Deep in the endless North Pacific Ocean, a huge ship with an astonishing length of 205 meters, a width of 20 meters, and a draft of 8.5 meters was cutting through the wind and waves.
This is the largest ship in the Chu Empire at present: the Susong luxury ocean liner.
With a registered tonnage of more than 16,000 tons, it is not only the largest civilian ship, it is even larger and faster than the Navy's latest new battleship that has not yet been launched into service.
(The civilian ship mentioned above was described as full load tonnage. This is an incorrect description. It should be registered tonnage or registered tonnage.)
To a certain extent, this ship embodies the pinnacle achievement of the civilian shipbuilding industry of the Great Chu Empire. The construction of a huge hull of 205 meters long, 20 meters wide, and 8.5 meters draft is an extreme challenge to shipbuilding technology. !
The latest triple-expansion steam engine, water tube boiler, flying shear bow and a series of new technologies and new processes also allow this huge ship to explode out of 18,000 horsepower.
You must know that this is a behemoth with a registered tonnage of more than 16,000 tons. If it is fully loaded, it can even reach more than 25,000 tons. It is not easy to make such a behemoth run at 18 knots... you can only Only with the latest top-level power unit can it run at a high speed of 18 knots.
According to the scheduled route, the Su Song did not directly cross the Pacific Ocean after departing from Jinshan Port, but went north to Xiayang Port (Seattle) first, because Xiayang City is the second largest city in North America and the west coast of North America. The industrial, commercial and transportation center in the northern region has a large population and a large number of tourists.
On this voyage, the Su Song first went north to pick up and disembark some passengers at Xiayang Port, and after replenishing coal, fresh water, food, etc., it then carried 1,200 third-class passengers, 350 second-class passengers, and 300 first-class passengers. Fifty, a total of 1,900 passengers crossed the North Pacific, taking the classic North Pacific route all the way west.
The fully loaded Susong did not stop all the way, relying on the abundant coal, fresh water, and food carrying capacity brought by the huge ship size, directly across the North Pacific, all the way to Fukuyama Prefecture in the Fuso region, and at the Tsugaru Strait in the south of the prefecture. Fushan Port at the northern end carried out coal replenishment and a small number of passengers embarked and disembarked.
And the Fukuyama Prefecture in this place was the Hokkaido of the Fuso region in later generations... But in contemporary times, the Fuso shogunate actually did not completely control the Hokkaido area. There was only a small Matsumae clan, but it only occupied the southern coastal area of Hokkaido. That’s all.
In the series of external expansions after the rise of the Great Chu Empire, the expansion of the Fusang region was naturally indispensable. The expansion in the early stage was mainly based on economic trade and the acquisition of a small number of colonies. In the middle and late stages, it began to increase immigration expansion, trade or war. Acquired a large number of colonies through other methods.
So far, the Da Chu Empire has completely controlled the Hokkaido region, Shikoku region, and Kyushu region in the Fuso Islands. Three of the four major Fuso islands have been completely occupied by the Da Chu Empire and immigrated on a large scale.
Even the Honshu Island area was acquired by the Chu Empire through purchases or wars. About one-third of the territory was acquired.
As for the Fuso people themselves, due to years of war, the Edo shogunate had long been unable to control the situation. The daimyo of all parties attacked each other and destroyed the mulberry fields, resulting in a large reduction in the local population of Fuso. At the same time, some labor service companies in the Dachu Empire continued to In the Fuso area, young men were hired to open plantations in overseas colonies.
This also leads to the fact that the total number of Fuso indigenous people in the current Fuso area is not expected to exceed 1.5 million people.
In contrast, the population of Chu people in the Fusang area has exceeded the two million mark.
In the Fuso Islands, the population of the Chu people has exceeded the Fuso people, and this situation is still changing, because the Chu people are still hiring Fuso people from the Fuso area to develop overseas colonies. At the same time, the Fuso natives The war is still going on.
