The Royal Navy successfully tested the steam turbine system, and the entire British Empire was celebrated with a high-profile cosmic announcement to show off their achievements.

The United States, Japan, Tsarist Russia, France, and some countries in Europe and the United States sent congratulatory messages to the British Empire, congratulating the British Empire on its successful acquisition of steam turbine technology and the elevation of its naval strength to a higher level.

As a rival of the British Empire, the German Empire was shocked to learn that the other party had successfully developed a steam turbine system.

Although he also sent a congratulatory telegram to the British Empire, his words were full of envy, jealousy and hatred, and the sour breath of the Germans could be smelled across half of Europe.

You must know that two years ago, the German Empire and the Chinese Empire completed arduous negotiations, and finally asked the Chinese Empire to agree to build four Helgoland-class battleships for the German Imperial Navy, for which the German Empire almost exhausted most of the gold reserves in the treasury, and all of them were given to the Chinese Empire.

Now, only two years later, German engineers are in charge of supervising the manufacturing process of the Helgoland-class battleships in the Chinese Empire, and they have not been able to steal the steam turbine technology with all their efforts, but the British Empire has directly succeeded in developing it, which makes the bitter Germans embarrassed!

As a result, Kaiser Wilhelm I was furious and ordered the German Naval Engineering Office to step up the development of steam turbine systems.

At the same time, Bismarck visited the Chinese Empire again and held a triennial premier-level meeting with Fu Xuexian, the new prime minister of the Chinese Empire, focusing on Sino-German economic, trade, and military cooperation.

The German ambassador to China submitted to the Imperial Court of China the itinerary of Bismarck's visit to China and the contents of the discussions, including negotiations on the export of steam turbine technology.

After the meeting between Zhang Peilun and Fu Xuexian, he believed that Bismarck might have been forced to make this request to the Chinese Empire because of political and military pressure at home and abroad.

However, the real decision depends on the attitude of Li Weiguo, the emperor of the Chinese Empire.

At this moment, Li Weiguo was not in the Forbidden City, but visited more than a dozen vassal states around the Chinese Empire to enhance friendly exchanges between the Chinese Empire and various vassal states, and to strengthen economic ties and cultural exchanges.

Of course, this kind of thing originally didn't need Li Weiguo to go out in person, he purely went to various countries to play in the mountains and rivers, eat, drink and flirt with his sisters.

To do the emperor to Li Weiguo's part, the cliff is the most sexually blessed man in the world, holding the military and political power of the world's largest power, sitting in the harem of 3,000 beauties, eating and drinking the best food in the world, enjoying unparalleled luxury treatment, any man lives to the extent of Li Weiguo, even if they die after just one day, they will not hesitate to agree.

Kazakhstan, the last stop of Li Weiguo's trip around the Asia-Pacific region.

This is an ancient country in the Western Regions, and all kinds of beauties in the Western Regions are like clouds, which really brings Li Weiguo a lot of fun.

Of course, flirting with girls is just a side business, and Li Weiguo's trip has another meaning.

During the trip, Tang Jianzhang, the chief of the guard, came to report to Li Weiguo.

"Your Majesty, everything is normal, the Assassin Alliance shows no signs of action!"

The League of Assassins was the name Li Weiguo gave to his rival organization.

The opponent was not one person, but a huge multinational organization, and almost all those who opposed Li Weiguo as emperor, all those who opposed the Chinese Empire, and even all countries and organizations that opposed the Chinese Empire's world hegemony were involved.

The European and American powers were unwilling to be defeated by the Chinese Empire, unwilling to become the world hegemon, and a small number of hostile forces in the Chinese Empire were unwilling to lose their former rights.

This alliance is mainly of Asian descent, and the European and American powers provide funds behind the scenes, trying to prop up new European and American agents in the Chinese Empire, conspiring to subvert Li Weiguo's rights, subvert the Chinese Imperial Society, and subvert the beautiful dreams of the Chinese Imperial people.

After years of secret investigation, Li Weiguo has gradually discovered this cancer, and basically locked the target, but unfortunately the other party is cunning and cunning, and no evidence has been left.

"I'm so far away from the capital, why doesn't he do it?"

Li Weiguo wondered, using himself as bait to travel to more than a dozen vassal states around the Chinese Empire was actually to give the enemy a chance to attack, but it was a pity that the other party did not move!

This is not scientific!

Li Weiguo's carefully designed plan to lure the enemy, but the other party seemed to see through the plan, but he didn't take the bait.

