After Prince Su Shu took care of everything in Nanyang, he still took the warship back to the interior of the empire.
The passenger ship received too many people, and Prince Su Shu's personal safety and communication security could not be guaranteed.
The return journey also carried a mission. The warship went directly to Mawei Shipyard in Fuzhou Prefecture, Fujian Province.
This is where the imperial shipbuilding industry is most developed.
It has the most complete shipbuilding industry chain and the largest dockyard. The 10,000-ton cargo ships owned by the empire are all built at the Mawei Shipyard in Fuzhou Prefecture, Fujian.
The empire's initial shipbuilding industry centers were Qingdao Prefecture and Songjiang County.
The shipyards in these two places enjoyed generous policies, but they were surpassed by Mawei Shipyard, which did not enjoy the policies.
The main factor that Prince Su Shu believes is that the maritime trade in Fujian is developed, and these merchants have high requirements for the quantity and performance of ships.
Fujian is a mountainous area, and it is difficult to feed the locals just by farming.
Shanxi and Anhui also have the same conditions.
Fujian merchants, Shanxi merchants and Hui merchants have been famous all over the world since ancient times.
Fujian has a unique geographical location. It is close to the ocean, and Fujian merchants are willing to venture into unfamiliar areas.
Fujian caught up with the era when the empire was developing towards the sea.
Military shipyards only manufacture warships, and the empire's total number of ironclads is just over a hundred.
Mawei Shipyard builds thousands of civilian steam cargo ships in a year, and the cumulative number of steam cargo ships built has reached tens of thousands.
Technology will slowly and iteratively improve as it develops.
Qingdao Shipyard and Songjiang Shipyard’s technology iteration is too slow, and their technology has been surpassed by Mawei Shipyard.
Qingdao Shipyard was very excited when they learned about diesel engine technology. They immediately studied the ship's diesel engine power system and prepared to surpass Mawei Shipyard in an all-round way.
Prince Su Shu was a little confused. His father valued diesel engine technology very much.
He believes that the empire's next generation of battleships should use diesel engines as the power system.
Prince Su Shu had an accident somewhere.
It may be that Qingdao Shipyard's research on technology was unsuccessful.
In short, both Qingdao Shipyard and Songjiang Shipyard failed in this competition.
Mawei Shipyard won the order for the military's main battleship that they had been thinking about.
Prince Su Shu will represent his father at the launching ceremony of the new generation battleship.
When he learned the news, his heart was filled with excitement.
The strength of the empire is growing every moment, even if there are some big rats inside who are doing the job of eating in and out.
It would be extremely difficult for places like Europe to catch up with the empire's technology.
Prince Su Shu stood on the deck of the warship. He watched seabirds flying towards the deck from the distant sky.
They pecked at the scraps of food that had fallen on the deck.
The seabirds near the shipping routes have become accustomed to the ships around them.
Prince Su Shu looked into the distance and saw a large number of ships rushing along this busy route with billowing black smoke.
He had earlier sailed around the world on an ironclad ship and was on the route. The scene I saw was a thousand sails racing.
A wooden cargo ship, they set sail and headed towards their goal.
The ships at that time were very distinctive, and sail cargo ships moved in basically the same direction.
The experience of sailing is very good when the wind is smooth along the way.
It is possible to take a zigzag course against the wind, but this requires an extremely skilled helmsman and the cargo cannot be loaded too much.
For warship marches, this operation can show the strength of the navy.
But for cargo ships, the cost-effectiveness of sailing against the wind is too low.
It's completely different now. Prince Su Shu saw whether he was leaving the interior of the empire or returning to the interior of the empire.
The difference in the number of cargo ships in the two directions is not obvious.
The introduction of the steam engine into the shipping industry was a great invention.
Cargo ships sail in the ocean, and from now on they no longer have to worry about tailwinds or headwinds.
Taking into account only the existence of ocean currents and avoiding counter-ocean currents, it would only cost more silver coins to buy coal.
Compared with the benefits brought by cargo ships operating at sea all the time, it is a drop in the bucket.
Prince Su Shu stood on the deck, listening to the air whistles of the ships passing by. This was extremely beautiful music to his ears.
He occasionally took a breather on the deck to relax and no longer think about the meaning of certain actions of his father and the officials in the court.
When Prince Su Shu saw the faint coast, he knew that the warship was about to dock.
Mawei Military Port is also one of the important military ports of the navy. As he stepped off the warship, a middle-aged man wearing a fourth-grade official uniform walked towards him immediately.
