I want to be emperor

Chapter 583 Lee's Shipyard

Guangzhou Shipyard is one of the large shipyards laid out by the Ministry of Industry of the Great Chu Empire. Together with the Naval Shipyard in Songjiang, it is a professional shipyard that provides various types of large ocean-going warships for the Great Chu Empire Navy.

In addition to these two, there are Tianjin Shipyard and Qingdao Naval Shipyard, but the scale of Tianjin Shipyard is not large, and Qingdao Naval Shipyard is still under construction.

These medium and large shipyards directly under the Ministry of Industry all have a common feature, that is, they manufacture all new types of ships, which are new types of ships improved based on Galen ships.

These improved Galen ships are more suitable for ocean voyages, and when used as warships, they can carry a large number of artillery for combat.

And when used as a transport ship, it can also load more cargo, well, naturally it can also deploy more artillery than ordinary merchant ships.

As for why merchant ships still talk about artillery... that is because merchant ships these days are all armed merchant ships, and it is unimaginable to go to sea without artillery...

Therefore, when measuring the performance of a merchant ship, its firepower must be taken into consideration. Otherwise, no matter how much cargo is transported, it is still sending money to others...

Going out without a cannon, as soon as you leave the port, pirates and even fellow maritime merchants dare to rob you!

Why did Fuchuan, Cantonese, Niaochuan and a series of medium-sized ships become more and more powerless after entering the seventeenth century?

It is because of its seemingly superior watertight cabin that it is impossible to deploy too many artillery.

If the artillery is not enough, you will basically be beaten to death in the age of great navigation!

The new ship type established by Chu Naval Ship Administration is based on the Galen ship type, but it has also been greatly improved. Compared with the traditional Galen ship type in the West, it also has very obvious characteristics, that is, the superstructure is very large. They are short, and even some ship types don't have the so-called poop and forecastle at all.

In the era of line artillery, warships have a low center of gravity, and being able to equip more artillery is king.

Having a bunch of seemingly tall superstructures will not only make the enemy's shots more accurate, but also make your center of gravity higher, so you can't deploy too many artillery and heavy artillery.

There are no benefits, but there are a lot of disadvantages!

Because when the Chu Navy designed warships based on the Galen ship, they directly lowered the superstructure of these ships. This not only lowered the center of gravity, but also equipped more artillery and heavy artillery.

At the same time, the deck area can be expanded, and the sail area can be expanded to increase the maneuverability.

-

When used as a transport ship, the center of gravity is lowered, and more cargo can be carried for ocean voyages.

This deeply improved version of the Galen ship type, or the perfect version, was born purely for the era of line artillery warfare.

The Li family valued this new type of ship!

Of course, they didn't say they wanted to build warships. What they wanted was to build new types of ocean-going merchant ships and sell them to trading companies that ran ocean-going trade.

As a large number of iron products under their command are exported and the Li family directly participated in the maritime trade of the Great Chu Empire, they are very clear that in recent years, more and more merchant ships have entered and left Guangzhou Port, which means that maritime trade has become more and more prosperous. The ship is getting tense.

Because the trade along the western Pacific coast is becoming more and more prosperous, many sea merchants have gone to Guangzhou Shipyard to buy ships, but Guangzhou Shipyard is the second largest supplier of warships to the Great Chu Empire Navy. They even have warships and military transport ships. The armed merchant ships of several government-run large-scale trading companies can't produce enough, so how can they have extra production capacity to accept external orders.

The Li family saw all these things in their eyes, and the Li family believed that the shipbuilding industry had great potential!
In this way, he made up his mind to invest huge sums of money to enter the shipbuilding industry.

Naturally, they didn't just start from scratch stupidly, but directly spent money to buy a private shipyard in Guangzhou. This shipyard has been established for many years and has experience in building large-scale Fuzhou and Guangzhou Shipyards. Last year, they even successfully copied one. New Galen improved ship type.

Technically, this shipyard is not bad, it is just a little smaller.

As for why such a shipyard was finally acquired by Li's, on the one hand, they had internal conflicts, and on the other hand, Li's naturally spent enough money.

As long as the money is sufficient, it is not difficult to acquire a shipyard.

After the acquisition of this shipbuilding company, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of the Great Chu Empire issued a series of new policies. These policies seemed to have nothing to do with shipbuilding, but they allowed Li to see a signal from the top officials to encourage and support private capital.

