December 4, in the Council Hall.
Prime Minister Constantine is discussing the final ship purchase plan with Finance Minister Henry and Defense Minister Fernandez.
Constantine said to Henry, the finance minister.
"Henry, prepare the financial allocation for the navy!
The kingdom's current navy purchase plan is: 4 battleships, 3 battlecruisers, 12 cruisers, 16 destroyers, 24 frigates, and 6 submarines.
In the bidding process, the king excluded France, the United States, and Italy based on the plans and prices given by various countries, and asked us to purchase from the United Kingdom and Germany.
After inspections by the Ministry of National Defense and the Department of Navy, the plan has been determined, and now let Fernandez explain it to you."
The navy is the symbol of a powerful country. There are many naval powers today, but Britain and Germany are the strongest. Of course, Tangning will choose from these two countries.
Tang Ning is not a naval fan. She has a rough understanding of history. She only knows which country has the best warships. She leaves it to the Ministry of National Defense and the Department of the Navy to decide on the specific ship purchase plan.
"Your Excellency Henry, this is our plan.
Because the UK does not provide battleship manufacturing, logistics, training and other related technologies.
As for the battleship, we only selected the latest St. Vincent-class battleship from the UK, with a displacement of 1,000 tons and a price of 2.1 million pounds.
The battle cruisers that His Majesty the King mentioned are now armored cruisers. The United Kingdom provides support related technologies such as Brazilian shipbuilding and port logistics training, so all battle cruisers are purchased.
The Invincible armored cruiser has a displacement of about tons and costs 1.625 million pounds each. One ship is made in the UK and two are made in Brazil. Together with supporting technology, the total cost is 5.5 million pounds.
The remaining new models include 6 cruisers, 4 destroyers, 8 frigates, and related shipbuilding and other supporting technologies, totaling 3 million pounds.
The total British price of naval procurement: 10.6 million pounds.
The British ship will be delivered in four years at the latest. We will pay a deposit of 5 million in advance and pay it every year in the future.
Germany provides us with battleship shipbuilding, ports, logistics, training and other resources and technology for Brazil, so the remaining three battleships are all purchased from Germany.
The battleships to be purchased are the newly designed Helgoland-class battleships designed by Germany. One will be built in Germany and two will be built in Brazil.
This class of battleships has a displacement of 1,000 tons and costs 2.4 million pounds each. Including support technology, the total cost is 8.8 million pounds.
The remaining new models include 6 cruisers, 8 destroyers, 16 frigates, 6 submarines, and related support technology, totaling 3.8 million pounds.
The total price of German naval purchases: 12.6 million pounds.
Germany will deliver the ships within 5 years at the latest. We will pay a deposit of RMB 6.5 million in advance and will pay it in annual installments later.
This time, the purchase cost of naval warships and support technology totaled 23.2 million pounds, and a deposit of 11.5 million pounds was paid."
Listening to the words of Defense Minister Fernandez, Henry's heart beat violently and he took a deep breath.
It’s so expensive!
Henry knew that the navy was an aristocratic branch, but he did not expect that the construction of the Brazilian navy would cost so much.
This cost is ten times higher than the 1.8 million pounds spent by the Brazilian Army on expansion and equipment upgrades.
In other words, the price of just one battlecruiser can drive the Army crazy. There is no comparison at all.
Henry really couldn't come up with this deposit of 11.5 million pounds at the moment. He could only come up with 7 million pounds at most, and it would definitely take a month to raise the rest.
Henry's status is not glorious. Although he is now the Chancellor of the Exchequer, he was previously the Undersecretary of Finance of the republican government, so his waist and confidence are seriously lacking.
Of course he will not refuse Fernandez's request for financial allocation.
After all, this is also recognized by the king, but when cooperating, he must also explain his difficulties.
"Sorry! Your Excellency Fernandez.
The Ministry of Finance cannot come up with that much money at the moment, so we can only provide you with 7 million pounds in advance, and we will try to collect the rest before the end of the year and deliver it to the Ministry of National Defense."
