After years of development, Yushi Group now covers a wide range of fields. From the more basic cotton mills, flour mills, and ash mills, to the more important steel, shipbuilding, automobile, machinery, engine, and munitions industries, and even the newer aviation industry is also within the scope of development.

However, adding all the industries together may not be as profitable as a car factory.

This is also a very helpless thing, cotton textile those are not mentioned, although the scale is large, but in fact it is the road of small profits and quick turnover, a year down to one or two million, converted into pounds is one or two million.

Others are more pitiful than cotton mills, and the scale of steel seems to be large, but because there is no tariff protection, and in the past, the country was full of cents of gold, and the cost was extremely high, and it took many years to barely make a profit. At present, the situation in China is much stronger than in the past, but it is not possible to make large-scale profits in the short term.

Although the profitability of shipbuilding and ordnance industry is high, it is still more or less inferior to that of the cotton textile industry.

In other words, the automobile factory is indeed the most important thing for the group, and what Eleno is talking to Yan Shao about is also related to the automobile factory.

————————————————————

"From the establishment of the factory to the present, both 'Raindrop' and 'Liulan' have been sold for a long time. There is no problem with Liulan's high level of comfort and the price of similar cars, and customers from all over the world have a high evaluation of this car, but in the case of 'raindrops', some poor reactions have been accumulated..."I sorted out the thoughts in my head. Elano recounted slowly in a soft voice.

"Poor response?"

Yan Shao was a little strange, this should be impossible. After all, the 'raindrop' car is the world's cheapest and most practical car. It has a very good value for money.

At present, the mainstream media of various countries in the world have high praise for this car, believing that the 'raindrop' car has accelerated the speed of motor vehicles into human life—————— although the number of such cars in China, the origin of the country, is not even one in 100,000 in Europe and the United States...

However...

"What should I say..."Seeing Yan Shao's confident and puzzled look, Elaline rubbed his forehead. The extremely low price and simple construction are indeed the characteristics of the 'raindrop', but there are many customers who have a higher income than the working class but cannot afford the 'Liulan', and hope that there is a slightly more comfortable one than the 'raindrop'. But a car that is cheaper than 'Liulan' appeared..."

To put it simply, this kind of person is not satisfied with the too simple car of 'Raindrop', but they can't afford 'Liulan'. So want a car that is somewhere in between.

This is not unheard of in history, when Ford's Model T was once the dominant car in the world, but more than 10 years later, American car consumers are no longer satisfied with the same Model T. Instead, they began to tend to buy cars with updated styles and configurations.

Ford is a very stubborn person. He stubbornly believed that the Model T was the car that everyone needed, and rejected other people's suggestions for improvement. As a result, the share of the Model T continued to decline, and Chevrolet eventually snatched the record of No. 1 in sales.

It's only 1914, but it's already starting to sound like that.

Of course, the sound has been faint so far, but it will eventually get louder. If Yan Shao is really as 'stubborn' as Ford, I am afraid that he will also be surpassed by Chevrolet and other automobile companies like Ford.

Fortunately, Yan Shao is not as stubborn as Ford, and there is also a careful woman like Elano by his side.

“……… Of course. At the moment, the sound is small, and the average salaried person is happy with the 'raindrops'. But at the moment, the automobile industry in other countries is also booming, especially in the United States, in order to survive, they seem to have adopted a similar approach to ours or the Model T, that is, to produce low-cost cars with a simple structure, although due to the lack of 'assembly lines' and the labor costs are much higher than ours, such cars are usually sold at a higher price than ours. The raindrops are much higher, but there are still a lot of people in the United States who choose to buy their own cars in the United States, and if we keep stagnating, maybe in a few years they will be a threat to us, and they are now looking for ways to circumvent the patent, and if they find it, maybe it will be much earlier..."

"That's it..."Yan Shao nodded, indicating that he had noticed.

Automobile is the main profit project of Yushi Group at present, and most of the group's profits come from automobile factories. In other words, if the revenue of the car factory decreases, then the revenue of the whole group will also fall...

"So, I'll think about it a little bit more and launch another car......... Maybe it's a solution, but I always feel like there's another way..."

"No problem," Elaline smiled, a beautiful smile that made her eyes shine. Anyway, there is no problem in the short term, and now that we have an absolute advantage in the automotive industry, it is not so easy to be surpassed by them..."

"Hmm...", but Yan Shao's confidence is not so sufficient.

After all, his current opponent is Ford and other extremely well-known figures in history, and at the moment, Yan Shao does have an absolute advantage because of the relationship of 'assembly line', but he doesn't think that he is really better than the other party...

It's the stupidest thing to do...

"So, we have to figure out a way..."

————————————————————

Just when Yan Shao was still worried about the problem of cars, the extremely distant Fujian Province sent him good news...

