"China needs warships, powerful warships. On behalf of the Chinese government www.biquge.info, I would like to formally request your government to order naval warships! Li Hongzhang's eyes shone with a determined gaze.

The strength of the army can only defend the country and protect the land territory, and in the future it will be the world of the navy, and Li Hongzhang naturally understands this truth.

In the past, there were no conditions in the Qing court, but now it is the rule of Huaguo, and the united Huaguo and the powerful Huaguo also make Li Hongzhang feel that his waist is much harder.

China's navy must also become stronger.

"Mr. Foreign Secretary, I have just made it very clear that Germany has no way to provide arms purchases to China, so why are warships not included in the scope of arms purchases?" The German consul laughed.

"The package is not included, then it is up to your government to have the final say, a warship without artillery may not be considered a warship, right?" Li Hongzhang's diplomatic skills are very superb.

"All right, Mr. Foreign Secretary. What warships does Huaguo want to order? The Volkeng shipyard in our country can build the most powerful warships in Asia. The German consul said with a smile on his face. Although they are friends, they still have to put profit first when talking about business, "We can build for you at the best price!" ”

Li Hongzhang was secretly funny, the foreign devil was just not honest, he refused just now, and now he said that he wanted the best price.

In fact, the Germans were very eager to build large warships, and they would be happier with Huaguo's investment, and in the original history, the Qing court bought several warships from the Germans in this way.

"Mr. Consul, don't use the old ironclad ships with not advanced performance to perfunctory Huaguo, although our heavy industry has just started, I believe you have seen the speed of development of Huaguo, Huaguo is now changing day by day, and our shipyard can already produce small steel ships." Li Hongzhang said in an old way.

"Absolutely not, rest assured, Mr. Foreign Secretary. What kind of warships does Huaguo want? Or does the German government need to design it separately for China? The German consul asked.

In the original history, after the German Emperor Wilhelm II succeeded to the throne, he participated in the enthronement ceremony of Empress Victoria of England, and the British grand naval parade greatly shocked Wilhelm II, and from then on, Wilhelm II was determined to develop the navy. The 'Brandenburg-class' battleships were the first battleships built by Germany. In this era, definitely one of the most formidable battleships.

Between 1889 and 1902, the Imperial German Navy built 20 battleships, including four of the first Brandenburg-class battleships: the Elector, Brandenburg, Wiesenburg, and Wools.

Construction of the Brandenburg-class battleships began in 1890 and was completed in 1893.

Li Hongzhang asked people to take out the drawings.

Li Hongzhang was accompanied by three president's secretariats, three beautiful secretaries who were in charge of liaison between heavy industry and military industry.

In addition, there were three shipbuilding experts who came from Qinhuangdao.

"Mr. Consul, there are so many shipyards in Germany, such as the Volken shipyard and the Hamburg shipyard. Instead of leaving so many slipways vacant, it is better to build warships for China. Your own demand is not enough to support the rapid development of the shipbuilding industry, so Huaguo is helping you. Therefore, in terms of price, Huaguo needs an absolutely preferential price. The main guns consisted of three twin-mounted 305 mm guns and six 105 mm speed guns; 8 88 mm speed guns; 12 37-mm guns; 6 450 mm water torpedo firing tubes. In addition, the superstructure must be reduced and the armor of the deck, turret and superstructure must be thickened! One of the senior engineers from China personally explained to the German consul.

The German consul smiled, the Germans are still more rigorous, especially now, the institutions and contacts in China are even more rigorous and professional than the Germans, which also opened the eyes of the German consul.

In fact, Li Hongzhang is talking about the "Dingyuan" combat ship in the original history.

President Meng didn't plan to eat a big fat man in one bite, in ten years, thinking of Europe and Europeans, it was simply impossible, without a strong navy as support, just rely on the army to fight in Europe.

Is it possible?

It is no longer the time of Genghis Khan.

The Dingyuan is a first-class armored ship, costing 6.2 million marks (equivalent to 370,000 pounds), which is a Dingyuan-class combat ship, a 7,000-ton first-class ironclad ship built by the Vulcan shipyard in Tanterburydu, Germany (which was assigned to Poland after World War II and is now known as Szczecin).

They are Dingyuan and Zhenyuan, which are the main ships of the Beiyang Fleet of the Qing Dynasty in the original history.

Construction began in 1881, and the "Dingyuan" ship was launched on December 28 of the same year, and the "Zhenyuan" ship of the same class was launched on November 28 of the following year; The "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan" ships were completed in 1884, and the Dingyuan ships cost about 1.4 million taels of silver, and the Zhenyuan ships cost about 1.42 million taels of silver. The British ambassador at the time, Wilma, pointed out that the price of these two ironclad ships was already very cheap at that time.

The German government won the order in order to stimulate heavy industry on the one hand and increase Germany's political influence in the Far East on the other.

In 1885, the second ship arrived at Dagukou and joined the Beiyang Naval Division.

At that time, the second ship could be called "the largest ship in Asia".

In the same year, a 2,440-ton cruiser Jiyuan was purchased in Germany, which was far inferior in performance to the "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan" ships, but the cost accounted for nearly half of the former, 680,000 taels of silver.

President Meng asked to order a Dingyuan ship as a specimen.

It is not realistic to ask for the Brandenburg-class battleships, which are being developed on the one hand, and the latest technology on the other.

