Chapter 236 Victory Port Shipyard (1)
Li Nai and He Qiang believe that no matter how close the business inn they set up in Victory Port is to the dock, it will only serve to attract more foreign merchants and sailors to eat and stay in hotels in the future. This is inconsistent with the investment of "Furuifeng" in Victory Port. The purpose of enclosing land is not very consistent - whether it is a shop, a hotel or a brothel, all of this is to close the cooperative relationship with the Haihan people, not simply to make money. Based on this consideration, they chose the land adjacent to the gate of Base No. 1.
Chuanchuan Group has recently invested a considerable part of its labor force in the Iron Furnace Port project, so the number of laborers assigned by the relevant departments to "Furuifeng" to build the business warehouse is not large, only about thirty people. To build a large house with an area of about five acres with such a small number of people would take at least several months. However, Li Nai was not in a hurry, because the Haihan people had already announced during dinner last night that this business warehouse would be put into use within two months at the latest. Compared with the time Li Nai knew he had spent building a store in other places before, the two-month construction period was already considered extremely short.
Of course, the ability to shorten the construction period to such a short time is also related to the preparations made by "Furuifeng" in advance. Not only did it prepare drawings and craftsmen, but also many building materials and materials with more complicated processes were shipped directly from Guangzhou. Come, such as carved doors and windows, flat floor tiles, mahogany tables and chairs, even prefabricated beams, etc. Crossing Group mainly provided labor, bricks, and cement that Li Nai considered very magical for this project.
While Li Nai was watching, he did not forget to remind the foreman to leave a place for burying sewer pipes when handling the foundation. After the major renovation of the Guangdong Office was completed, Li Nai was invited to visit what Schneider called an "advanced human settlement environment." The various black technology equipment left a deep impression on Li Nai. In particular, Li Nai was very interested in the boiler that could conveniently provide hot water for bathing for a long time, the flush toilet that perfectly solved the hygiene problem in the bedroom, and the biogas equipment that Li Nai didn't understand but felt was powerful.
After Li Nai tried these things, he quickly experienced the beauty of them and asked Schneider to provide him with the same set of living facilities. So Li Nai's residence in the Li family compound became the Haihan bathroom system. The first object of successful promotion. However, because the construction of the biogas equipment was too complicated, it was inconvenient for the Li family to go to war, so this set of equipment with the highest technical content was reluctantly abandoned.
When installing bathroom equipment for Li Nai, the Guangzhou Guangdong Office did not take the opportunity to rip off Li Nai, but only charged a symbolic "cost of work" of one hundred taels. Schneider took up this opportunity and expressed the hope that "Furuifeng" could find better local ceramic craftsmen to participate in the production of ceramic bathroom equipment. For example, ceramic basins for washing hands and faces, ceramic bathtubs for bathing, etc. When these ceramic sanitary equipment with more complex processes are successfully developed, then "Furuifeng" will naturally become a regional agent for the new products.
After trying out these equipment, Li Jifeng immediately agreed to Schneider's suggestion and asked his firm to start looking for ceramic craftsmen with outstanding skills in various places. Among the group of craftsmen brought by Li Nai when he went south this time, there were several ceramic craftsmen recruited from "Furuifeng". As for external promotion work, the Guangdong Office has long been at the forefront - the Guangdong Office has renovated several rooms facing the street into shops facing the street, and one of them will be dedicated to exhibitions. These are brand new bathroom fixtures. Schneider believes that as long as this thing is driven by a few upper-class people, it will soon form a new trend of use in Guangzhou, just like the previous glass stationery.
When Li Nai got the task of supervising the work south, he had already thought that the store he built in Victory Port must use Haihan bathroom equipment. Although doing so would increase a lot of initial investment, in Li Nai's opinion, this This one-step move is very worthwhile. After all, the return on investment in Haihan has always been quite high, and the safety is also guaranteed. When Li Nai entered the port yesterday, he saw that the forts on both sides of the gorge had been repaired to a great extent. , several artillery positions have been equipped with dark artillery. Although he couldn't see clearly from the ship, Li Nai could still tell that the artillery mounted on the fort was much larger than the artillery he handled. In other words, these coastal defense guns must be more powerful than those sold abroad.
However, what Li Nai doesn't know is that although the construction of the first phase of the coastal defense artillery project has been completed, and the military industry department has also made several 24-pound heavy guns and delivered them to the Military and Police Department, the current gunner training is still progressing slowly. . There is nothing we can do about it. The existing naturalized population is generally poorly educated, and most of them don’t even know their own names. The artillery is a very technical branch, whether it’s observation or shooting. , all require a lot of mathematical calculations, and the quality of the existing soldiers is obviously impossible to meet such requirements.
The Military and Police Department can only do the next best thing at present, asking artillerymen to memorize the relationship between firing angle, charge amount and range, and at the same time rely on a large number of live-fire training to strengthen and consolidate the skills of these rookie artillerymen. But even so, there are still very few qualified indigenous artillerymen at present. The limited number of people with outstanding performance are basically talented and flexible, and they cannot be said to truly understand the meaning of artillery operations. . The Military and Police Department really has no better way now. Many things cannot be taught by hand-to-hand teaching. Perhaps they can only wait until they go to the battlefield and come into contact with actual combat in order for these artillerymen to grow up faster.
