Behind me is the earth

Chapter 373 371. The sea fortress that never falls

The market needs to be cultivated. If you just think about slaughtering pigs or cutting leeks and fishing all the water, you will never be able to become a large, mature and complete market.

This should not be a zero-sum game, or even a negative-sum game, but a place of healthy, positive, and robust growth. Only a continuous overall upward movement can cultivate a place with fresh vitality and the ability to attract people. Big market for massive investment.

Wuzhou now has this ability.

The currency issued by the Wuzhou Central Bank is not only accepted by the people of Wuzhou, but also by people in several surrounding provinces and even further provinces such as Jian'an, Pingshan, Yuzhou, Zhaozhou, Chujiang, Yanzhou, Zhaozhou and other provinces. With the frequent activities, they gradually began to accept this kind of beautifully printed Wuzhou banknotes.

This gives the central bank more room for maneuver. When dealing with economic problems in society, the tools in the toolbox become more powerful and more powerful.

However, the vitality of Wuzhou's industry and the vast market are now enough to offset any potential risks and problems. The central bank only needs to try to use its methods around the goal of maximizing interests.

These means are not purely economic, but based on politics + military + economy. Many policies are implemented around the development of Wuzhou. If other provinces are affected by this, it will not be considered by the central bank. Inside.

"Business gangs, firms, and chambers of commerce from more than a dozen provinces, as long as they are trading in Dongyang County, are all listed on the exchange, and the information exchange has the foundation to become a stock exchange."

Du Kai said beside Ren Pingsheng.

In order to better promote and deliver their goods, these firms from all over the world will choose to register on the exchange and upload their own information. These become the accumulation of exchanges.

Since the establishment of Youlong Chamber of Commerce in Qingcheng Town, it has been developing towards securities exchanges and futures exchanges. Now that there is a foundation for the establishment of exchanges, Ren Pingsheng is not in a hurry.

The reason why it has not been launched is because we are waiting for an opportunity, an opportunity to become a hit. The first company launched must be a benchmark and a profitable one, so that all participants can share the dividends of development. , thereby launching the entire market.

The preliminary decision was made on the Qingcheng Iron and Steel Plant located in Qingcheng Town. It has tens of thousands of workers and produces nearly 10 million tons of steel every year. It meets the steel consumption of Qingcheng Town and even the northern cities of Wuzhou. It is a gold-absorbing behemoth. .

After sorting out the finances, it was just right as the first stock to launch on the exchange.

I walked around the exchange and chatted with some businessmen from Shannan and Haibei. In the name of Du Kai, I convened some businessmen for a small symposium and started some discussions on the form of stocks. I felt these businessmen's ability to understand stocks and their acceptance of stocks.

It turns out that most of these businessmen understand it almost instantly as soon as stocks are mentioned. Because in the private sector, there are already forms of "investment and fund-raising, joint stock trading", and there are also many partnerships that have formed debt certificates with stock properties through contracts.

So when Du Kai systematically talked about the stock system, the eyes of these businessmen shone, and they were extremely interested in this form of legal endorsement.

When I left the exchange, it was already past eight o'clock in the evening.

They haven't eaten yet, and everyone is already hungry.

Ren Pingsheng had a house in Yunmeng County. When he was in Qingcheng Town, he bought it when he considered retreat due to war and other reasons. Later, after merger and expansion, it has formed a large house with east and west courtyards and five entrances.

The house is very low-key, with only the sign "Ren Mansion" hanging on the door. Many people don't know that this house is the property of King Qi.

Ren Pingsheng invited Zheng Shaoguan, Du Kai, and Bai Hu to have dinner together.

"The clear breeze and the bright moon keep longing for lovesickness, and it's too late to enjoy the meandering water..."

The singer was singing a song outside the pavilion, and she plucked the strings three or two times on the rotating shaft, expressing feelings before the tune was formed. The artificial stream flowed around the pavilion, and the lights from the shore penetrated into the water. The clear and translucent stream was dyed into colorful colors, like flowing magnificent gems.

Upstream, the food, wine, vegetables and fruits are placed in wooden trays. When they flow to the pavilion, the maids pick them up and bring them into the pavilion. They can taste the food, listen to the songs, watch the songs and dances, and follow the breeze. It is a leisurely way. enjoy.

"Zhou Ming."

Ren Pingsheng suddenly looked at Zhou Ming, who was sitting at the bottom of the table. He had obviously seen vicissitudes in the past two years, and he had a courageous and courageous temperament.

"Your Majesty!"

Zhou Ming quickly stood up.

"sit."

Ren Pingsheng pressed his hand and motioned for him to sit down: "This is not a palace, there is no need to be so formal."

"yes."

