Dongfang, Zhenhua Heavy Industries.
"Mr. Guan, it's a pleasure to meet you. We are here this time to purchase the gantry crane produced by you." After meeting Mr. Guan, Lambert immediately explained his purpose: "We want to purchase 10,000 taels." We hope you can give us a reasonable quotation for the 1,000-ton gantry crane.”
Gantry cranes of this level are only available in the East. They don't know how high the purchase price will be. They have a budget of 20 million, and they don't know whether it will be enough.
"Twelve thousand tons? We received an order from Mingzhou Group some time ago and plan to produce one for them." Mr. Guan said: "Since you want to purchase it, we can offer the same price as Mingzhou Group. The freight Whatever happens, it’s all on us.”
Such large components are transported by sea, which requires special ships and costs a lot. Fortunately, Zhenhua Heavy Industries has special transport ships. It has its own ship and its own people. It just burns more oil.
"Really? That's great!" Lambert was very excited: "What's the price you gave Mingzhou Group?"
Their internal price is definitely cheap. It would be even better if it can be obtained for 10 million.
“Converted to international prices, it’s 60 million U.S. dollars.” Mr. Guan said.
“What?” Lambert almost jumped up. Sixty million, are you robbing people? He absolutely couldn't accept the price, it was far beyond his expectations.
"If it's 10 million US dollars, then we can consider it. If it's 60 million US dollars, that's too high. Mr. Guan, I'm very sorry, but our purchase is destined to be impossible to achieve."
"Ten million US dollars? At this price, you can only purchase a thousand-ton gantry crane at most." Mr. Guan said: "You are coming from the UK. Don't you know the price of your local Goliath brand gantry crane? ? Their largest 1500-ton gantry crane was sold for about 15 million US dollars. According to preliminary estimates, in the field of gantry cranes, it is equivalent to 10,000 US dollars per ton. According to this price, 10,000 taels A 1,000-ton gantry crane should be sold for 120 million yuan. Our quotation is 60 million yuan, which is only half of this price. Do you still think it is expensive? Then there is no cheap gantry crane in the world that can meet your needs. ”
"We came here to purchase because of the high quality and low price in the East. The price of 60 million US dollars is too high. We are willing to pay up to 30 million US dollars." Lambert said through gritted teeth.
He has raised his reserve price by half.
“With US$30 million, we can only purchase our 6,000-ton gantry crane at most.” Mr. Guan said: “We can also deliver that kind of gantry crane to your door and install it.”
Six thousand tons? Six thousand tons is also okay, but you have to buy two! Lambert stood up: "I'm sorry, we came here with sincerity, but we didn't expect your asking price to be so high, so we can only leave with regret."
When you come to negotiate in the East, the biggest bargaining trick is to leave. As long as you leave, the other party will keep you and offer you a qualified price.
Lambert is also looking forward to the other party lowering the price.
Unexpectedly, Mr. Guan also stood up: "I am a guest from afar, so I will give you a treat."
Instead of retaining him, he gave it away directly?
Lambert was dumbfounded. Of course he knew that the gantry crane produced by Zhenhua Heavy Industry was the only one in the world. If you passed this village, there would be no such store. Over in London, the contract had been signed and they had been identified. The aircraft carrier assembly plant is closed. If they cannot purchase the gantry crane, they will not be able to complete the assembly task. At that time, they will have to pay a large sum of money.
How to do how to do?
"Mr. Guan, our procurement budget is 20 million. No matter how much money we have, we may not be able to come up with it. I hope you can help us." Seeing Lambert's embarrassed look, Strass finally spoke. Of course, we know what it will mean if we cannot purchase gantry cranes from the East.
"If we raise more funds, we should be able to raise 30 million, but no more than that." Lambert also spoke. He had to put aside all his reserve and be honest.
"You don't have enough funds? Then you should have told me earlier." Mr. Guan said: "Many of the customers we met have insufficient funds. Some of them couldn't borrow money from banks. In the end, we just did it ourselves. It’s a financial policy.”
Mr. Guan sighed in his heart, Mr. Qin had arranged everything, and they just had to follow Mr. Qin's arrangements. Now, the reaction of these foreigners is exactly the same as what Mr. Qin said.
“You have a financial policy?” Lambert was surprised: “What policy?”
"For customers who lack funds, we can provide interest-free loans." Guan Lao said: "We are not a bank, and we are not here to earn interest. We are here to help customers tide over difficulties and make money by purchasing equipment. Therefore, we provide no-interest loans." Interest-free loans, without a penny of interest.”
