1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 311 Joint Stock Shipbuilding
Zheng Zuo's plan is good, but it is still difficult to realize these plans in the near future.Although the export of arms is one of the main trade items of the Crossing Group, due to strategic considerations, the types and quantities of weapons exported have been strictly controlled by the Executive Committee. The main weapons in active service will definitely not be sold in batches, and warships are even more Needless to say, the newly established navy is still waiting for ships, so how could it be sold to outsiders.

The Executive Committee spent manpower and material resources to invite the North Vietnamese mission, not only for the arms business, but also for the in-depth cooperation plan between the two sides in the military, as well as a large number of civilian commodity import and export business to be discussed.In addition, the Executive Committee also hoped that the North Vietnamese mission could "comprehensively feel the superiority of the Haihan system" during this visit.In order to achieve this goal, relevant departments have also prepared a series of tours for the mission, including shipyards, barracks, shooting ranges, port forts and other military-related areas.

During the general meeting held the day before, the executive committee had arranged for them to visit the port fort that had just been completed.Although the equipment and personnel on the turret were not fully configured, those mighty long-barreled 24-pound coastal defense guns still caused a great shock to the North Vietnamese mission.Zheng Zuo is not an ordinary dude, but has personally been on the battlefield, and has a certain in-depth understanding of weapons and warfare. What he saw from the fort at the port is not only the difference in weapons and equipment between the two sides, but also the difference between the two sides in terms of weapons and equipment. The coastal artillery fortification of this scale was built within a year, and the gap between the two sides in engineering construction also made him nervous.

Shenglong Mansion has always opposed the autonomy of Heitu Port requested by the Haihan people. Although forced by the situation, they had to agree to the request of the Haihan people, but many people still believe that the Heitu Port can be taken back by force if necessary.However, after seeing the fortifications of Shengli Port with his own eyes, Zheng Zuo thinks that the ideas of some senior Annan officials are a bit unrealistic. The construction of the port by the Haihan people is exactly the same as building a fortress. The opening time of the black earth port is only later than that of Shengli Port. In a few months, presumably, similar fortifications will be built soon.If possible, Zheng Zuo very much hoped that the defense line around Zhengjiang and Hengshan would also be constructed according to this standard, so as to completely lock the South Vietnamese army to the south of Zhengjiang.

Zheng Zuo's next request to import high-end weapons was rejected by Beks without any suspense. The reason was "insufficient production capacity" as always. However, the existing Type [-] guns and artillery can continue to be supplied to North Vietnam.As for the sale of the ship, Beks did not reject it outright, but his answer was not much different from the rejection: "The order for our warships has been scheduled until next year. It’s time to discuss it again.”

Although Zheng Zuo also understood that Beks was rejecting himself in disguise, he still asked unwillingly: "Can you build a shipyard in our Annan territory? We can provide the labor and materials needed for shipbuilding, and you only need to send a few Just a shipbuilder... the cost is easy to talk about!"

Bai Kesi and Tao Donglai looked at each other, this method is not bad.The report on the construction of the shipyard by the Heitu Port Management Committee was handed over to the executive committee half a year ago, but because the production tasks of the shipyard in the base camp have always been very heavy, there is no way to allocate manpower to assist the Heitu Port. They put on airs, but the progress is still very slow. It is said that some boatmen have been recruited from the area of ​​Lianzhou Prefecture, and slowly began to build some sailboats with a displacement of about 50 tons.If the local shipbuilding industry can be developed with the help of North Vietnam's manpower, it would be a shortcut worth trying.

With the increasing scale of trade with North Vietnam and Ming Dynasty, the pressure on the existing fleet transportation is also increasing. Although the relevant departments are still collecting large ships from the mainland through various channels, the Executive Committee does not have any It will form the concept of "building is worse than buying, and buying is worse than renting". Although buying and chartering ships can relieve 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 influence through sea routes. Hold it firmly in your hands.

Regardless of the initial labor shortage, the shipyard has always been fully staffed, and there has never been a sign of a temporary shutdown due to labor shortages.Moreover, among the many production units, only the shipyard can continuously receive huge investment from the executive committee without the slightest profit.You must know that the most profitable weapons and glass products for the time-traveling group have never held any celebration ceremony. ,

This year, the shipyard has a further expansion plan. It plans to expand the production area from Shengli Harbor to the adjacent bay in the west, and build a new berth in the bay between Yulin Peninsula and Luhuitou Peninsula.At that time, the coastal area connecting the northern part of the Yulin Peninsula with the mainland will become the concentrated area of ​​the local shipbuilding industry. The executive committee has approved the investment budget of the shipyard and plans to reduce the manpower of the shipyard from the current 600 to 2000 within this year. Expand to a scale of [-] people.

Compared with other profitable industries, the shipyard is currently the largest gold-eating beast among the production units of the Crossing Group. It is certainly impossible for the executive committee to invest funds and manpower in it endlessly, and ultimately rely on its production capacity. To achieve self-hematopoietic function.At present, the production tasks of the shipyard are almost fully occupied by the military, and there is no profit to speak of in building ships for the military. The expenses are all directly settled internally. It is definitely unrealistic to expect to make money from military orders.The Executive Committee also recognized this early on, so it is hoped that by expanding production capacity, shipyards can start building civilian ships as soon as possible.