Of course, although the quality and quantity of the current artillery are still very limited, the completion of the coastal defense artillery fortifications still gives the entire group a long-lost sense of security. The Military and Police Department also claimed that with these heavy artillery fortifications, the chance of foreign forces trying to invade Victory Port from the sea will be greatly reduced. Even if the Dutch East India Company's armed gunboats or the Spanish galleons are dispatched collectively, Wanting to defeat the coastal defense artillery fortifications in Victory Port will also have to pay a very heavy price.
This is not bragging by the Military and Police Department. Although the gunboats of the Western colonists are difficult to match on the current seas in the Far East, they rely on the number of artillery equipped on the ship to gain firepower advantage in the battle, rather than the range or accuracy. Compared with the 24-pound heavy guns in the Victory Port coastal defenses with a range of up to two thousand meters, those crude artillery fires on Western gunboats with an effective range of only two hundred meters are really difficult to work. If such a ship really dared to rush forward against the fire of coastal defense artillery, then it would have to withstand about ten rounds of coastal defense artillery bombardment before entering the range of its own artillery. Even though the current coastal defense guns still use solid bullets instead of explosive shells, the firepower density that the planned thirty or more shore defense guns can achieve is enough to defeat maritime opponents of this era in ten rounds of attacks.
However, to achieve such combat effectiveness, the Military and Police Ministry also admitted that it will take at least one to two years to train gunners, practice defensive tactics, improve fortifications, etc. Moreover, the current formation plan of the Navy has also been put on the agenda of the Executive Committee. By then, the Navy, which uses artillery warfare as its main firepower output, will also need a large number of gunners. This will also greatly delay the shore defense artillery fortifications from reaching their strongest combat effectiveness. time.
Li Nai stayed at the construction site for a while and felt something was wrong. The last time he came to Victory Port, he was always accompanied by the leader of the Haihan people, but this time he seemed to have no such treatment, except for a local young man. He was sent to follow him at his disposal. For half the morning, there were no traces of the Haihan leaders at all.
Li Nai felt that the person following him looked familiar, so he waved his hand and called him over: "Have you met me somewhere?"
The man responded respectfully: "Back to Mr. Li, we met once when you visited the Salt Farm Commune last time."
Li Nai suddenly said: "Yes, yes! You are that Jiang... Jiang..."
"The little one used to be called Jiang San." The man straightened his waist as he spoke, and couldn't help but show a proud look on his face: "Later, Mr. Anxi gave me the name, and now he is named Jiang Kaishen. The triumphant Kai, Shen Youxuhai's "
"Kaishen? Hmm... that's a good name." Of course Li Nai wouldn't understand Coach Anxi's bad taste, but he did remember the man named Jiang San. When Li Nai visited the Saltworks Commune last time, he had a conversation with Jiang San that impressed him deeply. It was from that time that Li Nai realized the difference between the Haihan civil affairs system and the Ming Dynasty. Li Nai can clearly feel the awe and gratitude of the local people for the Haihan Executive Committee from people like Jiang San, and will therefore show extremely high obedience to the decisions of the Executive Committee. From the perspective of ordinary people Look, the civil administration effect of the Haihan people seems to be better than that of the local government of the Ming Dynasty. Jiang San was also appreciated for the "tact" he showed in front of Tao Donglai. After Li Nai left, Anxi promoted his labor grade from primary to secondary, and transferred him from the production line to The Salt Farm Commune Management Committee held a small civil affairs position. For the sake of dignity, Anxi also gave him a new name. Although Anxi's name may not be entirely out of good intentions, for Jiang San and Jiang Kaishen, this is the greatest honor in his life.
Jiang San has been performing well since his promotion and salary increase. After the typhoon disaster in August, he was awarded a 20-yuan voucher by the commune management committee for his active participation in disaster relief and post-disaster reconstruction. After the Tielugang project begins, some of the existing Saltworks Commune personnel, especially the management, will be transferred to Tielugang when the project reaches the immigration stage, and Jiang San is among them. And he has received guidance from Anxi. As long as he does not make any mistakes in the future, when the Iron Furnace Port project enters the operation stage, Anxi will recommend him to serve as the civil affairs assistant of the local commune management committee, and the labor level will also increase. Move up one level and become one of the few Level 3 workers currently.
Jiang San had been transferred to Base No. 1 a few days ago and was responsible for the acceptance and pre-training of new immigrants in Tieliang Port. This group of new immigrants all arrived in Hong Kong in early October, with Vietnamese and Hainan natives accounting for about half each. They have basically completed the quarantine observation period, and will then be arranged to live in the newly opened Tieliang Port. Jiang San's task is to let these people understand their next whereabouts and work and life arrangements. And just last night, Jiang San received a new notice from the civil affairs department, asking him to personally accompany the distinguished guests from Guangzhou starting today - of course, it also included surveillance.
