In fact, in addition to France, Britain, Russia, and the United States were all surprised by Italy's shipbuilding plan. But compared to France, they are more limited to surprise. The only one who made some moves was the United Kingdom, and the British Imperial Navy transferred two battleships from the mainland to the Mediterranean Fleet as a response to Italy's shipbuilding plan.

And then it was gone.

The topic of building its ships is not even as much as that of the new Dreadnought battleship.

That's right, the epoch-making Dreadnought. Vice Admiral Filscher, who was the commander-in-chief of Portsmouth at this time, was extremely appreciative of the ship. He praised the Italian-built battleship as an epoch-making masterpiece and called on the British Navy to keep up and not fall behind.

However, the British Empire has its own national conditions here, and the new battleships do not need to be demonstrated, how can they be built directly. Therefore, the countries are still in the demonstration stage, and the construction needs to wait.

At a time when European countries were planning to build a large navy because of Italy, an undercurrent was surging in the Far East.

In Tokyo, the crowd had just dispersed, and Russian flags were dropped all over the place, and the façade of the Russian embassy in Japan, which was the centerpiece of the protest, was a colorful and beautiful sight.

And seeing the crowd disperse, the Japanese military and police guarding the embassy were also relieved. These demonstrations to the Russians every once in a while, and their police are tired enough. If it weren't for their duty, they would all want to demonstrate against the protests in Russia. In order to protect the interests of North Korea, their police officers only receive 60% of their official salaries, and how should the family live on this money?

The thoughts of the little policemen are not at all of a concern to the bigwigs involved in the dispute between the two countries, because they have more important things to focus on.

Inside the palace, a royal council is taking place.

"Your Majesty, gentlemen, at present, the funds of our Ministry of Finance can last for three months, and if we don't think of a way, then the government will go bankrupt."

The Prime Minister, who was also a member of the military, was the Minister of Finance, Aratsuke Tsuga, and informed everyone present about the situation in the province.

"Can you borrow more from countries such as Britain and the United States?" Minister of Agriculture and Commerce Tosuke Hirata made a suggestion.

Faced with this suggestion, Zeng Asasuke said with a bitter face. "At present, there is no way to borrow, and everything that can be used for mortgage loans in my country has been taken out, and there is only one way that can be used."

Although Zeng Arassuke didn't say anything about what it was, everyone present knew what it was.

Speaking of Japan's financial misery, Carlo is a great contributor. In the First Sino-Japanese War, under the intervention of Italy, Japan suffered heavy casualties, not to mention any compensation, and if it were not for the support of the British Empire, it would not even be able to get the continental springboard of Korea.

You must know that in the original history, after Japan received 230 million taels of silver compensation from the Qing Dynasty, its total financial revenue directly increased from 134 million yen in 1903 before the war to 279 million yen in 1895 after the war. With the rapid growth, it reached 438 million yen in five years. (The Three Kingdoms intervened to return Liao, and gave an extra 30 million taels of silver)

In the case of failing to obtain a huge indemnity from the Qing Dynasty, although Japan obtained the right to protect Korea, the Korean Peninsula could not replenish Japan's finances, even if Japan mobilized more people to work abroad, but Japan's finances have not been able to break through the 300 million yen mark.

As a result, in the midst of Japan's continuous military expansion, Japan's finances were the first to be unable to hold on. It was only 1903, and Japan's finances could not stand it.

In the face of the distress of the Prime Minister, Prime Minister Katsura Taro asked the foreign minister on the side instead.

"Komura-kun, how are you talking with the Russians?"

When asked by the prime minister, Komura Shoutaro, who was an important ambassador to the Qing Dynasty during the First Sino-Japanese War, immediately replied. "At the moment, the talks with Russia are not going well, and I have a feeling that the Russians are deliberately stalling for time."

According to Komura Shoutaro, it was Japan that wanted to demarcate its sphere of influence with Russia, because Russia also extended its hand into Korea. Of course, this situation was that after the Qing forces withdrew from Korea, the small Korean court was afraid that Japan would be unfavorable to them, so they co-opted the Russians and tried to use the struggle between the two to maintain their political position.

The negotiations between Japan and Russia were aimed at taking possession of the Korean Peninsula on its own.

Facing the foreign minister's words, Katsura Taro thought about it and asked the Minister of the Navy on the side. "Yamamoto-kun, if your navy is against the Russian Pacific Fleet, what are the chances of victory?"

Although this was just an inquiry from the Prime Minister, the important ministers present were concerned about this issue because it was related to the future of Japan.

Facing everyone's gaze, Gonbei Yamamoto, who served as the Minister of the Navy, immediately spoke. "If the Combined Fleet engages the Russian Pacific Fleet normally, we have a sixty percent chance of victory."

The sixty percent chance of winning made everyone present frown. Because the odds are too low, Japan has already put all the belongings on it, and this winning rate is too low and the risk is too great.

"What if you do everything?"

It was Prime Minister Katsura Taro who spoke, and Foreign Minister Komura Shotaro, who was familiar with the rules of diplomacy, changed his face when he heard this.

After saying this, Katsura Taro didn't care about the other people's faces, but stared at Yamamoto Gonbei, waiting for the other party to give him an answer.

Faced with the Prime Minister's continued questioning, Yamamoto Gonbei thought for a while. "Our Admiralty has also made such a plan before, if we want to defeat the Russian Pacific Fleet at all costs, there are two points to consider, first, our fleet must be hidden, and second, the Russian fleet stationed in Arthur cannot be prepared, we can use torpedoes to raid the docked Russian warships, try to annihilate them in the military port, and then lure them out to sea and sink them in one fell swoop."

"What if the other party doesn't come out?"

Faced with this question, Yamamoto Gonbei smiled. "If that's the case, so much the better. We sank our ships at the mouth of Arthur and blocked the Russian battleships inside. ”

As for the situation in Port Arthur, the Japanese Navy has long figured it out. Although Lushun is an excellent ice-free port, it has shortcomings, the inner harbor of Lushun is narrow, and the water is relatively shallow, and there is only one entrance. Large warships could only enter and exit the inner harbor at high tide and were towed by tugboats.

Although Yamamoto Gonbei didn't say how many percent of the odds of winning, Katsura Taro weighed it himself, so if it went well, he basically had an eight-story chance of winning.

That being the case, then some means must be used.

"Komura-kun, negotiations with the Russians still have to continue, as for when the negotiations will be terminated, wait for the notice."

In the face of the Prime Minister's words, what else can Komura Shoutaro say, for the sake of the final victory, a little fame is nothing.

"Rest assured, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs knows what to do and will not let the Russians perceive anything unusual."

After getting a reply from Komura Shoutaro, Katsura Taro looked at Yamamoto Gonbei Road. "Yamamoto-kun, I'll leave it to your navy next."

"Hey!"