"China needs warships, powerful warships. On behalf of the Chinese government, I formally requested to your government to order naval warships!" A firm gaze shone in Li Hongzhang's eyes.

The strength of the 6th Army can only defend the country and protect the territory of the sixth place. It will be the world of the navy in the future. Li Hongzhang naturally understands this truth.

In the past, there was no conditions in the Qing court, but now it is the rule of China. The united Chinese and powerful Chinese countries also made Li Hongzhang feel that his back was much harder.

The Chinese navy must also become stronger.

"Mr. Foreign Minister, I have already said it very clearly. Germany has no way to provide military purchases to China. Why, is warships not included in the scope of military purchases?" The German consul said with a smile.

"If the package is not included, your government has the final say. A warship without cannons may not be considered a warship, right?" Li Hongzhang's diplomatic skills are very high.

"Okay, Mr. Foreign Minister. What warships do China want to order? Our country's Volkeng Shipyard can build the most powerful warships in Asia." The German consul said with a smile. Although he is a friend, he still has to put profit first when discussing business. "We can build it for you at the best price!"

Li Hongzhang was secretly funny. The foreign devils were just dishonest. They just refused, but now they said they would be at the best price.

In fact, the Germans really wanted to build large warships. If the Chinese invested, they would be happier. In the original history, the Qing court bought several warships from the Germans.

"Sir, please don't use old iron-clad ships with poor performance to perfunctory China. Although our heavy industry has just started, I believe you have seen the development of China. China is now changing every day, and our shipyard can already produce small steel ships." Li Hongzhang said in a mature manner.

"Absolutely not, please rest assured, Mr. Foreign Minister. What kind of warship does China want? Or do they need the German government to design it separately for China?" asked the German consul.

In the original history, after the German Emperor William II ascended the throne, he participated in the commemoration ceremony of Queen Victoria of England. The large-scale ship reading style in Britain shocked William II. From then on, William II decided to launch the navy. The "Brandenburg-class" battleship was the first battleship built by Germany. In this era, it was definitely one of the most powerful battleships.

During the period from 1889 to 19o2, the German Empire Navy built a total of 2o battleships, including the first batch of "Brandenburg" class battleships: the General Electoral, Brandenburg, Wiesenburg, and Wools.

The Brandenburg-class battleship started construction in 1890 and completed in 1893.

Li Hongzhang asked someone to take out the drawings.

Three presidential secretariats were also accompanied by Li Hongzhang, who were responsible for the liaison of heavy industry and military industry.

In addition, there are three shipbuilding experts who came from Qinhuangdao.

"Mr. Consul, Germany has so many shipyards, such as the Volkeng Shipyard and the Hamburg Shipyard. Instead of leaving so many ships vacant, it is better to build warships for China. Your own demand is not enough to support the rapid development of the shipbuilding industry, so China is helping you. Therefore, in terms of price, China needs absolute preferential prices. The main gun consists of three dual-mounted 3o5mm main guns, 6 1o5mm caliber guns; 8 88mm shè cannons; 12 37mm machine guns; 6 45mm water torpedo tubes. In addition, the superstructure must be reduced, the deck, turret and superstructure armor must be thickened!" One of the senior engineers from China personally explained to the German consul.

The German consul laughed. The Germans were still relatively rigorous, especially now that the institutions and liaisons in China are even more rigorous and professional than those in the Germans, which also opened the eyes of the German consul.

In fact, what Li Hongzhang is talking about is the "Dingyuan" combat ship in the original history.

The cute president did not intend to eat a fat man in one bite. Within ten years, it was impossible to think of Europeans fighting with Europeans. Without a strong navy as support, he only relied on the 6th army to fight to Europe.

Is it possible?

Now is not the era of Genghis Khan.

The Dingyuan ship is a first-class armored ship with a cost of 620,000 marks (equivalent to 370,000 pounds). It is a Dingyuan-class combat ship. It is a 7ooo-ton first-class ironclad ship built by the Volkeng shipyard in Tantbury, Germany (the place was transferred to Poland after World War II, now known as Szczechine).

They are the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan respectively, which are the main battleships of the Beiyang Fleet of the Qing Dynasty in the original history.

Construction started in 1881, and the Dingyuan ship was launched on December 28 of the same year, and the Zhenyuan ship of the same level was launched on November 28 of the following year. The Dingyuan and Zhenyuan ships were completed in 1884, and the Dingyuan ship cost about 1.42 million taels of silver and the Zhenyuan ship cost about 1.42 million taels of silver. The British ambassador at the time Wilma pointed out that the prices of these two ironclad ships were already very cheap at that time.

The German government won this order in order to stimulate heavy industry on the one hand and increase Germany's political influence in the Far East on the other hand.

In 1885, the two ships arrived at Dagukou and joined the Beiyang Navy.

The second ship was called "the number one giant ship in Asia" at that time.

In the same year, a 244-ton cruiser, Jiyuan, was purchased in Germany, with performance far less than Dingyuan. The two ships "Zhenyuan" accounted for nearly half of the former, 680,000 taels of silver.

The Meng President asked to order a Dingyuan ship as a specimen.

On the one hand, they are working on other people's latest technology, which is not realistic.

