"One hundred and eight brothers, what do you think of this 'draft plan for a thousand ships' drawn up by the Admiralty? Can you coax the British to follow up? ”

Seeing that Zhuge Weidao had finished reading the first document in the folder, Zhuge Weiyi, the squire of the Admiralty, asked with a smile.

"Brother Ten, this is your handiwork, right? This draft is too well done. Zhuge Weidao hurriedly said flattering words, and said with a smile, "The British will definitely follow up...... As long as they follow up, we're in good hands! ”

"Odds of winning?" A "Black Zhuge with a face so black that it was about to catch up with Zhang Fei" shook a feather fan and asked, "One hundred and eight brothers, do you remember how powerful the British Royal Navy is?" Do you know what the total tonnage of the navy of Great Britain, France, Austria, Spain, the Netherlands, Prussia, Sweden, Belgium, etc., combined? ”

Zhuge Weidao didn't remember who this black Zhuge was? However, before the start of his wedding banquet, Zhuge Weixue brought him photos of the main leaders of the Zhuge family for him to see, and also told them their names, trade names, rankings, occupations, and temperaments one by one.

Of course, the photo of this "Black Zhuge " is also among them, so Zhuge Weidao knows that this forty-year-old Black Zhuge is useless, the words are far-reaching, and the line is fifty-one. He is currently the Admiral of the Ming Beiyang Fleet with the rank of Lieutenant General. If nothing else, after the expiration of his term as Admiral of the Grand Fleet, he should be promoted to the position of Chief of Staff of the Navy or Chief of Naval Education.

"Brother Fifty-One," Zhuge Weidao said with a smile, "The current shipbuilding technology, artillery technology, and metallurgical technology are in the midst of rapid progress, and they are changing with each passing day. The tonnage accumulated with old technology will in a very short time become a burden to the Navy rather than a component of combat effectiveness. So we just need to be ahead of Britain and France and other Western countries in the technical level of shipbuilding and artillery, and update the fleet according to the plan...... You will be able to use the latest and strongest warships to fight against the warships of Western countries that have fallen behind! ”

"Black Zhuge looked at Zhuge Weidao and laughed: "Daozi, do you really think that the British will be stupid enough to wait for us to prepare everything before going to war?" If they go to war tomorrow, what are our chances of winning? If they do not rush through the Strait of Malacca immediately after the start of the war and engage us in the minefields laid by the South Sea Fleet, they will use the tactics of long-distance blockade. How to break the long-term isolation of us from the markets of Europe, India and the Middle East? Now is not the time of commodity scarcity, since the end of the Napoleonic Wars, European industrial production has also increased significantly, and they have begun to engage in trade protection!

If you have a bad memory and have forgotten the strength of the British Navy, then I will remind you. In the past 20 years, the British have built a total of 70 ironclad ships of the 40th class and a total of 18 coastal defense ironclad ships of the 11th class, with a total of 88 capital ships of various types and a total tonnage of nearly 800,000 tons! And we only have a total of 66 ironclad ships of the 11th class, and the total tonnage is only 600,000 tons...... Only three-quarters of the UK!

And this is only the comparison of naval strength between us and the United Kingdom, if you count France, Austria, Spain, the Netherlands, Prussia, Sweden, Belgium, and Japan's ironclads, then the gap will be even greater! The tonnage of our navy's ironclad ships is only about 40 percent of theirs, one hundred and eight brothers, you are also a navy, how many chances do you think we still have? ”

In fact, with the industrial strength and financial resources of the Ming Dynasty, it is not impossible to surpass Britain in the tonnage of ironclad ships. But the military divisions of the Zhuge family are all able to pinch and calculate, and when you pinch your fingers, you know that it is too much money to do this...... Because technology is advancing so fast! For example, as soon as 'Monarchy' and 'Hongwu Emperor' came out, the previous ironclad ships were basically cool. These two types of ironclad ships have an unladen displacement of more than 15,000 tons, and all indicators such as firepower, armor, speed, endurance, and seaworthiness have completely crushed the previous ironclad ships. It's not a problem to fight ten ships in one ship!

