Kong Er spoke.
"Your Majesty, the expansion plan for the Army's 10 standing divisions..."
"Ten divisions? Kong Er, don't be too outrageous."
Before Kong Er finished speaking, Shen Yulong couldn't help but refute.
You must know that the weapons of the standing division are all Taishang Laojun brand, which are very expensive.
When the cannonballs fired, what was ejected was not lumps of iron, but silver.
If the Army gets a large amount of military spending, how much will the Navy have left?
What to do with his grand fleet plan?
Shen Yulong rebutted Kong Er while trying to please Zhu Zaiming, saying: "Your Majesty, the army's three divisions are enough for the time being.
Now it is mainly the navy, and the First Fleet has not yet made up for it. Although the sailing battleships are still useful, they are still insufficient against the British Navy in the Indian Ocean. "
Kong Er's eyes widened. He had seen shameless people before, but he had never seen such shameless people.
To arm a division and reserve ammunition for a year, the maximum cost is only 3 million Ming silver coins.
If these 3 million are put into the Navy, it will also purchase a Dingyuan-class battleship and corresponding equipment and ammunition.
Who is outrageous?
Thinking of this, Kong Er argued hard.
However, the strategy of going south in the next stage has been decided, and the army's expansion to three divisions is already the maximum.
Because Ming Dynasty's infrastructure construction requires a lot of money.
Building cement roads, urban reconstruction, rural revitalization...
All this is inseparable from money.
Zhu Zaiming explained patiently.
“So, no matter how much money the Ministry of Household Affairs has, they will be poor soon.
The General's Office will allocate 10 million silver coins to you, 3 million will go to the army, and 7 million will go to the navy.
General Kong, the training of the 2nd and 3rd Divisions must be stepped up.
In the spring of next year, Haohe City is preparing to change its defense, and Ding Qiaozhen has other tasks for him. "
Compared to the Army, the Navy appears to have ample funding.
But in fact it is still very tight.
Because the maintenance cost of the four Dingyuan-class battleships is too high, it costs more than 200,000 silver coins every month just to replenish the artillery shells.
Coupled with other miscellaneous expenses, these 7 million will probably only maintain military expenditures for one year.
There is simply no extra money to buy a ship.
The main reason is that the Dingyuan-class battleship is 80 years ahead of its time and is still a big piece. The cost of buying it from the system is too high.
The Fortress-class cruisers and Harkaze-class destroyers are under construction at the Xinxiang Shipyard and will not enter service next year.
At this time, the First Fleet of the Ming Navy relied entirely on four Dingyuan-class battleships to support the scene.
The maintenance of sea areas from Nanyang to Australia is slightly insufficient.
Facing this situation, Shen Yulong felt anxious.
He said: "Your Majesty, these 7 million silver coins can only sustain the consumption of the fleet. There is no way to replenish the first fleet."
In this regard, Zhu Zaiming buried his head in thought.
The self-built ship will not be put into service until next year, and it is not yet known how long it will take to achieve combat effectiveness.
Perhaps, we should really complete the First Fleet first.
While the Ministry of Finance now has money, squeeze out some money to build up the navy first.
Think of this.
In Kong Er's envious eyes, Zhu Zaiming allocated another 12 million silver coins from the Ministry of Household Affairs for the expansion of the First Fleet.
On the basis of the original four Dingyuan-class battleships, Dingyuan, Zhenyuan, Laiyuan, and Jingyuan, 10 new giant ships were added.
The four dome-armored cruisers of the same model as the Brest were named Pingyuan, Zhiyuan, Jingyuan, and Jiyuan.
Four Chaoyong-class artillery destroyers, Chaoyong, Shengyong, Yangwei, and Longwei.
The Chaoyong-class artillery destroyer has a displacement of more than 1,300 tons and is equipped with two 254mm main guns, four 90mm secondary guns, and two 80mm secondary guns.
The speed is 15-16 knots.
There are also two supply ships, Xinxiang and Luzon, with a displacement of 6,000 tons, a 90mm self-defense gun, and a speed of 13 knots.
In this way, the entire First Fleet will have 14 large steel battleships.
The next day, Daming Newspaper focused on the matter.
In the Chongming Island Military Port, neatly arranged new warships were printed on newspapers.
On the newspaper headlines, the characters "Ming Dynasty's Invincible Fleet" were particularly conspicuous.
The Ming Navy has added a new ship.
When the people of the Ming Dynasty heard the news, there were voices discussing new battleships all over the land.
The photo of the Dingyuan-class battleship's gun salvo is impressive.
What would it be like if the entire First Fleet engaged in an artillery battle?
I don’t dare to think about it.
Some are happy and some are sad.
The Governor-General of the British Empire in Bengal hurriedly wrote a letter to Parliament and sent a clipper ship to deliver it together with the current newspaper.
The British Empire's maritime supremacy was being challenged.
In fact, from the moment the Dingyuan-class battleships appeared, it was only a matter of time before the British Empire's sea power declined.
However, no one expected it to happen so soon.
In just one year, the first fleet of the Ming Navy was formed.
The British Empire's Warrior-class ironclads are still under construction.
A large number of laboratories began to prepare mercury fulminate and use black powder to make beggar's version of customized artillery shells.
When these warships are launched, it will be next year.
This made the British people in London very anxious.
"We want battleships!"
"We want ironclads!"
"We want more battleships!"
Many British people began to march on the streets, calling on the Imperial Parliament to speed up naval construction.
King George III even placed several donation boxes in Downing Street and gave a famous speech.
"If Ming Dynasty builds one warship, Great Britain will build two!
From today on, I will only eat two meals a day to save money for the Navy! "
A vigorous shipbuilding campaign began.
From Portsmouth to London, from Vickers Shipyard to Fairfield Shipyard, many British people with an empire in mind spontaneously went to work as helpers in shipyards.
Not just the British Empire.
Its good brother France also began to build.
Thanks to the research of the Brest by the shipyard master, the structure of the French Glorious-class iron-clad cruiser is more reasonable.
Coupled with the research on the 240 heavy gun, the navy's new rear-mounted naval gun began test firing, and the effect made Napoleon very satisfied.
Although black powder is still used, the barrel still needs to be cleaned after firing a few shots.
However, as long as France is more advanced than Britain, France will win.
A shipbuilding project launched by the Ming Dynasty swept the world.
Industrial countries that consider themselves capable have launched their own ironclad ship plans.
As for the classification of warships in the new era, various countries have given Ming Dynasty enough respect.
Following the name "Dreadnought" used by the "Da Ming Pao" for the Dingyuan, all of its ironclads are collectively referred to as "pre-dreadnoughts".
After all, these armored ships are not on the same level as the Dingyuan-class battleships, and all countries still need to be self-aware.
What should I do if the technology is inferior?
Many countries followed France's example and sent missions to the Ming Dynasty to prepare for the establishment of embassies.
As long as there are contacts in Ming Dynasty, Ming Dynasty executives can always be made to relax under the money offensive.
As long as you can visit the First Fleet of the Ming Navy, you can learn something.
It would be better if you can place an order in Daming.
At least, that's what they think.
