Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2159 Pride ([-])

"The dismantled machine must be re-adjusted, otherwise the accuracy may not be correct." On October 1691, 10, a middle-aged man with a red armband was pointing at several machines on the coast of Nancun Port, Shanghai County. give pointers.

These machines look half-new and not old, but they are indeed indispensable equipment in the daily production of modern special shipyards.Each machine has a serial number, and the factory, the Ministry (Hyundai Factory is directly under the Ministry of Communications) and the Mei agency regularly send people to check to ensure that these controlled devices are not at risk of being lost to foreign countries.

It is said that since the contract renewal document signed by King Carlos II of Spain arrived on the east bank, and Shao Yaoguang, the chairman of the executive committee, signed it into effect (Ma Wenqiang has ten thousand grass mud horses in his heart...), the people on the east bank have justifiably started to treat La Plata. Receiving of huge land assets.As for the buildings and other real estate attached to the land, because of the peaceful purchase, the people on the east coast paid private bids to buy the property rights, and the public ones were naturally taken over directly.

Local Spanish residents can choose to join the East Coast citizenship.Among them, those who can use Chinese for daily conversations can be directly naturalized, and those who cannot be granted temporary identities by the East Coast Ministry of Civil Affairs, and will be issued official identities after passing the Chinese proficiency assessment.Indians or mestizos with Indian blood are not allowed to stay in the local area in principle, and must be sent away or accepted by the East Coast government to arrange to go to overseas colonies-note that this is only in principle, and it is still possible in practice. For example, the nephew of a municipal councilor with Indian descent may continue to live in the local area and obtain legal status.

The Hyundai Special Shipyard was originally located in Hekou Township, Zhenhai County. In recent years, due to development needs, it began to seek relocation.Similar to them is the Dayuhe Naval Shipyard, which has gone to Qingdao Port one step ahead and started formal production.Instead of going there to join in the fun, Hyundai chose to settle in the newly acquired Shanghai County.

The first batch of relocation began at the beginning of this month, and there were about a hundred people in total.It was so late mainly because there was still a batch of steam engine sailboats ordered by the Ministry of Communications that needed to be built, so it seemed to be delayed for several months.At present, most of these ships have been completed, and rely on their steam power to sail all the way from Hekou Port to Nancun Port, which can be regarded as a test of their steam propulsion system.

After the ship docked at Nancun Port, it was pulled into a temporary dock and began to install the upper deck facilities.And some of these parts can be purchased from the outside world—in fact, those supporting companies in Hekou Township are also moving here—and some can only be processed by themselves, so they will pay special attention to these machines and equipment. Hope to be able to debug and put into use as soon as possible.

"Director Qi, when will your company be able to relocate as a whole?" David, the deputy director of Pravda, asked as he stood in front of a fat middle-aged man with a big belly.

"Director Qi" is named Qi Jing, who is the grandson of Yuan Lao Qi Yongjie, born in Jingjiang County.The three generations of their family have worked in the industrial system. Grandfather Qi Yongjie served as the director of the Northern Chemical Factory and the Northern Pharmaceutical Factory successively. His father served as the director of the Meilin Railway Machinery Processing Factory and the Jingjiang Paper Factory. The director of the modern special shipyard, and considering that other members of their family are running some mechanical processing enterprises (supporting large state-owned factories), this is a proper industrial family.

"The progress of the relocation will not be too slow. Our factory will be relocated as a whole by the middle of next year at the latest, and formal production will start here in Shanghai County." Qi Jing put his hands on his hips and looked at the employees who were busy debugging the machines in front of them. , replied.

"Of course, Vice President Dai, you have also seen it. Because there are still production tasks, the relocation process of the factory will last for a long time. Naturally, we hope to come here earlier, but you also know that the order from Nanhai Transportation Company The quantity is huge, and I fear it will be difficult to finish in a while, so I can only take it slowly." Qi Jing added.

The shipbuilding tasks mentioned by Qi Jing just now are actually not limited to their modern factories. In fact, there are several large state-owned factories such as Dayuhe Naval Shipyard, Pacific Shipyard, and Zhenhai Shipyard, and even the private Xinxing Shipyard. Received an order for two ships—the factory is about to be relocated now. It was originally located in the Duck Lake basin, but due to shallow water silting, the factory recently plans to relocate to the port of Rocha to restart production.

Such a dense list is actually related to the country's policy changes.Previously, the new chairman, Shao Yaoguang, had ordered to increase the number of immigrants from the Far East. For this reason, each factory had received a batch of orders for motor sailing boats and special immigration ships to supplement the ships that had been decommissioned or wrecked over the years to and from the Far East.

In addition, due to the development of shipbuilding and steam engine technology in European countries, people on the east coast feel that it is meaningless to hide steam engine sailboats.In fact, over the years, people have already obtained a lot of real objects through various channels, such as salvaging wrecked ships on the east coast, smuggling waste steam propulsion systems, and buying technicians.The reason why steam engine sailboats have not been built yet is that their processing technology is not up to standard, although they have been improving over the years.