The price cannot be relaxed, but you can lend money to the other party. Of course, Qin Tao learned this trick from the car-selling routines of later generations. In order to encourage some people to consume ahead of schedule, many car dealers will provide loan services, without even needing a bank, and the car dealers will directly provide finance themselves.
In this way, people who originally only had 20,000 to 30,000 yuan on hand could buy a van to protect themselves from wind and rain, but how could they be willing to see others driving cars? Just use 20,000 to 30,000 yuan as a down payment and take out a loan to buy a car worth 70,000 to 80,000 yuan.
Soon, cars priced at RMB 70,000 to RMB 80,000 also felt bad, but cars priced at RMB 100,000 to RMB 200,000 were still more respectable! As a result, more money had to be borrowed. In order to sell higher-end cars, car dealers also racked their brains and even proposed a zero-down-payment car purchase policy. Of course, their loans are not interest-free. The interest on the loans is very high, and this is the money they earn.
Zhenhua Heavy Industry is still very conscientious. We provide loan business, but it is interest-free!
"If you can only provide 30 million, then the remaining 30 million can only go to our Zhenhua Financial. If you pay it off in three years, you only need to pay back 10 million each year, each It only requires less than 900,000 yuan per month and less than 30,000 yuan per day. With your strength, you should be able to do it, right?"
It is very expensive to pay it off in three installments in total, but if you calculate it every day, it won’t be much. Those who take out loans will calculate it this way.
At this time, after hearing Guan Lao's words, Lambert was indeed moved, and Strass on the side couldn't help but asked: "Excuse me, you have lent so much money, what if the customer can't pay it back? "
Other methods of borrowing money require a deposit or collateral. This one does not have any collateral. Are they not afraid that the customer will not repay? This kind of thing eventually goes to the International Court of Justice, and the litigation can take ten to eight years.
"We believe in the credibility of our customers." Guan Lao said: "When the repayment date comes, we will definitely repay on time. If the payment is not received on time, then we can only lock the gantry crane and wait until the money arrives. use."
Lock the gantry crane?
Lambert and Strass instantly understood that since people dare to lend money, there must be a way.
The gantry crane looks like a mechanical component without any electronic equipment. As long as the power switch is turned on, the gantry crane will start running. That's it. How can this thing be locked remotely?
If it is a crane of several tons, this is no problem. It must be mechanically controlled and does not require circuits. However, for a gantry crane of more than 10,000 tons, it is different.
Such a huge gantry crane cannot have only one rope. I wonder how many ropes must be used together. How to control these ropes? A computer must be used to accurately control it so that all the ropes are stressed together. To operate the gantry crane, you not only need to move the handle, but also need to enter various parameters into the computer in advance so that the computer can coordinate the control.
It is very easy to lock the computer. If the computer is locked, then the gantry crane is locked. How to unlock it? Spend money!
For customers, the purpose of purchasing a gantry crane is for construction. If the bill is not paid in time and the gantry crane is locked, how can the construction be carried out and how can one make money?
Moreover, the most dangerous thing is that during the construction process, if you happen to reach the point of repaying the debt, there will be a click, the gantry crane will not move, and the 10,000-ton workpiece will be suspended in mid-air, unable to go up or down. That is called trouble.
Thinking of that scene, even Lambert took a breath of cold air, it was cruel, it was really cruel!
Looking at the other party's expression, Mr. Guan knew that Mr. Qin's plan was the best one to defeat them.
In fact, the other party only paid 30 million, and the cost has already been recouped. The remaining loan is to be repaid every month by the other party. If it does not repay, the gantry crane will be locked so that the other party cannot continue to use it. In this way, we can sit firmly on Diaoyutai and fight the lawsuit. We can afford to go to court, but if we don't repay our debts, we won't be able to justify it anywhere.
Now, the conditions have been laid out, it just depends on what the other party chooses.
"Okay, we agree to your terms." Lambert said, "I just want to ask, after three years, after we pay off the loan, this gantry crane will completely belong to us, right?"
“Yes, you have paid the money, and of course the gantry crane belongs to you completely.”
“Then we are qualified to dispose of this gantry crane, for example, sell it?”
"Of course, you have the right to dispose of your property. However, the structure of our gantry crane is very precise and there are many tips for disassembly. If you plan to sell it, you need to ask us to dismantle and reinstall it, and the cost will be borne by you. Mr. Guan said: "We will make it clear in the contract that if you dismantle and assemble it privately, any accidents caused will be fully borne by you and have nothing to do with us."
