Hampton Court Palace, London.

Cromwell Jr., who had been the Lord of the Protector for eight years, sat in his father's former office, looking down at the design drawings of the new naval warship sent by the Admiralty - after the news of the Battle of the Strait of Malacca reached Europe, the two naval powers, Britain and the Netherlands, began a new round of money-burning shipbuilding competitions as usual.

Because the public and parliamentary levels that they had built before became inapplicable overnight!

The experience of the Battle of the Strait of Malacca showed that it was difficult for a wooden hull to withstand a nail-headed projectile, so a wooden battleship with only a small number of large-caliber bombardments became very outdated.

However, iron- or copper-hulled battleships are not yet possible, so British and Dutch naval experts can only temporarily abandon the bulletproof capabilities of battleships in favor of more artillery and stronger firepower - since they can't defend themselves, then bring a little more cannon, and try to destroy the enemy's battleship before the enemy's naval guns destroy themselves!

So the design drawings handed over to Cromwell Jr. by the Admiralty show another big guy with a double-deck gun bay and 52 18-pounder guns, with a load of 1,200 tons!

The 1,200-ton ship had only 52 18-pounder guns, of course, to strengthen the defenses! But not bulletproof, but anti-explosion. The bullet can't be prevented, but the explosion can still be prevented. The gun bays of the new warships have been redesigned, no longer one cabin with two guns, but with one cabin and one gun, that is, the guns on the left and right sides are separated, and a corridor is left in the middle.

Looking at the drawings of the new warship, Cromwell Jr. couldn't help but sigh.

According to the offer of the Woolwich shipyard, it cost at least twenty-five thousand pounds to build the battleship with a load of 1200 tons.

And this is a preferential price when ordering 10 ships at a time...... 10 ships is 250,000 pounds!

At present, the British republican government has a fiscal revenue of only 2.5 million pounds a year, and 10% of the 10 warships are used.

The Admiralty believed that the British Navy needed to equip at least 100 such battleships if it was to ensure victory over the Dutch Navy in future battles.

If you want to defeat the Ming Navy...... It is estimated that 200 of them will be equipped!

This is to force Britain to go bankrupt!

However, the cost of updating naval equipment is not the most headache for this protector, what makes him the most headache is the rise of France!

France has a large population! That's more than the UK, the Netherlands, Spain combined! And Louis XIV is now not burning money to build a navy, but to run an army, and now has 150,000 new army.

And the newness of this new type of army is new in a large number of flintlock guns that can be loaded with bayonets, and large-caliber short guns and mortars that can fire flowering shells.

Britain's new model army also followed, but the number is not as large as 150,000 - Britain still has a navy and can't afford to raise too many army, so the number of upgraded new model troops is only 40,000.

An army of 40,000 men was enough for the interior, and now that the British Isles were firmly in the hands of Cromwell Jr., the Royalists and Catholics had to flee with their tails between their legs. Those who have money and background go to the European continent, and those who don't have much money and no background can only run to the Americas.

As for those who can't stay in England, all that remains is to unite as one - whether it is an Englishman, a Welshman, a Scottish, or an Irishman, they all have to become an Englishman who loves England and his motherland under the leadership of Cromwell Jr.!

And you have to be a Puritan who believes in Episcopal Puritanism!

This is the dream of the old Cromwell, and now it is becoming a reality little by little in the hands of the seemingly mediocre little Cromwell.

In order to realize Britain's dream of becoming one, Cromwell Jr. deliberately distanced himself from the great powers on the European continent after taking power, and avoided getting involved in a battle for hegemony on the European continent, which was equally expensive and risky.

But there are some things that you can't dodge if you want to...... Britain didn't want to go to the mainland to find trouble, but France on the mainland was sharpening its knives, looking like it was going to punch Spain and kick the Netherlands.

So Cromwell Jr. also had to fight with the Dutch de Cromwell. Werther, Don of New Spain. Huang. José engaged in secret diplomacy to discuss the possibility of an alliance between Britain and the Netherlands to intervene in a war on the European continent.

Of course, Britain can't do it for nothing, and there must be a satisfactory return...... The reward that Cromwell Jr. wanted was twofold, one was to put an end to Britain's internal struggle - the royal party, led by Charles II, had to leave Europe and abandon their claim to the supreme power of Britain.

The second was the hope of expanding Britain's territory on the European continent - Dunkirk was still in British hands and had not been bought by the French. Cromwell Jr. hoped to cede another piece of land from the Spanish Netherlands, so that he could join forces with Dunkirk and form a small republic dependent on Britain.

Now that the price code has been shouted, we are waiting for the answer of those big people on the mainland.

Thinking of this, Cromwell Jr. had already lost his mind, and he didn't have the heart to look at any more battleship drawings.

At this moment, there was a rush of footsteps outside the door, and then the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic, Andrew. Marvel's voice.

"Your Highness the Lord Protector, I'm Marville."

"Andrew, come in!" Cromwell Jr. stood up, walked around from behind his desk, and greeted him with a pretend.

The door to the office was pulled open by a secretary, and then Marveer walked in with a happy face, and immediately bowed when he saw little Cromwell.

"Andrew, how's it going?" Cromwell Jr. didn't wait for him to sit down, but hurriedly asked.

"Your Highness, Charles II has already agreed!" Andrew. "He promised to go to the Americas...... And also promised to renounce the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland! ”

"Great!" Cromwell Jr. laughed, "Thank God, the British people can finally get a country of their own, completely united!"

Andrew, I have come up with a new, more fitting name for this country - the United States of England! All the nations and peoples of the British Isles, united as one, one nation, one religion, never separated! ”

Andrew. Marville also nodded, "Okay, that's the wish of the old protector and all the British revolutionaries...... We've been working hard for more than 20 years, and now it's finally coming true! ”

He suddenly thought of something, and looked at little Cromwell, "Your Highness, if the country is renamed the United States, shouldn't your position also be changed?" The United States of New Zealand on the east coast of the American continent has a king! ”

"No, no, I won't be king, it's not appropriate......" Cromwell Jr. hurriedly shook his head, "If you want to change your name, then change your name to the Grand Commander of the United States!" ”

Almost at the same time, the French on the other side of the English Channel also learned that the British royal party was preparing to go into exile in the Americas to establish a state.

Louis XIV, who wanted to lead Europe, of course, had his intelligence network, and Charles II had agents sent by him.

The news came at the time of the King of France inspecting the construction site of the Palace of Versailles, the famous palace that had been under construction for five years since 1661 and was still unfinished (historically in 1689).

"Your Majesty," said Prince Condé, who was also at his side, suggested at once, "we should send troops as soon as possible, lest England be prepared to intervene!" ”

Louis XIV, about the same height as the Prince of Condé, wore high heels but still looked short, and the French king, pacing a few steps on a freshly paved masonry pavement, suddenly turned back and asked the Prince of Condé: "How long will it take you to reach the Dutch border?" ”

Prince Condé said: "It will take two weeks for the troops to enter the starting point of the attack, and then at most a month to occupy the whole of the Spanish Netherlands!" ”

The king of France asked: "What if England, Holland, Sweden intervene?" ”