Therefore, the steam engine sailboat is really not a key control facility now, and the use of such a ship with great advantages in safety, speed and other factors on the route to Europe can indeed be put on the agenda.And it just so happens that the steam engine industry in Europe is also developing now, and the amount of coal mining has increased greatly. It is not difficult to set up coal filling stations in many node cities, so the conditions for opening air routes are fully mature.

In this way, large shipping companies like Nanhai Shipping Company will have no worries.They have decided to phase out traditional sail transport ships in the future and start placing orders to purchase more steam engine sailboats.As for all steam-powered ships, they will also purchase them, but at this stage, the purchase volume will not be too large, because they are afraid that if they buy them, they will fall behind and become other people's guinea pigs.

Therefore, under the combined effect of the above two factors, the berths of several major domestic captains were immediately filled with motor sailboats, and the market was in full swing for a while.For example, the modern special shipyard has to help man-made dredgers, whaling ships, lighthouse ships, medical ships and other special ships, and also has to do the business of steam engine sailboats, so that even the relocation of the old factory has been forcibly slowed down, which can be seen .

"Understood, understood." David nodded, and then asked another question: "Director Qi, I heard that your factory is supporting the production of 'Bianliang' class iron-clad warships, can you talk about it in detail? ? We will post this question on the internal reference, and it will not be published publicly, don’t worry.”

Qi Jing gestured with his eyes, and asked the two management cadres with red armbands on their arms to lead the workers away a little, and then answered after deliberation: "Actually, I know about the 'Bianliang'. Not many, after all, the design of this ship has not yet been determined. People from the navy came to us only because our factory has certain experience in building special-type ships and can provide some help. The main body of the construction is still the Dayuhe Naval Shipyard located in Qingdao Port, but this is also a joint project of all relevant enterprises in the national industrial system."

"I can only talk about it in general now." Qi Jing continued: "This ship is powered by a mixture of steam propellers and sails. An armor belt will be installed on each side of the ship's side, and the thickness is still under discussion. According to the established principles, the armor belt should not only protect the hull, but also the artillery emplacements. In other words, the artillery emplacements of this ship are protected by armor so as not to be damaged by enemy fire."

"So it's doomed that the ship's artillery can't be loaded too much?" David asked.

"Yes, there will probably be 15-20 cannons. But it doesn't matter, we will use more powerful cannons and shells to enhance their power. A breakthrough has been made in technology." Qi Jing said: "And 'Bianliang' will use the latest large-scale steam propulsion system, so if the design is reasonable, its speed will not be low, I expect it to be around 10-15 knots. Of course, this is just an estimate, and I don't count if I say it , in the end it depends on how it is designed.”

"I understand." David nodded with a smile: "Then how many ships will be built in the end? Where will they be deployed? What kind of deterrence will it bring to our potential enemies?"

"My God, the cost of such a ship is about 60 to 3 yuan if the research and development costs are included, and it's a conservative estimate. How many ships are you going to build? One of them is going to die! "Qi Jing said with a slightly exaggerated smile: "You reporters always want to make big news, which is not advisable! Frankly speaking, there is only a plan to build one. Then build 4-[-] more ships, of course, within a few years, it is impossible to start building so many at the same time, financially unaffordable.”

"Director Qi, can it be understood that the 'Bianliang' class armored warships are invincible and unsinkable? If we really have 4-5 such powerful warships, they can beat almost all other countries' warships. Navy? Well, one in mainland China, one in South Africa, one in Brunei or Malacca, one in the Cape Verde Islands, and if there is an extra one, maybe Huaiyuan Island? Wouldn't the order of the ocean be entirely under our control?"

"Theoretically, that's true." Qi Jing shared his income, and said helplessly: "But in fact, it won't be so. Until our economy, population, and fleet size reach a certain level, we will still share the interests equally." Principle. We have no malice towards other countries, as long as they do not offend us. In addition, maintaining a military presence all over the world is also very costly, and if this behavior does not bring enough benefits, then it cannot continue.”

"Understood, thank you Director Qi for your explanation. Last question, will you build sailing warships in the future?" David asked after thinking for a while.

"This is an obvious thing, of course it will be built." Qi Jing replied without hesitation: "Given the high construction and maintenance costs of the 'Bianliang', it is impossible for us to give all sailing warships to We must maintain a certain number of warships, otherwise we may not be able to take good care of them. Therefore, weeding out old ships is a long process. During this period, we not only have to repair the old sailing warships, but even start construction New galleons until the number of ironclads reaches a suitable size."

"Thank you, I think I understand. When I go back, I will ask someone to write an in-depth report that conforms to the facts. Of course, this will first be reviewed by the Mei agency. I think Director Qi's wonderful introduction will add color to this internal reference Quite a few, let more ministers, directors, and directors understand the development plan of the navy and understand the things behind this plan. The navy is everyone's navy. It will be more refreshing." David concluded: "I hope that the 'Bianliang' class iron-clad warship will be finalized as soon as possible, and then start construction. I believe that the day when its construction is completed, it will greatly enhance the self-confidence of our people on the east coast and enhance their confidence. Our pride."

"In fact, I'm already very proud." Qi Jing stretched out his hand to shake David, and said with a smile: "Even with our current fleet size, there are few people on this planet who can match it. In the future, opponents and The gap between us is only going to grow, there's no doubt about that."

(End of this chapter)