Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 244 The Third Military Shipyard

ps: Thanks to book friends 20170125175037966 for the 500 Qidian coins and Haihua Empire Emperor for the 100 Qidian coins for their support!
"The Patagonian Indians want to send me women?"

Li Mingyuan took a document handed over by Shen Fushan, director of the Security Department, and said with a smile, "Even the people of Patagonia know that I am not married. It seems that this matter can't be delayed any longer.
Fushan, you should inform Liang Xingtong, the director of the Nanyang Military Intelligence Department, and tell him that I agree with their recommendation. In a few days, let them send Wu Lingxuan to the mainland, and hold the wedding after the unification of Argentina."

"Miss Wu is gentle and virtuous, and is a perfect match for Your Highness."

Shen Fushan said something nice, and then said, "Director Liang has sent me a message. The Jiangnan Shipyard established by the Qing Dynasty in Shanghai was reported to have permanently stopped operations a month ago. More than 200 skilled workers in the shipyard have lost their jobs and are busy looking for work elsewhere. Director Liang suggested that we recruit these skilled ship workers to the Han Kingdom before they leave for Japan, so as to increase technical talent for the country's shipbuilding industry."

"The Jiangnan Shipyard has been shut down for a year or two, right?"

"Exactly two years later, in April 1876, after the Jinou Mosquito gunboat was completed and launched, the two factions of the Qing government, ship buyers and shipbuilders, had a fierce dispute. In the end, the ship buyers prevailed and stopped the shipbuilding plan of the Jiangnan Shipyard. The shipbuilders in the shipyard also waited for two years without starting work."

"Although Zeng Guofan suppressed the Taiping Rebellion, he still had vision and insight. In 1861, he established the Jiangnan Shipyard against all odds and produced the first ironclad warship in Asia. However, Li Hongzhang was far less far-sighted than Zeng Guofan. Li Hongzhang only focused on the development of his Huai Army. In order to expand the interests of the Beiyang Group, he ignored the existing shipyard and chose to purchase warships from the great powers.

He is short-sighted and self-centered. I don’t think the navy of the Beiyang Group can accomplish anything in his hands.”

"Your Highness, you can see that Jiangnan Shipyard and Fuzhou Shipyard were both established earlier than the two local shipyards. Before Jiangnan Shipyard stopped working in 1876, the shipbuilding capacity of the Qing government was not better than that of Xinjing Shipyard and Xinghe Shipyard, but it was more than enough to suppress several shipyards in Japan. However, after the Qing government gave up its own shipbuilding and decided to purchase warships from the great powers, Japan used the technology learned from imitating and purchasing British warships to independently build small ironclad ships. The gap between the Qing government's shipbuilding technology and Japan is getting smaller and smaller. In a few years, Japan will undoubtedly become the number one shipbuilding country in Asia.

The 1350-ton ironclad ship built by the Xinjing Shipyard was successfully launched. The domestic shipbuilding capacity was technically superior to that of the Qing government. Moreover, the technical workers of the Xinjing Shipyard had basically mastered the patented technology purchased from Darman. Even without the guidance of Darman and the French technicians he brought with him,
The Xinjing Shipyard also had the ability to independently manufacture three-stage expansion steam engines and entire ironclad ships.

Your Highness, it is safe to say that after ten years of development, the country's warship construction capabilities are slowly catching up to the average level of Western countries. With the return of students who have studied in the United Kingdom, Germany, and France in recent years, the Han country's independent shipbuilding capabilities will grow faster and faster."

"In order to develop the two shipyards, the government has invested in them for ten years. After all, the local population is limited. The mainland has a population of 400 million. Relying on the huge population, the Jiangnan Shipyard that Zeng Guofan decided to build has trained many useful talents. There are not many skilled shipwrights in Xinjing Shipyard and Xinghe Shipyard. Recruiting skilled shipwrights from Jiangnan Shipyard and re-establishing a shipyard can expand the local shipbuilding capacity, which is also good for the competitive development of several shipyards."

Li Mingyuan first expressed his support for recruiting Jiangnan Shipyard workers, and then continued to instruct, "The skilled workers of Jiangnan Shipyard have not started work for two years, and their families must be in great financial difficulty.

Fushan, please write a telegram for me, suggesting that Liang Xing immediately start to help the technical workers who are in difficult living conditions, and then discuss with them about working in the Han Kingdom. "

"Your Highness, it takes quite some time for the telegram to be forwarded from Shanghai and Nanyang to South America. Director Liang explained in the telegram that in order to prevent the technical staff from falling into the hands of the Japanese, Xi Zhengpu and Wu Diaoqing stationed in Shanghai took out their family wealth accumulated over the years to support the technical workers of Jiangnan Shipyard. Before the telegram was sent, 78 technical workers were willing to work in the mainland, and more than 90 people had not made up their minds and were considering whether to come."

