As soon as he entered the door, Foreign Minister Bacona said with a strange expression, "Your Majesty, there is something I want to report to you."
"What's the matter, my Foreign Secretary?"
Seeing the constipated foreign minister, Carlo was very curious.
"Your Majesty is like this..."
In Bacona's narration, he finally knew what was going on. Today, Japanese Ambassador Tanaka Keiichi found Bacona. After a series of useless polite words, he expressed Japan's desire to purchase two Venetian-class ships from Italy.
.
At present, Italy's Venetian improved class is very conspicuous in the world warship market. In addition to Argentina purchasing four ships, many navies are also interested in it.
Among them, the Kingdom of Spain is negotiating with Italy about the idea of purchasing a Venetian improved class. The only problem at present is that the Spanish Navy is cash-strapped and hopes that Italy will lower the price. In addition, Chile, which was bullied by Argentina with the same model, also has
The idea of purchasing. However, their problem is that the British influence is very strong in the Chilean Navy, and there is considerable resistance to buying ships from Italy.
However, unlike conventional ship purchases, the Japanese ambassador hopes to obtain two warships of this class at the price purchased by Argentina. He also hopes that Italy can provide 40% of the loan amount for the ship purchase, and Japan is willing to provide an annual interest rate of 3.5%.
Japan will repay the principal and interest in five years.
The news brought by Bacona forced Carlo to put down what he was doing and set his sights on the Far East.
"What is the current situation in Japan?"
Facing Carlo's question, Your Excellency, the Foreign Secretary, had obviously done his homework before coming, and Bacona immediately spoke.
"According to our diplomatic understanding, the current situation in Japan is not good. Due to Japan's revealed ambitions on the Korean Peninsula, the country is preparing for war. In addition to the Japanese Navy currently building the Sankei ship that is about to be completed in France, Japan is also actively Looking to purchase armored cruisers from various countries. As far as I know, in addition to asking my country to purchase two Venice-improved ships, Japan is also making the above request to Britain and France, and the conditions are similar to those of our country."
After hearing the Foreign Secretary's story, Carlo reacted. "You mean, the Japanese are testing the attitudes of various countries in many ways?"
Facing Carlo's question, Minister Bacona immediately replied, "It is very possible."
"These cunning Japanese monkeys."
In fact, Carlo had wronged the Japanese. Japan was very sincere in its purchase of the two improved Venetian ships. Due to the influence of Carlo's huge butterfly, the current strength of the Beiyang Navy's cruiser formation has greatly increased.
One more thing to say here is that because of the flag withdrawal incident last year, Lang Weili left with all the British advisers, which did a lot of harm to the Beiyang Navy. Although Li Zhongtang later wanted to avoid the lack of advisers in the Navy, which caused the training of various
At the same time, there were reasons for the pause to let the British know how powerful they were, and the Italian advisor Rear Admiral Antonio was appointed as the general advisor. (Promoted from colonel to rear admiral for reasons such as promoting naval exchanges between the Qing and Italy)
However, probably due to the stimulation of Lang Weili, Major General Antonio only received the position of Chief Inspector of the Beiyang Navy, but did not receive the rank of admiral that Lang Weili had at the time. This also led to Major General Antonio's lack of prestige in the Beiyang Navy, and also
It was not enough to get the Beiyang Navy, which had begun to relax, back on track. For this reason, Antonio complained to his friends in China that Li Zhongtang, besides wanting to control the Beiyang Navy, did not have enough knowledge about naval construction.
Returning to Japan's purchase of ships, if Japan continues to purchase Myoko, Hayonami, Yoshino and other ships according to history, there will only be one result. The Japanese Navy's combined fleet will be hoisted and beaten by the Beiyang Navy.
The two 7,000-ton Venice-class ships are a problem that it cannot solve. Although this high-speed cruiser is even one or two knots faster than the Zhiyuan (formerly Venetian) and Jingyuan (formerly Brescia), it has no protection in terms of firepower.
All they could do was to be beaten.
And if its high-speed cruiser formation cannot entangle the two ships, then the other Japanese warships will be surrounded by the four distant points.
So now the Japanese Navy has reached a consensus that it needs to purchase warships that can suppress two Venice-class cruisers. If this condition is used as a requirement, the Japanese will not have many choices.
Currently, there are only three warships in the world that can suppress or compete with the Venetian-class armored patrol: Britain, France, and Italy. Among them, the French armored patrol cannot satisfy the Japanese because the idea of constructing the armored patrol is wrong. The only praiseworthy thing is the speed.