Orientals come to dismantle and assemble? How does this work? Strass frowned. According to Lambert's plan, it was going to be sold to Asan. At that time, all the signs of Zhenhua Heavy Industry would be painted over and the traces of Dongfang would be erased. If Dongfang people were invited to come, After disassembling and reinstalling it, Ah San would know that this thing was produced by an Oriental.
At that time, will Asan still want it?
Lambert also frowned, thought for a moment and said, "If we disassemble and assemble it privately, will the system lock up and so on?"
“Of course not. The system lock-up will only occur during the loan repayment period. As soon as the loan is repaid, the system will completely fail. We are just for safety reasons.”
Lambert nodded: "Okay, then we can rest assured. Now, let's discuss the details of the contract. Can we take a look at the design drawing of the 12,000-ton gantry crane?"
"No problem at all."
After discussing the details of the contract for two days, Lambert signed a contract with Zhenhua Heavy Industry on behalf of Rosyth Shipyard to purchase a 12,000-ton gantry crane produced by Zhenhua Heavy Industry. After signing, he paid a deposit of US$10 million. After the construction is completed and before shipment, another 20 million US dollars will be paid. The remaining 30 million US dollars will be calculated after the gantry crane is installed and work begins, and a certain amount of repayment will be paid every month.
This business is also the largest business done by Zhenhua Heavy Industries!
After leaving Zhenhua Heavy Industries and embarking on the return journey, Lambert looked at the city below the plane and was filled with emotions. The east was like a giant dragon that had already begun to take off. What about the west? Why do you feel that the West is in a state of aging?
After seeing off the British, Mr. Guan ran off to find Qin Tao.
Qin Tao happened to be in Huating, too, but at the third design office of Huating. At this time, the conference room of the Third Design Office was crowded with people.
“Dear leaders, the design of our offshore floating nuclear power plant has finally been completed. After two years of computer simulation experiments, we believe there are no surprises, so we hope to be approved to build this nuclear power plant.”
The speaker was Krasnopolsky, who is now one of the most authoritative nuclear reactor designers in the East. With the efforts of him and many nuclear reactor designers in the East, he finally completed the design of this floating nuclear power plant on the sea. design.
“Now, we call the nuclear reactor used in this nuclear power plant Linglong 1.” After coming to the East for many years, Krasnopolski can speak the language of the East proficiently, and the name is also very Oriental.
"Like the previous nuclear reactor, it uses highly enriched uranium, which is nuclear fuel removed from decommissioned nuclear warheads. The biggest advantage of this is its long service life. After all, according to our plan, it can be used for thirty years. If the fuel is replaced, the service life is quite long. As for its power, we can achieve a maximum output of 700 megawatts. In daily use, for the sake of safety, we can also reduce its power to 550 megawatts. Calculated in this way If so, it can export about 120 megawatts of electricity."
The previous generation of nuclear reactors was actually taken directly from Lao Maozi's nuclear reactor. The thermal power was only 150 megawatts. After generating electricity, the power could be 30 megawatts, but this is already very powerful. You know, the power of Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant is no more than 150 megawatts. that is it. That power station was placed on an island outside the Mingzhou Shipyard, providing a steady stream of electricity. After a few years, it received a good response.
Now, their nuclear reactor has reached a new level! This is also necessary. If you want to power the aircraft carrier, you need such a powerful nuclear reactor!
After all, the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier uses such a power system. It uses two Westinghouse A4W nuclear reactors with a rated thermal power of 550 megawatts. Only two of them can propel the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier forward, which is better than the previous generation. The eight nuclear reactors are much simpler.
Of course, by the time of the next generation of Ford-class aircraft carriers, the nuclear reactor has been upgraded to 700 megawatts.
Now, Dongfang is slowly catching up step by step. Now, it is finally in sync with the world's advanced level. However, considering the reliability of this nuclear power system, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers cannot be designed immediately and require lengthy testing. Just fine.
In the past, when nuclear submarines were built, land reactors were directly built for testing. This could only be tested and could not be converted into commercial operations. It only cost money and did not make money. Before the Mingzhou Group built nuclear submarines, new ones were developed. Mode: Use the test reactor to generate electricity, earn a lot of profits by providing electricity, and achieve the goal of developing technology and business together.
At this time, the people present were very excited. Mr. Liu, who had not appeared for a long time, also came to attend the meeting. He said with emotion: "Even if it only has 550 megawatts, it can be on par with the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. I just don't know that this kind of When will the construction of the aircraft carrier begin?”
