Chapter 452 Working hard for the strength of the motherland
The Mingzhou Shipyard was ablaze with lights.
Although it is already evening, the workers are still working enthusiastically. After dinner, they will work overtime for several hours.
The basic salary is very high, and overtime pay is also provided. Seeing that the orders in the shipyard are tight and overwhelmed, everyone is voluntarily working overtime. In fact, it doesn't matter how much they earn, because their wages are already beyond this industry.
A lot.
In the dock, work continues.
However, there are no sparks from the arc here, only sparks from the friction of the grinding wheel, and a harsh sound is heard in the ears.
They worked very hard.
In a short period of time, the rust removal work on the bow has been completed, and the entire ship has revealed a shiny appearance. The front half of the ship is shining with metallic luster, forming a sharp contrast with the reddish-brown back half.
.
"Everyone, keep working hard, polish another half meter, and then we will go back to sleep!" Kozlov shouted loudly.
"Why don't we go back to sleep? We can just carry the bedclothes and sleep inside the bridge. This ship is getting more and more beautiful. I am reminded of the scene when we welded it," said a companion.
It was originally welded with such bright steel plates, but after several years of weathering, it changed its appearance.
Now, seeing that under their own hands, the ship's former outline was revealed again, how could they not feel excited.
For them, wages and other matters are secondary. They can't wait to bring the ship back to life.
A cloud of dust filled the air, blocking their sight. They did not see a group of people approaching.
Mr. Liu was very excited.
I have been dreaming of an aircraft carrier for many years. Now, the dream is finally turning into a reality. This aircraft carrier is right in front of me!
The polished parts shone under the light, and everyone felt a little dazzled. They didn't know whether it was reflection of light or because their eyes were wet.
"Mr. Liu, be careful." Seeing Mr. Liu about to get on the scaffolding, everyone was a little worried.
"I'm not old yet." Mr. Liu said, climbing up the scaffolding vigorously, looking at the bow of the ship close at hand, and gently touched it with his hand, just like stroking his own child.
"After everything is polished, a layer of anti-rust paint will be applied. If you apply it now, it will be contaminated by the dust over there." Qin Tao said: "Now, do the leaders want to go back?"
"We just came here, how can we go back? We have to go up and have a look!" Mr. Liu said and continued to climb the scaffolding.
It's ten stories high! Qin Tao really regrets not setting up a special lift for the construction site next to it. Now, he can only watch Mr. Liu walking up the ladder made of steel pipes step by step. He is really worried that he will kick
Go short.
Fortunately not.
Mr. Liu came to the deck and stood on the slope of the leaping deck.
From here, you can see how huge the entire warship is. Although the middle part is still being polished, causing dust to rise everywhere, you can still see the outline of the back half under the light.
"Lao Maozi's industrial foundation is still very strong, especially this kind of deck steel." Qin Tao introduced: "It belongs to the second level in the world, with high strength and strong corrosion resistance. A little polishing to remove the floating rust on the surface can
Reveal this metallic luster."
"Do we have this kind of steel in our country?" Mr. Liu asked.
The aircraft carrier is a huge systematic project that involves progress in all aspects. It is also very difficult to select the steel for the aircraft carrier. There are too few deck steels in the world that can produce this kind of deck steel.
"Currently, our Mingzhou Group is developing similar steel, and its performance is close to Lao Maozi's steel. However, we have not yet fully mastered the smelting technology, and the quality of the steel produced is uneven." Qin Tao said: "Moreover, we do not have
The area of the steel plates smelted by large-scale steel rolling equipment is not large enough, and there will be many welds. Later, when we master the smelting technology and purchase large-scale steel rolling equipment, we can make large steel plates."
"President Qin has done so much work. It seems that the aircraft carrier built by our navy will definitely fall to your Mingzhou Group." A leader said.
"Of course this requires bidding, and we also have to follow the rules. In the future, the navy will need more aircraft carriers, and there must not be only one shipyard to undertake the order." Qin Tao said: "Just like the United States, there must be at least two
A shipyard will build it.”
"A lot?"
"Yes, our country has a vast sea area and a long maritime transportation line. How can we use it if we don't have it? We need five or six ships at least, not counting this one." Qin Tao said: "We have only one shipbuilding company in Mingzhou.
The factory will definitely not be able to produce it."
Five or six aircraft carriers!
Wu Shengli lamented there again, you kid, you are really talking about nothing. Do you know how much an aircraft carrier formation costs? Our country is still struggling over whether to have aircraft carriers. One of the reasons is the issue of funding.
