My Italy

It was too late for Borneo to know the news. Of course, it was the capital Rome that knew earlier.

After nearly a month of arduous negotiations, Italy spent 1.15 million pounds to purchase all of Dutch Borneo from the Netherlands.

That's right, no matter how much pressure Italy exerted, the Netherlands just took away almost the cost of a Turin. It seems that the Dutch businessman's attributes are maxed out and he is desperate for money!

Of course, Italy could only send two to the shameless Netherlands. In the end, it is still not a loss. With most of Borneo in hand, I believe it will be enough to bring the financial revenue of the Borneo colony to a higher level.

This is precisely why Italy tolerates and pays a little more.

The Dutch treaty needs to be brought back and signed by the young queen, while the Italian side has already been signed by Carlo.

Next is the issue of colonial handover. There is no need to worry about this. With the task force and the 1st Guards Division, the Dutch will be more anxious than the Italians.

Speaking of the task force, Admiral Yagier, as the Minister of the Navy, has approached Carlo several times.

No, Carlo didn't stay in the office for long today. He heard from the guard again that the Minister of the Navy was visiting.

"Your Majesty, the task force is the essence of the Italian Navy. Continuing to stay in Borneo will put too much pressure on the local coastal defense. Moreover, the cost of overseas garrisoning is also high, and the navy does not have much funds for the task force to consume."

When they met, Admiral Yagir returned to the same old talk, talking about the return of the task force.

Facing the Minister of the Navy who came to him again, how could Carlo not know what he was thinking. "Admiral Yagir, I will let the Borneo colony pay part of the cost of the task force to share the pressure on the navy."

Carlo's words did not satisfy the Minister of the Navy, so he spoke. "But the coastal defense pressure on the mainland is very high. At present, we only have five Durios and their improved classes available, which cannot guarantee the demand for coastal defense at all."

It is obvious that Admiral Yagier's persistence is in response to the severe situation in Italy. He doesn't care what others think, but from the Navy's perspective, the current situation of Italian coastal defense is very serious.

The French Navy, which is superstitious about the role of torpedoes, has recently begun to pick up three "Marceau" class battleships whose construction period has been delayed for almost 7 years. Although these battleships are already old and cannot keep up with the times, the signal from the French Navy , but it made Admiral Agil, who was his imaginary enemy, very wary.

In addition, the transfer of the British Mediterranean Fleet to its home port is also confusing. At least one thing is certain, the British Mediterranean fleet has gradually transformed from a possible help to the Italian Navy into a competitor.

In the view of Admiral Yagier, the current essence of the Italian Navy is three Turin-class ships and two Venetian-class ships. Except for the five Durios, which are still usable, the other warships have long lagged behind the times. The Navy has not placed an order with the shipyard for three or four years. In this era of rapid technological advancement, this is simply unimaginable.

Of course, there is no problem with the large main battleships that Admiral Yagir refers to, such as small battleships, and many are ordered every year.

But what use can small battleships serve? Should he be forced to vigorously develop torpedo boats like his French colleagues next door?

Haven’t you seen that France is already preparing to build large warships?

So the purpose of Admiral Yagir's visit this time is very simple, to make money, build ships, and build big ships.

Of course Carlo also knew the purpose of the man in front of him. In the previous few meetings, Admiral Yagir had always brought the topic to shipbuilding in a roundabout way. Why are Italian Navy warships already lagging behind other countries? Current technological development allows the Navy to have newer warships. The armored bars researched by Krupp have new results, which may significantly reduce shipbuilding costs, etc.

The reasons are very good, but the Italian government is not well-off, and things will be difficult to do without money.

"Admiral Yagir, the government's financial expenditures are all planned. It is difficult to temporarily increase expenditures. How about waiting until next year?"

Facing Carlo, how could Yagir agree.

next year?

Will we have to wait again after next year?

Of course, Yagir didn't want to wait, so he took out his trump card and placed a picture of a battleship that he had already drawn in front of Carlo.

