The negotiations with Germany were not going smoothly. On the surface, the focus of the two sides was on the difference in construction standards, but in essence it was on the issue of the purchase price of warships. To be more in-depth, it was the conflict between the national interests of the Tang Empire and Germany. From the perspective of Germany, it is the most advantageous to buy the best warships at the lowest price. From the perspective of the Tang Empire, what can be provided to Germany is only ordinary warships, and there will definitely be a big profit in price.

First, Nie Renfeng reached a preliminary intention agreement with the German naval commander Marshal Redel, and the main content of the agreement was only one point, that is, the Tang Empire would do its best to provide Germany with a powerful fleet in the shortest time to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the German navy. Because this was just an intention agreement, no details were involved in the agreement. For example, how big the so-called maximum effort of the Tang Empire was, how short the shortest time was, as well as the scale of the fleet and the specific performance of the main warship, these were specifically negotiated by representatives of both sides.

The representative of the Tang Empire Navy was Tan Renhao and the staff officers of the headquarters arranged by him. In addition, several government representatives were responsible for negotiating issues outside the navy with the German side. Tan Renhao and his work was to complete the specific performance requirements of the new warships and the size of the fleet, that is, the number of warships purchased by the German Navy. These two negotiations were not held at the same location, but they were closely related.

Initially, the German side made a request that according to the standards of the German Navy, Germany would send engineers to be responsible for the overall construction arrangement, while the shipyard of the Tang Empire only needed to provide basic equipment and related workers. Germany would pay related fees for this to build a battleship that belonged to the German Navy. Tan Renhao pointed out the many problems in this proposal without hesitation, and many problems could not be solved at all.

First. If new battleships are built completely according to the German naval construction standards, even if Germany has relevant design drawings, then the shipyards of the Tang Empire will definitely carry out large-scale transformation of the infrastructure. The cost of this transformation is not low, and it can even be said to be quite expensive.

The problem is here. Even if the German Navy is willing to pay for the renovation fee, the ship platform will not be empty after the construction is completed. It is impossible to wait for the Germans' second order. The ship platform will have to continue to build warships for the Imperial Navy, and all the transformed infrastructure will have to be renovated. Whoever bears the cost will definitely not be willing to pay, but the Tang Empire Navy has no reason to pay this fee.

Second, many technical standards of the German Navy were not able to achieve by the Tang Empire Navy. This does not mean that the German Navy's technical standards were more advanced and the German shipyards had better technology, but were caused by the specific differences in the performance requirements of the warships between the two sides. For example, at that time, the battleships of the Tang Empire Navy attached great importance to the defense capabilities of underwater parts, and the third batch of new provincial capital-level battleships increased the armor thickness of parts below the waterline. However, the German Navy's requirements in this regard were not high.

This involves a lot of details, that is, the shipyards of the Tang Empire may not be able to build new warships according to the standards of the German Navy. How to solve this problem

Third, the impact of the differences between the two sides on some important components is almost impossible to solve. This is mainly reflected in the main gun caliber of the battleship. At that time, the main gun caliber of the Bismarck-class battleship of the German Navy was 382 mm, and it used a double-mounted turret. This technology was already very mature in the German Navy. But the problem is that the Tang Empire did not build a 382 mm main gun and related equipment production line, but if the artillery production line was to be transformed, the problem would be even greater. If the German factory was responsible for the production of artillery and then transported these artillery to the Tang Empire, how to solve the transportation problem, and the artillery was connected with the turrets, and the weight of the main gun turret of the battleship was more than 1 ooo tons, while the German factories were all local, and it was impossible to send it to the port of the Eastern Mediterranean by means of 6 transportation. They could only be loaded in the Baltic Sea. This route had been blocked by the British Navy.

There is no way to solve these three problems alone. Moreover, in addition to these three problems, there are many other problems, such as the troubles that may arise in logistics support. As long as one of the problems cannot be solved, even if the shipyard of the Tang Empire built the battleship, it would be just a beautiful decoration and would not have much combat power at all.

The problem is obvious, and it is no longer a bargaining. The Germans are not fools. The questions raised by Tan Renhao are very realistic, and the German Navy is unwilling to spend a lot of money to buy a few expensive vases. During the discussion a few days ago, both sides focused on solving these problems.

At least, the Germans showed sincerity at this time, and Tan Renhao also expressed the sincerity of the empire. Building warships, especially giant ships such as battleships that often cost tens of thousands of tons, is a very troublesome and systematic project. In peacetime, it takes several years to design work alone, and then models and pool experiments have to be built. Now, if you want to build new warships for Germany in a short period of time, you have to solve all these problems.

Now, most of the problems of not spending too much time and funding are basically solved. Tan Renhao has been reporting the relevant situation of the negotiations to Gan Yongxing. There are two solutions. One is that the German standards are still adopted, which is mainly used to solve the details of the problems that our shipyards do not need to do too much transformation. I arranged a few staff officers to discuss the details with the German Navy officers, and the relevant results will be produced in the next few days.

The Germans are willing to bear the relevant expenses. Gan Yongxing has a lot of work, so he does not often ask about the details of the negotiations.

The cost of this part is not large. Germany has agreed to bear the relevant expenses when signing the formal contract, including the renovation costs after construction.