Brazil's fiscal revenue is still very good among the major powers, with annual fiscal revenue of about 35 million pounds.
Although the fiscal revenue of about 40 million pounds is not comparable to that of Italy, which is at the bottom of the list of major powers, it is indeed considerable.
You need to know the level of the great powers, but they are very different. Italy has 40 million, Austria-Hungary has 75 million, and Germany and the United States have about 145 million.
The UK and France are even more terrifying. The British mainland revenue is 175 million, the colonial revenue is 160 million, the French mainland revenue is 140 million, and the colonies are 50 million.
Britain's colonial income exceeds that of Germany itself, while France's colonial income, although not even close, still exceeds that of Italy.
From this we can see why Germany and Italy are so jealous of Britain and France and want to re-divide their colonies.
Moreover, Brazil has another advantage: its fiscal revenue is 35 million, but its expenditure is only about 18 million, an absolute fiscal surplus.
The reason for this is actually very simple. Although the republican government is corrupt and incompetent, and imposes tyranny, Brazil has a big business, with a combined army and navy of 30,000, and very little investment in education, infrastructure, etc., so the fiscal expenditure is very small and the expenditure is large.
Part of it has been spent.
Unlike some major powers, Brazil does not have high incomes and high expenditures, many of which are fiscal deficits.
Austria-Hungary, Japan, and Italy all have fiscal deficits. If they expand their armaments and prepare for war, it will be even worse. There will be no sustainability for the war.
Brazil's finances are no longer rich now. The king wants to carry out reforms and introduce technology. Such expenditures have greatly consumed the past fiscal surplus accumulation. Now the account only has about 22 million pounds, and more than 10 million pounds have been withdrawn at one time.
, too difficult.
Fernandez expressed his understanding of Henry's difficulties.
"It is indeed difficult to withdraw more than 10 million pounds at one time, but 7 million pounds is enough."
Fernandez is a member of the aristocratic group of the Braganza royal family. He is also considered Tangning's confidant and knows a lot of things.
"Pay the UK deposit first, and the German deposit later.
Anyway, Germany needs us now. We can temporarily support it with iron ore exports and give them a deposit at the end of the year.
Sir Henry, I have been troublesome for you recently!"
Fernandez is reasonable and respects himself, so of course Henry must show it positively.
"It's all for the end of the kingdom. This is my honor.
7 million pounds, I will raise it after I go back and deliver it to you tomorrow without delaying the country's military affairs."
"Thank you! Sir Henry."
While his ministers were working hard, the king, Tangning, was not idle either.
Asking three German ministers to negotiate with German technology was actually a test, and the effect was very obvious. They made Tangning realize the unreliability of Brazilian Germans.
So Tangning quickly adjusted her negotiators.
Negotiations with Germany were led by Italian Foreign Minister Toni, along with Industry Minister Edward and Deputy Minister of Social Employment and Welfare Gauss.
Italians have never received such attention from Brazilian high-level officials. Tangning believes that Tony, as a representative of Italians, knows how to behave.
For the development of Brazil, German technology is very important, and French technology is also very important.
France is now very capital-rich and is known as the kingdom of loan sharks. Even Russia, which has an extremely harsh industrial and commercial environment, has invested in it.
Although part of it is to win over allies, more is an explosion of capital.
Brazil cannot absorb much British capital!
What about French capital?
Tang Ning doesn’t believe that she still can’t seduce her?
This action has already begun. The British Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gawain, is the representative sent by Tang Ning to negotiate with French capital. I believe that his efforts will not disappoint him.
France is also short of high-quality iron ore. Alsace-Lorraine is in German hands. Although there are many colonial iron ores, the quality is worrying. Brazil can now satisfy France.
Of course, even if there is no iron ore, given Brazil’s potential and open attitude, French capital will not come here.
Although the French will certainly not be cheap when transferring technology such as chemical industry. They will spend every penny and seek more, but their price lies in their reality.
The reputation of the loan shark empire is not bad!
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