At the British Consulate in Tokyo, Japan, Colonel Robt took out a list of warships that could be sold in active service and the prices that he had prepared a long time ago, and handed them to Japanese Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito and Commander of the Combined Fleet, Ito Yuto.

The main reason why the British government was willing to violate the international agreement that it could not sell war-related materials to the belligerents and was willing to sell warships to Japan was mainly for the sake of Britain's own interests.

Britain has a large number of concessions in the Qing Dynasty, and the entire southeast coast of the Qing Dynasty is almost the British sphere of influence, and now the Beiyang Naval Division has purchased a large number of active warships from South American countries because of the appearance of Lin Daxin, and defeated the Japanese Navy and the Italian mercenary fleet in naval battles, and captured a complete 4 Italian ironclad battleships with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons, making the Beiyang Naval Division's warships the sixth in the world, and the top five are Britain, France, Russia, Germany and Italy. Italy fell from fourth to fifth place due to the loss of 4 powerful ironclad battleships.

Moreover, the displacement of the Beiyang Naval Division, together with the warships of other naval divisions of the Great Qing Dynasty, has surpassed that of Italy, making the Great Qing Dynasty enter the top five naval powers.

The appearance of such a powerful Beiyang naval division was completely inconsistent with the strategic planning of Britain in the Far East.

And at present, because of the British Navy Monarch battleship, the emergence of this all-steel new type of battleship, the previous ironclad ships have become backward, and all countries have begun to manufacture this new type of battleship.

The British Navy built a number of new all-steel battleships and cruisers at the same time, and if some of the older ironclads and cruisers could be sold, there would be more money to build more new warships.

Japan has borrowed tens of millions of pounds from British banks and large British merchant groups, and this time the Japanese government said that the purchase of warships will be paid in pounds, and it will not be paid in the form of loans like the last purchase of 6 warships! This made the whole British Admiralty moved! Captain Robert was sent to Japan to sell some old ironclads and cruisers.

Ito Hirobumi and Ito Yuxiang took a cursory look at the list and prices, and found that although the active warships sold by the United Kingdom are all old ships, they are not backward in today's world navy, and there are still many warships that are very combat-effective.

As for the price, it is fair, at least Japan is not treated as a wronged person to be slaughtered.

The two Japanese bigwigs bargained with British Navy Captain Robt for 4 hours, and when Ito Hirobumi, Ito Yuki and Robt were exhausted, a huge warship deal appeared!

The British Navy has a total of 6 Campalius-class ironclad ships, which were completed from 1870 to 1872 and entered service with the British Navy. The ironclad ship of this class has a displacement of 9,700 tons, a length of 99 meters, a width of 18 meters, a draft of 8 meters, 10 boilers, single-shaft propulsion, a speed of 10 knots, and a maximum coal load of 1,200 tons. Waterline armor 280 mm to 380 mm, deck armor 80 mm to 120 mm, main gun turret armor 380 mm, secondary gun turret armor 220 mm, conning tower armor 380 mm. Armed with 8 254-mm naval guns, 4 228-mm naval guns, 10 84-mm guns, 3 343-mm torpedo tubes. Crew: 540 people.

These 6 old ironclad ships with a displacement of nearly 10,000 tons, which are more than 20 years old, were bought by Japan for 1.8 million pounds!

There were a total of 6 Invincible-class ironclads of the British Navy, which were built from 1870 to 1871 and entered service with the British Navy. The ironclad ship of this class has a displacement of 6,100 tons, a length of 85.3 meters, a width of 16.4 meters, a draft of 6.8 meters, 6 boilers, single-shaft propulsion, a speed of 11 knots, and a maximum coal load of 850 tons. Waterline armor 200 mm to 260 mm, deck armor 80 mm to 100 mm, main gun turret armor 260 mm, secondary gun turret armor 200 mm, conning tower armor 260 mm. Armed with 10 228-mm naval guns, 4 152-mm naval guns, 6 84-mm guns, 2 343-mm torpedo tubes. Crew: 340 people.

These 6 old ironclad ships, which are also more than 20 years old and have a displacement of more than 6,000 tons, were all bought by the Japanese for 1.2 million pounds!

In addition to the slow sailing speed, the guns on these 12 ironclad ships are all old-fashioned breech guns, and the rate of fire and range are much slower than rapid-fire guns. The price of these warships of the British Navy that is about to be retired is not cheap, but it makes the two Japanese bigwigs very happy, how to say that this is also 12 ironclad ships!

In addition to these relatively backward ironclad ships, the British Navy also sold Japan 6 relatively advanced ironclad battleships with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons to deal with the 4 Italian ironclad battleships captured by the Beiyang Naval Division.

