Development of productivity started in 1981

Chapter 68: Submersible Voyage and Return Home

The next morning at around 5 o'clock, when it was still light, Wang Jiankun went to the dock, had a simple meal and then sailed away from Yangzhou.

In the canal and the Yangtze River, Wang Jiankun has been collecting iron and some metal elements. He plans to build a submersible to go out to sea to collect uranium.

The last time we went out to sea, we were disrupted by the US Navy and only collected 4 kilograms of uranium, which was enough for preliminary experiments in the experimental reactor, but not enough for a subsequent 3-megawatt reactor to start in one go.

So take advantage of the opportunity to come to Yangzhou to collect more and take them back, so as not to waste time on the journey back and forth.

At Kunshan Port, Wang Jiankun gave C200
After filling up the diesel, the submarine was built according to the design given by Tomoko.

Kunshan Port is a port that can accommodate 10-ton cargo ships, so the water at the port is very deep, at 12 meters.

Wang Jiankun first opened a hole in the bottom compartment of the C200 to connect with the submarine that was about to be manufactured.

Then, starting from the outside of the hole, he used his super powers to mobilize elements to form the hull of the submarine.

Generally, submarines are manufactured in sections, but Wang Jiankun has superpowers and can start from any position as needed.

The entire single-person submersible is 6 meters long and 2 meters in diameter, like a short and thick sausage.

There is a 7-blade propeller at the tail, the underwater speed is 20 knots, and the speed at periscope depth is 28 knots. It uses a small high-speed diesel engine.

Because it is a single-person submersible and long-term navigation is not considered, living facilities are completely omitted, mainly the power system and fuel tanks. The cargo hold also has a space of less than 1 cubic meter, which is used to store lead cans.

The navigation system has also been greatly simplified. This time, there is no need to consider extracting uranium deep in the open sea. As long as the depth near the coast is more than 100 meters, it will be fine.

The oxygen circulation system is not complicated. Several gas compression tanks are manufactured, which store some pure oxygen. When diving, it is released to replenish the consumed part to maintain the oxygen concentration. Normally, a snorkel can be used for ventilation when sailing at periscope depth.

After everything was ready, Wang Jiankun opened the connecting valve to enter the submersible, disconnected it and let it sink to the bottom of the river. He planned to first test whether all the equipment under the dock could work properly.

The water at the mouth of the Yangtze River is very turbid at this time, with many large cargo ships coming in and out, stirring up the mud and sand under the river, so the maximum depth seen on the shore and on the boat is 3 meters. When testing underwater, there is no need to worry about being seen by the shore or the ships coming in and out.

After testing for half an hour, Wang Jiankun drove the submersible under a passenger ship that was about to go out to sea.

The freighter was too slow, so Wang Jiankun waited for a long time and chose this passenger ship as a cover, just in case it was heard by the monitoring sonar.

After following the passenger ship out of the Yangtze River estuary, Wang Jiankun drove the submersible and accelerated toward the Yellow Sea in the northeast.

It was not until he used his superpowers to measure the depth of the sea water to 100 meters that he changed direction and stopped heading out to sea.

After surfacing to the periscope depth and opening the ventilation valve, fresh air entered the submersible. Wang Jiankun no longer had to pay attention to whether there was enough oxygen inside and could focus on collecting uranium.

The submarine speed was increased to the maximum of 25 knots, and the superpower was used like a fishing net to capture every uranium element that entered the net into a lead tank.

Every half hour, Wang Jiankun drove the submersible to a different location, but the outermost area did not leave the territorial waters, so he did not encounter any danger.

When collecting elements, you will encounter many schools of fish, as well as some very large whales and sharks.

Among them, several whales about 10 meters long may have felt that Wang Jiankun’s submersible looked like a companion, so they kept circling around it and making noises.

Wang Jiankun used sonar to record these sounds and the swimming postures of whales, so that when he encounters a monitoring ship in the future, he can make the same sounds to confuse the enemy.

In the dim Yellow Sea, Wang Jiankun drove the submersible and collected for 12 hours, collecting a total of 15 kilograms of uranium, 4 kilograms more than the theoretical calculation. It may be that the uranium content in the Yellow Sea is slightly higher.

