What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 12: Fishing
Tang Wen blinked, everything that just happened seemed like an illusion.

But the things before my eyes have become completely unfamiliar, as if I had traveled through time.

The hut he originally lived in was simple and flimsy, without even cement paving inside.

However, he was now clearly in a newly built office. The flat and wide walls were painted snow-white, and the incandescent bulbs on the ceiling had been replaced with more powerful and exquisite chandeliers.

The tattered table in front of him was transformed into a sturdy solid wood desk, filled with various stationery and paper and pens. He sat on a solid wood chair with soft padding, and the patterns on the armrests were quite delicate.

A window that was not there before appeared on the wall on the side. Through the glass, you can see the shipyard illuminated by the internal street lights and the tall gantry crane.

Tang Wen stood up and was surprised to find that the light switch was actually a very old pull-cord switch, but it looked very new.

He quickly opened the door and walked out of the office, only to see an unfamiliar corridor. The blue paint on the floor and walls looked old-fashioned even for this era.

Looking up again, it was still an incandescent light.

Breathing in the air that seemed to still smell of paint, Tang Wen walked down the stairs and finally saw the entire shipyard clearly.

The dilapidated hut has been turned into a three-story brick building. The semi-open-air shed is now a mechanical processing center that is twice as large. Further back is a warehouse and a separate building of considerable size. Next to it is a 100-meter-long dry dock.

The lock at the head of the dock isolates the sea water and is about ten meters deep.

The architectural style of the entire shipyard is very similar to that of the 1950s and 1960s, mixed with sparse green plants. The light from the incandescent bulb street lamps is very good, illuminating the site very brightly.

There were also several forklifts and trucks parked on the side of the road, which were also very outdated models.

If the hills not far away were not still there, Tang Wen would hardly recognize that this was the original land.

The flexible employment talent who was working in a shabby little workshop one second ago now owns a substantial shipyard the next second.

Tang Wen guessed that the technological level of the first-class shipyard might only be that of the 1940s and 1950s, because the trucks he saw were almost the same as those during World War II, and the various machines were also very retro.

Just as he was thinking, the lights around him suddenly dimmed. Street lights were turned off one after another, and most of the lights in the buildings quickly disappeared.

[Insufficient power]

Consume coal, oil, or other resources to provide electricity

[1 Coal = 5 Silver Coins, 1 Oil = 50 Silver Coins]

The sudden darkness almost scared Tang Wen. He quickly used a silver coin to buy some coal, and the surrounding lights gradually brightened up again.

It was through the panel that he realized that the shipyard needed to consume electricity at all times, and the amount would vary greatly depending on the working status. Even if nothing was done, the necessary lighting alone would require 10 kilowatts of power, and one kilowatt-hour of electricity would consume 350g of standard coal.

The system's coal and oil are both based on one ton as the basic unit, and the price is actually very high.

Oil and other resources are also converted into coal for power generation. Tang Wen then noticed that there was a chimney next to the wall emitting smoke, which he had not noticed because it was hidden in the darkness.

It even has its own power plant...

However, wasting silver coins is really a loss. Since the system's silver coins can be withdrawn, Tang Wen learned about the silver price when he came to this era.

The current international market price of 5 silver coins is about 230 yuan, which is enough to buy several tons of coal. However, the system can only buy one ton, and the electricity bill is at least 20 yuan a day, which is a terrible loss.

In other words, now only the lighting system uses electricity, otherwise we will lose a lot of money.

Thinking of this, Tang Wen felt a pang of pain. He was just thinking about how to save money when he heard footsteps approaching from afar. Looking up, he saw two fierce-looking men in black clothes, with batons slung across their waists, walking towards him with fierce eyes. As they approached, a subtitle appeared on their foreheads:
Tang Twelve: Factory Guard (Forklift Operator)

Tang Shisan: Factory Guard (Electrician)

"Hello, director!"

The two big men spoke in loud voices and had "Factory Protection Team" armbands tied on their arms. After saying hello, they continued their patrol.

The personnel data of the shipyard also emerged in Tang Wen's mind, which included a total of 22 employees of various types. Although the number was small, the types were complete, from cooks to welders.

The building he didn't recognize was actually a dormitory and a cafeteria, and maintaining the workers also required silver coins and supplies.

Although the Gaijin Shipyard is a magical shipyard, it still has basic material input needs. It has to take care of food, drink, defecation, urination and raw material input, unless it relies entirely on silver coins.

Electricity, resources, food, drinking water, wages, one demand after another kept emerging in Tang Wen's mind, and he almost fainted.

I originally thought that Void Shipbuilding was for him to mess things up, but it turned out that he was actually asked to be the owner of the shipyard?
This is not a game. Just talking about electricity, even a small shipyard needs the power bureau to build special industrial lines. If it is connected to the residential telecommunications, I don’t believe that the transformer will destroy half the town once it is turned on.

The various demands of the shipyard were summarized in the system, and it was finally shown that even to maintain the minimum operation, it would consume 15 silver coins per day, which is 450 silver coins per month!

It would be even worse if the machine was turned on, as the electricity bill would double.

This number almost made Tang Wen faint. He cursed the system for being a shameless black marketeer and said it would be better not to upgrade.

What kind of orders can a shipyard built in a remote place like Dayuan Village get? There is not much demand for fishing in the surrounding area, so it cannot support the shipyard at all.

Selling diesel engines?

The profit is quite high, but the market is also very limited, and it is difficult to spread due to the almost negative logistics system these days.

Tang Wen felt like his third brother buying an aircraft carrier, and was hooked by the system's bait.

1000 silver coins are indeed free for a shipyard, but the maintenance costs are outrageous, and the bulk of the cost comes later.

This is not as good as the original small workshop, it is much easier than after the upgrade.

After upgrading to LV1, the original novice mission popped up again, and this time I can finally start research and development:
[Select the Tier I battleship "Hashidate" and the shipyard: Gaijin Shipyard (LV1)]

Ship parameters:
Dimensions: 80.5 meters long, 9.7 meters wide, 2.5 meters deep, standard displacement 993 tons, full load displacement 1350 tons.

武器：舰首一座双联装10年式E型120毫米/45倍径高炮（半封闭炮塔），舰艉一座单装10年式E型120毫米/45倍径高炮（半封闭炮塔），4门双联装96式25毫米机炮，3挺92式7.7毫米机枪。

Power: 2 Kanmoto-type steam turbines, 3383 horsepower, 2-shaft propulsion, speed 19.5 knots, endurance 2500 nautical miles/14 knots.

[Required R&D: 0 experience (all level 1 ship data is already in the R&D center, no R&D experience is required)]

【Required manufacturing:
Direct manufacturing: 22500 silver coins/bar (cycle 45 days)
Processing of supplied materials: 950 tons of steel, 1.5 tons of oil, 100 tons of aluminum, 15 tons of copper...

6750 silver coins/bar (cycle 27 days)

Please complete the prerequisite quest as soon as possible: Choose to build a Tier I battleship from the tech tree branch (100 days remaining)

(End of this chapter)