For the European powers, they now have no choice but to go all out in a maritime arms race, otherwise they will lose their status. Before Emperor Yang left with his new toy, the British government
It was announced that on the basis of the four perfect battleships that had already been built, eight more would be added, and eight so-called battlecruisers by Emperor Yang would be built at the same time.
Not to be outdone, Germany immediately announced that it would build eight improved versions of the four ships that had already been built, with increased displacement, lower speed, and increased main gun caliber. Anyway, for the Germans, as long as they could defeat the British, they would
Okay, thirty-two knots of high speed is indeed too wasteful. Less than thirty knots is enough. When the artillery skills of both sides are similar, it doesn't matter if the speed is slightly slower, as long as the firepower is strong enough and the armor defense is strong enough.
As for battlecruisers, William also started building six. In view of the success of the US submarine's sneak attack on the Alexander II, Germany increased its investment in submarines in this round of arms race. As for aircraft, in the eyes of European countries, this
This thing is just for reconnaissance, so there is no need to pay too much attention to it. Just buy it directly from China. However, the enthusiasm of the people for aircraft is extremely high.
In addition to these two countries, France and Russia have also successively announced their own perfect battleship plans, and Nicholas ambitiously announced that they will add a five-fifth fleet to each of the three fleets, which means that Russia will build thirty ships.
This even surpassed the United Kingdom. For a time, all countries were shocked and couldn't help but cast pity on the United States.
The clarion call for a comprehensive arms race has officially sounded.
In this gunpowder-filled atmosphere, Emperor Yang left Sweden with his battleships and began to return to China, accompanied by four other large destroyers. The fleet did not delay any more along the way and entered the South China Sea twenty days later.
The Nanyang Fleet that came to greet them first arrived in Fuzhou. The two Kunlun-class battleships at Mawei Shipyard were also completed. Emperor Yang personally presided over the delivery ceremony of the two battleships, named Taihang and Wuyi. These four battleships will
All join the Eastern Fleet.
Along with these two battleships, two 9,000-ton armored cruisers were delivered to the Dongyang Fleet at Mawei Shipyard. In fact, according to current standards, they can also be regarded as second-class battleships. They have twelve 240 main guns and a speed of 3
In Section 12, there are two more under construction. This is the last armored cruiser before he starts building battlecruisers. In the future, this kind of battleship will no longer be purchased domestically. To put it bluntly, this is for those countries that do not have sufficient funds.
Equipped. For example, for those guys in South America who want to buy a battleship to show off but have no money, this battleship is undoubtedly the best choice. To put it simply, it is a pocket version of the perfect battleship.
Up to now, the Chinese navy is well-deserved to be the number one in Asia and the strongest navy in the Pacific. Including the USS Missouri, which is being refitted, it has five first-class battleships, two second-class battleships, and seven large armored ships.
Cruisers. Eleven medium-sized armored cruisers, nine protected cruisers, and nearly forty destroyers of all sizes. In terms of strength, they can already be ranked among the top five in the world. The development speed is very rapid.
Shipbuilding capabilities have also skyrocketed. From being able to build a small cruiser five years ago, to now being able to build almost all classes of battleships, from first-class battleships to destroyers, there are only three battleship construction bases. This earth-shaking change has made
Those old workers at Mawei Shipyard all seemed like they were in a dream.
Leave Fuzhou and go to Hangzhou to see the students of Hangzhou University. Although under the leadership of Zhang Zhidong, almost every province has opened new universities in the past two years, this school is still the well-deserved leader in China's education sector.
More than 20,000 students and teachers live on the campus, which is surrounded by city bricks that were demolished all over the city.
Of course, this includes students from vocational colleges and women's colleges. This has been criticized by the outside world, and has even been reflected in the Ministry of Education. However, this was decreed by His Majesty the Emperor with his golden words, and the Minister of Education Zhang Zhidong has no right to change it, so he has to let it go.
Seeing a group of young men and women, the proud ones of heaven, and ordinary technical students mixed together, there are even students from vocational colleges who often come to the university to audit, and according to the rules, the professor cannot drive them away, including female students who sneak into the boys' school, and there is no one.
Dare to drive them away, because no walls or anything like that are allowed to be built between the three schools, which is also decreed by His Majesty the Emperor.
At this time, looking at the mixture of men and women in the school and the extremely youthful scene, Emperor Yang felt that his original decision was extremely wise.