In the external market, the executive committee has also targeted Annan early on.Compared with the shipping industry in Daming, An Nanguo, whose shipbuilding industry has been completely destroyed by years of war, has a larger blank market in shipping. This is simply a big gift for the Transit Group.

Of course, the Executive Committee would definitely not be foolish to let North Vietnam build large warships by itself, especially imitating the improved sailboats used by its own navy that combines the advantages of Western sailboats.But if you want to build some sailing boats with a displacement of less than [-] tons and modeled on the Chinese Fuchuan Canton, that's not a big problem.After all, if the North Vietnamese military wants to install artillery on its warships in the future, it will have to ask for it at home in the end. Therefore, there is no need to worry too much about the future warships of North Vietnam. For maritime operations, the North Vietnamese side can also cooperate appropriately, even if it is only used as a troop carrier and a logistics supply ship, it can also reduce a lot of burden on its own navy.

Although the executive committee has not made a final decision on this, but now that Zheng Zuo has taken the initiative to bring this matter up, Haihan's side can make a smooth move.

Bai Kesi pretended to be embarrassed and said: "It's not impossible to build a shipyard in An Nanguo, but the site selection is a bit troublesome..."

The trouble that Beks mentioned was not purely evasion. In addition to having a suitable coastal terrain, the construction of the shipyard also needed to be close to the place where the ship's timber was produced, so as 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 large tidal flats, which are not suitable for building large shipyards.The coastal area all the way to the south is dominated by plain terrain, lacking forest resources, and it was not until Hengshan that there were large forests facing the sea.But North Vietnam may not be able to let go of building a shipyard so close to the war zone.

Zheng Zuo couldn't completely deny what Bai Kesi said. Just when he was hesitating whether to give up this plan, Bai Kesi said again: "But it's not that there is no compromise. In the north of Tushan Peninsula, our side Near Heitu Port, there is a large area of ​​mountains and forests that can be used for shipbuilding, and I personally think that the local geographical environment can be used to build shipyards."

Zheng Zuo was not stupid, and immediately understood the meaning of such a large circle of Beksidou—the Haihan people just wanted the shipyard to be within their control!
Although he was a little annoyed, Zheng Zuo also knew that the overall situation should be taken into account after all. It was better to build the shipyard in a place controlled by the Haihan people than to not be able to build a single ship now.At that moment, Zheng Zuo held back his breath and said, "As for the location of the shipyard, I ask you to take care of it!"

"It's easy to say." Bai Kesi seemed to have expected Zheng Zuo's reply, and immediately responded with a smile: "At that time, the two of us will each contribute half of the capital, and this shipyard will be regarded as a joint venture between two companies. How about the little prince?"

Zheng Zuo couldn't figure out the real intention of Bai Kesi's idea, so he couldn't help hesitating: "If each contributes half, then we will build the ship for our side. How will the cost be calculated?"

"The cost is easy to say. Since it is a ship built for our own use, we should calculate the cost according to the construction cost." When Bex proposed this joint venture plan, he was already prepared: "The cost is based on the shipbuilding cost of Daming Shipyard. This will avoid further controversy."

Zheng Zuo thought about it, this suggestion is more reasonable.My side sent people all the way to Daming to buy a ship. Not to mention the long cycle of getting the ship, once the identity was exposed, it was easy to cause accidents.The shipyard is placed on the territory of the Haihan people, so there is no need to worry about any accidents, and the price will not suffer. It is much easier than buying a ship in Daming.

So the two parties quickly reached an agreement on a joint venture to build a shipyard near Heitu Port, and the two companies each contributed 1 taels of silver.Among them, the North Vietnamese side offset part of the principal by providing labor and discounts on land and forests, and the actual contribution was 5000 taels.The Haihan side also offset the price with 5000 taels of shipbuilding technicians and various shipbuilding equipment, and the actual amount of investment was consistent with that of North Vietnam.The North Vietnamese side can send several supervisors to the shipyard to supervise the normal operation of the shipyard.Haihan, as the actual operator of the shipyard, promised to provide North Vietnam with no less than eight sailboats of [-] materials each year.

After the meeting ended and came out of the office, Zheng Zuo still couldn't believe that the Haihan people were so forthright this time, and they agreed to this cooperation plan without putting forward other additional conditions.

Bai Kesi and Tao Donglai couldn't help but high-five each other. After the deal was negotiated, it basically earned a shipyard for Heitu Port.Although Zheng Zuo was quite shrewd, due to the sluggish shipbuilding industry in Annan, he knew almost nothing about this industry.If personnel expenses are excluded, 5000 taels is actually more than enough to build a medium-sized shipyard.Moreover, the Black Soil Port already has a shelf of a shipyard, and it will take even less money to expand and improve it on this basis.

