When Nelson received Grenville's message, he was also surprised and hesitated.

"Could it be that Daming has completed the relevant verification and determined that 10,000 tons is the best tonnage for aircraft-carrying cruisers?

"What goals and roles can a 10,000-ton aircraft-carrying cruiser achieve?

"If the armor is completely discarded and the hull is designed with the greatest length and width possible, the hull length of a 10,000-ton cruiser should be able to achieve about 180 meters.

"This will allow for a flight deck of more than 170 meters, and it should be able to carry more than 20 aircraft.

"Without the installation of artillery with a caliber of more than a hundred millimeters, it seems that most of the functions envisaged can really be achieved......

"But it's really compact......"

Including Nelson, the admirals and engineers of this world do not have the experience of the later generations in Zhu Jingyuan's mind.

There is no clear concept in my mind about how the aircraft carrier should be designed and what functions it should achieve.

Taking the simplest tonnage and size as an example, Zhu Jingyuan knew that the larger the fleet aircraft carrier used for combat, the better.

To build a 60,000-ton aircraft carrier now is definitely a serious waste of tonnage.

The 40,000-ton level can already be said to be a complete carrier ship for the current propeller carrier-based aircraft.

For a well-funded navy, 40,000 tons is a design that fills the standard.

For a relatively embarrassed navy, 40,000 tons is already a waste of resources and tonnage.

In the original history, except for the aircraft carriers converted from battleships and battle cruisers, the fleet aircraft carriers specially designed during and before World War II did not exceed 40,000 tons at full load.

It wasn't until after the end of World War II that the Midway and Daring-class aircraft carriers were completed, and they really exceeded 40,000 tons.

However, the size of the aircraft will also expand rapidly, and the amount of tonnage that is now wasted will soon become prescient.

Saving and shrinking tonnage for the sake of cost can become obsolete as aviation evolves.

Nelson didn't know any of this, so he took it for granted what the minimum tonnage would be to be able to achieve his goal.

Nelson felt that 10,000 tons, although extremely compact, could indeed realize his current vision of an aircraft-carrying cruiser.

At the same time, Nelson and other admirals and engineers instinctively began to design aircraft carriers from cruisers.

Zhu Jingyuan came directly against the main high-speed battleship, and the psychological expectations of the two sides were originally different.

The engineers of the Ming Dynasty know that the aircraft carrier is the status of the capital ship, so they will not feel that there is anything wrong with the same as the battleship.

British generals and engineers would also feel that there was nothing wrong with building aircraft-carrying cruisers according to cruisers.

On the contrary, Nelson once proposed that a 20,000 or even 30,000 ton aircraft-carrying cruiser is too outrageous.

While Nelson continued to think about it himself, he immediately called a meeting of the relevant personnel to discuss it, as Grenville suggested.

Mainly admirals and related design and construction personnel.

Including eighty-eight-year-old Samuel Hood and sixty-four-year-old Cuthbert Collingwood.

In its original history, Hood died in 1816 at the age of ninety-two, and his brother lived to be eighty-eight.

Collingwood, much younger, died in 1810.

However, the medical conditions of this era were better, the ships themselves were safer, and Admirals like Collingwood suffered fewer injuries and better living conditions.

In addition, the world war preceded the Napoleonic wars by more than ten years, and both he and Nelson were younger when the war began.

So Collingwood was still alive at this time, and he seemed to be quite healthy.

When he arrived at the meeting place, Nelson helped the eighty-eight-year-old man Hood to sit down first, and then briefly explained the news from the front and the general content of his own thinking alone, so that everyone could help refer to it.

Although Hood is almost unable to walk, his spirit is very high.

After listening to Nelson, without waiting for others to speak, he spoke directly:

"Not to mention how the French came to be this 10,000 tons, whether it is the experience provided by the Ming Dynasty, or whether it is the standard that the French themselves tossed blindly.