"Your Majesty, this is the drawing of the Navy's new battleship. This battleship was designed by Sir Vittorio Cuniberti. It has a total length of 112.4 meters, a width of 22.7 meters, an average draft of 8.2 meters, and a standard displacement of 14,500 tons. Power. In terms of installation, it is equipped with a vertical triple expansion engine, 19,000 horsepower, 2 shafts and 2 propellers, and a maximum speed of 19.1 knots. The designed coal reserve is 910 tons, normal 1,120 tons. The endurance is 2,780 nautical miles/14 knots, 3,086 nautical miles/13 knots, 4,720 nautical miles /10 knots. Equipped with four new 305mm main guns, 12 152mm rapid-fire secondary guns, 16 57mm rapid-fire guns, and 5 torpedo launchers. The armor uses oily armor steel newly developed by Krupp. The main armor belt is 92 meters long, 3.1 meters wide, and the thickest point can reach 309 mm. The turret armor is 310 mm, and the command platform is 280 mm thickest. The cost of the ship will not exceed the 2,600 lire of the Turin class, and our navy can raise 600 by itself. Ten million lire, the government only needs to allocate 20 million lire.”

That's right, Yagir's trump card is to raise part of his own military expenses. Since the government doesn't have much money, the Navy should raise some of its own expenses. You can own a latest battleship for 20 million lire, what else can you be dissatisfied with.

As for the navy's self-financing, Yagir is confident. When the time comes to hold more fundraising parties, I believe that Chinese people will donate enthusiastically, especially shipping companies, who will donate generously.

The most important asset of a shipping company is the ship, and ships will always encounter various situations at sea. The navy can play a big role.

This is also a mutually beneficial help, and those shipping companies will not understand this truth.

As for raising funds among the people, the good image of the Navy in the name of the country should be able to solve part of this problem.

Adding these two together, it is not a problem to raise three to four million lire. As for the remaining one or two million lire, it is easy. New ships need manpower. When the time comes, one or two more old ships will be decommissioned and sold, which can save money on maintenance. Expenses, aren’t they already there?

The Navy has even stated that it will raise its own funds, and it seems that it does need to add new ships.

Carlo thought for a while and then said.

"For 60 million lire, I need the navy to build three new warships."

"No problem...what?"

Faced with Carlo's sudden request for 60 million lire to build three new warships, Yagir was shocked. Didn't you say you didn't have any money? Why did you take out 60 million in one go?

Carlo would not give him time to be surprised and continued to ask. "Can the navy do 60 million and three new warships?"

Faced with Carlo's questioning, Yagil swallowed, thought quickly and then gritted his teeth and said. "Your Majesty, please rest assured, the navy will definitely be able to do it."

"Hahaha, then I'm waiting for news about the launch of three battleships."

Looking at His Majesty who was smiling happily, Agil suddenly felt like he had been cheated. But even if he was fooled, he could only swallow it first. The 60 million yuan spent on shipbuilding cannot be pushed back at any cost. The navy is already looking forward to seeing the new ships.

The funding gap of 18 million can still be raised. The worst case scenario is to hold a few more fund-raising parties and recruit handsome and tall military officers to accompany them. If there were no women in the navy, he would have wanted to find some beautiful women to play.

As for the remaining gap, it is time to consider the issue of decommissioning more warships. Maybe you can go around the world and see if there is any enemy that needs warships. The best Italian off-the-shelf warships have only been used for less than thirty years and are still 50% new. They can be sold as long as you pay them.

After sending away the Navy Minister with a heavy look on his face, Carlo also knew that he had exploited the Navy too much. But there is nothing we can do about it, Italy is poor and short of money. If you have money, wouldn't it be a battleship? If you need to build three ships, I will build five.

If it is so grand, Carlo predicts that he will not be able to say it in twenty or thirty years.

Being diligent and thrifty is the status quo. But there is also a benefit. Italy is currently carrying a huge debt, which is being reduced.

It has been reduced from 7.63 billion lire to 7.19 billion lire. This is huge progress. With hard work in the past two years, Italy's debt has been reduced by more than 400 million. I believe that as the economy develops, Italy's debt will become less and less.

While Carlo was thinking about the future, the captain of the guard, Filmicchi, came in with a telegram.

"Your Majesty, this is a telegram sent from the Far East. There is a Donghak Party uprising in North Korea."

Sorry for being late, let’s just count it as yesterday