The uranium 235 extracted from these uranium elements should be enough for the experimental reactor to operate continuously for one month. If we want to use a 1-megawatt reactor in the future, we will have to reserve more uranium, otherwise we will have nowhere to find the huge energy needed for high-energy physics experiments.

However, the best source of energy should be nuclear fusion. Only a few grams of deuterium and tritium are needed to produce several thousand degrees of electricity. At that time, it will not take so much time to collect elements.

At 12 o'clock in the middle of the night, Wang Jiankun returned to Kunshan Wharf. After docking with the C200, he transferred 15 lead cans onto the ship and then sailed upstream of the Yangtze River with the submersible.

After walking for more than 10 kilometers, they found a rocky mountain by the river. They used their super powers to dig a passage under the water, and then dug a 100-cubic-meter space inside the mountain, inside which they built a dock capable of mooring a submersible.

Control the submersible through the underwater passage to the inside of the cave, and dock it at the berth inside the cave. Next time you want to go out to sea, just come here and bring the submersible with you, so you don't have to use superpowers to make it again.

On the way back, Wang Jiankun was thinking about the construction of the shipping company and how to travel to Yangzhou more quickly in the future.

Wang Jiankun planned to affiliate the shipping company with the Wangjia Production Team and mainly engage in private business. The ship tickets issued would be stamped with the production team's seal. If someone wanted to get the ship ticket reimbursed, they would explain it in advance. If they did not accept, they would be allowed to take other public ships.

Our ship owner has a fast speed. Other ships take 4 or even 5 days to travel between Yangzhou and Hukou Town, but our ship only takes 2 days. We can depart in the morning and arrive in the evening or depart in the evening and arrive in the morning. I believe that many passengers who are in a hurry are willing to take this ship.

By then, we will prepare three C3-class ships, with one ship departing from Hukou Town or Yangzhou every day. The time of arrival at each major city along the Yangtze River can be relatively fixed, and then we can sell boat tickets in these cities along the river.

As for how to sell tickets in several major cities, Wang Jiankun plans to find port staff or their relatives to act as ticket sales agents. This will promote employment on the one hand, and establish good relationships with various ports on the other. After all, Wang Jiankun's fleet is stealing jobs from state-owned shipping companies such as Jianghang.

This is roughly the arrangement of the shipping company. The maintenance point is located in Hukou Town. If there is a fault that even the first mate cannot solve, the captain will send a message to Wang Jiankun in time, and Wang Jiankun will then solve it.

In the future, I still need to find some people who understand mechanics to learn from. In fact, Cha Jianmin is a good choice, but he is very valued by Master Quan now, so it is difficult for me to poach him.

Wang Jiankun, who travels between Hukou Town and Sizhou Town, plans to modify Experimental No. 1 and convert it into a diesel version, and increase the cargo hold to be able to transport 80 tons of cargo, mainly to transport some precious metal ores purchased by individuals from Dexing to Hukou Town, and then transfer them to the C200.

Moreover, this type of transportation is no slower than train transportation, and the price is even lower than train transportation. Those bosses will definitely be willing to find Wang Jiankun's shipping company.

At that time, freight will have a guaranteed source of cargo, and then go to various ports to pick up some bulk cargo for transportation. The use of cranes for transportation will also save a lot of transportation costs.

As for how Wang Jiankun would travel between the county seat and Sizhou Town, he decided to build a speedboat based on the model in a magazine about yachts he found on a Perry-class destroyer.

There are many kinds of yachts and speedboats in the magazine, including super luxury speedboats over 60 meters long, small yachts between 10 and 20 meters long, and several types of speedboats.

After communicating with Chieko, Wang Jiankun decided to build a speedboat that is 6 meters long, about 2 meters wide, and equipped with an external gasoline engine, which can reach a speed of 40 knots.

The front cabin can seat 8 people or carry 1 ton of cargo, but when it is full of people or cargo, the speed can only reach about 35 knots. However, the draft of this speedboat is only more than 90 centimeters at most, so it can be driven all the way to the county town without worrying about running aground.

Taking advantage of the fact that there was nothing to do on the road, Wang Jiankun began to collect elements from the bottom of the river. During the lunch break, he found a small bay where few boats passed by and built a speedboat in it.