In response to this situation, the senior leaders of the Da Chu Empire have already negotiated with the Edo shogunate, which was unable to control the situation, and planned to change the Edo shogunate to another place... The Indian side is very good!
Previously, many Southeast Asian countries, such as Burma, Siam, and Aceh, the three indigenous nations in Southeast Asia, have successively accepted the friendly suggestions of the Chu Empire. Its senior officials and some of their people moved to India to rebuild their homes.
Now it is Fuso's turn to enjoy this treatment.
If all goes well, the Fuso area will become a territory directly under the jurisdiction of the Dachu Empire within two or three years.
Although there are still many Fusang natives in the Fusang area today, it has actually become the de facto territory of the Chu Empire.
Here, the Dachu Empire established the Governor of Fuso, which administered four directly-governed prefectures, namely Fushan Prefecture, Kyushu Prefecture, Shikoku Prefecture, and Hirado Prefecture, as well as multiple directly-governed prefectures and counties.
Among them, although Fushan Prefecture is a directly-governed prefecture, its area is large, but its population is actually not large. After all, this place belongs to the north. Except for the southern coastal areas, where the situation is better, the rest is not so good, so naturally it cannot accommodate too many people. population.
However, relying on the Fushan Strait that enters and exits the North Pacific, and the Fushan Port located in the north of the strait, the business of supplying passing ships and moving materials is still a good life.
Because these ports have complete facilities, not only civilian merchant ships will dock here for supplies, but the Da Chu Empire Navy has also set up a naval base here. It is mainly used as a sub-base for the Fuso Fleet and is responsible for offshore patrols and escorts in the central and northern parts of the Fuso Sea. wait.
The Susong docked at Fushan Port for half a day, replenished coal, fresh water and fresh food before continuing its voyage.
It entered the North Sea (Qionghai, Sea of Japan), passed through the Tsushima Strait, and also briefly picked up and dropped off passengers at the Busan Port. Then it continued westward directly to the Yangtze River estuary, and then entered under the guidance of a guide ship. The port is the largest large-tonnage ship in Songjiang Prefecture, namely Songjiang Outer Port.
This port is right next to the Wusong Naval Base. It is a deep-water berth port that can dock all ships currently in the Chu Empire, including the Su Song with a registered tonnage of more than 16,000 tons.
The reason why it did not enter the Songjiang City Port, which is the port in the Huangpu River, is mainly because the Su Song is too big...
Although the Huangpu River has excellent navigation conditions, the water depth of the main channel here can reach more than ten meters, and the shallow areas are more than nine meters. It can be navigable for giant ships of 10,000 tons... However, being navigable does not mean that it must be navigable.
The Su Song, which is two hundred meters long, twenty meters wide, and has a draft of 8.5 meters, is much larger than a 10,000-ton battleship... If you want to enter the Huangpu River, the requirements for ship control and navigation are relatively high. , once it deviates from the main channel, problems can easily arise.
The Pacific Trading Company has spent a huge amount of money to build such a top-notch luxury liner, but it will not easily venture into the inland river.
For the sake of safety, the port where it was berthed was chosen at the Songjiang Outer Port next to the Wusong Naval Base at the estuary of the Yangtze River.
When the ship slowly docked, many passengers appeared on the deck and looked toward the land, and Song Erniu was no exception... This was the first time he had returned to his homeland in many years.
Many years have passed, and to be honest, his memory of his native land has become a little blurry. The only thing that still has a deep memory is the countless factories in Songjiang City and the mellow smell of coal...
Seeing the local land again, Song Erniu, who was standing on the top deck, couldn't help but open his eyes and carefully look at the familiar and slightly unfamiliar place ahead.
Not far ahead, a large number of warships could be seen moored at the docks along the river. Song Erniu was not a senior military expert, and he could not identify any specific models of the warships in front, but he was still shocked... because that There are really many!
Many dock berths extend tens of meters out to the river, with several warships parked side by side. There are many more such warship docks in the Wusong Port Naval Base area.
Most of the warships parked are ships of hundreds of tons or more than a thousand tons. Many of them are river warships, but there are also large warships of thousands of tons.
