"Our Prime Minister may not know yet? The warships sold to Japan by the British Royal Navy were purchased by the Japanese with funds raised from the Russians. I think it won't be long before the greedy Russians will use the gold ruble to buy from the Japanese

They will get the ice-free port they dream of there, and British interests in the Far East will face direct challenges from the Russians and Japanese." In the British Parliament, Liberal Party leader William Gladstone made an impassioned speech.

"This doesn't mean anything, it's just a loan. The Japanese need battleships from the British Empire." Salisbury argued.

"Yes, the Japanese need battleships from the British Empire, but they need Russian money even more! Then Japan will use British battleships to deal with our Qing Dynasty in the Far East, and now the British Empire accounts for two-thirds of the Qing Dynasty's imports

Above, once the Qing Dynasty starts war,

Our trade in the Far East will be fatally affected, and if the Qing Dynasty is defeated, the British Empire's dominance in the Qing Dynasty's trade will be completely broken!! And the initiator of all this is our Prime Minister." Gladstone.

He said coldly.

"If the British Empire can provide Japan with the money it urgently needs, Japan will return to the British Empire. And I need to emphasize that Japan has reached a new purchase intention with Armstrong Shipyard. In this case,

Canceling the contract was a cry to the British Empire

Reputation is a loss. With the future of both Qing and Japan unclear, I personally still insist on betting on both sides. No matter who wins, they will face Russia, which is heading east. In order to protect themselves, they have no choice but to

Dedicated to the British Empire." Salisbury analyzed.

After intense debates, neither the Liberal Party nor the Conservative Party could gain an overwhelming advantage. In this case, a compromise plan was obviously acceptable to both parties. As a result, the two Arrogant-class ships were sold separately.

To the Nanyang Navy of the Qing Dynasty and the Japanese Fleet, 188

The Insolent, which had been in service for 6 years, was acquired by the Japanese fleet, while the Warspite, which had been in service in 1888, was intentionally sold to the Nanyang Navy by the Admiralty. The latter had served longer, had better ship condition, and had greater power output.

It has 2,000 horses, reaching 10,000 horsepower, and its speed is higher than that of the Arrogant.

out of 0.75 knots, and the maximum speed reached 16.75 knots! Although both the Qing and Japanese sides were not satisfied with the result, this half-and-half approach was undoubtedly the best result. Liu Kunyi could no longer scrape together enough funds to purchase another ship.

, while Japan attaches great importance to the large-scale construction of

Edgar class, now that our team has added a battleship, the remaining money can be used to purchase an Edgar class! This is a new dome cruiser that is more powerful than the ** class cruiser.

The remaining money was used to build a new second-class dome-armored cruiser of the same type as the Yoshino.

Judging from the final outcome, the Japanese were the winners of this transaction. Although Japan did not acquire both the Arrogant-class warships, the Japanese Navy purchased 3 more warships at once! The total added tonnage was nearly 20,000 tons!

Not only will the three **-class ships that Beiyang just ordered

The gap caused by it was completely eliminated, and the Japanese Navy had a real second-class ironclad ship. This made Japan no longer helpless when faced with the pacification! But in the long run, Japan's borrowing from Russia will inevitably lead to the loss of Britain and Japan.

The honeymoon is over, and in this ship purchase

The British pro-Japanese forces, which were hit hard by the turmoil, would inevitably lose their prime ministership in the 1892 general election. From then on, not only would Japan be unable to obtain real support from the British side, but even ordering warships would be a luxury. (

At that time, the Qing Dynasty once thought

Ironclad ships were ordered from the United Kingdom, but the British government actually refused to sell them on the absurd reason that the warships sold to the Qing Dynasty were likely to fall into the hands of the Russians! In the end, Beiyang ordered the second Dingzhen ship from Germany. For details, see Beiyang Ship

Ship's log page 60.)

Just after Japan used Russian funds to complete its own ship purchase plan, and Nanyang also obtained the coveted ironclad ship, Beiyang fell into a new crisis! Li Hongzhang now fully agrees with Xu Jie's point of view, this is a never-ending battle

The battle and the contest between the two sides can be seen from the expansion of armaments. Li Hongzhang was originally

He originally planned to rely on the purchase of three cruisers to maintain his naval superiority and curb the Japanese ambitions of aggression. After all, Li Hongzhang did not want to start a war from the bottom of his heart, and after many comparisons and deductions, Li Hongzhang understood very well that he

It is very difficult to win against the whole of Japan with Ichiban Town. Even if

Under Xu Jie's operation, a loose alliance was formed with the admirals and governors of Guangdong, Guangxi, Taiwan, and Sichuan. However, in Li Hongzhang's view, except that Li Hanzhang was his own family and could be fully trusted, even if Liu Mingchuan would be completely

It’s hard to support yourself. As for Sichuan? It’s too far away. And

Transportation is inconvenient. I'm afraid I can't get anything out of it except some money. As for the Chinese in Nanyang, Li Hongzhang doesn't trust them very much. In Lao Li's heart, he is deeply wary of any forces from outside the Qing Dynasty, including Xu Jie.

If it weren't for Zhang Peilun's strong recommendation in the beginning, Lao Li would not have accepted him.

"The situation is stronger than the people." Li Hongzhang sighed. It is impossible for the Central Committee to spend any more money to prepare for Beiyang's military expansion. Now, in addition to tapping the "potential", Beiyang's biggest financial source is the Nanyang Chinese in the Huaihe system.

various enterprises established in the areas under our control. If you still want to

To expand financial resources, I am afraid that the local businessmen of the Qing Dynasty must be "persuaded" to build factories. This will naturally be resisted by all kinds of resistance from the central government to the private sector, but Li Hongzhang and Beiyang, who are forced to a dead end, have no other choice! If they want to survive

Go ahead, this is the only way to go!!

"Master Zhongtang, do you think this plan to save the world can be implemented?" At this moment, Ding Ruchang and Zhang Peilun walked into the study together and bowed.

"Is the money ready?" Li Hongzhang asked.

"We have the down payment, and if we include the subsequent public debt, taxation and support from Chinese businessmen, there should be no problem. The only problem is the personnel. Even if I recruit all the students from the Tianjin Naval Academy, I'm afraid it won't be enough," Ding Ruchang said.

, the original Beiyang

There are fewer ships and more officers and students. But now, if Xu Jie’s Qianlong plan really starts to operate, it will probably be more ships and fewer people? And not all officers and students can take up public positions on the ships, so

This is imperative when recruiting talents overseas.

"Let Jishi make his own decisions about these matters. I emphasize one last time that without my permission, this plan is in the Qing Dynasty. Only the three of us know about it. If anyone dares to leak it, don't blame me for being quick!" Li Hongzhang finally emphasized,

This plan is kept secret. If Japan learns of it, we don’t know what other measures it will take.

"What about our cover?" Ding Ruchang asked.

"It's said in a big way that Beiyang needs to replace all the annealing guns. The old boilers also need to be replaced. Didn't we leave behind a few Japanese masterpieces? We have to pretend that we don't have money to buy new ships.

But you can only change weapons and machinery." Li Hongzhang ordered.

"Yes." Ding Ruchang said slightly excitedly.
Chapter completed!