What is Thomas going to do on Four, Five, Four?

"Damn, damn, damn it"

"300,000 ships, why didn't he just give them away for nothing"

"These Oriental pagans use our warships as favors, but why can't they fight with the Yankees"

"These nouveau riche, they're all bastards"

The lavish imperial palace in St. Petersburg was filled with the roaring voice of Nicholas II, and although the formation of the Duma was exchanged for temporary stability in the country, it still did not satisfy the sensitive Tsar, for whom the Duma was a stumbling block that would seriously affect the rights of His Majesty the Great Emperor

Therefore, when he heard that Li Mo took a large number of Russian ** ships to South America to sell and sold the fleet he had built at tens of millions of dollars, his eyes were red, but when he heard that China and the United States had a conflict because of this sale of warships, and there was a great possibility of war, he even began to fantasize that after the war started, he would immediately redeploy his army to the east and regain the lost territory. (Full text reading, all in. (.i. Want. Wen. Learning Network)

But who would have thought that in just a few days, the situation would take a sharp turn for the worse, and Hua would actually start negotiations with the United States.

When Empress Alessandro got up and walked out, she looked at her husband, who was a little neurotic and overly sensitive, and smiled slightly, she knew very well that the real worry of His Majesty the roaring emperor was the upcoming Duma elections, because the establishment of the Duma meant that his rights were greatly weakened As for those warships, if they were lost, they would be lost, but Russia could start again

The departure of the empress seemed to make Nicholas II, who was afraid of it, even more unscrupulous, and shouted: "Witte, have you prepared your money?" How's my Navy program preparing? ”

"Your Majesty, the total loans of various countries have almost arrived, a total of 900 million rubles, but they are used to maintain financial stability, and if they do not stabilize the country, I am afraid that the country will go bankrupt"

"So it's impossible to start construction on battleships right now, and you plan to do so, maybe until after the Duma elections." Witte was expressionless, but he knew very well in his heart like Empress Alessandro that when all the warships were lost to the island of Sibilu, Nicholas II was so anxious to build a navy, not because he loved the sea so much, but because he was so anxious that the loss of his ships and guns would fuel the arrogance of those who he considered so-called traitors.

Therefore, when the loans of various countries gradually arrived, His Majesty the Emperor immediately put forward a huge plan to rebuild at least sixteen battleships and twenty cruisers, and all of them must be battleships similar to the Chinese type.

The dream is beautiful, but the reality is cruel, because Russia has no battleship technology at all, and even the dock has not been expanded, so Nicholas II had to first imitate the French Danton-class and build the St. Andrew-class battleship, and the scale of at least six ships he dreamed of was ruthlessly suppressed to two by problems such as funding and slipways.

However, this still made Russia breathe a sigh of relief, as long as two Yefstafi-class and two St. Andrei-class ships were launched in two years, the Russian Navy will slowly recover.

And according to the secret agreement between Russia and France, after the construction of the first French battleship began, the technology would be transferred to Russia, so that it could have a real battleship

It's just that.

"That nasty Duma"

Nicholas II cursed in his heart and said angrily: "You don't need their consent, you immediately take out 100 million rubles to restore the navy." ”

"Your Majesty the Emperor, if you insist on doing so, then please agree to my resignation first, for that would lead to the financial collapse of the country," Witte said as soon as he bent down. (Full text reading, all in. (.i. Want. Wen. Learning Network)

Nicholas II didn't expect that Witte had actually resigned and threatened, although he hated it so much, but he also had to admit that if it wasn't for his wait in Philadelphia, maybe Russia would not be able to get out of the predicament immediately at this moment, this confidant Chancellor of the Exchequer still has merit, so he can only patiently ask: "Well, my dear Mr. Count, please tell me when I can really rebuild the navy"

"Your Majesty, as long as the Duma is established and the country's economic stability is restored, the construction of battleships can start in two more years, and we are currently expanding the shipyard, and now even if I allocate funds, I can't build it, please wait patiently for two years."

"Duma, Duma again" Nicholas II waved his hand, always feeling that these two words had become a tight spell, but he couldn't help it, as Witte said, even if the funds were allocated now, there was no way to build it.

"By the way, did the guy named Lenin catch it?" Nicholas II turned his attention to the rebels.

