Since he showed his face in front of the top of the empire, the navy immediately began to study the positioning of ships and the application of technology, and found that what His Royal Highness the little prince said was basically reliable, which made the Admiralty a big head. The stern and rigid men immediately urgently discussed a solution, and adjusted the German Navy's shipbuilding plan for 1872:

The Bismarck-class light cruisers, which have been completed one after another, have no choice, so they should spend money to buy lessons. The Corolla-class light cruisers, which had not yet started, were immediately stopped, and the planned Saxony-class follow-up ship design also canceled the four 260 main guns in the central gun room and replaced it with the same twin open-air gun emplacements as the front; The ramming horn, which was belittled as useless by His Royal Highness the Prince, was also canceled; Of course, the same 4 chimneys as the cement plant are also among the modifications. And considering that the budget may be tight as the performance improves, it was decided to cut down the small ironclad cruisers, shallow water heavy gunboats and ironclad gunboats that had not yet started. To this end, an amendment to the 1879 Naval Construction Plan was drafted and submitted to Congress for approval.

After learning the news, Yoheng smiled secretly, and double-packed before and after, is this considered a pseudo-fearless? For this reason, His Royal Highness the Little Prince also made a special trip to the Admiralty, and proposed a new idea to these guys, the open-air turret with a light gun cover to provide protection against small-caliber firepower, which was historically proposed by the Chinese when ordering the Dingyuan class, and here it was plagiarized by Johenxia. Of course, this time Jochen did not move his mouth lightly, but he brought a sketch to the Admiralty technicians, which was not a simple round cover for the Dingyuan class, but a covered open battery similar to the Brandenburg class, a German first-class pre-dreadnought.

After proving that this solution was extremely feasible, the excited naval designers immediately said that they would use this "genius idea of His Royal Highness the Prince" in the construction of the Saxony-class 5 ship.

However, Yoheng knew that this design was estimated to be used in the Dingyuan level ordered by the Beiyang Naval Division at that time, and the cost might become higher? It's a bastard to have money or not, and Yoheng has several new ideas to make more money in Dingyuan.

For this reason, Jochen made a special trip to communicate with His Excellency the Lord of the Admiralty.

"Your Highness, I wonder if you have any good ideas for coming this time?"

"Your Excellency Albrechette, I have come to bring you a great deal of business." Jochen smiled and said,

"Oh? What business does Your Highness have to do with me? Albresitt was surprised.

"Your Excellency, you should know that I am proficient in Chinese, and I have met Mr. Li Fengyuan, the minister of the Qing Kingdom to Germany. Therefore, I also know the big country in the Far East better. In 1874, Japan attempted to occupy Taiwan, and tensions between Japan and Qing intensified, while the Qing had been buying warships to strengthen their navy. The year before last, after the Japanese Navy had three ironclad ships, Hiei, Kongo, and Fuso, it was inevitable that the Qing Kingdom would purchase ironclad ships to fight. This is a great opportunity for us to open up the Qing warship market. ”

"But Your Highness, the Qing people have always ordered warships from the British, and it is more difficult for them to choose our country." The Admiralty Minister hesitated.

"Originally, it was indeed difficult for the Qing people to choose us, but this time the British themselves were not kind. As far as I know, Mr. Hurd, an Englishman from the Customs and Excise Department of the Qing Dynasty, sold to the Qing two second-class ironclad ships of the Berlay-class that they had built for the Ottomans, and those two tatters that the British were forced to buy because of the Turkish-Russian War were forced to buy them themselves were said to have been offered 2 million taels of silver (Note 2) to the Qing this year, which was about 500,000 pounds. And when did the British sell warships that were not expensive to death, and the people of the Qing Dynasty could not look down on the tatters, how could the British not ask for sky-high prices for cutting-edge warships? ”

"Your Highness, then don't we make money to build warships for the Qing Kingdom? Otherwise, we still have no advantage over the British. ”

"Who said that we only need to make a little less, as long as we are cheaper than the British, we have the first advantage, and the British have always begged others to beg them in the warship business, so we have a warm attitude towards the guests who come to inspect the Qing Kingdom, and we are very considerate of them, so we have the second advantage. Moreover, the Qing are loyal users of our Krupp cannon (Note 3), and I believe that this is the third advantage that we can attract the Qing people. It is impossible for the Qing Kingdom to just buy a few ships and finish the matter, the matching replacement artillery and ammunition used, these production equipment can also be sold, and the year before last, didn't Mr. Fred Krupp also accept 7 Qing students to go to Essen for training (Note 4), these people came to train not to build their own arsenal in the Qing Kingdom, and our ability to help in this regard is our fourth advantage. Joechen said excitedly, relieved and bewitched.

"Your Excellency, isn't this a great opportunity, we can not only sell our warships to the Qing people, but also take this opportunity to try some new designs, and also stimulate the shipbuilding industry of the empire, and by the way, even the transfer of supporting equipment can make a profit. And it doesn't matter if you make a little less this time, the important thing is to open the door for China to order warships, as long as our warships can satisfy the Qing people, there will be a chance to continue to get orders. Moreover, the appearance of our German warships in the Far East will also increase the weight of other countries in the Far East that want to buy warships to choose our country. That's a win-win-win. ”

"Well, Your Highness, what you said has moved me, I will seriously consider it and prepare for it."

When the Germans began to actively prepare for this possible large order, on October 25, Xu Jianyin, a famous military engineer and second counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Germany, set off from Shanghai on the French merchant ship Yangtze and embarked on a journey to Germany.

