The stars are dotted, the night is already dark, and a crescent moon hangs in the sky, emitting a cool and soft fairy brilliance.

It was the hour of Xu, and everything was quiet. Most of the areas in the imperial palace were occupied by darkness and silence. Occasionally, the cold wind blew by, adding to the feeling of loneliness and coldness. Every moment, a team of brightly-clad guard officers and soldiers patrol the night. Even in the middle of the night, no soldier showed any tiredness.

A middle-aged man with a beard sat quietly in the study room of the side palace. He was wearing a casual dress and had a little more rational silence and less emperorly majesty. Under the bright light, the left hand, which was shrinking due to congenital polio, was carried behind as usual. As time passed, the stack of tall documents had been half shorter and was folded again on the other side.

"Damn Alfred, didn't he say that he would come to submit his naval development plan to me at 8:30? It's already 8:40 now, why didn't he appear?" William II looked up at the wall clock on the wall, and his words were already a little angry. In the German circle, the quality of punctuality has been imprinted into everyone's genes like eating and drinking water; if both sides agreed on the time, even if they were 1 minute late, it would be very impolite to the Germans!

After approving a document, William II stood up from his chair and walked slowly to the door. The cold wind was biting and the moon was vast. On the bluestone path in front of the study, the shadows of trees were robeing, the branches were shaking and the leaves were dancing, and several street lights were lit quietly, but no one appeared in his sight.

"It's strange. Why haven't Alfred come yet? This is unscientific!" William II turned around and asked an old man in a tuxedo beside him: "Alman, did Alfred tell me? What other arrangements do he have tonight?"

The old man named Alman is about 50 years old, with a thin figure and a kind face like a good old man. Facing William II's question, he bowed slightly and said, "Your Majesty, the Chief of Staff of the Navy is going to teach His Highness the Second Prince tonight, and he has already gone at 6:30."

William II pondered for a moment and whispered: "No. His teaching time at Etel will only last until 8 o'clock in the evening, but now it is 8:40." He looked at the clock on the wall with some annoyance, and a thought suddenly emerged in his mind: Could that guy Tirpitz be suddenly sick, right? Otherwise, with his style of conduct, being late would be impossible!

As soon as he thought about this, the more likely William II thought about it, the more likely it was. In addition, William II really couldn't imagine that there would be a second situation. He took off a dark windbreaker from the hanger, put it on his body, and then hurried out of the door. The old butler in a tuxedo was startled and said, "Your Majesty, where are you going?"

William II kept walking, leaving only a string of voices that gradually became smaller: "Alfred was most likely to have an acute illness in Etel, I have to go and see. Alman, you can organize these approved documents first, and don't have to follow!"

The palace of the Second Empire was not as big as people imagined. William II's office was only a straight line distance of less than 200 meters from Qingying's study. In less than 2 minutes, he appeared in front of Qingying's study. The two guards guarding the gate suddenly saw the young monarch of the Empire, and were startled and saluted. William II nodded slightly and asked, "Chief of the Navy, is it still inside?"

A guard bowed and replied, "Almighty Caesar, Lord Alfred is indeed still here with the second prince and has never left. No, this is his voice. In the previous half hour, Lord Chief of Staff would make such sounds from time to time."

William II stood outside the door, listening intently, and faintly heard Tirpitz's unrestrained laughter from inside the room, as if he was crazy about gaining and losing. He stood at the door for a while, and his two gray eyebrows gradually stood up; then he strode up the steps and pushed the door open.

Warmth was pouring on his face, the lights were golden. In front of the purple desk, a pretty child was sucking the coffee in the porcelain cup bit by bit; when he heard the sound at the door, he turned his head and looked at it, and his face showed a surprised expression. Opposite him, an octopus over 40 was drawing wildly on white paper with a quill pen, with two unique middle-parted goatee beards on the jaw. If it weren't Tirpitz, who was it?

