After deduction again and again, these high-level think-tanks in the Prime Minister's Mansion felt that Xiao Letian's judgment was very likely, and five years was the final preparation period for the Ryukyus.

Five years later, that is, in 1873, Jaechun was already 17 years old at that time, according to the imperial system of the Qing Dynasty, after the marriage at the age of 16, he could be described as an adult, and no one had the right to stop Zaichun from pro-government, and the day of the dictatorship of the cadres was coming.

But will those vested interest groups be willing to let Jae-chun take back power? Their purpose is to hope that Jae-chun will become a rubber stamp, play with women in the Forbidden City, eat and drink spicy food, and be a puppet, what kind of bicycle do they want...... No, no, no, what kind of power do you want?

No one will willingly give up the interests in their hands, and beggars will not easily throw away the two copper plates in their hands, let alone the Manchu conservative forces that are making money every day.

Yi's army is not vegetarian, and Zaichun, who has been educated by Xiao Letian, is also a hardliner, and there is a high probability that there will be an open war after the secret war between the two sides, and the possibility of a Manchurian civil war breaking out on the land of Zhili is very high.

At that time, Britain, France, Russia and even the United States will not let go of this opportunity, and they are likely to support their own spokesmen and let the war escalate 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 treaties to ensure future benefits.

If they really can't achieve their goal, they will personally send warships with expeditionary forces to join in the fun, isn't this how the Second Opium War started, if it wasn't for the civil war between the Qing Dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, how could they have the opportunity to use force.

In Xiao Letian's heart, the civil war can be fought, and even a dozen fights are healthier, but foreign criminals cannot come in, which is the most fundamental principle. But if you want to stop foreign invaders, you must have a strong navy, at least in East Asia, that can protect itself.

Five years, from 1868 to 1873, is a long time, but it is indeed intense enough to build a navy.

Fan Yao is in his early seventies this year, Xiao Letian didn't want to work him, but a lot of core wealth is in the hands of the old shopkeeper, this is Xiao Letian's most trusted money steward in this world, and no one else can.

The old shopkeeper was in good spirits, and after drinking a few sips of ginseng soup, he began to budget "The total investment of the Zhiyuan is 1.9 million taels of silver, which has a lot of research costs, and the subsequent mass production of Prussia is quoted at 800,000 taels ......"

"The best way is to produce in Prussia, as the prime minister said, Prussia's industrial base is much better than ours, and mass production can definitely keep the cost down. But it's a pity that Britain and France will never let such an advanced warship be transported back to the Ryukyus smoothly, and they will definitely intercept and try their best to detain those warships in Europe......"

"Ahem, ahem...... This is the last way, that is, we built it ourselves, and this time the flying clipper ship that returned to China with the Zhiyuan brought a large number of drawings and core equipment. In addition, the prime minister also demanded that we must be able to produce warships ourselves, and it is unreliable to rely on outsiders after all......"

Xiao Letian took over the conversation, "There are many industries involved in a warship, such as steel, Chinese engineering, machinery manufacturing, gunpowder manufacturing, and precision instruments...... Wait, now that the Ryukyus and Tanggu have begun to build factories, the equipment purchased from the United States and Prussia should be completed by the end of this year, and there is still a gap of 3 million taels in the basic investment, which must be counted......"

"Yes, everything needs to be run in with new plants, new workers, new equipment, so it is impossible for our first battleship to reach the cost of Prussia...... If we build ten similar ironclad cruisers in the Ryukyus, then the cost of a single one will most likely reach 1 million taels or even more......"

Xiao Hexin gasped, "Oh my God, so many? According to the original plan, ten ironclad ships will need 10 million taels, plus 3 million taels of infrastructure...... That's too much, isn't it?"

Wang Huaiyuan shook his head, "It's not enough, it's not enough, you still need to equip the battleship with ammunition, right?" The cost of the Zhiyuan with a full load of shells needs 150,000 taels of silver, which is really a cannon sounding ten thousand taels of gold...... If you want to hold such a long coast of China, you don't have more than five million taels of ammunition reserves, can you?"

Luo Huo was completely stunned, "What? That's 18 million taels...... Oh my God!"

Xiao Letian said with a wry smile, "It's not enough, there are so many soldiers who eat, drink, and train lazar, as well as the cost of expanding the port, and even the CIA has to establish a coastal intelligence network for the navy, all of which require money......"

"Twenty million taels, at least twenty million taels are needed......

Xiao Letian took a sip of liquor into his throat, rubbed his temples painfully, and sighed in his heart: "In the later generations, the Beiyang Navy Division was established for decades, claiming to have spent 200 million taels of silver, and it is true that it did not deceive me...... The Navy is too much money-burning, it's really too money-burning!"

Everyone present was silent, even the old shopkeeper took a sip of rice wine to suppress the shock, and it took a long time for Fan Yao to speak, "Money...... In fact, we have more than 20 million yuan of profits from Lotte and the bank, but the money for raising soldiers in the back is a bottomless pit......"

"If you really can't do it, you have to get rid of the bonds, except for issuing more paper money bonds, I really can't think of any other way!"

"Twenty million taels?" Xiao Hexin and the others' faces changed, "Do we have so much money in our hands now? Isn't this enough?"

Xiao Lotian shook his head painfully, "It's not enough at all, it's definitely not enough, you don't know at all that once the naval arms race starts, this is a nightmare, and you won't wake up at all......"

20 million taels is just the initial capital, and there will be more places to spend money in the future, Xiao Letian clearly remembers that later historical documents record that just before World War I, the naval arms race has made the British Empire unbearable.

At that time, the German Empire, which had risen from the ruins of France, had begun his grand naval strategy with great ambition, and the son of Prince Karl was determined to challenge British supremacy, and the period of violence finally began.

The tonnage is getting bigger and bigger, 10,000 tons, 20,000 tons and even approaching 30,000 tons, and the caliber of artillery is getting stronger and stronger, and now it is already an existence against the sky to see 210 caliber artillery, but during World War I, 280 caliber or even more than 300 giant artillery will become the mainstream.

Moreover, the caliber multiplier of the barrel is also getting larger and larger, and the stupid black and thick main guns of the past will be eliminated in less than twenty or thirty years.

Coal-fired steam power will be replaced by oil-burning internal combustion turbines in a few decades, and the spread of electrification is a bottomless pit that burns money.

"Money, money, why am I Xiao Lotian so poor...... Why am I so poor?"

The lord is worried about the humiliation of the ministers, Xiao Letian's worries are the shame of the courtiers, and the old shopkeeper said with a red face, "There is only one way, print more bonds to get through the difficulties in front of you first, such a big Jiangnan, how much more than tens of billions of billions of dollars?"

It's a pity that Xiao Lotian shook his head, "It's not that simple, the depth of finance is very ...... I'm afraid someone is watching us secretly!"