Chapter 311 Partnership Shipbuilding
Although Zheng Zha's abacus is good, it is still difficult to realize these plans in the near future. Although arms exports are one of the main trade items of the Chuanchuan Group, due to strategic considerations, the types and quantities of exported weapons have always been strictly controlled by the Executive Committee. The main weapons in active service will certainly not be sold in batches. As for warships, even more so Needless to say, the newly established navy is still waiting for ships to be used, so how can it be sold to outsiders.
The Executive Committee spent manpower and material resources to invite the North Vietnamese mission not only to do arms business, but also to discuss in-depth military cooperation plans between the two sides, as well as a large number of import and export business of civilian commodities. In addition, the Executive Committee also hopes that the North Vietnamese mission can "fully experience the superiority of the Hai Han system" during this visit. In order to achieve this goal, relevant departments have also prepared a series of visit itineraries for the mission, which also include shipyards, military camps, shooting ranges, port forts and other military-related areas.
During the general meeting the day before, the Executive Committee had arranged for them to visit the recently completed port fort. Although the equipment and personnel on the fort were not fully deployed, those powerful-looking long-barreled 24-pound coastal defense guns still caused a great shock to the North Vietnamese mission. Zheng Zha is not an ordinary playboy. He has been on the battlefield himself and has a certain in-depth understanding of weapons and war. What he saw from the fort at the port is not only the gap in weapons and equipment between the two sides, but also the ability of the Haihan people in Such a large-scale coastal defense artillery fortification was built within one year, and the gap between the two sides in engineering construction also made him nervous.
Thang Long has always been opposed to the autonomy of the Black Tu Port demanded by the Hai Han people. Although they had to agree to the Hai Han people's request due to the needs of the situation, there are still many people who believe that force can be used to take back the Black Tu Port if necessary. However, after seeing the fortifications of Victory Port with his own eyes, Zheng Zha believed that the ideas of some senior Annan officials were a bit unrealistic. The Haihan people built a port just like building a fortress, and the Black Earth Port was only opened later than Victory Port. In a few months, defenses like this will surely be built soon. If possible, Zheng Zha hopes that the defense line in the Hengshan area of Zhengjiang will also be built to this standard, completely locking the South Vietnamese army south of Zhengjiang.
Zheng Zha's next request for the import of high-end weapons was undoubtedly rejected by Bai Kesi. The reason was "insufficient production capacity" as always. However, the existing Type 27 muskets and artillery can continue to be supplied to North Vietnam. As for the matter of selling ships, Baikes did not reject it outright, but his answer was actually not much different from rejection: "The orders for our warships have been scheduled for next year. If the shipyard can spare the slipway next year, then We can discuss it again when the time comes.”
Although Zheng Zha also understood that Bai Kesi was rejecting him in disguise, he still asked unwillingly: "Can you build a shipyard in Annan? We can provide the labor and materials needed for shipbuilding, and you only need to station a small number of people." A shipbuilder is enough...it’s easy to talk about the cost!”
Bai Kesi and Tao Donglai looked at each other and realized that this method was not a bad idea. The report on the construction of a shipyard by the Black Earth Port Management Committee was handed over to the executive committee six months ago. However, because the production tasks of the shipyard in the base camp have been very heavy, there is no way to allocate manpower to assist Black Earth Port. Therefore, although the local shipyard The airs have been put up, but the progress is still very slow. At present, it is said that some shipwrights have been recruited from the Lianzhou Prefecture area and they are slowly starting to build some sailboats with a displacement of about 50 tons. If the local shipbuilding industry could be developed with the help of North Vietnamese manpower, it would be a shortcut worth trying.
With the increasing scale of trade with North Vietnam and the Ming Dynasty, the existing fleet transportation pressure is also increasing. Although the relevant departments are still collecting large ships from the mainland through various channels, the Executive Committee does not have it in mind. The concept of "building is worse than buying, and buying is worse than leasing" will be formed. Although buying and renting ships can alleviate the pressure on shipping to a certain extent in the early stages of crossing, the development direction of the crossing group is to expand its power through sea routes. The shipbuilding industry will definitely have to Just hold it firmly in your hands.
