Black clouds hung low, covering the entire night sky in layers, and in a beautifully decorated apartment in the Imperial Palace, the fireplace was blazing and the carpet was flattened. A handsome young man sat on a soft and comfortable sofa, looking forward to it and being amazed. Gorgeous pendants, exquisite cabinets, a variety of treasures, precious paintings...... All of them surprised him and moved his heart.

Since becoming the prince of this country, Qingying's status has almost improved like a pheasant to a phoenix, and this magnificent palace was specially built by William with royal funds for him, the new prince. Its vertical and horizontal spaciousness, extravagant decoration, and atmospheric layout almost all belong to the same level as the side hall of the Catherine Palace of Mao State; Compared with Qingying's previous bedroom study and a cottage that is less than 40 square meters similar to an apartment, it is undoubtedly the difference between a nail house and a villa. Now the blanket that lay on the floor of the study under his feet is of the finest color imported from Persia, with delicate patterns and soft textures; Its cost of 100,000 marks made Qingying, who had experienced the Amber Palace, tremble.

Just as Qingying was half distressed and half happy appreciation, with a creaky door, a middle-aged man with a beard better than Santa Claus pushed open the door and walked in from the living room outside. He was wearing a crisp rear admiral's uniform, carrying black documents, but dragging a pair of woolen cloth slippers at his feet, looking quite nondescript. What puzzled Qingying was that Tirpitz's face was gloomy, like frost, and there was anger in his eyebrows and eyes that could not be concealed, as if the whole world owed him money.

In the past two years since she traveled to this era, Qingying has rarely seen Tirpitz show such an expression. In the past, he has always given Qingying the impression of being calm and sophisticated, cautious and shrewd. Seeing this scene, Qingying couldn't help but be a little stunned, and said, "Mr. Alfred, what's wrong with you?" Aren't you still talking and laughing with your father this morning? ”

Tirpitz walked up to the coffee table, threw the briefcase in his hand on the sofa with some annoyance, and said in an urn voice: "This thing that I hate so much happened just three hours ago. Your Highness, do you remember the naval law that I began to plan and draft in June this year? ”

Qing Ying nodded when she heard this, there is no reason why he, the German Stick Navy Controller, should not know about such a big matter.

Historically, the German people lacked confidence in their own navy and did not believe that it could develop abroad by relying on the strength of the navy; Although the domestic industry is strong enough, it has always been less interested in the development of the navy. It was not until the German occupation of Jiaozhou Bay in 1897 and the occurrence of concession negotiations that Germany relied on its navy to take advantage of foreign affairs, and the domestic naval fever began to rise. Tirpitz took advantage of this trend and proposed the first naval law in German history in November of that year, which was immediately implemented in April of the following year.

In this plane, however, the situation has changed dramatically. Due to the outstanding performance of the Brandenburg in the Battle of the Great Eastern Trench, the naval fever in Germany has been like a spark. In addition, the breakthrough and leap in the design technology of German warships have made the German decision-makers full of confidence in their own naval vessels. The desire for a naval fleet and the appeal to overseas colonies made Wilhelm no longer satisfied with the German navy, which was at the bottom of the second echelon. On the orders of the Kaiser, Tirpitz began a systematic development plan for the German Navy in June 1895; And the way he came up with was to directly determine the amount of ships built by the Navy each year through legislation, bypassing the competition with the members of Congress. The so-called naval law first stipulates the scale of the target to be achieved by a navy; This is then refined, assigning tasks that need to be completed each year, and then doing so until the goal is finally achieved.

What the? You say that the naval law caused the Anglo-German naval contest and was the most crucial factor in undermining the good relations between Britain and Germany? In fact, this statement is actually not rigorous, and it is completely taken out of context. In another parallel universe, Germany passed two naval laws: the first in April 1898 and the second in February 1900. The reason for the Anglo-German naval contest was the promulgation of the second naval law, which was not the implementation of the first naval law at all.

Tirpitz's first naval law, introduced in 1898, planned only a fleet of 19 battleships for the German navy. Although this may seem like a lot, you can't just focus on the Germans, but also look at how many guys there are in the British across the Channel. By the end of 1898, the Royal Navy had nearly 50 capital ships in active service, with another 12 under construction; And even if the German Navy completed the first naval law after the established time of 6 years, the number of battleships was only 19! Under these conditions, it was impossible for the British to start a naval arms race with Germany, because the Germans were simply not qualified in number!