Immediately invested a lot of money, ordered several sets of large-scale hydrodynamic machinery from Guangzhou Machinery Company, and hired people to expand the original dry docks to produce larger ships.

They began to dig all kinds of craftsmen everywhere, not only domestic craftsmen, but also some barbarian shipbuilding craftsmen in Southeast Asia.

In February of the [-]th year of Chengshun, Li's Shipyard completed its transformation and was officially listed for business, with the signboard of undertaking large ocean-going ships.

In addition, before being taken over, the shipyard itself had already manufactured a [-]-[-]-ton Galen ship, and its strength had been proven. Now the famous Li family has invested a huge amount of money in upgrading and remodeling. Let those sea merchants come to the door to place orders.

Not only ordinary maritime merchants, but even the Nanyang Trading Company, which is directly under the Ministry of Industry, came to the door directly after hearing that this Li's shipyard claimed to be able to build a new type of Galen ship with a capacity of more than [-] tons. An order for a ton-class new Galen armed merchant ship!

Li Shangyun, the actual power holder of Lee's Steel, looked at the thick stack of orders on the table, and then looked back at his two younger brothers, the second and third largest shareholders of Lee's Steel, and said: " If I put an additional 5 taels into the shipyard, you should have no objection?"

The second brother of the Li family said: "No objection, the shipbuilding industry has great potential!"

The third brother of the Li family was even more straightforward: "An additional [-] is still too little, just add an additional [-]!"

"We will build a few more docks to expand production capacity, and we will also develop a raw material supply system. It will be the same as those textile factories, and the scale will be expanded, but the supply of raw materials will be stuck. !"

"We can increase investment in high-quality timber acquisition channels in the Nanyang region. At the same time, we need to directly establish logging farms in the upper reaches of Xijiang and Beijiang, and we can also set up a sailing branch factory."

"With the continuous increase of maritime trade, the shipbuilding industry has ushered in a big explosion, and there will be many people who can see this. I am afraid that in another year or so, the shipbuilding industry will experience the same tragedy as the textile industry. competition, when the time comes, the supply of raw materials will be the top priority!"

Li Shangyun glanced at his two younger brothers, and immediately smiled: "It seems that you, like me, have great expectations for the future of the shipbuilding industry. Since this is the case, we will raise funds to expand production capacity. Then build your own raw material supply channels!"

"Strive to expand the production capacity to a higher level within one year, and improve the raw material supply system within three years!"

When the Li family actively participated in the shipbuilding industry due to the outbreak of maritime trade, the maritime trade industry itself also ushered in an investment boom due to the continuous expansion of maritime trade.

This time, not only official capital but also private capital entered it.

In the ocean trade of the Great Chu Empire, the official capital did not actually enter at the very beginning. It was not until after Zheng Zhilong’s department was incorporated that the three major trading companies directly under the Ministry of Industry were successively established, namely Nanyang, which is responsible for trade in the Nanyang sea area. The trading company, the Dongyang Trading Company in charge of Fusang, and the Eighteen Trading Company, which is involved in both aspects, are mainly reorganized from the original fleet under Zheng Zhilong's department.

The name of this eighteen trading company is derived from the early maritime group, that is, Shibazhi.

These three ocean-going trading companies are large-scale trading companies with armed merchant ships. They go to Fusang or Nanyang for trade, transport the goods there and sell them to the local aborigines.

Another part is sold to sea merchants in India, Central Asia and other regions, and even European sea merchants. They will transport these goods to India, West Asia and Africa, and even transport them all the way back to Europe for sale in order to earn high profits.

However, the ocean trading companies directly under the three major industrial ministries are only part of the maritime trade of the Great Chu Empire. In addition, there are also some maritime trading companies reorganized by traditional maritime merchants. Shang did not adopt the method of prohibition, but adopted the method of support.

Therefore, there are still quite a few large or small maritime trading companies in the Great Chu Empire. The small ones may only have a small blessing boat, while the large ones may have a fleet of dozens of large seagoing ships.

Since the Great Chu Empire opened up the sea trade, the domestic sea trade has been increasing day by day, not only the increase of its own merchant fleet, but also a lot of foreign sea trade.

Because the Great Chu Empire was open to trade, several ports dedicated to foreign trade were designated, and ships from almost all countries were allowed to trade.

