Zhou Chunyu's words made Liu Buyun a little worried, because once the funds of the Beiyang Naval Division were tight again, this squeamish warship would definitely age faster than her predecessors, which was really worrying.

However, it must have been after the end of this war, and no one can say what this armored cruiser had become by then.

With the perfect performance of this warship, the offer of 5.5 million taels of silver is not expensive, but the Beiyang Navy Division now only has 4 million taels of silver available, even if it is all smashed in, it is still a cut of the boss!

Seeing Liu Buyun's frowns, Zhou Chunyu said with a smile, "Liu Junmen, don't be busy refusing yet, 5.5 million taels is just a price tag, just because of the relationship between the two families, it is impossible to really ask for so much money." Although I don't know the above idea, I estimate that as long as Beiyang can give 5 million taels of silver, it will definitely be able to win. ”

"5 million taels is still too expensive, and the total amount allocated by the imperial court for the purchase of ships is only 4 million taels of silver, can it be cheaper?" , Liu Buyun asked with a bitter face, looking like a housewife bargaining in the vegetable market.

"It's not impossible to drop a little more, but it's impossible to drop it to 4 million taels of silver anyway, and it can't even recover the cost." When Zhou Chunyu heard this, he pretended to frown, and then threw out a new solution according to Li Hui's instructions in advance, "Actually, there is another way, your army urgently needs this warship mainly to win the current war, so it can be leased!" Renting for a year or two is expensive, but it's much cheaper than buying it outright, and if you have enough money to buy it, you can buy it if you want to."

"Chartering a boat? Maybe it's a good idea, but very few people do it because they don't need it in peacetime and can't rent it in wartime. Liu Buyun's eyes suddenly lit up, and he immediately asked the price, "Then how to rent?" ”

Zhou Chunyu replied according to Li Hui's plan that had already been set, "If you rent it for one year, it should not be less than 2 million taels of silver, and if it is two years, it is estimated that it will cost 3 million taels of silver." ”

"So expensive?" , Liu Buyun exclaimed, and suddenly retreated in his heart.

Zhou Chunyu immediately explained, "It does look very expensive, but after this ship is delivered to your army, it will be a vicious battle with the Japanese, who knows what this warship will be broken into when the lease period ends?" If we sell it at that time, I am afraid that 3 million taels of silver may not be able to get rid of it, and the rent will not be set a little higher, won't our company have to lose money? ”

"When you say that, it seems to be true", Liu Buyun nodded, but it costs so much money to rent a warship, and those laymen in the court will definitely not agree, so after he sighed deeply, he regretfully said that such a price is still unacceptable.

"The amount does not seem to be low, but this is the total price, including the cost of supporting services, you can split it out, and you can explain it to the above", Zhou Chunyu guessed Liu Buyun's thoughts, and further explained to him without giving up, "First of all, just two base ammunition is worth hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, which are all rapid-fire guns, and even one base of the 210 mm main gun is as much as 300 rounds!" What's more, there are also three cardinal trainer bombs and a matching propellant pack! Then, considering that a large number of new technologies have been applied to this warship, and her first battle will not wait too long, in order to allow your army to become proficient in the use of these advanced equipment faster, our company will send 100 technicians to guide, if you need it, they can even participate in the battle with your army, the salary is paid by our company, you only need to be responsible for the basic accommodation and pension after the death and injury of the personnel, the standard, according to the average standard of foreigners, I can guarantee, Their business ability is better than any of the current foreigners in your army, no exceptions! ”

Zhou Chunyu said it very much, but Liu Buyun did not question it, after these days of getting along, Zhou Chunyu and others have fully proved how talented venture capital companies are.

Take Zhou Chunyu as an example, Liu Buyun even thinks that he is more professional than his teacher in the British Royal Navy, and he is also a decent man and gentleman comparable to Deng Shichang, and because he is Chinese, it is much more convenient to communicate than those foreigners, and he is fully qualified to enjoy preferential treatment.

And a full 100 places, enough to take care of all the key positions, means that this warship can be driven out to fight soon after the arrival of the cargo, and there is no need to run in for a few months, with the current war situation, this is undoubtedly a huge advantage!

"In addition, we also pay for the insurance and delivery, so you only need to pay the rent. And if the ship is unfortunately sunk during the lease period, you only need to pay a compensation of 3 million taels of silver, which is equivalent to buying this warship from us at the beginning, and now you still think our rent requirements are too much? After completing this supplementary explanation, Zhou Chunyu looked at Liu Buyun with a smile, waiting for his reply.

"In this case, it's really not expensive, it's really not expensive!" , Liu Buyun replied with relief, but judging from his expression, he seemed to be a little worried, after all, such a big list can only be made by Li Hongzhang, the top boss.

Since Liu Buyun led the army to fight at sea without authorization during the "peace talks", his relationship with Li Hongzhang has further deteriorated, but his professional standards are still trusted by Li Hongzhang, and it is estimated that he will still consult his opinion when the time comes, but Liu Buyun is not sure whether Lao Li will listen to it

But what Liu Buyun didn't expect was that it was even easier for the venture capital company to persuade Li Hongzhang than to persuade him, first of all, because Li Hongzhang was far from being as expert as Liu Buyun, and after seeing the performance parameters reported by the venture capital company, he would not doubt its authenticity like him, and he was directly blinded by the gorgeous data. Naturally, I think that the venture capital company's plan to lease warships is extremely cost-effective and very likeable.

And the second reason, it wasn't until this warship was rented that Liu Buyun finally thought of it, but at that time, it was too late to regret it

After a short period of negotiations, the Beiyang side leased the new armored cruiser, which Li Hongzhang named "Haitian," to a venture capital company for 1.85 million taels of silver, for a period of one year.

Because Li Hongzhang believed that the Sino-Japanese war would last for more than a year at most, the one-year lease period should be enough to meet the needs, not to mention that the time was still counted from the day the warship was handed over, in fact, it was more than one year, and it was not easy for him to ask for naval funds from the imperial court, and he could save a little bit