At the end of the same year, Xu Jianyin arrived in Germany and was received by the German side with a high standard, which flattered Xu Jianyin and made Li Fengbao, the minister in Germany, feel very surprised. Prince Yoheng spliced his fluent Chinese into the reception group, looking at the representatives of the shipbuilding industry, the Admiralty, the Ministry of Commerce, etc., who were constantly enthusiastically related to Li Fengyuan and Xu Jianyin, Jochen smiled secretly, and when you go to the UK when the time comes, the gap will come out as soon as the two are compared. And Yoheng himself, although extremely young, but fluent Chinese, generous conversation, and familiar knowledge of the Qing Kingdom also made Xu Jianyin have to praise His Royal Highness the prince for his talent and knowledge.

Immediately afterwards, accompanied by people from all walks of life, Li Fengbao and Xu Jianyin visited the military industrial complex at the invitation of the Volkeng Shipyard, Siemens Company, Krupp Company, the Brush Kaop Torpedo Factory, and the Royal Arsenal. Jochen went with him, and his professional glossary translation was often eye-catching, especially after Paul Mauser learned from Paul Mauser that the new rifle being developed and had made significant progress during a visit to the Royal Arsenal was the idea of the 12-year-old little prince, and he realized that he and this genius German royal family member could play a huge role in future military ordering projects, so he was willing to contact him more.

At the beginning of 1880, the Kaiser's royal ship Hohenzollern hoisted the green dragon flag on a yellow background and received Xu Li and his entourage to visit the German naval base in Kiel Harbor, where they saw the sharpest Saxony-class ironclad ship of the German Navy, and the Honorable Albrecht, who personally accompanied him, introduced the situation of the German Navy and took the trouble to introduce the design and manufacturing process of the ironclad ship. And for the indication of Prince Jochen, the Germans did not exaggerate the performance of the Saxon class, while introducing the advantages of the Saxon class, they also gave a detailed introduction to the shortcomings of the Saxony class in the seminar that caused a great naval shock last year. The determination to order warships from the Germans became more and more firm, and Jochen also took the opportunity to propose that he could participate in the future when the Qing State determined the design standards for the warships, so that he could provide them with some construction, and Xu and Li readily agreed.

After the end of the inspection of Germany, Xu Li and his entourage went to Britain for inspection, and unlike the warm reception they received in Germany, they received an incomparably cold reception in England, and even Xu Jianyin's reasonable request to visit the two cruisers Chaoyong and Yangwei that were being built for the Qing State was brutally rejected by the British. And even the two Bollai-class, which were expected to dominate the Chinese at a sky-high price, refused to sell because the British government feared that if the warship was sold to China, it might fall into the hands of the Russians in an unpredictable future. And the Qing people also accidentally avoided the knife that had been sharpened quickly by the British.

In contrast, the enthusiasm, rigor and frankness of the Germans made Li Hongzhang, who insisted on "controlling himself" in naval procurement, to be deeply wary of the British who were already controlling naval procurement, and even the British led by Hurd had the right to control the Beiyang Naval Division. Therefore, after receiving the telegram from Xu and Li, they decided to order ironclad ships from Germany.

The central center of the Qing court reacted within a short period of time and sent a 500-li secret edict informing Li Hongzhang: "At the time when preparations for coastal defense are being made, we must not suspend it because the previous discussion has not been successful, and we should follow Li Hongzhang's proposal, check the new style, and order two ironclad ships to be built in the British factory." He ordered another order for two new-type ironclad ships, and specially ordered Li Fengbao, who was specifically undertaking the purchase of the goods in Germany, to "make a decision quickly, cause it as soon as possible, and not delay the time." He emphatically emphasized that "it is especially necessary to be careful and conscientious in managing it in order to apply it, so as not to be swept away by foreigners and waste huge sums of money." ”

After being refused, in order to better understand the latest technological development of the world's navies, the two went to Portsmouth to visit the unfinished British Ironclad Indomitable (Note 5), and were deeply impressed by the indomitable Indomitable and the most powerful 406mm cannon at that time.

At the end of May, the two returned to Germany and began to discuss the technical details of the ordered warships with the German shipyard, and put forward the design requirements to absorb the Unyielding class, for which the German designers immediately changed the design plan on the basis of the Saxon class. And the meeting to discuss the design details of the two sides, Prince Jochen was naturally invited to participate.

Of course, he said that he hoped to help Qing Guo have the best design, but the fundamental purpose was to let them choose expensive designs, and with such a purpose, Yoheng naturally began to use his mouth cannon against Xu and Li and began to fool.

Note 1: See Technical Related: Historical Brandenburg-class Covered Fort Structure

Note 2: The performance of these two ships is mediocre, and they are simply useless in the British naval sequence, so the British side asked for 1.6 million taels at the beginning, but with the Japanese Qing Dynasty, the Qing and Russia contradictions were tense, and the British saw that the Qing State was "thirsty for ships", so they naturally sat on the ground and raised the price to 2 million taels. Before the First Sino-Japanese War, the silver of the Qing Dynasty was still very valuable. At that time, the ratio to huàn was roughly 1 pound sterling = 25 francs = 5 US dollars = 2 German gold marks = 20 German marks = 9 rubles = 10 yen = 4 kuping taels (before 1894) = 7 kuping taels (after 1900) = 14 pesos = 7.32 grams of gold

Note 3: In 1871, in order to build forts such as Dagukou and Shanhaiguan to strengthen the coastal defense Gongwei Beijing Division, Li Hongzhang purchased 328 Krupp cannons of various types.

Note 4: In 1874, Li Hongzhang decided to build Lushun and Weihai forts, and in order to continue to strive for this large order, Krupp agreed to Li Hongzhang's request to train artillery talents for the Qing government.

Note 5: It is the famous Inflecly White Class

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