The British Navy is a very traditional navy. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

It's a nice way to put it traditionally.

To put it mildly, the British admirals are a bunch of old-fashioned antiques who are rigid, stubborn, opinionated, and receptive to new things.

Because of this, although the British admirals discovered the power of aircraft carriers from the war between Lanfang and Japan, they refused to admit it, and to this day, they are still immersed in the thinking of "giant ships and cannons" and refuse to come out.

This is a good thing for the Lanfang Navy, standing in Qin Zhiyuan's position, Qin Zhiyuan hopes that the British Navy will never be able to get out of this strange circle, in that case, the Lanfang Navy will get more time.

But for Lloyd George, the feeling was not so wonderful, Lloyd George knew that there was a problem in the British Navy, but he didn't know what the problem was, so he naturally couldn't do it, and this feeling of powerlessness was really frustrating.

However, it is obvious that Lloyd George did not come to Qin Zhiyuan to chat, Lloyd George handled the crisis in his own way.

"President Harding has made a proposal, what is your opinion?" Lloyd George looked laid-back, as if he was not worried about the problems of the British Navy.

"Harding?" For a moment, Qin Zhiyuan really didn't react, and Qin Zhiyuan was very unfamiliar with the name "Harding".

"You don't know? Just a week ago, President Harding defeated Democrat James Cox to become the 29th president of the United States, and I thought you had received the news. Lloyd George was a little speechless, if Qin Zhiyuan didn't know anything about the U.S. presidential election, then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lanfang was really incompetent.

"Oh, Harding, Warren Gamelir Harding, of course, I know him." Qin Zhiyuan raised his glass and used the action of drinking to hide his ecstasy.

It's really not embarrassment, it's ecstasy.

Simon Allen sent a telegram to Qin Zhiyuan several months ago, reporting on the progress of the relationship between him and Harding, and it was under Qin Zhiyuan's instructions that Simon Allen would spend a lot of money to help Harding in the election.

Now that Harding has saved the president of the United States as he wished, then Qin Zhiyuan's investment has finally reached the time to be harvested, how can this not lead Qin Zhiyuan to be ecstatic?

Qin Zhiyuan knows that Harding is a conservative, and when Harding comes to power, the United States will definitely return to the "isolationist" thinking, which is a good thing for Lanfang's expansion, and the biggest good news is that if Lanfang and Britain clash because of something, then before Britain shows its defeat, the Americans are very likely to stand by and watch, which is definitely a major benefit for Lanfang.

"What is President Harding's proposal?" For this, Qin Zhiyuan really doesn't know.

Recently, first Australia, then North Africa, and now Madagascar, Qin Zhiyuan really didn't pay much attention to the United States on the other side of the ocean, and he didn't know anything about Harding's proposal.

Of course, it is more likely that Gao Hongshi submitted a report to Qin Zhiyuan, but Qin Zhiyuan hasn't read it yet.

"President Harding has invited us to convene a meeting in Washington with France, Italy, and your Lanfang, and you know that we are all faced with the problem of restoring the economy to the country, so we may be able to come to a consensus, a consensus on the expansion of the military, think of the arms race between us and the Germans before the world war -- oh God, that was horrible, I don't want to do it again." Lloyd George said a little too much, more to show his attitude.

Qin Zhiyuan then understood that Lloyd George was talking about the Washington Naval Conference.

In the past, after the world war, the Japanese tightened their belts and started an arms race with the British in exchange for dollars from the sale of their bodies and silkworms by Japanese women.

That's right, it's a Japanese woman!

There was nothing to do with Japanese men, because at that time Japanese men were either in the army or in factories, and they were not responsible for economic development.

In order to get out of the economic downturn, the Americans did not approve of the arms race between Japan and Britain, so at the initiative of US President Harding, Britain, Japan, France, Italy, and other countries gathered in the United States and held a meeting over the proportion of warships owned by each country.

Of course, it was not only the above five countries that participated in the meeting, but also many other countries participated, such as the Republic of China also discharged delegations, but unfortunately, the Republic of China at that time did not get the opportunity to speak, in terms of the navy, the whole world was open to the Republic of China, and there was no restriction on the development of the navy of the Republic of China.

It is estimated that the delegates at that time will have a hot pain on their faces.

"The arms race - what does that feel like? Doesn't the development of armaments objectively promote the development of science and technology? Qin Zhiyuan was quite curious, and he revisited Lloyd George's sore spots.

"That's a feeling that can make people despair, it's true that the development of armaments will promote the development of science and technology, but every step forward in science and technology means that the big guys who spent a lot of money to build before have become things that are behind the times, so in order to stay competitive, you can only start building bigger and stronger guys, and the saddest thing is that you thought you were building the largest and strongest warship in the world, but you haven't launched yet, and the overall performance is lagging behind again - really, life is better than death!" Lloyd George genuinely hated the arms race.

