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Chapter 197 Baroque: Do you know how much $150 million can buy? (Second update!)
America, southeast corner of Washington, D.C., on the banks of the Anacasta River.

This is the headquarters of America's Naval Systems Command.

It is the core organization of the American Navy responsible for ship design, construction, maintenance, and nuclear weapons system upgrades, and its history can be traced back to the 19th century.

In 1815, America's Navy established the Washington Naval Shipyard in Washington, D.C., becoming one of the world's earliest and most systematic centers for ship repair and construction.

In 1842, the American Navy established the Washington Shipbuilding and Repair Bureau, which was responsible for the design and construction of ships.

In 1862, the Washington Ordnance Bureau was established to be responsible for the development of shipborne weapons, such as shipborne cannons and torpedoes.

During World War II, in 1940, the various bureaus that had been set up here were merged into the Naval Bureau, which took unified control over America's naval shipbuilding, upgrading, and maintenance.

In 1959, America established the Naval Ship Systems Command (NAVSHIPS) here, responsible for strengthening the management of the entire life cycle of ships.

In 1966, in response to the Cold War, the Naval Ships Bureau and the Ordnance Bureau merged to jointly develop new technologies.

In 1974, the American Navy underwent a major overhaul, and NAVSHIPS was officially transformed into the Naval Systems Command, or NAVSEA.

It became one of the five major system commands of the Navy.

The remaining four are Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR).

Primarily responsible for the research, development, testing, and maintenance of naval aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, avionics equipment, shipborne catapults (EMALS), and arresting systems.

Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC)

Primarily responsible for the planning, construction, and maintenance of naval bases worldwide.

They also transported oil they had collected in other countries along the way.

Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP)

Primarily responsible for global naval supply chain management (fuel, food, ammunition, spare parts).

What American soldiers eat depends entirely on the whims of these men.

Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR)

Primarily responsible for naval cyber warfare, electronic warfare, and information warfare technologies, as well as maintaining satellite communications and network security.

It also routinely operates the Navy's C4ISR system, encompassing command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.

At this moment, Baroque sat in the NAVSEA commander's seat, occasionally tapping the table with his hand.

The rhythm of his tapping was irregular and disordered, which also indicated that the general was not in a good mood.

After tapping his fingers for a while, he took a document from the drawer and placed it on the table.

The document was a table listing some of the important parts that the America Navy was very prone to wear and tear during daily use.

At the very end of these parts, there are two prices.

The first price is the price for similar products used in previous years, and the second price is the price for this year, that is, from October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010, the 2010 fiscal year.

Compared to previous years' prices, the prices have increased by about 20%.

Looking at these prices, Baroque wanted to laugh, but couldn't.

As the leading force among the five major naval systems, NAVSEA receives the largest annual budget among all system commands.

These funds are increasing every year, but they are still not enough.

While rising material costs are certainly a factor, the bigger reason is that everyone is reaching into their pockets.

Although Baroque himself was also taking things, he believed that he was doing it openly and honestly, at least when he was taking things, he did the work.

If you've done the work, the remaining money is what you deserve.

This is his motto in life.

But the situation has changed in the last two years. Everyone is thinking about spending money, but no one wants to work.

It's very annoying.

He easily found the price of the aircraft carrier arresting gear in the table.

One, $150 million.

This represents an increase of $130 compared to last year's $20 million.

Upon seeing this, a cold glint flashed in Baroque's eyes. He then picked up the phone and dialed back the number he had just used.

A few seconds later, the call was answered, followed by a series of wailing and howling sounds:

“Mr. Baroque, $50, that’s the lowest I can go.”

"If we reduce the cost too much, we won't be able to cover it. If the other party cancels the deal, we won't get anything."

After listening to the wailing and howling from the other side, Baroque rhythmically tapped his fingers on the table, letting the knocking sound carry to the other side. Only after they understood clearly did he ask:

Are you sure the product they produce can meet your needs?

"I need a clear answer from you now, or you can provide supporting evidence."

After those two sentences, there was immediate silence on the other end of the phone.