Long before the establishment of the Kuomintang, Yan Shao had already begun to care about the issue of the navy, after all, China's maritime frontier was too long. If you don't have a strong navy, no matter how strong your army is, you won't be able to hold all the cities along the coast.

Of course, if you have a strong air force, you can do that. It will be enough to get a more powerful naval aviation then. The problem is that airplanes are like toys at this time, and if you want to have a certain practical value, you have to wait at least another 20 years. I can't do without the Navy for such a long time.

Therefore, after the Nationalist Army took Fujian, Yan Shao's first move was not to appoint Gao Dengli as the governor of Fujian Province, but to provide 5 million funds to the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau first. It is used to recall the former Harbour Master's Bureau employees who have been scattered all over the world, and at the same time to activate and repair various shipbuilding equipment that has been somewhat abandoned in the Harbour Master's Bureau.

Of course, Yan Shao also provided two ship drawings to the Fuzhou Shipping Bureau at the same time...

One of them is for a destroyer, the other for a cruiser ...

The former is a large ocean-going destroyer 'Shanfeng' class with a standard displacement of 1,200 tons and a full load displacement of 1,500 tons. Its displacement was probably the largest of the destroyers of this period.

There are many reasons for such a large displacement, first of all, in the absence of large ships, as the main ship of the Navy in the short term. The Mountainwind-class destroyer must have some ocean-going capability, which requires it to have enough space to carry more fuel.

The second point is the gap with the Japanese Navy, and the gap between the Chinese Navy and the Japanese Navy is already huge. And if you want to catch up with the Japanese Navy in numbers. Not for a while I'm afraid it's unlikely. Therefore, in the case that the quantity is not as good as the other party, Yan Shao can only pursue the transcendence of quality.

That is, although I am inferior to you in numbers, I am better than you in single ship performance.

And if you look at the performance on paper, the 'Mountain Breeze' class is definitely much stronger than the Japanese 'Sea Breeze class'.

Third, when the Wuhu shipyard was first established, due to the lack of local designers, the shipyard hired many designers from the United Kingdom and Germany. The 'Mountain Breeze' class was designed with the help of these designers. Therefore, it was designed to incorporate the characteristics of the two countries—————— high speed and protection...

In the case that most of the destroyers of this era were only 1,000 tons, many of the extra displacement was used to strengthen the destroyer's protection capabilities.

As for the fourth point. This is Yan Shao's personal insistence...

Although destroyers are a new type of ships in this era, this does not mean that China does not have destroyers. In fact, before the Gengzi Incident, the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau had built two destroyers, Jian'an and Jianwei, with a standard displacement of 850 tons and 100mm guns.

After the Navy was established again, Yan Shao personally boarded the ship to visit the internal environment.

It's a nightmare...

And the result of the visit reminded Yan Shao of the topic of the impact of the working environment on combat effectiveness that he had seen in military programs in later generations...

In fact, if you think about it, you can also know that working in such a small space may not be much at first, ten days and half a month......... It is estimated that there is not much combat power left.

And as long as this space can be improved, even if it is just a little, it can make the crew on the ship have better combat effectiveness. In that case, why not?

In fact, the drawings originally designed by the Wuhu Shipyard were standard on paper with a standard displacement of 1,100 tons and a full load displacement of 1,300 tons, and the designers hardly considered the feelings of the crew.

However, after Yan Shao's strong request to enhance the comfort of the ship, the destroyer's displacement became a standard displacement of 1,300 tons and a full displacement of 1,500 tons. Of course, there are also big advantages to being bigger, that is, a larger displacement can be used to install more powerful weapons, but there are advantages and disadvantages, and the disadvantage is that the cost of the destroyer is one piece higher than the original.

But compared to what you get, what you pay is obviously nothing.

————————————————————

In the process of building the 'Shanfeng' class destroyers, it is fortunate that although the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau has begun to be abandoned, it has only been more than two years since the liberation is restored, and even if it is deserted, it is not much wasted, and after having money, the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau will soon be reborn.

On the slipway of the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau, five 'Shanfeng' class destroyers started work at the same time, the first ship was naturally the 'Shanfeng', the second ship was 'Haifeng', followed by 'Qingfeng', 'Ice Wind' and 'Snow Wind'...

In addition, the Wuhu shipyard also started construction of five 'Shanfeng' class destroyers.

A total of 10 'Shanfeng'-class destroyers were started, all at a cost of about 10 million yuan. Equivalent to 1 million yuan per ship...

Its specific data is a standard displacement of 1300 tons and a full load displacement of 1500 tons.

It has a total length of 103 meters and a width of 9 meters. The power is 34,000 horsepower, and the design speed is 36 knots.

The armament is 3 150mm L50 single-barreled main guns, 2 front and 1 rear, plus a number of 75mm and 37mm rapid-fire guns as secondary guns. At the same time, the most lethal weapons on the destroyer were three triple 18-inch MK.IX torpedo tubes (457mm). The nine torpedoes in the launch tube were capable of facing the enemy both horizontally and vertically, and the destroyer was equipped with several spare torpedoes.