"Even if this 10,000 tons is really the experience provided by the Ming Dynasty, what the Ming people can do with 10,000 tons, can we British people do it with 10,000 tons?"

The slightly caustic rhetorical question made the generals and engineers on the scene mutter.

Nelson is Hood's disciple and old subordinate, and he is also the most familiar with Hood, and now he is also the host of the meeting, so he directly picked up this stubble that others are not easy to accept:

"Of course we can't do it, the Ming people used a displacement of 40,000 tons to build a high-speed battleship that may have a speed of up to 30 knots, and the defense is likely to be no less than that of traditional capital ships.

"If we want to achieve the same target as Daming's 40,000-ton capital ship, we may need 45,000 tons or even 50,000 tons."

Hood immediately added:

"I think 50,000 tons may not be realized, some things don't work, and you have to worry about sinking when you leave the port!"

The corners of Nelson's mouth twitched slightly, this old man's mouth is still so poisonous:

"So...... Teacher, what do you mean? ”

Hood glanced at the crowd at the scene, and finally fell on Nelson:

"We need to admit that our current level of craftsmanship does have a significant gap with Daming.

"However, I don't think that there is any obvious gap between the brains and experience of our generals and craftsmen and the Ming Dynasty.

"I think we can't take the experience of the Ming Dynasty as the truth, and the research of the Ming people may not be completely correct.

"During the design of the capital ship of the new artillery, our Lord Nelson has shown his talent.

"It was impossible for us to get the experience of the Ming people at that time, but Nelson's ideas were highly consistent with those of the Ming people.

When Daming's new warship sailed to London, it also completely confirmed the correctness of Nelson's thinking.

"So I mean, you should reflect on it, why do you think Da Ming's choice must be right?

"You should also be confident in yourself, and don't blindly follow anyone, including the Ming people!

"That's all I want to say, I'm really old, my brain is no longer good, I won't participate in the specific details of the discussion, all of you can express your opinions."

When Hood said this, the originally somewhat depressing atmosphere of the scene was suddenly loosened.

Then they all began to reflect on their blind obedience to the Ming experience.

Nelson also came back to his senses again, and after serious reflection, he began to discuss with the generals and craftsmen.

After a bit of brainstorming, Collingwood first grasped a point that everyone overlooked:

"I suddenly realized a question, is the aircraft-carrying cruiser envisioned by Lord Nelson a capital ship or an auxiliary ship?

"If this new ship is to replace the original capital ship to some extent, then it is the capital ship, right?

"If the design of an aircraft-carrying cruiser is completed by the standard of a capital ship, 10,000 tons is definitely not enough."

The people at the scene are all very familiar with the warship, but the effect of darkness under the light is formed here.

When Collingwood came up with this idea, the other generals and craftsmen were quick to react.

Nelson slapped himself directly on the thigh:

"That's right! This new battleship is the capital ship, and we can't use the name of the aircraft-carrying cruiser, which misleads us.

"If it's a capital ship, even if it's a traditional capital ship design, it's at least 15,000 tons.

"If it is in accordance with the speed and protection standards of the new high-speed capital ships, even if the warship carrying flying machines does not need to be equipped with large-caliber main guns, it should have at least 20,000 tons.

"Coupled with the technological gap between us and Daming, we absolutely cannot accept the 10,000-ton aircraft carrier standard."

Collingwood and the other generals nodded in agreement.

Then they continued the discussion around this angle, and quickly determined the negotiation objectives that were not very different from the original:

"It's better that there is no limit, the reasonable target is 30,000 tons, and the bottom line is 20,000 tons."

Hood listened to their discussion in his chair, completely uninterrupted, nodding his head from time to time.

When the goal was redetermined, Nelson was relieved and said with a smile:

"Now, if we look back at the opinion of the French from this point of view, we even have to consider that the French are deliberately misleading us."

Several generals and craftsmen nodded, but Collingwood shook his head with a smile:

"No, I think with the ability of the French, it is possible that they have really gone astray."

