After the cruiser problem is solved, there is really nothing to argue about with the remaining destroyers.
The problems that destroyers originally had are basically extended to the standards of cruisers.
The total tonnage limit of destroyers was also quickly determined at 100,000 tons.
This was followed by the total tonnage of submarines, which was limited to 50,000 tons.
In this way, the total tonnage of combat ships of various navies is limited to 754,000 tons.
The tonnage of capital ships plus aircraft carriers accounts for 404,000 tons.
Finally, there are standards for decommissioning, replacement, training, construction and trading of warships.
Based on compromise standards acceptable to all parties, various regulations were gradually formulated.
So far, the total tonnage of ships in various countries is below the total limit.
Prussia, Lucia, Austria and other countries are fully engaged in construction and have not yet completed all fleet planning.
The tonnage of naval ships of Britain, France, and Spain during the war exceeded this limit.
However, after the end of the World War, the three countries successively retired a large number of old ships, causing the tonnage to drop dramatically.
Therefore, there is currently no list of which countries need to retire which ships immediately.
It only stipulates that when a country uses up the tonnage share of each type of ship, when the new ship is launched, it must decommission the old ship that is not less than the tonnage of the new ship.
It also stipulates that all high-speed battleships should be used for no less than twenty years, sub-capital ships, old-fashioned armored cruisers and aircraft carriers should be used for no less than fifteen years, and destroyers and submarines should be used for no less than ten years.
Before the life of the existing ships has reached the specified service time, unless the original ships are sunk or damaged beyond repair due to war or accidents, new ships may not be replaced with new ships.
At the same time, an inspection team with representatives from all countries will be established to jointly supervise the construction and decommissioning of ships in all countries.
All signatory countries are prohibited from selling, leasing, or donating existing warships to any other country.
All signatories are prohibited from building warships for other countries.
The last two restrictions on ship ownership changes were added at the request of the French.
After Talleyrand made this request, Metternich of Austria couldn't help but ask and confirm:
"Prohibiting countries from transferring ships can be understood as preventing the transfer of ships and freeing up shares for the construction of new ships, right?
"Is it to prohibit signatory countries from building ships for other countries to prevent countries from starting construction in the name of construction for other countries and then recruiting them for use by their own navies after the ships are completed?
"No ships are allowed to be traded or built for other countries. This requirement is too stringent.
“Wouldn’t it be enough to restrict expropriation in the treaty?”
Historically, the Washington Naval Treaty after World War I also prohibited signatory countries from transferring existing ships.
However, there is no prohibition on the construction of new ships for other signatory and non-signatory countries.
It is only required that the standards of these foreign trade ships must not exceed the scope stipulated in the treaty.
At the same time, in response to the British requisitioning of the Agincourt battleship originally built for the Ottomans during World War I, the signatory countries were prohibited from requisitioning ships built for other countries during the war.
In other words, the treaty cannot prohibit the trading of warships for the simple reason that it involves making money.
Anyone who has trouble with money has trouble with all countries.
However, after World War I, all the major European and American countries were in ruins, and then the economic crisis and the Great Depression came immediately.
In addition, the tonnage of naval battleships has directly expanded from 10,000 to 20,000 tons to more than 40,000 tons. The cost of construction and use has greatly expanded, opening up a huge gap with low-level and traditional ships.
As a result, non-contracting countries no longer had the ability to purchase large battleships for use, so that after World War I and before World War II, there was no foreign trade involving capital ships.
In the current Thai-Spanish Naval Treaty in this world, the French require a complete ban on ship trade between the signatory countries and with foreign countries.
The actual intention of the French does not lie in the content of the treaty itself at all.
So when the French representative Talleyrand heard Metternich’s question, he glared back at him:
“Can the ships our countries can build compete with Ming’s ships?
"Can you be allowed to freely sell the ships you are designing or building using Daming technology?
"Finally, and most importantly, making such a provision that will not actually harm the interests of all countries will help make Ming acquiesce and support the treaty we signed!"
Those who can come to such a meeting are all talented people. When Talleyrand said these words, the representatives at the scene immediately understood.
What the French require is that signatory countries must not build combat ships for other countries, but there is no provision that signatory countries cannot import combat ships from non-signatory countries.
