Hearing this, Ferdinand instantly became interested: "How much do you plan to add?" ”

Ernst: "According to the development path of East Africa, we will not invest much in the military in the next few years, but the navy is an exception, and in view of the increasing pressure on the coastal defense of East Africa, I intend to build the East African Navy into a ninth naval force in the world after Britain, France, the United States, Russia, Spain, Austria-Hungary and Germany by 1880." ”

In addition to the countries mentioned by Ernst, the Netherlands is currently in ninth place, Italy is tenth, and before the Italist-Austrian war, Italy was in fifth place.

The strength of the Ottoman navy should not be underestimated, because since 1860, the Ottoman Sultan Abdullah has been vigorously developing the navy, purchasing a number of ironclad ships.

Spain, on the other hand, has a skinny camel bigger than a horse, and has never fallen into the ranks of the world's naval powers, much stronger than Portugal next door.

East Asia, on the other hand, has no country on the list, the Far East, the only two in East Asia capable of developing naval power, has not yet started, and Japan is relatively poor and does not have the money to develop its navy vigorously.

The kingdom of East Africa had no money, but Ernst was rich, and because he had sold a lot of his property, he had cash in his hands.

So Ernst said confidently: "We don't buy too much, 7 ironclad ships, I think is a more appropriate number, enough to deal with the current coastal defense situation faced by the East African Navy." ”

"How much? Are you sure it's not a traditional wooden battleship? It's an ironclad! Archduke Ferdinand immediately could not sit still, lest Ernst fool him.

Ernst said: "Of course, it is an ironclad ship, but I want to explain in advance that the tonnage of this batch of ironclad ships should be selected at about 3,000 tons, like a giant ironclad ship of more than 5,000 tons, I only plan to build two, and the top ironclad ships of more than 7,000 tons are no longer in the scope at present." ”

When Ferdinand heard Ernst's reply, he stammered a little and said, "Good, good, good ......," and he had to calm down first.

Konstantin was also a little surprised, he suddenly felt a little strange to his son, this is still the same Ernst who picked and searched the navy in the past! Then he said: "Ernst, if you really plan to do this, it is not a small expense, the purchase of warships alone is an astronomical amount. ”

Ernst signaled to his father not to worry: "Father, this time I really don't want to draw cakes, we have plenty of money." ”

Konstantin asked, "What the hell are you doing in North America?" It can't be a robbery of the US treasury! ”

Ernst said with a smile: "If I really rob the US treasury, I dare to try the position of the world's first navy." ”

Ernst changed his words: "And don't think too much, this money is the naval fund for the next seven years, that is, in seven years, a total of more than 200 million East African Rhine Shields will be invested, and the funds are limited, so I want you to launch more Austrian relations with your father-in-law." ”

The 200 million East African Rhine guilders were almost seven million pounds, and in 1870 the Royal Navy spent nine million pounds a year.

On average, East Africa will spend about £1 million a year on building a navy over the next seven years.

However, in fact, the East African government also has to allocate funds to the East African Navy separately every year, but the East African government and the Japanese government are both poor ghosts, so this money is not much, but it is more than enough to pay the East African Navy salaries and improve food.

Archduke Ferdinand, who had already determined that he was not a dream, nodded seriously and said, "Leave this matter to me!" With this money, I promise to build a strong navy for you. ”

For Archduke Ferdinand, this was a real battle of wealth, and as soon as the money was available, the East African navy would immediately reach the same level of funding as the Austro-Hungarian navy.

Although there is no shortage of funds, the advantage of the Austro-Hungarian Navy over the East African Navy lies in its solid foundation, perfect industrial system, complete personnel training system, and rich experience.