But what was a pity for Song Erniu was that he did not see the legendary 10,000-ton battleship here.
What Song Erniu didn't know was that although the Dachu Imperial Navy regarded Wusong Naval Base as its main port in the early days, with the continuous development of the navy's scale and the increase in the number of large-tonnage deep-water warships in the ocean-going fleet, Wusong Port, the estuary of the Yangtze River, The naval base became less suitable.
The reason why this place is important is not because its geographical conditions are very suitable for becoming a large military port, but because it is stuck at the mouth of the Yangtze River and is a strategic location to protect the prosperous Jiangnan area, and even protect Songjiang City and the capital.
In the early days, when the fleet of the Dachu Empire was not too large and there were not many large-tonnage warships, this place was barely adequate. However, as the size of the navy increased, it was no longer enough.
Therefore, after a detailed survey, the Dachu Imperial Navy finally carried out large-scale construction in Xiangshan, Zhejiang to build a new super-large military port.
The scale of its construction is very large, and the construction time lasted for more than ten years. It started construction in the 20th year of Chengshun, and it was used while it was being built, until today in the 38th year of Chengshun.
Xiangshan Port, which is not well-known to the outside world, has actually become the largest naval base in the Chu Empire. It is also the headquarters of the First Fleet and the Third Fleet of the Chu Empire's home fleet.
Although the Wusong Naval Base at the mouth of the Yangtze River is still an important military base of the Chu Empire, it is no longer used as a large home port base for the ocean-going fleet. Instead, it serves as the headquarters of the second fleet of the local fleet, the Yangtze River Fleet.
Of course, based on the importance of Wusong Naval Base, the headquarters of the local fleet is actually still at Wusong Naval Base.
Therefore, the warships that Song Erniu saw now in the Wusong Naval Base at the estuary of the Yangtze River were all warships of the Second Fleet, that is, the Yangtze River Fleet. They were mainly inland river and offshore warships. Generally, their tonnage was not large, and the largest ones were only a few four-year-old warships. Just a 5,000-ton offshore battleship.
If you want to see a large number of cutting-edge battleships of seven to eight thousand tons or even tens of thousands of tons, you can only go to the Xiangshan Military Port in the south and Hong Kong in Guangdong further south.
Hong Kong in Guangdong in the south is the most important in the southern mainland of the Chu Empire. It can even be said to be the most advantageous natural military port in the country. It has long been used as the main port of the navy. In the past, it was the headquarters of the Nanyang Fleet. , later the Nanyang Fleet moved south and evolved into the Indian Ocean Fleet, and the headquarters also moved to Ceylon.
Hong Kong is used as an important naval base for the mainland fleet and is also the headquarters of the local garrison fleet, the South China Sea Fleet.
Today's Dachu Empire's navy is huge. The number of main battleships alone has maintained a huge scale of 600 for a long time, including battleships, offshore battleships, cruisers, and frigates.
This does not include the larger number of small-tonnage offshore patrol ships and inland river gunboats.
It also does not include a large number of various auxiliary warships, such as landing ships, communication ships, supply ships, hospital ships, and transport ships.
The navy of the Dachu Empire was huge, and the huge imperial navy naturally required a large number of excellent ports as military ports.
The main military ports in the mainland include Busan, Lushun, Qingdao, Wusong, Xiangshan, Zhoushan, Quanshan, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Lianzhou.
In Fuso there are Nagasaki, Edo, and Fukuyama.
In the Nanyang region there are Cam Ranh Bay, Singapore and Banten.
In further overseas regions, there are important large military ports such as Colombo on the Island of Ceylon, Cape Town in southern Africa, and Jinshan Port in North America.
There are even more various small and medium-sized military ports and dual-use military and civilian ports... Basically, wherever there are Chu people, there will be Chu people's warships, and where there are Chu people's warships, there will naturally be Chu people's military port.
However, most of the so-called military ports overseas are small-scale dual-use ports, which can only berth small-tonnage warships. At the same time, they do not have maintenance and repair capabilities and can only carry out simple rest, supply and maintenance.