Only then did Zhou Ming sit down.

"The First Army has always been the leader of Wuzhou Guard. Whether it is equipment or the quality of its soldiers, it has always had the tradition of 'dare to fight, dare to charge, and can win if you can fight'."

Ren Pingsheng said: "Both Commander Bai and General Liu recommended you to me as the commander of the First Army. Regardless of your qualifications or military exploits, serving as the commander of the First Army will not attract criticism, and you have always been I also see all your abilities, and they belong to you.

I also believe that after taking over as the commander of the First Army, you will be able to lead the First Army, continue to maintain the fine tradition, and fight for the country and the people. "

After Ren Pingsheng finished speaking, Zhou Ming was already very excited.

Although after Commander Baihu nominated him, the possibility of him serving as commander of the First Army was already very high. However, the military position of commander is already a high-level position in Wuzhou Guard. He is directly responsible to the prince and directly appointed by the prince. Others only have the right to suggest nominations but not to appoint.

Tonight, when Ren Pingsheng called him to the house, he had some suspicions in his mind, but it was not until the prince said it in person that a big stone in his heart fell to the ground. became extremely excited.

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, Zhou Ming will definitely take the country for the people as his ideal in the future, train the First Army well, and become a force that 'adheres to the concept, is loyal to the ideal, dares to fight, and can win the war', and will never let down His Majesty's wishes to me. Value and look forward to it!”

Zhou Ming stood up and solemnly expressed his loyalty.

"good!"

Ren Pingsheng listened and picked up his wine glass.

At the banquet, people drank and ate, lights danced, and songs filled the air.

The next day, the sun was just right in the sky, and the entire Yunmeng County became extremely lively.

Whether it was the people of the city, merchants from other places, or merchants from foreign countries, they were all attracted by the lively atmosphere. A large number of people in the city headed towards the port outside the city.

Today is the day when the iron-clad ship manufactured by Dongyang Shipyard is launched!

The Dongyang County Shipyard has been busy for nearly two years. The big ship was launched today. Everyone is curious and wants to see what kind of ship the shipyard has built after so long.

After leaving the city, there is a straight and wide asphalt road.

On both sides of the road are endless cornfields, and some fields are being harvested. Busy people use scythes to cut off the sticks one by one and put them into the baggage. Afterwards, they will dry and thresh the sticks in the village's threshing floor. Some of them will be handed over to the local town government and entered into Changping warehouses in various places. Some of them will be sold to grain merchants and circulated to the market.

Because this section of the road is very prosperous, people selling roasted and boiled corn are often seen on the roadside. Many merchants on the road buy a few corn cobs and fill them with a few mouthfuls, which is enough for a meal.

There are also some rich people who have tasted the new food and are full of praise for it, calling it fairy food.

The taste of tender corn, whether it is roasted or boiled, is tender and sweet, which is indeed very good.

Gradually, there were more and more vehicles on the road, and Ren Pingsheng saw some strange beasts. These strange beasts were about two meters tall, as big as camels, with fiery red scales on their bodies, a single horn on their head, and thick limbs. , the hooves are also red, but the tail is very fluffy, dragging all the way to the ground.

"This is a red-scaled beast. It was originally produced in the East China Sea. It can walk ashore when it reaches adulthood. It has a docile and honest personality. We got it from Butter Island by trading with the Dongying tribe of the Shark tribe. It is a little slow but has high endurance. Can pull heavy objects.

After they were brought ashore, they became very popular and were in short supply. "

When Shaoguan Zheng saw Ren Pingsheng's eyes falling on those red phosphorus beasts, he introduced them to him.

"good."

Ren Pingsheng nodded.

Near Dongyang Port, several very large parks have appeared.

“The park in the south contains some factories, mainly some supporting production plants of Dongyang Shipyard.

Near the port is the new port area, which is also a place for foreign sailors to land. The Exit and Entry Administration Building, Customs Building, Coast Guard Building, Maritime Safety Administration Building, Marine Meteorological Administration Building and other buildings are also located here. "

When passing by the Port New Area, Ren Pingsheng saw what this new city looked like.

There are seven or eight buildings with more than five floors alone. There are particularly many foreigners in the new district who go through formalities here.

There are also many sailors who come here to have fun. These sailors who risk their lives to gain wealth often have very high incomes. Their desire for food, wine, and beautiful women is far greater than that of ordinary people, and they are very willing to spend money when they go ashore. , so the catering and custom industries here are very prosperous.

Passing by the new port area, there is the continuous Dongyang Port. There are a large number of cranes on the shore and a large number of large warehouses lined up. There are also mountains of goods piled on the open space on the cement floor, vehicles equipped with diesel internal combustion engines, and a large number of Red scale beasts transport goods here.