So Archduke Ferdinand said: "It is true that a lot can be done with money, but now there is another problem in front of us that must be solved, and that is the education system that professionally trains the navy." ”

Ernst agreed with this very much, and this aspect was indeed the biggest shortcoming in East Africa, so he asked Archduke Ferdinand for advice: "Father-in-law, you might as well express your thoughts." ”

Archduke Ferdinand: "The Kingdom of East Africa has no foundation in this regard at all, so it is necessary to introduce a complete naval education system from Europe, build a naval school, and train professional naval talents, and my idea is to build a complete naval education system on Pemba Island." ”

"O Pemba! That's a nice place indeed. ”

"Yes, Pemba Island can better simulate the naval combat environment, the place is also large, the supply is also convenient, and there is a ready-made military base for students to practice and operate......"

Pemba reminds Ernst of the Etajima Naval Academy in Japanese movies in his previous life, which is still called the Japan Naval Academy.

It is said that the establishment of a naval school in Japan is actually a rather helpless matter, because at this time, Japanese naval students were rejected everywhere, and the specific reason is unknown, and it may be due to racial reasons.

However, the Kingdom of East Africa has not been troubled by this, since Archduke Ferdinand founded the East African Navy, every year the East African government organizes students to study at the Royal Naval School of Austria.

Not to mention Archduke Ferdinand, even for the sake of Constantine and Ernst's face, other European countries will also recruit East African students, at least in the countries that had good relations with the Heshingen Kingdom in the past.

However, Archduke Ferdinand still believed that East Africa should have its own naval training system, which was also in line with Ernst's idea, independent and self-reliant!

It's just that Ernst didn't pay attention to the navy before, so he didn't think about it, and now that Archduke Ferdinand mentions it, he will simply implement it together.

Ernst: "Yes, I have to worry about how to do it, the funds for the construction of the naval school are funded by me alone, and they are not taken from the previous purchase of ships. ”

"There is no problem, in terms of teacher resources, I think with my connections, I can recruit a lot of excellent talents from Austria."

Ernst and Archduke Ferdinand agreed on digging a corner of Austria, which was in fact a good thing for Austria as well.

The Austrian navy was never taken seriously, and although it had won the battle against Italy and recovered the Venice region, the Austro-Hungarian navy did not increase its funding (and it was reduced at this time in history).

One of the important tasks of the Austro-Hungarian Navy was to suppress the Italian Navy, and now that the unification of Italy was impossible, Austria-Hungary had no motivation to invest in the Navy, for which the Imperial Navy Commander von Tergethoff was quite worried. (History changes, von Tergerthoff did not die young.) ）

This is also an important reason why the Austrian Navy received the order "Archduke Ferdinand", it is better to build warships for East Africa, so that it can accumulate experience, so as not to lose the ability to build Austrian warships, and at the same time you can experiment with new technologies.

Under normal circumstances, countries will not sell a top-level warship like the "Archduke Ferdinand", after all, it is related to military secrets, of course, if you add money, it will be counted separately.

But when it was sold to East Africa, there was no such concern at all, first of all, the relationship between the two countries was close, secondly, East Africa did not have this ability for the time being, and finally, Archduke Ferdinand was also the younger brother of His Majesty the Emperor, and he was still the old leader of the navy.

Archduke Ferdinand: "Then the last thing, what should be the name of this naval school?" ”

Ernst: "Just use your name, Ferdinand Naval Academy, after all, the East African Navy was established under the leadership of your father-in-law. ”

Ernst told the truth that there are few top talents in the world who are more suitable for the development of the navy than Archduke Ferdinand, and Archduke Ferdinand's reemployment in the navy of the Kingdom of East Africa has really helped him a lot.

Without Archduke Ferdinand, the development of the East African Navy would definitely be difficult, such as the Far Northeast Ocean Naval Division, which was fooled by the British and took many detours in the process of re-establishment, and spent more money and did not do anything.

"Ferdinand's Naval Academy!"

Hearing Ernst's name, Archduke Ferdinand was obviously more happy, which can be regarded as a recognition of his achievements over the years.

(End of chapter)