Chapter 2433
The most important improvement of the Warrior-class warship compared to the Majesty-class warship is that it has two powerful weapons, the rotating turret and the iron armor, for offense and defense. The ship's two rotating turrets, one in front and one behind, replaced the old warship's arming method of deploying a large number of artillery guns on both sides of the ship. The intensity of the firepower output seemed to be greatly reduced, but the ordnance industry department equipped this warship with more powerful weapons. The new artillery, coupled with the more convenient operation of the rotating turret, has actually significantly improved the accuracy and intensity of naval gun strikes. Even if there are only two firepower points at the front and rear on the ship, it is enough to ensure that its combat effectiveness is better than traditional sail warfare. Boat.
In the original history, warships with similar front and rear turret layouts actually only appeared in the United Kingdom in the 19th century. The cruisers "Yangwei" and "Chaoyong" purchased by the Beiyang Navy from the United Kingdom in the Qing Dynasty were both bow and stern. Each ship is equipped with a large-caliber artillery layout, and there are secondary guns on both sides of the middle section of the hull. However, the Warrior-class warship is a technical verification ship, and the ordnance department does not have the ability to do something big and fast. Therefore, the tonnage of this ship is limited, and its power equipment, hull structure, and firepower configuration are far less mature than the British ironclads. Improvements The space is still very large.
Even so, hull parts with relatively complex structures such as rotating turrets still pose technical difficulties with a certain threshold for shipyards without construction experience. And considering the existing maritime transportation conditions, it is difficult to complete the assembly of the fort in Sanya and then ship it over. The Zhoushan Shipyard can only try to assemble a bunch of received parts onto the ship. If this difficulty cannot be overcome, then naturally there will be no talk of building Warrior-class warships in Zhoushan.
Zhang Qianxiang bowed and responded: "Before Beizhi came to Zhoushan, he had actually participated in the early development of the Warrior-class warship, so he also knew a little about its structure. This matter should not be difficult for Beizhi. If there is any problem. , you can also consult my father via telegram, it should be okay.”
In the end, Zhang Qianxiang did not speak too fully and left three points of room for maneuver to avoid having to explain to his superiors if there were problems during the construction process.
How could Tao Donglai not notice the cunning hidden in Zhang Qianxiang's words, but this was innocuous to him. Zhoushan Shipyard has delivered so many warships to the navy in the past few years, which means that at least the technical foundation is not bad, and The Zhang family and his son have all worked for Haihan for many years, and there is no need to question their loyalty.
"Let's work out the construction plan first." Although Tao Donglai did not relent, he decided to give Zhoushan Shipyard and Zhang Qianxiang a chance. As long as they can come up with a decent construction plan and pass the review of the Ordnance Industry Department and the Shipping Ministry, then It is not a bad idea to arrange for Zhoushan to build another Warrior-class warship.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Qianxiang quickly bowed and thanked Tao Donglai for his advice. Shi Diwen next to him was quite pleased to hear this statement, thinking that this was already a good start. The next problems that need to be solved are basically shipbuilding technology, and in Shi Diwen's opinion, that is much simpler than applying for a construction permit and raising project funds. He believes in Zhang Qianxiang's ability. If a Warrior-class warship can be built in one or two years, the strength of the East China Sea Fleet will be further enhanced.
In any case, it is a good thing to improve Haihan's military strength. As long as the conditions are mature and the planning is proper, Tao Donglai will definitely not embarrass the Zhoushan authorities. Of course, the most critical point is that the Zhoushan authorities are willing to bear the construction and follow-up costs of the warship themselves. After all, as long as there is no need to consider funds, the approval process will naturally be much easier.
When leaving the shipyard, Shi Diwen specially told Zhang Qianxiang not to reveal Tao Donglai's identity to avoid letting the outside world know about his itinerary. Zhang Qianxiang did not dare to neglect and agreed repeatedly, but he was a little happy in his heart. He is now working as an errand in Zhoushan. Although the salary is really good, if he wants to move up in the future, he must make some achievements that will attract the attention of the top management. If he can successfully win the opportunity to build Warrior-class warships in Zhoushan this time, , may become another milestone in his career.