He is the honorary president of this university. In fact, because all universities in the country are funded by the royal family, he is also the honorary president of all public universities. In order to reflect President Yang's care for students, he specially made another speech here. In order to pay tribute to
The student showed off his plundering achievements during this trip, and specially asked someone to bring him a forklift to carry the Liberty Bell to the podium, so that these young students could personally experience the benefits of going out. However, this move was criticized by a group of Americans who teach here.
Professor's protest.
"Professor Thomas, I think you misunderstood. I brought the Liberty Bell here just because I was going to return it to the American people. So before returning it, I wanted the students to appreciate, feel, and listen to its freedom.
The bell." Emperor Yang said seriously, and he also made an intoxicated expression like a wet man.
"Your Majesty, are you telling the truth?" the obviously dull physicist said in surprise.
"Of course, otherwise why would I buy it from Spanish soldiers? I also know the pain the United States suffered during this war. Although I don't want to make any comments on who is right and wrong in this war, but as an old friend of the American people
, I am very willing to do something for you that I can do." Emperor Yang said sincerely.
"Of course I can't give it back to the American people now. After all, China and the United States are still at war. As the emperor of China, although I do not kill the government on behalf of the country, it is inappropriate to do so. Waiting for this war
When it's over, I will personally hand over the Liberty Bell to His Excellency, the U.S. Minister to China." The guy went on to say.
In fact, at this time, under the mediation of the French government, representatives of the U.S. government and representatives of the four German and Spanish countries had begun formal peace talks in Paris. However, the negotiations did not go very smoothly. There was nothing to worry about ceding territory. Anyway, Florida is now
More than half of it has been controlled by the Spanish, San Francisco cannot be taken back, the navy has been almost wiped out, and Russia has nothing to do if it wants Alaska Americans, but there are serious differences on the remaining three issues.
First of all, on the issue of war reparations, the coalition offered a price of one billion U.S. dollars. When people heard this figure, people understood where Nikolai’s money for building warships was, but the Americans could pay up to 100 million, and the U.S. representative angrily accused that the coalition only paid from Philadelphia.
, the three major mints in New York and San Francisco took away $100 million worth of gold.
It's a pity that the U.S. Treasury Department has a total of four mints, and these bandits robbed three of them.
Representatives of the coalition forces firmly denied that the coalition forces' occupation of various parts of the United States has always been very civilized, and there will never be such robbery. Even if there is robbery, it is local gangsters who take advantage of the situation, black people or others who have been oppressed.
It was difficult for ethnic minorities to take care of public security issues during the war at that time. This situation was inevitable. In the final analysis, it was because you Americans were too unrighteous in the past and offended too many enemies. In short, one billion is absolutely indispensable.
of.
The second is the so-called tariff issue. The Americans' request is that they can reduce import tariffs by half to the four coalition countries, but the four coalition countries must also reduce half of their tariffs on American products. This request was severely refuted by the Chinese representative.
China has maintained the lowest import tariffs among almost all major countries. If you don’t believe it, let’s compare our respective tariffs and lower them by half? Are we the winner or are you the winner? Not only will it not be lowered, the Chinese government is also prepared to increase it appropriately.
The tariffs on imported goods will reach two-thirds of the average level of various countries.
Americans really have nothing to say on this point. China's tariffs are still at the standards of the Qing Dynasty. In the past, it was because the country had many nascent affairs and there was an emperor, the God of Wealth, so the government's finances could be liberalized and borrowed from the People's Bank of China.
, so there is no problem of financial constraints. In the past two years, as everything has gone on the right track, Congress has long been focused on this issue. Now we just take this opportunity to speak out. In the past, we were not strong enough, and you just bullied us.
Now with China's strength, you can't continue to do this. Not only tariffs, but also extraterritoriality must find opportunities for all countries to sit down and talk together.
Since China really has no reason to lower its stance, the Americans might as well leave China alone at this point. But in this case, the other three countries will quit. The four of us are a whole, and if China doesn’t lower it together, then of course we won’t be able to lower it either, so
It is said that it is up to you, the United States, to surrender alone. The shameless looks of a bunch of hooligans are outrageous.
Tariffs are also out of the question. The last one is also the most unacceptable to the United States, which is to prohibit the possession of warships of more than 5,000 tons within ten years, dismantle all warships of this tonnage under construction, and demolish all shipyards of this tonnage or above. Of course,
The United States is also prohibited from owning submarines, which was specifically proposed by the Russians. Americans cannot accept this in any case. If this is the case, it will mean that the United States has disarmed, and will it not be at the mercy of others?
We have indeed lost, and we are willing to admit defeat, but you cannot bully us like this. You must know that we, the American people, also have dignity. (To be continued...)