1890 King of Southeast Asia

In the early morning of June 12, two huge warships flying the flag of the sun and the moon arrived at Trucial Oman on the Arabian Peninsula to replenish coal.

After a brief contact with seven tribal chiefs, the port custodians - the British, and others, the two warships left the port again with thick smoke.

"Are these the two warships that have been making a lot of noise recently? They are really big. I heard that the armor can withstand 12-inch guns." After the two ships left, Klaus Johannes said with a stack of photos.

These were taken casually, and he took them privately.

"Yes, I heard that it can run at 22 knots? It's an incredible ship." The deputy echoed.

"Do you want to send these photos back?"

"No, I think the domestic data is much more complete than these photos." Klaus Johannes looked at the patrol boat on the shore.

"I heard you're being transferred back to the mainland? Congratulations, Mr. Johannes."

"If possible, I'd rather fish here in the sea breeze than quarrel with those old guys." Klaus Johannes curled his lips.

"Look, this is the ship Britain needs, with powerful armor, unmatched speed, super long endurance, and just enough firepower to penetrate the mainstream ironclad warships, not the big and inappropriate cheap stuff like Edgar..."

…………

"Brother Fan, tell me, why does the Prime Minister want us to stop and go? And go around in such a big circle." Captain Zou Wenyong of Chang'an asked Captain Gu Fan of Luojing.

"Deterrence, right? There is always a purpose. We're used to stopping and going all the way here." Gu Fan frowned and threw away a ball of food in his hand.

He is not willing to waste. If the steamed buns fall on the ground and roll, he will pick them up, clean them and eat them. But he can't eat "clean and hygienic" things.

"How can the three of them eat these? How did he make a normal bunch of food look like this?" Zou Wenyong didn't eat the strange thing in his hand.

"Say goodbye to Baron Sala and thank him for his hospitality." Seeing this, Gu Fan quickly stood up and gave his suggestion.

At this time, the two were in Mumbai. The Changluo II ship took the excuse of refueling and visiting to tour the Persian Gulf. As a result, the port they arrived at was short of coal and only half of the coal was refueled for one ship.

The two had no choice but received Liu Yiming's order to set off for Mumbai for a friendly visit.

After all, warships cannot dock at will. Now that there is news, they have a little calculation and find that the distance is suitable, so they set off in a hurry.

As a result, they received a warm reception, but the food was too good. After staying for two days, it was either too animal-feeding or traditional British cuisine.

"Is Sir Spear here?" The two came to Spear's house, but it was the butler who received them.

"There is a local king in rebellion in the north. Mr. Baron has gone to supervise the war. What do you two have to do?" The butler had a butler's face. (Not nonsense)

"It's like this..." In the next few minutes, Zou Wenyong talked about his upcoming departure, with the return to Nanhua as the center and the military duty as the radius.

"I'm very sorry, it's too rude to leave at this time. Mr. Baron has prepared a gift for Mr. Liu, and I hope you can take it as an apology and reward. Please accept it."

The housekeeper took out two small boxes, which contained a golden statue of a god. I don't know which of the countless gods in India it was.

It's not cheap, but not expensive, and it's tacky enough, without any other meaning, and it's most suitable for the two of them.

"There are also some small gifts for your crew."

So, with the help of dozens of Indian servants, this batch of goods was loaded on the ship.

On June 20th, the two ships will leave Mumbai and will sail all the way, except for Medan, without stopping.

"Brother Fan, what do you think is going on? We went there so far for an exchange visit, but it was all sand. There is no need to intimidate at home?" Zou Wenyong guessed that Liu Yiming had ideas about the Arabian Peninsula, but it was far away and blocked by a major traffic route.

There was only a beach of sand and not many people, so there was nothing valuable to be found.

This was a British way of thinking, exerting influence from a distance, occupying if possible, but the waterway must be in one's own hands.

"How can you guess the Prime Minister's thoughts? Then you will not be the Prime Minister?" Gu Fan said unhappily.

Gu Fan is the oldest among the international students and plays the role of an elder brother, while the current South China Minister to the UK plays the role of a parent.

"The status of that piece of sand is far inferior to that of coal, so Gu Fan's own language is full of insecurity.

"Alas~ What do you think, how will we be organized? Will I be transferred? Mingzi fought a beautiful battle. Will I be allowed to exchange with him?" Zou Wenyong sat and sighed.

"It shouldn't be, Xu Sunming is the captain of the first cruiser fleet, you exchange with him? That's a nice thought." Gu Fan glanced at Zou Wenyong.

