Ji Hongxia, director of Tianxing Shipyard, is worried about the cancellation of cargo ship orders.
It takes about three years to build a 10,000-ton cargo ship.
Tianxing Shipyard has built 10,000-ton cargo ships, which were customized three or four years ago.
These companies that customize 10,000-ton cargo ships have been affected by the economic crisis and have canceled orders one after another.
The deposit collected by Tianxing Shipyard can only cover part of the cost.
Tianxing Shipyard used the order to obtain a loan from Tianjin Bank to cover shipbuilding costs and shipyard expansion and technology upgrades.
If Tianxing Shipyard cannot recoup the cost of building the ship, it will not be able to repay the loan.
If this news breaks out, Tianjin Bank will be affected by the Tianxing Shipyard.
Tianxing Shipyard is a government-owned company. Even if the shipyard goes bankrupt, Ji Hongxia's family will not be affected.
But she went through a lot of hard work to become a fifth-rank official.
The imperial court opened the door for women to serve as officials, but it was not difficult enough for a woman to become a minor official or an official below the seventh rank.
Rank five and above are definitely rare.
Ji Hongxia hopes to become a prefect in this life, which is an honor enough to open another page in the family tree.
She had bad luck. She didn't do anything wrong, but she encountered an economic crisis, and the Star Shipyard was about to close down.
While she was deep in thought, her confidant Zhao Lin opened the door in a hurry and came in.
"Master Ji, something happened, something big happened."
Ji Hongxia frowned and said: "Be more cautious and don't panic when something happens.
What happened? Did Tianjin Bank refuse the loan?
This matter is already a high probability event, so don’t be too surprised.”
Zhao Lin was out of breath due to her intense running.
She tried to take a few deep breaths, and after adjusting her breathing, she said in an extremely shocked tone: "There are many people coming to the factory, and they are the imperial guards.
According to the head guard, Prince Su Shu came to inspect the Tianjin Shipyard and asked us to prepare for the reception."
When factory director Ji Hongxia heard the news, she was stunned for a few seconds.
She then sat up excitedly and shouted loudly: "Notify officials at all levels in the factory immediately to prepare for the reception.
Notify frontline managers and do a good job in emotional counseling of workers."
Prince Su Shu is about to arrive, and Ji Hongxia can no longer arrange anything.
She could only be glad that she usually did a good job and didn't mess around in the Tianxing Shipyard.
Prince Su Shu came to the dock of Tianjin Shipyard.
Ji Hongxia led the officials of Tianxing Shipyard to welcome Prince Su Shu and accompanied him to visit Tianxing Shipyard.
Time was too urgent. As soon as Tianxing Shipyard took action, Prince Su Shu had already rushed to the scene.
He saw the Tianxing Shipyard looking slightly panicked.
He carried out a surprise attack so that he could see the true side of Tianxing Shipyard.
Most of the workers at the Star Shipyard are idle and most of the shipyards have been closed.
Only a few shipyards are conducting riveting processes.
Prince Su Shu asked: "The current business of Tianxing Shipyard is not very good!"
Director Ji Hongxia said helplessly: "Your Highness, not only our Tianxing Shipyard, but also any shipyard in the empire that produces civilian ships is not doing well right now.
A large number of companies went bankrupt, including trucking companies and fishing companies.
They are the main customers of shipyards.
It takes two to three years to build a large ship of 10,000 tons.
Two or three years ago, many companies in the empire were in the expansion stage. They were waving silver coins and ordering a large number of ships.
Now that the economic crisis is coming, these companies are either going bankrupt or operating conservatively.
They would rather not ask for a deposit than settle previous accounts.
The major shipyards in the empire are currently in contact and preparing to increase deposits for shipbuilding in the future.
The deposit must at least cover the cost of building the ship.”
When Prince Su Shu learned about this situation, he was not surprised at all.
A large number of companies in the empire went bankrupt, and the first companies to go bankrupt were manufacturing companies with poor technical capabilities and unable to sell their products.
As these companies go bankrupt, companies mainly in the transportation industry cannot get more orders and can only go bankrupt.
The customers of Tianxing Shipyard canceled orders. Without the support of orders, the place looked like it was about to stop work. Prince Su Shu was not surprised at all.
This was precisely the reason why the economic crisis quickly caused the Great Depression in the empire.
The connections between industrial industries are very close. If there is a problem in one industry, it will definitely affect the industries related to it.
There is also a bank, a company related to all industries.
Big problems occurred in the banking industry and an economic crisis broke out completely.
Tianxing Shipyard mainly manufactures civilian ships. It is not like Mawei Shipyard, which mainly manufactures warships.