"Not yet, but according to those who saw him later, he went to Germany, where he boarded a ship bound for the Far East."

"Far Eastern" Nicholas II is not stupid after all, he understands it very well, and angrily says: "Damn, he wanted to go to Li Mo to help this pig, lost the face of the Slavs, and went to shake hands with a heretic"

The roar once again filled the palace, but the sound of St. Petersburg could no longer affect the overall situation in the world, Britain felt that it could not suppress the five German battleships of the Chinese type, and launched three follow-up Bellerophon class, and Germany also half a year later, the competition again came up with four Helgoland class, and for the first time adopted the design of three chimneys and 12 305 mm naval guns.

In this regard, even Limer had to admire Germany's industrial and technological capabilities, and in the era of steam turbine faults, German engineers used three-expansion small water-tube boilers and reciprocating steam engines to increase the speed of this battleship with a full load of more than 24,000 tons to 21 knots, which can be called a miracle.

France, Italy, Austria-Hungary and other countries are also in full swing of battleship plans, the riveting sound of countries around the world is becoming more and more intensive, at this time, the rapid rise of China because of the canal and the United States disputes again, so that everyone in their spare time, can not help but begin to pay attention to the two fellow nouveau riche guys will go.

In terms of industrial capacity, China is far behind by the United States, but when it comes to naval technology, all countries are optimistic about China, so this is almost an evenly matched contest

For the two nouveau riche, Europe has no good feelings, so I still wish they were dog-eat-dog, but just when everyone was about to watch a good show, the young emperor in Beijing, who was enjoying the service of four women, suddenly blinked his eyes first, and actually offered to the United States to sell the right to dig the Nicaragua Canal.

At this time, everyone was dumbfounded, and they didn't know what kind of medicine the arsonist was selling in the gourd this time.

In fact, not to mention foreign countries, even China is also surprised, many people feel that although the domestic economy is not as good as the United States, but it is already comparable to France, there is no big problem in digging a canal, not to mention that it is still such an important canal, and the world's first human resources and construction corps model, as long as the funds are guaranteed, there is no problem in digging this Grand Canal within ten years

As long as it controls this strategic passage connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, no matter how powerful the United States is, it will not be able to send warships to the west in a steady stream, and if they build shipyards in the west on a large scale, they will all be under the guns of the Chinese Navy, and once a war breaks out, the losses will be great.

So why did the emperor have to compromise?

This seemingly mysterious and intractable question was fed back to Li Mo with only one word.

"Money."

Yes, when the news of the German rivalry launching four Helgoland-class battleships more than a year earlier reached his ears, his pursuit of money had reached the point of no return.

Of course, this is not that he himself is short of money, nor is it that the country is out of money, but in the face of a huge arms race that has already begun, if he cannot find another way to raise a large amount of military expenses for additional expenses, and only rely on the state finances, let alone play, he will not even look down on it

France and Italy are good examples, these two countries have been slow to come up with their own battleship plans, not because of the size of their technological gap, but because their financial situation does not allow it, so they will delay it again and again.

In terms of financial resources, Hua is now only comparable to France, and the country is larger than France, and there are more places to use money, if you learn from England and Germany, it is the road to bankruptcy, as for the idea of concentrating on development for 30 years, Li Mo has never thought about it from beginning to end.

Yes, I can not participate in the First World War, according to other people's words, build N more factories, produce N more weapons and wait for buyers to come, but the question is who will buy you?

Don't forget, the United States is already the world's largest creditor country, and it is also a large industrial country, and the distance is also close, and the important thing is that the United States is a white country

When war broke out, the powerful American industry would move at almost full speed, and the status of the white country allowed him to quickly become the darling of both sides of the war.

Once the war breaks out, the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal will directly strangle you, and the United States, in order to strangle you, a big bystander, is also a competitor, and will definitely ask Britain and France and other countries to block the Suez Canal with all their might, you must know that the United States is a big creditor of European countries, and he later intervened in the war because he was afraid that he would not be able to recover the money, so he sent troops.

If you go to make trouble and take advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune, it will only attract the United States to encircle and intercept it with all its might, let Britain and France go all out to block the Suez Canal, block themselves in the Pacific Ocean, and even directly use continuous military provocations in the Pacific to force you to be unable to be distracted.

