As soon as the preliminary negotiations were reached, the Spanish minister hurriedly sent a telegram to the country, this was only a preliminary agreement, and the specific details had to wait for the domestic communication, especially the situation of Gao Hongsheng's new weapons, how much was needed in the country, and what type of products were needed, he really could not make a judgment as a minister.

There is no way for Gao Hongsheng to use weapons as payment, you ask him to take out seven million pounds in cash immediately, it is impossible at all, he only has weapons and those goods in the future in his hands now, and his cash flow is very tight.

Fortunately, he had a bunch of patents in his hands, and for the sake of those patents, especially the secret of the 75-mm rapid-fire gun, Archduke Ferdinand generously vouched for him and borrowed a huge sum of five million pounds from the Credit Bank of Vienna, which saved Gao Hongsheng.

But before the money could be collected, Archduke Ferdinand deducted two million pounds from his hand, and called it an advance payment for the purchase of the island, which made him smile bitterly.

Archduke Ferdinand was in such a hurry to get the money away, because the Austro-Hungarian navy was too weak, and he wanted to use the windfall for the construction of the navy's ships.

"Gao, won't you buy a few warships to protect your territory?" Ferdinand did not miss the opportunity of this god of wealth in front of him, if he ordered a few cruisers, then his navy could increase a few, for the sake of that weak navy, he would not let go of any opportunity to strengthen it.

"Battleship, I want it! It's a pity that the ships in your country are all garbage, I advise you, don't make that garbage now, you will soon find that they are just a pile of floating scrap metal, and in the end you will have to put them in the harbor to rot. Gao Hongsheng pursed his lips and struck Ferdinand.

The speed of the update of the battleship in the early stage of World War I is the same as the current electronic products, from the day you buy it is already a backward product, the speed of renewal is simply faster than the current computer obsolescence, due to the continuous emergence of new technologies and new inventions, the battleships built during this period have basically not been launched have been strictly outdated.

The main warships built in the first two years were reduced to second-rate warships in a blink of an eye, and then they were surpassed by the new second-class warships and finally reduced to floating coffins.

"What do you say? They are the best ships. Ferdinand didn't dare to retort strongly, but muttered a few words in a low voice.

This Chinese has too many secrets, the 75-mm rapid-fire gun is a whole generation more advanced than the Austro-Hungarian artillery, and its annealing guns have no power to fight back in the face of rapid-fire guns, whether in terms of firepower, firing speed, or weight, God knows if he has a better warship design plan, if he comes up with a more advanced warship design plan, he will not bring humiliation on himself.

"Your empire's warships are pretty good at the moment, but they will still become obsolete quickly, especially the main warships, and now that new technologies are constantly emerging, do you think it's a very shrewd thing to spend so much energy and money to build outdated toys?" Gao Hongsheng did not belittle the finished warships of Austria-Hungary, but only said the impact of new technologies on the construction of warships.

In fact, the Austro-Khagli battleships are quite good, especially in terms of artillery, the 305 mm triple turret on the Dreadnought-class battleships launched by the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1911, the well-trained crew can fire a shell every 40 seconds, and the maximum range is 20 kilometers, while the German 305 mm guns in the same period have a range of only 2 kilometers, which is nearly 4 kilometers more.

Of course, the Austro-Hungarian dreadnought-class battleship had all kinds of problems, especially in terms of waterproof mines and torpedoes, it was simply a scumbag, not to mention that its main deck was a flat deck from bow to stern, and the front deck was not raised, so the seaworthiness was obviously worse, not to mention that it also had metal ramming angles in the bow, the guide speed was reduced and the ship was more difficult to maneuver, and at the same time a torpedo tube was installed in the bow.

Although there were all kinds of shortcomings, the Adriatic Sea in the same "bathtub" was a great weapon, but unfortunately due to geographical reasons, four Austro-Hungarian Dreadnought-class battleships became decorations, three were torpedoed and mines sent to the bottom of the sea, and one was lost to Italy after the end of World War I.

Speaking of which, the navy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not need to be so strong at all, Austria-Hungary was only bordered by the Adriatic Sea, which was a pocket-shaped semi-enclosed sea area that could only be connected to the Mediterranean Sea by the Guò Otranto Strait, which in turn was surrounded by land and could only be connected to the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea by the Guò Strait of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal.

The western shore of the Strait of Otranto was under the control of Italy (Austria was the main opponent of the Italian independence and unification movement, and the two countries became enemies three times in 1848, 1859, and 1866), and the Strait of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal were controlled by the British.

At the same time, the Strait of Otranto was only 72 kilometers wide at its narrowest point, and Italy only needed to set up a blockade there, place submarines and mines, and the Austro-Hungarian warships would be trapped in the Adriatic Sea.

In fact, the large surface warships of Austria-Hungary were kept in the Adriatic Sea during the First World War and were simply unable to break through the blockade of the Entente.

"Yes, you're right. Gao, I agree with you. But in order to maintain a certain threat, we have to build ships, Italy is constantly expanding its navy, and now it has already surpassed us in the total tonnage of warships, and our navy must maintain a certain threat in the face of Italy. Ferdinand didn't go any further, in fact, it was really for the benefit of the Ottoman Empire, and Austria-Hungary had to have a powerful fleet to suppress Italy, otherwise Austria-Hungary would lose the Adriatic Sea.

"But what does that have to do with me? Do you think I need a warship to protect that territory of mine? ”

"Of course, how can you keep your territory safe without a fleet?"

"Ferdinand, what if I have a fleet, the British, the Japanese, the Russians, the French, their fleet is something I can provoke, do you want me to fight against them?"

"No, how could I have you fight against them, don't you need warships against the resistance of the natives? And pirates. ”

Hearing this, Gao Hongsheng almost didn't throw the coffee cup in his hand, pirates, those pirates who drove wooden sailboats couldn't even break through their own armed merchant ships, and they couldn't even catch up, did this Ferdinand want to make himself think crazy about shipbuilding, and he actually used this as a reason.

Gao Hongsheng couldn't help laughing, but halfway through the laughter, he thought of another possibility, what if someone pretended to be a pirate and hijacked his merchant ship?

Before coming to Europe, he did think about the ocean transportation of goods, and he really wanted to buy a few warships to protect it, but from the perspective of the Crescent all the way, there was not much problem with safety, and at the same time, he really didn't like those warships in this era, especially those warships had to burn coal, and merchant ships were okay to say, but coaling on battleships was a problem, and it was a big problem to go there to refuel coal on the way.

Gao Hongsheng looked at Ferdinand, who was waiting for him to reply, and thought for a long time before he said in a deep voice, "Okay, I can build some warships, but, Ferdinand, can you guarantee that the new technology I gave you will not be leaked?" “

"Ferdinand, after these technologies are acquired by other countries, with the strength of Austria-Hungary, if you build a new ship, then they can build ten, even if we change the design after the leak to make our warships more advanced, we will drown in the sea of warships that are slightly backward in adoption." Gao Hongsheng clearly told the situation that Ferdinand's technical leaks would face later

"I promise, high, I can use my reputation to guarantee that these new technologies will not be leaked." Ferdinand assured with starry eyes, patting his chest.

"Well, I'll trust you again, Ferdinand, do you know about steam turbines?"