Daming 1805

Chapter 432 Future Target Fleet and Transition Phase

After this meeting, Zhu Jingyuan's work in Japan and North Korea, including Edo, officially began.

Promote the implementation of the general education examination certificate system, supervise and guide the construction of government-run manufacturers.

Residential areas, schools, hospitals and other facilities will be built in units of administrative districts at all levels.

Build small government-run factories in prefectures and counties, such as flour mills, food factories, clothing factories, furniture factories, daily necessities factories, bicycle factories, small household machinery and electrical appliances factories, etc.

Establish large and medium-sized government-run factories at the chief executive level, such as motor vehicle factories, automobile factories, civilian small aircraft factories, civilian diesel and gasoline and electric engine factories, agricultural and civilian machinery factories, civilian shipyards, etc.

Arrange and contact Daming Airlines, Dashi Commercial Bank, and relevant manufacturers of the Royal Consortium to provide technical support, and even directly transfer some of the midstream and downstream and marginal businesses of the Royal Consortium to the official consortium.

This was originally discussed by Zhu Jingyuan with Zhu Jianyan and Zhu Zhongliang, and the determination and direction have been made.

The scale of the Daming imperial consortium is extremely large.

Before the Industrial Revolution, as well as the industries in the era of the first industrial revolution, the imperial consortium basically covered all of them.

At the same time as the industrialization of the Ming Dynasty was completed, the royal family directly became the biggest capitalist.

In the era of the first industrial revolution, a large-scale monopoly group was created, which is a product of the era of the second industrial revolution.

Since seven years ago, when the world war ceased, under Zhu Jingyuan's suggestion, the imperial consortium also began to reform.

In recent years, we have been trying our best to "go up" and "go big".

Focus on the development of high-tech high-end industries and industries with sufficient economies of scale.

Such as petrochemical industry, iron and steel industry, aviation industry, high-tech materials, electric power industry, road and railway and shipping business, large machinery and large military and civilian ships, etc.

The original low-end industries, such as small trading houses, clothing factories, furniture factories, food factories, etc., have basically been included in the list to be cleaned up, except for a few high-end boutique industries.

At first, Zhu Zhongliang planned to transfer the marginal industry to private capital at a low price, but was dissuaded by Zhu Jingyuan.

Then the cleanup of these industries has been delayed, but business expansion has been completely stopped, and most of them are just maintaining their operations, and they are even continuing to downsize.

In fact, in this era of great industrial and commercial development, stopping expansion is a relative contraction.

Now that they are gradually handed over to the government-run consortium, these industries will continue to expand again.

With these industries as the foundation, the government-run consortium will develop rapidly.

At the same time, and in the process of transfer and construction, try to combine these reforms and constructions with the ticket system.

The ticket system is first applied in three aspects: houses, vehicles, and new electrical appliances.

There is no end to the daily work, but Zhu Jingyuan's training has reached this stage, and he no longer needs to be directly responsible for specific affairs. Most of the time, he is making decisions and guiding.

Yamen at the level of chief envoy basically did not directly face the affairs of the people, but instead guided and responded to the requests and decisions of the lower-level government and county yamen.

Zhu Jingyuan went to and from get off work on time every day, and dealt with various old and new problems in accordance with the procedures of the yamen.

Before you know it, summer is here.

After the naval treaties of the Thai and Western countries were formally signed, a copy of the treaty text was also specially forwarded by Honglu Temple.

Consultation and advice on foreign affairs is also one of Zhu Jingyuan's jobs.

Zhu Jingyuan was much busier than the average prince.

Zhu Jingyuan put down the document in his hand, took the naval treaty and looked through it.

Then I couldn't help muttering:
"How can this naval treaty be signed like this? The tonnage limit of all countries is the same? The navy is even fair?

"From large light cruisers to aircraft carriers, from armored cruisers to high-speed battleships, all of them are included in the tonnage of battleships, which is too much to deal with...

"More than [-] tons is considered a capital ship, and more than [-] tons is considered a cruiser. This standard is really low enough...

"In the future... there will be no destroyers in this world, only capital ships and cruisers..."

However, Zhu Jingyuan's muttering about this contract can only be regarded as complaints, without any actual feelings and pressure.

In Zhu Jingyuan's view, this treaty clearly means that many countries want to make do with it.

Some countries signed the contract in the name of not being weaker than other countries, and some countries signed the contract in order not to be isolated and targeted.

