Nelson knew that the Yinzhou War was a big problem, but this problem had little to do with him or the navy.
The original navy of the colonial rebels was only the fleet that originally escorted the Queen of America to her inauguration.
It has been completely destroyed by itself long ago, and now the navy's task is to blockade it. This is an easy problem.
"How to destroy the rebels is the task of the Army..."
Nelson faced Fox's question and waved his hand to skip the question:
"The navy has completed its mission, and there is no point in you questioning me.
"The construction of new warships is a separate issue for the navy and an issue that affects our homeland security.
"We must start the construction of at least two warships as quickly as possible to maintain the deterrence of the United Kingdom Navy."
Fox said with a straight face:
“But the Yinzhou War involved too much of the budget, and the United Kingdom had no money to build new warships for the navy.
"If we end the war in Yinzhou, we will be able to find money to build a navy!"
Nelson looked at the congressmen around him and suddenly threw away the document in his hand:
"Gentlemen, can you defeat me on the budget issue? Can you use your difficulty and eloquence to defeat the Prussian, Lucian and Spanish fleets on the sea?
"I have already said that the war in Yinzhou and the construction of the navy are two completely unrelated things, but you gentlemen always want to make political deals on this?
"You are using your own safety as a bargaining chip to negotiate with the Navy!
"Who do you think the Navy is protecting?"
Fox was also a little annoyed:
"Sir Nelson, it's not that we want to trade with the navy, of course we also hope that the United Kingdom's navy will be invincible.
"But the budget is limited. If the Navy budget needs to be increased, other places must be deducted. Otherwise, the balance cannot be maintained."
Nelson put his hands down and asked directly:
"Again, what does this have to do with the Navy? The Navy is responsible for fighting wars, not budgeting."
At this time, Prime Minister William Pitt finally stood up and stretched out his hands to signal both parties to stop:
“In the future, the number of new-type capital ships built by the navy will be no less than that of any other navy in Europe and the West.
"At the same time, the tonnage and main gun level of a single ship are not lower than the main warships of any country's navy.
“Then, first build two new capital ships with a full load displacement of no more than 30,000 tons.
"The Navy already has a normal shipbuilding plan, but now it has only made small adjustments to it.
"As for the Yinzhou War, we will find another solution. What are the conditions?"
Fox opened his mouth subconsciously:
"The displacement must not exceed 25,000 tons! There is currently no news confirming that any country's new capital ship has reached this level."
Nelson turned directly to William Pitt:
"I have now decided to resign from all positions in the United Kingdom and immigrate to the Dongyi Kingdom of the Ming Dynasty."
"Don't get excited, Mr. Nelson! Thirty thousand tons is thirty thousand tons!"
Peter instinctively comforted Nelson, then turned to look at Fox:
"Shut up now!"
Fox and Pitt can be regarded as political enemies. Fox is a member of Parliament and not Pitt's subordinate.
It stands to reason that it would be impossible to obey Pete's orders.
But now Nelson has threatened to resign, and Fox also knows that what Pete said has reached the bottom line.
So Fox really kept his mouth shut.
Then Pete looked at all the other MPs again:
“The budget for two new capital ships with a full load of 30,000 tons is now directly approved.
“We will follow up on the implementation of the shipbuilding plan at any time based on the shipbuilding news from other countries in Europe.
"Ensure that the number and quality of the United Kingdom's naval capital ships are no lower than those of any European navy."
There was a chaotic discussion among the members, but in the end no one stood up to object.
So Pitt immediately asked people to write legal documents, and then the speaker presided over the voting.
After the vote is passed, it will be sealed by the Speaker and signed by the Prince of Wales, the Regent.
In this way, a new law called the "United Kingdom Navy Leading Plan" was passed.
The content of the law is very simple, just what Peter just said.
It is required that the number and size of the new capital ships of the United Kingdom remain the first among the European and Western countries.
In Zhu Jingyuan's previous life, before World War I, Britain's shipbuilding plan was the standard for the two powers.
That is, the size of his own fleet must exceed the sum of the second and third places behind him.
Playing second and third at the same time can still maintain a certain advantage.
Now let alone the top two, just one leading standard has turned the parliament into a mess.
