Chapter 251 New ship launched

After listening to Tao Donglai's words, Ning Qi quickly calmed down from the initial excitement. No matter how good the place is, Jinlan Bay is still under the control of others. If the crossing group wants to occupy it, it must first be done by itself.

It only requires sufficient strength. Even if Cam Ranh Bay can be brought over in the name of joint development using a cooperation method similar to that with North Vietnam, enough resources must be invested in its preliminary construction.

The Tushan Peninsula that Chuanchuan Group half coaxed and half deceived into the Beibu Gulf is not large, and the terrain is easy to defend but difficult to attack. In addition, it can get supplementary labor and materials nearby, so the difficulty of construction and development cannot be said to be particularly great. Currently, a military depot has been built in the local area.

, material warehouses and simple docks, with nearly a hundred military personnel and almost the same number of civilians stationed. The military training business co-organized with the North Vietnamese Zheng family has completed the first phase of construction, and the first batch of 300 trainees have also been

I started receiving training from Haihan Military Advisor ten days ago.

But for the development of places like Cam Ranh Bay, it is difficult to completely copy the experience of Tushan Peninsula, because the area of ​​this place is too large. The inner harbor alone has dozens of square kilometers of sea surface. If you want to ensure that this

The security of the place cannot be achieved by stationing a small number of military personnel like the Doshan Peninsula. Moreover, the local harbor formed by two peninsulas is actually very similar to Victory Port - only firepower is set up at the narrowest part of the harbor.

Only powerful coastal defense artillery can truly ensure the safety of the harbor. However, the coastal defense artillery fortifications in the base camp are still in the construction stage. The coastal defense artillery has just been finalized and the number of artillery is seriously insufficient. No matter from any aspect, it will not be possible in the short term.

It is very possible to build large-scale coastal defense artillery fortifications at overseas bases.

There are no special minerals in the area, and it is also impossible to build an industrial base like Black Earth Port. According to later data, the only mineral raw material worth mining in the Cam Ranh Bay area is silica sand ore, which can be used in large quantities.

In the production of glass, ceramics and metallurgical industry, the problem is that Wenchang and Danzhou in Hainan both have silica sand production areas and the reserves are not small. Chuanchuan Group has no need to look far away.

"Cam Ranh Bay can be listed as one of the strategic points that we should pay attention to in the future, but there is no need to rush to occupy it in the near future. Even if Champa gives us that place, we will not be able to devote enough resources to development now."

Tao Donglai came to a conclusion about Cam Ranh Bay: "We can first establish a trade relationship with Champa, and then try to convince the other party to let us set up a merchant terminal in Cam Ranh Bay for cargo transfer, and then slowly expand it.

scale."

"Sell arms to them?" Ning Qi blurted out.

"I would like to sell, but there is nothing to sell recently!" Tao Donglai rarely showed a sad expression: "The production capacity of the military industry department is not enough! There are still unfinished orders in Fujian and North Vietnam, and the militia's

Expansion also requires additional weapons and equipment, the production speed of arms cannot keep up with the consumption speed, and there is no inventory in the warehouse to sell to Champa."

"Can't we let the military industry department speed up production?" Ning Qi was very puzzled by this behavior of not doing business.

"We have been working in three shifts for a long time. The problem is that we have no skilled workers at all. Almost all workers only started to receive production training after entering the production workshop. If you think about it, the craftsmanship of making guns only takes a few hours.

Can you practice it on the moon? Every time I talk about speeding up production, the scrap rate rises straight up. Have you ever been to Tian Du’s military factory? The scrapped parts are piled up like a hill. With the current output, the military industry department

Those people have worked very hard." From the dual standpoints of the Military and Police Department and the Industrial Party, Tao Donglai had to defend the military industry department.

"Hire more workers..." Ning Qi was only halfway through his words when he felt something was inappropriate and stopped himself.

The military industry department is no better than other units. It does not have physical strength. Naturalized civilians who are willing to obey will definitely be qualified. This is a real technical department. People with stupid minds will definitely not be able to get in. This one has already wiped out quite a few.