Insulting the law is a British tradition, and the audience immediately burst into laughter as soon as this remark came out.

Nelson, however, couldn't help laughing and said:

"However, it is also possible that the perception of the purpose of aircraft-carrying cruisers is different from ours.

"If they don't see this new warship as the main combat ship, but as a reconnaissance auxiliary ship, 10,000 tons is really enough.

"This type of ship, which does not need to be too high, is completely sufficient with twenty-five knots.

"The aircraft does not need to be too big or heavy, it can be formed for reconnaissance and observation.

"In fact, we can also build an aircraft-carrying cruiser of this class."

As soon as Nelson said this, most of the generals and craftsmen became serious again.

Then the discussion of possibilities in this direction continued.

…………

The dispute between the British, the French, and the Spaniards over the ships carrying flying machines actually aroused the concern of Lucia, Prussia, Austria and other countries.

In particular, the Prussians, who had the strongest sense of crisis, were particularly sensitive to anything that might be risky.

Prussian Prime Minister Hardenberg, after the day's meeting, carefully sorted out his thoughts and sent a telegram to his past, explaining the situation today and making suggestions and demands:

"Our admirals have known the idea of a ship with flying machines in mind.

"But so far, our focus on naval construction has been to complete the complete traditional fleet that we should have, and to build enough high-speed battleships.

"We have not studied this yet-yet-finalized ship in depth and have not paid much attention to it.

"But at this meeting, we found that Britain, the country with the strongest naval tradition, took it very seriously, and seemed to put it on an equal footing with capital ships.

"The Spaniards also seem to be relatively serious.

"The French don't seem to care, but they still make special demands on it.

"Considering the attitudes of the above three countries, I think we should also carry out relevant research.

"While the purpose of such a ship is not yet clear, we should avoid a situation in which a potential competitor country has one that we do not even fully understand.

"That's a very dangerous situation.

"I think we should start researching and testing accordingly right away.

"And participate in the corresponding negotiations at the meeting, and obtain a tonnage share that is not weaker than that of Britain, France and Lucia."

The Lucians were slightly less sensitive than the Prussians.

In a telegram sent by Wedemeyer to Emperor Nikolai, he said:

"The Spaniards suggested that the French and British discuss with them separately about ships with flying machines.

"I think that whatever the use of such ships is, what the British and French have should we Lucia have.

"The point is that the three of them must not be allowed to leave us behind and discuss and set any rules and standards in private.

"I will send a formal notice to the three countries tomorrow asking for the relevant discussions to be put into a formal meeting."

While the Prussians and Lucians were brewing emotions, the representative of Austria, Metternich, had already taken direct action.

Metternich directly sent people to contact the representatives of all the countries in turn, demanding that the matter of aircraft-carrying cruisers be openly discussed at the next meeting.

The French, the British, the Spaniards, of course, wanted to discuss it privately.

They can also imagine that they should be at the forefront of the research of aircraft-carrying cruisers.

Lucia and Prussia, which are continental countries, may still know nothing about this kind of ship.

Letting go of open discussion in formal meetings is equivalent to letting them learn from the experience.

But in the face of this collective demand, they could not refuse.

Mutual disclosure of shipbuilding plans and mutual supervision were the basis and prerequisite for the signing of naval treaties.

If the three countries had to negotiate privately, the naval treaty might not have been signed.

And the three of them are the most eager to sign a treaty.

Lucia and Prussia happened to be less concerned about the treaty again.

So, two days later, a new round of official meetings was held again, and the standards for aircraft-carrying cruisers began to be discussed exclusively.

At the beginning of the meeting, the representatives of Lucia, Prussia, Austria, Italy, and the Ottomans all subconsciously looked at the representatives of Great Britain, France, and Spain, and glanced at the representatives of Portugal and the Netherlands.

The meaning is obvious, you have experience with this, and we will wait for you to speak.

