"Sir Watts, you are the most distinguished designer of the Armstrong shipyard. (William White has already gone to the Admiralty) You must be able to design an advanced warship for the Japanese Navy, can't you? Aoki Shuzo asked eagerly.

"I would like to know what kind of warships the Imperial Japanese Navy plans to buy." Watts asked.

"I don't know, can your 4,250-ton second-class dome cruiser fight against the newly customized battleship of the Qing Kingdom?" Shuzo Aoki asked. Although deep down, he didn't have much hope for it.

"The new warships of the Italians have a displacement of 5,000 tons. The Italians had a great advantage in the performance of a single ship. Unless you can buy more than the Qing people. Otherwise there is no hope. Watts replied unceremoniously. However, Japan could have done it in a different way, for example, by purchasing a first-class cruiser. ”

"Buy a cruiser of the first rank? DO YOU MEAN WARSHIPS LIKE BLAKE OR ORLONDO? Aoki Shuzo's eyes lit up and asked, Watts is right, since the other party has achieved the ultimate in the field of second-class cruisers, which Japanese empire can completely buy first-class cruisers to suppress it, but this money is a problem!!

"I'm just a builder, because of the tonnage advantage, a first-class cruiser can have far more weapons and protection than a second-class cruiser, just like a cat can't fight a lion no matter how powerful it is. Of course, in terms of price, it may be slightly higher. Watts said.

"I wonder if Sir Watts has a suitable ship for my Japanese Empire?" Aoki Shuzo couldn't help frowning when he heard the other party talk about the price, but the good Su zhì still made the diplomat return to normal.

"I wonder if Mr. Ambassador has heard of a new protective cruiser that the British Empire started last year?" Watts said with interest that the feeling of being begged was still very useful to him. Enjoying this feeling of being on top and making a lot of pounds for the shipyard, why not? So, Watts decided to hang the appetite of the Japanese diplomat first.

"Did you mean the Edgar-class first-class protective cruisers?" Shuzo Aoki said tentatively.

"Well, yes, that's it." Watts nodded. "The displacement is 7350 tons, the hull dimensions are 118 meters long, 18.29 meters wide, and the draft is 7.24 meters. It has an output of 12,000 horsepower and a maximum speed of 20 knots. The coal load is 1250 tons, the horizontal part of the dome armor is 3 inches, the inclined part is 5 inches, the thickness of the main gun cover is 3 inches, and the auxiliary gun gallery is 7 inches. The conning tower is 12 inches. In terms of armament, the main guns were 2 9.2-inch breech guns, the secondary guns were 10 6-inch guns, 12 6-pounder guns, 5 3-pounder guns, and 4 18-inch torpedo tubes. This battleship will be far superior in all respects to the 5000-ton cruisers built by the Italians for the Beiyang. With that, Watts handed a more detailed document to Shuzo Aoki.

"Very good ship, sir, for the price?" Shuzo Aoki looked at the information and asked.

"£550,000." Watts said.

"Sss Aoki Shuzo couldn't help but gasp.

"550,000 pounds is already very cheap, you are buying a 7,350-ton first-class cruiser, with a displacement comparable to that of Dingzhen in the Qing Dynasty, but the firepower projection per unit time is much higher than that of Dingzhen, and it has a high speed of 20 knots. What else are you not satisfied with? The price is already low. There is little room for price reduction. Looking at Aoki Shuzo's expression, Watts said unhappily. If Xu Jie was here, he would definitely be unable to help but despise Watts, the lowest cost of the Edgar-class cruiser was only 380,000 pounds, and the highest was only about 430,000 pounds, and Watts actually asked for 550,000 pounds, which was really a lion's mouth.

"Sir, can you build on the original second-class cruiser (which later became Yoshino)?" Aoki Shuzo said with an embarrassed face.

"This, I'm afraid, is very difficult. Tell me about your requirements. Watts was also a little upset when he heard that the Japanese were not interested in the battleship he had recommended. …,

"The nose and tail main guns were replaced with 8-inch 40L guns. Part of the guns on the side of the ship were replaced with 6 inches. Shuzo Aoki said.

"Just kidding, how is this possible? Do you know how big the weight difference is between 8-inch guns and 6-inch guns? The weight of the near gun barrel is more than 3 times worse, which requires the modification of the counterweight of the entire battleship. Watts said angrily.

"Other properties can be appropriately reduced." Shuzo Aoki said.

"The two 6-inch guns arranged on the side chord had to be replaced with 4.7-inch guns to save weight." Watts thought for a moment and said.

"I will convey your meaning to our navy." Aoki Shuzo said humbly.

"I wonder if Mr. Watts can recommend a few 2nd class ironclads as an alternative for my Japanese Navy? Colonel Ingalls built a 2nd class battleship of the same class as Dingzhen to use it against the Qing Dynasty. Shuzo Aoki said.

"Between the financial resources of your country." Watts paused, a hint of sarcasm on his face. "Our country's 10,000-ton warships, your country still don't think about it. Don't think about new warships, after all, the design cost of new ships still has to be included in the cost. ”

"Ugh." A wave of anger appeared on Aoki Shuzo's face, but then he was forcibly suppressed. "What does that mean?"

"Your country can consider our armored cruisers, but the specific model, this is up to your country to decide, after all, I don't know how much money your country can spend on the British Empire's warships." Sir Watts is obviously a little tired of it, and this attitude is clearly to send off guests!!

"Then I'll take my leave." So with an angry and embarrassed Aoki Shuzo left Watts' office.

The Japanese Embassy in the United Kingdom, the quill pen in Shuzo Aoki's hand has never been able to fall, how to write? The British have battleships, can you afford to buy them in Japan? Isn't it in vain to write about a whole bunch of battleships that Japan can't afford? The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Admiralty kept the price as low as possible, but this time, Watts made it clear that the Japanese had to buy warships from the British. Because Watts knew that Japan would not buy new warships from France because of the Sankei ship, and the departure of Bai Laoyi made this matter even more nailing!! Germany? Not to mention that the Japanese had concerns about German technology, and more importantly, the Japanese Navy had never dealt with the Germans. Very unfamiliar with the German Navy and shipbuilding. Russia? Forget it, it's not very technical, and more importantly, Russia is a potential enemy of Britain! Moreover, in the Far East it also posed a serious threat to the Empire of Japan. Buying a ship from Russia is absolutely not possible. As for the Italians? is fighting with Beiyang, and there is a Chinese in it, who will not pay attention to Japan at all. It's hard!!

"Forget it, let the bigwigs in China decide the matter of purchasing warships and raising military expenses, and I, the ambassador, will pass on the relevant numbers and prices back." Thinking of this, Shuzo Aoki finally began to write his report. Moreover, in order to ensure that the number of warships was comprehensive, he also specially completed all the number of warships collected from various sources. I'm really not afraid to spend telegram money!!

"I hope that the next time there is a telegram from China, I can call the ordered battleship and the down payment, and I, the ambassador to the UK, can straighten up and speak." After writing, Shuzo Aoki looked at the telegram and said. However, he also understands in his heart that it is really difficult for Japan to come up with money now, and although borrowing is a method, it depends on whether someone buys it!!

Today's double watch. Let's support it.,The recent collection is not optimistic~~.