What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 693 The Pearl Reappears (3400 Monthly Tickets in August)

Gekkin's space program stalled halfway through, but other programs are still proceeding smoothly.

The shipyard located in Yangjiang was completed at the end of June during a closed construction period. It was built on the site of a former local shipyard, occupying a dry dock.

The construction of the No. 13 aircraft carrier has been underway for almost two months and is nearly one-third complete, with the underwater portion already visible.

[Construction period: 54 days, 20 hours, 26 second/196 days]

To keep the entire construction process of the USS Super United States aircraft carrier a secret, the publicly released bidding information only mentioned Guangzhou Shipyard, which led the Empire to wonder why no trace of it was found in shipyards near Guangzhou. Who would have thought that it was actually built in the remote Yangjiang?

The Navy had wanted to check on the progress for a long time, but after the "big fish" defection incident, they were busy implementing enhanced secrecy measures, and it was not until nearly September that they decided to send an observation team of only a few people. Tang Wen also decided to accompany them to avoid any supernatural phenomena that might cause misunderstandings.

However, when he arrived at the naval office, he saw someone who looked somewhat familiar. The person was overjoyed to see him and immediately came up to greet him.

"Long time no see, Mr. Tang. Gai Jin is really thriving."

Wu Cheng, the director of Hudong Shipyard, is the one who harshly criticized the 1 million yuan price tag for disrupting the market surrounding the Type 055 destroyer.

Sensing his excessive enthusiasm, Tang Wen immediately had a premonition that trouble was about to befall him.

Sure enough, Old Zhang came over upon seeing this and said:

"Our shipbuilding industry is in trouble again!"

As he spoke, he turned on his computer, logged into the BBS, and found a post with over 10 views and featured posts:
[Night Wolf 888: Luxury cruise ships are the true jewels of the shipbuilding industry; the Fusang is already eighty years behind!]

Is it also related to Gaijin?

Tang Wen hadn't been browsing BBS much lately, but after sitting down for a while, he discovered it was a typical public intellectual's post. The gist was that he'd discovered China hadn't built any luxury cruise ships, so he went on to lavish praise on their technological sophistication, belittling the domestic shipbuilding industry while also trying to capitalize on the popularity of the joint defense forces, and even dragging out the battleship Fusang, which had signed the deck treaty, to criticize it.
[NightWolf888: Japan was able to build the Fusang almost a hundred years ago. I really don't know who would think that Gekijin's shipbuilding industry is impressive?]

[NightWolf888: Replying to post #14, all the ships Gekko built were useless WWI junk. Did they not want to build truly cutting-edge industrial LNG carriers, supertankers, and luxury cruise ships—the industrial gems—because they didn't want to make money? It's because their technology wasn't advanced enough!]

Tang Wen read through all of [Night Wolf 888]'s replies with great interest, then looked up and asked:
"so what?"

Wu Cheng was extremely surprised:

"Aren't you very angry? Besides, luxury cruise ships are indeed extremely difficult to build. In 1993, a Han businessman wanted to order a 45,000-ton cruise ship from us, but I declined after assessing the technical difficulties."

This article has put a lot of pressure on our entire industry. Even the higher-ups have said that we must master the technology for building luxury cruise ships!

Tang Wen: "..."

What a simple yet proud era...

Having experienced the full impact of the internet, he didn't feel anything, but in the early days, some guys frequently touted fields that were not yet available or lagging behind in China as shining gems, which really had a provocative effect.

Because of the huge impact of the development gap between China and other countries, the country urgently needs to rebuild its self-confidence, which is why it is so persistent in winning sports medals, bidding for the Olympics, and responding to doubts.

If this kind of rhetoric were used thirty years from now, it wouldn't cause any stir, because a strong nation no longer needs to actively prove its power in this way, and the public's confidence wouldn't be shaken by a few words.

But not in this era.

The prosperity of DaWang BBS and TianTian Chat Room accelerated the growth of the Chinese Internet, but also brought about its own consequences ahead of time.