There is a certain gap in firepower and protection compared to the Venice class. In addition, its price is much higher than that of the Venice improved class. The only advantage is that it carries six torpedo launchers. However, with the current range of torpedoes, it is difficult for the patrol to launch torpedoes close to the body.
, I don’t know what the French think.
As for the British patrol patrol, there are currently two types, including the 10,000-ton patrol patrol. After the Japanese asked about it once, there was no further information. This is not to say that this patrol patrol is not good, but it is very good, whether it is fire protection or speed.
It exerts a suppressive force on the two Venice-class ships. But its price is too high.
It is expensive and the Japanese cannot afford it. As for the other 7,000-ton Blake-class armored cruiser, it can only compete with the Venetian-class, but cannot suppress it, and it does not meet Japan's needs. So the Japanese can
The choices are very limited, and the Venice improved grade is the best choice.
However, the current financial resources of the Japanese government are limited each year. In addition to the navy, they also need to equip the army, so if they want to obtain two Venice improved ships, they need to borrow money.
That’s why the Japanese Ambassador Tanaka Keiichi asked for a loan from Italy. If Italy agreed, it would not benefit Japan too much. This is not just a military aspect, it can even show Italy’s diplomatic attitude towards the Far East.
degree of attention.
Don't think that the Japanese are worrying in vain. The data here can explain everything.
In terms of the current import and export trade of the Qing Dynasty, according to customs data obtained by Hurd, the largest trading country of the Qing Dynasty is Italy, which accounts for 23.7% of the import and export share, followed by the United Kingdom with a share of 22.9%.
Although the profit rate of trade with the Qing Dynasty was far less than that of other great powers due to the purpose of capturing the market, this was the most important market for Italian industry. As for exports, Italian traders
With its image of group booking and fair and reasonable bidding, it is also the first choice of many Qing Dynasty dealers.
One more thing to say here is that in the current trade between various countries and the Qing Dynasty, all the major powers have learned from Italy's approach and sent equipment maintenance personnel to every major industrial city. Their approach is exactly the same as Italy's. Many manufacturers hire one maintenance person.
Responsible for the equipment of these manufacturers in the region, this can be regarded as a change brought by Italy. Manufacturers that did not make changes have long been abandoned by Qing buyers.
Although manufacturers from other countries have made changes, Italy has still grown its share larger and stronger by virtue of its first-mover advantage.
The most obvious sign is that Germany's share of exports of industrial products to Italy is declining. Although it only shrinks by three or four points, it also shows that Italian factories are relying on the profits gained from trade with China to build up the domestic market and are gradually exporting from Germany.
Taking the market back from our hands. The process may take a long time, but the momentum has reversed.
This also shows the importance of the Qing Dynasty to Italy at present. Any attempt to change the Qing Dynasty may lead to a fierce reaction from Italy.
As a Japanese government composed of outstanding politicians, it is impossible not to see this situation.
Besides, Japan is not France, so it cannot bear the consequences of intervention.
As for the Japanese's thoughts, Carlo could more or less guess part of it. Although Japan's order for the two Venetian-class improvements seemed very tempting, considering the relationship with the Qing Dynasty and trade, etc., Carlo ultimately had to
Choose to give up.
"Tell the Japanese ambassador that our country can sell warships to it, but it must be paid in full."
Carlo's words obviously meant rejection. If Japan could pay the full amount, there would be nothing wrong with it.
"Okay, Your Majesty, I will reply to the Japanese Ambassador right away."
Although Bacona regrets that Italy has lost its order for two warships, the priorities are still clear. At present, Italy cannot afford to lose the Qing market, and the Japanese order can only say sorry.
"etc……"
Just when Bacona was about to leave, Carlo suddenly stopped him again.
"Your Majesty, is there anything else?"
"Let's do this. Send a message to our ambassador in the Qing Dynasty and inform them that Japan has ambitions on the Korean Peninsula. It does not rule out the ambition to launch a war against the Qing Dynasty for this reason."
Although Carlo felt that his words were probably useless, it would be good if Li Zhongtang could pay more attention to them.
"I obey your Majesty."
Italy's telegram of reminder appeared in the Zhili Governor's Office in Tianjin more than ten days later. However, Li Zhongtang did not have time to read Italy's warning because his war with Weng Di's division spread to various places.
At this point, the Beiyang Navy, which is an important part of the Huai Army, still did not escape its poisonous hands. The Wengdi Division requested a moratorium on the navy's purchase of arms from abroad on the grounds that the navy had grown in size and the country was facing difficulties, and requested the government to stop foreign exchanges.
Purchase a ship.
This is not good news for Li Zhongtang's Huai army.
