1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3654

Regarding the disagreement between the two parties on freight costs, Qian Tiandun did not seem to be in a hurry to reach an agreement. Instead, he asked about the production capacity of Fujian's shipbuilding industry, which is also one of the cooperation projects he is most concerned about.

Currently, shipyards are being built in Phuket and Hambantota Port, which are controlled by the Special Operations Division. However, the related facilities are still in the initial construction stage. They are only suitable for small repair jobs, but it will take at least one or two years to build large-tonnage ships on their own.

In order to obtain a large number of new ships as quickly as possible, the special warfare division's shipbuilding orders are extremely scattered. Not only are there relatively nearby shipyards such as Xingdao and Cam Ranh Port, but orders are also placed with shipyards on Hainan Island and the coastal areas of Guangdong and Guangxi. New ships will even be received from the distant northern region - that is purely due to the personal friendship between Qian Tiandun and Chen Yixin.

Qian Tiandun knew that Fujian had reached cooperative shipbuilding agreements with Luzon and Xingdao, so he did not expect Fujian to have much spare production capacity to allocate to him. However, the expansion of the special operations division urgently required more sea vessels. If Fujian could help in this regard, he would definitely not refuse.

If it was someone else, Dong Shangyi might have the guts to quote a price and get the order first. But the other party was the world-famous Qian Tiandun, and if the price he quoted could not be fulfilled, the consequences would be something Dong Shangyi could not afford.

However, Dong Shangyi actually has no way of knowing the exact number of shipbuilding orders Fujian can currently take, because in addition to the orders just received from Luzon and Xingdao, Fujian has also taken on some shipbuilding orders from Japan, and those are the kind that require extra money and are expedited, with strict requirements on delivery time.

In addition, after Fujian was released from the Executive Committee, it will begin to implement its overseas expansion strategy and will need a large number of seagoing ships to form an ocean-going fleet. Local shipyards will inevitably have to reserve part of their production capacity for themselves.

After excluding all these shipbuilding orders, Dong Shangyi didn't dare to make any promises about how much production capacity would be left for the special operations division. He could only vaguely respond to Qian Tiandun's questions about Fujian's shipbuilding capacity, and then asked Qian Tiandun what specific requirements he had in terms of the number, model, price, delivery period, etc. of ships.

Qian Tiandun was a very capable person. When he saw that Dong Shangyi did not answer his question directly, he knew that Fujian's shipbuilding capacity was no longer sufficient and it was impossible to expect the other party to build a large number of ships for the special operations division in the short term.

Qian Tiandun made a gesture, and Qian Shaobao, who was standing next to him, immediately handed a book to Dong Shangyi and said, "This is our shipbuilding demand. Mr. Dong, please take a look first!"

Dong Shangyi did not dare to neglect it. He stood up and took it with both hands. Seeing Qian Tiandun nodded slightly, he began to look through the contents.

The contents of the book were very detailed, not only specifying the model and quantity of the ships to be purchased, but also some parts that required customization, and even attached drawings. In addition, the book also mentioned the payment method, and the special warfare division needed to pay in installments according to the progress of the shipbuilding. The longer the delivery period, the more installments the payment would be divided into.

Dong Shangyi could understand this payment method. If the other party relaxed the delivery period requirements, then other conditions would have to be exchanged to avoid too much funds being occupied by these long-cycle shipbuilding orders.

Moreover, in terms of shipbuilding, the special warfare division has too many partners to choose from, so it has enough confidence to bargain with itself.

Dong Shangyi calculated in his mind as he read, and it took him some time to finish reading the contents of the book before he gave a cautious reply.

"General, the technical requirements you mentioned can basically be met by the shipyards in Fujian. The price and payment method can also be completely in accordance with the treatment you received in other shipyards. It's just that the delivery period... Because Fujian has received a large number of shipbuilding orders recently, the shipyards have already been fully booked. I'm afraid your orders will not be delivered until the second half of next year or even the end of the year at the earliest." Qian Tiandun said: "In this case, you should give us more discounts in other aspects. Don't you think so?"

Dong Shangyi asked tentatively: "So what do you mean?"

Qian Tiandun said: "I think the preferential treatment can be flexible, such as lowering the shipbuilding quotation, or providing technical support to our shipyards here."

Dong Shangyi had just received a large order for hundreds of ships. If he had to adjust the quotation, it would be a huge amount, so he naturally didn't need to think too much about what to choose.

Dong Shangyi immediately responded, "Fujian Shipyard can train shipbuilding craftsmen for the general. As long as they are selected by the general, we will cover all the expenses and send them back to the general after they have completed their studies. We will also send experienced craftsmen here every year to assist in the construction of the shipyard."

Apprentices were not a burden to the shipyard, but rather cheap labor. As for the cost of food and lodging, it was too cheap compared to the wages of shipbuilders.

But would this teach the apprentice to starve the master to death? Dong Shangyi was not worried about this.

It is not so easy to make a shipyard an industry that can be expanded and strengthened. The shipyards in Luzon and Sing Tao Island have been in operation for more than 20 years. Even now, they still need to seek external assistance and place orders with shipyards elsewhere in order to meet local development needs.

Given the conditions in Phuket, even if the shipyard can be successfully completed and put into production within one or two years, it will be difficult to become a first-tier large shipyard, let alone have a shipbuilding industry chain of the same scale as Fujian. It will take at least several decades to bring the cost of shipbuilding to the level of Fujian.

Dong Shangyi skipped the issue of adjusting the quotation without leaving a trace, but Qian Tiandun was obviously not satisfied with this and still asked Dong Shangyi to consider the price factor again.

Seeing that Qian Tiandun did not make any other requests, Dong Shangyi gritted his teeth and agreed that he could give the special operations division a more favorable offer, but both parties needed to sign a long-term agreement based on ten years or even longer.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

The purpose of Dong Shangyi's visit was cooperation, and the shipbuilding project was only one of the conditions for promoting cooperation. The most urgent task was to persuade Qian Tiandun to accept these conditions and achieve the cooperative relationship that Xu Yuzhuo wanted.

It’s not that Xu Yuzhuo doesn’t love money, but he expects that the long-term benefits Fujian will gain from this partnership will far outweigh the economic benefits brought by the special operations division shipbuilding order.

Compared with the political and military benefits, and the golden road paved for the descendants of the Xu family, Xu Yuzhuo believes that giving up some economic benefits at the moment is a completely acceptable loss.

As an envoy, Dong Shangyi also implemented Xu Yuzhuo's ideas very thoroughly and was determined to make more concessions in exchange for Qian Tiandun's affirmation of the cooperative relationship.