Lieutenant General Reinhardt Schell asked, "It seems that Your Excellency the Ambassador has a plan, how can we bring the Xia Empire into the Imperial camp?" ”

"Your Excellency Lieutenant General, I have planned this for a long time, but I am worried that the post-war empire will not be the opponent of the Xia Empire, so I am still researching, I am very sorry, it is not convenient to say it for the time being. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info"

Lieutenant General Reinhardt Schell pondered for a moment and retorted: "Your Excellency, your fears are unfounded; If the empire defeated Britain, France, Russia and other countries to dominate Europe, and integrated all the white countries and nations under the rule of the German Empire, with a population of hundreds of millions, a vast area, and abundant products; Then the empire will integrate all kinds of technicians, designers and all the factories to reduce internal friction, and then the empire will burst out with unprecedented vitality, and the strength will far exceed that of the Xia Empire, you must understand that the lack of population is a major Achilles heel faced by the Xia Empire. ”

"Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, do you think the Xia Empire will leave enough time for the German Empire to integrate resources for development? They're not fools either! ”

"Your Excellency, the more this is the case, the more the empire needs the Xia Empire to contain the power of Britain, France and Russia, reduce the military pressure of the empire, so that the empire can start a war while developing technology and economy, and after the German Empire dominates Europe, its strength will be stronger, and let Britain, France and Russia continue to consume the strength of the Xia Empire in the war. It is best to achieve a post-war balance of power between the two sides. ”

Strasman said: "Your Excellency Lieutenant General is a little too confident, you have to see the gap between the current empire and the Xia Empire, especially the gap in territory and technology, this is what worries me, that is, after the war, the empire integrated the scientific and technological essence of the entire European white, and it is still not the opponent of the Xia Empire." ”

"His Excellency the Ambassador is telling the truth, but it is important to see that this gap is not impossible to fill, in fact the gap is already very small; For example, the empire is now designing battleships with 356mm and 381mm main guns, and buying battleships from the Xia Empire is to consider cheapness, second, it can reduce the number of battleships of the Xia Empire, and third, it can accelerate the development of imperial battleships. ”

"Your Excellency General, do you think that the Xia Empire will not develop? I estimate that their technical reserves have reached the goal you said, and if they sell Shang-class battleships, they will definitely be equipped with more advanced battleships, which is their usual style. ”

Although Lieutenant General Reinhardt Schell agreed with the other party's point of view that the Xia Empire must have hidden its strength, and felt that he could not argue with Streesmann, he said: "Your Excellency, you will not discuss this issue for the time being, and I hope that you will quickly write a document to report the attitude of the Xia Empire to the Imperial Foreign Ministry and the General Staff for reference, and to emphasize the attitude of the Xia Empire towards the Ottoman Empire." ”

"Yes, Your Excellency!"

It was very easy for diplomats to write such a document, and it was quickly completed, and Lieutenant General Schell was very satisfied with it, more comprehensive and concise than he wanted to express, so they signed it and sent it back to the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After receiving the telegram from Vice Admiral Schell, the German Admiralty quickly summoned the relevant technicians to discuss the Shang-class battleships and the 3 types of light cruisers. I feel that the Shang-class battleships are not only very advanced in technology, but also too cheap, according to the manufacturing process and production technology of the German Empire, the quotation of the Xia Empire is much lower than the production cost; For the light cruisers, the technicians suggested that one No. 2 and No. 3 ships be purchased respectively for design reference, and their opinions were formed into written materials and submitted to the General Staff and the Kaiser for decision.

Admiralty Secretary Tirpitz communicated with Moltke Jr., Chief of the General Staff, that for this kind of cheap battleship, and it was the last battleship that the Xia Empire could sell, it was necessary to buy a few more, and the cost was only half of that of Germany, which was simply a pie-in-the-sky thing.

Moltke Jr. also felt that this could greatly strengthen the German naval strength, and even surpass the British naval strength in one fell swoop, so the two decided to buy 4 ships, and then the empire copied 2 ships, completely digesting and absorbing the technology.

For the light cruisers, Tirpitz's view was to buy one ship each for ships 2 and 3, and then make a decision after coming back to study them, and buy a few more if appropriate, and then the empire would build them locally.

Since the report written by the technician was very detailed, Moltke felt that the navy could surpass the British for a small amount of money, and readily agreed to the Admiralty's application.

Upon receipt of the telegram jointly signed by Ambassador Stresmann and Vice Admiral Schell, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs promptly sent copies to the Kaiser, the General Staff and the Admiralty.

Kaiser Wilhelm II did not immediately convene a meeting on this issue, but left the three ministries to analyze them on their own and come up with targeted solutions to the problems raised in the telegram.

However, seeing this telegram, Kaiser Wilhelm II's ambitions were even more inflated, as long as he could dominate Europe, he was not worried that Germany was not the opponent of the Xia Empire, the Xia Empire had a large territory, which was their advantage, and it was also a fatal weakness in wartime, and the Xia Empire's own population was too small, as long as the war was in a state of confrontation, many other ethnic groups in their country would definitely not continue to bow down.

The Kaiser immediately approved the application of the Admiralty and the General Staff for the purchase of warships, and he understood the importance of the navy, and in order to dominate Europe and make enemies of the Xia Empire, it was necessary to build a more powerful navy.

According to Ambassador Straesmann's suggestion, Germany must use half of the supplies to cover the payment, on the condition that the Americans reach a plan with the Xia Empire to absorb the backlog of industrial products in Germany.

Li Zhaoshui reported the problem to Zhang Wei, and Zhang Wei readily agreed to this request, when the war was coming, to reduce Europe's material reserves was to reduce their war potential; Therefore, after considering it, Zhang Wei selected several materials that the Qin Kingdom lacked in the construction of the Qin Kingdom in the list of materials proposed by the Germans, such as: cement, railroad tracks, machinery and equipment, etc., on the condition that the Germans would transport the materials to the port of Jeddah within a year, and the price was 10% lower than the market price.

When the Kaiser received this news, he immediately ordered the number of battleships to be changed to five.

In his mind, this can not only digest a lot of Germany's backlog of materials, but in terms of the overall cost, these battleships are equivalent to picking up for nothing. If it were not for the fact that German shipbuilders also needed a certain amount of orders to maintain, he even wanted to buy a larger number of battleships.

Vice Admiral Schell happily signed an agreement with Li Zhaoshui, and in order to facilitate the escort, five light cruisers of two specifications were purchased each; The place of delivery of the battleships and light cruisers was the port of Colombo. German silver and naval receivers were sent to the port of Colombo.