And when a new type of battleship (dreadnought-class) with an empty displacement of nearly 20,000 tons appeared, including the 15,000-ton ironclad ship, all the previous ironclad ships were eliminated overnight!

Ten monarchs can't beat one dreadnought!

And when the First World War began, less than a decade after the dreadnought was born, who would want a dreadnought?

Therefore, in this era of rapid changes in naval shipbuilding technology, whoever maintains an excessively large navy will become the unlucky one who loses the most.

Of course, it is impossible for Daming not to throw money into the ironclad ship at all. Because there is no sufficient number of ironclad ships, what should the British do if they come to the door with the Eight-Nation Alliance?

In this case, the Ming could only maintain a certain number of ironclad ships to ensure a certain advantage in the Pacific Ocean...... However, there is also a problem with this "local" advantage, in case the British set their minds to lay mines directly near the Strait of Malacca and Java Island, and then deploy large fleets in India and Australia, and lock the Ming to the east of Malacca and north of the East Indies, it will not be very easy to do.

Because the Ming navy was not enough to support the army to break the British defenses in Malacca and the Dutch on the island of Java, so that it could not threaten India and Australia. At the same time, because the British Grand Fleet was deployed in India and Australia, the Ming did not dare to transfer their main naval forces to besiege Japan or conquer the New World...... It is also impossible for the Ming to break the order established and maintained by the British in Europe and the Middle East by supporting the Rakshasas, because there is no direct railway between the hinterland of the Ming and the Rakshasas.

"That's why I used the opportunity of fortune-telling for Daoguang to provoke the British in India." Of course, Zhuge Weidao has something to say, "Britain, the hegemon of the West, is fought out, and it must be supported by a great military might, but it can't lose to an opponent like Jinguo...... Otherwise, who else would dare to follow Britain to challenge my great tomorrow? ”

As he spoke, Zhuge Weidao looked at "Black Zhuge " Zhuge Weiyong, "Brother Fifty-one, what do you think of this method of the younger brother?" ”

"This ...... Can it really work? Zhuge Wei wrinkled with a black face, as if he didn't quite believe it.

"Surely!" Zhuge nodded heavily, "The little brother is completely sure!" ”

"Oh?" Zhuge Weiyong just responded casually, and he didn't seem to be convinced, and the other Zhuge present also had a hesitant face.

Obviously, they are not worried about Daoguang, and they may not be worried about the people of the army...... The key to the good results of all the plans now is that Daoguang's attack on India can greatly damage the prestige of Britain.

Once Britain's prestige is damaged, then there is a high probability that Rakshasa will jump out to compete for European hegemony, and the European countries that follow Britain will also be shaken, and in order to stabilize people's hearts, Britain can only show toughness to the Ming Dynasty, but dare not break completely, so that they only need to follow the script of the Ming Dynasty to carry out an arms race......

"I can be the head of the Naval Advisory Corps in Daikin!" Zhuge Weidao said, "I can stay in Daikin until Britain suffers a serious setback!" ”

"But," Zhuge said, "Jin is a landlocked country, and there is no navy!" ”

Yes, without the Navy, what is the Navy Advisory Group going to do?

Zhuge Weidao thought for a while and said with a smile: "Brother Fifty-one, although Dajin is a landlocked country, our Daming Navy is still useful...... And it will play a key role! So we need to send a huge team of naval advisors! ”

"Okay," Zhuge Weijiu said with a smile, "The old man is waiting for your words, but it's not enough to just have empty words, you have to come up with a real plan!" ”

"No problem!" Zhuge Weidao said, "Before the end of the younger brother's marriage leave, we must prepare a practical plan." ”

"Good!" Zhuge Weijiu smiled and said, "One hundred and eight brothers, do you have any other requirements?" Let's hear it. ”

Let people contribute, you have to give some sweetness, right?

Zhuge Weidao really had a request, he said with a smile: "Great military division, junior brother knows a very, very important big project...... The family has to bet hard! ”

"What project?"

"Cars!" Zhuge Weidao said, "A vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine that burns gasoline!" ”