After returning to Berlin from Kiel, Muntz began to work intensively on the old ship sales plan. However, Muntz did not put all the old ships on the shelves, and the two Electoral-class ironclad ships were refitted in 1882 because of the short age of the ships, and now they are also undertaking certain training tasks, so the three ships are not considered for sale for the time being. Therefore, the only options available are the King William, the Emperor, the Crown Prince and the Frederick Karl. After asking Krupp, I learned that the work of the new 150-mm tube cannon was progressing slowly, and it was expected that the whole work would be completed by the end of 1889, and I don't know if the Japanese would be willing to equip the 105-mm 35-gauge tube cannon that had just been developed.

As for the navy's plan to sell ships and build new ships, the imperial parliament has many complaints, believing that it will lead to a rapid decline in the tonnage of the navy. It is also true that if all 4 ships are sold, the total tonnage of the German Navy, which loses almost 30,000 tons of displacement, will immediately fall to Italy. However, for Chancellor Bismarck, who had always opposed the colonial policy of foreign expansion, believed that Germany did not need a strong navy, and even felt that a second-rate navy was too extravagant for Germany, the navy took the initiative to reduce the size of the fleet of course. In his opinion, the cost of warships is now rising, and the cost of the first-class ironclad ships of the Electoral Emperor-class that has just been launched exceeds 700,000 pounds, which is equivalent to about 14 million marks, and it is estimated that all four old ships will not be able to be exchanged for a Elector, so Bismarck is happy to see it come to fruition. Frederick III was opposed to this at first, but after Jochen's explanation, he learned that the four ships were old and degraded in performance, and they were difficult to take on the task, and finally agreed. After both the emperor and the prime minister agreed, the decision was shun. Many people think that the Imperial Navy has shrunk in size and suffered heavy losses, but in Jochen's opinion, even if the money from the sale of the ship is only enough to buy an upgraded version of the Erin, the transaction will be considered a profit.

Subsequently, Herbert von Bismarck, the son of Chancellor Bismarck, met with the Japanese Minister Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Germany, Saionji Kotoshi, and after some unnutritious polite remarks and worthless talk about the friendship between the two countries, Herbert euphemistically expressed his concern about the current weakness of the Japanese Navy in the face of the Qing Navy, and the friendly spirit of Germany's willingness to help Japan improve its naval strength. Naturally, he was overjoyed by Germany's move, and immediately asked the German side about the list of ships that the German side was willing to sell, and Herbert immediately handed over the information of the four ships to the Xiyuan Temple Gongwang and informed the Xiyuan Temple Gongwang that he could replace them with new breech guns, and the gun models could be selected by the Japanese side. Saionji was unable to see the navy, so he was excited when he saw the 9,700-ton King William on the sale list, and was determined to take this huge ship for the Japanese Empire, which was even larger than the second ship of the Qing Dynasty. Immediately send a telegram back home to report the good news.

When the telegram was sent back to Japan, Prime Minister Kiyotaka Kuroda was overjoyed, because of the strength of the Beiyang Naval Division, the two Korean coups d'état of the Japanese Navy were in vain, and the Nagasaki incident made the Japanese Navy full of shameful beliefs. Even if Kiyotaka Kuroda was not a radical expansionist as prime minister, he recognized the importance of strengthening the navy. However, Japan's finances are not sufficient, so the speed of purchasing new ships is extremely slow, and the Mu Pong that was finally purchased is missing, although because of the insurance, so the compensation is 1,245,300 yen, equivalent to 124,500 pounds, but now the Japanese side has not yet decided what type of ship to buy.

In 1886, Emperor Meiji approved the Naval Bond Certificate Ordinance and began issuing naval bonds, and the funds raised for the issuance of naval bonds were 750,000 pounds. At this time, the warships sold by Germany were all more than 5,000 tons, and the price was cheap, which was simply a mouthful of fat for Japan.

After discussion, the Kuroda cabinet believed that the purchase of all four warships would be too difficult for Japan's finances at that time, and most cabinet members were inclined to buy the largest King William and the second largest, the Emperor, and the Minister of the Navy, Saigo Tomichi, was also an army officer. However, in the end, he was like a mountain, and he did not understand naval technology, so he also supported the cabinet's decision.

However, when the news came out, Rear Admiral Yokehiro Ito, who was the first director of the Navy Ministry and the president of the Naval University at the time, opposed it. Saigo also knew that he was not familiar with naval affairs, so he decided to listen to the opinions of professionals, so he summoned Ito Yuhyung.

The first commander of the future Japanese Combined Fleet had a very clear idea: "Your Excellency Saigo, this one-man ship sale is not out of good intentions, but because these ships are older and in poor condition, and after the independent navy built the Dingzhen No. 2 ship and new cruisers such as Jiyuan and Zhiyuan for the Qing Dynasty, the navy's shipbuilding capacity has been greatly improved, so it is in a period of renewal at this time." Naturally, these four ships are facing the fate of being eliminated by the new ships, so the only country is willing to sell these four ships. ”

Saigo naturally understands this truth, but after all, at this time, the Japanese Navy is "thirsty for ships". Moreover, compared to the German Navy, the old ships facing elimination are still strong for Japan, so it is unwilling for Japan to give up this opportunity, so Saigo asked unwillingly: "Then according to what Ito-kun meant, give up this purchase of ships?" This opportunity was missed, but it was the loss of the empire, could it be that we watched this nearly 10,000-ton ship miss the empire? ”

