Hong Kong Island: From a small stall to a global supplier

After a few jokes, the matter was settled.

“Let’s modify these two vehicles first. Once they’re done and I approve them, we can modify 10 more. Also, these two speedboats need to be modified for maritime escort between Hong Kong and Macau. We need to install a 1.5-cubic-meter enclosed safe in the cockpit. I don’t know the specific design details, but it needs to be partially bulletproof for security personnel to use in case of a counterattack, without interfering with the continued use of the top-mounted machine gun,” Wang Yaotang said. “I ordered four, so let’s use the other two for further testing and improvements.”

"That's fine," Factory Director Zhao nodded in agreement.

Wang Yaotang looked Zhao, the factory director, up and down, and his expression gradually changed.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Director Zhao asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Let's set up a joint venture shipyard," Wang Yaotang said, his smile suddenly brightening.

"Huh? A joint venture? You?" Factory Director Zhao raised an eyebrow. "What technology do you have?"

"So what if we don't have the technology? Does that mean we can't do joint ventures? Money can do just that!" Wang Yaotang immediately became unhappy, thinking, "Who do you think you are?"

Factory Director Zhao chuckled, "If you have money, of course you can. Show off your money! What kind of joint venture do you want to do?"

"Fiberglass boats, in the thousand-ton class, are used for fishing, passenger and cargo transport, and can also be developed into luxury yachts in the future."

"Fiberglass production line? This needs to be imported from abroad, and it's a technology that's embargoed in China."

“If there’s no export ban on Hong Kong, there’s always a way to circumvent it.”

"But we also need to import the materials, and the import tariffs are very high."

"For sales to Hong Kong, Macau and Southeast Asia, what we need is domestic production technology and low labor costs."

"What about sales channels?"

"I'll get it sorted out. Of course, it's just an idea. The production line, material imports, and sales channels need to be laid out little by little."

"I don't think there's a problem."

After having lunch at the shipyard, Wang Yaotang returned to the city in the afternoon.

The New Year's Eve gala was actually quite boring...

At first, the leaders gave speeches, all official jargon and platitudes. Wang Yaotang started to feel sleepy after listening for a while. Just as he was dozing off, Director Zhao brought someone to his side and said, "Wang Yaotang."

"what?"

"Let me introduce Director Zhou of the Post and Telecommunications Bureau."

"Hello."

"Hello."

"Here's the thing, Director Zhou wanted to ask if it's possible to help procure a telephone exchange."

"A telephone exchange?" Wang Yaotang frowned.

“Yes, you know what it’s like to make calls from inland areas. You have to manually connect the phone, the waiting time is long, and the call quality is poor. It’s really hindering Shenzhen’s economic development,” Director Zhao said with a wry smile. “When calls from counties to the city take more than ten minutes to be transferred, and within the province it takes half an hour. If it’s from other provinces…”

Director Zhou picked up the thread, "Currently, we use cross-connect switching technology in China, and in rural areas, we use magneto-type manual switches. Long-distance calls require manual transfer, and the success rate is less than 40%, which is really..."

"As far as I know, Fuzhou is in talks with Fujitsu of Japan to import the F-150 Chengwan gate switch, but they are asking for a very high price of $1200 per switch. They are not a special economic zone."

"That's $1200 million? Are you crazy?" Wang Yaotang exclaimed in surprise.

"That's crazy. On the international market, AT&T in the US quotes 6.5 million for a complete 10,000-door system, and Siemens EWSD quotes 6 million."

"How dare those Japanese ask for such a high price? Aren't they afraid of competing with other manufacturers?" Wang Yaotang frowned, but he vaguely remembered that the domestic telecommunications market in the 80s and 90s was completely a mix of international systems, with products from all over the world.

It wasn't until the mid-90s that domestically produced versions entered the market.

"Currently, they are using the embargo on the eight-tube (a type of bamboo tube) as an excuse, but I estimate that the price will be reduced later. Right now, the higher-ups hope to use them to open a breakthrough, otherwise the domestic communication technology is too backward, which has already restricted market development."

"Can't it be made domestically?"

"We're still at the level of analog technology. There's an analog technology missing from there, and then comes digital technology. What's more, we can't even manufacture the hardware chips domestically, so we have to import them," Director Zhou said with a wry smile.