It was already late after visiting the shipyard, and it was already dinner time when we took the carriage back to Shi Diwen's official residence. After dinner, the two went to Shi Diwen's study, ready to take a look at the various messages they had just received today.
The copied messages were divided into two piles and placed on Shi Diwen's desk. On the left were newspapers, telegrams, documents, etc. sent from overseas, and on the right were various local written reports and documents.
"Mr. Tao, can you review this pile of news from other places for me first? I have to deal with these messy local things." Shi Diwen didn't notice anything, so he pushed these documents to Tao Donglai. before.
Tao Donglai did not refuse. Although he was on a business trip, he did need to keep abreast of recent major international and domestic events. Each ruling district in Haihan will use telegraphs to notify recent major events in their jurisdiction, while some less time-sensitive events will appear in newspapers in the form of press releases. When Tao Donglai was in Sanya, the various information he needed to process every day would only be more than the pile of documents in front of him.
The incident that has attracted the most attention in Haihan recently is naturally the refugee wave caused by the war in Shandong. Haihan is a country that implements measures to introduce immigrants from the Ming Dynasty as a national policy. All levels of the country are very concerned about immigration matters. As soon as the news from Shandong came out, all regions with conditions were trying to organize supplies. and transportation capacity, and try to transport immigrants back from Shandong to replenish the local population.
Tao Donglai browsed through it casually and found that half of the messages sent to and from various places were related to this. Most of these are local refugee updates released by the colonial authorities in Fushan County, Shandong Province. For example, in a telegram released this morning, the Fushan Civil Affairs Department claimed that there were still more than 17,000 people in the local refugee camp. The number of people who entered the refugee camp the day before was more than 3,200. More than 1,700 people with immigration status left the local area by boat, and most of them were transported to the south to settle.
The content of the other telegram is about the various supplies that are urgently needed in Fushan County, such as food, medicine, labor tools, clothing, tents, etc. The telegram clearly states that immigration ships that can provide these supplies to the local area will be prioritized as appropriate. Immigration transfer. Of course, if you are not conscious enough and empty ships go north to load immigrants, they probably will not be rejected by the local area, but they may have to wait locally for other immigration ships that meet the "priority" standard to complete their operations before picking up the missing items.
The news in the newspaper was relatively bland, with the content mainly focusing on events that occurred in Hainan Island and surrounding areas. Of course, a certain amount of space was also devoted to reporting on the transfer process of Shandong refugees. However, the news that newspapers can obtain is basically released by the official civil affairs department. When it is turned into an article and printed, it is not timely. It is only for the public to watch the excitement and understand the general direction of the situation.
Of course, most of these publicly released information come from high-level instructions. For example, regarding the recent large-scale transportation of war refugees from Shandong, a newspaper article called it "saving thousands of civilians from the fire and water." "If Haihan hadn't rescued and resettled these war refugees, tens of thousands of refugees would have died of hunger and cold. Now all the costs of these refugees being sent to other places for resettlement are borne by Haihan. In the future, they will be under the protection of Haihan Army and will no longer face the danger of war spreading to their homes. This is simply a living bodhisattva who saves the world. .
Since most of the citizens of Haihan are from the Ming Dynasty, articles like this can easily resonate with the people. After joining the Haihan Kingdom, the living conditions of the vast majority of the people have indeed improved significantly compared with before. They must have a positive attitude towards the official immigration policy, and will interpret these immigration measures as national strength under the guidance of public opinion tools. A strong performance. If Ming Dynasty cannot do anything, I, Haihan, will do it. If Ming Dynasty cannot save people, I, Haihan, will save them. Which one is strong and which one is weak can be seen just from the attitude of the two countries towards war refugees.
Shi Diwen is not as relaxed as Tao Donglai. What he is checking now are all kinds of local official reports. It is not just a matter of reading them. Many contents require his opinions and instructions, so it is also very taxing. .
The main local affairs recently are actually related to immigration. Immigration ships heading south from the north to Taiwan Island and other places will stop in Zhoushan for supplies, and all necessary supplies must be organized locally. In addition, regarding the recent resettlement of immigrants in Zhoushan, the figures given by Shi Diwen to Tao Donglai were somewhat discounted.