Anglo-German relations really began to deteriorate almost two years later, in 1900. As Germany's national power grew by leaps and bounds, Tirpitz's ambitions began to swell rapidly, and it was at this moment that a theory called the "Fleet of Risks" came into his eyes. The core of this theory is to allow the weak navy to be further expanded on the original foundation, until the most powerful navy in the world does not dare to go to war with it easily, otherwise there is a huge risk of losing its own maritime superiority over other countries. Tirpitz believed that if the German navy could develop to a point where it was not much worse than the British navy, then Britain would not dare to become an enemy of Germany out of fear of the risk of German war; In this case, Britain would have no choice but to join forces with Germany against the Franco-Russian alliance. Based on this idea, Tirpitz introduced a second naval law in February of the following year, doubling the size of the previously prescribed fleet of the German Navy, and the projected number of battleships soared to 38. In his opinion, a high seas fleet of this size is enough to meet the indicators of a risky fleet and act as a sufficient deterrent to the Royal Navy.

However, Tirpitz's wishful thinking fell through. The Royal Navy has never been the master of cowardice, and Admiral Horatio Nelson's heroic and decisive spirit in the Battle of Trafalgar has endured nearly 100 years of vicissitudes and is still immortalized in the British Empire's proud Royal Navy. In the face of the provocation of the German High Seas Fleet, Britain chose the most aggressive and fierce means, even if it emptied its own treasury, to defend the supreme majesty of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. For a time, the fires on both sides of the strait roared, liquid steel poured down, and a vigorous shipbuilding competition that lasted for 15 years kicked off.

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Just as he was thinking about some old things about the German Navy in history, he heard Tirpitz clear his throat and speak in the voice characteristic of his middle-aged man:

"At present, there are still 13 decrepit capital ships built in the era of Wilhelm in the combat sequence of the German Navy. They have generally been in service for more than 20 years, and there is no place for them in the current European theater. Therefore, I am ready to take the opportunity of this naval law to modernize the Imperial Navy, and replace these 13 old ships with new battleships one by one within seven years. If this plan is successfully implemented, then our German Navy will become a striking force with 18 new battleships; In the Atlantic and Baltic theaters, the German Navy had superior forces against France and Russia. Tirpitz was afraid that the young man in front of him lacked understanding of the current lineup of the German Navy, so he briefly introduced it to Qingying.

Many people lack understanding of the German Navy in the era of ironclad ships, and only think that it is not worth mentioning on the basis of emotion; In fact, the German Navy of this period was not as unbearable as later generations imagined, although it was not as good as Britain and France, but there were still some stocks. They include the "Friedrich Karl" (6,822 tons) commissioned in 1867, the "Kalouprinz" (6,197 tons) completed in 1867, the "King Wilhelm" (10,691 tons) commissioned in 1869, the "Lufthansa" completed in 1875 (4,334 tons), two "Prussian" class (7,596 tons) commissioned in 1876-1877, two "Caesar" class (8,799 tons) completed in 1875, 1878— Four ships of the Saxony-class (7,677 tons) commissioned in 1883 and one of the Oldenburg-class (5,652 tons), completed in 1886. According to the statistics made by the powerful old BB steam armored ships, in the mid-80s of the 19th century, the strength of the German navy had surpassed that of Russia and Italy, and with a total fleet tonnage of 162,000 tons, it was the third in the world, second only to Britain and France. Of course, the gap between Germany's third place in the world and the second first place is still a bit large: the total tonnage of the French Navy is 321,000 tons, while the total tonnage of the British Navy is 453,000 tons, which is almost twice and three times that of the German Navy, respectively.

In the years that followed, these warships did play their due value, and won the German Navy the third place in the world in the halo and honor; However, at the end of the 19th century, when naval skills were rapidly evolving, these warships were reduced to the last and could no longer be used in European naval warfare. Some of these old warships, even sold to countries like Greece and Serbia, are not necessarily eye-catching. In this case, replacing these old ships is indeed the right decision. However, in Qingying's view, Tirpitz's plan still has some elements of quick success. Although the four Saxony-class ships have been in service for 12-17 years, they are in good condition and can run at speeds of 13 knots; Even if you can't just face it, you can still be good at performing second-line tasks such as patrol guard and shore support. Less than 10 years after its completion, the Oldenburg is also worth keeping.

It was easy to listen to Tirpitz introduce the German Navy's belongings in the era of ironclads, Qingying glanced at him and said with some doubts: "Mr. Alfred, it's a good thing to replace the old ship, I still haven't figured out what happened?" ”