As Cervera said, the first order of the Kingdom of Spain was sent to Italy 10 days later, and then there was a competition for orders from various shipyards, anyway, Xu Jie and Vittorio's share was already in their pockets, so they didn't bother to care. How to coordinate the distribution of interests among the various shipyards was a matter for the Admiralty and the Spaniards, and had little to do with them. And under the coordination of Brin, the battleship ordered by the Spanish side will start construction at the **Andosal shipyard. The order of the Spanish Navy was like a pebble thrown into a calm pond, and then procurement personnel from Chile and Argentina began to visit various shipyards and contact the relevant personnel of the ** design bureau. The Russian delegation, which had been observing for a long time, also began to negotiate with the Italian Admiralty in the hope of purchasing the technology of this type of ship. And this worries the British. The British government began to make secret contacts with Italian officials in the hope of preventing the Russians from buying ships, and offered to compensate them in other ways. At the same time, at the behest of the British government, under the operation of Anthony Hoskins, commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, Fisher landed on Italian soil under the pretext of visiting Wèn.

"Xu, there is an important reception tonight, you better prepare well, I can't let outsiders say that the people of our ** Ship Design Bureau don't understand the rules." Vittorio reminded.

"You've said it four times this afternoon, I know." Xu Jie said with some annoyance. "By the way, can I not go, you know, I'm a technician, and I'm not suitable for an official exchange reception." At the end, Xu Jie interjected.

"Xu, you have to go. How can you not be an emerging Italian naval architect? This time, many Italian naval leaders and naval personnel from other European countries participated, which was very helpful for us to enter the international market. Of course, no one from the Qing Beiyang Naval Division participated. Hearing that Xu Jie was going to pick a son, Vittorio said excitedly.

In this way, under the soft grinding and hard bubbles of Vittorio, Giulia and others, at 7 o'clock in the evening, Xu Jie and his party walked into the venue on time. As a well-known Italian designer and a local born and bred, Vittorio quickly got along with his friends, and as a pretty lady, Giulia was naturally the star of the party. So soon Xu Jie was left alone. Find a secluded place to sit down, ask for a glass of French Bordeaux red wine, and start the long evening.

Before Xu Jie could finish drinking the glass of wine, a tall Englishman came to the opposite side of Xu Jie surrounded by several attendant-looking people and sat down, while several attendants were standing or sitting nearby, separating Xu Jie from others in a gloomy way. "Who are you?" Xu Jie asked with some weakness in his heart.

"Hello, Dear Mr. Xu Jie." The visitor took off his top hat, and a familiar face met Xu Jie's eyes.

"You're Fisher?!" Xu Jie chuckled in his heart. As a navy, I am quite familiar with this important figure in history. The future British Admiralty boss had two classic assertions, one being the victory of the 2nd level main gun in the pre-dreadnought period. The other is the battle patrol theory. Regarding the latter, everyone should know that from the 3 BCs in Jutland when firecrackers were lit to the later Hood was killed by the prime minister in seconds. The drawbacks of placing too much emphasis on firepower and speed discredited Fisher. As for the first theory, it really captures the essence of naval warfare at that time, that is, armor-piercing shells without mature caps are inefficient in the face of hardened armor, so the best choice in the battle is to use high-rate 2 main guns to penetrate the opponent's non-key protection zone and burn the enemy ship to make a forced landing. And the X-type fast cruiser designed by Xu Jie is also guided by this theory.

"Have we ever met?" Fisher muttered to himself, but quickly returned to normalcy. "Hello, Colonel Fisher of the British Royal Navy, serving in the Mediterranean Fleet." Fisher held out his right hand.

"Hello, may I ask what the general is doing?" Xu Jie didn't care about the shock in his heart and hurriedly shook hands with Fisher.

"When I heard that Your Excellency is Chinese, I was really shocked. You know, there are not many people who can design such an advanced dome cruiser, even in Europe. Fisher complimented.

"Thank you for the compliment. May I ask why Your Excellency is here? Xu Jie repeated the question. …,

"I'd like to talk to you about ships and navies. I hope Mr. Xu can appreciate his face. Fisher said with a hateful glance at a Russian naval officer who had arrived next to him.

"I'm afraid you want to convince me not to sell the battleship to the Russians." Xu Jie smiled slightly after seeing Fisher's small movements.

"First of all, congratulations to Your Excellency on designing such an advanced warship." Fisher said, holding up his glass.

"Thank you, Your Excellency, but I would like to remind you that I completed the boat with Mr. Vittorio." After speaking, Xu Jie and Fisher's cups touched and said.

"I am here for the purpose of your Excellency, I think you know somewhat. We, the British Navy, are very fond of this type of battleship, and if we can, the Royal Navy wants to buy out the technology and production license of this type of battleship, and of course the Italian Navy can produce this type of battleship for its own use. Fisher said straight to the point.

"I guess this construction of yours can't get through guò anywhere in the Italian Navy, right?" The Royal Navy is really domineering enough. Xu Jie thought in his heart, and he also stiffened his mouth. Xu Jie knew very well in his heart that under the pressure of the French and Russian navies now, the British Navy would not dare to make any excessive moves against Italy, no matter how good it was. After all, even the Marquess of Salisbury had only dared to propose a double-power plan, that is, the British Royal Navy would be able to resist the challenge of the second and third great navies at the same time, with France second, Russia third, and Italy fourth. No matter how domineering the British Navy is, it does not dare to challenge 3 at the same time.

"We can give a certain amount of compensation, whether it is technology or funding, we can talk about it." At this time, Fisher was far less sophisticated than he was when he later became commander of the Mediterranean Fleet. Do things directly, and don't know how to detour.

"It seems that Fischer has hit a wall with the Italian navy, otherwise he would not have come to me, after all, as long as the Italian government does not agree, he and Vittorio will not be able to provide any help to the Russians even if they have great skills." Xu Jie couldn't help but be secretly happy in his heart, it seems that the new 10-inch naval gun has been dropped.

"You know, if the Italian government decides to sell to certain countries, we don't have anything to do. After all, we're just technicians. But if the government doesn't take a stand or if a significant part of the population is against it, we can do something. Xu Jie faintly hinted.

"On the Italian government's side, I think the Royal Navy will do it, but on the design bureau side, can Mr. Xu make some commitments? The Royal Navy would also like to buy the technology if it could. Fisher said thoughtfully.

"As long as the Italian government does not explicitly state the sale of this type of warship, the design bureau will not sell a single technical amount to the Russians. After all, the profit margin for selling technology is low. And personally, I don't really like that Eastern European country either. Xu Jie smiled slightly. After taking a sip of wine, he continued: "As for technology transfer, I would like to remind Your Excellency that even if we transfer the technology of the ** type battleship, we will definitely not allow it to be used in the warships produced for the Japanese, this is the most important prerequisite!" ”

"Well, that's not for me to decide. I think the commercial side of things should be decided by the British shipyards themselves. However, I will report it to the relevant parties. Fisher paused and said.

"I think that the cooperation between the Ship Design Bureau and the Royal Navy will be beneficial to both of us." Xu Jie said with a smile.

"Of course." Fisher was very satisfied, and tonight he had completed his mission, and the rest of the time was just to enjoy. But at the same time, he did not forget to send a message to his superior: "Commander Anthony Hoskins will visit Wèn** next week, and if it is convenient for you, the lieutenant general would like to have dinner with you and Mr. Vittorio." ”

"Of course, it was an honour to have dinner with the future Admiralty of the Royal Navy." Xu Jie said flatteredly.