"Xi Zhengpu? Is he the comprador who used to work at HSBC Bank in the UK?"

Li Mingyuan asked.

“Yes, your highness.

Xi Zhengpu and Wu Diaoqing were both compradors of British banks. They joined the Military Intelligence Department under the introduction of Director Liang Xing.

"Liang Xing is a good businessman and has good intelligence skills. Putting him in charge of intelligence work in Nanyang is the right position." Li Mingyuan nodded, thinking back to when he asked Liang Xing about his thoughts. As a result, Liang Xing gave up the opportunity to work in the Ministry of Commerce and chose to do intelligence work in South America. He didn't think it was appropriate at the time. Now it seems that the communication skills Liang Xing has acquired after decades of business are more suitable for use in the intelligence field.

"Secretary Liang is more than a dozen years older than me. His ability to collect intelligence and recruit intelligence personnel in Southeast Asia is worth learning from."

Shen Fushan lowered his attitude and said seriously, "Director Liang has the ability to identify people. He discovered two talents, Xi Zhengpu and Wu Diaoqing, during a trip to Shanghai a few years ago. Now Shanghai's immigration work is well managed by Xi and Wu. If I can learn a little bit of Director Liang's ability to identify people, the intelligence work in South America will be carried out more smoothly."

"Fukuyama, don't be too hard on yourself. The countries surrounding South America are all white countries. It is much more complicated to place intelligence personnel in white countries than in the mainland. I see your efforts in intelligence work and will not interfere too much in your intelligence work in South America."

Liang Xing's ability to collect intelligence and identify people is slightly better than Shen Fushan's, but Shen Fushan is loyal and prudent, so it is very appropriate to have him by his side to be in charge of South American intelligence work. If another person were to take on the position of director of the Security and Protection Department, Li Mingyuan might not be able to completely rest assured.

Xi Zhengpu and Wu Diaoqing were famous compradors in the late Qing Dynasty. Li Mingyuan was not an economics student who specialized in the economic history of the late Qing Dynasty, so he had never heard of their names. However, based on their performance after joining the Han Kingdom, Li Mingyuan keenly noticed that the two could be of great use, so he said, "The Military Intelligence Department and the Security Department have the power to act at their own discretion. Xi Zhengpu and Wu Diaoqing's actions are very good and are not considered self-willed."

Li Mingyuan paused, and then said, "The technical shipwrights of Jiangnan Shipyard are all valuable talents. We can recruit one more shipwright to the mainland of Han. As long as we don't use the means of killing people to get goods, and let them act according to the circumstances in Shanghai, the more shipwrights we recruit, the better.

As for the funding, I will withdraw enough silver from the inner treasury. You write a telegram for me to tell Liang Xing that he should not be afraid to spend money to recruit ship workers. Jiangnan Shipyard pays one tael of silver to technical ship workers, and Han State pays three or five taels. As long as they are willing to come, everything will be fine. "

"As you command, Your Highness."

Shen Fushan carefully recorded Li Mingyuan's orders.

"Also, return the money Xi Zhengpu and Wu Diaoqing paid in advance. We cannot let them pay for things they have done for the Han Kingdom."

Shen Fushan nodded and wrote down the key points, then raised his head and asked, "Your Highness, how do we deal with the affiliation of those skilled boatmen we recruited when we withdraw funds from the inner treasury?"

"Based on the technical shipwrights recruited from the Jiangnan Shipyard, a new shipyard will be established, named the Han Royal Shipyard."

Li Mingyuan added, "Although the Royal Dockyard was established with funds from the inner treasury, officers at all levels of the National Defense Force and the Intelligence Department can also invest and hold shares. You can go back and discuss with other officers to come up with a specific investment ratio."

"Thank you, Your Highness, for your gift. On behalf of the officers and soldiers of the Security Department, I would like to thank Your Highness."

After the Xinjing Shipyard successfully built a light cruiser, local companies involved in overseas trade placed commercial orders with the Xinjing Shipyard and Xinghe Shipyard.

The profits of the steam shipyard were enormous. Li Mingyuan agreed to allow ordinary officers to invest in the soon-to-be-established Huangjia Shipyard, which was equivalent to sharing a laying rooster with ordinary officers and soldiers. Therefore, Shen Fushan thanked Li Mingyuan on behalf of his officers and soldiers.

(End of this chapter)