Labor. And because it involves military industry technology, there are also certain requirements for the "political background" of workers. Only naturalized citizens who come from poor backgrounds and have a positive view and gratitude towards the Crossing Group can be qualified to become workers in the military industry sector. In addition,

These people have all signed employment agreements for at least ten years. During this period, they cannot leave the areas controlled by the Crossing Group for any personal reasons. This is also to ensure that the technical advantages of the Crossing Group in military technology are not leaked.

With various conditions restricted, labor selection in the military industry department is not that easy. Every time the list of naturalized laborers is transferred from Ning Qi's hand, they can finally pass the review and become the official technical workers of the military industry department.

Less than one tenth. From a certain perspective, the military industry department is even more stringent in selecting people than the military and police departments in selecting militiamen. This situation is reflected in the expansion of arms production capacity, and the effect is even more minimal.

, if we want to expand production capacity, we can only rely on the gradual increase of the group of industrial workers. There is no need to rush.

"I'll have a good talk with Zhan Gui later to see if he can be used for us. We can't sell arms now, but we can sell other things! We opened such a large salt farm, isn't it just to expand our reach in all directions?

Selling salt?" Tao Donglai didn't seem to be very concerned about being unable to sell arms for the time being, because the Cross-Travel Group still had salt, a tried and tested stepping stone.

Although the current salt orders received by Chuanchuan Group have exceeded the monthly supply of 200,000 kilograms, the executive committee is no longer worried that this output cannot be completed. With the completion of the renovation of the Shengli Port Salt Farm and the development of the Tielugang Salt Farm

, salt production is expected to achieve a step-by-step leap in the next two to three months, from the previous output of 100,000 to 120,000 jins per month to more than 400,000 jins. Anxi was optimistic in his project report to the Executive Committee

It is said that when the first anniversary is passed in April next year, the total output of the two salt fields is expected to exceed ten tons per day, which is equivalent to about 600,000 kilograms of output per month - this has exceeded Fujian and Guangdong provinces plus

The combined production capacity of all Daming Saltworks on Qiongzhou Island.

The price of private salt sold by Chuanchuan Group to the outside world is extremely low. The wholesale price obtained by first-class agents such as Luo Shengdong and "Furuifeng" from Shengli Port is about 100 yuan per ton, which is almost only 60% of the market price in Ming Dynasty.

One to one eighth. This price seems low, but the executive committee has been aiming at small profits but quick turnover from the beginning, leaving generous profit margins for agents so that they can sell in their respective regions.

Develop more sub-agents within the country and use lower selling prices to seize the market share of official salt. Moreover, although the wholesale price is very low, the production cost is even lower. It is more than enough to maintain the operation of the salt field and feed the salt field workers.

.

The Executive Committee does not expect to make a lot of money from the private salt business, because there are various other high value-added industrial products on hand that can take on the task of making profits. The main purpose of operating the private salt business is actually to

Expanding business routes, to put it bluntly, is to pave the way for future sales channels for industrial products. As long as dealers have tasted the benefits of the initial private salt business, their acceptance of subsequent Haihan industrial products will also increase a lot.

It saves a lot of effort in building local sales channels for Haihan products.

According to the information currently available to the Executive Committee, salt production in "backward areas" like Champa is still in the primitive stage of boiling salt, and its production efficiency and production costs are far behind those of Chuan Chuan Group. If Chuan Chuan Group intends to

If we want to bring this business into the local area, we will definitely be able to easily gain a competitive advantage in terms of price. And Boss Zhan, who claims to be familiar with the situation in Champa, seems to be the best agent candidate at the moment.

So when Zhan Gui left Victory Port and headed south three days later, there were 5,000 kilograms of Haihan refined salt on the ship. Because the situation in Champa was unclear, the Executive Committee did not send a ship to accompany him, nor did it send a group of travelers to go with Zhan Gui's ship.

, just sent a few naturalized civilian crew members to board the ship, and asked them to confirm the voyage and the situation in Champa first. Of course, Zhan Gui also received a promise from the executive committee that if everything goes well, he can open the private salt in Champa.

Trade window, then from now on he can serve as Haihan's only designated agent for the Champa country's private salt trade and monopolize this extremely profitable business.

