Chapter 2

"Overall, Bavaria is still a very suitable place for farming!" After initially crossing over, the young King Changsun, after spending two years understanding the basic situation of Bavaria, evaluated it this way. If summarized, two reasons can support this conclusion: First, Bavaria has no strong industrial competitors, and its industrial foundation is relatively weak. Additionally, since he is running a state-owned enterprise, the potential for growth is significant, and there is almost no trouble from the government. Second, the Bavarian royal family is very wealthy! Extremely wealthy!

If you were in other places, to manufacture cannons, you would have to compete with the Krupp family, who had already been famous for decades and became the richest family in Germany. If you wanted to make guns, the Mauser brothers would give you a hard time. If you wanted to produce steel and coal, sorry, Bavaria does not produce iron or coal. Look at the industrially developed regions of Germany, whether it's the Ruhr area, the Alsace-Lorraine region taken from France, or the Saar region, these places either have coal, iron, or both! If you engaged in low-end repetitive competition, Bavaria wouldn't even know how it died!

Some might say, "Isn't there a legendary BMW in the future?" Yes, there is indeed this company, and its Chinese name is quite impressive, known as BMW! However, in reality, its predecessor wasn't in the automotive industry, and its most glorious period wasn't in the automotive industry either! Its predecessor was the Bavarian Motor Works, established in 1916, and it started with aircraft! During World War II, it also produced aircraft engines! The famous BMW 801 was produced by them! Although it was very successful in the future, unfortunately, in 1889, this company didn't even exist in Germany! Overall, Bavaria's industry was still relatively backward. As for shipbuilding or shipping? Inland waterway shipping is still feasible, and setting up a design bureau for shipbuilding is also possible, but building shipyards is still on hold for now, as it doesn't even border the sea!

Therefore, the young prince set the development direction for Bavaria to focus on high-end industries. How to go high-end? Internal combustion engines, cars, airplanes, and boilers are still quite distant. These things either don't exist yet, or if they are produced, they can't compete with other regions' companies, as the industrial foundation is weaker, and the穿越者 (穿越者 means "穿越者" in Chinese, which can be translated as "time traveler" or "穿越者" in this context) doesn't know much about them. There's no choice but to slowly catch up, which requires state support. However, some things are more skill-based, or the time traveler is more familiar with certain things, so it's worth a try, like the famous Krupp armor of the future!

Speaking of Krupp armor before World War I, anyone with some knowledge of naval history would think of the Krupp hardened armor that was born in 1893 and used on the Brandenburg battleship. However, in reality, Krupp's history of armor production is even earlier and more complex!

Krupp initially produced armor in collaboration with others. At that time, Krupp couldn't even produce armor independently. Before 1890, Krupp didn't even have its own rolling mill! At that time, Krupp's partner, Baron Sturm-Halberg, was responsible for production and allowed Krupp to use the old "Wilsun method" to produce steel-faced iron armor. Krupp was responsible for the research and development of new armor. It wasn't until 1890 that Krupp began to develop nickel steel armor.

At this point, it's necessary to mention a certain major country across the ocean. The world's first hardened armor was the Harvey hardened armor, developed by American Augusta Harvey. Initially, Harvey didn't produce everything from start to finish. The initial hardened armor used steel plates imported from the Schneider factory in France, which were then treated with carbon infiltration and immersed in cold water to produce the earliest Harvey hardened armor.

The appearance of Harvey armor swept the naval armor industry! A profit margin of 50% to 100% made all arms merchants eager to get involved! With such a large piece of cake in front of them, Krupp naturally wouldn't give up. Krupp thought, "I've been using nickel ore in cannon casting since the 1880s. Now, isn't it just a matter of applying similar technology to armor? If the French and Americans can do it, why can't I?"

Thus, historically, Krupp began developing nickel steel armor in 1890 and succeeded in 1891. Krupp then further improved the process by treating the nickel steel armor with a week-long carbon infiltration and heat treatment, followed by oil treatment, resulting in the early Krupp hardened armor, which was reportedly about 10% stronger than Harvey hardened armor! This wasn't the end, as Krupp's ultimate achievement in hardened armor was the "gas carburizing" method, which involved placing a carbon-containing gel on the armor surface, heating it to harden, and then spraying water to complete the final hardening process.

