The Winter Palace, the night is dark.

Tsar Nicholas I, who is said to have worked 18 hours a day, was still in good spirits at this time, and was in his office with his brother Grand Duke Mikhail, his confidant Vice Admiral Menshikov, Admiral Paskevich and Peter. Marshal Wittgenstein stood together in front of a map of the situation in the area around the Black Sea, discussing whether to "pay" the Ming Dynasty and let Zhuge hurry up to "deliver the goods".

"Your Majesty, I have personally boarded the Hero, experienced the battleship speeding through the sea at a speed of more than 20 knots, and witnessed the terrifying power of a salvo of eight 280 mm guns. I dare to guarantee that the most powerful monarch in the British Empire is not vulnerable to this Hero at all, and one Hero can fight at least five monarchs! As for the Hero, it is also the most powerful armored cruiser in the world, and if it fights the Sovereign class one-on-one, it also has a great chance of winning! If you ask me to command a fleet with the Heroes and Heroes as the core, I am absolutely confident that I will control the sea in the Aegean Sea and completely block the shipping routes for military aid to Constantinople from the outside world.

If they are lucky, the naval infantrymen who arrived in the Aegean Sea on two fast troop carriers could even make a sudden landing in an important area of the Aegean coast and take the Turks by surprise!

In addition, there are radio stations installed on the Hero, and Zhuge Weidao also promised that if we buy 5 Hero-level, he can give us another 5 radio stations. In this way, the Hero will be able to maintain communication with the two armies attacking Turkey at any time! ”

"Your Majesty!" Veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, Peter Field Marshal Wittgenstein was well aware of the importance of battlefield communications, and he immediately said to the Tsar, "These five radio stations are of great value!" With them, not only can the eastern and western armies and the fleets of the southern front keep in touch at any time, but all of us can also keep in touch with Your Majesty at any time, and the armies distributed on the three battlefields that are far away will have a truly timely and effective unified command! ”

General Paskewicz, who had just won the war with Persia, was also moved by the old marshal's words, "Your Majesty, it would be great if we could buy more radios and equip each division with one!" ”

The Tsar glanced at the general, who had just been named Count of Yerevan, and thought: "Wouldn't it be better to have a radio station for every battalion?" The question is where does the money come from? Not to mention the hero-level of the four that can only be delivered in a year or two with a price of 10.88 million, that is, the 9.99 million that needs to be spent now plus 3 6.66 million, the Rakshasa Kingdom will have to spend 29.97 million immediately. The other four heroes have to give at least a deposit, one is 1 million, and it is another 4 million, almost 34 million silver yuan can go out. Fortunately, the Baku oil field has made money in the past two years, and tens of millions of tons of oil can be sold for two or three hundred million silver yuan every year, otherwise it really can't be bought! ”

Grand Duke Mikhail approached the Tsar at this time and whispered: "Nikolai. Pavrovich, Natalie. Pavrovna is not wrong about one thing. You have to choose between drastic internal reforms and Constantinople. Reform or take Constantinople! ”

Nicholas I, of course, did not want to carry out drastic reforms, he was not a good man, he was an ultra-conservative imperialist!

In his opinion, although the serfdom in the Rakshasa country is backward, it can only be improved slightly, and cannot be abolished altogether, otherwise the trouble of abolishing serfdom must be greater than maintaining serfdom.

Since it was impossible to abolish serfdom, then Constantinople could only be taken!

Perhaps, after the capture of Constantinople, with the prestige of the "Eastern Roman Emperor", Nicholas I could announce the abolition of serfdom and let the landlords get a little richer and give a little land to the emancipated serfs.

But the British position. And Princess Victoria

"Nikolai. Pavrovich," said Archduke Mikhail, seeing that Nicholas I was still hesitating, "the Ming is the number one opponent of the British Empire, and if we show sufficient strength in the war against Turkey, we will become the target of the Ming and British to try to win over!" The marriage of Archduke Alexander and Princess Victoria will not change in this case. ”

Nicholas I was finally convinced, nodded heavily, and said: "Okay, I'll sign the contract tomorrow, and then let Natalie go back to Zhuge and say to Zhuge that I must send my hero to Riga Bay quickly!" ”

"Master, master, wake up, Madame's phone"

When Zhuge Weidao was sleeping on the bed with Nalandili in his arms, Ah Li's voice came dimly in his ears.

"What? Mrs. Natalie? As soon as he thought of Natalie, Zhuge woke up in a hurry, and he was waiting for Natalie's call every day these days.

This is because whether Nicholas I dared to combine the Eighth Russo-Turkish War and the Ninth Russo-Turkish War (Crimean War) was extremely crucial for the First World War in Zhuge Weidao's planning.

The reason is also very simple, if Maozi takes Constantinople, the card will be stunned! Not only can he declare himself the Eastern Roman, but he can also pull a large group of Slavic friends in the Balkans into his camp, and the Eastern Roman Empire will be restored.

And once Eastern Rome is restored, what will happen to those powerful companies in Central Europe and Western Europe? Austria, France, Prussia, Spain, the Kingdom of Sanin, Portugal, etc., are they going to unite to make a Western Roman alliance or something?

Also, what about the British hanging off the coast of Europe? Support Eastern Rome or Western Rome?

If Britain stirs up again, it has to choose a side between the two major groups, right? You can't have both Western Rome and Eastern Rome, right? If that's the case, then who is bigger, Britain or Eastern Rome? Who is the leader of the alliance? Who is the younger brother? Such a big alliance can't quarrel every day, where is the kung fu to fight with Da Ming? At that time, Daying will have to appease the big alliance while coming to fight with the Ming Dynasty, so he can't lose it?

And if Britain wants to choose a side, no matter who he chooses, the other is an ally of the Ming Dynasty.

In this way, it is impossible for the Ming family to single-handedly take on all the white skins or most of the white skins. The Ming will always have a powerful white-skinned military group as an ally. The Ming Dynasty, which has no allies, can single-handedly challenge the whole of Europe, and with a European military bloc as an ally, isn't it a win?

So Zhuge Weidao heard that Natalie's phone was coming, and quickly ordered: "Quick, get the phone quickly!" ”

Well, Zhuge Weidao still has a "mobile phone" in the Taoist, or a towing mobile phone, that is, dragging the telephone line, and being held by Ali with a tray to Zhuge Weidao, advanced enough, right?

"Hey, hey. Natalie? Zhuge Weidao picked up the telephone receiver and asked, "Honey, are you okay?" Di Li and Ah Kong and I miss you very much! ”

"Who are Di Li and Ah Kong?" A very serious male voice came from the telephone, speaking in Rakshasa language, but he clearly understood Chinese.

"You are." Zhuge asked.

"I'm Nikolai!"

It's the Tsar!

"Your Majesty," Zhuge replied quickly, "Di Li and Ah Kong are pets that Natalie and I have together. ”

"Oh," the tsar on the other end of the phone didn't ask any more, but said formally, "Zhuge Daozi, I have signed the contract. The Rakshasa Kingdom will buy a total of 5 Hero-class, 1 Hero-class, and 2 Austrone-class. In addition, you will be responsible for helping us upgrade one of the Sovereign-class and one Hongwu Emperor-class that is being built at the Nikolaev shipyard. Finally, I also need you to send the first batch of Hero-class, one Hero-class, and two South-Island class to Rakshasa in the shortest possible time. As for the price...... The upgraded Sovereign class and Hongwu Emperor class will be discussed later, and the other ships will be handled according to what you and Vice Admiral Menshikov have discussed. But I can't pay you in cash, but in Baku oil! ”