As for gasoline and lubricants, Wang Jiankun had not prepared them in advance, so he had to spend energy to use his super powers to make them. Setting the C200 to automatic driving mode, Wang Jiankun drove a speedboat to accompany it, and occasionally drove it to a speed of 40 knots to test the speedboat.

The speedboat was finalized soon after testing and improvement. Many boats along the way were watching the high-speed boat, so Wang Jiankun hung the speedboat behind the C200 and let it tow it, while he returned to the boat to rest.

Arriving at Hukou Town, Wang Jiankun docked the C200 at the rented dock, went to take a look at the house he had bought, and bought some daily necessities. In the future, the members of the fleet could come here to rest.

I said hello to that old comrade I was familiar with and asked him to help look after the C200. He will bring someone here next week.

Then he drove the speedboat towards the cave entrance where Experiment No. 1 was moored.

When they arrived at the entrance of the cave at Huiwan, Experiment No. 1 was still parked safely. According to Zhizi's modification plan on the road, Wang Jiankun modified Experiment No. 1 into a diesel-powered ship. The modified ship was called Experiment No. 2, and its length was extended to 20 meters. The main reason was that the front cabin was enlarged so that it could carry a maximum of 80 tons of cargo.

With this change, the boat speed will decrease. After testing it in Huiwan, the fastest speed is only 30 knots. However, it is enough for traveling between Sizhou Town and Hukou Town, and can be done round trip on the same day.

After the test was completed, Wang Jiankun towed the speedboat behind Experiment No. 2 and drove it to the Sizhou Town Pier.

He asked the people at the dock whether the berth could be rented long-term. The dock management was of course very happy to see that he actually wanted to rent it for a long time. Usually, only fishing boats and small cargo ships dock here, and the parking fees are not much. Now that there is a cargo ship that wants to rent the berth for a long time, of course they are very happy.

They also found the town's management department and issued a formal lease agreement. They readily agreed to Wang Jiankun's request to hire someone to help sell boat tickets and undertake freight, and said that they would select a few more people as soon as possible and let Wang Jiankun meet them to decide on the final candidates. Since Wang Jiankun was the one who paid, he had a certain say.

After renting a berth and negotiating with the ticket sales agent, Wang Jiankun drove his speedboat to the temporary dock in Wuyuan.

Under the cover of night, Wang Jiankun rode a motorcycle and towed a two-wheeled vehicle to the underground base. After moving the lead cans to the fourth floor, Wang Jiankun returned to the ground and steamed a few buns for dinner.

While eating, Wang Jiankun checked the machine below. The latest news was sent by his uncle, asking about the industrial production planning for the base that Wang Jiankun had mentioned before.

Thanks to Wang Jiankun's financial support, my uncle Cen Yong was able to purchase enough food, medicine and fuel, and his voice in the base was greatly increased.

So at the base meeting, my uncle proposed the construction of five small industries, which was agreed by most people, so he sent a letter to ask Wang Jiankun if he had time to do this.

Because he knew that Wang Jiankun was busy manufacturing precision parts and some production equipment for the watch factory, so he didn't know whether he was free.

In fact, the equipment for the electronic watch had already been designed by Zhizi, and it could be manufactured when the second floor was almost built. Because most of it used mature technology from the TV production line, the test would be quick.

So I replied to my uncle and asked him to draw a topographic map or take a photo of it, mark the minerals that could be mined, and ask someone to take it to the mainland and send it to him. He would design the five small industries and the hydropower station as soon as possible.

The younger uncle was obviously waiting for his reply, so not long after the message was sent, the younger uncle replied, saying that he would prepare the information and send it to the older uncle in the next few days, and asked him to send someone to give it to Wang Jiankun.

Later we talked about weapons and equipment. My uncle said that their base was mainly equipped with weapons from several small countries nearby in the 60s. Many of them were relatively old, and they only bought some of the latest weapons from the big northern country sporadically.

So Wang Jiankun suggested that he build a machinery processing plant and a chemical plant in Hong Kong. Wang Jiankun would be responsible for providing precision parts and manufacturing some parts with lower precision in the machinery processing plant in Hong Kong, which would then be transported to the base for assembly.

The ammunition is synthesized by chemical plants in Hong Kong or the basic raw materials are purchased through their channels, and then transported to the base to complete the final steps.

