160 years ago today, on September 20, 1865 (August 1, 1865 lunar calendar), Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang established the Jiangnan General Administration of Machinery Manufacturing. On September 20, 1865, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang established the Jiangnan General Administration of Machinery Manufacturing in Shanghai. This is the largest modern military enterprise opened by the Westernization faction of the Qing government. Also known as the Jiangnan General Administration of Manufacturing, the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, the Shanghai Machinery Bureau, and the Shanghai Manufacturing Bureau. In 1865, Li Hongzhang bought the American Qiji Iron Factory in Hongkou with 40,000 and two silver, and merged some of the machines of the Suzhou Foreign Artillery Bureau and the machines bought back by Zeng Guofan from the United States, and the Shanghai Ocean Artillery Bureau into the iron factory to establish the Jiangnan Manufacturing General Administration. The cost of the construction was more than 540,000, and it was expanded repeatedly in the future. The Qing government allocated 20% of the tax revenue of Shanghai Customs as a perennial fund. More than 2,000 workers were employed. Moved to Gaochang Temple Town in 1867, the equipment was expanded, and there were machine factories, foreign gun buildings, steam furnace (boiler) factories, foundries, ship factories, etc. Covering an area of more than 70 acres. In the 1980s, artillery shell factories, mine factories, steel mills, maroon gunpowder factories, smokeless gunpowder factories, etc. were built one after another. The bureau mainly produced guns and bullets, supplemented by the repair of ships, and attached translation halls and mechanical schools to train technicians, translate books related to military and engineering, and also have a small number of historical records and political and legal books. Comments: A factory established in the name of reform