In mid-November, the two Daguang ships originally ordered by He Xi at the shipyard in Qiongzhou Fucheng were finally delivered for use. For this purpose, the Executive Committee also sent a team composed of the Military Police Department and the Shipping Department, as well as dozens of returnees.

A team of Huamin sailors went north to pick up the ship, made a wide circle in the west of Hainan Island, and recruited a group of laborers in Danzhou to transport them back to Victory Port.

Just a few months ago, in Danzhou, a large number of civilians were requisitioned to the mainland to participate in quelling the She'an Rebellion. There was a serious shortage of labor in the coal mines, which led to a sharp rise in coal prices across the island. It also forced Chuanchuan Group to advance its coal supply in order to ensure a stable coal supply.

The black soil port colonization operation was launched. However, after just a few months, the situation of the She'an Rebellion was extremely favorable to the Ming Dynasty. A large number of civilians began to return to their places of origin. At this time, Danzhou's lignite had become a slow-selling product - the cliffs in the south

Almost the entire state uses "Haihan coal" which is cheaper and has higher calorific value.

Many coal mines with insufficient capital simply closed down after two or three consecutive months of sluggish prices. As a result, miners who originally belonged to small local coal mines began to experience widespread unemployment. The local government seriously lacked guidance on employment guidance.

Effective measures. However, the Executive Committee, which learned this information from Danzhou merchants, would not miss this opportunity and immediately increased the speed of introducing immigrants from Danzhou accordingly.

November 25, 1627, October 18th, the seventh year of the Great Ming Dynasty, was a memorable day for the Crossing Group. Later Western historians even called this day "the beginning of the Eastern Dragon becoming the overlord of the sea."

Because the Shipping Department spent several months integrating various advanced concepts to build the first test ship, it was finally launched on this day for sea trials.

All executive committee members in Victory Port attended this significant launching ceremony, and several units stationed abroad also sent congratulatory messages via radio, expressing their best wishes for a smooth launch of the ceremony. Shipyard

A colorful shed was specially built for this purpose, and many small red cloth flags were placed. Paper colored flowers were also tied on the pointed bow of the test ship, creating a festive atmosphere.

Tao Donglai and several other executive committee members and heads of various units involved in the development shook hands one by one and expressed their gratitude and congratulations to them. Zhang Tiangui, the director of the naturalized civilian shipbuilder who received such "high-level treatment" for the first time, was so excited that he almost gave

The executive committee members knelt down. In fact, during the development process of this ship, except for the Ministry of Agriculture and a few logistics units, almost all units and departments were directly or indirectly involved in the development and construction of this ship.

Therefore, the launch ceremony attracted extremely high attention, which was no less grand than when the Black Earth Port colonization fleet set off.

In addition to attracting a large number of local people to the port to watch, the executive committee also specially invited some spectators from the outside world to participate in this ceremony. For example, Li Nai, who is still staying in Victory Port, just returned to Victory Port from Champa yesterday.

Zhan Gui, Yulin Inspection Department Wei Inspection, who has performed well recently, and General Luo Shengdong, who specially led a fleet from Yazhou to congratulate him. And this time Luo Shengdong did not come empty-handed.

, very "considerately" sent thirty little girls to the Time Travel Group, and attached a deed of sale, which cost more than a thousand taels of silver. Of course, no one in the executive committee dared to keep this gift for themselves, so they quickly changed hands and gave it away

The hot potato was thrown to Ning Qi - placing these little lolita, the oldest of whom was less than fourteen years old, in school first, and then looking for an opportunity to discuss how to deal with this "trouble" later.

Luo Shengdong is not a layman like Li Nai. Out of professional sensitivity, after getting permission from the Executive Committee, he will go to the shipyard to see the construction progress of the test ship almost every time he comes to Victory Port. It can be said that this

The ship didn't hold many secrets for him. At most, he couldn't understand some of the technical details. Therefore, his understanding of the ship was much deeper than that of Li Nai and others.

