The meeting between Makarov and Tirpitz was very smooth, the two talked happily at first sight, and the order for the two armored cruisers was quickly agreed upon, and construction began, as long as Nicholas II nodded, the German shipyard of Stettin Volkeng would immediately start construction.

The main reason for choosing this place is that it is close to the Russian port, although Danzig, where the shipyard is located, is also a Baltic port in the Pomeranian region, but it was rejected because it was under construction of a new battleship for the German Navy and the navy still has a lot of work to do next year.

As a state-owned shipyard, Volkeng Shipyard is primarily serving the Imperial Navy, and since the Russians are here to negotiate with the Imperial Admiralty about the purchase of ships, the Navy is naturally willing to bargain with its own people. The two armored cruisers were expected to cost £1.18 million each, but the price quoted to the Russians was 1.38 million each, and even if the armament of the two armoured cruisers was plated, the hull part would still make the shipyard a lot of money.

And Nicholas II's response was also very fast, and on the same day after Makarov's telegram was sent back to St. Petersburg, Nicholas II telegraphed back to approve Makarov's order for two armored cruisers from Germany.

Naturally, the Russians could not hide their actions, and on the third day after the contract with the Germans was signed, the British received the news.

In the Prime Minister's House at 10 Downing Street, the Marquess of Salisbury had not had time to look at the Times he had just bought in the morning when he was distracted by the news brought by the newly appointed Foreign Secretary, the Marquis of Landsdowne.

"Your Excellency, the news from the embassy in Germany that the Russian Vice Admiral visited Germany a few days ago and reached a contract with the Germans the day before yesterday for the order of ships." The Marquis of Lansdownne said.

"Petty, you came to my office early in the morning because of this? The Russians have been ordering warships abroad for several years, and their own industrial base is weak. Shipbuilding was low, and the young Nicholas II was hell-bent on building a powerful fleet for his empire.

Their own shipyards have long been crammed with ships under construction, do not have enough capacity, and can only order from other countries. France, Germany, and the United States are all building warships for the Russians, and even countries like Denmark can get orders from the Russians, and the Germans got orders from the Russians last year, right? Now there are new contracts, and this is not surprising. ”

The Marquis of Salisbury believed that the Russians had at best bought another 6,000-ton protective cruiser like the Ascolld. Such a thing is simply not worth mentioning for the British Empire.

"Your Excellency, the problem is that the contract deal between the Russians and the Germans this time will not be less than £2 million, so I am worried about ......" The Marquis of Lansdownne was a little reluctant to speak.

"How much do you say? £2 million? Is the message really credible? "Now the Marquis of Salisbury can't be calm.

"The Russians have reached an agreement directly with the German Admiralty, and it is also the Volkeng shipyard that will undertake the construction work, so we cannot get any more information, but the figure of 2 million pounds should only be more, not less." The Marquis of Lansdownne replied in the affirmative.

"Two million pounds, two million pounds, if that's just the cost of building the hull. Enough to build two battleships of the first rank. The Marquis of Salisbury pondered: "No, the Russians ordered battleships from the French and Americans, and if they want to order battleships, they will not choose Germany, it seems that they should be armored cruisers, after all, the Russians bought one from the Germans before, and then copied another, and now it is logical to order armored cruisers from the Germans." ”

"Your Excellency is right, but the hull was built according to the previous Germans. The mode of cooperation in the installation of Russian artillery, and this time it should be the same. But what kind of armored cruiser costs millions of pounds just for the hull? The Marquis of Lansdownne said in shock.

"Don't worry about this, the Russians themselves have a poor level of shipbuilding, if they can design and build first-class warships by themselves, they don't have to ask for help from other countries, so it is normal to be knocked out by other countries, and the Germans must have made a lot of money this time." The Marquis of Salisbury analyzed: "But even if the Germans open their mouths, the million-pound hull cost of a single ship is worth being wary of. Since the Germans dared to sell it at such an expensive price, the Russians must have been more averse to the election this time than the previous ship. ”

"The armoured cruisers of the Russians have always been focused on range, and like the French, their ships were also aimed at attacking the imperial shipping lines, and it has to be admitted that the Germans did have a unique advantage in the field of armored cruisers. Even the Jane's Almanac of 1899 praised their Elizabeth-class armored cruisers as quite successful in design, and having the Germans help the Russians build the armored cruisers would inevitably give the Russians more leverage to rival the Empire. The Marquis of Lansdownne analyzed.

