"To Taiwan?" Zhou Bofu said with a smile, "I've heard of Taiwan a long time ago, but I haven't been there yet, but I really want to see it." ”

Zheng Cai nodded and said, "Mr. Zhou, there are two largest shipyards in Taiwan, and in terms of technology, they are the best." Nowadays, however, they have more orders for ocean-going vessels and warships, and the profits of civilian vessels, especially those of inland and coastal vessels, have always been inferior to those of ocean-going vessels, and I estimate that most of them are reluctant to waste precious slipways on such ships. However, some other shipyards may be interested in this business. Need I introduce you to some of these shipyards? ”

"Thank you so much." Zhou Bofu immediately replied, "I need this news. ”

Today, Lawrence and Fabio's shipyards have basically covered the Zheng family's warship business, but more shipyards have been built in Taiwan. Most of the owners of these shipyards are the old men who followed Zheng Zhilong back then, and they are latecomers, so of course they can't compare to Lawrence and Fabio in terms of technology and funds. Due to these limitations, it is naturally impossible for them to have such things as large slipways, ship-shaped laboratories, etc. Therefore, in the construction of warships with the highest technical threshold and of course the highest profits, or in the construction of large ocean-going merchant ships with high thresholds and high profits, they are completely unable to compete with Lawrence and them. But the construction of some low-tech ships is not much of a problem for them. In addition, by employing Tessie and bribing the technicians in Lawrence and Fabio's shipyards, their skills are also improving. In the beginning, they could only build traditional fortune ships, but by now, some of the best shipyards are able to build European-style whaling ships. Perhaps, as long as there is enough money for them to build a larger dock, they will be able to try to build some smaller, simpler warships.

Zheng Cai and these shipyard owners know each other, and many of them are still friends. At the same time, he also had some shares in these shipyards, and now that he listened to Zhou Bofu's idea, he immediately realized that this must be a big deal. The number of orders ordered by Zhou Bofu himself may be quite limited, but the advantages of this kind of ship and this model he envisioned in operation are indeed obvious. Therefore, if a batch of such ships is really built, Zhou Bofu will naturally be able to make a lot of money, and his success will also allow more people to follow suit, so that the demand for this type of ship will naturally have a very rapid development. Relying on the mass construction of such ships, perhaps, a third high-level shipyard will appear in Taiwan.

Zheng Cai asked the servant to bring his name, handed it to Zhou Bofu and said: "In addition to those two shipyards in Taiwan, the most outstanding one is the 'Changmao Shipyard', which can now produce whaling ships. I don't hide it from Mr. Zhou, Shi Daxuan, the big owner of this shipyard, is my friend, and I also have a little stake in this shipyard. If Mr. Zhou is going to visit Changmao, I can arrange a boat to take Mr. Zhou to Taiwan and write a letter to them to introduce Mr. Zhou to them. ”

Zhou Bofu listened, got up and arched his hand: "So, it's hard work." ”

……

Zhou Bofu is going to Taiwan, so naturally there is no special speedboat like the "Feiyan". Zheng Cai arranged for him a fortune boat that happened to go to Taiwan. The speed of the Fu ship is much slower than that of the "Feiyan", and the ship is full of cargo, so it is naturally even slower. So after walking for five or six days, they were able to see the coastline of Taiwan.

went ashore in Beigang, Zhou Bofu first found an inn to live in, and by the way, he asked the shopkeeper about the route to the "Changmao Shipyard". I asked the shopkeeper to send someone to contact the shipyard and handed over the name. The person in charge over there invited Zhou Bofu to come to the shipyard for an interview early tomorrow morning. So early the next morning, Zhou Bofu took the servant, called a carriage, and went to the "Changmao Shipyard".

The "Changmao Shipyard" is located on the edge of a bay not far from the North Port. There is a cinder road leading up there, and along the cinder road, there is also a wooden-clad iron-clad track. It was a special track used to transport supplies for shipbuilding. From time to time, Zhou Bofu could see heavy wagons pulling materials such as wood, paint, and iron nails from this track. However, these were all heavy-duty cars, and they ran much slower than the carriage that Zhou Bofu was riding, and they were soon left behind.

"It looks like the shipyard is doing pretty well." Zhou Bofu looked at the heavy-duty carriages on the track and thought like this.

The carriage stopped at the gate of the shipyard, and Zhou Bofu got down from the carriage and saw a few people waiting there. One of the leaders stepped forward and asked, "Is it Mr. Zhou?" ”

Zhou Bofu said: "It's Zhou, I don't know what this gentleman is called." ”

The man said: "The surname is Li, Muzi Li, and the single name is a thunder character." He is the shopkeeper of this 'Changmao Shipyard'. The day before yesterday, we received a letter from Mr. Zheng Cai, saying that Mr. Zhou was coming, and we were waiting for Mr. Zhou. Sir, please come in with the contemptible people. ”

The man led Zhou Bofu into the factory, and asked, "Mr. Zhou, should you go to the reception room to sit and drink some tea first, or go to the shipbuilding place to have a look?" ”

"Naturally, I went to see the place where I built a ship." Zhou Bofu said.

The shopkeeper Li took Zhou Bofu forward with him, until he reached a slipway where a whaling ship was being built.

"Mr. Zhou, you see, this is a ship used for ocean-going whaling. The whale oil we use on a daily basis is caught by this kind of boat. Now, apart from the two families, we can build such a whaling ship. We have three slipways like this, and five slipways for smaller boats. Shopkeeper Li said to Zhou Bofu with a somewhat ostentatious tone.

"The boat I need doesn't need to be able to run the ocean, but it needs to be able to be used in inland rivers. And as cheap and durable as possible. Zhou Bofu said.

"This Master Zheng Cai has already mentioned it in the letter." Shopkeeper Li said, "We have studied it in the past two days, made a few models, and walked along this side, Mr. Zhou can see it for a while, and then Mr. Zhou will see which design is more suitable." ”

Zhou Bofu nodded, he had always liked to ponder some mechanical and other things, and now he noticed that the dry dock of this shipyard was full of all kinds of pulley cranes, and a large number of them were made of steel. These things make it much easier to carry all kinds of raw materials, which greatly improves the efficiency of workers.

"You guys are iron, aren't they? How much does it cost? Zhou Bofu asked.

"Mr. Zhou, now the iron factory in Qiongzhou has also begun to produce iron, and the price of this iron is much cheaper. If it had been a few years earlier, we really couldn't afford to use these things. Shopkeeper Li said again, "Mr. Zhou, let's go over there and have a look, the slipway over there is probably the place where your kind of ship will be built in the future." ”