This way, the hidden danger of insufficient weapons and equipment can be solved first. After all, my uncle's base now has sufficient food and fuel, which will prevent other armed forces from having bad intentions.

Once the construction of the five small industries is completed, basic light weapons and equipment, small artillery and even small missiles can be manufactured, as long as Wang Jiankun provides some precision parts.

His uncle was very happy to hear that he was thinking so much about him and said that he would send more people to Hong Kong to build a machinery factory and a chemical plant.

Wang Jiankun also analyzed the situation in Hong Kong for his uncle, saying that Hong Kong had begun to deindustrialize after the reform and opening up, and many factory owners there were building production plants in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, so now was the right time to buy some medium-sized machinery factories and chemical plants, and the prices could be lowered a lot if you found someone who knew the business.

My uncle was surprised to hear that Wang Jiankun was so familiar with the situation in Hong Kong and asked him how he knew all this.

Wang Jiankun said that radio is a very useful thing. He often contacts "hams" in Europe, America and Southeast Asia and listens to their gossip, so he has some understanding of several major economically rapidly developing places in the world. Combined with some news reports, he can roughly predict their future development.

After listening to his bragging, his uncle felt that his nephew was probably a combination of Zhuge Liang and Mozi, who could not only manufacture electronics and precision machinery, but also analyze the world situation.

I talked to my uncle about the world situation and told him to seize the opportunity and send more people to earn more money and buy more supplies before the northern power shows signs of fatigue. He should seize more territory when the powers are threatening each other and dare not start a war. It would be even better if he could seize an outlet to the sea.

My uncle was shocked by his idea. Their core force consisted of only a few hundred people, and there were only a few thousand local people who had been trained and integrated. If they wanted to seize the seaport, they had to fight hundreds of kilometers south, and the further south they went, the stronger the government forces would be.

Wang Jiankun asked him to think more about it and set bigger and longer-term goals. Perhaps the difficulties could be solved one by one in the process.

After instilling some lofty ideals in his younger uncle, Wang Jiankun chatted with his older uncle for a while.

Apart from his regular job, my uncle now spends all his time in the electronic watch factory.

The representative sent by my younger uncle was not very familiar with the relationships in the mainland, but his identity was very useful, so my eldest uncle took him to complete the formalities for more than a week.

At present, the factory buildings are being renovated in an orderly manner. Several major departments such as finance, personnel, production, warehouse, procurement, technology, etc. are recruiting. Some people from the original factory are looking for connections to transfer and are unwilling to stay in the joint venture factory.

However, many of the educated youth who have returned to the city are unemployed. It is still possible to find people with junior high school or high school education for training and internships, but it is difficult to find technical talents.

Wang Jiankun told his uncle not to worry. In terms of technology, Wang Jiankun would provide mature equipment and minimize the reliance on personnel. After all, at the beginning, he could make some cheap electronic watches to train the employees. Once they were proficient, he could open a new production line and mobilize those who were skilled and careful to make electronic watches with better functions.

The simple models produced can be sold to the mainland. If the profit is lowered and wholesale is carried out, the sales volume should be very considerable. After all, mechanical watches are now called one of the three major wedding items, which shows how unbalanced the supply and demand of watches is.

Moreover, the simple design by Wang Jiankun is still very good, but it is made entirely of plastic, and the texture is not as good as a mechanical watch. However, it has added alarm and stopwatch functions. I believe that with its functions and price, it will definitely be very popular.

It was already late after chatting with his uncle. Wang Jiankun took stock of the recent tasks. The first was that the experimental reactor needed to refine more fuel balls for its continuous trial operation.

The next step is to expand the base and manufacture electronic watch production equipment.

Another thing is to bring the selected people from the team to Sizhou Town for training on ship driving and to set up a shipping company.

During the remaining time, Wang Jiankun will also devote a small amount of energy to providing learning materials to the seven disciples and cultivating relationships with them.

The other part is high-energy physics research, but the priority can be put on the back burner. He can observe and study it when he has time, and he doesn't have to do it if he doesn't have time. Anyway, this is a long-term project, and he still has to go abroad to find talents and information in the later stage. It is difficult to do research alone.

I allocated some time for the tasks and made a schedule in my mind to prevent myself from forgetting. After all, sometimes I lose track of time when I’m busy.

(End of this chapter)