Hearing the Chancellor of the Exchequer pop out of this, somehow, the Admiralty's Admiralty, who was still indignant just now, suddenly froze in place as if he had been immobilized; His body began to tremble slightly, and beads of sweat began to ooze from his forehead. Nikolai shook his head and said, "You are in charge of this piece, Earl, I don't know what to do." ”

"Alright, I'll tell Your Majesty now. The average purchase price of a single ship of the 11,354-ton Petropavlovsk-class battleship by the Admiralty is 9,225,300 rubles, which is equivalent to 1,098,000 pounds, while the average price of the 12,683-ton Perisvet-class second-class battleship is 10,540,000 rubles, which is equivalent to 1,255,000 pounds! Werther exclaimed.

Nikolai wondered, "My Count, is there something wrong with this?" ”

"Your Majesty, this price is already ridiculously high! Even if Russia's industrial capacity lags behind that of Britain and Germany, and the price of the industrial products it produces is high, the cost of its own battleships cannot be so expensive. This time, the Admiralty submitted the 13,500-ton Prince-type battleship, and the estimated purchase price of a single ship has reached 1.45 million pounds, which is simply an insult to my IQ! If we don't eradicate those greedy vampires in the arms procurement process, then our Ministry of Finance would rather not build a single battleship and choose to order all from abroad! Witt said angrily.

Nikolai's eyes narrowed slightly, and a fierce light flashed in his blue pupils. His eyes were like knives, staring straight at the Admiralty in front of him, and he spoke in a tone without any emotion: "Admiral Havelan, can you tell me what Count Witte is talking about?" ”

Havelan's forehead was covered with sweat, and he stammered, "Your Majesty...... Your Majesty, it's like this, that...... How much does it cost...... Oh yes! Since the power subsystem in this design has to be purchased from France, and many of the equipment is also different from the existing system in Russia, the price will inevitably be affected. I also ...... before I didn't notice that now it seems that the unit price of £1.45 million does seem to be high...... That's a little higher. ”

Nikolai stared at Havelan for a long time, then turned to Witt and said, "My Count, what do you think is the right price?" Werther's lips twitched, and he said, "If the three major shipyards can really get ...... 1,300,000 pounds, then they will do their best to build for our Russian navy. ”

"Good." Nikolai turned his gaze back to the Lord of the Admiralty and said lightly, "Admiral Havelan, you heard the number. If the final cost from Count Witte is half a rouble more, please get out of the position of Lord of the Admiralty immediately, do you understand? Havelan's whole body trembled like chaff, and when he heard the words, he nodded like pounding garlic: "Your Majesty, don't worry, I'...... I will definitely dig out those moths in the arms procurement process and reduce the price of warships to a minimum. ”

Hearing this, Nikolai snorted coldly, and the hatred in his voice could not be concealed, and Havelan sat down in silence, wiping the sweat droplets from his forehead over and over again from his handkerchief. Nikolai glanced at the two guys under his command and said angrily: "So now, what do you think about the development of my Russian Navy?" Do you buy advanced ships from the Germans, or do you still insist on building them in-house and using the techniques of the French to make improvements on the Prince? ”

Witt glanced at the Admiral, who lowered his head and lowered his eyebrows like a frightened pigeon, and estimated that this guy would not even let out a fart, so he had to speak himself: "Your Majesty, self-built warships must not be abolished. Even if the performance of the ships we build is relatively backward, we must insist on building them independently, which is an independent national defense technology that a big country must have. However, the German warships were more performant, and their construction period was shorter, which greatly benefited the actions of our Russian Navy in the Far East. Therefore, I think that we can divide the budget of the previous 5 battleships into two parts, one for self-construction and the other for the purchase of German battleships. ”

After such a fuss from Werther, Nikolai was in a very bad mood, and he was not in the mood to discuss it carefully; Moreover, the strategy given by Witt is also quite feasible, so he couldn't help but nod and say, "Then let's do it." I intend to let the Galierny Island Shipyard, the New Naval Shipyard and the Baltic Shipyard each undertake the construction of one battleship of the Prince-type type, so as to be familiar with the technology and accumulate experience; The budget for the remaining two ships was given to the German shipyards, which allowed them to build better warships. He glanced sideways at the Admiralty and said, "What do you think, Havelan?" ”

"Your Majesty, this is really a wise decision." Although Avilan's heart was very painful, how dare he have any objections at this juncture, and he hurriedly agreed.

Nikolai waved his hand tiredly and gave the two of them an eviction order; Witt and Havelan stood up, saluted Nikolai, and then turned and walked out of the palace.

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Blue sky and snow fields, white tower bell tower. Werther walked slowly along the smooth and open square avenue when he suddenly heard the sound of hurried leather shoes touching the stone slabs behind him. He turned his head, and saw the Admiralty Havelan hurrying down the stairs, and then stood still in front of him, with an expression on his face that did not know whether he was sad or happy, hated or angry. Witt said lightly: "General Avilan, do you have something to tell me?" ”

Havelan looked at Werther's slightly fat face, and his heart was mixed, and after a while, he finally whispered: "Count Werther, at that most critical juncture...... Thank you for your mercy. ”

Witt snorted and said, "General Havelan, I have never been an unreasonable person. The previous 3 Petropavlovsk-class and 3 Perisvet-class were directly quoted by your Navy, did I say anything? This time, it's really your navy that has gone too far! He glanced around, then continued, "Don't think I don't know anything about this. The labor cost of the Germans is almost 4 times that of ours, but the average price of their 13,600-ton battleship is only 1.03 million pounds, and you, just with a big mouth, this 13,500-ton ship dares to offer 1.45 million pounds! ”

Havelan opened his mouth, but eventually closed it.

"If it is in peacetime, and the Empire is financially abundant, then I will not have any problem with you doing this; And yet, my Minister of the Admiralty, the Russian Empire is now at the height of its armament build-up! It costs money to build the Trans-Siberian Railway, to spend money on the army and navy of the Far East, to build port fortifications, to hoard supplies and ammunition, and there is no place where you don't need money! Do you think I'm so good as Chancellor of the Exchequer? Witt gave Havelan a cold look and said, "Go back and tell your men the moths who only make money, and let them be honest with me until the war with Japan is over; If I run out of money in my pocket, I'll be the first to cut them! ”

After Witt finished speaking, he turned and brushed his sleeves away. Looking at Werther's figure gradually moving away, Avilan's face was cloudy, and after a while, he spat fiercely and said hatefully: "What, you are qualified to teach me a lesson!" The outcome of this war, which has not yet broken out, has been predestined from the very beginning, and only the possibility of victory for my glorious Russia! Is it possible for those yellow-skinned monkeys to turn over any storms? ”