Now, the 001 aircraft carrier has sailed on the ocean, and the 002 aircraft carrier has begun construction on the slipway of the Mingzhou Group. Mr. Liu's wish has been realized. What he is most looking forward to is the 003 aircraft carrier. If he can see this It would be even better if the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier was launched into service.
"We can't rush this. We need to test the performance of the nuclear reactor through a floating nuclear power plant at sea. This test cycle will take at least three years." Qin Tao said: "Three years later, our 002 aircraft carrier is expected to be able to undergo sea trials and even enter service. , At that time, we can consider nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. By that time, our heavy-duty gas turbines have also been put into service and can be used as reserve power for our aircraft carriers."
Nuclear power gives the aircraft carrier unlimited endurance, but what if something goes wrong with the nuclear power?
The plan given by Lao Maozi is to burn the boiler! Lao Maozi's nuclear-powered cruisers and even nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are also equipped with heavy oil boilers. Once the nuclear power fails, the boilers will be burned to continue to provide power to the aircraft carrier, which can at least support the return to the port. In practice, it really happened. Having been in this situation, Lao Maozi was also foresighted about the reliability of his nuclear reactor.
However, burning boilers is too backward after all. Qin Tao does not plan to do this now. If a gas turbine is installed inside the aircraft carrier, it can be considered.
By the time the 003 aircraft carrier is built, two Linglong Ones can provide 240 megawatts of power supply, which is enough for normal use of the aircraft carrier. By that time, it is estimated that an all-electric propulsion solution will have to be used. The backup engine of the propulsion system will use the gas turbine Of course, there is no problem. Just squat one under the bridge, start it when needed, and then provide power supply to the entire ship through cables. Moreover, in this way, it can also confuse the outside world.
Is it nuclear powered or conventionally powered?
It is said to be a conventional power source, but why does the chimney not emit smoke or black smoke? Who burns a boiler and doesn’t emit black smoke? If it's nuclear powered, why does it have a chimney?
In this way, one's own aircraft carrier will also be full of mystery.
“Heavy-duty gas turbines are used as reserve power?” Mr. Liu became curious.
The aircraft carrier currently in use is boiler-fired. Eight boilers drive four steam turbines, and the backup power is a diesel engine. Now, the backup power of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier has actually become a gas turbine?
“Yes, we still use a 40-megawatt gas turbine, which has plenty of power. It can even support electromagnetic catapults at critical times,” Qin Tao said.
You have to charge it in advance anyway. At most, if you charge it for a while, the power of 40 megawatts is quite strong.
"We should continue to listen to the plan for floating nuclear power plants at sea." Wu Shengli said: "This is the main content of our meeting. We don't understand the technical issues. As long as you experts think there is no problem, then we will start construction. Yes. Okay, have you chosen the address?"
Don’t go off topic, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers will be considered in the future, but what we are considering now is floating nuclear power plants at sea, especially where they are located.
"In the past few years, our domestic industry has developed rapidly, and the power supply in various places has begun to become tense. Many places even need to cut off power during peak power consumption." Krasnopolski spoke to us one by one, and has already told us Treat yourself like an Oriental: “When the project first started, we were worried that no place would want our offshore floating nuclear power plant. But now, many places have sent out invitations. However, we think it is better to use this Linglong One It is more suitable to place it in Huating. On Chongming Island, there are a large number of companies that need electricity, and at the same time, it is convenient for us to go there at any time."
There is their experimental nuclear power plant on Dali Mountain in Mingzhou. Because the entire system was copied from Lao Maozi's nuclear reactor, there is no problem with reliability. Experts like Krasnopolski just started running it. I was there when I was there, and then I would go there every once in a while to make sure it was safe.
However, this Linglong 1 is different. It is newly developed, and its core power is still 700 megawatts. If an accident happens to this thing, it will be in big trouble.
Therefore, they must be able to supervise at any time. In other words, it is best for these experts, led by Krasnopolski, to be on site every day, but they do not want to go elsewhere. After all, Huating is an international They have become accustomed to living in a modern metropolis, and they can feel the prosperity of a metropolis from here.
In this case, placing it in Huating is the best choice.
"As long as the government here agrees and the people don't object, then we can definitely put it here." Wu Shengli nodded: "The money from the electricity sales should be able to offset our investment, right?"
Krasnopolsky shook his head: "Of course it's impossible. Our nuclear reactor is for military use, and its construction cost far exceeds that of a civilian nuclear power plant. We can use it for experiments now, but if we want to promote it commercially, it will be three to five Don’t plan to make a profit within this year.”