Qingying bowed slightly, and said softly: "Father, I have never rejected the second naval law proposed by Admiral Alfred. This plan covers a wide range of aspects, including recruitment, training, training, exercises, training, weapons research and development, and other aspects. I didn't have any opinion on any of this, so I just asked the Navy to submit it to Congress, and then it was promulgated and implemented. There is only one point that I and General Alfred have different ideas about the size of the fleet provided for in the Act. In his plan, the German Navy was to build a super-powerful fleet of 38 battleships and 24 cruisers; If only that's it, but he stipulated that the completion time of this plan is only a short 8 years! At this time, all of our old Saxony-class ironclads will be retired the year after tomorrow, which means that during this time, an average of 3.5 new battleships will be built every year, which is too fast! Qingying shook his head slightly, with a hint of determination on his face, and said, "General Alfred's plan has exceeded the current needs of the empire for the navy, and I must revise this." ”

"Is it fast to start construction of 7 capital ships every two years? In less than four years from 1899 to the present day, the British built a total of 15 battleships with 5 London, 6 Duncan and 4 Edward VII, not counting the large armored cruisers they built to counter the French raiders. In comparison, our speed is already very slow! ”

William snorted from his nostrils and said with displeasure: "Many years ago, I was ready to start vigorously promoting the development of the German Navy to the blue water, but you guys told me that Germany's comprehensive national strength is not as good as that of the United Kingdom, and the canal that runs through the North Sea to the Baltic Sea needs to be re-widened, so I have suspended the development process of the Navy." For the sake of Kaiser Wilhelm's canal, I agree with your opinion of forbearance for the time being. But today, why do you still hold such a conservative view? ”

Wilhelm said: "Seven years ago, the situation in Europe was really not optimistic for me in Germany. At that time, the Franco-Russian alliance had just been formed, and our Germany was threatened by land in both the east and the west; Even if we unite Austria-Hungary to the south, we can hardly guarantee victory in the land war against Russia and France. Britain, on the other hand, adheres to a policy of glorious isolation, and its attitude towards the outside world is ambiguous; At this point in time, it is indeed inappropriate for us to vigorously develop the navy, lest we end up in a situation in which the army is weakened but angered by Britain. Well, it was you who shot the bullseye right in the air, and I made the right decision to listen to you. Today, however, the situation has changed dramatically. ”

"The already bad relations between Britain and France have deteriorated even more since the Fashoda incident, and the large number of high-speed ocean-going patrols built by the French in recent years for breaking diplomatic relations have directly shown their weapons in the most vital parts of Britain. Now that England and France regard each other as enemies, the pressure on us has diminished, and the same is true in the east! If Russia in 1895 had only just set its sights on the Far East, today Russia has turned all its attention to colonial Yellow Russia. Therefore, this is the time when the pressure on our German land is the least, and if we do not take advantage of this opportunity to develop our navy, then when? William glanced at Qingying and said with a slight reproach, "There is still half a year, you will be 20 years old, why can't you even understand such a simple thing?" ”

To William's surprise, after his words came out, the young man in front of him shook his head slightly. There was a hint of bitterness on his face, and he said, "Father, it's not like this. On the surface, the situation facing our Germany is indeed much better than that of seven years ago, with Russia advancing eastward and Britain and France at loggerheads; In reality, however, the environment in Europe is becoming more and more severe by the day. ”

"For what?" William was puzzled.

Qingying said slowly: "Many years ago, a sage in the Far East once said that a person is not wrong in itself, but having Biyu is his greatest sin. Unfortunately, we in Germany happen to have one of the most precious jewels in the world, and that is our pride in Europe's industry and economy. ”

"Britain has always pursued a strategy of restraint and equilibrium on the European continent. The British clearly know that if the situation on the European continent is unbalanced and a super country that can sweep everything appears, then they will not only lose the hegemony of the world, but even the sea power can no longer be controlled by them! Napoleon's uncle and nephew at that time were dealt with by Britain because they destroyed the balance of power and quantity on the road of Europe. Today, the countries that have upset the balance of power on the European continent have become the German Empire under the command of the Hohenzollern dynasty. ”

