After the invitation from the East China Government, the Embassy of Britain and France in Siam and the Fleet Command Palace asked for instructions from the country, they also accepted the invitation to participate in the activities of the East China Government Fleet.

After all, although Britain and France and the East China Government are not in the face of each other, they still maintain a certain friendly relationship on the whole. Moreover, this time the East China Government took the initiative to invite it. If Britain and France dare not join forces, wouldn’t it be too cowardly? I originally refused to prevent the East China Government from coming to the visiting fleet of Siam, but Britain and France lost face in Siam. If they rejected the invitation of the East China Government to participate in the drill, they would no longer have to show off their power in front of Siam. Therefore, both countries felt that they might as well accept the invitation and see what tricks the East China Government’s visiting fleet could play.

In fact, the visiting fleet of the East China Government did not use any tricks. Britain and France accepted the invitation. In addition, the Siam Navy and the four navies organized a drill at sea and on the shore. The sea mainly carried out shooting drills, each warship set up its own target ships and shot on its own. Therefore, all parties also achieved good results. On the shore, they carried out military projects such as shooting, swimming, cross-country, and obstacles. In these aspects, the East China Government fleet, which was fought by Marines, had obvious advantages. The naval soldiers of Britain and France naturally could not compare with professional Marines in these projects, let alone the Siam soldiers.

At the end, a party was held in the four sides. The cooks on various warships of the East China Government provided rich Chinese food to soldiers from all sides, making the soldiers from Britain, France, and Siam all over the mouths of oil. At the same time, the soldiers from both sides also performed literary and artistic performances and gave each other gifts. All of these were completely normal exchange activities and there was nothing special. Therefore, after the event, the leaders of the two countries felt a little confused and did not know what the meaning of the East China Government did.

In fact, the East China Government's visiting fleet was to show its demeanor of a great power in Siam, because compared to Britain and France trying every means to prevent the East China Government and Siam from getting closer, the East China Government did not care about these rifts and took the initiative to invite warships from Britain and France to participate in the drill, nor did they deliberately make things difficult during the drill. And more importantly, the East China Government sent a signal to Siam that the East China Government was not exclusive in developing diplomatic relations with Siam, and did not prevent Siam and Britain and France from maintaining and continuing to develop diplomatic relations. Compared with Britain and France's desperate efforts to prevent Siam and the East China Government from developing diplomatic relations, the mind and demeanor of both sides was completely incomparable.

So after the event, Chulalongkorn couldn't help but sigh that he was a descendant of the Celestial Kingdom. His mind and demeanor were indeed different. After the Western barbarians of Britain, France, it was indeed far inferior to those of Western barbarians. Although Siam is now suffering from the invasion and colonization of European countries, the country's borders are already opened, and it is not so easy to close them. At least Siam has established close ties with European countries such as Britain, France, the United States, Germany and the Netherlands, and has rashly cut them off. Not to mention that it has a huge blow to Siam in national security, it will also have a significant impact on the national economy and social stability.

Chulalongkorn implemented reforms at home and introduced the East China government to restrain the forces of Britain and France. The fundamental purpose was not to completely cut off relations with Britain and France and drive the forces of Britain and France out of Siam. Instead, he hoped to establish an equal country-to-state relationship with European countries such as Britain and France, and let the forces of Britain and France respect the legal system of Siam in Siam.

By this time, the East China Government Fleet's visit to Siam was basically over and achieved a very successful success. Therefore, the East China Government Fleet was also ready to say goodbye to leave Siam.

At this moment, Siam Navy Marshal Yoyatai held a private banquet to entertain Lu Kai. At the banquet, after three tours of wine, Yoyatai suggested to Lu Kai that Siam was interested in purchasing warships from the East China Government. I don’t know if the East China Government could agree and what conditions were there.

Although the Siam Navy is a navy mainly based on nearshore defense, and its warships are basically small and medium-sized warships, the Siam Navy has not thought of buying several strong warships to enrich the strength of the Siam Navy. However, the Siam Navy's warships are basically purchased from the UK. However, the British warships are not only high in price, but also have harsh additional conditions. They are only willing to buy small and medium-sized warships below 5,000 tons of Siam, and refuse to sell more powerful warships, which means they do not want the Siam Navy to strengthen its strength, because Siam's strategic position is very important. Britain deliberately suppressed the Siam navy's power in order to keep Siam's security at the UK, so that the UK can control Siam and control the strategic points of this Southeast Asia region.

