For the shamelessness of the Germans, Garcia already has immunity, of course, the Spanish government will not be stupid enough to give it away, Garcia's task is that the Philippines will not be able to get it back anyway, so let the Germans give some compensation.

"Your Excellency, the Philippines is an excellent strategic location in the western Pacific Ocean, with a total area of nearly 300,000 square kilometers, rich resources and a vast market. Garcia stared at Mashal with a stern face.

Seeing Spain's straight ball, Machar also restrained the smile on his face and asked: "So what kind of goodwill do you think our country needs in order to be considered reciprocal?" ”

"100 million pesos, which we think is quite a fair and reasonable price." Garcia said.

100 million pesos is roughly equivalent to 140 million marks, a price that Machar certainly cannot accept, because under Jochen's construction, the price that Germany can pay for the Philippines must not exceed 80 million marks, that is, the price of 20 million dollars spent by the Americans to buy the Philippines in history, which has now nearly doubled, and naturally it was rejected by Machar without even thinking about it.

"Your Excellency Garcia, you are also joking, your country's total foreign trade this year is not so high, right? And now the violence of the Filipinos has made it very insecure, and it is difficult to estimate the time and investment required for China to restore the social situation in the Philippines and make the economy operate normally. ”

"But after your country calms down the situation in the Philippines, the value that the Philippines can give your country is far more than that, isn't it?" Garcia said without backing down.

"What do you think your country would do if it were not for our strength, and those Filipinos would have started a violent rebellion again after learning that your country could no longer increase its troops in the Philippines?" Masal said with a hint of threat.

If the Philippines were to riot again, then the Spaniards would undoubtedly be forced to abandon the country if they continued to lose their troops in the Philippines and would not be able to continue to invest in support, then the Germans would no longer have to worry about the Spaniards, they would just go to rob a Philippines without a master.

Marcial's words made Garcia powerless to refute, if the Germans really let go, then it is likely that Spain will give up this overseas colony in the event of uncontrollable violence in the Philippines, as the Germans said, and the Germans will immediately fill the power vacuum after the Spanish withdrawal.

At this time, there was no armistice between the United States and Spain, and at least for now, the Spaniards would not have thought of selling the Philippines to the Americans, as they did historically.

Seeing Garcia's face softening, Machar suddenly changed his words and said something else: "Your navy has suffered heavy losses this time, and most of the domestic ships are difficult to undertake your country's coastal defense tasks, but our country is very willing to contribute to the reconstruction of your navy after the war." ”

Not only do they not want to pay money, but they also want to make money from themselves, and these Germans are really shrewd in their calculations. Garcia was a little amused: "Don't worry about your country, our country can build its own warships to supplement the losses, and even if you want to buy ships, there are Britain, France, and Italy to choose from, and France and Italy are the traditional partners of our navy ships, so thank you for your kindness." ”

Listening to Garcia's words, Machar smiled slightly: "Of course, maybe your country does have good cooperative relations with other countries, but choose other countries, do you think it is possible to buy active ships to quickly fill the gap in your navy?" And it will take at least 3 years to build a new ship, is your country prepared to face a situation where there are no ships available for 3 years? ”

Garcia would like to say that Spain has no overseas colonies anyway, and it doesn't matter if there are no warships in the navy, it is better to wait for it than to buy some second-hand goods that have been used by others. Moreover, the Spanish Navy at this time did not become poor and white.

At this time, Spain still had 2 armored cruisers, 2 protective cruisers were under construction, and some old protected and unprotected cruisers, although they were of little actual combat value, were still there, and it was okay to stay in the harbor and pose. So it's not impossible to say that the Navy ships are not replenished and rotten there.

But there are two problems that have become obstacles, the first is that the self-esteem of the Spaniards as an old European empire cannot accept the fact that their navy has been disabled, and they have to form another navy that is acceptable.

In addition, the Spanish Navy in history did not die so miserably, at least 1 second-class ironclad ship and 2 armored cruisers are still usable combat power, but now they are all gone, and for their own safety needs, they also need to replenish a few warships.

Jochen himself estimated that the Spanish Navy had not been replenished since the Spanish-American War, and it was not until 1908 that the three weakest dreadnoughts in history were built with the help of the British, and the Spanish class was probably a combination of the above reasons.

There are still usable ships, which are quite acceptable in scale, but the economic pressure is relatively large, the cost of new ships is rising, and no one sells the existing ships, so in the end they simply rot.