"It is true that Russia occupies the center of the 'world island', and their huge territory and huge manpower are a great threat to the imperial balance of Europe, and the way to deal with them is very simple, just block this behemoth there and not give him a chance to come out.

For this purpose, the Empire and the Russians fought openly and secretly, the Crimean War, the Berlin Conference, the Mediterranean Agreement, all of which were aimed at sealing the Russians in the Black Sea. We've been doing everything we can to stop the Russians, and once the Empire had the upper hand, and we did seal the Russians in the Black Sea.

But these Russians have set their sights on the Far East, the Qing Dynasty, Korea, and have tried all means to obtain the ice-free ports they have always dreamed of, and the empire has to stop fighting the Russians in the Far East, but now we can no longer continue to seal the Russians in the Far East, which is really disturbing. The Marquess of Salisbury sighed.

"Yes, Your Excellency, the ports of Vladivostok, Arthur, and Mashanpu have fallen into the hands of the Russians, and the Russians have indeed moved southward step by step as they wished, and the empire is indeed beginning to be a little powerless in the Far East." The Marquis of Lansdownne also had to admit this reality.

"Damn the Boers, the empire has spent a lot of energy in Africa, Roberts has captured the capitals of the Boers, their governments are no longer there, their presidents have left their countries and run to the Netherlands to seek the refuge of that yellow-haired girl, these damn Boers are still making trouble for the empire! Otherwise, why did the empire have to look at the faces of the Germans on the issue of the Qing State before? The Marquis of Salisbury was annoyed.

"We need to block the Russians' actions in the Far East, but if the empire doesn't have enough strength now, we need a country that can help us do this, but the Qing State can't count on it, if we knew that the Qing State is this virtue, we wouldn't have withdrawn our troops from Hamilton Port back then!"

The Marquis of Lansdorn is talking about a small archipelago of three small islands in the Jeju Strait in North Korea, called Juwen Island, which is said to have been discovered by the Admiral of the Beiyang Navy when he discovered that there were many scholars in such a small place, so he jokingly called it "Ju Wen". The British named it after Hamilton, the chief of staff of the British Navy, who visited the site in 1845.

Although the island is small, its geographical location is very important, so Britain, Russia and even the United States have thought about it, but the British were the quickest, sending three warships to occupy it in 1885 and build a naval base here.

Well, the reason, of course, is against the Russians. Because Britain and Russia almost went to war in Afghanistan this year because of the Pander incident, in order to prevent the Russians from making trouble for the British Empire on this side of the Pacific, the British decided to strike first and block this place.

The conflict was finally resolved through diplomatic means, and Korea was still a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty at that time, and the Qing Dynasty was still the Asian boss in the eyes of Europeans.

Then Li Hongzhang stepped in, and the British also saw that the conflict in Afghanistan was also resolved peacefully, so they withdrew from Hamilton Port in 1887.

The complaint of the Marquis of Lansdowne is that if you want to know that the Qing Kingdom is so wasted, why give them this face, Hamilton Harbor will not leave, you Russians will give me a lifetime not to think about going south into the Pacific Ocean.

"You're right, Petty, the current Qing Kingdom is just more breathless than a dead man, and neither the Russians nor the Japanese have taken him seriously. If it weren't for the Germans' troubles, the Russians would have taken the entire northeast of the Qing Dynasty by now, and we would have to thank the Germans for this, otherwise the empire would have tried to force the Russians to withdraw their troops. The Marquis of Salisbury said with some self-deprecation.

When did the British Empire actually rejoice in the actions of the Germans?

The Qing State could not expect it at all, and the Japanese, who had won the Sino-Qing War, were very dissatisfied with the construction of the Russian Eastern Railway and the infiltration of the northeastern region of the Qing Dynasty, and had protested to the Russians about the Mashanpu affair. If we want to hold off the Russians in the Far East, maybe we have to support the Japanese. "The Marquis of Lansdownne built yì to.

"You're right, the Qing no longer pose a threat to Japan, and their goal in waging the Sino-Japanese war was far from being satisfied by one Korea. The series of naval expansion operations that Japan is now carrying out against us and Germany are not aimed at a Qing navy that is no longer a threat at all.

They had clearly shifted their attention from the Qing to the Russians. Maybe it's time for us to think about making some agreement with these Japanese in the Far East. The Marquis of Salisbury said lightly. (To be continued......) R1292