Hearing Esen's words, Qingying shook his head slightly and said, "General Esen, it seems that you shouldn't be looking for me on this issue." I am neither the sovereign of the German Empire, nor the head of the Admiralty, nor do I have any power in my hands; Even if I agree to your request, it will not count in the presence of His Majesty the Kaiser and General Tirpitz. All I can do is make some suggestions from a personal point of view about the warships that your country is about to build. Now that I, the German Admiralty of the Admiralty, Tirpitz, am in Kiel, less than ten kilometres from here, shall I go and bring him in for further consultation?" ”

Essen sat down and said in words that were half flattering and half encouraging: "Your Highness, though at the moment you are idle, has a very high position in the heart of His Majesty the Kaiser; If His Highness can agree, then His Majesty the Kaiser will hardly be able to veto. After the deed is completed, our Russia should pay the corresponding technical transfer fee; And the little eldest princess is happy, and this time she will definitely stay in your country for a long time. ”

Qingying shook her head with a smile, and then her expression gradually turned solemn, and said, "Since the general mentioned Sanya, then for her sake, I will tell the general the truth." The performance of the warships built by our Germany can surpass Britain and France and become the strongest in the world under the same tonnage? In addition to the fact that Germany has more advanced methods than them, which can greatly reduce the weight of the hull structure while ensuring that the strength meets the combat needs, in terms of armor, power and other subsystems of the warship, our technology is also at the top of the world or even second to none, and its comprehensive strength is far superior to that of other powers! ”

"Although the country in the East is declining and declining, their ancestors have a wise saying: 'The important weapon of the country cannot be revealed'. According to my original idea in Germany, a strict technical blockade was imposed in these areas, and no one was allowed to leave the country. However, since Krupp Munitions was a private enterprise, the German constitution was powerless to prevent them from listing their patents for Krupp's hardened armor for sale; Therefore, all that Germany has left in the naval field is the ability to design warships. If it were your country, would you put this technique on the shelves as a sale? Qingying glanced at Essen, whose face changed slightly, and continued, "In addition, I don't lack the money that can be made by promoting the technique at all. The United States has given me a huge $1.5 billion low-interest loan from Germany, and the officials of the Ministry of the Interior are now worrying all day long about where to build the project so that they can spend so much money. ”

Essen's face was slightly ugly and said, "In other words, your country is not ready to transfer the ship-building technology to my country?" Qingying spread her hands and looked apologetic, but replied in an unquestioning tone: "That's true." If your country wants to order warships in our Germany, we will naturally do our best to welcome them and guarantee that your country will come and return satisfied; But if your country wants to acquire shipbuilding skills from Germany, then I can only say sorry with regret. This is the core area in which Germany relies to build advanced warships, and no country can set foot in it. Looking at Essen's face that had become depressed, Qingying sneered in her heart, Sao Nian, you think too much!

Historically, although the Russian Navy suffered a heavy setback in the Russo-Japanese War and then collapsed, this was the case for the entire Russian Navy; In terms of the micro lineup, Mao Zijun still has some family background. From 1905 to 1914, Mao Zi built two more 17,400-ton Pavel I-class super dreadnoughts and four 23,400-ton Gangut-class dreadnoughts in the Baltic Sea; Although these ships were not comparable to the German High Seas Fleet, the Russian warships cowering in the Gulf of Finland were always a potential scourge for the High Seas Fleet, which was always ready to engage the British Grand Fleet. If Qingying now transfers the ship-building skills to Mao Zi, and asks Mao Zi to renovate all the 128,000 tons of these six ships, so as to make the combat effectiveness of these warships stronger, wouldn't it be lifting a stone to shoot himself in the foot?

Esen's lips twitched, and after a long pause, he retorted, "But the technical barriers between countries are not as serious as His Highness said. At the same time that Russia ordered warships from France and the United States, both countries expressed their willingness to transfer to us a complete set of drawings and know-how for the construction of warships for Russia. Last year, your country also provided Austria-Hungary with a complete set of design drawings for battleships, and now Austria-Hungary has started construction of the class of battleships called 'Habsburg', which is completely your country's design. In that case, why can't your country transfer its technology to Russia? ”