To what extent it will actually be implemented in the end is still completely unpredictable.

Then, after the morning court the next morning, the Secretary of General Administration sent Zhu Jingyuan a routine administrative notice.

Zhu Jingyuan's special status allows him to receive government affairs notifications that are more detailed and comprehensive than those received by ordinary administrative agencies.

Zhu Jingyuan can also get special explanations and interpretations for many news that are not in the public bulletin.

In the official bulletin, it only mentioned that Emperor Zhu Jianyan of the Ming Dynasty requested that the speed of shipbuilding be doubled every year.

In Zhu Jingyuan's own briefing, he mentioned the division of labor for the newly added ship construction.

The shipbuilding industrial centers in Liaodong and Jiangnan will build two aircraft carriers every year in the future.

The shipbuilding industrial center in Guangzhou will build two high-speed battleships every year in the future.

The military shipyards in Edo and Shicheng will build a high-speed battleship every year starting next year.

The construction arrangements for secondary cruisers and destroyers are also pre-allocated in a similar proportion.

At the same time, the target gross tonnage of the naval fleet was also mentioned, which was actually doubled from 400 to 800 million tons to [-] to [-] million tons.

The total number of aircraft carriers and battleships also doubled from thirty to forty to about eighty.

Finally, Zhu Jingyuan was asked to supervise and coordinate the Edo Shipyard to make preparations and start construction of more than [-] battleships next year.

After reading it, Zhu Jingyuan became a little worried.

Of course, the worry is not whether the work can be completed, nor is it how much pressure the construction of eight 800-ton warships each year and the total naval tonnage of [-] million tons will put on Daming.

Instead, I feel that doing so will cause the shipyard to lose gear in more than ten years.

Zhu Jingyuan took out a piece of white paper, drew a few lines on it with a pen, and cut out scattered dots one by one on the line:
"Eight ships per year, eighty ships in ten years, the shipbuilding plan can be completed directly, of course there is no problem.

"The problem is that the theoretical life of the capital ship I designed is at least 30 years.

"Then ten years later, the target [-] capital ships have all been built, and all of them are far from the time to be replaced.

"In the next 20 years, did Ming completely stop building capital ships?

"Ships of [-] tons and [-] tons are mixed, and there are about [-] capital ships in total. Does Ming Dynasty really need so many?
"Even if all of them are replaced with warships of 400 tons, forty capital ships with a total tonnage of [-] million tons can still be built..."

When talking about this, Zhu Jingyuan suddenly realized something, and frowned, thinking:
"It seems that we will not stop building capital ships. After the [-]-ton aircraft carrier, we will design bigger and bigger aircraft carriers.

"[-] tons or even [-] tons.

"Early [-]-ton aircraft carriers will be eliminated and retired, and used as training ships or anti-submarine ships, or even directly demolished.

"At the same time, the battleships will be gradually phased out, the number will become smaller and smaller, and even the construction will stop completely.

"Eventually capital ships will all become aircraft carriers...

"That is to say, speeding up shipbuilding now will result in a large number of warships that will be eliminated in a dozen or 20 years...

"This is too uncomfortable, this is a waste of resources...

"Why didn't Dad ask himself?

"Or did he not take this matter to heart at all?"

After Zhu Jingyuan realized this, he went to compare Daming's current GDP and fiscal revenue and expenditure.

Then he sighed in despair and said:
"This ratio... really won't make him take it too seriously..."

Zhu Jingyuan slumped on the chair and thought about it for a while, and finally cheered up again:

"Father, you don't care about the money, I can't watch you waste it...

"In the current situation, new warships have to be built, but it can't be built in the current way..."

Zhu Jingyuan picked up the pen again, took out a new piece of paper, and began to plan his own plan.

First list the long-term goals decades later, and then make an overall construction plan based on the life cycle and purpose of the ship.

In the era of heavy carrier-based aircraft of more than 24 tons, with the size of Ming itself and the Ming Navy, it should be a very reasonable figure to have [-] to [-] large aircraft carriers of [-] tons.

At the same time, it is also feasible to retain eight [-]-ton high-speed battleships and convert them into dedicated command ships for large fleets.

Finally, in the future naval system, amphibious assault ships will also occupy a high position and should also be included in the capital ship system.

With the size of the Ming Navy, it is reasonable to have sixteen large amphibious assault ships of [-] to [-] class.

These ships add up to a maximum of 360 million tons.