Just as Baroque was about to continue questioning, a commotion came from the other side.

After a while, Smith's voice came from the other side:
"Sir, I have recorded a video of about ten seconds and sent it to your email. You can take a look."

Is there a video?
Hearing that there was a video, Baroque breathed a sigh of relief.

Hearing is believing, seeing is believing. If there is a video to prove it, then there is indeed a strong chance to convince others.

Out of curiosity, he opened his email and found the email that had just arrived.

The email attachment contained a 15-second video.

Download and click to play.

Under the shaky camera lens, Baroque saw a silver-white metal shuttle fixed in three tracks.

Below this metal shuttle, there was a hook hanging. The next second, the metal shuttle suddenly popped out and sped forward along the track. The speed was so fast that the sound of the wheels rubbing against the track was extremely noisy. Even Baroque, watching from behind the screen, found the sound jarring.

Just then, a cable suddenly shot out from under the track, hooked itself precisely onto the hook, and then yanked the metal shuttle in place.

The speeding metal shuttle suddenly stopped as if someone had pressed the pause button.

Upon seeing this, Baroque's lips curled up slightly, and the worry on his face disappeared, leaving only joy.

He picked up the phone again and dialed Smith's number.

Once the other end answered, he immediately added, "I'll go find someone else right now, explain this to them, and then you prepare the relevant documents, get the money, and bring the goods back as soon as possible."

After explaining everything, Baroque hung up the phone, then grabbed a pen from the side and crossed out the manufacturer responsible for providing arresting gear for the aircraft carrier in the form, replacing it with Smith's company—San Francisco Special Metals Manufacturing.

After doing all this, Baroque put the pen on the table, took the documents, walked out the door, and knocked on the door of the office next door.

America was extremely fond of the separation of powers, so the America Naval Systems Command also operated under a separation of powers system.

The top leadership has three positions: Commander, Deputy Commander, and Chief Engineer.

The commander was Baroque, who held the rank of Vice Admiral. In his daily work, his direct superior was the Chief of Naval Operations.

His daily work involves strategic planning, budget allocation, and cross-service coordination.

His deputy is the deputy commander, a civilian position that does not require military rank. The deputy commander's main duties are to maintain the daily operation of the headquarters and facilitate interdepartmental collaboration.

Finally, there's the chief engineer. The chief engineer's job is to oversee the daily operation and maintenance of all ships and subsystems.

Changing the manufacturer of the aircraft carrier's arresting gear is a simple matter if it's not taken seriously, but if it is, things can get complicated.

Therefore, all three of them need to sign this form to confirm that this matter occurred.

In the deputy commander's office, Deputy Commander Hyde was hunched over his computer, seemingly calculating something.

Hearing the noise at the door, the other person immediately looked up, saw it was their old partner, and quickly lowered their head to continue working.

Baroque slowly approached, then slammed the form in his hand onto the other person's table. Before the other person could speak, he placed his phone in front of them and clicked play.

That 15-second video appeared in front of Hyde so unexpectedly.

After watching for only a short while, Hyde figured out what was in the video.

Aircraft carrier arresting gear.

He watched the short video several times and then pushed the phone back in front of Baroque:

"Commander, what are you trying to say?"

Do you know how much you can buy with $150 million?

Hyde opened his mouth, not understanding what the other person wanted to say, but since the other person was the commander, he couldn't very well offend him. He lowered his head and thought for a moment, then opened his mouth and said:
“A pound of bread costs about $15. $150 million can buy 10 pounds of bread.”

"If it were beer, that would be five dollars a liter, which would be enough to buy 30 liters of beer."

"However, it is not good for our soldiers' health to drink beer that costs five dollars a liter; they should drink beer that costs 50 dollars a liter."

The two figures Hyde presented made Baroque roll his eyes.

Taking a deep breath, he said directly, "Since last year, almost all parts manufacturers have been raising prices, and the increases have been quite significant."

"So I had my people find some parts suppliers around the world."

"The video I just showed you was from a cable factory that Smith found in China."