Gan Yongxing nodded slightly and waited for Tan Renhao to continue talking.

Others involve detailed issues that require large amounts of funds or take a lot of time. The German Navy decided to solve it by lowering the technical standards. We also made a rough calculation. There are not many problems in this regard, and we have proposed that in some cases, the performance of warships can be improved. At the same time, the detailed issues that conflict with the German Navy's local standards will not be adopted by the Imperial Navy standards. Germany is doing detailed research and will give us a clear answer in the next few days.

So, what are the main problems left now

Tan Renhao shook his head with a smile. The main details were some key issues, such as the caliber of the main gun, power system, propulsion system, armored steel, turret structure, caliber of the secondary gun, etc.

These are directly related to the details of the basic performance of the warship, and Germany is still unwilling to make concessions. We have now divided these issues into several categories and proposed to negotiate separately and resolve them one by one.

The Germans are still so stubborn. It seems that they are deliberately making trouble.

Chief of Staff, in fact, the German mentality is understandable. Tan Renhao shrugged his shoulders. At least, the Germans were very sincere this time. Judging from the situation we have now, the German Navy has long completed the design of the successor ships of the Bismarck-class battleships, but they have never had the resources to build these battleships. Now they can only rely on us. If we stand from the perspective of the Germans, we will also require these new warships that have surpassed the Bismarck-class battleships in terms of performance to be as good as possible without making concessions on important issues.

So, what method are you going to use to convince the Germans

If a unified method is needed to solve the problem, it is almost impossible to achieve, and the Germans will not agree. Tan Renhao paused for a moment. I prepared several methods to apply different solutions to different problems. For example, in terms of warship power systems, the Imperial Navy's ground boiler has always been better than Germany's, and actual combat has proved this. Therefore, we would suggest that the German Navy adopt our boiler instead of German technology to produce boilers. In terms of warship landlord guns, Germany's artillery production technology has its own uniqueness, which is more advanced than us in some aspects, and we also have our own uniqueness. Therefore, we would suggest that the advantages of both sides be used to produce new artillery, and the Imperial Navy's gun caliber standards can be used to meet the needs of ammunition support without the problem of opening a new ammunition production line.

In terms of secondary gun caliber, armor, etc., we can adopt German standards, and even Germany directly provides these components, or manufacture them according to German standards. I have arranged for relevant staff to do specific work and can come up with specific agreement documents in two days. At that time, we will conduct specific consultations with the German representative.

Maybe this is the only way.

At least this is the best solution we can find now. The Germans are not fools. If they want to get the best warship with the least money, they must find a way to solve these problems. As long as they cannot come up with a better solution, they must adopt our proposal.

It seems that you already know Germans very well.

Chief of staff, in fact, the Germans have realized the seriousness of these problems, and we have expressed enough sincerity and made concessions in specific negotiations, so they cannot refuse our proposal.

Gan Yongxing laughed. It seems that the principal arranged for you to do this job.

These technical problems are not difficult to solve. The additional problems are just who keeps more and who pays more.

Tan Renhao smiled and shook his head. He was not a technical person, but he knew very well that technical problems were the best to solve, and problems other than technology were the most difficult to solve.

Let me put it this way, what the Germans are most annoyed now is not the technical details, but our quotation. Gan Yongxing changed the topic. The negotiations in Tehran were not going well. The price offered by Germany was very different from our asking price. It would take a lot of time to talk about it together. In addition, there are also big problems in payment.

Tan Renhao was not surprised, and he had also heard relevant news these days.

In terms of calculating the price of warships, the Tang Empire insisted on calculating all the transformation costs among the first batch of warships. In this way, if Germany purchases the second batch of warships, the transformation costs will not be calculated. If Germany does not purchase the second batch of warships, the Tang Empire will not lose money.

However, Germany only calculated 50% of the transformation costs in the first batch of warships purchased, and only signed an intention contract to purchase the second batch of warships with the Tang Empire, rather than a formal contract. In addition, in terms of cost calculation of the warship itself, there was also a huge price gap between the two parties. Combined these issues, the price gap between the two parties was so scary.

In terms of payment methods, Germany insisted on paying year by credit, while the Tang Empire insisted that Germany should pay in hard currency. In other words, Germany hoped to pay for the purchase of warships through normal trade, while the Tang Empire insisted that warships should be sold according to wartime standards.

The difference between these two payment methods is very huge. If Germany adopts the German method, then Germany can pay the purchase costs of these warships in ten or even twenty years. Even if the interest is counted, Germany will not suffer much loss. The Tang Empire's requirements are very direct. Germany either settles directly in gold or has to buy warships by bartering, and refuses to accept paper money or any other new currency.

This intuitively reflects the actions of the two countries in defending national interests, and also reflects the true relationship between Germany and the Tang Empire.

Even if the war is not over yet, the two countries are just alliances of interests. Because of the different national interests, there is inevitably a world of difference on specific issues.

Renhao, you have finished your work these days, so you should have a good rest. Gan Yongxing stood up as he spoke. The price negotiations have little to do with us, so we just need to do a good job in technical negotiations. So, you don’t need to worry about the matter in Tehran.

I know, then I will say goodbye first. Tan Renhao also stood up immediately. Chief of Staff, you should go and rest early, too
Chapter completed!