Because the royal court's tax revenue has been greatly reduced, the number of warship purchases has also decreased.
But military factories like Mawei Shipyard still have orders to keep them in production.
Prince Su Shu comforted him: "The difficulties are only temporary, and the imperial court will never sit back and watch the economic crisis continue.
But the resolution of the matter also requires the joint efforts of the court and major companies.
What is the biggest difficulty of Tianxing Shipyard?"
Ji Hongxia normally heard that Prince Su Shu promised to solve the problems encountered by Tianxing Shipyard.
A bright smile immediately appeared on her face.
For him, it is extremely difficult.
Maybe it's something that Prince Su Shu can easily solve with just one sentence.
Ji Hongxia said happily: "Your Highness, the biggest problem faced by Tianxing Shipyard now is the lack of orders.
The second problem is that Tianjin Bank withdraws loans.
After Tianxing Shipyard lost its orders, it relied entirely on loans to maintain operations."
Factory Director Ji Hongxia raised two questions. One was a problem that could not be solved in a short time.
The other is a problem that Prince Su Shu can solve with just one sentence.
If either of these two problems is solved, Tianxing Shipyard will not go bankrupt or close down during her term of office.
Prince Su Shu thought for a moment and replied: "The order issue of Tianxing Shipyard requires an improvement in the empire's economy and cannot be solved in a moment.
It is not appropriate for me to interfere in the work of Tianjin Bank when it comes to borrowing money from Tianjin Bank.
In this way, I will ask the Imperial Bank to lend a sum of money to maintain the operation of the Star Shipyard.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! If you want to live a better life at Tianxing Shipyard, you still have to find a way to save yourself."
Ji Hongxia was even more happy when she heard Prince Su Shu's solution.
Some companies were reluctant to accept loans from Imperial Bank.
The main reason is that Imperial Bank is extremely strict in reviewing companies that lend money.
A careful factory manager's behavior will inevitably be exposed in a strict financial audit.
Ji Hongxia is not afraid. Rather than being greedy for money, she hopes to be promoted.
She also has hope of promotion and will never do anything that harms her own progress.
The loan limit of Imperial Royal Bank is higher, which is a great thing for Tianxing Shipyard and her.
Director Ji Hongxia immediately expressed her thanks and said: "Thank you for your help, His Highness. With His Highness's help, our Tianxing Shipyard will definitely be able to survive this crisis."
Prince Su Shu continued to visit Tianxing Shipyard. He found that Tianxing Shipyard was building fishing boats with a displacement of two to three thousand tons using temporary slipways.
He asked with some confusion: "Director Ji, it is difficult to get orders for 10,000-ton cargo ships. Do these small fishing boats get more orders?"
Factory Director Ji Hongxia explained: "Your Highness, due to the current economic crisis, the total transaction volume has dropped, and 10,000-ton freighters are unsaleable.
But these two to three thousand tonnage fishing boats can fish both offshore and offshore fishing grounds.
Their speed and ability to withstand wind and waves are both top-notch.
The catch is extremely productive, and these new fishing boats have cold storage to keep the fish fresh.
Now because of the economic crisis, people have less money in their hands.
People who originally ate beef and pork have switched to salted fish and shrimp paste.
The meat portion of the imperial relief food mainly consisted of salted fish, shrimp paste, and salted eggs.
The imperial court purchased large quantities of fish and shrimp, coupled with the sharp increase in demand in the market, so that the fishing industry was not affected by the economic crisis.
The profits obtained by small fishing boats are too meager, but in order to train the workers' abilities and maintain the operation of the shipyard, we have to accept this batch of orders."
Prince Su Shu said with satisfaction: "Tianxing Shipyard is very good and has the awareness of self-rescue.
Some companies will just wait and depend on it, without any sense of autonomy.
The court will definitely not give priority to rescue such a company."
The performance of Tianxing Shipyard made Prince Su Shu very happy.
He learned that the performance of many government-owned companies during the economic crisis was simply a piece of cake.
If it can continue to operate with the support of the imperial court, it is already an excellent company.
It was the performance of some companies that made the court determined that the court would continue to support companies with value.
Companies that cannot adapt to the market will go bankrupt.
The imperial court valued core industrial development rather than a single company.
Prince Su Shu asked: "Director Ji, domestic orders have been greatly affected. How big is the impact on overseas orders?"
Factory Director Ji Hongxia recalled this situation carefully, and then she reported: "Your Highness, this is very strange.
Domestic orders for 10,000-ton freighters have been greatly affected, and major companies have defaulted and canceled orders.