Coupled with some amphibious ships of about 400 tons, the theoretical capital ship tonnage exceeds [-] million tons.

This is almost the long-term goal of Daming in the future.

The Ming Dynasty's construction and maintenance of these ships will not be more difficult than the US Navy in Zhu Jingyuan's previous life.

It may be different from what many people think, but the American shipbuilding industry has always been stretched.

It's not just that the hips are stretched after de-industrialization in the new century, even the American shipbuilding industry in World War II, which was crazy and explosive, also stretched the hips.

Especially when compared with the UK, American ships are still expensive and the quality is not good.

This is not only because the United States can be regarded as a latecomer country compared to the United Kingdom, but more importantly, the United States engages in trade protection.

The Jones Act promulgated by the United States in 1920 stipulates that ships providing shipping services in the United States must be completely assembled in the United States, and the main body of the ship must be manufactured in the United States.

Moreover, at least 75% of the ownership of the ship is owned by U.S. citizens, and at least 75% of the crew must be U.S. citizens.

The initial stage of trade protection is of course beneficial. It can promote the development and growth of corresponding local industries and prevent corresponding industries from facing the impact of mature foreign products when they are immature.

However, after the corresponding industries are basically mature, if the trade protection is not lifted and the related industries are not allowed to participate in international competition, most of the related industries will be raised and abandoned again...

Such is the case with American shipbuilding.

The speed of shipbuilding in the United States during World War II was unprecedented, but it was basically built on the strength of money.

At that time, although the American Liberty Ships were indeed large in quantity, their quality was far inferior to that of British cargo ships, and their prices were much more expensive.

It's just that Britain is on the front line of the war, and there is no way to let go of production. It can only import a large amount of American goods.

Regardless of whether the United States has de-industrialized or not, the native American shipbuilding industry bred under trade protection will never be able to produce high-quality and cheap warships.

Therefore, whether it is a warship or a civilian ship, the United States has never been cheap since the outbreak of World War II.

Daming can also be said to have trade protection now.

However, the scale of Daming has already exceeded the standard. There is no need for foreign manufacturers to compete with Daming manufacturers. The competition of Daming's own manufacturers can bring down the price.

Not to mention that Ming also had government-run shipyards and imperial shipyards. The Ming Navy’s own procurement scale was also much higher than that of the US military. The Navy’s own orders can produce scale effects, thereby reducing actual production costs.

So Zhu Jingyuan's goal is not really ambitious.

But more importantly, how to transition from the current state to the target state before reaching this target scale.

The first is the battleship.

Battleships are destined to be eliminated, so it is impossible to release unlimited construction.

The number should be controlled at an appropriate node, and the construction ratio of aircraft carriers should be reduced.

At the same time, the battleships under construction now and in the future should be designed directly with the command ship as the target.

Then there are aircraft carriers.

Before the aircraft carriers are all upgraded to super aircraft carriers of more than [-] tons, different levels of aircraft carriers can be used in combination.

Therefore, the design and construction of the aircraft carrier and the upgrade itself can be carried out step by step.

But it is necessary to control the number of aircraft carriers of different tonnages.

Especially after the construction of the [-]-ton aircraft carrier has started, the construction of a [-]-ton conventional aircraft carrier should not continue.

However, it is possible to design an amphibious assault ship based on a [-]-ton aircraft carrier hull.

The decks and hangars of the amphibious assault ship in the new sense can mobilize and use propeller aircraft from the World War II era.

The dock required by the amphibious assault ship can also be temporarily used as the lower hangar or spare parts warehouse.

These amphibious assault ships can still be used as carriers in this day and age.

The early design can focus on the aircraft carrier in function, and start to focus on amphibious operations after the mid-term overhaul.

The last is the application of new technologies such as electromagnetic detection equipment, guided weapons, and turbine engines.

Subsequent warship designs should make reservations for these weapons and equipment.

The turrets of cruisers and destroyers should be able to easily modify missile launchers and ammunition magazines.

New warships should be equipped with more generators to meet the use of electromagnetic detection equipment.

At the level of research and design of helicopters, the application of turbine engines should be considered.

Zhu Jingyuan sorted out these ideas of his own, clearly stated the purpose of the amphibious ships headed by the amphibious assault ship, and clearly described the design scheme of the amphibious ships that he knew.

He wrote a relatively formal report and suggestions, and sent it directly to his father.

(End of this chapter)