Not to mention the imperial court's war in Nanyang and Beiyang, let's talk about Liu Yu's order from Liu Hai to go to England to receive ironclads and buy cruisers by the way.
Their journey on the British ship was smooth, and after several months of hard work, they finally arrived in London, England.
The first thing Liu Yu did when he got off the ship was to go straight to the British shipyard to check the manufacturing status of the new ironclad ship.
It can be said that the efficiency of this British shipyard is really high. Especially when they were building warships, their technical level and manufacturing time were the best in the world.
When Liu Yu arrived at the shipyard, he saw that the ironclad ship on the slipway, specially customized for the Nanyang Navy, was about to be launched. It could be delivered after the final painting and sea trials.
Liu Yu also learned about the manufacturing progress of this new ironclad ship with the people at the shipyard. The people at the shipyard introduced Liu Yu to the manufacturing process of this ironclad ship and the fact that it would be launched in 15 days.
Only then did Liu Yu leave with satisfaction. He still had many things to do, the most important of which was to order a few more new cruisers from Britain.
Different from the Beiyang Navy's preference for German warships, Liu Hai thinks that since the UK is the world's largest navy, it should buy a large number of warships like the UK. This will not only ensure the quality of the warships, but also win praise from the British government.
Once there is a conflict with another country, the British government will not be too unfair in its attitude.
Therefore, Liu Hai believes that when purchasing warships, it is not only the quality of the warships, but also international relations.
If the entire Northern Fleet buys warships from Britain, then the British government will naturally favor you. Now that you are leaning towards Germany, Britain will still care about your life and death.
Let’s talk about the current British Admiralty. Mills is still serving as the British Minister of the Navy. He received a report from his subordinates that he was an officer of the Qing Dynasty’s mission to receive the ironclad ship and wanted to meet with the Minister of the Navy again.
When Mills heard this, he understood in his heart that there might be another deal coming.
Now Mills's perception of Liu Hai is getting better and better, and he can also see that Liu Hai prefers their British warships.
So Mills happily met Liu Yu in the living room.
The two parties took their seats, and after the service staff served coffee, they exited the reception room.
Only then did Mills begin to observe the young officer sitting in front of him.
Although this officer was only twenty-four or five years old, he had a serious face and neat military posture. Regardless of his knowledge, his sitting posture alone showed that he was a strictly trained soldier.
Liu Yu then began to introduce himself, and at the same time expressed his envy and admiration for the British Navy to Mills.
As he talked, Liu Yu even started to blush and his whole body was shaking with excitement.
In fact, this was done deliberately by Liu Yu. He wanted to show his respect for the British Navy in order to gain its favor and make the British Navy think that the Nanyang Navy was a force that could always support him.
Sure enough, Mills was very happy when he saw the young man's excitement. It seemed that the officers of the Nanyang Navy had an inexplicable favorable impression of the British. If this was the case, then the British government could give some support to the Nanyang Navy.
, in order to set up a competitor for the Japanese little monkeys and let them know that if they leave the UK, the Japanese are nothing, and the British government can immediately support a force that can compete with Japan.
Mills was satisfied with the other party and hurriedly introduced him to the next warship while the iron was hot. "The Cossack-class light cruiser has a displacement of 1,980 tons, but I am equipped with six 152mm cannons and a sailing speed of 20 knots. It is fully capable of keeping up with the main force."
Fight."
Liu Yu kept nodding after that. It seemed that the development of British warships was indeed much higher than that of Germany.
The two battleships built by Germany for the Qing Dynasty were only in levels 14 to 16. The battleship built by the British Navy Nanyang Navy could reach a speed of 17 knots.
"Sir, since you recommend it so, our Nanyang Navy has decided to purchase these two classes of cruisers. We will order two of the Forth class and four of the Cossack class."
After hearing Liu Yu's answer, Mills was very happy and said happily: "In that case, I will give you the best discount. We can sell the Cossack class at a price of 100,000 pounds each, and we can sell the Forth class at a price of 100,000 pounds each."
For sale for £180,000.”
When Liu Yu heard the other party's quotation, although he felt that the price was too high, he remembered Liu Hai's words, "The purpose of purchasing the warship this time is mainly to close the relationship with the British government. There is no need to worry about the price."
So Liu Yu gritted his teeth and agreed to the other party's price. "Mr. Minister's price is very reasonable. We fully accept it. I think we will have more cooperation opportunities in the future."
Mills now looked at Liu Yu in front of him and understood the meaning of the admiral behind him.
This admiral has completely surrendered to his side, which is of great help to Britain's strategy in the Far East.
Originally, Britain was prepared to support the Qing Dynasty to fight against Russia, but the British government soon saw through the weakness of the Qing Empire, so it turned to support Japan.
Now if there is another option, then forming double insurance, for the UK, why not do it.
As for the conflict between the two younger brothers, it is not a big deal. If the younger brothers unite with each other, then he, as the boss, will be worried. The younger brothers have some conflicts, and the boss can mediate in order to show his status as the boss.
On that day, Liu Yu signed a purchase plan for six cruisers with the British government on behalf of the Nanyang Navy.
Since this plan still needs to be approved by the British government, in Mills' view, this is just a formality.
Sure enough, as Mills had guessed, after the purchase plan was sent to the British government, the British Prime Minister, the Marquess of Salisbury, immediately approved the purchase agreement and submitted it to Parliament for review.
The efficiency of the British Parliament is very fast. In just a few days, the British upper and lower houses passed the purchase agreement.
This agreement quickly spread among the British political and military circles, and the British were naturally overjoyed. The major British shipyards, jealous of the nearly one million pound contract, began to work in the Admiralty.
In the end, Portsmouth Royal Naval Dockyard and Armstrong Shipyard each obtained half of the order and immediately began manufacturing these six warships for the Qing Dynasty's Nanyang Navy.
But Liu Yu stayed in the UK, waiting for the ironclad ship ordered by the Nanyang Navy to be launched and completed sea trials, and then they would drive the ironclad ship directly back to the Qing Dynasty.
Now because the Nanyang Navy keeps buying ironclads and other warships from Britain, the British government and people have a very good impression of the Nanyang Navy of the Qing Dynasty.
As this sentiment spread, voices emerged within the government that fully supported the Nanyang Navy's control of Daqing Country.
And this is exactly what Liu Hai needs. With the support of the most powerful country in the world, the United Kingdom, his process of gaining power will be faster. As for his own strength, he can naturally leave the United Kingdom aside.