Ming Dynasty did not sign a contract, so Ming Dynasty can export ships to any country.
At the same time, the ships of various countries are not very competitive compared to the Ming Dynasty.
Regardless of whether this provision is added or not, all countries will only buy Ming Dynasty ships instead of trading with each other.
Although Ming Dynasty did not participate in the discussion and signing of the treaty, such international treaties must take Ming Dynasty's attitude into consideration.
The key is not to go against Ming's interests, but preferably to be in line with Ming's interests from a certain angle.
In this way, when matters related to the treaty appear in front of relevant personnel of the Ming Dynasty, they will deal with it on the premise that they know the existence of such a treaty by default and will not deliberately seek trouble.
If the treaty goes against the interests of Ming Dynasty, then Ming Dynasty will definitely ignore or even destroy the treaty when encountering relevant matters.
Therefore, Ming's attitude determines whether this treaty can truly take effect.
The terms proposed by the French could obviously improve Ming's attitude towards this treaty.
With this understanding, all country representatives no longer question these two additional transaction restrictions.
So far, the main restrictions of the naval treaty have been determined.
In the follow-up, we need to continue to clarify the details in all aspects, and finally let specialized clerical staff put the details on paper.
Although it was signed by a group of Thai and Western countries, even though Ming Dynasty did not participate at all.
However, for such a treaty signed between multiple countries, the original document can still only be written in plain text.
The plain Chinese version shall prevail, plus translations for each country to read.
In the end, I will definitely send a few copies to the League of Nations for filing, and a few copies to the Ming Dynasty Honglu Temple for filing.
On May 10th, the seventh year of Ankang in the Ming Dynasty, the "Naval Treaty of Paris" was finally officially signed.
After the representatives from each country wrote their names on the formal treaty, they were obviously relieved.
The negotiations, which lasted for more than two months, are finally over.
The naval development plans of various countries in Thailand and Spain for the next twenty years have been clearly defined.
But looking at this regulation, representatives from various countries have different moods.
The British and French are somewhat sad.
The two countries that are most in favor of signing a treaty are also the two countries that most hope to reduce the total tonnage of naval ships to a lower level.
The final result was far from the initial goals of both countries.
Initially, both countries planned to limit the tonnage of high-speed battleships to about 160,000 tons, and the total tonnage of high-speed battleships plus aircraft carriers to more than 200,000 tons.
Now a simple capital ship can be expanded to 320,000 tons...
However, the advantage is that countries in good condition such as Lucia, Prussia, and Austria have disclosed their shipbuilding plans and limited the shipbuilding plans to a controllable range.
So the British and the French accepted this result.
Lucia was also a little aggrieved.
Lucia's ideal goals and plans exceeded the upper limit stipulated in this treaty. The key was that it did not achieve the initial goal of surpassing Britain and France in naval tonnage, and then achieving the status of the strongest navy in name.
However, the advantage is that it has achieved the same nominal but actually higher status as traditional naval powers such as Britain, France, and Spain. It has made it clear that countries like Prussia are future competitors, and has avoided being targeted by all Thai and Western countries. .
As far as the treaty itself is concerned, it may be the most beneficial to Prussia. The limits stipulated in the treaty will not allow Prussia to excessively squeeze its war potential, and there are no obvious restrictions on the actual shipbuilding plan.
The most important thing is that it allowed Prussia to see clearly the decline of Britain and France, and also to see clearly that Lucia was the real opponent.
So Prussia and Lucia can also accept this result.
For other small countries, or countries in decline, they have maintained the same status as other countries in name only.
But the disadvantages are also obvious. Some countries that originally did not need to build 750,000-ton warships now have the same tonnage limit. They have to maintain their military strength with other countries and force them to pile up 750,000-ton warships. Propensity.
After the signing ceremony of the treaty, the French, as the host, were the first to hold an internal discussion meeting.
The regent Prince Charles summoned Talleyrand and other diplomats, the main court officials and nobles headed by the Duke of Richelieu, and the main naval generals such as Villeneuve to his conference room.
First, let’s review the signed treaty documents together.
After the main staff read it, Duke Richelieu was the first to speak:
"Your Highness, I am very worried now that this naval treaty... may not play a role in limiting the arms race, and may even have a counterproductive effect..."