, the Navy is definitely a waste of money!
It's a shame that we still need five or six ships!
However, Wu Shengli did not speak, because he could see that when Qin Tao said this, Mr. Liu was obviously very excited, and his eyes were full of expectation.
The navy will definitely have aircraft carriers in the future, and there must be a sufficient number of aircraft carriers, so as to safeguard the maritime rights and interests of the motherland!
"Leaders, I have looked and touched. Can you go down now?"
Qin Tao looked at the flying rust in the place where the rust removal work was being carried out, and felt a little worried. This was dust pollution! Just take a look at it, don't finish it!
In Qin Tao's eyes, this is indeed nothing to look at. When the renovation is completed, you will come up again. How beautiful it will be then!
"Yes, we have to go down, but we have to go down from the bridge and take a look inside!"
Qin Tao frowned, what's there to see down there? They're just removing rust outside, and the inside hasn't started yet. It's such a mess, what's the point of looking at it?
"Taozi, it's not easy for me to come here. I don't know when I can come next time. You can't refuse this old man's request," said Mr. Liu.
Therefore, Qin Tao could only nod.
Scaffolding has also been set up on the bridge. When the rust removal operation reaches the middle of the hull, the bridge will also be polished. After all, it is also the color of rust.
Now, there is no one there yet. Under the leadership of Qin Tao, everyone passed through the deck where the rust was being polished and walked into the bridge.
When passing workers along the way, these workers opened their eyes wide and looked over curiously, wondering what these people were doing.
"Work, keep working, what are you looking at?" Kozlov greeted his men.
Amidst the harsh sound of metal friction, everyone entered the hangar area below. It was like a stereo, the friction sound was amplified, and it was like entering a bell, and then someone outside was ringing the bell.
However, the enthusiasm of the people has not diminished at all.
Qin Tao had no choice but to continue introducing it to everyone, passing through several decks and finally stopping in the engine room.
Looking at the mess on the ground and the damaged places, everyone has mixed feelings in their hearts.
"These old idiots really don't know how to cherish it. Such a good ship has been destroyed into this condition!"
"Yes, did these old fools do it on purpose? Did they know they were going to sell the ship to us, so they deliberately destroyed it like this?"
"Of course not. Lao Maozi took apart the things inside, but he only wanted to sell them for money. If Ah San bought this boat and went back, it would be like this."
"This ship reminds me of the Red Empire. Its shabby appearance is just like the lost empire, which has been in chaos and decay."
This sentence made everyone think again.
That's right, that once powerful empire has now become what it is in front of you, which is really disappointing.
"However, it will gain new life here in our country, just like our motherland, which will gradually become stronger! Our Chinese nation will also stand tall among the nations of the world!"
Wu Shengli looked over in surprise. He couldn't believe that Qin Tao said these words.
This sentence not only represents Qin Tao's voice, but also represents the voice of everyone present.
"Yes, for the sake of the strength of our motherland, everyone must work hard!" Mr. Liu was also very excited at this time.
When we left the aircraft carrier, it was already midnight, and there were stars all over our heads.
"Your Mingzhou Group's guest house is said to be very luxurious, but today, we will stay at the Fleet Guest House. When the ship is made public in the future, we will go to the Mingzhou Group Guest House again." Mr. Liu got on the car with a smile, and
Others leave.
Watching these people go away, Qin Tao yawned.
This is really a busy day. I am already tired. These people who are twice as old as me must be even more tired. However, they are all in good spirits. This is really a good time for people to feel refreshed. Seeing this situation
, they can't help but be excited.
"Mr. Qin, I just received the news... How about we wait until tomorrow?"
"What's the news? Just tell me!" Qin Tao felt that in his current state, he wouldn't be able to sleep at all when he went back. After all, he was a little excited today. He might as well listen to what happened so that he could participate in the decision-making.
"During the construction of our nuclear power plant, we hired several geological experts to do a survey. It turned out that there was something going on at Xiaolie Mountain."
If it is an ordinary nuclear power plant, site selection is very important and requires careful geological exploration. However, the Mingzhou Group's nuclear power plant uses a complete system of nuclear submarines. Even if the mountains collapse, this system will not
There will be no major problems, so the early geological exploration was not carried out at full strength. It was almost construction and exploration at the same time.
However, when they were exploring the Dali Mountains, how did they discover that there was something wrong with the Xiaoli Mountains?
Qin Tao was a little curious.
