My Italy

As the year draws to a close, Italy is getting busier and busier. Admiral Yagier, who was once half-infuriated by the new battleship project, has finally achieved satisfactory results. After a fierce competition, the plan of His Excellency Benedetto Breen, the chief designer from the Andozal Shipyard, finally won the favor of the Navy Ministry.

In this plan, the new battleship is 128 meters long and 22.5 meters wide. The total tonnage is limited to a standard displacement of 13,400 tons, a full load displacement of 15,900 tons, and a draft of 8 meters.

In terms of firepower, the new battleship is equipped with two twin-mounted 356mm main guns, arranged one in the front and one in the back. There are also 8 254mm secondary main guns in the previous layout of one in the back and one in the middle.

Although the layout is a little weird, there is nothing that can be done about it. The 254mm secondary main gun is much larger than the 152mm that has been used before. Therefore, the two twin 254mm guns arranged in the middle of the ship are arranged in a staggered manner, which can ensure the output of firepower on both sides.

In addition, the new battleship is also equipped with 12 76mm secondary guns and 6 47mm guns.

In terms of armor, its side armor belt is 3.4 meters wide and 160-320 mm thick, deck armor is 72 mm, and turret armor is 320 mm. Yes, you read that right. The armor thickness has been reduced. The reason for the reduction is very simple. After using Krupp armor steel, the current armor thickness is enough and there is no need for thicker armor.

On the contrary, the hull structure needs to be improved. Considering the threat of increasingly advanced torpedoes to warships, various small cabins that are divided outside the hull are under consideration.

Of course, the mine protection cabin alone is not enough, and the use of armored boxes is also indispensable, so armor protection for key cabins is also essential.

In terms of power, 12 single-head cylindrical water tube boilers and two 4-cylinder vertical triple-expansion steam engines with 2 shafts and 2 propellers can provide a strong power of 17,000 horsepower, pushing the warship to a maximum speed of 19.4 knots. The endurance is 10 knots and 6,500 nautical miles.

The most commendable thing in terms of power is this water tube boiler. As the latest masterpiece of the Naval Power Research Institute, this water tube boiler is very good. It can provide higher power and greater economy, and can improve endurance and efficiency. It is also currently The world's first battleship equipped with a water tube boiler.

Generally speaking, this new battleship has limited performance improvement over the Turin class. It is more of an enhanced endurance and firepower version. However, in terms of construction costs, it is not much lower than the Turin class. The shipbuilding cost of 24.5 million lire is not much different.

Of course, this cost is reasonable enough, and the cost of this ship would have to be increased by at least 1 million lire.

The Navy gained a lot in 1895, and of course other departments of his family also gained, such as the Ministry of Education.

In the 1896 budget, the Ministry of Education received a budget of 348 million lire in one fell swoop, reaching a record high.

The Ministry of Education received such a generous budget thanks to its proposal to pilot eight-year compulsory education. Yes, the Ministry of Education believes that the five-year primary education system currently implemented across the country can no longer meet Italy’s demand for talents, so the five-year system must be changed to an eight-year system to provide the country with higher-quality talents.

For this reason, Education Minister Lelian Dillon has traveled many times to explain to the Prime Minister and the King the importance of eight-year compulsory education. According to him, if compulsory education is increased to eight years, it can provide Italy with at least 250,000 qualified technical workers every year, and at the same time increase 20,000 students in higher education institutions. This will definitely greatly improve the level of Italian scientific research and benefit Italy from various fields. In terms of catching up with the great powers of other countries.

Mr. Dillon is not talking nonsense, there is sufficient evidence for this. As far as the current compulsory education in Italy is concerned, the enrollment rate is 96.4% of school-age children, and the graduation rate is 91.7%, which fully proves the support of Italian families for their children to go to school.

However, adding three more years of study time will not reduce the enrollment rate too much, allowing more school-age children to learn more knowledge, which will also have a huge demographic dividend for the development of Italy.

Yes, this is what the wise and mighty King said. Isn’t the word demographic dividend too good? On the contrary, there is a population trap.

Of course, with a fiscal budget of 348 million liras, does the Ministry of Education need to spend it to achieve results? All this has already been planned by the Ministry of Education.

At present, the Ministry of Education plans to pilot eight-year compulsory education in several places. They are Lombardy Region (capital Milan), Lazio Region (capital Rome), Campania Region (capital Naples), and the Viceroyalty of Sicily (capital City). Palermo), Borneo Colony (capital Pontianak).

You read that right. The Ministry of Education has an ambitious plan to provide eight-year compulsory education to one-third of the local population and 70% of the overseas population. Although this is not planned to start within one year, the two-year plan is still ambitious.

Of course, the Ministry of Education also has its own ideas. Among the first large regions and colonists to implement eight-year compulsory education, their local governments must share part of the financial burden.

The specifics vary from person to person. For example, in Campania and the Viceroyalty of Sicily, which are not very wealthy in the south, the Ministry of Education may allocate more money. The northern region of Lombardy and the Lazio region, where the capital is located, rely more on local governments to bear their financial pressure. As for the Borneo colony, it was mostly self-financed, with the Ministry of Education supporting at most a group of teachers.

Yes, this is what a colony is like. Fortunately, the colonial government of Borneo had money and could afford it. Of course, according to the Ministry of Finance, when it comes to which local government in Italy is the richest, Lombardy is not as good as Borneo. They make money by selling various resources.

In addition, the reason why the Ministry of Education is so stingy is simple. Building a middle school requires a lot of money. Taking a medium-sized secondary school with a capacity of 800 students as an example, it requires about 2.1 million lire in funds and more than 40 teaching staff. Judging from the current goals set by the Ministry of Education, there is a need to add or expand 150-180 junior high schools in the country (some are large and some are small, and in some places the student resources of junior high schools cannot meet the facility standards).

This requires only 300 to 400 million liras for construction or expansion funds. How can it be possible with the little money of the Ministry of Education? Therefore, it is necessary to consider funds at this time. Of course, it is not enough to rely on funds. For example, the two major districts in the south consider the issue of balance between the north and the south. Lazio, on the other hand, took into account the capital factor. As for Borneo, it is completely a big dog.

As for northern regions such as Piedmont (the capital is Turin), Veniu (the capital is Venice), and Liguria (the capital is Genoa), why not choose them. This teaching force is not enough, so we can only give priority to the carefully selected districts, and other places will take second place.

And considering that the addition of junior high schools will also increase the number of students in high schools and universities in the future, this is not just a matter of establishing junior high schools. The expansion of high schools and universities also needs to be considered.

In a word, increasing the number of years of compulsory education is not a matter of words or just money. Issues that need to be taken into consideration cannot be ignored.