Chapter 3: Repairing a Tractor?

Everyone says the physical manufacturing industry struggles to survive, but shipbuilding is absolutely the hardest tier within it.

For any large vessel with a bit of technology and scale, the construction cycle starts at half a year, upfront investment easily reaches tens of millions, the entire payment cycle is very long, requiring massive manpower; if the shipyard cannot withstand the huge capital flow demand, it's finished.

A long cycle also means huge variables; examples of shipowners going bankrupt halfway through construction and unable to pay the final balance are everywhere, and a single oil price fluctuation can cause a massive impact on the global shipbuilding industry.

Shipbuilding is also a high-risk industry; ship parts often weigh dozens or hundreds of tons, even sections of several thousand tons, with heights of dozens of meters; one accident is a major hazard.

High risk, high investment, high danger, long cycle, and unremarkable profits are all burdens the shipyard must bear.

The reason the island nation and the Koreans' shipbuilding industries grew so rapidly after the 70s was that after Old Mike raised interest rates, the shipbuilding industry fled first, because investing in domestic shipbuilding was not as good as putting money in the bank to earn interest, and the latter had no risk.

But seeing the miracle of magic shipbuilding with his own eyes, Tang Wen saw something different.

Building ships out of thin air, an extremely short cycle, no workers needed, the steel used for building ships is cheaper than buying it; even selling the built ships as scrap steel makes a profit.

The terrifying power of magic is like this.

However, this matter absolutely cannot be seen by others; if building ships out of thin air spreads, I'm afraid I'll be finely chopped into minced meat.

Once "Tax-Free No. 1" is finished, the first thing must be to weld a sealed warehouse around the shipyard.

After ordering the construction of the speedboat, Tang Wen began to test the shipyard's R&D function.

The gasoline V8 engine is too high-end and too expensive, but simpler ones will definitely be much cheaper.

Tang Wen thought of the small single-cylinder diesel engines usually used on fishing boats, generally around fifteen horsepower, and immediately decided to try developing one.

【Develop Marine Diesel Engine: 15 HP Conventional Single-Cylinder Diesel Engine (Compact), meets simple waterproof, smoke-proof, and corrosion-resistant standards】

【Design Quote Failed】

【Dock Occupancy: 100%, you have no extra resources to perform operations】

Seeing the system's error prompt, Tang Wen finally realized the Golden Shipyard was too crude; one production task forced it to run at full load, leaving absolutely no spare capacity.

Still need to figure out how to upgrade.

After messing around all day, Tang Wen finally felt hunger in his stomach.

One of the major downsides of transmigration appeared again; Dawan Village has no food delivery, Tang Wen can't cook, and he survives entirely on randomly improvised noodle soup.

Due to the shipyard's secret, the next three days will probably be spent guarding here.

Three days later.

In the center of the empty ground in front of the work shed, the completed "Tax-Free No. 1" lay quietly on the ground.

The hull, 3.5 meters wide and 12 meters long, was about the size of a large truck's cargo bed; although it counts as a small fry among vessels, it was still exaggerated compared to a human.

The light curtain had vanished; Tang Wen, who had eaten clear water noodles for three days, squatted on the ground, stroking the hull's outer shell.

The shape was the common closed bow streamlined type for speedboats, but what shocked Tang Wen was the craftsmanship of the system's shipbuilding.

For such a small speedboat, the technical content is not high; only the simplest welding and anti-rust treatment are needed to guarantee quality, and shoddy workmanship does not affect use.

But the "Tax-Free No. 1" before him had a surface coated with anti-rust paint that was bright and uniform; touching it with a hand, one could almost never feel any roughness.

Such quality was comparable to integrated casting and processing, something generally impossible to appear on a ship.

Observing the welds on the bottom of the hull again, from head to tail they were almost exactly the same uniform fish-scale welds; even a layman could see the workmanship was quite excellent.

However, the hull itself was very simple; the front of the speedboat was empty, with only the rear leaving enough space for an operating area accommodating two or three people.

But on the side of the hull, four large white characters "Tax-Free No. 1" were painted on the blue primer.

For this kind of speedboat, don't mention electrical systems, control systems, or wiring; the engine is installed at the stern and directly linked together with a rigid rod; a person changes the engine's direction at the stern to change the course.