Charles smiled bitterly and asked:
"Is Your Excellency Richelieu worried that countries like Prussia and Lucia will fill up the 750,000-ton naval ship quota as quickly as possible and cause other countries to follow suit?"
Ciel has obviously thought of this.
The original historical Washington Treaty had provisions requiring countries to stop building capital ships.
Only a few new ships, such as the Nelson class, were specifically listed and allowed to be built after the signing of the treaty due to mutual compromises and checks and balances.
Therefore, after the signing of the treaty, most of the shipbuilding plans of the relevant countries were cancelled.
The Paris Naval Treaty of this world has no relevant provisions.
So it is conceivable that after the treaty is signed, various countries will start a new round of shipbuilding plans.
Treaty tonnage is both a limit and a target...
After Charles asked back, Duke Richelieu also understood that Charles had already thought about it, and then asked with a bit of sadness:
"So, Your Highness, if this happens, do we in France have to follow suit?"
Ciel hesitated for a few seconds:
“Yes, we in France can only follow up, which may not be harmful.
“A 320,000-ton battleship was actually not a big pressure for France in the past.
"France is just not in a good state right now, but it is recovering quickly.
“Although the colonies have been reduced, industrial production capabilities are now being upgraded and innovated.
“The construction of these warships can also be regarded as a part of restoring and building the industrial production base.
“The most critical issue is that since we have the target tonnage of the naval treaty, there should be no war until the countries in Europe and the West have used up these tonnages and formed combat effectiveness.
“Lucia and Prussia should not be able to build more than two 40,000-ton capital ships at the same time.
"What's more, now all countries need to get the support of Ming Dynasty and start a new round of shipbuilding technology upgrades.
“So they can’t build ships faster.
"It will take at least ten years for their 320,000-ton, eight brand-new high-speed battleships to be fully combat effective.
"France will not be in its current state ten years from now. By then, there will not be much pressure to maintain eight battleships of the same level.
"So we just need to continue building two high-speed capital ships and one aircraft carrier every three years."
A group of officials and officers discussed it and felt that what Charles said made sense.
The speed of two battleships and one aircraft carrier every three years is certainly not slow, but it is not particularly fast in this era.
France's maximum shipbuilding speed during the World War was much faster than this.
The current France should be able to withstand this speed.
There was a discussion on the spot for a while, and no one raised any objections. They were all discussing the implementation plan based on Ciel's request.
However, Talleyrand, who paid attention to diplomacy, once again put forward his own views:
"Your Highness, everyone, while we are completing the shipbuilding plan, we must also look at Ming's attitude.
“The Ming Dynasty must also be able to see that this treaty actually has the possibility of promoting naval shipbuilding competition.
“His Royal Highness Prince Dashi once put forward the goal that the total tonnage of the Ming Dynasty’s navy should reach the total tonnage of other countries combined.
“If France, together with the United Kingdom and Spain, as well as Lucia, Prussia, and Austria, all completed their respective share of 750,000 shipbuilding units.
“Italy has completed a shipbuilding share of 400,000 to 500,000 tons, Portugal and the Ottomans have completed a shipbuilding share of 300,000 to 400,000 tons, and small countries such as the Netherlands and Sweden have also completed a share of tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of tons.
"Then Ming Dynasty will have to build six to seven million or even seven to eight million tons of ships to achieve this goal.
"I think that a naval ship of this size should put a certain amount of pressure on even the current Ming Dynasty.
“Mainly, for Daming, there are other means to avoid such extreme situations.
“So we have to see whether Ming Dynasty will intervene and whether it will put forward opinions on the treaty we have drawn up.
"The Ming Dynasty should be prepared for the possibility that each country in Europe will build its own ships and then unite to use them to confront the Ming Dynasty."
Talleyrand's words immediately aroused a chorus of approval.
Seven million or even eight million, this total tonnage data of naval ships is really terrifying.
In the world war, the total naval tonnage of the Ming Dynasty and Thailand and Spain did not reach this level.
This kind of data is already orders of magnitude different compared to the size of the traditional navy.
Some people even think that it may be the last possibility to change the content of the treaty and sign it again.
(End of chapter)
