As the sun sets, the Thames waves roll and reflect the brilliant light in the glorious afterglow.

In the Prime Minister's Mansion at 10 Downing Street, Sir Bannerman, who created the precedent of worshipping the Prime Minister as Chancellor of the Exchequer, was looking at the negotiation report sent back by Haldane with a solemn face. Next to him, the chancellors of the exchequer, Asquith and Fisher, who were dressed in formal suits, also had solemn faces; And the sharp-edged Fisher frowned at the same time, but also a little solemn color quietly spread in his eyes.

"The Germans demanded 80 per cent of the Royal Navy's dreadnoughts, the most unbelievable and hateful act of banditry I have ever seen in my life. How could this savage reptile, less than forty years old and with a filthy and foul-smelling stench all over its body, be on par with the Royal Navy, which had been the world's leader for three centuries? It's as ridiculous as a filthy beggar living in the sewers demanding the title of noble duke from the supreme king and the inheritance of the empire! ”

Fisher stared at the negotiation report in Bannerman's hand, and his words were full of undisguised contempt and hatred: "Look at the poor past of these German reptiles! Three years ago, they had only 10 battleships and 11 armored cruisers, ranking fifth in the world, and the Royal Navy could crush it several times with a quarter of its strength like a sharp knife splitting caviar. And now they want to get eighty percent of the number of dreadnoughts in the Royal Navy, which is like a mad dog to the whole British Empire of naked provocation and insult! ”

"And then, what are you going to do with our First Sea Lord, General Fisher? Is it a declaration of war on Germany to give your fleet a chance to annihilate the German navy in one fell swoop? "Seeing that Fisher has always had a hard time keeping his composure on this issue. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Asquith, was very unhappy with this kind of old man who was not of aristocratic origin and had no gentlemanly background at all. couldn't help but sarcastically remark him. "A few years ago. You had sold to His Majesty the King a plan to storm the German navy; Thankfully, our king has a vision that is wider and deeper than the magical starry sky, and has resolutely put an end to your adventures in war. Because of the strength of the German Army, we will have no allies to rely on in the event of a war with Germany at this time, and Britain will have to face a united German, Austrian, and Italian Triple Alliance! Even if Italy is unlikely to be involved in a war against Britain, we will face a dire situation in the North Sea, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. ”

Bannerman coughed, patted the coffee table in front of him with the page in his hand with a serious face, and said in a deep voice: "Please stop arguing. Now the important question is. How should we respond to this condition put forward by the Germans? As we had conceived, it was an irresponsible promise to encourage Germany to abandon the fleet; Now, however, the Germans seem to have seen through our scheme, and are resolutely unwilling to make concessions on the crucial question of the size of the fleet. Richard (Haldane) used all means to bring down the 10-to-9 share initially proposed by the Germans to the current 5-to-4; After that, the Germans refused to reduce this ratio even further, and did not hesitate to let the negotiations break down! What do you two think about this situation? ”

"The Germans must not be granted this condition." Under Bannerman's calm gaze, Fisher gradually calmed down the bitter hatred of the Germans in his heart, and his speech became softer; However, the will contained in his words is still as resolute and firm as ever. He took a deep breath and said, "If the government accepts this request of the Germans." This means that the German Navy will suddenly rise from a force of only a quarter of the total tonnage of the Royal Navy and the third largest in the world to a level comparable to that of the Royal Navy. This was emotionally and cognitively a reversal of the thinking of Britons for hundreds of years. Then the government and the military of Britain will be overwhelmed with unprecedented public anger and cries, and they will punish us as traitorous spies sent by the Germans! On this basis alone, it is impossible for us to accept the outrageous condition that the German fleet is equivalent to 80% of the Royal Navy, not to mention that the Royal Navy is still a glorious force that has been brewing for hundreds of years and has produced the never-give-up Nelson military soul! ”

Asquith said slowly: "As a member of Glorious Britain, I can fully understand your feelings at the moment. But now the situation is that the Germans have surpassed the Royal Navy in the number of dreadnoughts. While we can close the current gap by building ships faster than the Germans, we will not be able to gain the desired numerical superiority over the Germans in a no-treaty race, given the huge dreadnought base that the two countries have built up so far. If no agreement is reached with Germany, the Royal Navy will be in an embarrassing situation where it will hardly be able to close the numerical gap with the German Navy for a long time to come; Not only will we have to bear a heavy financial burden, but the final outcome will not necessarily be more favorable than the 5-to-4 treaty provisions! You must know that the speed of their shipbuilding has also reached 70% of ours, and there is no result in an arms race. ”