Before crossing over, Sun Yu had seen information about hardened armor. After crossing over, with the help of engineers he recruited from Krupp and the advantage of acting first, the great time traveler and plagiarist successfully developed the Krupp hardened armor, which was only successful in 1893, in 1889 and even registered a patent in Germany!

Even if the Krupp family later succeeded, it would be useless unless they also had a time traveler to develop the Vickers hardened armor, which was only successful before World War I. Otherwise, they couldn't compete with the time traveler! Before 1905, the world's strongest hardened armor was produced exclusively by this company! From 1905 to 1910, all manufacturers producing Krupp hardened armor had to pay high patent fees to the patent holder! It was about 15 pounds per ton of armor! If converted to the exchange rate during the First Sino-Japanese War, it was about 90 taels of silver! (The author has seen this patent fee but doesn't remember it accurately. If there are any errors, please be understanding.)

Some might ask, if the patent fee is so high, why do so many factories still compete to produce it? The answer is simple: the profit margin is high! For example, in the UK, the price of a ton of ordinary steel plate is only 6 to 8 pounds, while the price of hardened KC armor is generally between 80 to 150 pounds. Indeed, armor steel requires multiple processes such as rolling, carbon infiltration, and quenching, but the profit margin is still extremely high, far exceeding the imagination of most people! And in this world, only two companies have it! You decide what to do!

Armor steel accounts for 25% to 30% of a warship's cost. If we consider the profit margin, even weapons and power systems can't compare! How many ships were built during the pre-dreadnought era? Multiply the cost of these ships by 0.25, and you get an astronomical figure! Historically, before 1905, Krupp did not spread its patent technology, so the profit in this area is self-evident... The prince, possessed by the time traveler, inadvertently took a large chunk out of the industrial giant Krupp and put it in his own pocket! It's incredibly satisfying!

Now, the question is, even if you have the technology, do you have the money? Well, the Bavarian royal family is not short of money! After all, the entire Kingdom of Bavaria belongs to the Wittelsbach family. Raising some money to build a steel mill is no big deal. Moreover, the Bavarian royal family receives additional funding from the central government every year. For example, in 1910, Bavaria received 5.67 million marks from the imperial government, not to mention the royal family's own assets and the kingdom's funding to the royal family!

Moreover, to put it bluntly, building the factory is also to enhance the comprehensive economic strength of the Kingdom of Bavaria, increase employment, and create social wealth. The regent can just get the parliament to pass it, and the government can fund the factory. Bavaria may be poor, but that's relative. The Kingdom of Bavaria, which occupies one-seventh of the area of the German Empire, is still quite powerful in terms of economic output! Not to mention, the armies of other kingdoms like Saxony and Württemberg are funded by the German central government, but Bavaria is different! The Bavarian army is entirely funded by the kingdom's government! Except for wartime, when it must follow the orders of the German General Staff, it is completely independent! How could you afford to maintain an army without money?

During World War I, the Sixth Army under the command of the ** ** was mostly made up of Bavarian troops, including the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 21st Bavarian Armies, the 1st Bavarian Reserve Army, and a reserve division, plus a cavalry corps! The total strength was about 220,000, with nearly 800 artillery pieces! Even now, the standing army of Bavaria is no less than three armies! Think about how much money was spent on the six divisions of the Beiyang Army at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and then consider the scale of the Bavarian army. Money is definitely not a problem!

If the armor is to earn money from navies around the world, the possibility of making a huge profit is 99%! Then, the remaining things can start by earning money within the kingdom! The possibility of making a profit is 120%! Of course, these matters cannot be told to his father, the crown prince, yet. He needs to discuss them with his uncle first. Thinking of his powerful uncle, Prince Rupprecht, he can't help but admire him. This uncle is truly powerful! He has almost achieved what many predecessors and successors couldn't!

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