No matter how big the initial labor gap is, the shipyard has always been fully staffed, and there has never been any sign of temporary suspension of work due to lack of labor. Moreover, among the many production units, only the shipyard can continue to receive huge investments from the executive committee without making any profit, and even the products are rolled off the assembly line with a grand celebration ceremony. You must know that the weapons and glass products that make the most profits for the Time Travel Group have never held any celebration ceremonies. ,
This year the shipyard has further expansion plans, preparing to expand the production area from the Victory Harbor to the adjacent bay to the west, and build a new slipway in the bay between Yulin Peninsula and Luhuitou Peninsula. By then, the coastal area in the northern part of the Yulin Peninsula connected to the mainland will become a concentrated area for the local shipbuilding industry. The executive committee has already approved the investment budget of the shipyard, and is preparing to increase the manpower of the shipyard from the current five to six hundred within the year. The number of people expanded to 2,000.
Compared with other profitable industries, the shipyard is currently considered the largest gold-eating beast among the production units under the Chuanchuan Group. The executive committee will definitely not be able to invest endless funds and manpower into it. In the end, it will have to rely on its production capacity. Only by realizing self-hematopoietic function. At present, the shipyard's production tasks are almost fully occupied by the military, and there is no profit in building ships for the military. The expenses are directly transferred and settled internally. It is definitely unrealistic to expect to make money from military orders. The Executive Committee has also recognized this early, and therefore hopes to expand production capacity so that shipyards can start building civilian ships as soon as possible.
In the external market, the Executive Committee has actually targeted Annan early on. Compared with the shipping industry in the Ming Dynasty, Annan Kingdom, whose shipbuilding industry has been completely destroyed by years of war, has a larger blank market in shipping. This is simply a great gift prepared for the Crossing Group.
Of course, the Executive Committee would not be foolish enough to let North Vietnam build large warships on its own, especially imitations of the improved sailboats used by its own navy that combined the advantages of Western sailboats. But if you want to build some sailing ships with a displacement of less than 200 tons and are modeled on the Chinese-style Fu Chuan Guangzhou Ship, then it is not a big deal. After all, if the North Vietnamese military wants to install artillery on warships in the future, they will eventually have to ask for it at their own doorstep. Therefore, there is no need to worry too much about North Vietnam's future warships actually surpassing their original owners in terms of combat power. Maybe they will be deployed in the waters of Indochina in the future. In maritime operations, North Vietnam can also cooperate appropriately. Even if it only acts as a troop transport and logistics supply ship, it can reduce a lot of burden on its own navy.
Although the executive committee has not yet made a final decision on this matter, now that Zheng Zha has taken the initiative to bring it up, Haihan's side can take advantage of the situation.
Bai Kesi was embarrassed and said: "It is not impossible to build a shipyard in Annanguo, but the location selection is a bit troublesome..."
The troubles Baikes mentioned were not pure excuses. In addition to having suitable coastal terrain, the construction of a shipyard also needed to be close to the origin of marine lumber to reduce the material resources consumed in the transportation process. However, the Red River Delta, where North Vietnam's population is most concentrated, has almost no forests. Because the water system is densely covered and the coastal areas are mostly covered with large tidal flats, it is not suitable for building large shipyards. The coastal area all the way south is dominated by plain terrain and lacks forest resources. It is not until Hengshan that there are large forests near the sea. But North Vietnam may not be able to let go of building a shipyard so close to the war zone.
Zheng Zha could not completely deny what Bai Kesi said. Just when he was hesitating whether to give up this plan, Bai Kesi said again: "But there is no compromise. To the north of the Tushan Peninsula, our area Near the Black Earth Port, there are large areas of mountain forest that can be used for shipbuilding. I personally think that the local geographical environment can be used for building shipyards. ”
Zheng Zha was not stupid, and he immediately understood what Bai Kesi meant by such a large circle - the Haihan people said they wanted the shipyard to be within their control!