In addition to the ship's armament, the Mountain-class destroyers are also powered by oil/coal-fueled steam turbines, which allow the Mountain-class destroyers to reach a high speed of 36 knots, which is higher than the British Tribal-class destroyers. (The Tribal-class destroyer referred to here is not the one from World War II.) It was a new type of destroyer used by the British to replace the River-class in 1905, and it was also the first warship to use a steam turbine, compared to the Dreadnought-class battleships. ）

At the same time as the use of steam turbines. The designers also learned the lessons of the British Tribal-class destroyers, such as the lack of endurance due to the low amount of fuel they carried. After all, as the first warship to use a steam turbine, it is normal for defects to occur, but fortunately, the Tribal class appeared in 1905. This gives designers in the shipyard enough time to learn its strengths and weaknesses. At the same time, it was used to improve the performance of the destroyers of the 'Mountain Wind' class ...

Overall, the 'Mountain Breeze' class is still very good on paper, but the actual performance is not very clear, and this will have to wait for the 'Mountain Breeze' to be launched.

At present, the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau is preparing for the launching of the Shanfeng, the lead ship of the 'Shanfeng' class.

————————————————————

In addition to the Shanfeng-class destroyers, the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau and the Wuhu Shipyard also started construction of one 'Tiehuo'-class cruiser, the lead ship 'Tiehuo' and the second ship 'Wildfire'.

Adhering to the spirit of building secondary ships as capital ships, the two cruisers each had a standard displacement of 3950 tons. The full displacement is 4430 tons.

At the same time, it is equipped with 2 210mm naval guns and 6 120mm naval guns. In addition, there are several 75mm anti-aircraft guns, two twin 533mm torpedo tubes, the whole field is 133 meters, the width is 12 meters, and the maximum speed is 30 knots.

These two cruisers were also designed with the help of British and German designers, but in a way they can also be called 'test ships'. Because neither the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau nor the Wuhu Shipyard had ever built such a large warship in the past, this was also a test for the shipyard itself.

In addition, the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau has been abandoned for a period of time, and the vitality has not yet recovered, and the Wuhu Shipyard is a new shipyard that has just been established not long ago, and the foundation is not very deep.

According to the most optimistic estimate of the shipyard, the two warships will probably take two months to launch. However, this speed is completely acceptable for the Navy, after all, since the Gengzi incident, there have been very few new warships in service in China...

————————————————————

Standing next to the dock of the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau, looking at the 'Shanfeng' class destroyer's lead ship 'Shanfeng' that was slowly sliding into the water, the workers of the Shipmaster Bureau lined up on both sides of the dock immediately cheered.

"Director, we've finally made it..."

Looking at the 'Mountain Wind' ship that was gradually launched, Chen Zhaoqiang pulled Wei Han's arm with some excitement.

"Yes..."Seeing that the ship he designed had been launched normally, Wei Han, who was over sixty years old, burst into tears of excitement.

As China's most well-known shipbuilding expert, Wei Han organized the development of China's first cruiser "Kaiji", built China's first ironclad ship "Longwei", participated in the manufacture of China's first steel-armored torpedo ship "Guangyi", China's first minehunter ship "Jianwei", presided over and participated in the construction of "Kaiji", "Henghai", "Jingqing", "Huantai", "Guangjia", "Guangyi", "Guangbing", "Guanggeng", "Longwei", "Fujing", "Tongji", "Fu'an" and other 12 ships. Seniority in this regard can even be compared with the Navy's Sa Zhenbing. It is precisely because of this qualification that Wei Han also brought people to participate in the design of the 'Mountain Wind' and 'Wildfire' ships.

Coupled with Wei Han's own super high qualifications, it is almost a matter of course for Wei Han to serve as the director of the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau.

After the Xinhai Revolution, the Harbour Administration Bureau was under the jurisdiction of the Admiralty, and it was stipulated that the shipyard fund of 30,000 yuan per month was allocated from the national tax paid to the central government by the Fujian Provincial Department of Finance.

30,000 per month...

This is a lot of money for an individual, but for a shipyard, it's not even enough to pay the workers. You must know that in this era, even if a torpedo boat of less than 100 tons is bought from abroad, it will cost 3 or 400,000 yuan, or 30,000 yuan per month, what is this enough for?

It is precisely because of financial problems that from the recovery to the present, the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau has barely maintained.

As for building new ships? It's better not to be delusional...

In fact, since the liberation, Wei Han, Chen Zhaoqiang and others have been desperate, and this situation has continued until the government of the State Council has provided millions of yuan in funds to the Fuzhou Shipping Bureau...

And now looking at the thousand-ton destroyer built by his own shipyard, whether it is Wei Han or Chen Zhaoqiang, or other members of the shipyard, tears are almost coming out of his eyes... (To be continued......)