"Yes, the Austro-Hungarian-class battleships are indeed the brainchild of German designers. However, I need to clarify that Germany only provided them with the general design drawings of this class of battleships, and let the two military industries of Krupp and Skoda jointly develop the 305 mm L40 main gun equipped with the ship, and all other details were completed by Austria-Hungary independently, and there is nothing to do with our Germany. Moreover, the general should know that the standing displacement of this class of battleships is only 10,650 tons, which belongs to the category of small battleships, and its combat effectiveness will not be very high. Speaking of this, Qingying glanced at Essen and said lightly, "Austria-Hungary is the strongest ally that has signed an offensive and defensive alliance with our Germany, and our Germany has only achieved this step. ”

Looking at the non-negotiable look on the young man's face, Essen couldn't help but sigh in his heart. In fact, before he came to Germany, he had expected that the Germans would cherish this situation with a broomstick, so when he saw Qingying at the dock, he couldn't wait to ask to meet Qingying, in order to start with this soft persimmon to open up the situation. However, the result was very unsatisfactory, and the boy refused his proposal without hesitation!

Seeing Qingying's tough attitude, Essen estimated that it would be difficult to bargain from the Germans, so he could only lower his requirements according to the meaning of St. Petersburg: "Since your country is unwilling to transfer the best technology to my Russia, is it feasible to do the next one?" For example, with the same three elements, how about increasing the displacement of the battleship by 5%? Your Highness, don't look at me like that, if 5% is too little, then how about 7%? Well, well, 9% at most, 9% is the limit. For example, if your country can achieve this design with 14,000 tons, then give me a ...... A version of 15260 tons, this shouldn't be too much, right? ”

Qingying said slowly: "General Essen, I really didn't understand why your country insisted on building battleships on its own. It must be known that in the current era, the fastest and most effective way to expand the navy is to directly purchase warships from abroad, and those naval countries that have no shipbuilding background but can dominate a domain abound! At that time, the Qing State could only build a 2,000-ton coastal defense ship, but it bought an invincible Dragon flagship in East Asia; And Argentina and Chile in South America do not have any shipbuilding industries, and now they still dominate the eastern and western regions of Cape Horn, respectively? The most obvious example is Japan, which can only build warships of less than 4,000 tons at most, but the Japanese fleet can still surpass Austria-Hungary and Italy and become the sixth most powerful navy in the world! And for your country, it is also much more advantageous to order warships directly from our Germany than to build them yourself. ”

"With all due respect, although your country is one of the six great powers of the world, the national strength that your country is proud of is all piled up by a huge population base and those gray cattle; In the field of industrial science and technology, it seems that your country still has great potential for development. Due to the unsatisfactory level of industry in your country, the construction period of warships will be very long: the construction period of your Petropavlovsk-class battleships is as long as 7 years, and the construction period of 2 Perisvet-class battleships started in 1895 is 4 and a half years, and to this day it is still far from completion. As long as your country chooses to order warships from our country, then I can guarantee here that if the construction is not completed and delivered after three years after the start of construction, our German shipyard will refund all the costs paid by your country in full! What does the time gap of 3 to 4 years mean in the middle, I don't think I, a layman, need to say anything more in front of you, General Essen, a professional! Qingying glanced at Essen.

Essen fell silent. As the teenager said, if Russia wants to build its own battleships, then the cyclical problem is definitely an unavoidable flaw; A full 7-year period of discontinuity was enough for the enemy to act unscrupulously during this period. If you choose to purchase outside, the warships can form combat effectiveness four years in advance, which is not only a huge deterrent to the enemy on the battlefield, forcing the other side not to dare to act rashly, but also adding an extremely heavy weight to the government's foreign negotiations. The previous three Petropavlovsk ships were delayed for too long, so that the Russian Far East Fleet was in a passive situation during the three or four years from 1896 to 1899, which should have an advantage; The progress of the 2 Perrythwaite-class ships is even more embarrassing, obviously the ships started in 1895, but now the completion progress of the 5 capital ships that the Germans only laid the keel in the middle of 1898 is faster than them!

However, Russia, as one of the six major powers in the world, is a giant bear steamroller that terrifies the world; If a country like Japan were to rely on imports for its navy, not only would its international reputation be damaged, but even the lifeblood of its navy would be in other hands. Such a situation is absolutely unacceptable for a large country!

"It seems that I need to ask the government for advice......

Esen sighed softly in his heart and said, "Your Highness, I will carefully consider what you mean." Let's talk about this today, don't let the little eldest princess wait. ”