The middle-aged man walked up to Prince Su Shu and introduced himself: "Your Highness, I am Wai Lang, a member of the Shipbuilding Department of the Ministry of Industry, and Li Jia, the director of Mawei Shipyard.
Today is the year 4351 (1654 AD), March 11th, and the launch ceremony of the Emperor-class battleship will be held four days later on March 15th.
I have been worried about His Highness's itinerary. The navy is urging us urgently, and we dare not delay the itinerary.
Fortunately, His Highness arrived in time and the launching ceremony of the Emperor-class battleship could begin normally. "
Prince Su Shu was a little surprised before as to why Wailang, a member of the Ministry of Industry, would run a small shipyard in Mawei.
A foreign minister from the Ministry of Industry should not be responsible for the development planning of the national shipbuilding industry.
After Li Jia spoke, Prince Su Shu immediately understood that this person was a technocrat, or a technocrat who was not very good at being an official.
If he didn't have skills that others couldn't replace, he wouldn't be able to survive in the officialdom.
What he just said in just a few words was indeed the truth, but it didn't sit well with you at all.
Prince Su Shu was not angry. He knew that these straightforward technocrats were the most useful talents.
As long as it's something they can do, leave it to them and don't worry about this person being sneaky.
When Li Jia meets him, it's a turn of events.
He can also take this opportunity to at least take control of the Shipbuilding Department of the Ministry of Industry.
Prince Su Shu smiled and said: "I should have gone out earlier, and I almost delayed the important event.
The new generation battleship should be built. Can I go and visit it? "
Prince Su Shu was itching in his heart. He was very curious about the Mawei Shipyard, and he was even more curious about the empire's new generation of battleships.
His supporter in the military has always been the navy, and he has a strong navy background.
Prince Su Shu will definitely be happy if the navy develops and grows.
Just as they were about to leave in a car, a man carrying a briefcase and wearing an official uniform came to the dock in a car with a governor's Yamen license plate.
Just as he was about to approach Prince Su Shu, he was immediately stopped by the guards.
Some personal protection guards have blocked off all angles. Even if the enemy suddenly fires, they will not be able to hit Prince Su Shu.
The seventh-rank official shouted loudly: "Your Highness, I am the master of Mr. Wang Linjiang, the governor of Fujian.
Mr. Wang does not dare to disturb His Royal Highness, but please come to the Governor's Yamen and sit for a while if you have time. "
Prince Su Shu heard that Wang Linjiang, the governor of Fujian, sent someone to invite him.
As expected, this person wanted to get closer to him.
His position as prince was stable, and many officials began to bet on him in order to ensure a smooth career for the next generation of their family.
Prince Su Shu has always maintained a welcoming attitude towards this situation, which is of great benefit to him without any harm.
He stood next to the reception car at Mawei Shipyard and said to the master: "I still have to complete the tasks assigned by my father. I will go to the governor's Yamen to sit for a while when I have time."
After Prince Su Shu finished speaking, he got into the car and waited to go to Mawei Shipyard.
There are still four days until the warship is launched. In these days, he can take some free time to meet Wang Linjiang, the governor of Fujian.
If they have similar aspirations, they can contact each other for a while and see.
Prince Su Shu does not accept all kinds of officials.
A person like Nanyang Governor Ma Kaiheng, once he is accepted into the team, is an unstable bomb, and he doesn't know when he will be blown to pieces.
When the car drove into Mawei Shipyard, he had not seen the shipyard on the seaside.
The land-based production workshop of the shipyard occupies an extremely large area.
The car entered the gate and drove for half an hour. It was still surrounded by factories.
Prince Su Shu could hear the roar of machines from time to time.
He asked in surprise: "Director Li, Mawei Shipyard is so large.
I have been to Qingdao Shipyard, and I feel that the scale of Qingdao Shipyard is not as large as here. "
Li Jia proudly said: "Your Highness, our Mawei Shipyard and Qingdao Shipyard have different development concepts.
Qingdao Shipyard is a large assembly plant.
Ship keels, steam engines, propellers and other parts are all purchased from brother companies.
They took advantage of the comprehensive advantages of Northern Heavy Industry and wanted to combine the strengths of hundreds of industries to build qualified warships.
This kind of development idea can be reflected in the scale effect if the technology iteration is slow.
However, when technology iteration is rapid, the disadvantages of this production method are very serious.
Each component belongs to a different place, and it is extremely difficult to sit down and communicate together to come up with a modification plan that is in the interests of everyone.
