not in stock and needed to be ordered.

Li Mu was quite curious about these two cars, wondering what they were like during the Republic of China era, so he ordered two of them.

After purchasing a car, you naturally need to purchase gasoline.

In recent years, gasoline prices have been quite stable. In fact, during World War II, oil prices were also quite stable and did not fluctuate much.

例如1939年原油价格为1.02美元/桶，到1945年价格为1.05美元/桶，期间最高的价格也只有1942年的1.19美元/桶。

This price level persisted for a long time; even in 1960, the price of oil was still $1.90 per barrel.

Until the outbreak of the Fourth Middle East War in 1973, oil-producing countries took measures such as production cuts, causing oil prices to surge from about $3 per barrel to about $11 per barrel in less than three months, thus triggering the first oil crisis. This crisis led to the most severe economic recession in the world since World War II.

However, this is just the price of crude oil, not gasoline. Crude oil needs to be refined to become gasoline, and gasoline is much more expensive than crude oil.

Currently, the unit of measurement for crude oil in the international market is generally the "barrel," with one barrel being approximately 159 liters. Based on Saudi Arabia's 34-degree light crude oil, which has the world average specific gravity, one ton is approximately 7.33 barrels.

Specifically, since the volume of the container is fixed, one container has a capacity of exactly 42 gallons. Therefore: 1 container = 42 gallons (US units) = 158.97 liters. 1 US gallon = 3.785 liters.

This equates to a price of only $0.0063 per liter of crude oil.

Refining crude oil into gasoline involves certain costs and losses, and with the addition of taxes and fees, it naturally becomes much more expensive, but it's still acceptable.

Currently, the international standard for refined oil products is 200 liters, which is stored in a round oil drum that is approximately 930mm high and 580mm in diameter.

A 200-liter barrel of gasoline costs $3.20. Don't think that's cheap. At that time, one dollar was equivalent to one gram of gold, and in later generations, one gram of gold had risen to over $60. That's equivalent to $200 for a 200-liter barrel of gasoline. Despite the 70-80 year gap, the price, when measured in gold, hasn't changed much.

Li Mu spent $64,000 to purchase 20,000 barrels of gasoline, which he could use himself or sell.

Due to a sharp decline in import channels and ongoing warfare, domestic oil prices are currently exorbitantly high. This is especially true in the central and western regions, where gasoline is considered a harder currency than gold for the military and warlords, with prices in some areas increasing several times or even tenfold.

The next step is to purchase power generation equipment. Since the demand for electricity in the Nanyang area will be large in the future, small and medium-sized gas and diesel generators are naturally excluded.

Ultimately, a coal-fired steam turbine generator set was chosen. This set works by having superheated steam generated by the boiler enter the turbine and expand to do work, causing the blades to rotate and drive the generator to generate electricity. The exhaust steam after doing work is sent back to the boiler through the condenser, circulating water pump, condensate pump, feedwater heating device, etc., for recycling.

Li Mu visited many trading companies, but none of them had the goods in stock. Far East Trading Company busied itself contacting many trading companies in Southeast Asia and finally managed to purchase four steam turbine generator sets.

Two of them are 500 kW steam turbine generator sets. The other two are 1000 kW and 1500 kW steam turbine generator sets.

A 500-kilowatt steam turbine generator set, operating at full power, can generate 500 kilowatt-hours per hour, or 12,000 kilowatt-hours per day; a 1000-kilowatt steam turbine generator set can generate 24,000 kilowatt-hours per day; and a 1500-kilowatt steam turbine generator set can generate 36,000 kilowatt-hours per day.

These four steam turbine generator sets should be able to generate enough electricity to meet the production and living needs of the Nanyang area in the short term.

However, it's still a bit too little, and too fragmented.

After considering it for a moment, Li Mu ordered two more 3000-kilowatt steam turbine generator sets before stopping.

Next, after purchasing a batch of transformers and wires, Li Mu began purchasing telephones and wired telegraph machines. Wired telegraphs had existed for nearly a hundred years, and wired telephones for over fifty. These two technologies were already quite mature and widely produced and used abroad, so the prices of the equipment were naturally not high.

Wireless telegraph machines, on the other hand, are still relatively new and expensive, but Li Mu still ordered ten of them, as they would be indispensable in the event of future wars.

Finally, Li Mu also wanted to acquire some fighter jets and establish an air force. However, the European war had not yet broken out, and the United States had not yet intervened. Many powerful weapons, including fighter jets, had not yet appeared.

Li Mu, choosing the tallest among the short, ultimately selected the Hawk 75 fighter, a relatively advanced all-metal low-wing monoplane fighter designed by Curtiss Hawker in 1936, and an upgrade of the Hawk 2 and Hawk 3.

On the eve of the outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japan, it came to Nanjing to do a promotional performance. It caught the eye of Ms. Song, who spent US$40,000 to buy it and gave it to Chennault, the one who formed the Flying Tigers, as his personal plane.

