Chapter 46: Collective Fisheries Company

On account of the orders, the Township Head reconciled with the Chao Mo Weaponry, and the style of Dawan Village returned to normal.

After visiting the barely satisfactory Gaijin Shipyard once more, Yang Tai's impression of Tang Wen became "not bad."

Not to mention, the Gaijin Shipyard at least had new equipment, and the staff's morale and quality were quite good, looking like they had great potential for development.

For a small Dawan Village to produce a conscientious entrepreneur, Yang Tai sincerely felt his goal of nurturing people had not been in vain.

Yang Tai waved his hand decisively, deciding to find a way to apply for several years of tax breaks for the Gaijin Shipyard, as a strong support for township enterprises.

To express gratitude, Tang Wen immediately warmly invited the Township Head to stay for dinner.

Yang Tai originally thought that in such a remote place, they would at most eat a special meal in the cafeteria, which wouldn't exceed the standard, so he agreed.

But when the buffet from Dawan Port Hotel was served, both he and the Village Head were truly opened to new sights.

Not to mention eating, they had never even seen such elaborate dishes and exquisite plating.

Although many seafood items could be caught locally by going out to sea, preparing them well was not easy.

French oysters, steamed Dalian abalone, cheese-baked Boston lobster, freshly baked Australian green lobsters, giant river prawns, flower crabs, mussels, and a whole bunch of other things were brought up, along with a vast array of desserts unseen even in bakeries, almost scaring the Township Head away.

Yang Tai even stepped back half a pace, saying to Tang Wen:

"I'm at an age where you shouldn't make me commit a mistake."

"What mistake? Just some local specialties. Our shipyard eats this every meal... every time we improve the food. It's purely because our chefs are skilled."

"This is almost better than a big hotel!"

Yang Tai thought the shipyard probably focused its main energy on eating, but he still decided to follow his heart and taste it first.

And Chen Yonggui, eating at the shipyard for the first time, was almost shocked out of his eyeballs seeing this standard.

He had eaten big lobsters and big sea cucumbers before, but they could at most steam them or make soup; where could they make so many varieties?

The two instantly transformed into gluttons, devouring everything in a whirlwind, even fiercer than when the Huang brothers came at noon.

In the end, Yang Tai got into the car carrying several boxes of pastries, and Chen Yonggui was not to be outdone, filling half a bag.

After seeing off the Township Head, Chen Yonggui intended to criticize Tang Wen, but thinking of the pastries in his hand, he said tactfully:

"Xiao Tang, people have three desires; eating is enough to fill the stomach. Being too extravagant is not good."

"..."

Tang Wen did not want to answer this question; actually, he also felt it was a bit wasteful, but the coins spent at the port were fixed, so it would be a waste to not eat it all and throw it away.

Ignoring this issue, Tang Wen remembered the events of the day, cleared his throat, and said:

"Uncle Yonggui, regarding letting the villagers come to work at the shipyard... actually, I have a new proposal."

Actually, the fact that the Gaijin Shipyard "secretly" recruited over 20 outside workers without hiring local villagers had always been a source of silent resentment for Chen Yonggui.

Bringing it up during the day was to remind Tang Wen; seeing the latter suddenly bring it up, he frowned slightly.

It wasn't that he wanted to stuff people into the shipyard, but if there were no people from his own village, handling affairs for the shipyard in the village wouldn't be so convenient in the future.

This was purely human nature; an enterprise must integrate into the local circle.

However, 50 people was indeed too many; he had just said it casually, thinking he had scared Tang Wen, and immediately wanted to explain:

"Actually, Uncle didn't mean that, just..."

"It's like this, Uncle. I was thinking, can our village start a fisheries company?"

"Eh?"

The sudden turn caught Chen Yonggui off guard, but he quickly spoke along with Tang Wen:

"Starting a fisheries company, huh? I had this idea seven or eight years ago. I heard the villages below are all running companies together to go far out to sea; unified purchasing and sales are also more convenient than selling individually.

But although our Dawan Village has many people, everyone is poor. I estimate even if we convinced everyone, we could only raise a few hundred thousand. Including credit union loans, it would be at most seven or eight hundred thousand.

But establishing a fisheries company is for everyone to go far out to sea to catch fish. Such large ships cannot be obtained without one or two million; even second-hand ones aren't enough."

Unlike the interior, coastal areas have always relied on the sea for a living.

Compared to distributing production to households, many places with foresight have been organizing private fisheries companies after the spring breeze.

The whole village pools money, provides people and effort to run a collective enterprise, changing from individual sea trips to collective fisheries company operations.

The benefit of this is avoiding the past where everyone fished in near-shore waters and fought over fishing zones, while also being able to ship large quantities to negotiate prices with purchasing companies and sell uniformly at good prices.

Moreover, with the money and people gathered, they could also equip large fishing boats to go to the resource-rich far seas.

Chen Yonggui was sharp-witted, but the village was too poor; otherwise, they wouldn't even be unable to build a basic cement road.

However, what Tang Wen said next indeed gave him hope:

"Uncle, shipbuilding requires professional workers, and many who stay in the village are probably not very suitable.

Precisely going out to sea is their advantage; everyone must be a good hand.

Why not have the village run a fisheries company, and then the Gaijin Shipyard contributes one ship as equity? If we make money, it's for everyone; if we lose, we sell the ship, and the shipyard won't lose money."

Oh, this proposal is very constructive!

Chen Yonggui's eyes immediately lit up, seeing huge feasibility.

Buying a ship is expensive, but doesn't the village have a shipyard now!

Tang Wen provides the ship, the villagers provide the labor; it's simply perfect for both sides.

Many villagers are not highly educated, but when it comes to going out to sea, they have never feared anyone; they are people who fight life and death with the sea relying on sheer ruthlessness; anyone who can stand and get off the boat is a good hand.

It can be said that as long as there is a ship, Chen Yonggui has absolute confidence in leading everyone to make money.

Although very tempted, Chen Yonggui still said:

"The cost of a ship is not low, and this would almost mean our village is taking advantage of the factory; this is a bit..."

"If you feel it's inappropriate, I have another method:

The fisheries company cannot contribute zero money. For things the shipyard cannot make, like trawls, fish finders, satellite navigation, satellite communicators, and radar, the fisheries company will buy them.

The remaining hull can also be considered as bought by the fisheries company. If the full payment cannot be made, take it with zero down payment and repay in two years; how about 5 percent interest?

If it cannot be repaid, we won't take the ship back; how about converting the equity into shares?"

As soon as Tang Wen finished speaking, Chen Yonggui nodded vigorously:

"The second method is better. If we take shares, many people won't know gratitude; we must use loans to make everyone realize the need to work hard.

Moreover, even close brothers settle accounts clearly. Interest must be paid, otherwise it will be unclear later."

This made Tang Wen even more endearing in the village chief's eyes. He directly grasped Tang Wen's hand and said solemnly:

"Little Tang, only if this matter can be accomplished can the village truly develop. I represent the entire village to thank you.

As for navigation systems and satellite phones, I will organize the village to fund their purchase; you only need to build a blank hull.

Our requirements are not high; the most basic ones that meet the needs will suffice. A few hundred tons, three or four hundred, would be enough."

Three or four hundred tons?

Tang Wen thought such a small shipyard could not build it, but he still nodded:

"Just wait, Uncle. If the fishing company can definitely be established, we can build it very quickly."