In addition to steel, our Mawei Shipyard needs to be transported from Qinhuangdao.
The power system, including the steam engine propeller, and most of the parts on the ship are produced by our Mawei Shipyard.
At that time, merchants' requirements for cargo ships changed significantly in a few months.
We do not control the manufacturing of a large number of parts ourselves. If we want to change certain aspects, it is more difficult than reaching the sky.
In order to meet the requirements of businessmen in a timely manner, Mawei Shipyard can only master the entire shipbuilding industry chain.
Chendu did not expect that this change would be very conducive to technology iteration.
This can be regarded as unintentional planting of willows and willows. "
Prince Su Shu agreed with Li Jia's statement. He was not a prince who grew up in a deep palace and didn't understand anything.
He knew very clearly the disadvantages of government-run factories.
It is very difficult for a government-run factory with a rigid system to iterate quickly.
He didn't expect that at Mawei Shipyard, Jingyan would find another way and take a different path.
Mawei Shipyard is a factory that has the capabilities of the entire industry chain of the shipbuilding industry.
Prince Su Shu believed that this discovery was more important than the Emperor-class battleship.
If Mawei Shipyard is successful, other government-run factories can also be integrated and twisted into a single rope.
Prince Su Shu decided to seriously inspect Mawei Shipyard. He used Mawei Shipyard as a model and wrote a memorial to his father, talking about the reform of the Shaofu.
He made his request to Li Jia: "Director Li, I'm curious about how a warship is produced. Can you take a brief look at it?"
When Li Jia heard that His Highness the Prince wanted to visit the factory, he immediately nodded excitedly and agreed.
In this warship election, if the Navy hadn’t issued bids to shipyards across the country, all shipyards would have bid.
It is impossible for their Mawei Shipyard to win orders from the Navy.
The impression given by Mawei Shipyard has always been that it is stronger than the construction of civilian cargo ships.
This is completely a wrong impression. They also want to build warships, but no one gives them a chance.
Now we are taking this opportunity to let His Highness the Prince know about Mawei Shipyard. If anyone wants to suppress Mawei Shipyard in the future, it will be basically impossible.
They approached the factory, and there were various abnormal noises from the operation of machines.
Li Jia took Prince Su Shu to a very noisy factory.
They stood at the door, and Li Jia forbade Prince Su Shu from entering.
"Your Highness, this is the production workshop for forging keels. The 96-meter-long keels of warships are all made of forged special steel.
The area outside the yellow line is generally safe, but it is absolutely safe here. "
Prince Su Shu saw a huge noise ahead, and an iron pillar several meters long, which should be the rib of the ship's keel.
He put it into a huge machine, which quickly forged the keel into shape like kneading noodles.
Li Jia introduced: “This is a 3,000-ton hydraulic press. The parts forged by this machine have excellent seismic resistance.
We build warships that can withstand a salvo of artillery fire.
In previous warships, because the keel strength was not up to standard, the artillery on the ship could only fire in batches at intervals.
This kind of firing was completely a false salvo. The enemy heard the sound of the cannon and had a chance to escape. "
Li Jia took Prince Su Shu to visit several factories in succession.
Prince Su Shu did not understand technology, but when he saw the finished products produced by the factory, he felt that they were indeed excellent.
The workers at Mawei Shipyard were more serious and responsible than those in other factories he had seen.
Prince Su Shu asked curiously: "Director Li, I see that the workers at Mawei Shipyard are very motivated.
The workers are extremely serious and responsible, and this group of excellent workers is also the reason why Mawei Shipyard’s technology is extremely outstanding.
What means did Director Li use to achieve this? "
Li Jia waved his hand and said: "I didn't use any subtle means, the method I used was very cliché.
Why do workers come to work in the factory?
They just want to make money. As long as the money is available, there will be excellent workers.
As long as a ship is built, 1% of the profit will be distributed to the shipbuilding workers.
If a ship has a quality accident, the factory will also be held accountable.
Only when rewards and punishments are clear can workers be motivated.
The workers don't want to hear any big ideas.
Just fines are not effective at all.
There must be rewards and punishments so that workers can truly experience that they are bound to the interests of the factory. "
After hearing this, Prince Su Shu felt a little ashamed.
When my father governs the country, the most important principle is to distinguish rewards and punishments.
As long as a country has clear rewards and punishments, it can flourish.
What's more, it's a small factory.
As long as rewards and punishments are clearly defined and workers know the direction of their efforts, they will definitely work hard. (End of chapter)