For example, Cadiz in Europe is currently very important. The European fleet of the Dachu Empire Navy has planned to use this place as the home port of the European fleet. However, the infrastructure here is too poor to allow large-tonnage warships to directly It is even more difficult to repair warships when they dock, and even the maintenance of large-tonnage ships is troublesome.
For the Port of Cadiz to play its role as a real European fleet homeport, continuous construction is required. Several deep-water berths must be built, and then a ship repair yard that provides basic repair capabilities for warships must be built, otherwise it will be The only purpose is to avoid the storm, replenish supplies, and allow the sailors to go ashore for a walk...
Relatively speaking, the conditions of domestic military ports are much better, such as Wusong Naval Base. This place can not only park warships, because next door is Songjiang Naval Shipyard, which can be used to maintain, repair and even modify and upgrade warships. .
After all, Songjiang Naval Shipyard is currently the most technologically advanced and largest shipyard in the Chu Empire. This shipyard has two 20,000-ton dry docks alone... It is a pity that these The 20,000-ton dry dock was built for a new generation of warships. However, after it was actually completed, it could only be used to build civilian ships... because in terms of ship tonnage, military warships have been greatly surpassed by civilian ships.
Civilian luxury liners were all rushing towards 20,000-ton ships, while the Navy's battleships were still struggling with their 10,000-ton battleships, and they felt that 10,000-ton battleships were too expensive and unnecessary, so they turned around and went back to build a scaled-down version of 7,8,000-ton ships. The battleship went.
This caused the Songjiang Naval Shipyard, which had previously spent a lot of money to expand the 20,000-ton dry dock, to spray blood directly onto the Huangpu River... They thought that the navy's warships would become bigger and bigger. In order to cooperate with the navy's future shipbuilding The plan was to start the expansion of the dry dock a few years in advance. Unexpectedly, after the dry dock was built, the Navy said that it would not build large-tonnage battleships for the time being... but would go back to build a shrunken monkey version of seven or eight thousand tons of battleships.
If it weren't for the orders for multiple civilian luxury passenger ships of 10,000 tons and several tons, the 20,000-ton dry dock built by Songjiang Naval Shipyard would have caused a huge waste!
The construction of such a large dry dock requires huge funds. Even if the dry dock is expanded from the original 10,000-ton dry dock, the cost is still very high.
If it is not used to build large-tonnage ships after it is completed, it will actually be a waste of production capacity.
However, the fierce competition between Pacific Shipping Company, Jiangnan Shipping Company and several other ocean shipping companies has caused major shipping companies to constantly pursue large-tonnage luxury passenger ships, from 10,000 tons to 14,000 tons, and now Sixteen thousand tons, there are also 18,000 tons large luxury passenger ships under construction and even 20,000 tons under design.
The demand for the construction of these large luxury passenger ships prevents the large-tonnage dry docks of large shipyards such as Songjiang Naval Shipyard from going to waste.
Otherwise, apart from the navy's battleships and the large luxury passenger ships of major shipping companies, there really aren't many giant ships with a registered tonnage of more than 10,000 tons these days...
In fact, the main passenger ships or transport ships of major contemporary shipping companies are generally ships with a registered tonnage of several thousand tons. Passenger ships with a registered tonnage of 2,000 tons to 5,000 tons are contemporary private transport ships, whether they are passenger ships or cargo ships. The main force of the ship.
As for ships with a tonnage of over 10,000 tons, they are the signboards of various shipping companies... rather than being used for business, they are used as signboards to demonstrate the company's strength and drive its general passenger ship business...
Therefore, in the passenger transport market these days, it is actually small and medium-sized passenger ships that make money.
Although the large-tonnage luxury liner business is also very good, you can often see the situation of being full. At first glance, it seems to be very profitable, but considering the expensive construction costs and equally high operating costs... If you want to make a lot of money from luxury liner It’s actually impossible to make money!
