Number of People

  Chapter 485 Ziying, what do you think?

  The situation of Longjiang Shipyard is much better than that of Qingjiang Shipyard.

This was originally the shipbuilding base of the former Ming Dynasty. After the establishment of the Great Zhou Dynasty, it gathered the most and the best shipbuilders of the Great Zhou. However, over the years, the sea ban of the Great Zhou has made this place shrink day by day. Although it is much better than Qingjiang Shipyard , but even from the perspective of Feng Ziying, a layman, he also knows that the current Longjiang Shipyard is really embarrassing.

   It is said that fists cannot be separated from hand, and music cannot be separated from mouth. These shipbuilders have been born for so many years, and many of their skills are naturally unfamiliar. If they want to start building ships immediately, it is estimated that they are already a little powerless.

  Seeing the gloomy faces of several officials, several officials of the Longjiang Promotion Department of the Ministry of Industry and Industry were all in a disturbed mood, and Wei Guangwei was also sighing.

This kind of situation is much better than that of Qingjiang. Although it is not good-looking, but this is not something that can be done by anyone. Some tank boats have little technical content, and other boats are built piecemeal. If it is a big boat, I'm afraid I don't even think about it.

  Back to the guest house, Cui Jingrong called several people to discuss.

After all, everyone knows that there should be no ambiguity in the matter of shipbuilding. If you can do it, you can do it, if you can’t do it, you can’t do it. If the strategies of the sea are all controlled by overseas businessmen, it will really become a distraction.

  "Ziying, what do you think?"

   This sentence is almost a copy of "Yuanfang, what do you think?" After going south to the south of the Yangtze River, Cui Jingrong used this sentence the most, and Feng Ziying and others are also used to it.

"Mr. Cui, I don't have any opinion. Although Longjiang Shipyard is slightly better than Qingjiang Shipyard, I'm afraid it hasn't built seagoing ships for so many years. I'm afraid the technology of seagoing ships is still at the level of 10 or 20 years ago. But as far as I know, even the ships of the smuggled sea merchants have far surpassed the ships built by the Longjiang shipyard, and the news from Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian states that the ships from the Xiyi people are far away from the sea. The sailing ability is better than our big Zhou sea ships. If we can't quickly master this kind of technology, I'm afraid that the matter of opening the sea will become a move to lure wolves into the house. If the Xiyi and Japanese all master large sea ships Manufacturing technology, and it is said that there are many cannons on board, so wouldn’t our coastal land become a free place for them to come and go?”

  Feng Ziying didn't have much hope for Longjiang Shipyard at first. They haven't built seagoing ships for decades. What else can you expect them to do?

   This is especially the case after seeing the Qingjiang shipyard, but I still hold a hope that even if it can't be built, at least the basic craftsman and technician level can't be too bad, right?

   But now it seems that it can only be said to be better than Qingjiang Shipyard, and it is probably pure wishful thinking to want to undertake shipbuilding for the future naval fleet.

  Thinking that these things are not things that can be done in a day or two or even a year or two, Feng Ziying became anxious again.

The coastal areas of the Great Zhou Dynasty have been in peace for a long time. At least the frontier troops on the nine frontiers of the Northland still feel a little nervous, but on the coastal area, whether it is the local government or the guard camp, they are still stuck on how to deal with the Japanese pirates who landed. I never thought about how to wipe out the Japanese pirates at sea, but once the Xiyi people and even the Japanese pirates used artillery technology on warships, how could Dazhou resist it?

  Even if it won’t be like the situation after more than 200 years, but thinking that the Xiyi people can roam freely along the coast of the Great Zhou, this kind of aggrieved feeling is unbearable.

  Feng Ziying's words made several people's faces darken.

However, the situation of the Longjiang shipyard is there. Wang Ziteng in Denglai still hopes that the craftsmen and technicians of the Longjiang shipyard can go there quickly, and cut down some big logs from Liaodong as soon as possible to open the sea to build the navy fleet. It appears that this is clearly not feasible.

  But if Wang Ziteng's request is not met, not only the military's opposition will definitely increase, but also the dissatisfaction of the northern scholars will increase.

  Liaodong is the top priority of the Nine Frontiers, and how to ensure the food and logistics of Liaodong is the most important thing, which is better than Ji Liao. This is also the basis for the compromise between the northern scholars and the southern scholars.

"Ziying, from Qingjiang to Longjiang, in my opinion, this government-run shipbuilding seems to be of no benefit except for raising a lot of lizards. I also heard that Huai'an, Linqing and Jinling private shipyards, if they build The cost of tank ships is 60% or more lower than that of our Qingjiang shipyard, and 40% lower than that of Longjiang shipyard, and the quality is even worse. I don’t know if it’s true or not? Bofu, have you heard of it?”

  Feng Ziying and Sun Juxiang exchanged glances, and it was Sun Juxiang who said first: "Master Cui, the Longjiang Shipyard and Qingjiang Shipyard have always been in charge of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Nanjing Ministry of Industry, and there is little involvement in Beijing..."

  Cui Jingrong snorted lightly.