A 500L fuel tank was placed at the stern, but relative to four oil-guzzlers, it was just barely enough.

Marine engine gasoline engines are different from cars; a 200 HP marine engine can easily consume over 80 liters, and four engines running at full power for one hour can drain the tank.

However, such high-intensity use will definitely damage the engine; generally, tax-free transport ships only run at full power during the final sprint, and after one trip, they must be disassembled for major maintenance, otherwise the expensive costs are unaffordable for ordinary trading companies.

Seeing that "Tax-Free No. 1"'s quality far exceeded expectations, Tang Wen finally breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly stood up to prepare to go to a restaurant in town to reward himself.

After carefully locking the door, he easily hitched a ride on a tractor going to town in the village.

This is also a feature of the two Guangs; even decades later, tractors are everywhere; the tractors here are not hand-held, but "four-not-like" vehicles like small trucks.

The tractor he hitched a ride on today belonged to Secretary Chen Yonggui; the old secretary's son settled in town, and tonight he was returning to his son's house for dinner.

Seeing Tang Wen climb into the tractor's rear bed, Chen Yonggui couldn't help but ask:

"Where are you running to town so late? I'm not coming back tonight."

"Old Uncle, I'm going to a classmate's house in town."

Chen Yonggui nodded and started the tractor; as the secretary, if something bad happened to a villager, he would be talked about.

Dawan Village was not far from the town; they arrived at the town entrance in just over ten minutes.

Chen Yonggui didn't forget Tang Wen's current family situation; he called out to Tang Wen, who had jumped off the vehicle, and asked:

"Are you still planning to run your father's shop? If not, sell it and go work outside; nowadays, only young people going out can earn money.

If you want to go, Old Uncle has relatives in the city to help you."

Tang Wen thought that was exactly his idea; the 90s were full of changes, and looking at Dawan Village's location, it was clearly not a place with potential.

However, with the magic shipyard, he was confident he could create something big for the world.

"No thanks, Old Uncle, I want to stay in the village first; I also know some repair skills."

As soon as the words fell, Tang Wen saw Chen Yonggui's suspicious gaze.

He almost forgot; "Tang Wen" was an unemployed person who hadn't even graduated from secondary vocational school, and it seemed he never wanted to learn skills from Tang Wu, idling around all day.

Seeing this, Tang Wen could only reluctantly patch up the lie:

"Old D... my dad also taught me; I learned it at a glance."

Chen Yonggui didn't believe it; in his impression, Tang Wen was lazy and loved to eat; learning skills requires being down-to-earth.

He simply pointed to the tractor's engine head:

"Then my tractor's sound hasn't been right lately; tell me what the problem is."

Repair a tractor?

Tang Wen looked at the chugging tractor and felt nothing wrong with it; after a moment's thought, he gently placed his hand on the tractor's outer shell.

【Detected Steel: 890 kg (Recycling Rate 87%), Recycle?】

【Detected Engine:

Low-speed single-cylinder four-stroke diesel engine (Poor Condition)

Fuel Supply Method: Swirl-type nozzle

Starting Method: Hand-crank

Speed: 2200 rpm

Power: 7.36 kW (10 hp)

Main Material: Steel, Aluminum

Weight: 65 kg】

【Can consume 50 Experience/100 Silver Coins to replicate, Replicate?】

With the shipyard idle, Tang Wen decisively chose to proceed with the replication.

He had already spent over four thousand to recharge one hundred Silver Coins into the shipyard; he could definitely give it a try.

【Replication Complete, Silver Coins -100】

【Required Manufacturing:

1. Direct Manufacturing: 6 Silver Coins/unit (3 hours)

2. Processing with Provided Materials: Steel 45 kg, Aluminum 12 kg, Petroleum 0.5 kg, 4 Silver Coins/unit (1.5 hours)】

"..."

Tang Wen rubbed his eyes, confirming he hadn't missed two zeros.

6 Silver Coins?

Less than three hundred yuan?!

Tang Wen seriously suspected the system calculated the manufacturing cost by horsepower; otherwise, this price was truly terrifying.

Nowadays, a tractor's diesel engine costs at least two thousand yuan; three hundred yuan couldn't even buy a scrap one.

"How is it? Can it be repaired?"

Seeing Tang Wen stand there silently for a long time, touching the tractor in a daze, Chen Yonggui grew somewhat impatient.