Ito was naturally willing to add more warships to the navy, but he expressed inappropriateness in the cabinet's choice, so he replied: "I am not against this purchase of ships, but the King William chosen by the cabinet is not the best choice." Although this ship is huge, it is not suitable for our country. The tonnage of China's ships is small and flexible. However, it is not easy to operate a large ship of nearly 10,000 tons, and it is difficult to form a large ship, and if such a large ship is replaced with a small gun, its tonnage will be wasted, and its artillery arrangement is difficult to change with a large cannon, so it is difficult to use. The Crown Prince and Frederick Karl, on the other hand, had a smaller tonnage, could all be reequipped with fast guns, and were easy to form, and with their firepower, they would certainly be able to inflict heavy damage on the cruisers in the Beiyang. The Emperor, on the other hand, can be equipped with the main guns of the Saxony-class ironclad ships of the Independent Kingdom, so that it has the ability to fight the second ship of Dingzhen of the Qing Kingdom, so I will abandon the flashy King William and purchase the other three ships. ”

Saigo felt that it made sense, so he was as good as a stream. Convey Ito's opinion to the Cabinet. But at this time, a new problem was faced, how to solve this financial problem if three warships were purchased. At this time, the Japanese government could only squeeze out the 124,500 pounds in compensation for the Mu Pong and 255,000 pounds for the planned construction of the No. 4 ship of the Sanjing ship, a total of 380,000 pounds, while the German side asked for 500,000 pounds to refurbish and maintain and replace the artillery. If you don't have enough money, what should I do?

So Kuroda Kiyotaka instructed Saionji Konobo to negotiate with the German side, hoping to keep the price down. This made Herbert a little embarrassed, because the original plan of the navy was to ask all four ships to be sold, and it was best to get 700,000 pounds to buy another Elector. At this time, only 3 ships could be sold and the price was lowered, and the navy was definitely unwilling, and his father also asked him to facilitate the deal as much as possible, so the negotiations reached an impasse. After learning about it, Jochen proposed to build yì, the Japanese side paid 380,000 pounds first, and the German side began to refit the 3 ships, which is expected to take 6 months, plus 1 month of trial commissioning, Japan needs to pay the final payment of 120,000 pounds within 7 months, if it is not paid in a lump sum by then, the ship will be detained by the German side, and the money will be charged 1 cent of interest before Japan can pay off. At this time, international loans generally charge 4% interest, but after all, the purchase of warships at this time is completely a seller's market, and the Japanese side has no better choice but to accept it. As a discount for the purchase of ships from Japan, HK Company will give 30 Maxim machine guns as gifts.

Naturally, the Japanese side also knew that Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia had all purchased such weapons, and the prices were high. According to the price of 30 Makqin in Russia, it is also 9,000 pounds, which is equivalent to 90,000 yen, and he is also very happy. Jochen used this method to penetrate the Japanese market, and 30 Makqin was not a small number, and the Japanese only had 12 Hatch Chase machine guns in the Battle of Shahe in the Russo-Japanese War. And if Japan buys a large number of Maxim machine guns in the future, then it will be able to squeeze the French Hatch Chase out of the market. Moreover, the reliability and continuous firing ability of the water-cooled chain-fed Makqin machine gun are better than the air-cooled Hatch Chase that uses bullet plates, so it will inevitably bring more trouble to the Russians in the Russo-Japanese War, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

The two sides reached an order on August 30, and after some discussions, the Japanese side believed that although the rate of fire of the 105-mm tube was superior, the power was too small, and finally chose to install the more powerful 150-mm gun for the battleship.

The Emperor dismantled all of its guns and replaced them with eight 260-mm 22-diameter guns and one 150-mm 35-diameter gun, while the Crown Prince and Frederick Karl also dismantled all their guns and installed 16 150-mm 35-diameter guns each. After refitting, the combat effectiveness of the 3 ships has been greatly improved, and it can be regarded as a powerful warship in the Japanese Navy. All three ships were renovated in March 1889 and returned to Japan on June 12 of the same year, but the Japanese side did not want to delay paying the interest to Germany, and with great difficulty, they squeezed out 120,000 pounds sterling out of the naval bonds raised to pay off the ship. After the three ships joined the Japanese Navy, the Emperor was renamed Akitsuzu, the Crown Prince was renamed Chiyoda, and the Frederick Karl was renamed Edogawa (Note 1). The total tonnage of the Japanese Navy immediately increased by nearly 20,000 tons, quickly narrowing the gap with the Beiyang Naval Division. At this time, although the Qing government was dissatisfied with the German side's sale of ships to Japan, this was a legitimate commercial contract, so it could only let it go. Li Hongzhang saw that the strength of the Japanese navy had greatly increased, and wanted the imperial court to ask for instructions to continue to expand the Beiyang naval division, but Cixi rejected it on the grounds of financial constraints. The British side was very surprised to see that the Germans could sell such a broken ship, and immediately proposed to the Japanese side that they also had a large amount of stock to sell, and don't forget that the British also had two second-class ironclads of the Berlay-class that they had built for the Ottoman Turks and smashed in their hands. As a result, I learned that the Japanese side was already shy in the bag, so I had no choice but to go back.

And the German Navy, which has 500,000 pounds, equivalent to 10 million marks, is considering whether to add more money and build something big.

PS: I made a big mistake.,Treat chapter 52 as chapter 51.,Now make up chapter 51.,It's equivalent to today's 2 more.,My manuscript is missing another chapter.,Tears.

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