Feng Ziying pondered for a while, "Grand Cui, I see that there are many idlers in Qingjiang Shipyard and Longjiang Shipyard. Of course, there are mediocre people among them, but more of them really have no work to do. But now that the sea is about to open, Do you think the Longjiang and Qingjiang shipyards can take on the heavy responsibility of building seagoing ships?"

   Seeing that Cui Jingrong and others were shaking their heads, Feng Ziying was not polite and put forward her own ideas.

"The lower officials also thought it was impossible, and the existing private shipyards in Ningbo, Quanzhou, Guangzhou and other places all have the ability to build seagoing ships, but the imperial shipyards are not capable. In the opinion of the lower officials, it is better for the imperial court to order and supervise the private shipyards. Build ships for Denglai, and also recruit merchants in the name of the governor of Denglai to set up a shipyard in Denglai that can build large sea ships. The imperial court will reserve the ships for several years in advance, and give a deposit, and then draw from Qingjiang and Longjiang shipyards Select some craftsmen and send them to Denglai, as a supplement for the lack of personnel of these shipbuilders, everything will be done according to the folk shipbuilding rules,..."

   "How can this be done?!" Wei Guangwei, Wu Liangsi, Sun Ju and others all objected in unison.

   "Why not?" If Feng Ziying knew this, he would be fine if he didn't convince these people, and he was also ready to fight with them.

Wei Guangwei, as an official of the Ministry of Industry, pondered for a while before saying: "Ziying, I understand your eagerness, but the craftsmen of Qingjiang Shipyard and Longjiang Shipyard are all artisans and belong to the imperial court, how can they be used by those merchants? There is no such precedent, and how can this kind of shipbuilding technology be spread to the outside world,..."

  Speaking of Wei Guangwei getting stuck here, this technology is really not worth mentioning. Earlier Feng Ziying said that coastal folk shipbuilding technology is far superior to this side.

According to Feng Ziying's vision, the immediate goal is to support a batch of shipbuilding factories. The model can be based on the Japanese method of supporting industrial conglomerates in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, privately run and government-sponsored, and supported in terms of technology, equipment and capital, and then the state Orders to promote it quickly spawned several shipyards capable of building large ocean-going ships. Only in this way can they catch up in terms of time and efficiency.

In an ordinary time, I am afraid that such proposals will not be accepted at all, especially if the craftsmen affiliated to the Ministry of Industry are allocated to private shipyards for use, and they must operate according to the model of private shipyards, then the craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry What has become? Where will the Ministry of Industry be located?

  Feng Ziying has a lot to think about. Far from this point, it is impossible to build a shipyard in a short period of time with the craftsmen of Qingjiang Shipyard and Longjiang Shipyard alone, let alone a naval fleet.

"Brother Xian, there is no precedent for opening the sea to raise debt, but as long as it is beneficial to Dazhou, you can let go, let alone a few craftsmen in the area?" Feng Ziying dismissed it, "As long as the shipyard that meets our requirements can be quickly built, What's the point of asking the emperor to withdraw the registration of these craftsmen as a reward for building ships that meet the needs of the navy fleet?"

  Feng Ziying’s radical views made Cui Jingrong a little frown. This withdrawal is not a simple matter. It involves the descendants of craftsmen. If they all withdraw their registration, who will work for the Ministry of Industry in the future?

But Feng Ziying's words are not unreasonable. Time is running out now. One of the two major missions of this trip to the south is nominally to investigate whether Ningbo, Quanzhou or Zhangzhou are more suitable to open the sea first. Investigate the overall industrial scale and types of cities in the south of the Yangtze River, and the possible changes after opening the sea, such as Linqing, Dongchang, Xuzhou, Huai'an, Yangzhou, Jinling, Songjiang, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou are all in in.

Opening the sea is not just as simple as building ships and conducting business at sea. Feng Ziying analyzed the changes that may be brought about by opening the sea in detail in her report to the cabinet Ye Xianggao, Fang Congzhe, and Emperor Yonglong, and also mentioned the possibility of expanding the scale of sea trade taxes. and the need for growth in related industries that are required.

  Because Feng Ziying deliberately avoided the potential possibility of establishing standards and rules for future commercial taxation, neither Ye Xianggao nor Fang Congzhe had any objections.

In fact, in Feng Ziying's view, if the industrial and commercial industries continue to expand in the future, it is inevitable to establish and revise the scope, standards, and tax rate details of commercial taxes, but there is no need to anger those gentry and merchants in Jiangnan. After the sweetness comes, boil the frog slowly in warm water.

  Another major task is to establish a maritime link between Denglai and Liaodong as soon as possible, establish a strong naval fleet, and ensure a smooth and efficient logistics supply line in the event of increasingly fierce battles in Liaodong in the future.

  The previous mission was smooth. Although there were some potential threats, it did not become a reality after all, so it was steadily advancing, but this mission in the direction of Denglai was a bit troublesome.

  The situation of Qingjiang Shipyard and Longjiang Shipyard can be said to be unable to support the demands and hopes of Denglai Governor Wang Ziteng, let alone achieve that goal in a short period of time, which is even more unrealistic.

   It can be said that whether it is opening the sea or securing the supply line of Liaodong, it is closely related to shipbuilding, but now there is a problem in the first link, and it is a big one.

  (end of this chapter)