Wei Dila seemed to have settled on Wang Chenhao, so he did not make any concessions on the price of the three warships. They are £300,000 for the Bulard, £450,000 for the Blancou and £800,000 for the Esmolalda.

Wang Chenhao knew that the Chileans took the opportunity to sit on the ground and raise the price, but he would not wait to be slaughtered. He must cut this price down.

"Your country's economic situation is not enough to support your navy, so it is better to sell it at a favorable price than to wait for it to become scrap metal. Your Excellency should know that the battleship is obsolete, and that I can buy her for a hundred thousand pounds to take advantage of you. As for the Blancou and the Esmeralda, I can add an additional £100,000 as a reward. ”

Vidila smiled and shook her head.

Wang Chenhao continued to patiently enlighten him and said: "Why should you be so loyal to the country? The money doesn't go into your pocket again. ”

Wei Dila looked at Wang Chenhao with some surprise, Wang Chenhao smiled mysteriously, and continued: "If Your Excellency gives in, I can pay 50,000 pounds as a reward. ”

Wei Dila's eyes tightened, and he was a little uncomfortable with Wang Chenhao's frank words. However, at this time, the Chilean political axe was too poor, and although he was a consul general, although he also had some oil and water, it was also a drop in the bucket for his life to improve. Now Wang Chenhao gave him a remuneration of 50,000 pounds as soon as he opened his mouth, which is really tempting.

It's just that Wei Dila is an old political fox after all, and he thinks that Wang Chenhao will definitely give him more benefits, so his tone is slightly relaxed, and he said: "Lord Wang's shot is really generous!" Just at the price you offered, you could save at least half a million pounds, and the deal seems more beneficial to you? ”

Wang Chenhao thought to himself that as long as you were willing to let go, he smiled and said: "It seems that there is something that Your Excellency needs to think clearly, although my country's political axe agrees to this ship purchase plan, it is indeed my own person who paid the money." Argentina has ordered two large armoured cruisers at the Giovanniansaldoco, Italy, which are far superior to your country's Esmolalda, and they are now interested in selling them to us. And the British, French and German shipyards have advanced warships on their slipways, and they are all eyeing this purchase, so we have too many options, and I hope that your country will not repeat the mistake of three years ago, and that excessive demands will only make you lose this deal. ”

Wang Chenhao is not to scare Vidila, Argentina did order two large armored cruisers Rivadavia (Brenadinorivadavia) and Moreno (Marianomoreno) at the Ansaldo shipyard in Italy, ready to engage the Chilean Navy, which is specially designed for Chile's 7,000-ton large armored cruisers. However, with the easing of relations between Argentina and Chile, Argentina itself has limited financial resources, so it is also ready to sell the second ship, just like Chile.

Wei Dila frowned and said, "As far as I know, it will take half a year for these two Argentine warships to be outfitted, and Lord Wang probably can't wait, right?" ”

Wang Chenhao said with a smile: "Your Excellency the Consul is talking about the progress under normal circumstances, and at the moment the situation is tense, I will increase the allocation to the Italian shipyard, and the eight-hour working system will become twenty-four hours, and it will only take two months to complete the outfitting in three shifts." ”

Wei Dila was stunned for a moment, he understood what Wang Chenhao meant, for the Italian shipyard, if they wanted to make these two warships complete a few months ahead of schedule, it was indeed as Wang Chenhao said, and it could be done by adding additional funds to increase the working hours of workers.

Thinking of this, Vidila suddenly laughed a few times and said, "Lord Wang may not know that our Admiralty is very clear about Argentina's order of new warships for our navy from Italy. In order to counter the Argentine Navy, we also secretly added two large armored cruisers to the French shipyard Laseyne. ”

Although Wang Chenhao did not know very well, he also understood that this was an inevitable product of the arms race between Chile and Argentina, so he was not surprised.

Wei Dila continued: "I don't know what the financial resources of Lord Wang are? ”

Wang Chenhao replied puzzledly: "I don't understand what you mean? ”

Wei Dila laughed: "Actually, it's nothing. As Mr. Wang said, the salary of me, the consul general, is indeed very low, and even my children can't afford to study abroad. I would like to say that the large armoured cruisers Chacabuco and Ministrozenteno, which we have ordered at the French shipyard in Laseyne, are still nine months away, and if you have enough financial resources, you might as well buy them too, and I will earn more extra money. ”

Vidila looked relieved, but he just wanted to take more benefits.

Wang Chenhao was secretly happy in his heart, and said with a smile: "If they meet my requirements, it will naturally be indispensable for Your Excellency's benefits." ”

Wei Dila said please wait, then turned around and took out a document from the drawer and handed it to Wang Chenhao, explaining: "This is their information, please look at it." ”

Wang Chenhao took the information and opened it, and was stunned for a moment.

"I'm sorry, I don't know French!"

Wei Dila smiled faintly, said rudeness, and then ordered someone to copy a copy in Spanish and give it to Wang Chenhao's translator. Then the translator translated it into Chinese and handed it to Wang Chenhao for viewing.

Wang Chenhao took the translated materials and read them roughly. In January 1894, the Chilean Navy ordered a large armored cruiser Chacabuco from the French shipyard Laseyne to counter the large armored cruiser Vadavia, which Argentina had ordered in Italy. In February of the same year, due to continuing tensions with Argentina, the Chilean Navy temporarily added a second Ministrozenteno after learning that Argentina had ordered a second armored cruiser, the Moreno.