The cute president's requirements are very simple. In the initial stage of the Chinese Navy, it is enough to reach the level of the Qing court in its original history. The key is that China is not the Qing Dynasty, so there will definitely be no such funny things as non-maintenance and insufficient shells.

If the price is right, two ships are OK.

The Dingyuan and Zhenyuan ships did not even change their names. This was what the cute president had agreed with Li Hongzhang before.

The cute CEO would not want a cruiser like Jiyuan, which is not cost-effective. When it can research a battleship, it is naturally no problem!

"Dingyuan" is also known as the "Saxon" improved warship in the West.

Dingyuan [The second ship of Dingyuan and Zhenyuan were called "the number one giant ship in Asia" at that time. The second ship was 94.5 meters long, 18 meters wide, 6 meters draft, normal displacement of 7335 tons or 743 tons, full load displacement of 767 tons, power was two horizontal three-cylinder reciprocating steam engines, 8 round coal-fired boilers, power of 6ooo or 73oo horsepower, flight of 14.5 knots ("Zhenyuan" is 6ooo or 73oo horsepower, flight of 14.5 knots), a range of 45oo nautical miles/10 knots, equipped with a searchlight with illumination of 8,000 candlelights and 20,000 candlelights, and 7o kilowatts of power is provided by 3 motors ("Zhenyuan" is 2 motors)

The total armor weight is 1461 tons, the armor thickness on the Iron Armor Fort waterline is 14 inches (365mm), the armor thickness under the waterline is 12 inches (3o5mm), the armor thickness of the 3o5 gun seat is 3o4mm, the gun shield is 15mm, the command tower armor thickness is 2o3mm, the coal cabinet carries 7oo tons, the maximum coal load capacity is 1ooo tons, and the organization is 329-363 people.

The current requirement of President Meng is: it is necessary to be able to install a larger turret, and the aviation must be maintained above 16 knots. After improving the motivation, it can be done!

Main gun: Dingyuan is equipped with 4 German Krupp 3o5mm breech guns (a double-mounted turret on the starboard side and starboard side, with water pressure power, each gun weighs 31.5 tons, 25 times the caliber).

Secondary guns: 2 Krupp 15omm breech secondary guns (one for each bow and stern, each with a weight of 4.75 tons, 35 times the caliber), 4 75mm Krupp guns, 8 37mm five-barrel Haqikas machine guns, 57mm, and 47mm Haqikas guns, 3 14-inch torpedo tubes (one for each side, one for the stern of the ship, and 21 torpedoes), plus the total number of main guns is 22, which is the same as the Zhenyuan ship.

The reason why China does not want German artillery to make artillery is that China's artillery technology is not inferior to that of Germans, so it can be developed by itself!

In addition, the two ships are equipped with two carrier-based torpedo boats (one said 3), named "Dingyi", "Dingyi", "Tingyi", "Tingyi", "Tingyi", with a displacement of 16 tons, a length of 19.5 meters, 11o horsepower, 15 knots, equipped with 1 37mm Haqiqis cannon, and 2 14-inch torpedo tubes (one on the left and right bow of the boat).

As for drawings, there is no shortage of senior shipbuilding engineers in China now. The overall industry is backward, which makes it impossible to build large battleships by themselves, but there is no problem in drawing drawings.

"Mr. Consul, during the process of building warships, Chinese engineers must supervise the entire process." Li Hongzhang made a request.

"Mr. Foreign Minister, I can promise you now that this is OK. It is easy to have drawings. If these requirements are to be met, the displacement of the warship will reach 12,000 tons. This will reduce the degree of the warship to a maximum of only 13 knots!" The German consul shook his head.

The current displacement of the mainstream first-class battleships in the world is about 10,000 tons, with a flight of 16 knots, and a cruising capacity of 45oo nautical miles and 10 knots.

"This is the request of our emperor. The warships in China are equipped with more powerful power. We equip our warships in China with two three-level expansion reciprocating steam engines. In this way, the main engine's power will reach 12,000 horsepower. The aviation should be able to be increased to more than 16 knots, right?" Li Hongzhang said with a smile as if he was an endorsement.

"Okay, you can convey the requirements of your Chinese emperor to the German government. However, if calculated in this way, the cost will be not low. Each ship costs at least 30,000 yuan!" The German consul offered a price all over the place.

"No! It's too expensive. Each ship is 150,000 yuan. Our emperor has a budget for a long time. This is the price estimated by the joint estimate of German engineers and British engineers. His Majesty the Emperor of my country promised that if the requirements can be met, our country can even order two Dingyuan-class battleships from your country. This is not a small business, Mr. Consul. In addition, China can also order 4 supporting cruisers and 10 destroyers. If possible, we can sign the contract immediately!" Li Hongzhang came prepared.

The German consul widened his eyes, not expecting that Li Hongzhang knew the price so clearly. It seemed that even if this business could be successful, there would not be much fuel or money.

However, the German consul knew that German shipyards still made a little profit.

With those cruisers and destroyers, as well as other supporting warships, this will be a huge financial source for Germany's shipbuilding industry and will have a great promotion to Germany's military shipbuilding industry.
Chapter completed!