Although he was a little angry, Zheng Zha also knew that in the end, the overall situation should be taken into consideration in this matter. It would be better to build the shipyard in a place controlled by the Haihan people than not being able to build a single ship now. At that moment, Zheng Zha held back his anger and said, "I'll ask you to take more care of the location of the shipyard!"
"It's easy to talk about." Bai Kesi seemed to have anticipated Zheng Zhuo's answer, and immediately responded with a smile: "At that time, each of our two companies will contribute half of the capital. This shipyard will be a joint venture between the two companies. How about the young prince?"< br>
Zheng Zha was a little confused about Bai Kesi's real intention of coming up with this idea, and couldn't help but hesitated: "If each side pays half, then how to calculate the cost of building a ship for us?"
"The cost is easy to say. Since you are building a ship for your own use, just calculate the cost according to the construction cost." When Bai Kesi proposed this joint-stock plan, he was already prepared: "The cost is based on the shipbuilding cost of Daming Shipyard. This will avoid further controversy.”
Zheng Zha thought about it and found that this suggestion was quite reasonable. I sent people all the way to Daming to buy a boat. Not only did it take a long time to get the boat, but it was also easy to get into trouble once my identity was exposed. This shipyard is located on the territory of the Haihan people, so there is no need to worry about extraneous things happening, and the price will not suffer. It is much easier than going to Daming to buy a ship. As a result, the two parties quickly reached an agreement to jointly build a shipyard near Black Earth Port, with each party paying a principal of 10,000 taels of silver. Among them, the North Vietnamese side offset part of the principal by providing labor and discounted land and forests, and actually contributed 5,000 taels. Haihan Yifang also offered shipbuilding technicians and various shipbuilding equipment in exchange for 5,000 taels, and the actual investment amount was consistent with North Vietnam. The North Vietnamese side can station several supervisors at the shipyard to supervise the normal operation of the shipyard. As the actual operator of the shipyard, Haihan promised to provide no less than eight sailing ships worth 200 materials to North Vietnam every year.
After coming out of the office after the meeting, Zheng Zha still couldn't believe that the Haihan people were so straightforward this time and agreed to the cooperation plan without any other additional conditions.
Bai Kesi and Tao Donglai couldn't help but high-five each other. After the deal was negotiated, it was basically a free shipyard for Heitu Port. Although Zheng Zha is quite shrewd, due to the sluggish shipbuilding industry in Annan, he knows almost nothing about this industry. If the personnel expenses are excluded, five thousand taels is actually more than enough to build a medium-sized shipyard. Moreover, Black Earth Port already has the framework of a shipyard. Expanding and improving it on this basis will require even less money.
As for calculating the cost based on the Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding industry, in fact there is still a large profit margin. Although Bai Kesi is the director of the industrial port, he also has a lot of cooperation with shipyards. The steel hollow mast used in the new sailboat is a black technology product of the Ministry of Industry. Baikes still knows a little about the cost of building ships. If the Victory Port Shipyard builds commercial ships by itself, the cost can even be controlled to a lower level than buying second-hand ships. Of course, due to the huge demand from the military, the shipyard For a time, there was no slipway available to build merchant ships.
After the shipyard in Black Earth Port is put into operation, it can fully build commercial ships. Compared with warships with relatively high technical requirements, it is much easier to build merchant ships. Even civilian ships that cost 400 materials or even larger can be built by the Black Earth Port Shipyard. As for the eight ships that need to be delivered to North Vietnam every year, it is not too difficult. They are just sailing ships the same size as the Haicang ship. If four slipways can be built at the same time, the delivery can be completed in less than half a year. . Moreover, the profit from building such eight ships is almost enough to cover the basic expenses of the local shipyard for the other half of the year.
The next day, Zheng Zha planned to talk about other trade cooperation matters, but he found that the Haihan people rarely broke the appointment. This was because another fleet visited Victory Port today, and the weight of this delegation was But no less than Zheng Zha, the young prince of North Vietnam. The leading figures of the Executive Committee have all arrived at the port to welcome a team of wealthy businessmen from the Ming Dynasty - an inspection team composed of twelve shareholders of "Qiong Lianfa" will arrive at Victory Port today.