Wang Yaotang frowned and pondered for a moment, wondering if he could conduct related research and development after recruiting a group of technical personnel.

can!
When will we see results?
do not know.

However, we still need to import chips to start production.

Of course, more importantly, I don't have any money right now!
Damn it, why is making money so hard?!

However, this is something that definitely needs to be done. The electronics industry is the future trend, and I remember that Hong Kong's electronics manufacturing industry is doing quite well right now. We can start making arrangements first.

Keeping this in mind, Wang Yaotang smiled and said, "Director Zhou, how would you like me to help?"

"Could we import it through Hong Kong or Macau to bypass the Eight of Bamboo?"

“If it’s just a single machine, that’s no problem. I can agree to it right now. At worst… cough cough. But I can’t give you a definite answer right now about this kind of publicly requested technology. However, I will try my best to find a way.” Wang Yaotang said after a moment of thought.

"Then I'll have to trouble Mr. Wang to take care of it," Director Zhou said with a smile.

"Don't mention it, it's all for the development of the country." Wang Yaotang laughed heartily.

After Directors Zhou and Zhao finished speaking, they took their leave, and Director Shi came over and sat down next to Wang Yaotang.

"Is something wrong?"

"You just said that a single set of machinery could..." Director Shi asked in a low voice, as if he were a thief.

"What are you going to do?" Wang Yaotang asked, somewhat amused and exasperated.

"Is it possible to get a CNC machine tool?"

Wang Yaotang remained silent.

"Two-axis CNC machine tools are fine. You don't know, the machine tool technology in China is relatively backward right now. We are currently in pilot production, and the annual output nationwide is less than 100 units. Moreover, all the key components have to be imported. As for three-axis, we don't even have them."

Wang Yaotang blinked. "I can find a way to get the equipment, but three or five units won't solve anything. If we want a large quantity, we need to display it openly, which requires foreign exchange."

"Could you help me set up a three-axis machining center?"

"I……"

"The country will not forget you."

"Alright, but don't rush, I need time." Director Shi grasped Wang Yaotang's hand.

Wang Yaotang smiled and shook his head slightly. Another job was coming up.

Wang Yaotang never even considered getting involved with CNC machine tools; it was impossible!

Three-axis machines—Hong Kong can definitely import these, but he doesn't know the quantity. Besides, this is his home turf, so some things are actually harder to do.

We still need to find a solution from abroad. Hmm, France would be good, Marseille?

Let old Marseille find a company to order a batch from the Japanese, then 'rob' it!

Having more of these is of little use. Domestically, the only use for these things is reverse engineering. However, machine tool technology is different from others. Knowing the principle is useless if you don't have the relevant industrial capabilities. For example, you can't produce precision ball screws, linear guides, or microprocessor CNC controllers.

Of course, having something is better than not having it.

Three-axis machining can now be used to process complex curved surfaces, which is of great help to aviation and aerospace.

If we could get a few CNC machine tools for Wenchong Shipyard, even just two-axis ones... tsk tsk.

After spending a party with the leaders and hearing a series of flattering remarks and praises, I set off for Hong Kong early the next morning.

This time, we didn't go through customs; we boarded a speedboat at our own small pier in Shekou.

After rushing out of Shekou Wharf, the speedboat circled around to Jianfeng Mountain, a small island at the confluence of the three rivers. The speedboat passed by the shore at a speed of 15 knots. Wang Yaotang operated the Type 56 light machine gun, aiming at a reef a few dozen meters away and pulling the trigger.

"Da da da"

"Da da da"

After a series of long bursts of fire, the reef was out of range after 10 seconds. Wang Yaotang immediately turned his head and asked, "How was it?"

"Hit, three or four shots, I think." Ah Jie put down his binoculars and rubbed his hands together. "Your marksmanship isn't very good either. Come on, watch me."

"Heh, people who come back from Italy are really something else." Wang Yaotang laughed and made way for the speedboat, which then made an arc and returned along the same route.

"Da da da"

"Da da da"

"Looks like your mouth is much tougher than your marksmanship," Wang Yaotang laughed heartily.

"I'm just not used to it. You must have practiced secretly before." A-Jie said with a look of dissatisfaction.

"Move aside, it's my turn." Ah-Ji grabbed Ah-Jie by the back of the neck.