Resettling thousands of refugees in a small place like Zhoushan Islands in a short period of time is certainly not an easy task. Fortunately, the Zhoushan authorities are in good financial condition. As long as they are willing to spend more money, whether it is materials or accommodation, they can still get relatively appropriate solutions.
Of course, Shi Diwen does not need to personally direct the specific resettlement work, but he must understand the relevant progress, how many people have been resettled, what supplies are currently urgently needed, and whether there is remaining resettlement capacity in each township. After understanding this information, he must Only then can you make the next decision. Therefore, faced with the boring figures listed in these official documents, he had to slowly digest them to ensure that there would be no major deviations in the information he had.
After two cups of tea, Shi Diwen finally finished processing the official documents at hand and could share with Tao Donglai what he had learned from today's visit.
"The current trade environment in Zhoushan is hard-won and is also a very important foreign trade window for our country. Therefore, the Executive Committee hopes that the environment here can remain as stable as possible, just like the Pearl River Basin in recent years. But I I came here this time and it seems that your thoughts have changed recently. I hope this will not affect the local trade environment." Tao Donglai trusted Shi Diwen, so he did not beat around the bush but explained his thoughts directly.
The "changes" Tao Donglai mentioned naturally meant that Shi Diwen was trying every means to organize joint military exercises and hoped to build more advanced Warrior-class warships in Zhoushan. Tao Donglai knew very well that the costs required for these measures were not small, and Shi Diwen was willing to use Zhoushan's local finances to bear these expenses, which is enough to show that he had some ideas and plans for military expansion.
Of course, Shi Diwen has also taken the initiative to mention before that he hopes to make some necessary preparations for taking over the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions in the future, and to use as strong a force as possible to intimidate the local officials of the Ming Dynasty into submission, so as to avoid the huge losses that large-scale fighting will cause in the local area. .
However, Shi Diwen seems to lack the corresponding judgment on whether such an approach will affect the current stability of Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, and this is what Tao Donglai is worried about.
"I can't say that there are 100% no risks, but I still insist that compared with the benefits we can get in the future, the risks we are taking are worth it." Shi Diwen explained: "We have indeed gained through trade. There are many benefits, but if we want to control the market and make the situation develop in a direction that is beneficial to our country, then I think force deterrence is still necessary. We must first control the situation in reality so that we can get ideas at the negotiating table in the future. The final result, whether it is a fight or a draw, is up to us, and we cannot leave Daming with too much room for choice. You may think that my current thoughts are a bit radical, but this is what I have always thought.”< br>
"It is indeed a bit radical, but I personally like it." Tao Donglai did not mean to object to Shi Diwen, but he still wanted to make the other party understand the current problem: "But these ideas and plans of yours may not be able to obtain The Executive Committee's approval. You must know that the Executive Committee attaches great importance to the trade role of the Zhoushan region. After all, the trade volume here already accounts for 20% of my country's foreign trade. No one wants the trade environment here to fluctuate. These ideas of yours may have a negative impact and even affect the relations between the two countries.”
"But the mission you have to complete this time going north may also affect the relationship between the two countries." Shi Diwen said with some dissatisfaction: "This is also the decision of the executive committee, right? This is a double standard!"
Tao Donglai was not angry because of his accusation, and patiently explained to him: "The situation in the north has a greater impact on our country, so we have to deal with the affairs in the north first before it is Zhoushan's turn. If the situation in the north really affects our country, Regarding the relationship between our country and Ming Dynasty, these measures you took in Zhoushan will not cause any problem, but you cannot take the initiative here, because this may cause Ming Dynasty to misunderstand our country's attitude towards the situation in the north."
Shi Diwen thought silently for a moment, and then said again: "Mr. Tao, you want me to wait and see for a while, wait until the matter in the north is finalized, and then see if I can take the measures I proposed in Zhoushan." These measures? ”
Tao Donglai nodded slightly and said: "That's it. If the order is wrong, the results may be very bad. Be patient and don't rush."
(End of chapter)