As for calculating the cost according to the market conditions of Daming's shipbuilding industry, in fact, there is still a large profit margin in the middle.Although Bai Kesi is the director of the industrial port, he also cooperates with the shipyard a lot. The steel hollow mast used in the new sailboat is a black technology product of the Ministry of Industry.Beks still knows a little about the cost of ships. If Shengli Port Shipyard builds merchant ships by itself, the cost can even be controlled to a lower level than buying second-hand ships—of course, due to the large demand from the military, the shipyard For a while, there was no way to spare the berth to build merchant ships.

After the shipyard in Heitu Port is put into operation, it can fully build merchant ships.Compared with warships with relatively high technical requirements, it is much less difficult to build merchant ships. Even civilian ships of [-] materials or larger can be handed over to the Black Earth Port Shipyard for construction.As for the eight ships that need to be delivered to North Vietnam each year, it is not too difficult, but they are only sailing ships the size of Haicang ships. If four slipways can be built at the same time, the delivery can be completed in less than half a year. up.Moreover, the profit from building these eight ships is almost enough to cover the basic expenses of the local shipyard for another half a year.

The next day, Zheng Zuo planned to talk about other trade cooperation matters, but he found that the Haihan people rarely missed the appointment. This was because another fleet visited Shengli Port today, and the weight of this visiting group, But it is no less than Zheng Zuo, the little prince of North Vietnam.The leaders of the executive committee all went to the port to welcome the wealthy businessman team from Daming—an inspection team composed of twelve shareholders of "Qiong Lianfa" will arrive at Shengli Port today.

Due to the rush of departure time, the Executive Committee required them to arrive at Victory Port before April [-]th in order to be able to catch up with the celebrations on that day. Arrived at the destination ahead of time.

This time, He Xi, a member of the Guangzhou Office who accompanied the delegation to the south, returned to Victory Port for the first time after taking up the post of the Guangzhou Office last year.During this period, the work of the Guangzhou Office will be jointly in charge of by Maliko, who has just taken over, and Ma Yu, the eldest sister.

In addition to the big merchants near Guangzhou, these twelve shareholders also have merchants from other places in the province, such as "Haifenghao" from Huizhou, "Chenghaihang" from Chaozhou, and a subsidiary company of Xu Xinsu Group in Fujian. He also took part in it quietly.Most of these merchants who bought shares have already established a relatively stable trade relationship with the Time Travel Group, and there are not a few who have sent ships to Victory Port.

"Look, everyone, am I right? Is the port of the Haihan people bigger than the Pearl River Wharf, or the Moon Harbor in Fujian? And the forts outside the port, have you all seen it? Even those Westerners The gunboats are here, and we will definitely not be able to get away!"

Before even stepping ashore, he was shouting loudly that this is Zhan Gui, a Guangzhou maritime merchant who has been to Victory Port many times.This Zhan Gui has had a relatively close cooperation with Haihan since last year, and has also served as a bridge for the communication between Haihan and Champa.At present, Zhan Gui is also one of the distributors of the Crossing Group, and is mainly responsible for transporting salt and other commodities to the Champa Kingdom in the south.After hearing the news of the IPO of "Qiong Lianfa", this wealthy businessman who had already tasted the sweetness immediately went to the Guangzhou Office to register with the money. It can be described as quite positive.

"Boss Zhan, I've heard your loud voice from all the way! You're still in such good spirits!" Ren Liang, who had dealt with Zhan Gui many times, quickly stepped forward and greeted him.

"Brother Ren, I'm here to bother you again!" Zhan Gui cupped his hands with a smile, approached Ren Liang and asked in a low voice, "I don't know about the last time I asked you..."

"Boss Zhan, don't worry, the procedures have been completed. I'll ask someone to take you to see the place later." Ren Liang replied with a smile.

Because Zhan Gui has been traveling at sea for a long time and has 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 moved his mind and planned to move to Shengli Port to settle down.With his financial resources, it is not difficult to buy a residence in Yazhou. However, after comparing the environments of the two places, Zhan Gui decided to settle down in Shengli Harbor. Smart people will choose the better side of the development situation.

According to the initial regulations of the Executive Committee, the investment and purchase of real estate by businessmen from other places are generally limited to commercial organizations, and there were no foreign investors who planned to settle in Shengli Port in the first few months. This Zhan Gui can be regarded as the first one. .After Zhan Gui approached Ren Liang, who was acquainted with him, and brought up the matter, Ren Liang could not make up his mind, so he could only reflect on the situation, and finally the executive committee had a special discussion on this.

For the management of foreign immigrants, initially only the "Labor Management System" can be referred to.After the opening of the Shengli Port Business District, the Port District Management Committee also formulated a temporary document of the "Measures for the Administration of Migrant Population" as a basis for management, but in fact, when there is trouble, most of the time the inspection department Come forward to deal with it. After all, the authority of the local security guards is not very effective for foreign unnaturalized people.

But these methods do not seem to be applicable to Zhan Gui's situation. After all, it is his family who he plans to move here to settle down, rather than hiring ordinary labor from work.The Executive Committee did not simply treat this matter as an individual case, because with the gradual development of the local area, there will be more and more cases like Zhan Gui, and it is time to introduce a management method specifically for the immigrant population up.

(End of this chapter)