Qingying looked at William's eyes and said in a solemn tone: "Seven years ago, we only surpassed the British in the total amount of heavy industry related to the war, and this data was largely based on steel production; In terms of light industry and economic aggregate, we still have a large gap with the British, and the per capita level of industrialization is far inferior. For the British, although Germany posed a certain threat to them at that time, this threat was far from reaching the point of subverting their hegemony in the world. But today, we not only produce nearly 60% more heavy industry than Britain, but we have also caught up with Britain in light industry, and our fiscal income is a quarter higher than that of the British! Father should know what this means, right? ”

William was silent for a long time, and then spoke softly: "For the British, France can only cause trouble for them, and I, Germany, are the most potential threat. In the past seven years, with the continuous and rapid development of the empire, especially after the loan from the United States was injected into Germany, the rapid development of the empire can almost be said to be a thousand miles a day, which will definitely make Britain sleepless and restless. France, whose industry was weaker than that of England, was even more fearful of our Germany because it was about to face the Imperial Empire directly. Therefore, though they are at present too busy with their own business to care about our Germany; However, as soon as the empire began to fight for the sea and land under the sun, Britain and France, driven by fear, would inevitably put aside their immediate quarrels and eliminate our greatest threat from Central Europe. ”

"My father was wise, and he saw the key points at a glance." Hearing William's analysis of this situation, Qingying was very relieved, it seems that the preventive injection he gave him before has not failed; If William could keep this in mind, many problems would be much easier. "This is the reason why I vetoed the regulations on the composition of the fleet in the Naval Law. If we make a big deal about this naval expansion plan with 38 battleships and face up to Britain's maritime supremacy, then I can almost assert that in the next three years, Britain and France will inevitably reach an understanding on the African colonial issue, and then prepare to deal with Germany with all their might! This was the only option they could make in order not to be destroyed by our Germany. ”

William nodded slowly. After a while, his eyes suddenly froze, as if he thought of something, and said, "No. According to what you said, Germany is strong enough to threaten Britain's hegemony in the world, so in the next war between us and the French, Britain will inevitably stand on the side of France in order to prevent the European continent from being dominated by Germany and losing its hegemony. That's right, right? Qingying nodded and said, "That's right." In the next war, there is no doubt that these two centuries-old feuds between England and France will unite against us. William said: "In that case, then why should we abandon the implementation of the Navy Law?" Even if they do not unite today, they will stand together against our Germany at the time of war! And if we do this, not only will we not be able to change the situation of the union of Britain and France, but will make our naval strength insufficient in time of war. ”

Qingying said: "Father, potential enemies may challenge us, and potential enemies have turned to the foreground and are challenging us, these are two completely different concepts!" If they can fight each other for a few more years, then we will have an additional period of stress-free development, which will definitely be beneficial for us in Germany. We need to buy every time we can to strengthen the German national power before the outbreak of the war. As for the lack of naval strength, has my father forgotten about our decisive battle type cruisers and all-heavy artillery battleships? With these 2 things, the number of battleships can be completely reduced slightly, so that the Ministry of Finance will give priority to ensuring the needs of the army. ”

"And in your opinion, how many ships should the German Navy build?" William asked.

"The Reich must prioritize the needs of the Army. Because Germany is a continental country, if the navy loses in the war, it will have no effect on me, Germany; However, if the army collapsed, the German Empire would fall apart like Napoleon's crusade! Qingying glanced at William and said, "Therefore, the development of the navy must not be at the expense of squeezing the army's military spending, and the development plan of 38 battleships proposed by General Alfred obviously affects the development of the army." As for the number of warships, it is not possible to estimate the cost of the new all-heavy gun, as the design of the new all-heavy gun has not yet been finalized. But next year, I'm sure I'll come up with a balanced development plan for all parties! ”

Thank you for the evaluation vote of Donald Duck's father~~~