But now the situation is different, and the Germans obviously want to sell the ships in service. Although the situation of selling existing ships again made Muntz very unhappy, after Jochen revealed his new 10-year shipbuilding plan to Muntz, this plan made Muntz stunned and made a 180-degree turn in his attitude towards eliminating old ships.

That's why Marcal can talk about his old goods here: "Your Excellency Garcia, you also know that the French Navy has not built many capital ships over the years because of the influence of the new school of naval strategy, and the few capital ships are the core of the French Navy, do you think the French may sell them?"

And all the attention of the Russians is focused on the Far East, and their naval shipbuilding programs are beginning to revolve around this purpose, do you think they may sabotage their plans for your country's sake?

Although the British have many warships in service, they have never said that their ships are superfluous in order to maintain their vast colonies, complete their maritime strategy, and maintain absolute superiority in the navy, so it is impossible for your country to buy the British warships in service.

The Italian Garibaldi-class armored cruisers were indeed excellent, but your country's action was a little late, and the third ship of this class, originally built at the Orlando shipyard, was canceled by the government in 1896, but this battleship was eventually taken over by the Italian Navy after never finding a buyer, so the Italian Navy now has no existing ships.

Only our country, taking into account the traditional friendship between our two countries, is willing to come to your aid at the risk of a decline in the combat power of our navy, knowing that the total tonnage of our navy is now less than a quarter of that of the British, and that every warship is an indispensable force for our country to protect its own security.

My country is willing to make such a great sacrifice for your country, and I hope that you will show the same kindness. ”

"So what ships in your country can be sold to our country?" Although he was dissatisfied, he also knew that what the Germans said was true, and Garcia could only ask in a low voice.

Machar immediately took out a bag of text from the drawer and put it in front of Garcia: "This is some information on the ships that our country can sell, including line diagrams and some basic numbers. You can take a look at it, and I can help you explain something. ”

Garcia opened the bag, took out the text inside, and then put it on Mashal's desk, and then picked up the first one, while Marcal began to introduce: "The Elector-class battleship of the second rank, the main force of our Baltic Fleet, has a tonnage similar to your country's Pelayo, but the side firepower is 4 305mm naval guns, and the firepower is slightly stronger than that of the Pelayo. Moreover, the battleship was launched two years later than the Pelayo, and the ship was definitely in good condition. ”

Garcia hated the pesky German in front of him for opening up and closing the Pelayo to pick the Spaniard's wounds, but he also had to admit that the battleship could indeed be used to fill the void of Pelayo's losses.

So he nodded, indicating that he had understood, and then put the text down and picked up the second one. Marcal continued: "The second-class ironclad ships of the Saxon class are similar in tonnage to your country's armored cruisers, but of course they are slightly deficient in speed. However, as an ironclad ship, the protection and firepower are not weak, and our country has also carried out transformations in recent years, replacing new armor plates and power systems, and the performance of the whole ship has been greatly improved, which can also meet the needs of your country. ”

After entering 1890, Saxony and Gold have been transformed, although Jochen is very dissatisfied with the Navy's waste of money, but it cannot be stopped, who calls the German Navy ships insufficient, these old ships can only continue to renovate and extend their service life.

Garcia was a little noncommittal about the Saxon class, after all, with the Elector Zhuyu in front, Saxony was a little disdainful, and after some carelessly put down the text, he shifted his attention to the third text.

Machar immediately said: "Erin-class heavy cruisers, her two sister ships are now in service in the Qing Navy in the Far East, and the response is good, and the two ships we are ready to sell to your country are now in the Philippines, if your country buys them, then they will immediately join your country's Far East Fleet, and then protect your country's officers and men to return home." ”

This construction is still a little attractive to Garcia, otherwise the Far East Fleet's little strength to escort tens of thousands of Spanish troops back to China is really a little uneasy.

As for the Corolla-class light cruiser Garcia on the last piece of the article, he was not interested, so he interrupted Machar's introduction and said: "The last one does not need to be introduced, our country does not need to buy so many warships, for the Electoral Emperor class and the Irene class, at what price does your country want to sell?" ”

"What we mean is to exchange the ownership of the Philippines with 1 Electoral-class, 2 Saxony-class, 2 Irene-class plus a low-interest loan of 100 million marks." R1152