Tang Jianzhang said with a smile: "If it was said that twenty years ago, when Your Majesty was just starting out, the foundation at that time may have been unstable, but now twenty years have passed, and the great country that Your Majesty has brought down, the Chinese Empire is unprecedentedly strong, and the people's hopes are all on Your Majesty alone." To put it mildly, even if the enemy succeeds in assassinating His Majesty, it will be difficult to shake the foundation of the empire, after all, His Majesty has countless children, and there are dozens of adult princes, who can ascend the throne at any time. State institutions such as the Cabinet and Parliament are well-established and do not cause civil strife. The enemy wants to fish in troubled waters, it is simply impossible. ”

Li Weiguo nodded and said, "What you say makes sense!" But the old fox doesn't leak his tail, so why did he catch them all! ”

Tang Jianzhang said, "Maybe there is only one situation in which the Assassin Alliance will fight to the death with His Majesty!" ”

Li Weiguo asked rhetorically: "How can you see it?" Tell us what you think! ”

Tang Jianzhang replied, "Chen believes that there is only one situation in which the Assassin Alliance can make a move, and that is when our Chinese Empire is facing a powerful foreign enemy. And it must be when the battle is lost, because only when the battle is lost, the people of the Chinese Empire will be nervous, the situation will be chaotic, and everyone will wait for His Majesty to turn the tide, and at this time, the Assassin Alliance will suddenly attack His Majesty, which is equivalent to toppling the spiritual pillar of the people of the Empire. Only then will they have a chance to succeed. ”

Li Weiguo fell into deep thought, and I have to say that Tang Jianzhang's plan is very convincing, but it is too risky.

At present, the Chinese Empire has won many wars, and if it suddenly experiences a major defeat, I am afraid that it will collapse from then on.

This is like the Battle of Chibi of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao won many battles, but as a result, Chibi was defeated in the first battle, and he was no longer able to unify the Three Kingdoms.

In modern history, the Imperial Japanese Navy, which had never been defeated, was crazy, and after the disastrous defeat at Midway, the soul of the entire Japanese Navy was destroyed.

War is often so unexpected and incredible!

Today's Shence Army of the Chinese Empire has actually shown signs of arrogance, having won five Sino-British wars in a row, and the entire Shence Army seems to have begun to look down on the armies of the Western powers.

This in itself is a dangerous signal, Li Weiguo is trying to prevent it, it is impossible to deliberately let the Chinese Imperial Army suffer a crushing defeat at this time, it is not cost-effective.

Li Weiguo shook his head and did not accept Tang Jianzhang's proposal.

Tang Jianzhang also knew that this proposal was a bit ridiculous, so he didn't insist on it.

"Your Majesty, Bismarck's special train is about to arrive in Ili, and he has learned that His Majesty is nearby, so he is looking forward to meeting His Majesty!"

"It's time to talk! The British had steam turbine technology, and in less than four years they would really have dreadnought-type battleships! ”

Li Weiguo did not expect Britain to get the steam turbine technology so quickly, he still underestimated Fisher and the heritage of the British Empire.

The schedule was quickly set, and Li Weiguo stopped flirting with his sister, and soon left Aiwuhan and arrived at the Ili Palace by special train.

A day later, Bismarck's special train arrived in Ili. Li Weiguo then summoned Bismarck to the palace and held a banquet to entertain him.

Of course, Li Weiguo's meal was not so easy to eat, and Bismarck had to pay the price.

Bismarck's surprise visit to China was apparently under naval military pressure from the British Empire. The British Empire had its own steam turbines, and in the future it was possible to build dreadnought battleships in the truest sense of the word. The German Empire still had to rely on the Chinese Empire, and the steam turbine system could only be imported from the Chinese Empire, and the related supporting equipment was too expensive.

"Please understand the military pressure faced by our country, and please authorize the production and manufacture of steam turbines and other related supporting equipment to our country!"

As for steam turbine technology, the Chinese Empire was already eight years ahead, and even if the British Empire had steam turbines, it would be four years before a real dreadnought battleship was built, and it still needs to be tested.

In this way, the Chinese Empire's monopoly on steam turbine technology lasted for at least 12 years. During these twelve years, the engineers of the Imperial Chinese Navy continued to improve the steam turbine system, which could be exported to the German Empire, and the steam turbine models used by the Imperial Chinese Navy were more advanced, at least one generation ahead of the steam turbine technology of the British Empire.

Therefore, Li Weiguo agreed in principle to sell the steam turbine technology to the German Empire.

However, it is impossible for the Germans to get something for nothing, Li Weiguo's favorite thing is to pit Westerners for money, and the Germans are obviously a big wrongdoer, and they must be slaughtered severely.

"The friendship between China and Germany has a long history, and in principle, I have no objection to exporting steam turbine technology to your country! However, in order to develop the steam turbine system, the Chinese Empire spent a lot of manpower, material and financial resources, and it was impossible to give it away in vain. ”

Seeing that Li Weiguo was relieved, Bismarck was also relieved.

As long as money can solve the problem, it is not a problem.

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, we will definitely offer a price that satisfies your country!"

Li Weiguo suddenly smiled: "The price is not low, you have to be mentally prepared!" ”

Bismarck's forehead was suddenly swept by a row of crows, and his cheeks twitched.

Next, the two exchanged views and opinions on the current international situation, and confirmed that the alliance between China and Germany has once again been elevated to the level of strategic cooperation to jointly deal with military threats from Britain, France, the United States, Russia, Japan and other countries.

After this meeting, Li Weiguo had clearly hinted to Bismarck that if something happened to the German Empire, the Chinese Empire would definitely help.

Bismarck also said that if Britain, the United States, Japan, Russia, and France besieged the Chinese Empire, the German army and the Austro-Hungarian army would also participate in the war.