This time, Grenville in Britain had already received a reply from Nelson, asking to continue to adhere to the original point of view, and the tonnage of aircraft-carrying cruisers should be relaxed to the class of 30,000 tons.

Grenville, however, did not speak first, wanting to hear if the French and Spaniards had any new ideas.

The French delegate, Talleyrand, had discussed with Crown Prince Charles and Admiral Villeneuve, and had decided to overturn the demands made by his side at the previous meeting.

However, Talleyrand felt that he did not need to take the initiative to "repent", and should make "concessions" after arguing with the British, and the tonnage standards for aircraft carriers should be relaxed naturally.

So Talleyrand is also silent now, waiting for the British to speak.

As a result, both sides found that the other side was silent, and at the same time noticed the inquiring and expectant gazes of the representatives of other countries.

After a few seconds of silence and hesitation, the two turned their faces in unison and looked at Manuel, the representative of Spain.

This seems to mean that we said it first in the last meeting, and this time it's your turn.

Manuel realized that he couldn't hide, so he simply let go:

"In my opinion, the new type of ship with flying machines is really a completely new type of ship that has not yet been finalized.

"The current direct setting of overly strict standards is to limit the future development of such ships.

"So I think there should be a relatively loose standard, for example, no more than sixty percent of the tonnage of the capital ship......"

As soon as the Spaniard spoke, the Englishman Grenville took over:

"The tonnage of the capital ship does not exceed 40,000 tons, and the six achievements are 24,000 tons.

"I think Spain is in the right direction, and there should be some relaxation of restrictions on this new warship.

"24,000 tons is still slightly lower, just relax it to 30,000 tons."

Talleyrand knew he should agree, but he couldn't say it so directly:

"30,000 tons is completely unnecessary, 10,000 tons is completely enough, and 20,000 tons are already absolutely rich."

Talleyrand's concessions were so vague that most of the delegates did not notice them.

However, Austria's Metternich subconsciously glanced at Talleyrand, and then deliberately summed it up meaningfully:

In other words, the tonnage restrictions of the United Kingdom, France, and Spain on new ships carrying flying machines have been focused on between 20,000 and 30,000 tons?

"The next thing we have to do is to make sure, how much tonnage should be given?"

Talleyrand frowned when he heard this, and the apparent meaning of his words was actually to use 20,000 tons as the upper limit.

His actual purpose is to retreat on the tonnage limit, and he will continue to retreat on the basis of 20,000 tons.

This Metternich asked rhetorically, taking 20,000 tons as the lower limit, this guy may have guessed his intentions.

If his target is really the 20,000-ton cap, he must now stand up against Metternich's summary.

But Talleyrand, thinking about his goal, did not again explicitly object, but said a series of ramblings.

The French retreated, and neither the British nor the Spaniards were close in intentions, and neither wanted to impose too many restrictions on such ships, but the Spaniards demanded significantly less.

The rest of the world is basically watching the reaction of these three countries.

Thus, after almost a day of grinding, the three countries finalized the tonnage of this new ship at 28,000 tons.

The French proposed that such warships be officially named aircraft carriers, distinguishing them from battleships and cruisers.

Each country received a share of eighty-four thousand tons dedicated to the construction of such new ships.

Finally, at the request of the British, the description of the tonnage limit for capital ships was revised.

Changed from using the tonnage share of capital ships to build cruisers, to using the share of superior ships to build lower-class ships.

The reason is that the aircraft carrier itself should belong to the cruiser, but now it is named separately and listed, then the description of the original rules should be changed.

However, the tonnage limit of the capital ship is still limited, and it can only be used to build lower-class ships, and cannot use the tonnage of lower-class ships to build capital ships.

Although Grenville made his tone and language seem a little less important, he could not hide the actual request after it was made.

They are clearly preparing to build aircraft carriers with the tonnage of capital ships.

Representatives of almost all countries realized that the British attached such importance to the new aircraft carrier as a ship to a level that was incomprehensible to outsiders.