"At present, we will not form a fleet together unless a war breaks out and a decisive battle occurs, otherwise the Jiaolong class can handle most situations." Gu Fan still said.

"Don't say it again, you will know when you go back. The navy is part of the national interest, and how to allocate it must be based on the national interest."

"I heard that we launched a torpedo ship with a very high speed?" Zou Wenyong's thinking was particularly jumping, and he immediately thought of the new ship.

"I don't know either, it's a military secret."

"Okay, I'm going back to the ship." Zou Wenyong saw the time and prepared to go back to his ship. The captain stayed on his warship until it sank. This was what he heard the most in his naval studies.

…………

"This batch of delivery has been completed, but the Jiangnan Bureau is still asking whether the import volume can be expanded." Liu Yiming was dealing with the deal with several governors. Secretary Yang was talking about the Jiangnan Bureau's letter of intent.

"The guns will be next year, and the cannons too. The junks in our warehouse have been cleared out, and the others can be." Liu Yiming thought about it. The guns were indeed gone. If they wanted more, they would have to replace them next year. There were a batch of Martinis and a batch of Beaumont.

"It's mainly gun steel. They hope to import 500 tons. In addition, there are gunpowder, copper, and goods in exchange, tung oil, bristles, soybeans, garlic, etc." Secretary Yang handed the document to Liu Yiming.

"Garlic? How about the garlic purchased from Dongshan?" The further cultivation of penicillin has not been able to break through, with low yield and high cost. Allicin is an important source of antibiotics.

Liu Yiming never dislikes large quantities of medicines, so he exchanges one kilogram of garlic for two kilograms of rice in Dongshan. Nanhua rice is not valuable anyway, and the price of allicin extracted is 500 times that of rice.

"The quantity is gradually decreasing."

"It seems that Beiyang is also involved!" Dongshan is not Nanyang's territory. No one will exchange such a large-scale transaction between Beiyang and Nanhua without the approval of Lord Li.

"Is the Changluo class coming back soon?" Liu Yiming calculated the days.

"Yes, it is expected to be three days away. The commissioning ceremony is ready and will be held on July 3." Secretary Yang knew everything about the upcoming activities.

"Are there any activities after that?" Liu Yiming held the latest information from the Consulate in the UK.

"The entire fleet will cruise the entire territory and conduct deterrence training." Secretary Yang flipped through the small notebook, which was relatively late.

"Okay, first inspect Ryukyu, then go north and visit Die Qing." Liu Yiming looked at the intelligence and thought about it, and decided to stimulate Die Qing to make this war, which had already changed beyond recognition, even more intense.

"Yes... should we notify Die Qing?"

"No, he will refuse anyway. Just notify Lord Li and don't cause any misunderstandings. We are just going to scare people." Liu Yiming thought of something funny, and his smile became more and more obscene.

"Please ask the vice premier to come, and Minister Lin." Liu Yiming put down the intelligence in his hand.

"Yes." Secretary Yang turned and left. Generally speaking, when the prime minister smiled like this, someone was going to be unlucky again.

...

"Prime Minister, you are looking for me?" Lin Anmin was in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but Xu Hui was in the government. They were not far apart, but Lin Anmin came first.

"Do you know about Japan's order of new warships?" After all, it was sent back by the consulate.

"Yes, in addition to the three ships in the shipyard, two more battleships have been ordered, with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons. I heard that they are improved models of the Monarch class." Lin Anmin said.

"What improved model? It just looks good in data. It is actually a monkey version of the battleship, which may be a little stronger than the Ed." Liu Yiming nodded.

At this time, the Majestic class had just begun construction, and Japan did not know about this. The direction of history has changed.

Based on the Monarch, there is no hardened armor. The subsequent models of the Monarch have been covered with hardened armor.

The firepower is similar to the Monarch, 343/302, and the original Fuji class is 305/352. It is hard to say which one is better and which one is worse, and they are all terrace guns.

The rapid-fire firepower is eight 152/26, using rapid-fire guns, but Nanhua has already replaced the 152 guns with the same weight but 35 times the caliber.

Protection is the most poisonous. The protection of the Sovereign class is 457, and later it was equipped with hardened armor. The Japanese armor is only a small one, and only 343. Nanhua's 92-inch armor-piercing shells do not need to be improved and can be easily penetrated.

However, it is just theory. Nanhua's armor-piercing shells have not been solved yet. Liu Yiming mainly knows the name. It is probably a shell with a shell on the warhead. When it hits, the shell will break first. I don't know what other materials, performance, and shapes are.