It is true that war is the primary driving force for the development of science and technology, but if it is developed in the context of military competition, it will indeed make people despair.

"You mean, we should attend this meeting, and then limit the development of the navies of various countries-" Qin Zhiyuan's expression was a little solemn, and he still asked Lloyd George for his opinion first.

Speaking from the heart, Qin Zhiyuan hopes to engage in an arms race with the British, but unlike the current battleships, Qin Zhiyuan hopes that the British will desperately produce battleships, and then Lan Fang will desperately produce aircraft carriers, and then one day, when George V and Qin Zhiyuan feel that this is not the way to go on, Britain and Lan Fang will have a big battle.

"That's right, I'm inclined to participate, we can agree on a ceiling that everyone can accept, and then play the game within the rules." Lloyd George had a good game.

Lloyd George meant that he was fighting for quality, not quantity, and whether it was in terms of naval ship technology or personnel quality, Lloyd George was confident that Britain would not lose to anyone.

Lan Fang is different, in Lloyd George's view, Lan Fang is a representative of people who are stupid and have a lot of money, if Lan Fang can't rely on the number of warships to gain an advantage, Lan Fang will always be severely suppressed by the British Navy.

"Cap! What is the upper limit you want? Qin Zhiyuan tested Lloyd George's bottom line.

"In principle, of course, the more the better, but considering the capacity of the United Kingdom, then I think 700,000 tons of capital ships is a normal number." Lloyd George was not polite, and the figure offered was much higher than the quota that Britain had received in its original history.

In its original history, Britain, like the United States, received a quota of 500,000 tons of capital ships in the Washington Naval Treaty, Japan with 300,000 tons, and France and Italy with 175,000 tons.

The British and the Japanese thought they were not enough, the French and Italians were shouting that they were not enough, but even before the outbreak of the Second World War, France and Italy had not used up their quotas.

In fact, it makes sense for Lloyd George to offer 700,000 tons, think about it, Britain now has a total of 23 battleships, basically all of which are more than 20,000 tons, and the largest "Hood" is 43,000 tons, only 500,000 tons for the British, which is really not enough.

Of course, if the Japanese quota is given to Lan Fang now, then Qin Zhiyuan will also not be able to use it up, in Qin Zhiyuan's plan, Lan Fang will have a total of six battleships, even if each is calculated according to 35,000 tons, it can only use up 210,000 tons.

"700,000 tons, this number is really amazing, then we want 600,000 tons." Qin Zhiyuan said casually, not noticing Lloyd George's pigliver-colored face.

"600,000 tons! Do you know what 600,000 tons is? Do you want to build a fleet of 20 battleships? I'm afraid you don't have enough people to manipulate them. Lloyd George's tone was a little sneering.

Speaking of the navy, the British are indeed qualified to ridicule anyone, of course, Qin Zhiyuan doesn't want 600,000 tons, this problem is to pay back the money at a sky-high price.

"So how much do you think Lan Fang should have?" Qin Zhiyuan didn't care, and still tested Lloyd George's bottom line.

"100,000 tons is enough, and 100,000 tons is a suitable number for your territory." Lloyd George was not ashamed.

It is indeed unashamed to say that the three battleships "Vladivostok", "France", and "Ningbei" that Lanfang now has have exceeded 100,000 tons, and this does not include the "Lanfang" that has been launched but has not yet been delivered.

If Lloyd George had suggested it, then Lan Fang now had more than he should have, and even the "Lan Fang" would have to be demolished, so that it would not exceed too much.

Qin Zhiyuan definitely didn't want to dismantle the "Lanfang", and he didn't argue with Lloyd George, but just smiled slightly and didn't say no.

"Really, Lan Fang doesn't need too many warships, if Lan Fang has too many warships, it will affect the peace in the region, make Lan Fang's neighbors have a sense of crisis, and then trigger a further arms race, which is what none of us want to see." Lloyd George was also bitter, desperately persuading Qin Zhiyuan to give up his 600,000-ton ambition.

"The arms race -- to be honest, I'm not afraid, if all the warships are worth $22 million like the Vladivostok, then I'll start with 20." Qin Zhiyuan is really wealthy.

Just like Qin Zhiyuan said, the "Vladivostok" was also known as the "Nagato" - the construction cost was about 44 million yen, which is equivalent to about 22 million US dollars.

Of course, this was before the war between Lanfang and Japan, and after the war between Lanfang and Japan, the yen had depreciated sharply, and now the exchange rate against the dollar is about ten to one.

Hearing Qin Zhiyuan's bold words, Lloyd George was finally dumbfounded, and only now did Lloyd George remember that Qin Zhiyuan is not only the king of Lanfang, but also one of the richest people in the world, and three or four hundred million US dollars can really be taken out for Qin Zhiyuan.

(To be continued.) )