"What's going on in Xiaolie Mountain?"
"In Xiaolie Mountain, there is a huge cave."
"What?"
Qin Tao was shocked by the news: "How big is it?"
"It is said to be very big, about six million cubic meters."
"Great, it should be no problem to store five million tons of crude oil like this." Qin Tao immediately made a decision: "Let's go and take a look!"
"Mr. Qin, is it too late?"
"It's not too late, and I can't sleep anyway."
"We have to take a boat there."
"Okay, let's talk about it tomorrow."
Early the next morning, Qin Tao took a boat to Xiaolie Mountain.
"Mr. Qin, when we were conducting geological exploration, we could always hear strange echoes. After repeated judgments, we thought there was a cavity underground here, so we went to Xiaolie Mountain and tentatively drilled a hole.
, it can be drilled through about ten meters below sea level." Standing on a small mountain with an altitude of less than fifty meters, geological expert Zhang Wenlong said.
When the Mingzhou Group built the shipyard, they invited Zhang Wenlong. After that, the two parties established a cooperative relationship. No matter what geological exploration project they encountered, they would come to Zhang Wenlong.
The construction of a nuclear power plant this time was no exception. After Zhang Wenlong arrived, he began to explore, and then he was surprised to find that there was something underground that might be empty!
Everyone was worried. If the bottom of Dalieshan was empty, would it be safe for them to build a nuclear power plant? Maybe the whole project would have to be stopped. As a result, after drilling, it was found that it was solid and there was no problem.
So, what's going on with the echo?
After searching for a long time, they finally determined their location and aimed at Xiaolie Mountain.
Ordinarily, Xiaolie Mountain was no longer under their control, but they still wanted to give it a try, so they came here and drilled a drill. After doing so, they immediately discovered that the bottom of Xiaolie Mountain was empty!
In fact, they had already discovered this result during the day yesterday, but since Qin Tao had been accompanying the leader, they could not pass the news to Qin Tao. It was not until the leader left that Xu Zhengyang reported the news to Qin Tao.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! It is really inconvenient to take a boat at night. Qin Tao can only arrive now. However, this news is really important to Qin Tao.
So important.
"We used some methods yesterday to conduct a rough detection. This space is about six million cubic meters. It is a very rare underground cave area."
Qin Tao nodded: "Yes, this is really good news. We can use it as our natural oil depot!"
Originally, I planned to buy a batch of scrapped oil tankers and just find a dock to dock them and use them as floating oil depots. But now there is no need for them. This underground oil depot is enough!
"Mr. Qin, is there any leakage here?" Xu Zhengyang was a little worried.
"If there is a leak inside, then what we explore is not a cave, but a well." Zhang Wenlong explained.
This underground cave is naturally formed and involves complex geological tectonic movements. There is no need to explain these. Just make it clear: this thing does not leak!
The roof of this cave is ten meters below sea level, and the entire cave is underwater. If it leaked, water from outside would have poured in, filling the entire cave.
"So, will it leak after we use it?" Xu Zhengyang was still a little worried.
What if it didn't leak initially, but then it leaked after millions of tons of crude oil were put in it? If it leaked, it would be a big trouble.
The best way is to test it in advance to make sure everything inside is in good condition and can withstand it before using it. However, if you go in for survey, it will definitely be a big project.
"It has withstood strong water pressure underwater and has not leaked. If we pour crude oil into it, it will definitely not leak. Moreover, even if it leaks, the crude oil will not leak out under the action of water pressure.
This kind of underground oil depot has been widely used abroad for a long time."
After 1973, countries began to increase crude oil reserves, and they had to figure out a way: how to store it?
If it is placed in oil drums and piled directly on the dock, of course there is no problem, but it is too wasteful!
Build a big tank to store it? This is not cheap.
So, smart people began to think of ways to use natural caves to store crude oil! It can also be stored in abandoned mines and the like!
Won't crude oil leak?
Then you have to choose a site, choose a place with groundwater, and you have to choose a cave that is lower than the groundwater. In this way, the static pressure of the groundwater in the rock wall is greater than the static pressure of the oil storage, and the crude oil is always sealed in the rock.
In a closed space composed of walls and fissures, water will not leak out.
The crude oil will not go out, but the water will seep in, which is equivalent to mixing water into the crude oil. However, this problem is not difficult to solve. The specific gravity of oil and water is different. As long as they are not stirred intentionally, oil and water will not mix.
, water is heavier than oil and will only fall under the crude oil. Just set up a water pump at the bottom of the cave to pump away the water that leaks in.