The two armored cruisers built by the French Laseyne shipyard for the Chilean Navy are of the same class, 7628 (7700) tons, with a main size of 111.73m× 18.9m×7.32m, and two twin 210 mm 40 times diameter main guns, one in front and one in the rear; 152 mm 50 times diameter secondary guns, 8 88 mm rapid-fire guns, 8 47 mm rapid-fire guns, 2 reciprocating steam engines, speed 21.2 knots, 4 450 mm torpedoes, strong armor coverage, turret base and command tower frontal armor can withstand 305 shell attacks, it is a good large armored cruiser.

While Wang Chenhao was reading, Wei Dila said on the side: "These two warships are very outstanding, and I believe they can be used to resist the Rurik, the most advanced of the Russian Navy. If it weren't for the shortage of funds for our navy and the country's urgent need for economic construction, we would not have been able to sell it. ”

After reading it, Wang Chenhao said: "Your country will basically not be under much maritime threat in the South American Pacific region, and the maintenance cost of such a large armored cruiser is very expensive, and there is no need for your country to spend tight funds on it." ”

Vidila agreed with Wang Chenhao that if it weren't for the fact that their president was a naval officer, the Chilean Navy would not have been so reckless in its military use regardless of the country's economic capabilities.

"The final payment for these two warships has not been paid, it will take about 200,000 pounds, and we have already paid 800,000 pounds for the construction of these two warships."

Wang Chenhao said directly: "Including the previous three warships, I will pay 1.7 million pounds to buy these five warships, and if you agree, you will get 80,000 pounds in fundraising fees." ”

Vidila replied, "I'm about to retire, it's convenient for me to be with others, a hundred thousand pounds, otherwise forget it." ”

Wang Chenhao stared at Wei Dila for a while, and saw that his gaze did not back down, so he stretched out his hand and said with a smile: "Deal!" ”

"Deal!" Wei Dila also smiled and stretched out his hand to shake Wang Chenhao's hand, and the deal was completed in the tacit laughter of the two.

After Wang Chenhao reached a private agreement with Vidila, he left the Chilean consulate in Russia, and according to Xu Jingcheng's arrangement, Wang Chenhao rushed directly to the Argentine consulate in St. Petersburg. After Wang Chenhao left, Vidila immediately sent a telegram to the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, informing Wang Chenhao of the purchase of five Chilean warships in service and under construction, and his report only said that Wang Chenhao had invested 1.5 million pounds sterling, reserving 200,000 pounds of room for maneuver. If the Chilean political axe agrees, the 200,000 pounds will go into his pocket, otherwise he will keep raising until the 1.7 million pounds promised by Wang Chenhao.

Wang Chenhao's negotiations with Vidila had been so successful that the success of the transfer of the two Argentine armored cruisers was no longer so important. If it doesn't work, it will be good if it doesn't, but if it doesn't, five Chilean warships can compete with the Russian Navy, and it is enough to protect itself.

Mr. Wang's meeting with the Argentine consul in Russia, Amadoboudou, a young politician who didn't have the old fox mentality of Vétila, was relaxed. When Wang Chenhao proposed to buy the two large armored cruisers Rivadavia and Moreno ordered by Argentina at the Ansaldo shipyard in Italy, Amado honestly told Wang Chenhao about the intentional transfer of the Argentine political axe, and truthfully told Wang Chenhao about the cost of the two warships to be built and the final payment to be paid.

The Rivadavia and Moreno have already cost £780,000 and £125,000 for the final payment, with the Argentine political axe hoping to transfer it for £900,000. Wang Chenhao saw that Amado was not good at bargaining, so he took the construction parameters of the two warships and found fault with them. For example, the Levadavia's twin 203-mm guns were inferior to the Chilean Taccbuku's twin 210-mm guns, the number of 152 secondary guns was only 14, the 80-mm rapid-fire guns were inferior to the Chilean 88-mm rapid-fire guns, and the speed of 20 knots was not as fast as the opponent's, and the armor coverage was only 78% less than the 85% armor coverage of the same tonnage in Chile, etc., which made the two Argentine armored cruisers very unsuccessful.

Amado was a man of letters and did not like to spend taxpayers' money on the military. Wang Chenhao said a lot of words and only conveyed to him the signal that the design of the class of ships was very unsuccessful, and he really believed it, and then added fuel and vinegar to the Argentine political axe when he sent a telegram saying that the two warships were useless, and the Argentine political axe called back to inform him that he could reduce the price of the transfer, as long as he did not lose money. As a result, Amado finally agreed that Wang Chenhao would pay 830,000 pounds to buy the two warships, and the Argentine political axe only made 50,000 pounds from it, which was a relatively fair deal.

The next day, Wang Chenhao signed contracts for the sale and transfer of warships with Vidila and Amado respectively. Such speed and efficiency are rare, mainly because Argentina and Chile are in dire need of funds to stabilize their domestic economies, because they are also silver-standard countries and have also been affected by the international banking crisis. Another reason is that Wei Dila took Wang Chenhao's kickback and worked hard. And Amado did not understand armaments, and his telegram to Argentina made the Argentine side rush to transfer. These factors eventually contributed to the quick conclusion of a contract with Wang Chenhao.

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[Note:] The "**" in the text is the three words of hot_that_Asia, which is the most prosperous commercial city in northwest Italy, and it is somehow harmonized. In addition, the names of the battleships ordered by Chile and Argentina are in Spanish, which is purely a personal translation of the cruiser, and the names are for reference only. If you are a naval enthusiast, please look up the relevant information according to the original name in parentheses, which is explained hereby and will not be explained in the future.