Being in this office that can be described as "empty", even though he was sitting at the desk, Shi Si still felt a little nervous, this is a very rare experience, perhaps this office of more than 200 square meters gives him this feeling, like entering the church for the first time, nervous and full of longing. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

It was a principle of architectural psychology that a large and tall space could make people feel small, and of course Shi Si did not know it, and now he just looked at the marshal in military uniform, pacing on the cork floor.

Because of the cork floor, the marshal, though he wore leather shoes, did not make much noise on the floor, and he had a cigar between his fingers, and the smoke of the cigar filled his fingers, and he seemed to be thinking and hesitating.

In order to relax his mind a little, Shi Si once again turned his gaze from the marshal to the large desk in front of him, on which there were several baskets of documents, which were full of documents. The real attraction was a special humidity humidity vigar case, which he knew contained black Cuban cigars as thick as a pencil. The marshal likes to smoke cigars, this is a well-known thing. However, only those who know Tang Haoran know that he will only smoke cigars when he is thinking about problems, just like now.

At the same time that the expansion plan of the Navy was approved and representatives were sent to Europe to negotiate the purchase of warships, the Ship Administration Office began the design work of the new warships, and Stenger, as the chief engineer, proposed a fairly safe plan, using the Amiralcharner-class armored cruiser as the prototype to enlarge the construction of a first-class armored cruiser of about 6,500 tons.

This plan undoubtedly looks extremely sound, and it is not only suitable for the development of the Navy. It is also adapted to the technical capabilities of the Incheon Shipyard. However, this plan caused controversy in the Harbourmaster Office. To be precise, there was a dispute between the chief engineer and the deputy chief engineer, the latter, a ship engineer from Germany, Shi Si, who believed that a capital ship should be built to make the Northeast Navy achieve a leap in strength.

However, Shi Si's suggestion caused an uproar, not to mention the dispute on the side of the Ship Administration Office, that is, there are several voices within the Navy itself, one is that it is technically allowed. Then it should be built, one is that it is too self-sufficient to build a capital ship, and the other is that it is believed that a capital ship should be purchased to increase the strength of the navy.

A suggestion made everyone unhappy, and now all three of them have come to their offices, waiting for their decision, but how to choose?

Whether it is built or not built or purchased, there are their own reasons and basis, and from the perspective of the navy, it is natural to hope for purchase. Just like Rong Shangqian, the chief of the navy, there are differences in technology. One thinks that the technical conditions are ripe, and the other thinks that the technology is not mature.

How to choose?

This is a problem, if Tang Haoran's original intention, he naturally hopes that China can realize the self-construction of battleships, after all, as a big country, battleships cannot rely on purchase, not to mention that in this era, battleships are the most deterrent and complex of all warships, and the requirements for construction conditions are undoubtedly the most stringent, and at the same time, there are extremely high requirements for the design and manufacturing capabilities and integration capabilities of armaments, armor, power plants, hulls and other subsystems. To judge the true level of a country's shipbuilding industry and even its comprehensive national strength, it is a very intuitive and authoritative method to examine the construction of battleships.

If the Northeast can build a war rower, then it will undoubtedly "explain" to outsiders that the Northeast industry is strong, and remind the people in the customs that who is the hope of China in the future, and the political reputation is undoubtedly extremely attractive, especially for Tang Haoran, a "chaotic minister and thief" who does not like the traditional Shilin very much.

But does it really have the strength?

"Can we really do this?"

Turning around, Tang Haoran, who had stopped, turned his gaze to Shi Si, to this German engineer who could already have a simple conversation in blunt Chinese.

"Your Excellency, Marshal!"

The marshal's inquiry made Shi Si's heart only a burst of excitement, he knew that the marshal in front of him was also moved, at least to a certain extent, the rest of the question was just to convince him, to convince him that there was nothing wrong with this choice, so he took a deep breath to suppress the excitement in his heart.

"Your Excellency Marshal's knowledge of the Western Ocean is well known, and your Excellency must know that half a century ago, Prussia had almost no navy, and even during the war, the weak and worthless navy could only be cowered in the harbor, along with the merchant fleet!"

Surprisingly, Shi Si did not directly answer Tang Haoran's question, but gave him a history lesson, but in fact, Tang Haoran did not know Germany as well as he imagined, the so-called "Western Communication" was just built on the shoulders of giants and plagiarized the achievements of later generations, but after thinking about it a little, I also knew that the German navy was not strong, and the German high seas fleet was the matter of the second emperor, and it seemed that it was only now that it began to rise. So he could only nod silently.