At this time, Tirpitz had completely entered a state of selflessness; all his energy was focused on what he was doing, and he no longer cared about anything that happened outside. He sometimes frowned and pondered, and sometimes he spoke quickly. White paper, which was square by one foot, was already densely covered with figures. In the wastebasket next to him, there were two large pleats of wrinkled manuscript paper randomly discarded inside; a few blue ink stains climbed up to Tirpitz's face.

Seeing this scene, the anger in William II's heart subsided, replaced by a feeling of doubt. It was obvious that Tirpitz did not get sick at all, and he was still doing something with all his concentration. But what exactly could make him completely unaware of the passage of time and even let him release Emperor William's dove? You know, Tirpitz entered the navy at the age of 16; after these 30 years of military career, the concept of punctuality has long been deeply engraved into his bones!

William II's eyes turned, first looked at Qingying, then glanced at Tirpitz who was still painting himself, and the inquiry was revealed. Qingying put down the coffee cup, shrugged, and then spread her hands, saying that she didn't know what was going on with Tirpitz.

William II gave Qingying a blank look and then stopped looking at his son. He clenched his fist with his right hand and put him beside his mouth. Suddenly, he coughed heavily, breaking the tranquility in the room. Tirpitz shuddered and raised his head, but saw William II driving him several meters away, with a hint of anger on his face.

"Ah, your majesty!" Tirpitz stood up from his chair and said, "Your Majesty, why are you here?"

"Why did you come here? Why did you think I came here?" William II laughed so much. He stretched out his right arm and pointed to the clock beside the wall with his right hand, and said angrily, "Didn't you say that you would report to me your latest battleship expansion plan at 8:30? Let me take a look at it carefully. It's time now! What about your concept of time? Have you been in vain for the past 30 years of navy?"

Tirpitz looked along William II's arm and was stunned. William II snorted coldly and said, "As Germans, punctuality is our most basic morality! Alfred, what are you doing? You even forgot about your attendance with me?"

"Your Majesty, I am extremely sorry for this matter!" Tirpitz bowed to William II. After deep regret, the expression on his face immediately turned into an expression of excitement and joy. He grabbed the manuscript paper on the table that had been painted beyond recognition and said excitedly: "Your Majesty, I have finally found the future development direction of the German Navy! If we do this, we will achieve twice the result with half the effort than the previous method. Even the British cannot stop the rise of the German Navy!"

Since William II visited Britain in 1887, he and Tirpitz have known each other for 6 years. In William II's eyes, Tirpitz has always been a rigorous and solemn person, and he will do what he says. He will never say anything without 120% sure of anything. Seeing that Tirpitz was so excited and said this in an extremely affirmative tone, William II was so angry that he was so itchy that he blurted out: "What should I do? Tell me quickly!"

"We can appropriately expand the tonnage, build large battleships with strong firepower, superior protection, and speed. Under the same tonnage, this method can greatly equip both power and armor; from the perspective of ship design, this is simply a shortcut that we have never noticed before!" Tirpitz said this and looked at Qingying next to him with joy, "If it weren't for His Highness the Second Prince's words awakening the dreamer, the German Navy would not know how long it would have been wandering in front of the progressive gate! Your Highness is really the little angel given to the German Navy by the omnipotent Lord!"

"What should I do about the cost issue? Why is this matter related to Etel again?" William II asked two questions in a row.

Tirpitz briefly stated the conversation between himself and Qingying to William II. He picked up the cold coffee on the table and poured it in two mouthfuls, then wiped his mouth with his cuff without any image, and then said: "Although your highness did not do it on purpose, this idea of ​​increasing firepower and merging tonnage is absolutely correct! Almost all the shipbuilding plans we have formulated before must be pushed back and forth; except for the torpedo boats that are consumables, any warship must

We are moving towards larger-scale and heavy firepower! As for the cost, we can offset the increase in the tonnage of a single ship by reducing the quantity, so as to obtain a balance of the total cost. For example, we originally planned to build 4 11,000-ton battleships, but now we should change them to build 3 15,000-ton battleships! I have calculated just now that the prices of these two plans are almost no different. But if we fight head-on with the enemy, the combat effectiveness of the latter is far better than the former!"
Chapter completed!