The United Kingdom of this world is not the British Empire that Zhu Jingyuan had in his previous life.
The size of the colony and its financial revenue were far different.
They had just finished fighting the World War, and before they had a chance to recover, they immediately started fighting the Yinzhou War again.
The Yinzhou War also ended badly, with no hope of final victory in sight.
The shipbuilding plan was finalized, and Peter began to discuss with the Congress how to make money and how to continue the war in Yinzhou.
In the final analysis, we still have to find ways to make money, and the natural way to make money is to raise taxes.
The key issue is where to tax and which group to tax. This is a technical job.
Nelson also breathed a sigh of relief and found a place to sit down and rest.
Nelson had never planned to build a 40,000-ton ship.
According to the calculations of Nelson and the engineers, a 30,000-ton hull would be enough to install about ten 360mm naval guns.
Therefore, Nelson's psychological expectation is that the full load displacement will not be less than 30,000 tons.
Nelson felt that the direct increase in the tonnage of the battleship from 20,000 tons to 30,000 tons was already a leapfrog upgrade.
Nelson does not think that Ming's next-generation battleship will exceed this scale.
Nelson directly asked for 40,000 tons, which was just a "high price, pay back on the spot" routine.
William Pitt also specifically cooperated with Nelson, otherwise he would not have waited until the last moment to stand up and mediate.
Now the goal has been basically achieved, but Nelson is very tired.
Nelson has basically given up the idea of competing with the Ming Navy.
But now it is a bit difficult to maintain the strongest navy in the West.
The main reason is that the war in Yinzhou did last for a long time and consumed too much British energy and wealth.
Nelson also wanted to end the war, but could not find any effective way.
…………
Outside London, inside the Rothschild family's manor.
The head of the family, Meyer Rothier, a patriarch in his sixties, sat on a chair with a sad expression.
He stared blankly at several newspapers with clear text in front of him. On the front page of the newspaper was a large photo of an execution site.
The third son, Nathan, stood next to him, his expression also very sad, and he said in a particularly sad tone:
“It has been fully confirmed that James was shot in front of the Montgomery County City Hall, the capital of the Mozhou region of Dashi Country.
“The merchant ship James brought on this trip, as well as all his assets, were all confiscated by the Big Food Country.
"They ignored James' identity and didn't even notify us..."
James was the young man Lochiel who traded slaves in Tianzhu and used Tianzhu slaves to smuggle goods from the Food Kingdom.
He is the youngest son of Meyer Rothschild.
Meyer Rothier's mouth opened, and his eyes recognized his youngest son in the photo in the newspaper.
The index finger of his right hand rubbed the face of the confused and desperate young man, and he murmured intermittently:
"James...my James...why are you disobedient, why do you have to challenge the rules of Ming Dynasty..."
Nathan looked on:
"Father, is there anything we can do?"
Meyer continued to look at his youngest son's face and asked feebly:
"What can we do? We are just businessmen, what can we do to the Ming Dynasty? What can we do to the Prince of Dashi?"
Nathan gritted his teeth and said:
"When a common man is angry, blood will splash five steps..."
Meyer shook his head directly:
"A person who is not absolutely trusted cannot get close to the most important prince of the Ming Dynasty.
“Even if you gain trust, you still have to defeat soldiers who have received military training since childhood and whose weapons never leave their bodies.
"James also brought the blame upon himself, as he touched the core interests of Prince Dashi..."
Nathan asked in shock:
"Is that all?"
Meyer put down the newspaper, turned around, looked at his third son, and said very seriously:
"If our family wants to continue, we have to accept this result. I don't want to lose anyone anymore."
Nathan took several deep breaths:
“In addition to attacking Prince Dashi directly, we can also try to disrupt the business of Dashi Clothing Company.
“There are now many internal conflicts between Britain and France, which are even on the verge of breaking out into turmoil.
"We can give a little guidance to make the unrest really break out and make Dashi Clothing Store one of the targets of destruction.
“This kind of pure luxury product can easily become lost in the current situation.
"After something like this happens, no one can imagine that it was us who pushed it."
Meyer didn't answer, just frowned and thought.
…………
Paris, France, the interior reception room of the Western headquarters of Dashi Clothing Company.
Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, son of the Duke of Orleans, complained to Chu Yuqiang, the chief proprietor of Dashi Clothing Company:
"The atmosphere in Paris is too depressing now. There are private gatherings everywhere, and everyone is criticizing the government..."
After hearing this, Chu Yuqiang just shook his head in disbelief. The gathering place may not be in your shop.
Opposite the Louvre, there is a royal palace belonging to the Orleans family, known as the "Palace Royal".
The Duke of Orleans built various shops, cafes, teahouses and other facilities under the arcades outside the palace.
The Duke of Orleans allowed the French to communicate freely here.
Just like many teahouses that don’t have signs saying “Don’t talk about state affairs”, but instead hang signs saying “Welcome political affairs.”
The point is that the Paris police had no right to enter the private property of the Orléans family.
Therefore, in addition to various illegal transactions, various illegal gatherings will also be carried out here.
This area has become almost lawless in Paris.
Chu Yuqiang has lived in Paris for several years, and he cannot fully understand these situations. He can only be regarded as familiar with them.
Then Philip added:
"Your Majesty seems to be preparing to collect taxes from the nobles in order to maintain the war in the Yinzhou colony..."
When Chu Yuqiang heard this, he thought of asking officials for money during the Chongzhen Dynasty.
Then he couldn't help but shook his head again and said:
"Collecting taxes from nobles is not an easy task. Maybe..."
Phillip added what Chu Yuqiang left unfinished:
"It might cause a big mess."
Chu Yuqiang shook his head for the third time:
"But this has nothing to do with me, I'm just a businessman..."
"Why doesn't it matter..."
Phillip looked around, then lowered his voice slightly and said:
"Some people say that the nobles would rather spend their money at Dashi Clothing Store and give it to Prince Dashi of Ming Dynasty than support Yinzhou's war...
"Some people even advocate that the big food stores in Paris should be closed down..."
Chu Yuqiang was a little surprised now:
"The French court dares to touch the property of His Highness Prince Dashi?"
Philip said immediately:
"Of course the court dare not move, but if the citizens get into trouble, the consequences will be uncontrollable."
Chu Yuqiang speculated in his mind whether this Philip was reminding him, threatening him, or just chatting:
"Then how do you think I should deal with it, Your Excellency the Duke?"
Phillip hesitated for a few seconds, and finally said directly:
"I don't have any good ideas. Shopkeeper Chu should try to add more people and observe the market situation more.
“When we find something is wrong, we temporarily close the store and people can take shelter in our homes.
"Or simply move the store to our arcade..."
Chu Yuqiang did not comment, but he still handed it over as a matter of course:
"Thank you, Your Excellency Duke, I will pay attention."
The two of them were discussing this here. Chu Yuqiang's men knocked on the door and walked in:
"Master, Prince Charles invited you to Versailles and said he wanted to discuss something with you."
"I'll be there right away..."
Chu Yuqiang agreed casually and handed over to Phillip very apologetically.
Of course Philip didn't have any objections. The crown prince's summons must be more important than himself.
Anyway, I just came here to chat, there was nothing important, so I left directly.
Chu Yuqiang picked out a piece of new clothing that had never been released on the market and wrapped it in packaging specially used by Prince Charles.
Then he asked his French men to drive him to Versailles.
As the car passed through Paris, Chu Yuqiang took a moment to observe the surrounding situation.
The streets are relatively deserted.
In fact, it has been like this for the whole year.
In fact, it was only in the year after the armistice that the atmosphere in Paris became lively for a while.
Not long after the Yinzhou War began, the city became depressed again.
Chu Yuqiang was thinking about how to report to Zhu Jingyuan.
Chu Yuqiang is not an ordinary businessman. Although he does not specialize in intelligence work, he will regularly report all kinds of information he observes and discovers to Zhu Jingyuan on a regular basis.
This kind of intelligence work, which is not intelligence work, is actually very common in the intelligence system.
The most ordinary news to local people may be very important intelligence to decision-makers thousands of miles away.
Chu Yuqiang's car drove all the way to the gate of the Palace of Versailles.
Chu Yuqiang was an old acquaintance, and there was no need to make a special announcement when entering. A maid directly led Chu Yuqiang to see Prince Charles.