"And the cables processed by this factory are very much in line with the requirements of aircraft carrier arresting cables."

"And the price is only $80."

The figure of $80 made Hyde frown. He was about to say something when Baroque spoke first:

“$80, we’re offering $110.”

“We made $30 from each transaction, and this is something that only heaven, earth, you, me, and the chief engineer Kerry know.”

"Three people, one barrier rope, and we'll each split $10. What do you think?"

The generous offer tempted Hyde greatly, and his heart began to pound.

An aircraft carrier is a mobile platform for aircraft at sea. When an aircraft lands on an aircraft carrier, it cannot taxi on a runway like it does on land. Therefore, a catapult is needed for takeoff, and an arresting cable is needed to hold the aircraft during landing.

To ensure absolute interception, four arresting cables are installed on each runway.

These four arresting cables are from the same batch. If one of them is damaged, the remaining three must be replaced.

This is an expensive part that needs to be replaced very frequently.

Earn $10 per stick, and you only need to replace it once to have $40 in your hands.

There are currently 11 aircraft carriers in the country, and the arresting cables of these 11 carriers need to be replaced on average once a week.

One aircraft carrier has 4, 11 aircraft carriers have 44, and one month has 176.

That's $1760 million!
Moreover, this is only the replacement frequency under normal use conditions. In wartime, the replacement frequency would be even higher, and a set might even need to be replaced every day.

This job is doable!
Having thought all this through, Hyde slowly raised his head and said to Baroque very seriously:
“I’ve signed this document, but I want to make it clear that I must receive $10 for every single clause.”

"Whether I use this money to pull strings or do something else is none of your business."

"Of course, as a member of the Navy, I will try my best to speak well of the Navy."

After stating his position, Hyde took the form from Baroque, quickly wrote down his opinion, and then added his name and date below it to indicate that he agreed to the matter.

Upon receiving the signed document, Baroque was overjoyed. After putting the document away, he casually asked:
"Where's Kerry? I haven't seen him all day."

"He's gone out and will be back later," Hyde replied, turning back to his work.

Baroque didn't take his coldness to heart.

After all, what we need to focus on now is money.

He picked up the documents, walked out the door, and then went into the chief engineer's office next door.

Lying on the sofa in the chief engineer's office, he leisurely hummed a song, waiting for Kerry's return.

Half an hour later, Chief Engineer Kerry spotted Baroque lying on the sofa. He wanted to say something, but didn't know what to say, so he just walked helplessly to the cabinet and took out a box of coffee from the drawer.

He made Baroque a cup of coffee, then sat down opposite him and asked:

"What happened? Is there anything I can help you with?"

Baroque nodded, handed over the documents that Hyde had signed not long ago, and then explained the whole story.

After hearing the whole story, Kerry couldn't help but press his hand to his head, close his eyes, and start sighing.

"That's exactly what I was going to tell you."

"I just received a message from the repair shop below, saying that they accepted a batch of replacement screw materials, which did not even pass the most basic acceptance procedures."

"To be more specific, these screws that shouldn't have rusted have rusted."

"I can't imagine what would happen if these parts were at sea, in a high-salt, high-fog environment."

"To be honest, these people are getting more and more outrageous."

At this point, a look of dejection appeared on Klin's face, and he buried his face in his hands, letting out a soft sigh.

Hearing him sighing so much, Baroque stood up, walked over and sat down next to the chief engineer, then asked in a low voice:
Do you know why this happened?

Before Hyde could speak, Baroque preemptively answered the question himself:

"It's because of capital. More and more people feel that learning knowledge is useless because of the design of capital."

"But the children of capital, hiding in the shadows, are still constantly absorbing nutrients."

"I recently saw an artilleryman on a ship who didn't know how to fire a cannon and didn't recognize the inscriptions."

"He almost took out that destroyer with a single shell."

"I don't know what use hiring such an idiot is!"

Baroque cursed angrily.

He then looked up at Kerry and said, "This is an opportunity, an opportunity that allows us to make money while ensuring the smooth operation of our daily work."

"What are you doing?"

(End of this chapter)