After repeated deductions, the senior think tanks of the Prime Minister's Office felt that Xiao Letian's judgment was very likely. Five years would be the final preparation period for Ryukyu.
Five years later, in 1873, Zaichun was already 17 years old. According to the royal system of the Qing Dynasty, a person who gets married at the age of 16 can be regarded as an adult. After that, no one has the right to stop Zaichun from taking charge of the government. arrive.
But will those vested interest groups be willing to let Zai Chun take back his power? Their purpose is to hope that Zai Chun will become a rubber stamp, play with women in the Forbidden City, be popular and drink hot, and be a puppet. What kind of bicycle do you want... …No, no, no, what kind of power do you want?
No one will willingly give up the interests in their hands, and no beggar will easily throw away the two copper coins in his hand, let alone the conservative forces of the Manchu Qing Dynasty who are making money every day.
Yi? Their army is not vegetarian, and Zai Chun, who has been educated by Xiao Letian, is also a hardliner. After the secret war between the two sides, an open war is likely to occur. The possibility of a Manchu civil war breaking out in Zhili is very high.
At that time, Britain, France, Russia and even the United States will not miss this opportunity. They are likely to support their spokespersons and escalate the war step by step. On the one hand, they can borrow money for the war, on the other hand, they can dump weapons, and then there are various treaty guarantees. future benefits.
If they really can't achieve their goal, they will personally send warships and expeditionary forces to join in the fun. Isn't this how the Second Opium War started? If it weren't for the civil war between the Qing Dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, how could they have a chance? use force.
In Xiao Letian's mind, civil war can be fought, and it is even healthier to fight a dozen times, but foreign invaders cannot come in. This is the most fundamental principle, but if you want to stop foreign invaders, you must have a strong navy, at least one that can protect itself in East Asia. navy.
From 1868 to 1873, five years was a long time, but it was indeed tense enough to build a navy.
Fan Qian is already in his early seventies this year. Xiao Letian didn't want to work for him, but many of the core wealth are in the hands of the old shopkeeper. This is the money steward that Xiao Letian trusts most in the world, and no one else can.
The old shopkeeper was in good spirits. After a few mouthfuls of ginseng soup, he started to make a budget. "The total investment for the Zhiyuan is 1.9 million taels of silver, which includes a lot of research expenses, and the subsequent quotation for mass production Prussia is 800,000 taels..." …”
"The best way is to produce in Prussia. As the Prime Minister said, Prussia's industrial foundation is much better than ours. Large-scale mass production can definitely drive down the cost. But it is a pity that Britain and France will never allow such advanced technology. If the warships are successfully transported back to Ryukyu, they will definitely intercept them and try their best to detain those warships in Europe..."
"Ahem...there is only one last option, and that is to build it ourselves. The flying shear ship that returned home with the Zhiyuan this time brought a large number of drawings and core equipment. In addition, the Prime Minister also requested that we must be able to produce it ourselves. Battleships cannot be relied upon by outsiders after all..."
Xiao Letian took over and said, "A warship involves many industries, such as steel, Chinese labor, machinery manufacturing, gunpowder manufacturing, precision instruments... and so on. Now Ryukyu and Tanggu have begun to build factories, and equipment purchased from the United States and Prussia will be purchased this year. It should all be completed by the end of the year, and there is still a shortfall of 3 million taels in basic investment, which must be taken into account..."
"Yes, new factories, new workers, and new equipment all need to be run in, so it is impossible for our first battleship to reach the low cost of Prussia... If we build ten similar armored cruisers in Ryukyu, then a single The cost is likely to reach 1 million taels or more..."
Xiao Hexin took a breath of air, "Oh my God, so much. According to the original plan, ten armored ships will require 10 million taels, plus 3 million taels for infrastructure... This is too much."
Wang Huaiyuan shook his head, "Not enough. You also need to equip the battleship with ammunition. The cost of a full load of shells for the Zhiyuan requires 150,000 taels of silver. This is really ten thousand taels of gold when the cannon goes off... If you want to defend such a long coast of China, If you don’t prepare more than five million taels of ammunition reserves, you can.”
Luo Huo was completely stunned, "What, this is only 18 million taels... Oh my god."
Xiao Letian smiled bitterly and said, "It's not enough. There are also the costs of training so many soldiers to eat and drink, the cost of expanding the port, and even the CIA has to establish a coastal intelligence network for the navy. These all require money..."
"Twenty million taels, at least 20 million taels are needed..."
Xiao Letian took a sip of liquor into his throat, rubbed his temples painfully and sighed in his mind, "In the decades before and after the formation of the Beiyang Navy, it was claimed that 200 million taels of silver were spent. You are sincere and you are not deceiving me. You are really sincere and you are not deceiving me..." The Navy is too expensive, really too expensive."
Everyone present was silent. Even the old shopkeeper took a sip of rice wine to calm down his shock. It took a long time for Fan Lian to say, "Money...actually we have it. More than 20 million yuan is enough just from the profits of Lotte Matheson and the bank." , but the money to raise soldiers later is a bottomless pit..."
"If it doesn't work, we have to start with the Qing Dynasty Bonds. Apart from issuing more banknote bonds, I really can't think of any other way."
"Twenty million taels." Xiao Hexin and others' expressions changed. "Do we have so much money now? Isn't this enough?"
Xiao Letian shook his head in pain, "It's not enough at all, absolutely not enough. You have no idea that once the naval arms race starts, it will be a nightmare from which you can't wake up..."
Twenty million taels is just the initial capital, and there will be plenty of money to spend in the future. Xiao Letian clearly remembers the historical documents recorded in later generations. The naval arms race just before World War I had already overwhelmed the British Empire.
At that time, the German Empire, which had risen from the ruins of France, began its ambitious naval strategy. Prince Carl's son was determined to challenge Britain's hegemony, and the period of violence finally began.
The tonnage is getting larger and larger, with 10,000 tons, 20,000 tons and even approaching 30,000 tons, and the caliber of artillery is getting stronger and stronger. Now the 210-caliber artillery is already unparalleled, but during World War I, the 280-caliber even Cannons exceeding 300 will become mainstream.
Moreover, the caliber multiples of the gun barrels are getting larger and larger. The silly, big, black and thick main guns in the past will be eliminated in less than 20 to 30 years.
Coal-burning steam power will be replaced by oil-burning internal combustion turbines in a few decades, and the spread of electrification is a bottomless pit of money.
"Money, money, why am I, Xiao Letian, so poor...why am I so poor."
The Lord is worried about the humiliation of his ministers. Xiao Letian's worry is the humiliation of his ministers. The old shopkeeper blushed and said, "There is only one way. Print more bonds to overcome the current difficulties first. Such a big Jiangnan has more than tens of billions of wealth." "
It's a pity that Xiao Letian shook his head, "It's not that simple. The financial situation is very deep... I'm afraid someone is watching us secretly." This book was first published from, be the first to read the genuine content!