Luo Shengdong was completely impressed by Haihan's ability to build ships and his whimsical ideas in design. Especially the shape of the bow, the steering wheel system and the design of the mast rigging made Luo Shengdong applaud.

But at the same time, Luo Shengdong also knew very well that most of these advanced shipbuilding technologies could not be copied in the Ming Dynasty, because those hull reinforcements made of fine steel, mechanical transmission devices, and thick fine steel hollow masts were not

What the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty could only imagine - even if you see the actual objects, it is difficult to imagine how the Haihan people made these parts.

Luo Shengdong believed that the only thing that Ming shipbuilders could imitate was the sail made by the Haihan people. However, he also heard from people in the Ministry of Shipping that there was not a large enough sail area. Even if the traditional Chinese hard sail was

Changed to this "Haihan sail", the actual effect on sailing is still very limited. If you want to increase the sail area, the ultra-high hollow stainless steel mast used by the Haihan people seems to be the only solution, so the only possibility

Copying the technical details can only lead to a dead end.

Regarding the actual performance of this test boat, Luo Shengdong was full of expectations but also very conflicted. On the one hand, he wanted to see how much better the sailboat that the Haihan people spent so much resources to build than the sailboats of this dynasty.

, on the other hand, the growing strength of the Haihan people at sea also made him feel a faint panic in his heart. Luo Shengdong is not one of those officials in the temple who only talk nonsense. He has been in the Navy for many years and has a deep understanding of the importance of sea control.

We have a very intuitive understanding of nature, and the ship built by the Haihan people was obviously not just for carrying goods and immigrants - no civilian ship would be equipped with so many artillery, no, not even the warships of the Ming Dynasty Navy

The ship doesn't have such strong firepower!

After the Haihan people take control of the sea, will they still be as harmless as they are now, just focusing on making money and doing business? Luo Shengdong is not even sure about this guess, but if he is asked to question the Haihan people face to face, he will

I really can't muster the courage - if the Haihan people really plan to rebel and do something, then the Yazhou Navy, which is closest to Victory Port, will be the first unlucky target!

"No matter what, we need to see the performance of the Haihan people's new ship first before we can decide whether our future attitude will be war or..." Luo Shengdong thought silently in his mind, trying not to think about the worst possibility.

He really couldn't imagine the Yazhou Navy's pile of tattered wood fighting against the Haihan gunboats at sea, and he could only hope that this day would never come.

Li Nai's perspective on this matter is different from Luo Shengdong's. Although he doesn't quite understand the technical advantages of the Haihan people's ship, judging from the Haihan people's cautious attitude, the ship's

The launch of the water is of extraordinary significance to them. With the construction ability of the Haihan people, Li Nai has no doubt that in the next few years, the Victory Port Shipyard will launch a large amount of such ships like dumplings. And the Haihan people can't even do that.

Large iron ships up to ten feet long can be built, and it seems to be a foreseeable trend to build bigger and bigger ships in the future.

Tao Donglai raised his hand to check the time and said to Yue Zhiyun: "Let's start!"

"Don't Mr. Tao say something?" Yue Zhiyun asked a little surprised. Usually on such occasions, the leader will say a few words casually, sum up the past and look forward to the future. As long as everyone works hard, there will be happiness.

Eat or something like that.

Tao Donglai smiled slightly and said: "Those who understand the significance of this ship to our collective will naturally understand it, and those who do not understand do not need to explain... Is the launching ceremony with Chinese characteristics just a speech by the leader? Let's use facts.

Come and talk!”

Yue Zhiyun nodded vigorously, and then walked onto the slipway with Sun Changmi. As the leaders of the development and construction of this ship, they were awarded the important task of cutting the ribbon by the executive committee. The two of them drew out the sabers from their waists.

, after exchanging glances, they swung their swords together to cut off the red silk hanging in front of the bow of the ship from one side to the other. The deafening sound of firecrackers immediately sounded, and several healthy oxen were driven forward slowly by the civilian husband, pulling

The winch was used, and then the 32-meter-long wooden sailboat was slowly pulled out of the slipway by several pulling ropes connected to the winch, and slowly slid toward the sea along the slide rails laid on the ground.
Chapter completed!