The morning sun shines through the bright windows in the room, and it is obviously so harmonious. Carlo was working in his room, and there were a lot of documents on the table that he needed to deal with, all of which needed to be signed.

Just as Carlo was immersed in his work, he heard the voice of a squire outside the door. "Your Majesty, Foreign Minister Bakona has something to ask to see."

"Ask him to come in."

As soon as he heard that it was the Foreign Secretary, Carlo invited him in.

"Your Majesty, there is news from Russia that the Russian government is asking if our country is willing to sell Genoa-class battleships."

"The Russians want to buy our warships?"

Hearing the Foreign Secretary's words surprised Carlo. Because the relations between Italy and Russia are not good, on the one hand, the two countries have a somewhat conflicting interest in the Balkans, although not as fierce as with Austria-Hungary, but they are also somewhat affected. On the other hand, Russia is an ally of France, and the relationship between France and Italy still needs to be introduced, I didn't expect the Russians to actually ask Italy to buy ships.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Knowing that the king had doubts, Bacona immediately explained his doubts, and fortunately, before returning to the Foreign Office, he asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to investigate the reasons for the Russians' purchase of ships.

In Bakona's account, Carlo finally understands why Russia needs to purchase warships from abroad.

In March 1898, Russia seized Port Arthur and extended the Trans-Siberian Railway terminal from Shenyang to Arthur, which had already begun construction, which aroused the resentment of Japan, which also peeped into the northeast region, in order to counter the Russian attack on the northeast. Japan had a radical shipbuilding program, intending to complete a program of six new battleships by 1905. 6 battleships were enough to give Japan an overwhelming advantage in the waters of the Far East and become the hegemon of the Far East.

On the other hand, after occupying Arthur, Russia found that although it occupied Arthur, the fleet had more tasks to perform, and it also faced the threat of the Japanese.

At this time, the strength of the Russian Pacific Fleet was not very strong, and its largest and most modern warships were the armored cruisers Nasimov, Rurik, and Russia, in addition to the protective cruisers Admiral Vladimir, Dmitry Donsky, and Palmit Zova. As long as we look at the warship configuration of the Russian Far East Fleet, we will find that the mission of the Far East Fleet is mainly to break the engagement, and the target is naturally the trade routes of Britain in the Far East.

However, now after obtaining Lushun, an ice-free port in the Far East, the goal of the Russian Far East Fleet has changed, and it needs to compete with Japan for sea supremacy in the Far East. In order to cope with the rapid development of the Japanese navy, Russia first transferred the Petrovit and Osilida, which had been built in 1895, to the Far East, but the two ships belonged to the kind of second-class battleships that could cruise for a long time in the vast Pacific Ocean, and their firepower was not strong. Therefore, in order to cope with the future threat in the Far East, the Russian Navy needs to build 4 new battleships.

Therefore, on March 22, 1898, the Tsar agreed to build two more battleships, in addition to 16 cruisers and 30 destroyers for the Far Eastern Fleet.

But planning is one thing, building is another. The shipyards on the Baltic coast of Russia are already full of battleships and cruisers under construction. The Russian shipyards in the Baltic, to be precise around St. Petersburg, were only able to work at the same time with a maximum of five large ships.

Russian-designed ships still need a long time to build, while the Japanese warships built in Britain can be completed in a relatively short time! If we wait for the Baltic Shipyard to build it itself, then it will definitely not be able to achieve the ship-building target on time. In addition, the low efficiency of Russian shipyards is also one of the reasons for the slowdown in the speed of its shipbuilding.

The only way to solve this bottleneck at this time is to look abroad for resources that can be used to build battleships.

So which shipyard meets the needs of Russia?

First of all, Britain can rule out that with the current relationship between Britain and Russia, this ship was built in Britain, and it is not possible that the Japanese are more familiar with it than they are.

Although the ally France is also good, the price of French man-made ships is on the high side, and the French Navy cannot build its own warships. Because of the ten years of delay of the Green Water Navy, the French Navy needs to make up a lot of lessons, so France is not suitable.

Austria-Hungary?

Forget it, next.

Germany?

This was not a good choice, because of the naval bill, the German dockyards were also covered with their own warships. In addition, the goal of the Franco-Russian alliance is also why Russia is reluctant to let Germany build ships for itself.

The only countries left are the United States and Italy.

The just-concluded Spanish-American War gave Russia a deep understanding of the performance of the warships of the two sides in the Spanish-American War, so Italy was left with only one choice.

By the way, at this time, Crump, the owner of the Philadelphia shipyard, was very interested in the vacancy of Russian battleships, and lobbied around the Russian government to give him an order for battleships, and moved around for this purpose. Under his persuasion, the Russian government had already negotiated with him, but as soon as the naval battle of Santiago was fought, there was no follow-up.

And the delay in asking the Italian government now also shows that the Russian government has dragged on enough.

"Just one?"

In response to Carlo's inquiry, Bacona nodded. "The Russians want us to build a battleship for them."

That's right, even if there is a lack of battleships at this time, Russia's foreign procurement is unusually cautious.

The order for this battleship is too little.

Carlo looked at the Foreign Secretary. "Why don't we ask the Russians, how about buying one more and we can sell the drawings?"

That's right, Carlo worked hard enough for the Russians' order, and even took out the Genoa-level drawings.

However, Carlo's words made the foreign secretary stunned, and it took a long time before he spoke. "Your Majesty, you still need to think carefully, the navy may have opinions."

Carlo knew what Bacona meant, because the sale of Genoa-class drawings and technology to Russia was likely to be known to France, or would certainly be known. At this time, the Italian Navy will inevitably be dissatisfied with this.

But Carlo disagrees.

Because this battleship technology is not to remain and will not be outdated, and in his opinion, the Genoa class is completely a transitional warship, after the successful development of the steam turbine, the three major pieces of the dreadnought have been completed two, and only need to wait for the successful development of the 305 mm rapid-fire naval gun, then everything can fall into place.

So it looks at the problem from a different angle, and the conclusions are different.

Besides, isn't the Italian Navy developing new battleships?

"Bakona, I know you're worried, but don't think about it, since we have sold drawings and technology to the United States, what can Russia not sell?"

Since the king has said so, what else can he, the foreign minister, say?

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will send a telegram to the ambassador to Russia, asking him to ask him about the attitude of the Russians."

After the departure of the Foreign Secretary, Carlo now had no intention of continuing his work, considering the impact of the sale to the Russian battleships.

First of all, as a direct beneficiary, the Russians are certainly welcome. As for other countries, Japan and Britain must be dissatisfied, but this is useless, everyone knows Italy's attitude towards the sale of warships, give money to sell, give enough money, and let the rich man enjoy the new warships that he has not yet started.

As for the allies Germany and Austria, Germany is busy building warships and may be dissatisfied, but it does not affect the relations between the two countries, and as for Austria-Hungary, it is even more impossible, because its navy is much weaker.

Thinking about it, Carlo believes that the sale of battleships and even drawing technology to Russia will not affect the future situation.

If it is the sale of dreadnoughts, then Carlo may still need to think carefully, but the former dreadnoughts, this does not need to be considered at all, just give money and sell them, with a good attitude, maybe others will buy a little more.

And with the radio waves of Carlo's statement, he soon arrived in St. Petersburg, the capital of Russia, and the next thing is to depend on the attitude of the Russians.