This is not because the Management Committee does not pay attention to Li Nai's existence, but that all executive committee members are currently busy. Everyone has a lot of things to do and has no time to accompany Li Nai on his sightseeing tours. Anyway, after this period of contact, several veterans on the executive committee believed that Li Nai was harmless to humans and animals, and there was nothing to be particularly wary of. So they simply asked the civil affairs department to assign a local person to Li Nai. As long as Nai is his entourage, it will be enough to ensure that he has someone to coordinate and arrange food and accommodation for him at any time during his stay in Victory Port.
Jiang Sandao: "If Mr. Li has anything to do, just ask him. The leaders have said that they will try their best to meet any reasonable requests made by Mr. Li."
"The shipyard to the west looks very lively. Can I go and have a look?" Li Nai didn't pay attention to what Jiang San meant by "reasonable request", but he also understood that the Haihan people put a little person like Jiang San in his own hands. He is not just here to be an errand boy. I am afraid that Jiang San will report every move he makes in Victory Port to the Haihan people afterwards.
"Of course you can go to the shipyard." Jiang nodded three times in response. The civil affairs department had indeed given him instructions in advance on where to go and where not to go. Except for the barracks and Yulin post, all other places in the Victory Port area could be visited, including the shipyard located in the west of the harbor.
So Li Nai called the foreman and gave a few more instructions before walking to the shipyard to the west. Li Nai felt that everything else about Victory Port was good, except that there was no sedan chair and he could only walk on two legs. The Haihan people often rode those two-wheeled bicycles around, but Li Nai thought that the thing was as fast as a galloping horse and seemed unsafe, so he had no intention of learning it.
After taking only two steps, Jiang San said: "Mr. Li, if you want to visit a production unit such as a shipyard, you cannot bring your entourage in."
Li Nai nodded and asked his two followers to stay without expression. Li Nai is not unhappy with this request. There are also some workshops under the name "Fu Ruifeng". If outsiders want to visit, their entourage will not be allowed to enter - I know you are a businessman, but are your entourage For craftsmen in this industry, it’s hard to say. Some unique craftsmanship skills are fine if seen by laymen, but if they are seen once by experts, they may be learned secretly. With the Haihan people's ability to build so many giant steel ships, Li Nai believed that they must have some special methods in shipbuilding, and these things must be inconvenient for outsiders to know.
The area where the Shengli Port Shipyard is located is actually near the Yulin fishing village where Yu Xiaobao's family originally lived. It is located at the connection between the Yulin Peninsula and the mainland. The dense mangroves near the coast have long been cut down and no longer have their original appearance. A series of work sheds have been built on the shore. The north work shed is stacked with a large amount of ship lumber that has been dried and processed, while the south work shed is where the technicians of the shipping department work and carry out fine processing operations.
There are five or six slipways of various sizes standing on the shore, and each slipway currently houses large or small ships that are under construction or repair. There is a wooden slide under the slipway that leads directly to the sea. Ships completed on the slipway can be launched directly from the slipway.
At present, the Victory Port Shipyard has more than 40 technicians and nearly 200 ordinary workers. Except for the No. 1 test ship, which is progressing relatively slowly, the shipyard has actually not been idle at all in the past few months. The Ministry of Shipping is now All sea-going ships basically receive regular hull maintenance operations here, and this task is not easy at all. If the attachments on the bottom of the ship are not removed regularly, it will have a significant impact on the ship's navigation ability. According to information available to the Ministry of Shipping, if there are too many vegetations such as oysters and sea anemones on the bottom of a ship, the ship's power will be lost by 5%-10%. This is an unforgivable sin for existing low-speed sailing ships. . In addition, the anti-corrosion and leak-proofing of the underwater part of the hull must also be re-processed regularly. Otherwise, if a problem occurs during navigation, it may lead to a major accident involving ship damage and loss of life. In addition, a considerable part of the ships in the Shipping Department are second-hand goods, so they have always been very tight on related maintenance work and dare not relax at all.
In addition to maintenance and repair work, the shipyard has actually launched a lot of small boats in the past few months, some of which are experimental products to verify whether some of the newly proposed technical solutions of the Ministry of Shipping can be integrated into existing ones. Among the shipbuilding techniques, especially the hull structure and sail system, are the focus of technological exploration of these trial ships.
In fact, if the requirements of the Executive Committee were not too high, it is estimated that the No. 1 test boat would have been launched long ago. The Executive Committee requires that the main ships in the future period should have good seaworthiness, convenient sailing operation systems, and faster speeds without being lower than the loading capacity of existing ships. It is best to increase the speed of sailing. It can be equipped with several newly released naval artillery pieces, or it can be transformed into a maritime firepower output unit through relatively simple modifications for use by the future navy. If possible, enough room for modification should be left for future steam engines to be installed on the ship, so as not to spend a lot of time redesigning the ship later.
Although the Executive Committee's request sounds excessive, it is also a request that has to be made based on the existing objective environment. Since the Crossing Group has chosen Sanya as its main base in the early stage, controlling sea power has become its main development goal in the future.
(End of chapter)