However, various shipping companies are still interested in large-tonnage luxury cruise ships. This is because what everyone values is not the operating income brought by the luxury passenger ships themselves, but the improvement of the company's brand and the stimulation of other passenger transport businesses. .
At the same time, in order to increase the operating income of luxury liner as much as possible, major shipping companies will also launch a series of value-added services on luxury liner, that is, eating, drinking and having fun.
Ordinary passengers taking ordinary ships only bring ticket revenue to shipping companies... But mid- to high-end passengers taking luxury ocean liner of more than 10,000 tons bring shipping companies not only ticket revenue, but also income from many value-added services.
Because each shipping company has a variety of entertainment facilities on its own luxury liner, including food, drink and entertainment. And during a cross-ocean trip that can take a month or more, you are not afraid of not spending money...
Luxury passenger ships of various shipping companies rely on value-added services on board to earn more revenue.
But even so, even if the daily operation of luxury liner seems to be very profitable, however, considering its high construction cost, if the cost of the ship is finally factored in... the money that shipping companies make on luxury liner is actually not much.
The real main force in making money is those seemingly inconspicuous small and medium-sized ships of several thousand tons.
It’s just that many ordinary people don’t know about these things. Just like many ordinary people don’t know about many luxury jewelry brands in later generations, high-end series with prices ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions are basically just for show... they can’t be sold all year round. How much revenue.
What really makes the company money are the affordable products that sell in volume...the money they make is the money of middle- and high-income earners who imitate the lives of the rich.
As for the money of the truly rich?
How many rich people are there in total? How much money can a rich person spend all day long?
Therefore, all large enterprises with some pursuit and ability are too lazy to do the so-called rich people's business. It is difficult to make money and there are many things to do. How can it be easy and happy to cut the leeks of low- and middle-income people?
Many passenger shipping companies in the Dachu Empire actually followed the same path as the luxury jewelry companies of later generations. Luxurious cruise ships were used for viewing and showing their strength. As for the real money, it was the ordinary passenger ships that were inconspicuous.
Song Erniu's clothing company is similar. Song Erniu's clothing company also has finished clothing of several high, middle and low brands. The category has also expanded from the simple canvas clothing in the past to clothing of various fabrics. Last year, it even launched high-end clothing. Customized business attire brand.
However, Song's clothing company's main revenue still comes from denim brand canvas clothing, and this brand of canvas clothing is actually work clothes...with its core competitiveness of being wear-resistant, convenient for work, and cheap.
The main users of denim brand canvas clothing are the ordinary people at the bottom, especially miners, factory workers and even ordinary farmers in the countryside are important customer groups of Song's Clothing Company.
The majority of the lower class people in the Americas like to wear the denim canvas clothes of the Song Clothing Company, and this is how a millionaire like Song Erniu was created...
If it relied on so-called high-end brands such as high-end woolen professional attire and traditional silk Hanfu, Song Erniu would have gone bankrupt long ago...
Song Erniu's clothing company is mainly engaged in the canvas clothing business, and its consumption of various types of canvas is increasing. At the same time, as the competition for ready-made garments in the North American market becomes more and more fierce, Song Erniu's return to China will not only go on blind dates and show off. , and also want to find suitable suppliers of canvas and other various fabrics locally.
Eliminate the steps of trading companies and reduce the supply cost of raw materials as much as possible.
The low-end garment market is very price-sensitive. If you want to maintain market competitiveness, the selling price cannot be too high. If the selling price cannot be high, then all costs, especially the cost of raw materials, must be controlled.
Today the cost of sourcing various fabrics through trading companies is too high.
If we can find a suitable local supplier to purchase directly and transport it to North America, then the cost in this area can be reduced a lot.
In addition, Song Erniu also plans to set up a branch factory in the local area to produce the denim brand clothes that are popular in the American market and popular with the local people locally and fully promote them to the local market!
This time when he returned to his homeland, he came with ambition!
He wants the former boss’s eldest daughter, and he wants the local ready-to-wear market even more!
(End of chapter)