This operation is to seal the cave oil depot with underground water. It has a history of several decades and is considered a mature technology in the West.
But now, it is even more appropriate for our side to be built directly at the mouth of the sea.
Even if some people suspect that it is not environmentally friendly, destroys fresh water resources, etc., there is no problem. Anyway, the water flowing here enters the sea and will not interfere with the use of the coast.
"This is at the mouth of the sea, and there is no bridge. Therefore, oil tankers of hundreds of thousands of tons can also move here. As long as the silt in the river here is cleared, a port can be built here, or a ship can be docked directly here.
When oil tankers come for transshipment, the crude oil can be stored in this underground oil storage system, and then a pipeline can be laid directly to the shore. A refinery can be set up on the shore to smelt it directly and then transport it by land." Qin Tao continued to analyze:
"This way, this place will be able to function."
No matter how hard you try, you won't be able to find anything. It takes no effort to get there!
"Mr. Qin, if this happens, will our Mingzhou Group also become an energy giant?" Xu Zhengyang was also very happy.
Qin Tao shook his head: "No."
No?
"The expansion of our group is getting bigger and bigger. We should get less exposure to this energy source." Qin Tao naturally has his concerns: "Now, this project needs to be demonstrated first, especially the detailed geological analysis. Will it be possible?"
There will be earthquakes and the like. If there are no problems and the demonstration is completely feasible, we will hand it over to the Navy. If the Navy is not interested, we will take over."
The scale of Mingzhou Group is getting bigger and bigger. Qin Tao doesn't want the group to be too bloated. He hopes that the group will develop into a high-tech field. It is better to leave this kind of profitable business to others. To avoid being ridiculed, it is a waste of money.
Barrels are getting more expensive.
Of course, Qin Tao will not give the advantage to domestic oil companies. The navy needs these things even more. If the navy does not want it, then Mingzhou Group will have to take over by itself. Anyway, it has already stepped in.
Xu Zhengyang's eyes were full of admiration. Mr. Qin is such a person, just like his father!
"If we can store five million tons of crude oil, will it be able to meet our domestic demand?" Zhang Wenlong was also very excited.
Qin Tao smiled: "That's a little more? How can five million tons be enough? Fifty million tons is not enough, and five million tons is almost enough."
Five hundred million tons?
Everyone was shocked by the number Qin Tao said.
In fact, this number is really quite large. It is the amount of oil imported by the motherland in later generations. In other words, if there is an underground oil depot that can store crude oil for a year, there will be many benefits.
For example, when the price of crude oil is at its lowest, you can keep buying and buying, and then save it. When the price of crude oil rises, you can make a lot of money whether you use it yourself or sell it.
If you want to have a stock of 500 million tons, no matter whether it is oil barrels, above-ground oil tanks, or offshore floating oil storage devices, the only ones that can be used are these natural caves transformed into underground oil storage systems.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "We don't have to worry about this project. We can have three years to prepare." Qin Tao said.
Xu Zhengyang has become accustomed to the various time points given by Mr. Qin. Mr. Qin said that he must believe it.
Of course Qin Tao will remember clearly that three years later, in 1998, the famous Asian financial crisis broke out, which in turn led to a slowdown in global economic growth, oil demand also began to slow down, and oil prices began to plummet.
In January 1997, the oil price was still at US$24.8 per barrel. By December 1998, the oil price had reached US$9.75 per barrel.
Therefore, it was most appropriate to buy the bottom at the end of 1998. I bought it for less than ten dollars a barrel, filled the underwater oil depot, and sold it in 2001. The price at that time was as high as $29.43.
After everything was cleared, the Internet bubble burst, the global economy declined, and oil prices began to fall again.
Just these two rounds of operations, if done well, can make a lot of money. Based on 6 million barrels and making 20 US dollars per barrel, you can make more than 100 million US dollars!
Two operations, that's more than 200 million.
For ordinary enterprises, this is already an unattainable number, but for Mingzhou Group, it is child's play, and Qin Tao really doesn't like it.
However, there are still three years until 1998. During these three years, some other projects must be planned in advance. If they work well, they can squeeze out more competitors.
Dazhou Company has been destroyed by Qin Tao, and the next one to be destroyed is of course Sanxing Company!
This kind of business partners are meant to be a trap. How can we develop ourselves if we don't trap them?
At this time, Xu Zhengyang, Zhang Wenlong and others had no idea that Qin Tao's thinking could reach such an extent.