President Meng's request is very simple, the Huaguo Navy is in its infancy, and it can reach the level of the Qing court in the original history, the key is that Huaguo is not a Qing country, and there will definitely be no such funny thing as not maintaining and insufficient shells.

If the price is right, two will do.

There are two ships, the Dingyuan ship and the Zhenyuan ship, and they don't even change their names, which is what President Meng told Li Hongzhang before.

President Meng will not ask for a cost-effective cruiser like Jiyuan, and when a battleship can be developed, the cruiser will naturally not be a problem!

"Dingyuan" is also known as the "Saxony" improved warship in the West.

The second ship of Dingyuan and Zhenyuan was called "the largest ship in Asia" at that time. The second ship is 94.5 meters long, 18 meters wide, 6 meters draft, normal displacement of 7,335 tons or 7,430 tons, full load displacement of 7,670 tons, powered by two horizontal three-cylinder reciprocating steam engines, 8 round coal-fired boilers, power 6,000 or 7,300 horsepower, speed of 14.5 knots ("Zhenyuan" is 6,000 or 7,300 horsepower, speed 14.5 knots), cruising capacity of 4,500 nautical miles / 10 knots, equipped with a searchlight with an illumination of 8,000 candles and 20,000 candles. 70 kW of electricity is provided by 3 generators (2 generators in Zhenyuan).

The total weight of the armor is 1461 tons, the armor on the waterline of the ironclad fort is 14 inches (365mm) thick, the armor under the waterline is 12 inches (305mm), the armor of the 305 gun mount is 304mm thick, the gun shield is 15mm thick, the armor of the conning tower is 203mm thick, the coal container carries 700 tons, the maximum coal load is 1000 tons, and the number of people is 329-363.

President Moe's current requirements are: it must be able to install a larger turret, and the speed must be maintained at more than 16 knots, which can be done after improving the engine!

Main guns: Dingyuan is equipped with 4 German Krupp 305mm breech guns (one twin turret on the port side and one on the starboard side, hydrodynamic power, each gun weighs 31.5 tons, 25 times the caliber).

Secondary guns: 2 Krupp 150mm breech auxiliary guns (1 bow and 1 stern, each gun weighs 4.75 tons, 35 times the caliber), 4 75mm Krupp guns, 8 37mm five-barreled Haggaes machine guns, 2 57mm and 47mm Haqikes rapid-fire guns, 3 14-inch torpedo tubes (one on each side and one at the stern, equipped with 21 torpedoes), plus the total number of main guns is 22, which is the same as that of the Zhenyuan ship.

The reason why Huaguo does not want German man-made artillery is because Huaguo's artillery-making technology is not too much lost to the Germans, and it can be developed on its own!

In addition, the two ships are each equipped with 2 carrier-based torpedo boats (one says 3), named "Dingyi", "Dinger", "Zhenyi" and "Zhener", with a displacement of 16 tons, a length of 19.5 meters, 110 horsepower, a speed of 15 knots, and one 37mm Haqikes gun and two 14-inch torpedo tubes (one on the left and right sides of the bow).

As for the drawings, there is no shortage of senior shipbuilding engineers in Huaguo now, and the overall industry is backward, resulting in the situation that it is impossible to manufacture large battleships by itself, but there is no problem in producing drawings.

"Mr. Consul, in the process of building a warship, Huaguo's engineers must supervise the whole process." Li Hongzhang made a request.

"Mr. Foreign Secretary, I can promise you now that I can send engineers, and it is possible. It's easy to do with drawings. If these requirements were to be met, the displacement of the battleship would reach 12,000 tons. This will reduce the speed of the battleship to a maximum of only 13 knots! The German consul shook his head.

At present, the world's mainstream first-class battleships have a displacement of about 10,000 tons, a speed of 16 knots, and a cruising capacity of 4,500 nautical miles and 10 knots.

"This is the request of our emperor, and the warships of Huaguo are equipped with more powerful power. Equip China's warships with two three-stage expansion reciprocating steam engines, so that the power of the main engine will reach 12,000 horsepower. It should be possible to increase the speed to more than 16 knots, right? Li Hongzhang said with a smile as if he was endorsing.

"Well, you can convey to the German government the request of your Emperor of China. However, if calculated in this way, the cost is not low. Each ship is at least 3 million Chinese dollars! "The German consul is overpriced.

"No! It's too expensive. 1,500,000 Chinese dollars each, our emperor has already had a budget, this is the price jointly estimated by German engineers and British engineers, and His Majesty the Emperor of our country promised that if the requirements can be met, our Huaguo can even order two Dingyuan-class battleships from your country. This is no small business, Mr. Consul. In addition, China can also order 4 cruisers and 10 destroyers. If we can, we can sign up right away! "Li Hongzhang came prepared.

The German consul's eyes widened, he didn't expect Li Hongzhang to be so clear about the price, it seems that even if this business can be done successfully, there is not much oil and water.

However, the German consul knew that the German shipyards still made a little money.

Together with those cruisers and destroyers, as well as other supporting warships, this will be a great financial source for the German shipbuilding industry and a great boost to the German military shipbuilding industry.

"Mr. Foreign Secretary, you know, the relationship between China and Britain and France is very stiff now, although our German shipbuilding industry is slightly behind Britain and France, but our German industrial products have always been the guarantee of quality, and your price is too low, I don't think the domestic government will be interested." The German consul is also very scheming, although the words are not straightforward, but the meaning is already very clear, except for Germany, China can not find a more suitable buyer.