Of course, there is also a large number of loaders and unloaders who are resistant to packing, running back and forth on the trestle like ants moving.

The throughput here in the first half of this year alone was nearly 2 million tons.

The convoy did not enter Dongyang Port, but continued to walk west along the coast. After walking less than two kilometers, the gate of Dongyang Shipyard appeared in front of them. When the convoy approached the gate of the shipyard, the factory director Li Weixiu brought people up to greet them.

Li Weixiu was tall and thin. He was wearing a light blue long-breasted gown and a pair of black-framed glasses. He looked elegant and frail, but when he saw Ren Pingsheng getting out of the car, A Jianbu rushed over and wanted to drive for him, but a guard immediately blocked him, preventing him from getting close.

This caused embarrassment to appear on his face.

After Ren Pingsheng, Ruan Tang, and Xiaowan got out of the car, Zheng Shaoqiu, Du Kai, Bai Hu, Zhou Ming, and Zhongshu Ge's entourage all followed. The guards who got off the car behind them immediately dispersed.

At the factory gate, a guard in black uniform made a gesture towards Han Jun.

Han Jun nodded, understanding.

The shipyard is safe and under guard control.

"Are you the director of the shipyard?"

Ren Pingsheng asked Li Weixiu to follow him.

"yes."

Li Weixiu answered cautiously.

"Director Li originally worked in the Ministry of Industry. Later, when the shipyard was established, he took the initiative to serve as an engineer in the shipyard. He is a technician by training."

Ruan Tang has a lot of dealings with people from the Ministry of Industry, and he worked here for a while in the early days of the shipyard, so he knows a lot of people here.

After entering the shipyard, not far along the avenue, an iron-clad ship with dark blue and light blue paint appeared in everyone's eyes.

"Wow!"

Among the attendants, some couldn't help but exclaimed in surprise.

Observing the armored ship at close range is very impressive.

"The armored ship Dongyang is 108 meters long, 21 meters wide, has a speed of 16 knots, and a displacement of 7,855 tons. It has 28 127 mm naval guns and 30 20 mm machine guns."

Li Weixiu said with a thorough introduction.

Dongyang Ship was the name given to it by Ren Pingsheng after it was built.

The ironclad ship is more than 100 meters long, with the highest point reaching nearly 30 meters. It is like a steel castle, giving people a sense of invincible fear.

Everyone who saw it couldn't help but think, would anyone break the steel armor of such a giant steel ship sailing in the ocean?

This is a sea fortress that will never fall!

"The average armor thickness of this ironclad ship is about 10 inches, and the thickest war room is 15 inches.

The power room is below the waterline, and the ammunition warehouse is at the front and rear of the ship..."

Li Weixiu introduced Ren Pingsheng.

Ren Pingsheng asked: "The official document reported by the shipyard said that 7 more ships will be launched before the end of this year?"

"Yes, but the other seven ships are all iron-clad and wooden armored ships, and they are also smaller in size."

Li Weixiu said.

While we were chatting, the dock was filled with water.

With the rising tide, the water has risen a lot.

"Your Majesty, Director, it's time to launch the armored ship."

Someone came up and reminded me.

Soon, the launching ceremony began, and a burst of drumming sounded.

"Woooooo~"

A long and high-pitched whistle sounded, louder than a train whistle.

As Ren Pingsheng pulled down the red silk that had blown down from the bow deck, a burst of firecrackers sounded.

Accompanied by the sound of drums, firecrackers, and whistles, the guide rails above the dock began to slide, and the huge warship began to move. There was a violent friction sound on the ground, and with a "boom", the water in the dock was like a Qiantang. Jiang Chao rushed away, and the warship slowly stabilized amid violent shaking.

As the warship slowly sailed out of the dock amidst the sound of its whistle, the coast outside was already filled with people watching. Even on the large number of sailboats docked at the port, sailors even climbed up the masts, curious people Staring at the dock.

Some nobles, wealthy businessmen from foreign countries, and even some pirates disguised as businessmen were paying close attention to this warship that had caused a lot of trouble.

However, most of them did not take Jingguo's warships seriously, because Jingguo pursued a national policy of not going to the sea, resulting in Jingguo's ships being rarely seen on the sea. Even if I see them, they are mostly smuggled armed merchant ships, and I have never seen a warship specifically used for combat.

And when such a country suddenly announced that it had launched its first official warship into the sea, almost no one would believe how powerful the warship built by this country with no construction experience would be.

However, there were buildings surrounding the dock, so it was not clear. It was not until this time that the Dongyang ship sailed out of the dock and entered the ocean, and its full picture was revealed to people's curious eyes.