However, orders for 10,000-ton cargo ships from major vassal states were not cancelled.
Most of the orders for 10,000-ton freighters currently in the factory are orders from vassal countries in Europe."
When Prince Su Shu learned about this situation, his previous inspiration was immediately touched.
In his mind, he already has an idea to solve the economic crisis.
Prince Su Shu got a satisfactory answer and chose to leave Tianxing Shipyard.
He did not accept the banquet hosted by Tianjin officials, but went to the place where Tianjin received relief grains.
Prince Su Shu stood on the street and watched the people of Tianjin receiving relief grains.
Relief food is generally distributed in quantities that can be consumed for seven days based on the size of the family.
In order to prevent reselling, the government will send officials to investigate.
Once found reselling relief grain, they would be immediately sentenced and exiled to the border areas.
Prince Su Shu saw that most of the people who came to receive relief food were women.
They wore cotton or linen clothes and lined up to receive relief food with food in their faces.
At this one collection point alone, there are more than 100 people receiving relief food.
Prince Su Shu observed for a long time that the officials distributing relief grains did not take the opportunity to ask for food.
After confirming their identities, they distributed relief grains in accordance with the amount stipulated by the court.
He was not surprised by this situation. Mixed noodles and salted fish were not delicious.
There is no need for a petty official to lose his job because of such cheap and unpalatable food.
Prince Su Shu was riding in a car and observing the streets of Tianjin.
Even in the economic crisis, a large number of workers are unemployed.
But there was no one begging on the street.
People on the street were walking in a hurry, their faces were cheerful, but they didn't look desperate.
Even though these people live in poverty, they still yearn for a better life in their hearts, and they also believe that they can achieve a better life in this era.
The more Prince Su Shu saw it, the more he became emotional. Combining the information in the history books, he admired his father even more.
No emperor in the past dynasties could take the people so seriously.
Even in such a critical moment, the imperial court could still ensure that the people could afford to eat.
This is something that has never been done by any dynasty in history. It is extremely difficult and extremely remarkable.
Prince Su Shu was previously worried that factories would go bankrupt on a large scale, workers would be unemployed on a large scale, and there would be unrest in some places.
The facts told him that as long as the court truly treated the people as human beings and did not push them to a dead end, no one would raise a flag to rebel.
Even in mountainous areas and newly occupied territories with strong folk customs, the local people showed no signs of rebellion.
Prince Su Shu has seen everything he should have seen.
He could tell that what he saw was a real scene, not a perfunctory play by an official or an actor.
Prince Su Shu chose to take a car and return to the capital.
The subsequent investigation work will be left to officials in various places.
He already has the basic data. Officials can embellish what they see, but the data doesn't lie.
When the convoy of Prince Su Shu was about to enter the capital, he found many mule carts, donkey carts and tricycles blocking the road.
The congestion on the road directly made the Ouchi guards in charge of security work nervous.
They all clenched the guns in their hands, ready to shoot at any time to protect the safety of Prince Su Shu.
Zhao Shiheng, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, immediately requested: "Your Highness, please get out of the car and take a look at the situation ahead."
Zhao Shiheng knew that Prince Su Shu was quite curious.
On this occasion, if anything happens to Prince Su Shu, his official career as an accompanying official will be cut off from now on.
Zhao Shiheng was very capable, and he quickly figured out the reason why these farmers were blocking the road.
He walked into the car, clasped his fists and said, "Your Highness, these are farmers from Hebei.
They want to go to the official warehouse in the capital to sell agricultural products at the lowest purchase price."
Prince Su Shu asked in surprise: "I remember that the imperial court stipulated a unified minimum purchase price for agricultural products.
This price is the same across the country. The court will lose money in some places and make money in some places.
But overall, the court will make a small profit from this matter."
Zhao Shiheng nodded and said: "It is for this reason that in the mountainous areas near the capital, there is no shortage of food and insufficient population to digest the purchased agricultural products.
After the government purchases agricultural products, it still needs to be shipped out for sale.
The local government could no longer make any money from the court's purchase price, and they had to pay an additional fee for shipping.
Local officials are not very enthusiastic, so they set up barriers at different levels to refuse farmers' agricultural products on the grounds that they are not in good quality.
This resulted in a large influx of farmers to the capital.
After all, some agricultural products have a short shelf life. Once they are expired and damaged, the official warehouse will definitely refuse to purchase them."
Prince Su Shu heard that this was the reason.
He said angrily: "Is this a random act by local officials, or is the government's funds being withheld? We must investigate clearly.
This matter must be treated as a typical case and serve as a warning to others."