The ironclad battleship Nile had a displacement of 12,880 tons and was completed in 1888. and its sister ship, Trafalgar, with a displacement of 12,791 tons, was completed in 1888. The length of the ship is 105 meters, the beam is 22 meters, the draft is 8.6 meters, 16 boilers, four-shaft drive, the speed is 18 knots, and the maximum coal load is 1,500 tons. Waterline armor 300 mm to 420 mm, deck armor 100 mm to 120 mm, main gun turret armor 420 mm, secondary gun turret armor 300 mm, conning tower armor 420 mm. Armed with 4 343-mm naval guns, 6 150-mm naval guns, 12 57-mm rapid-fire guns, 8 47-mm rapid-fire guns, 4 600-mm torpedo tubes. Crew: 700 people.

The ironclad battleship Steadfast, with a displacement of 12,070 tons, was completed in 1877. and its sister ship, the USS Nelson, with a displacement of 12,200 tons, was completed in 1878. The ship is 104.8 meters long, 22.8 meters wide, 7.7 meters draft, 12 boilers, twin shaft drive, speed 14 knots, and a maximum coal load of 1,200 tons. Waterline armor 280 mm to 380 mm, deck armor 90 mm to 110 mm, main gun turret armor 380 mm, secondary gun turret armor 280 mm, conning tower armor 380 mm. Armed with 4 406-mm guns, 8 150-mm naval guns, 10 57-mm guns, 2 500-mm torpedo tubes. Crew: 680 people.

The ironclad battleship Ben Bao had a displacement of 10,770 tons and was completed in 1885. and its sister ship, the USS Rodney, with a displacement of 11,200 tons, was completed in 1886. The length of the ship is 99 meters, the width of the ship is 21 meters, the draft is 8.2 meters, 14 boilers, 4 shaft drives, the speed is 18 knots, and the maximum coal load is 1050 tons. Waterline armor 300 mm to 380 mm, deck armor 100 mm to 120 mm, main gun turret armor 400 mm, secondary gun turret armor 300 mm, conning tower armor 400 mm. Armed with 2 412-mm guns, 10 152-mm naval guns, 10 57-mm rapid-fire guns, 4 600-mm torpedo tubes. Crew: 680 people.

For 6 ironclad battleships in active service in Britain, the Japanese paid a total of 3 million pounds. The two Japanese bigwigs were willing to pay for the 3 million pounds, and although the six warships were not all-steel battleships, their strength was comparable to that of the British Sovereign-class all-steel battleships.

In addition, the British Navy also sold three old armored cruisers to the Japanese Navy at a low price, namely the Nongxiang, the sister ships Nelson, and the Northampton, and cost the Japanese another 600,000 pounds.

The armored cruiser Nongxiang had a displacement of 5,670 tons and was completed in 1877. The length of the ship is 79.25 meters, the width is 16.46 meters, the draft is 6.78 meters, 8 boilers, two-shaft propulsion, the speed is 12.25 knots, and the maximum coal load is 900 tons. Waterline armor 125 mm to 228 mm, deck armor 50 mm to 76 mm, main gun turret armor 228 mm, secondary gun turret armor 125 mm, conning tower armor 228 mm. Armed with 4 254-mm naval guns, 7 228-mm naval guns, 6 84-mm guns, 2 343-mm torpedo tubes. Crew: 452 people.

The armored cruiser USS Nelson had a displacement of 7473 tons and was completed in 1881. The armored cruiser USS Northampton had a displacement of 7,630 tons and was completed in 1878. The length of the ship is 85.34 meters, the width is 18.29 meters, the draft is 7.59 meters, 10 boilers, two-shaft propulsion, the speed is 14 knots, and the maximum coal loading is 1,150 tons. Waterline armor 125 mm to 228 mm, deck armor 50 mm to 76 mm, main gun turret armor 228 mm, secondary gun turret armor 125 mm, conning tower armor 228 mm. Armed with 4 254-mm naval guns, 8 228-mm naval guns, 6 84-mm guns, 2 343-mm torpedo tubes. Crew: 560 people.

The Japanese and the British Navy reached a huge agreement for the purchase of warships for a huge amount of 6.6 million pounds, a total of 6 ironclad battleships with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons, 3 old armored cruisers, and 12 old ironclad ships.

The displacement of 21 warships has reached 187,000 tons, and the commander of the combined fleet, Yuxiang Ito, has a smile on his face at this time, although most of the purchased ships are old ships, but the combat effectiveness is still okay! If these 21 warships are combined with the remaining warships of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Japan will leapfrog the current Qing Dynasty and Germany and become the fourth largest naval power in the world!

It may be that the quality of the warships makes Japan's fourth naval power not so worthy of its name, but Ito believes that with these warships, he can defeat the Beiyang Naval Division and avenge the defeat in the last Battle of the Yellow Sea!