Because the departure time was too late, the executive committee also required them to arrive at Victory Port before April 4th in order to catch up with the celebrations that day. Therefore, the fleet rushed slowly over the past few days, and finally arrived on the morning of the third day. We arrived at our destination early.
The staff member of the General Office of the People's Republic of China who accompanied the delegation to the south this time was He Xi. He also returned to Shengli Port for the first time after taking up the post of the General Office of the People's Republic of China last year. During this period, the work of the Guangdong Guangdong Office will be jointly responsible for the work of the Guangdong Office, which has just been taken over by Ma Like and the eldest sister Ma Yu.
In addition to large merchants near Guangzhou, these twelve shareholders also include merchants from other places in the province, such as "Haifenghao" from Huizhou, "Chenghaixing" from Chaozhou, and a subsidiary of Xu Xinsu Group in Fujian. He also took part in it quietly. Most of these merchants who have invested in the company have established relatively stable trade relations with the Crossing Group. There are also many who have sent ships to Victory Port. There are even some big shopkeepers of some trading houses who have been to Victory Port in person.
"Look, everyone, am I right? Is the port of Haihanren bigger than the Pearl River Wharf and Yuegang in Fujian? And the fort outside the port, have you all seen it? Even those Westerners The gunboats are coming, and they are determined not to get away with it.”
The person who was shouting loudly before even setting foot ashore was Zhan Gui, a Guangzhou maritime merchant who had been to Victory Port many times. This Zhan Gui has been working closely with Haihan since last year, and also helped bridge the gap between Haihan and the Champa Kingdom. At present, Zhan Gui is also one of the dealers of the Crossing Group, mainly responsible for transporting salt and other commodities to the Champa Kingdom in the south. After hearing the news about the IPO of "Qiong Lianfa", this wealthy businessman who had already tasted the benefits immediately went to the General Office of the People's Republic of China to sign up with his money. He was also the second company after "Fu Ruifeng" to sign up for shares. His attitude It can be said to be quite positive.
"Boss Zhan, I heard your loud voice from all the way! You are still in such good spirits!" Ren Liang, who has dealt with Zhan Gui many times, quickly stepped forward to greet him.
"Brother Ren, I'm here to bother you again!" Zhan Gui laughed and raised his hand, approached Ren Liang and asked in a low voice: "I don't know what I asked my brother to do last time..."
"Don't worry, Boss Zhan, the procedures have been completed. I'll have someone take you to see the place later." Ren Liang responded with a smile.
Because Zhan Gui had been traveling at sea for a long time and had no fixed place to live, he also raised several women outside. In recent months, he has come to Shengli Port more often, and the frequency seems to be gradually increasing. Therefore, Zhan Gui has also thought about moving a house to settle in Shengli Port. With his financial resources, it is actually not difficult to buy a place to live in Yazhou. However, after comparing the environments of the two places, Zhan Gui decided to buy a place and settle down in Shengli Port - after all, it is going uphill and downhill at the same time. Smart people will choose the side with better development situation.
According to the original regulations of the Executive Committee, local investment and property purchase by businesses from out of town are generally limited to commercial institutions. In the first few months, there were no foreign investors planning to settle in Victory Port. Zhan Guike was the first one. . After Zhan Gui approached his acquaintance Ren Liang and raised the matter, Ren Liang was also unsure about the idea and could only report the situation to the top. In the end, the executive committee held a special discussion about this.
For the management of immigrants, initially only the Labor Management System could be used as a reference. After the opening of the Shengli Port Business District, the Port Management Committee also formulated a temporary document "Measures for the Management of Migrant Population" as a basis for management. However, in fact, when there is real trouble, most of the time it is still the inspection department. Come forward to deal with it. After all, the authority of local security is not very effective for non-naturalized foreigners.
But these methods don't seem to apply to Zhan Gui's situation. After all, the people he plans to move here are his family, not ordinary workers who come from work. The Executive Committee did not simply treat this matter as a case study, because with the gradual development of the local area, there will be more and more situations like Zhan Gui's. It is time to introduce a management method specifically for the migrant population. .
(End of chapter)