During this process, the Dutch, Portuguese, and Spaniards were the first to taste the sweetness, and then the British, who had already established a foothold in India, also began to organize fleets to trade.

And the competition between them is also quite cruel. When they were in the South Seas, everyone was more restrained. The main reason was that the officials of the Great Chu Empire expressed their dislike of pirates with practical actions many times, and they did not hesitate to launch many operations to encircle and suppress the so-called pirates. Guarantee the safety of the sea route from Nanyang to the Great Chu Empire.

In order to avoid offending the Great Chu Empire Navy, these countries have restrained their competition in the South China Sea.

But once you pass Malacca and enter the Indian Ocean, especially when you reach the coast of Africa, the competition will be great.

Because it means the European market!

In recent years, merchant ships of many countries have been attacked by shameful pirates in this sea area. How many of these pirates are naval vessels of various countries is a matter of opinion.

Once attacked by pirates, the big Chu goods or Nanyang spices that the sea merchants spent a lot of money on were plundered, not to mention, even the ships were robbed...

This is also the cruelty of contemporary maritime trade... It is not only necessary to fight against the dangerous sea, but also to guard against peer competition, and sometimes the danger brought by peer competition is even greater.

This is also the reason why the merchant ships of the Great Chu Empire have not been involved in European routes for the time being. Most of the merchant ships transported goods to several ports in Southeast Asia for trade, and a few powerful trading companies began to try to transport goods to India. several ports to sell.

Want to get involved in the most profitable and most competitive European market.

It will inevitably lead to fierce interest conflicts with Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and the dispute will not be at 01:30 at that time.

The current policy of the Great Chu Empire is to accumulate maritime power first, and use merchant ships from Western countries, West Asia or other countries to conduct trade, and sell the goods first. It's time to expand and take control of the route to Europe.

After all, the routes of these years need to be guaranteed by force, and the navy of the Great Chu Empire cannot go to the Indian Ocean for the time being, let alone the Atlantic Ocean.

And without the escort of naval warships, if your own merchant fleet runs over, even if it is an armed merchant ship, you will easily encounter pirates... and these pirates, there is a high probability that they will still be flying the flag of a certain country's navy before launching a battle!
For this reason, the officials of the Great Chu Empire are still very cautious to remind the private maritime trading companies that it is okay to do anything casually when conducting trade in the offshore and Eastern seas, but if you go to Nanyang, you must bring artillery...

As for the Indian Ocean, the coast of Africa, and even Europe, they are absolutely high-risk areas. If you don't have enough strength, don't go there.

The British are considered a naval power these days, but they have to be careful when they are in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia.

The Dutch almost trouble them every day...

The maritime trade competition between them has become more and more fierce, but now that the British are still fighting a civil war, it is estimated that they will not be able to spare a fight with the Dutch for a while.

It can be expected that after the British Civil War is over, no matter which side wins, the war with the Dutch will be put on the agenda.

One of these two countries is an island country, and the other is a small coastal country that focuses on commerce. Maritime trade is their core interest. The competition in maritime trade between the two countries is a competition of core national interests, and there is basically no possibility of reconciliation.

This is different from the Great Chu Empire. The purpose of the Great Chu Empire's maritime trade is purely to sell goods!

As for shipping, that's just incidental!
There is no essential difference to the Great Chu Empire that its own merchant fleet transports goods there for sale, and other ships come over and transport goods back for sale. They are all goods sold.

As long as the markets of various countries are open to the Great Chu Empire, the core interests of the Great Chu Empire will not be damaged.

Therefore, the Great Chu Empire treats merchant ships from all countries equally. As long as you can come to purchase goods, then you are good friends of our Great Chu Empire.

At the same time, the Great Chu Empire Navy will also provide absolute security in the offshore waters of the Great Chu Empire. Even in the depths of the South China Sea, the Great Chu Empire Navy will also provide the safety of certain fixed routes to avoid pirates.

Because the fleet of the Great Chu Empire Navy will conduct regular patrols on several fixed routes, and merchant ships from any country can accompany it!
but……

If one day, a certain country begins to refuse to import goods from the Great Chu Empire, then it will be time for the Great Chu Empire's navy to appear.

The purpose of the Great Chu Empire Navy is not only to control and defend its own sea territory, but also to open up and protect overseas markets!

Otherwise, the Great Chu Empire would be crazy to invest so much money in building and maintaining a huge navy!
(End of this chapter)