The extra weight is added with a coal-fired boiler, which can make the speed reach 19 knots. That's all.

"Prime Minister, you are looking for me?" Xu Hui happened to come in.

"Just right, you two take a look. The latest battleship ordered by Japan is expected to be built in three years. The remaining ones, a 4,000-ton armored cruiser and two 5,000-ton armored cruisers, will come back next year and the year after." Liu Yiming greeted enthusiastically.

"Where did Japan get the money? Is this crazy?" Xu Hui didn't quite understand, he just knew it was very impressive. The total tonnage of the newly ordered warships has exceeded the total tonnage of the Nanhua warships, but when he saw the approximate price he found out, he was already shocked.

As for how to find out the price? If you want to buy the additional equipment, ask the price. The British told him everything. Oh, it should be a partial reduction in the quotation, and then let you make up for it.

"Hey, I've inquired about it. The British gave it another loan of 100 million yen. This time, taxes were used as collateral, and a most-favored-nation treaty was signed at the same time. It's half crazy!" Liu Yiming nodded.

"Another 100 million yen?" Xu Hui took a breath. The Japanese government's foreign debt to the UK has reached 700 million yen. The British stabilized the Japanese currency, so this debt is as high as nearly 70 million pounds.

The interest alone is millions of pounds every year. What can Japan pay back? Not counting the national debt issued by the Japanese government before, the Japanese government has already gone bankrupt.

"It's okay. The British government can get it back. Japan still has money circulating in society." Liu Yiming couldn't help but feel full of malice towards Britain.

The government's fiscal revenue has been used to pay off debts. If Japan wants to mobilize troops, it will have to borrow money. If it wants to maintain the navy, it will also have to borrow money. Unless it can bite a piece of fat meat, it will be useless.

"Is that it? In terms of budget, we can allocate an additional 20 million to the navy. The money earned before, minus the cost, and the expansion and transformation of the construction corps, as well as the additional investment, there will still be 50 million left." Xu Hui thought Liu Yiming was here to ask for money, and calculated every penny.

Before, we made a lot of money by blocking the Japanese economy, but it was not as much as imagined. The compensation offset the military consumption.

The economic war returned 300 million yuan, but the food was originally to be sold. Not counting how much money was earned, the biggest gain was that during this period, the profit was used to purchase 300,000 tons of ship capacity. At the same time, the military expenditure was balanced.

After the grain is sold, the money is to be used for investment and construction. It has been approved. However, we have made a profit from the seizure, and the military funds have not been used yet, so the funds are sufficient.

So Xu Hui spoke very straightforwardly, and was also scared.

I just bought a fleet, which is not as heavy as your total tonnage, and the training is not in place. You immediately bought more than 30,000 tons, which is equivalent to my fleet.

Isn't it obvious who you want to fight? Die Qing? Do you need two battleships? Is it really such a coincidence?

"It's not that. We don't pay this kind of IQ tax. The large torpedo ship is already being tested. We have more than enough to protect ourselves." Liu Yiming comforted.

Britain can't allow Japan to go south again. Besides, with a cruising range of 4,000+ nautical miles, do you dare to come? Go around a few circles, lure the enemy deep, dozens of Prairie Wolves and Sea Wolves, win big with a small, exciting.

"Don't we buy big warships?" Xu Hui heard that he didn't buy them, but he got anxious. Big ships and big guns!

"It's okay. I have a way. I came to you to say that I want to take the fleet north." Liu Yiming interrupted Xu Hui's spell and said first.

"North? There? Japan? Sure! Take the Immigration with you and a ship of poison gas bombs, the latest ones. Don't think I don't know." Xu Hui's eyes lit up and suggested.

"What are you talking about! I'm going to discuss the expansion of the Beiyang Navy with Lord Li. Japan is across the sea from it and has committed many bad deeds. Do you think he is anxious?" Liu Yiming shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

The latest No. 3 gas is highly stable, easy to launch, and not very toxic. It is mainly for easy cleaning. The residual degree of highly toxic ones is too high.

"That's fine, but can he agree?" Xu Hui is used to the governors and governors from all over the country coming to buy things themselves, and he knows that this is the normal situation.

"He has to agree even if he doesn't agree. I'll take the fleet to Tianjin and put this paper in front of him. What do you think his reaction will be?" Liu Yiming laughed particularly obscenely.

Xu Hui's face was dark. This was like the French fleet suddenly arriving at Surabaya and evacuating urgently.

"Go ahead, and take the merchant group with you. We need to expand the scale of trade." Xu Hui shook his head and left the office...

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