"Line up, line up!" Ah Wei and Four-Eyes shouted, leaning against the car window.

Each of them received 30 bullets. The five brothers all tried it out and found shooting really fun.

"That's not how you shoot a gun!" Bisna crossed her arms and looked down at the group. "Watch closely, learn to predict ship movements, and pay close attention!"

Bisna reached out and pushed the men aside. She gripped the machine gun, tested its feel from all angles, and then fired it to get a feel for it. "Come on, let's begin!"

The speedboat sped past again. Bissina, fully focused, didn't pull the trigger in a fixed rhythm like on land, but instead fired in sync with the speedboat's rhythm, according to the swaying and rocking motion beneath her feet.

Holding binoculars and staring at the rocks on the shore, Wang Yaotang's mouth opened and closed in surprise for a moment. Accurate!
That's fucking accurate!

The reef looked only two meters wide and a little over a meter high, but at least 10 out of 30 bullets hit it, a hit rate far higher than his own.

"That's sharp!" Wang Yaotang gave a thumbs up, squinted and thought for a moment, and roughly understood why Bisina was so accurate.

“This…” Bisna pointed to the support, frowned and thought for a moment, “I can feel that this thing reduces the degree of the ship’s rocking, but when I was in service before, the machine guns on the speedboats did not have this. It was just a cylindrical support that could rotate up, down, left, right and even horizontally. The machine gunner had to stabilize it himself. But now, when I use this, I feel a lot of resistance. I don’t know how to express it.”

“This is called a damper. Do you think it would be better to adjust it?” Wang Yaotang asked, frowning.

“It will definitely improve accuracy,” Bissina nodded.

"Let's go, turn around and go back."

Half an hour later, Bissina gestured and spoke in a mix of English and Cantonese to describe her experience using the device and her experience with the stabilizing system on the Dutch ship.

Engineer Qiu drew a rough sketch on the paper, and Bisina nodded repeatedly, "That's basically it."

"Engineer Qiu, is it useful?" Wang Yaotang asked.

“It’s useful.” Engineer Qiu nodded. “The current design uses a damper to reduce heave energy, but the downside is that it’s complex to manufacture and expensive. Her design relies entirely on inertia, but the downside is that the adjustment range is not large. However, it is simple to manufacture, inexpensive, and can be adapted to larger caliber cannons.”

"Let me think about how to combine their strengths together."

"Haha, as long as it works." Wang Yaotang laughed.

After wandering around for a while, it was already noon when they returned to Hong Kong Island. The brothers went to work on the shop, while Bissina went to pick up her custom-made dress.

With a figure like hers, you simply can't buy one without custom-made items...

She's also going to the TVB gala tonight. After a month of training and experiencing military life again, she wants to relax a bit.

There were quite a few people at the TVB gala tonight, with audience tickets.

Collaborators, actors' families, and the audience seats need to be filled. These people arrived early as required, which ensured that everyone was in the studio.

Half an hour before the party was to begin, Mona Fong appeared at the entrance on the first floor of the building. At this time, a series of motorcades began to arrive, all of whom were guests invited by TVB.

Two Cadillacs drove in, the doors opened, and Wang Yaotang and his brothers got out. Bisina was wearing a red dress tonight, and her 190cm height was very eye-catching.

At this moment, she was holding Ah Jie's arm, one tall and one short, which looked somewhat comical.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Fang Yihua at the entrance and introducing his brothers, Wang Yaotang entered the building and was led into the venue by staff.

The venue was almost full at this moment. As soon as the six people entered, especially with Bisina there, they instantly attracted everyone's attention.

In the second row, Leng Sheng, who was chatting with Chen Huimin, frowned and tilted his head to stare at the tall figure in the red dress. Just then, Bisina also looked over, and their eyes met briefly in the air.

Sitting down around the round table in the first row, Bisina leaned to the side and said to Wang Yaotang, "Well, my trouble has arrived."

"Trouble, what... Oh, you mean enemy? Who is it? Here?" Wang Yaotang paused for a moment before realizing what was going on; he had almost forgotten about it if he hadn't been told.

"To the left rear, the new son-in-law, nicknamed Leng Sheng."

Wang Yaotang turned his head and looked over, nodding with a nonchalant smile. (End of Chapter)