Invisibly, the Sino-German-Austrian Triple Alliance has been determined, and the last paper treaty is just away.

Similarly, the Anglo-Russian Entente, the Anglo-American-Japanese Entente, the Anglo-French Entente, and the Entente bloc centered on the British Empire were actually on the verge of emergence.

Neither side took the initiative to stimulate the other, but in fact it was unavoidable.

Bismarck left and continued to take his special train to Beijing for a premier-level meeting with Fu Xuexian, and there were many more things to be finalized.

The talks with Li Weiguo only got Li Weiguo's nod, and the actual work had to go through lengthy negotiations before the two sides could finally finalize the bargain.

In the end, Bismarck and his entourage were a complete success, and the Chinese Empire agreed to authorize the construction of a steam turbine factory in Germany and provide technical support. The German Empire also paid a high price of 10 million yuan for the introduction of technology and equipment, and both sides took what they needed, and both sides were happy.

At the same time, the Chinese Empire also relaxed restrictions on the export of steam turbines, and the French Empire and the Tsarist Russian Empire's previous application to the Chinese Empire for the construction of dreadnought battleships finally settled after two years of arduous negotiations.

The French Empire and the Tsarist Empire were suddenly full of internal flows, and after two years of arduous negotiations, they were about to give up, but the British Empire suddenly announced that it had successfully developed a steam turbine. In this way, the Chinese Empire had competitors and could no longer monopolize it, so it could only reduce prices and lower conditions.

The French Imperial Navy then ordered four Type C398712 battleships from the Chinese Empire at a price of 13 million yuan, and the French Navy named them Guba-class battleships. Construction of two of them began in April 1887 at the Whampoa Shipyard of the Chinese Empire, and the other two Guba-class battleships, built by the Chinese Empire, were assembled in France.

On the whole, the overall parameters of the Guba-class battleships were similar to those of the Helgoland-class battleships built by the Chinese Empire for the Imperial German Navy two years earlier. The difference is that the Germans paid attention to armor protection, with a total tonnage of 25,000 tons, while the French Navy focused on seaworthiness, with slightly thinner armor, with a total tonnage of about 24,000 tons. The caliber and number of other guns are the same, and in terms of speed, the lone class has a slight advantage, about 21.5 knots. Because of the different construction times, the construction time of the solitary class is expected to be next year (1888), and the technology is more advanced. The engine of the German Helgoland class was built a year ago (1886), a gap of two years, and the technical performance naturally differed slightly.

The Tsarist Empire had limited financial resources and eventually ordered only two Type C398714 battleships from the Chinese Empire, which the Tsarist Navy called the St. Andrew-class battleships, one of which was built at the Beiyang Shipyard of the Chinese Empire, and the other was assembled by the Chinese Empire with parts and technology and assembled within the Russian Empire.

Spending less money, the quality of the battleship is naturally weaker. The St. Andrew-class battleships, aimed at the Helgoran-class battleships of the Imperial German Navy, reinforced with armor and artillery, sacrificed speed for this, only 20 knots. However, because Tsarist Russia intended to deploy one of the two battleships in the Baltic Sea and the other in the Black Sea, the difference in speed did not matter.

The Chinese Empire shocked the whole world by building dreadnought battleships for the French Empire and the Tsarist Russian Empire.

You must know that the Anglo-Russian Entente, the Anglo-French Entente, theoretically both France and Tsarist Russia were enemies of the Chinese Empire, and they should not be sold dreadnought battleships.

This kind of discussion is not only heard abroad, but also in China.

However, veteran military experts pointed out: "The construction of dreadnoughts for France and Tsarist Russia will benefit the Chinese Empire and do no harm!" ”

This is because, first of all, the French navy and the Tsarist navy were deployed in Europe and the Mediterranean, and neither country had colonies in the Pacific, so the maritime threat to the Chinese empire did not exist.

The second is to make money, the British Empire has developed a steam turbine system, which will be installed on the British Empire's first dreadnought battleship in four years. Even if the Chinese Empire did not build battleships for France and Tsarist Russia, the British Empire would have done it.

And the advantage of the Chinese Empire now doing this is that the technology is more mature than the steam turbines of the British Empire, the reliability is stronger, and the manufacturing cost is low, and the reason why France and Tsarist Russia chose the dreadnoughts made by the Chinese Empire is because of these factors.

The British must have spent a staggering amount of money in order to develop the steam turbine system, and the Chinese Empire robbed the British of their customers, which was equivalent to cutting off the milk of the British, so that the British could not recover the cost of research and development, while the Chinese Empire exported its own battleships, but it could make a lot of money, and at the same time accumulate experience and technology in building ships.

Secondly, it is to know oneself and one's opponent. The Chinese Empire built battleships for France and Russia, and they knew their performance well, and once one day they were at war, they knew that they would not be defeated in a hundred battles.

In the end, there is political strategic deception.

The Chinese Empire sent a political signal of cooperation, peace and friendship to the French and Tsarist Empires, which would make the two countries less vigilant against the Chinese Empire, so that they would not soon be instigated by the British Empire to join the Entente group against the Chinese Empire. (To be continued.) )