If the tender for cruise ships can be described as full of surprises, then the tender for battleships can only be described as frustrating.
In fact, when the new parade was exciting, some people thought that since these top designers had rushed to compete on the parade plan, the battleship plan might not be taken into account.
And the result was really like this. With all the plans put forward by major shipyards, Admiral Yagier, the Minister of the Navy, was so angry that he wanted to drive these people out, but he still held back in the end.
Since Admiral Yagir was dissatisfied, the battleship bidding could only end in an anticlimax. Admiral Yagir announced on the spot that the new battleship bidding would be postponed for one month, directly expressing his dissatisfaction.
The heads of the major shipyards could only look at each other in confusion, and walked away with the senior naval officials.
The city of Rome has a fast news transmission speed, so Carlo found out in less than an hour.
I really don’t know what the situation is that can make Admiral Yagir so angry that he directly announces a one-month extension.
"Admiral Yagir, do you want to promote the merger of shipyards?"
Early the next morning, Carlo glanced at the documents in front of him and asked the Minister of the Navy who had arrived. Yes, the document brought by Admiral Yagir was a letter of opinion on promoting the merger of shipyards.
Faced with Carlo's inquiry, Admiral Yagier said without hesitation. "Yes, Your Majesty, I and my colleagues in the Navy believe that promoting the merger and expansion of shipyards will not only benefit the navy, but also promote the development of Italy's shipbuilding industry."
To this end, I have discussed with Prime Minister Antonio that both the government and the navy will promote the integration of the shipyard through financial and policy support."
Hearing that the Admiralty had discussed it with the Prime Minister, Carlo was moved in his heart and said, "What did the Prime Minister say?"
"The prime minister said that this matter can be promoted by the government and the navy, but if the royal family is added, the effect will be better."
Obviously, Antonio is also a smart man and knows who needs to be roped in to make things easier.
"That's it, then let me think about it."
Carlo was a little moved when he heard it, but if he wanted to make a decision, it would be better to find out more about it in detail.
"Your Majesty, I know quite a bit about our country's shipbuilding industry."
The next day, Industry Minister Gregory Medici, who had been in office for more than a year, introduced the shipbuilding industry to Carlo.
Yes, the Minister of Industry is indeed from the Medici family, but he does not have assassins who obey their orders, but is just a family that has long been in decline. And this Gregory Medici has been a member of the Medici family for more than a hundred years.
The most arrogant person in the Medici family.
"At present, my country's shipbuilding industry is gradually developing and growing with the development of industry and trade. However, currently, my country's shipyards are mainly small and medium-sized, with a total of 289 shipyards employing more than 200 workers, and 500 or more shipyards. There are 34 companies, 13 companies with more than 1,000 people, only 5 companies with more than 3,000 people, and only 1 company with more than 10,000 people. The total number of people in the shipbuilding industry is 135,000, an increase of 15% compared to the previous two years."
The Medici Lord reported a set of data as soon as he opened his mouth. As for why he started counting from 200 people, it is because this is the minimum number of people to build a steamship. Even a small coastal steamer with hundreds of tons must have so many people.
Only people can build. In this era where we wish we could make everything in our own factories, the only things we can outsource are steel and steam engines.
"Although the shipbuilding industry is currently booming, there are also many problems. A large number of shipyards have seen the prosperity of the shipbuilding industry in recent years and followed the trend of investment. This kind of shipyard has very low technical content and can only build ships of less than 1,000 tons.
Ships, so now the competition for orders for ships below 1,000 tons is very fierce, and the profit has been reduced to 10%."
Although the Minister of Industry did not go into details, Carlo could basically guess that this was just a situation where there was too much food and too little food. Of course, this kind of small shipyard did not have a big impact on the shipbuilding industry. It was more of a witness to its cruelty.
But Carlo wanted to hear the Ministry of Industry's thoughts. After all, the other party was also professional in industrial development.
“So what does your industrial sector think of the shipbuilding industry?”
"In our view, although my country's shipbuilding industry is currently booming, there is still a gap with foreign countries. Only two or three shipyards can stand up internationally, and the others are slightly weak. We believe that Italy is currently The shipbuilding industry has consolidated six or seven companies
, there is no problem with shipyards that can stand up in the world. Of course, the internal integration of the shipbuilding industry alone is too slow and is not conducive to development and growth. It is best to promote it by the government and select a few powerful shipyards.
Provide funding to help it develop and grow.”
Well, Carlo still doesn’t understand this. This is to select seed players, give them the convenience of growth and development, and then release them to grab food in the world. In the future, the best ones will develop into monopolies, crazily suppressing residual value, and even
Reach out for power.
Carlo knew these monopolies so well. There were so many data from later generations compared with reality, but he still didn't know them clearly.
"I also think that the current shipbuilding industry needs to be promoted by the government to build several large shipyards to improve Italy's shipbuilding strength. I think this matter can be discussed by your Ministry of Industry and the Navy and come up with a plan for me to review.
"
Carlo's words basically meant that he agreed.
Yes, even if these companies will develop into monopolies in the future, they must develop and grow before that. And this is still a long way off. The most important thing for Italy now is to solve the development and growth of the shipbuilding industry first.
And who said that these monopolies can control the power in Italy? I asked him if Carlo did. If necessary, it is a method learned by later generations. It is still possible to catch one or two chickens and kill them to scare the monkeys.
Carlo felt from the plight of the shipbuilding industry that there should be many industries in Italy that need government support.
But before that, it is better to take it step by step and integrate the shipbuilding industry first. After all, the shipbuilding industry is so important to Italy, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the lifeblood.
After getting Carlo's consent, the navy and the government acted very quickly. Within half a month, they came up with a plan to promote the growth of the shipbuilding industry. In the plan, Italy's currently strongest companies were selected.
Six shipyards have been provided with policy and loan support to support their integration of domestic shipyards.
In addition, this plan will not be made public, after all, it is impossible to say whether this can be done or not.
As for the promotion of integration plans in other industries, we still need to wait and see the results after the integration of the shipbuilding industry. Italy's monopoly organizations have also grown and developed with this plan.
Of course, this is a matter for the future. The Italian shipbuilding industry is still very prosperous now, and it is not easy to promote integration.