There are no too strong maritime opponents near Siam, and Britain and France are too strong, and there is basically no possibility of catching up. Therefore, Siam's military power is mainly placed on land, and naval construction is enough to maintain the safety of the coastline, so we simply chose to lie flat.

However, in the past few days, through exchanges with the East China Government's visiting fleet, Siam's naval strategic theory has been greatly improved, and at the same time, it has a new understanding of its own strategic position and has also realized the importance of coastal defense. It is not enough to just protect the security of the coastline. At least it must expand the defense line to the nearshore, which requires a stronger warship.

Of course, Siam itself cannot build warships, so it can only rely on purchases, but Britain obviously cannot rely on them. However, now there is another option, that is, the East China Government can also provide high-quality warships. Therefore, after consultation with several confidant ministers, Chulalongkorn decided to propose the intention to purchase warships to the East China Government.

In addition, arms trade has never been a simple economic issue, but represents a strong political trend. Therefore, if the East China government agrees to build warships for Siam without attaching harsh political conditions to the UK, it means that the mutual trust between Siam and the East China government can be further strengthened.

After hearing Yoyatai's words, Lu Kai's face became solemn, saying, "Marson, I don't know what kind of warship Siam wants to buy. Is it a clear goal or we need to redesign according to Siam's requirements!"

Yoyatai hesitated for a moment and said, "We have negotiated and confirmed that we hope to purchase two Jinan-class and Qingzhou-class ships. Of course, some details need to be modified according to our requirements."

Although Siam decided to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the navy, considering the actual situation of Siam, the first is that its national strength is limited, and secondly, its industrial capacity is relatively weak, its supporting facilities are insufficient, and it cannot afford to play battleships or large armored cruisers. Therefore, it chose to buy medium-sized armored cruisers and large protective cruisers. The performance of the Qingzhou-class has been understood in the visits in recent days. It has fast speed, strong mobility, and its firepower defense is not weak. It can be said to be a cruiser with excellent performance.

Although the warships visited this time do not have the Jinan class, they also reported that they use the same ship type as the Qingzhou class, so most of the spare parts can be used in terms of logistics maintenance, which is suitable for countries with low industrial levels like Siam. Moreover, the Jinan class has strengthened armor protection and firepower. Although it is slightly inferior in speed, its combat effectiveness is stronger than that of the Qingzhou class. Therefore, if the Siam Navy can purchase these two types of warships, it can indeed greatly improve the combat effectiveness of the Siam Navy and improve Siam's control over the surrounding waters.

At the same time, Siam had to consider the attitude of Britain's attitude when purchasing warships. Although Siam wanted to get rid of British control, Britain still had a great influence in Siam after all. It was not the situation Siam wanted to see if it was a rash fight with Britain. Therefore, this time, choosing to buy medium-sized armored cruisers and large protective cruisers can enhance its own strength without excessive stimulation to the UK. It can be said that Siam's plan to buy these two types of warships was also carefully considered.

Lu Kai nodded. Although he was a soldier, he also knew that the Jinan and Qingzhou were foreign trade warships launched by the East China Government. Their goal was to build a country with a weak naval force and no high pursuit, or a country with a strong naval force, such as the Ottoman Turkish Empire.

And Lu Kai also knew that the East China government was about to establish a good diplomatic relationship with Siam, and arms trade was one of the best ways to strengthen diplomatic relations between the two sides, so he nodded and smiled: "Of course, we welcome Siam to buy our warships! As for the conditions, we usually sell weapons without any additional conditions."

When Yoyatai heard this, he was very happy and said hurriedly: "That's great, thank you very much!"

Lu Kai laughed and said, "Marcel, don't be polite. We promise to build high-quality warships for Siam." After a pause, he said, "But I don't know much about the procedures for purchasing warships, and I don't participate in this matter. Therefore, if Siam really intends to buy warships, it is best to directly connect with relevant departments in our country through the office. Of course, I can inform the country first so that the country can be prepared."

After hearing this, Yoyatai nodded repeatedly and said, "This is great, this is great, but before this matter is clear, please keep the secret and don't disclose it." It turned out that Siam was also afraid that the UK would know about purchasing a warship and interfere with it. Although this matter could not be hidden sooner or later, it would be hidden for a while. After signing the contract and paying, the UK would not be able to stop it even if it knew about it, so it chose to propose it to the East China Government at such a private banquet.

Lu Kai also nodded and said, "I understand, Marshal, please don't worry."
Chapter completed!