This aircraft has a maximum speed of 480 kilometers per hour and a maximum range of 1300 kilometers, making it superior to the Japanese aircraft in every aspect.

At present, it is a very suitable time to make purchases.

After a moment's consideration, Li Mu placed an order for twelve aircraft at $40,000 each, totaling $480,000.

This procurement operation is now complete.

Chapter 420 The Heartless Cannon and Penicillin

With Li Mu returning home with a large amount of supplies, Nanyang became even busier. Power plants were being built, telephone and telegraph lines were being erected to cover the entire Nanyang area, and various infrastructure projects were underway, such as the construction of 1,500 primary schools.

In addition, Li Mu launched a new project, choosing a relatively secluded location to build a military airfield.

In addition, the placement of school buildings for several universities was of paramount importance. At its peak, Li Mu hired tens of thousands of migrant workers to handle this task.

There's also good news: several universities have agreed to relocate here. The relocation work has already begun, and Li Mu has dispatched all ten heavy trucks and eighty light trucks he just bought to help these universities move.

After all, it's not just teachers and students that need to be moved; various materials, supplies, laboratory equipment, and books are also being transported. It's too difficult to do it by manpower alone; it's much more convenient to use vehicles.

As for drivers, that's not a problem either; they can be easily recruited. Roads aren't an issue either; nowadays, all provinces are connected by highways, and most regions within a province are also connected by highways.

Taking Shanxi as an example, in 1919, Yan Xishan issued the "Outline of Shanxi Road Construction Plan". In 1920, construction officially began on a 213-kilometer trunk highway centered on Taiyuan, the provincial capital, running from Pingyao to Xinxian. It was completed and opened to traffic by the end of that year, becoming the first highway in Shanxi.

In 1921, the Yellow River Highway, connecting Pingyao to Liulin Jundu, was also completed and opened to traffic. By 1930, when Yan Xishan participated in the Central Plains War, Shanxi already had more than 2,000 kilometers of highways in operation.

Moreover, since the first highway in Shanxi was built in 1920, merchants have been purchasing cars to operate passenger transport on the highway between Taiyuan and Taigu.

As highways continued to increase, shrewd Shanxi merchants also began to participate. By 1926, Shanxi had seven private automobile companies: Taijun, Jiaotong, Tai'an, Taiji, Taifeng, Taitong, and Taijin.

A glimpse into the whole reveals the whole picture; this is true of Shanxi, and the development of economically developed coastal areas is even more remarkable.

So these days, there's no shortage of drivers, and the road conditions between provinces are passable.

However, this is also why domestic oil prices are so high now; after all, with so many vehicles, the demand for fuel is enormous. Major import channels are blocked, and fuel transported through other channels is prioritized for the military by the government, leaving very little for civilian use.

……

The school's relocation plan was in full swing, and the reorganization plan for the security regiment had also begun.

Based on the original structure, five new departments were established: the Joint Staff Department, the Logistics Support Department, the Industrial Equipment Development Department, the Reserve and New Recruit Training Department, and the Discipline Inspection Department.

In addition to these five departments, there is also an "office" directly under Li Mu, which mainly serves him, is responsible for relaying information up and down, processing documents, and issuing various orders.

In terms of talent, with more and more coastal areas and major cities falling to the Japanese, many talented individuals fled inland. Military personnel, in particular, who remained in the occupied territories faced certain death if they refused to surrender to Japan. Even a retired high-ranking official like Wu Peifu was poisoned for refusing to submit to Japan; the fate of others was even more dire.

This has led to a large influx of military talent into the central and western regions. In Guofu, there are only enough positions available for each person. In addition, the principal only values ​​the direct descendants of graduates from the Central Military Academy. If you want to join, you need to have connections and influence, let alone be given important responsibilities.

In this way, Li Mu recruited a large number of military talents with families through channels such as Muwu Trading Company, and the various departments quickly completed their formation.

With so many talented people and specific departments responsible for various tasks, the reorganization and expansion of the security force is proceeding rapidly.

The original guard company became the Imperial Guard Regiment, and the engineer company and cavalry company were also upgraded to regiments.

The original medical company was abolished. A dedicated medical support system for the military, including several field hospitals, was established under the Logistics Support Department. The communications company was reassigned to the Joint Staff Department.

The reconnaissance company was reorganized by Li Mu into a special forces brigade. Next, he would procure more specialized weaponry for them, such as sniper rifles, semi-automatic rifles, and submachine guns… and then train them according to the training methods of later special forces.

The artillery regiment has also been established, and a number of instructors have been recruited. Although there are only six cannons at present, training can begin.

The rest were all formed into infantry regiments.

In addition, Li Mu set up an accelerated training course for officers, specifically to train junior officers.

During a break, he instructed the newly recruited technicians to create a legendary weapon called the "Flying Thunder Cannon," or the "Heartless Cannon."

The "heartless cannon" works on a similar principle to the common two-shot cannon, utilizing reaction force to launch a certain weight of explosives.

This type of cannon is simple and easy to make; the main material is an air-fuel drum.