That's strategy

So it's impossible to eat and wait for decades to die, how much gold did the United States accumulate in World War I? How much money did you make? Immersing oneself in the development of death will only get bigger and bigger.

Li Mo knows this very clearly, so he wants to completely change the situation, stir up the United States first, can't concentrate on economic development, and force him to come to an arms race with himself, if he wants to take advantage of the First World War to make a fortune, it is very simple.

Defeat Hua first

The world is limited, the population and market of this era are limited, it is a doomed competition

The competition for resources, the market, the people, and the wealth

In this world, there is no economic path for peaceful rise, the birth of capital itself is predatory, you live and die is the only way, and natural selection does not only happen to animals

When you sit and watch the United States make a fortune in World War I and sweep the world in the post-war economy, you will know what you have missed, and people are wearing a white man's skin, and when the war spreads in Europe, the whole of Europe will flood into the United States, and you can see how big the impact is when you look at the completely different military capabilities of the United States in the early and late stages of World War I

At that time, even if you mastered the pinnacle in terms of money, even if you mastered the pinnacle in terms of technology, but the base of people was larger than yours, and sooner or later they surpassed you, and you were not qualified to redivide the world's resources after the war, so could you still guarantee that you would defeat the United States in a few decades?

Li Mo believes in only one rule.

"Take advantage of your weakness, I want your life"

At present, the United States is weak, and it has a strong industrial capacity and capital market, but it is not as good as Europe in terms of technology, because the people of European countries who have avoided the war have not yet flowed in, as long as they choke the South American market, and then use some brains at home to force American goods to gradually withdraw from Asia, then its strong commodity manufacturing capacity will become a burden in the next decade.

He is well aware of this, but he also has a real problem in front of him, and that is money.

You can't use the country's tax revenues to compete with the United States, to compete in an arms race, and then you will die, so you have to find another way.

A Jilin-class costs 11.9 million blue coins, and at the moment McKinson is designing according to his own ideas, and the price of the battleship that has entered the experimental stage is almost doubled, so it is necessary to raise funds as much as possible before the start of armaments, so as not to affect the construction of the country.

Li Mo originally had this money, that is, the batch of scattered huge counterfeit money, but it had been used in the construction of the country before, so he had to find another way.

Now that there is a solution, the United States waved a check and began to wave, but suddenly there was an accident.

Li Mo flipped through the telegram forwarded by Thomas, looked at the sentence on it, "Drag out the conflict for half a year, Thomas", and his brows furrowed violently.

The telegram had no beginning or end, not even the reason for the delay, and Thomas had already left for Europe after sending the telegram, indicating that he was planning something, or that he knew something was going to happen.

What's that going on?

It's been more than ten years since he was reincarnated, and he is not a superman, and no matter how strong his memory is, it will slowly fade away, so as soon as he comes back, he almost compiles the memories in his mind day and night, from the world geography, to mechanical drawings, to the context of history, etc., and has made several thick books, but no matter how he looks through the notebook, he can't find any clues.

Is it an event?

Or is it a person who does not know about historical events?

Thomas is a smart man, for the sake of secrecy, he usually rarely contacts himself, just concentrates on being his super-rich man and helping himself to collect money, but this time he took the initiative to send a telegram, and clearly asked for half a year, what are you going to do?

Half a year, it will be 1907, and the memory is almost blank except for the fight between Italy and the Ottomans.

This is undoubtedly the first time that Li Mo has felt tricky since returning to this world, and delaying for half a year is not to say that it can't be done, but now the navy is waiting for the rice to be cooked, and losing half a year means that the battleship will be launched half a year late.

He is well aware that this lack of grasp of the future will become weaker and weaker with time, and this is undoubtedly a test for him

"Inform Ouyang Geng, slow down the progress of the negotiations, and ask for the price to pay back on the spot, how slow it is." After thinking about it, Li Mo decided to give Thomas half a year, he wanted to see what would happen

Duan Fei nodded, and was about to leave suddenly, Du Dazhuang rushed in, panting and shouting: "Your Majesty, the chief of staff asked you to go to the General Staff immediately, he said that Ji Weishan was blocked by the Americans off the coast of Cuba."