Fisher roared with a hint of vent: "I don't understand, how can these German beasts who deserve hell be able to maintain the construction rate of an average of 5 dreadnoughts a year?" ”

"Germany's economy is 115% of ours and its steel production is twice as high, so even though they have less than half the number of shipyards capable of building dreadnoughts, they are still able to use all the large slipways and maintain an average rate of five capital ships a year. While many of Britain's shipyards have the capacity to build dreadnoughts, the government clearly does not have the financial strength to keep them fully operational. Bannerman said lightly, but the words he said made Fisher's face pale and uncertain, "In addition, the German government issued a large loan to Japan at the end of the last century with a very high interest rate, and now Japan has begun to return this amount after the end of the war with Russia, which has also injected an extremely strong impetus into the German industrial machine. Britain had lent much more to Japan than the German one, but it was not the government that made the money, but the merchants and the financial oligarchs; As a result, the vast majority of the proceeds from these loans go to private accounts, and only a very small part of them go to the government as taxes. ”

As Bannerman's voice drifted away, the room fell silent once again with the sound of a falling pin.

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"Two gentlemen, I think Britain can accept this condition of the Germans." After a while, Asquith suddenly broke the dull depression and whispered.

Bannerman was silent when he heard this, but Fisher's face changed and he was angry: "Herbert, do you know what you are talking about?" How could the Royal Navy, which adhered to the standard of two powers, be able to conclude a treaty with the Germans that was almost indistinguishable in terms of strength and strength? If this treaty is signed, then I swear that my Admiralty building, the Prime Minister's Office, and your Chancellor's Mansion at 11 Downing Street next door will be surrounded and torn to pieces by countless angry nationals the next day, and we will no longer be able to keep our present position, and we will most likely be brought before the trial court as German spies! ”

Asquith's eyes flashed, and he said slowly: "First of all, we need to face up to the fact that if it is a normal shipbuilding competition, based on the current number of dreadnoughts and shipbuilding speed of both sides, even if it is a 5-4 advantage, we will need to spend a lot of money to do it." If this treaty had been signed, the Royal Navy would have been able to use this as a basis to force the Germans to halt their naval development, and then we would continue to build dreadnoughts at a relatively rapid pace, and to quickly reverse their numbers 'according to the treaty.'" In the years when the Royal Navy's capital ships had reached a quarter of the advantage over Germany, the situation in Europe had changed dramatically: Russia had come out of the shadow of defeat in the war with Japan and began to re-contain Germany's forces on land and sea; And France was also able to add additional strength to the Anglo-French Entente through the development of the army to rebuild dreadnoughts during this period! After the present dangerous period has passed, we will find a reason to abrogate this naval treaty with the Germans; Wouldn't it be more beneficial for us to restart the naval arms race from a new vantage point? ”

Bannerman's body shook, and two rays of light suddenly bloomed in his cloudy eyes. He nodded slowly and said, "Not bad." Regardless of whether our attitude toward Germany ends up being war or peace, it would be great if we could take this opportunity to shake off the pressure of the arms race and rebuild our numerical superiority over the German navy in a relatively relaxed manner. In this case, however, we would need to change the current propaganda atmosphere and shift the indignant hostility towards Germany to a tone of understanding of coexistence, so as to create a sufficiently strong air of conciliation with Germany to determine the question between us and Germany about the number of capital ships of the two navies. ”

"Dear John, a temporary concession is not to give up, but to be able to win more effectively in the struggle ahead. This time, we have only paid a difficult propaganda campaign to the people, but we have saved tens of millions of pounds in spending, and have enabled Britain to devote itself to the struggle ahead with greater poise. Looking at Fisher, who was unwilling, Bannerman patted him lightly on the shoulder and said, "For the sake of the Royal Navy, for the glory of Britain to shine forever, please let us put aside the resentment in our hearts for a while; In a few years, the glorious era of the Royal Navy will come once and for all! (To be continued......)