Moreover, starting in the early 90s, a luxury cruise ship trend indeed swept the world. The largest, the "Voyager of the Seas," even reached a tonnage of 13.7 tons and incorporated a large number of emerging technologies, so calling it a jewel is truly an understatement. This "confiscation of property" caused a significant shock in the domestic shipbuilding industry, with many companies issuing statements through newspapers and hoping someone would step forward to defend it.

Tang Wen paid no attention and had no reaction, so he hoped to shift the burden to Hudong Shipyard, where he was asked to take on a luxury cruise ship order to prove his strength, which gave Wu Cheng a real headache.

The domestic shipbuilding industry's reaction was naive, but... also admirable. This was indeed the path once taken by the world's leading industrial nation. Tang Wen didn't mean to mock them at all. He looked at Wu Cheng and immediately tapped the table lightly.
"It's just a luxury cruise ship. We'll build and operate it ourselves!"

"well said!"

Wu Cheng gripped his hand tightly, moved. Although he had never seen Gaijin Heavy Industry build any advanced ships, at least Tang Wen was rich and no one questioned that he was carrying the banner of the domestic shipbuilding industry. He no longer had to worry about things all the time.

"Mr. Tang, how big of a cruise ship are you planning to build? Don't worry, I'll try to find some examples and reference blueprints. If you need technical support, just let me know. I'm determined to bring this industrial gem to fruition."

Tang Wen spoke slowly and deliberately:
"For a luxury cruise ship to be truly luxurious, it first needs to be large enough to accommodate all the features and ensure stable sailing... How about modifying it based on the Kinda-class?"

The two men who were nodding suddenly stopped, and Wu Cheng asked uncertainly:

"Modifying it based on the Kongo-class? That's certainly innovative. Although it's a bit small in tonnage, it has its own unique features."

"No, no, no, I meant the Kinda-class."

“五十万吨的那个金田级战列舰？那个1912年海军中佐金田秀太郎闲得无聊的时候随手画出来，600米长搭载50座双联装410毫米炮塔还能以30万马力跑42节的金田级超级战列舰？”

Wu Cheng raised his voice.

"Yes, wouldn't it be amazing to convert such a large platform into a cruise ship? Besides this, which other cruise ship would dare to call itself the jewel of the shipbuilding industry?"

Tang Wen's eyes grew brighter and brighter as he spoke. So far, he had almost only built normal ships. He had never tried the ultimate fantasy of the BB party, the extreme product of cannons and giant ships, the indescribable thing of the shipbuilding industry.

Of course, Kaneda Hidetaro's original design was definitely not good. A battleship of that size would be far more than 50 tons. It might not even be enough for 100 million tons. It was just filling in the parameters randomly. However, the 50-ton target was not impossible.

The world's largest ship is currently the "Nock Nevis" oil tanker, with a full load tonnage of 82 tons, a gross weight of 26 tons, a deadweight of 56 tons, a length of 458.45 meters, a width of 68.86 meters, and a speed of 16 knots with 5 horsepower.

Thinking of this, Tang Wen changed the subject:
"Why don't we just go for a million tons in one go? Has no one ever built a 500-meter-long ship before? Why not try to break the world record?"

"..."

Old Zhang was relatively familiar with Tang Wen and was somewhat prepared, while Wu Cheng swallowed hard.

He suddenly regretted it, wondering if he had put a devil into the shipbuilding industry.
"Mr. Tang, there's really no need to be so...exaggerated."

"What's this? This is all for our domestic shipbuilding industry!"

Tang Wen patted his shoulder forcefully, then suddenly remembered something and looked at Old Zhang:

"Should the navy also consider the possibility of floating fortresses, or even million-ton steel motherships?"

"What? You're hungry? I'll go ask the cafeteria to make you some noodles with gravy."

The young Orange Star was as swift as the wind, disappearing in a few moments.

(End of this chapter)