"Mr. Envoy Brown, the battleship Chu He has been launched, and according to international conventions, it should be regarded as a supplementary warship launched during the war, and should not be counted in the content of the treaty. Pen %Fun %Pavilion www.biquge.info" Sun Fang shook his head and waved his hand.

Brown was not annoyed, and pointed to his conditions with a smile: "Only by giving up this new type of battleship and promising to give up the battleship-level arms race can the British Empire appreciate the sincerity of your country!" ”

"Haven't we given your country enough sincerity in terms of naval construction?" When Sun Fang mentioned this matter, he inevitably became annoyed in his heart.

Just yesterday, Sun Fang was stunned when Sun Fang looked at the bargaining content given by the cabinet. Wang Jianfeng, Ma Siyuan and others actually agreed to take the navy of the Ming Empire in exchange for the benefits of this war.

Thinking of this, Sun Fang gritted his teeth with hatred, he really would rather join the army and die on the battlefield than be such a diplomat who signed a degrading treaty.

Before him, although the Ming Empire had also signed many treaties with unpleasant content, it must be noted that most of the diplomats who signed these treaties chose an extreme path and proved their innocence.

They chose to hang themselves at home on the day they sent the treaty to the Forbidden City after signing the treaty - these diplomats kicked the black cauldron back to the court and the emperor in a very extreme way.

It was also from that time that this method of expressing one's will seemed to be popular in the diplomatic circles of the Ming Empire. As soon as someone was pressured to sign an undignified treaty, he would hang himself in his own home.

This was a kind of pressure on the diplomats, but also a kind of pressure on the imperial court on the emperor. It is not only a spur to diplomats, but also a kind of protection for the diplomats themselves.

Speaking of which, Wang Jianfeng and Ma Siyuan and other cabinet elders actually feel very wronged at this moment. They never imagined that His Majesty the Emperor, who had always maintained a tough attitude on the issue of foreign expansion, would suddenly be so cowardly and would agree to back down on naval construction.

Although they vaguely heard rumors that His Majesty the Emperor was optimistic about some new naval equipment, such as the submarines that Japan had put into use in the war, and the new aviation weapons that had recently emerged in the Empire.

But even so, they still think that it is not very wise to abandon naval construction and sign a treaty to restrict the development of their own navy.

Wang Jianfeng even took all the cabinet ministers to meet the emperor on the same day, and discussed for a whole afternoon before he reluctantly gave Sun Fang a bottom line today.

The bottom line is that if you can fight for one more battleship, you should fight for one more battleship. At the very least, the size of the Imperial Navy should be set at a level similar to that of Ceylon.

However, in Sun Fang's view, this bottom line is not a bottom line at all - or rather, it is simply a compromise without a bottom line.

What does it mean to maintain a combat effectiveness similar to that of Ceylon? The content of this treaty itself is a blasphemy against the navy of the Ming Empire!

"You mean, in naval tonnage, the 100,000 tons of concessions to the British?" Brown had already taken advantage of the construction of the Ming Empire's navy, so he seemed in a good mood, and asked with a smile.

After asking such a question, he didn't wait for Sun Fang to answer, and continued to speak: "The concession of 100,000 tons is definitely not enough, and it is far from enough!" ”

"The navy of the British Empire is deployed globally! Our current total tonnage is about 750,000 tons, and a reduction of 100,000 tons on this basis will not change anything at all. Brown looked at Sun Fang and broke Sun Fang's thoughts in one word.

According to the document in front of him, he smiled and teased Sun Fang: "The Ming Empire has sunk more than a dozen battleships, and I am afraid that the total tonnage of the capital ships is 650,000 tons, which is the goal of the Ming Empire's naval construction at this stage, not a constraint, right?" ”

was told clearly, Sun Fang was not annoyed, and replied: "In this case, in order to show sincerity, our Ming Empire is willing to let another 50,000 tons!" ”

The Ministry of Rites of the Ming Empire said that this passage can be described as arrogant, but when he finally stretched out his finger to express his position, the number given was obviously calculating.

To be honest, if calculated according to a battleship of about 40,000 tons, the Ming Empire had to build about 10 new battleships in order to reach the upper limit of the naval scale.

This is definitely good news for the Ming Empire, which now has only a few old battleships left. Because the battleships of the British Empire seem to be as many as 750,000 tons, but most of them are old battleships.

If the Ming Empire builds about 10 new battleships in the next few years, then the naval supremacy of the British Empire will really be very dangerous.

Not to mention anything else, just say that after the Ming Empire has more than 10 new battleships, the Japanese Empire and Ceylon will have to feel the pressure like a mountain.

"Again, the British Empire and its ally Ceylon had a simple request, that the treaty would classify the world's navies. Specifying the size of the fleets of the leading countries of the world. Brown looked at the Ceylon delegate sitting next to him, and turned his head again.

Shen Yue, a Ceylon diplomat who came to Gyeonggi of the Ming Empire on behalf of the Shen family, pointed to the terms on the document and said: "Among them, the naval ratio of the British Empire is 20, France is 7, Germany is 6, Ceylon is also 6, and Japan is 5, and the Ming Empire is only allowed to retain a total of 4 naval ratios. ”

Jiro Yamaguchi, the Japanese representative on the side, finally found a clause that he was interested in, and hurriedly agreed: "In other words, the Ming Empire must ensure that the total combat effectiveness of naval warships is lower than that of the Japanese Navy. to ensure the security of Japan, as well as the interests of Ceylon. ”

"What are you kidding? I am a dignified Ming Empire, and the size of the navy is only one-fifth of that of the British, this joke is not funny at all! Sun Fang forcibly suppressed his anger and stared at Brown and gritted his teeth in return.

As he spoke, he pointed to the brocade brooch on his chest, glared and asked: "Is this treaty your bottom line, if you can't retreat, then Sun will resign from his official position, enlist in the army to defend the country, and fight to the death with you!" ”

Sun Fang's impassioned words and hot temper scared Jiro Yamaguchi. The latter looked at Sun Fang, who was over fifty years old, and thought: Can you still be a soldier at this age?

The German envoy could see it, and he smiled and persuaded: "Don't be impatient, aren't you sitting here just to talk?" Just keep talking, just keep talking......"