In the "First Schleswig War" in 1848, the Prussian navy at that time was extremely weak, in that war the Schleswig-Holstein region, which was formerly a Danish territory, wanted to be incorporated into the German Confederation, and the Danish navy, as the main naval power in the Baltic Sea, blocked all maritime trade between northern Germany and the Baltic coast, at this time Britain and the Netherlands declared neutrality, the Austrian navy was far away in the Mediterranean, and the German Confederation itself had no navy, Maritime trade in northern Germany came to a complete halt. At the end of the war in 1850, the victorious Danish Sea resumed its rule over the Schleswig-Holstein region......"

Germany's history seems to be somewhat similar to China's, and listening to him say this, Tang Haoran has found something in common with China.

"The lessons of the war were painful, and when the German states finally felt the need to build up a navy of their own, the Frankfurt National Assembly authorized King Frederick of Prussia? Wilhelm IV's cousin, Prince Albert, established the "Royal German Fleet", at that time the German shipbuilding industry was still very weak, the ships were mainly ordered from the British, the personnel training was also very poor, and there were often shipwrecks that caused many tragedies, but this at least began the German naval road......"

It seems that this is the path to the backward navy, the lessons of the war made a continental country begin to go to the sea, and the "history lesson" of the history department made Tang Haoran realize that the German navy, which was once regarded as a thorn in the side of the British in history, turned out to be just a "baby" with a history of only a few decades, and even now, it is not a strong man.

"On the eve of Franco-Prussian law, the Prussian government was keen on the expansion of its navy in view of its weak naval strength. However, at that time, Prussia's shipbuilding industry was backward, and most of the main warships of the navy's equipment relied on customization from abroad, which was undoubtedly unacceptable to the nascent German Empire. But in Germany at the time, the risk was undoubtedly too high for most people, and the negotiations were at a standstill. ”

When Shi Si raised the history of Germany, whether it was Tang Haoran or Stengge, who had previously held opposing views, even Rong Shangqian, who advocated the purchase of ships, was also in contemplation.

"Indeed, the opinions of the opponents are indeed sufficient, at that time Germany did not even have the experience of building more than 4,000 tons of merchant ships, let alone ironclad ships, so this negotiation from before the Franco-Prussian War, until after the Franco-Prussian War, the two sides fought for several years, at that time the opponents also hoped to develop the German shipbuilding industry in ten years through gradual development, from small to large to build warships, which is indeed very safe......

Noticing that all three of them were listening to what they were saying, Shi Si knew if he could convince them, and it was all in the last sentence.

"But in the end, the ship-building engineer Rudolph? However, Haacke persuaded the navy to believe that the world would not give Germany ten years to wait, and the German Navy would not be given ten years, he decisively took the responsibility and achieved success, and in 1873, the first domestic ironclad ship "Prussia" built by Volken was successfully launched, which made the reputation of the German shipbuilding and steel industry in the world significantly improved, and the German Navy's shipbuilding orders have been left in the homeland! ”

As Rudolph? Haque, the assistant of a legendary figure in the history of German warship construction, Shi Si had participated in the construction of the "Prussia", so he naturally knew the inside story, and when he mentioned the old things, his tone was still a little excited, so that in the end he looked directly at Tang Haoran and continued.

"Twenty years ago, Germany's shipbuilding industry had far inferior technology and equipment to today's Incheon shipyards, but Germany completed the leapfrog development of shipbuilding through a technological adventure, thus laying a solid foundation for becoming a European shipbuilding power. Isn't the same question before His Excellency the Marshal today, as it was twenty years ago? ”

When this rhetorical question was issued, Shi Si's voice paused slightly, and noticing the marshal's thoughtful look, continued to speak in an accentuated tone.

"Just as Germany faced that year, will the world give China ten years to improve its shipbuilding industry and accumulate shipbuilding experience? Will China be given ten years to make the Chinese Navy wait for his capital ships? ”

At this time, Shi Si had completely ignored what his unceremonious words would bring to him, but he knew that if he didn't say it, then his dream would probably be shattered, five years, there were too many changes in five years, and now the only thing he needed to do was to persuade Tang Haoran to accept his suggestion and agree to his shipbuilding plan.

(Double 11, Singles' Day, when did this day become a carnival of consumption...... Hey, let's return to its essence and let the big guy "strip naked" today, male and female singles are a couple! Happy Singles' Day to all...... The tragedy of me is still in the codeword! (To be continued.) )