The negotiations between China and Japan on naval and shipbuilding joint ventures were struggling for several days before finally reaching an agreement. On the day after the contract was signed, the German government announced that in order to retaliate against the British Navy's hungry blockade, the waters near the British Isles, including the English Channel, would be arranged as war zones, and the enemy ships in the war zone, the German Navy would be sunk; and because British merchant ships frequently hang the flags of neutral countries, the German Navy would attack ships in the war zone without distinction, and the neutral countries would be responsible for their losses.

Yang Rui breathed a deep breath when he saw the telegram. He didn't know why Germany announced that the unlimited submarine warfare was more than a month later than in history, but fortunately, the reality was moving in the direction of history. With the current scale of 100 submarines in Germany, the unlimited submarine warfare is estimated to double the number of merchant ships sunk every month, and there are about four million tons in a year. But this is just a numerical calculation. In history, after sinking the British cruise ship "Lusitania", the Germans terminated the unlimited submarine warfare in September of that year in order not to anger the United States. In just a few months, and the number of submarines was limited at that time, the results were not much.

"I'll call Zhang Shi here right away." Yang Rui put down the telegram and said to Li Zilong with some excitement.

Half an hour later, Zhang Shi, commonly known as the admiral of the West Factory, appeared in Yin'an Hall in a hurry. As soon as others arrived, the slightly noisy offices outside suddenly became silent. Zhang Shi, who passed by the outside, could even hear the sound of cups falling to the ground and shattering in the small compartment. He only found it funny. He felt that everyone needed to be afraid of Liu Boyuan's Security Bureau, and the Intelligence Bureau was only for the outside.

Seeing that Zhang Shi did not bring his secretary to see him alone, Yang Rui did not immediately talk about business. Instead, he said with concern: "I heard that your marriage has not been ruined again?"

"Yes, sir." Zhang Shi smiled embarrassedly and stroked his nose. "People are too ugly, no one cares about them."

"Fuck!" Yang Rui handed him a cigarette and smiled and said, "A good man who is upright and talented is not ugly! People nowadays have many rumors, and there is nothing to say in the teahouse and restaurants. They just know that they are making fun of you two intelligence departments and all the jokes have come out. I heard that Yuan Shi's wife dare not go out on the street now, and when people on the streets see her, they hide. Those foolish people don't think about it. The East-West and East factories really want to spread it as much as everyone else. How can they let them ridicule it at will?"

Yang Rui said something clear, and Zhang Shi just smiled. He met a new school girl some time ago. After meeting her a few times, she fell in love with her after saying a few words. The woman also liked him, but she didn't want to have a marriage proposal. After the woman's parents found out about his official position, they took her family to the Tianjin Concession overnight, and then found someone to give a lot of reasons. She begged for mercy and hoped that Zhang Shi would let their whole family go. There was no result in begging for mercy here, so she took a boat to Japan. Things were so bad.

Later, when Liu Boyuan brought the news, Yang Rui burst into anger. After Liu Boyuan explained, he realized that the family was a Qing official before. It was probably that when he entered Beijing that year, he left some treasures at home. He was extremely afraid that the government would pursue it. He heard that Zhang Shi was the admiral of the Xichang Factory. He ran away overnight in horror. Although Yang Rui knew the whole story, he was afraid that Zhang Shi was a thin-faced person. So he pretended not to know.

"Sir, what's going on to find Zhang Shi this time?" Zhang Shi said, quietly introducing the topic to the topic.

"What's going on in Germany?" Yang Rui put down half of the cigarette and remembered his intention to find Zhang Shi.

"The arms we sold to Russia are extremely effective. Austro-Hungary suffered consecutive defeats in the past two months, and the Germans put out fires everywhere. The bombing of London was ineffective. I felt that the war gradually became a war of attrition. The German Emperor was finally convinced by the prime minister and the general staff and agreed to start the unlimited submarine war." Zhang Shi briefly introduced the situation in Germany, which he actually reported last month.

"Yeah." Yang Rui agreed, and he asked again: "Where is Leo, what is he doing?"

"He suggested that the German Emperor immediately establish a national material control agency and news control agency, but the German Emperor did not care about this. It is said that the German Emperor believed that Mr. William's return was a mistake. If he left China, then Sino-German relations would plummet, especially last month we sent a volunteer flight squadron to London to protect the embassy, ​​which made the German Emperor hate him even more. During this period, Mr. William should be idle at home, but he may also go to the front line to command the troops, and it is very likely to go to the Eastern Front." Zhang Shi said.

"East Front?" Yang Rui had long guessed that Leo and his men would not be valued by the German Emperor when they returned. In the eyes of the Germans, their importance was connected to China. Without China, they were nothing.

"Yes. Mr. William believes that Russia is very weak. Defeating Russia as soon as possible will improve the situation of Germany's two-front battle. As soon as he returned to Germany, he contacted Colonel Hoffmann on the Eastern Front and asked the German Emperor to send him to the Eastern Front. However, the German Emperor has not agreed yet. Mr. William is a duke in our country. If the army commanded too few, I am afraid of being sorry for this title." Zhang Shi said.

As soon as Zhang Shi talked about Colonel Hoffman, Yang Rui remembered this German military officer. He knew all the tactics of the Revival Army. It is said that the encirclement and annihilation of Tannenburg was the combat plan he drafted. If Leo could be mixed with him, he would have a confidant.

After asking what he was concerned about, Yang Rui said: "There is one thing to come to you. Now that Germany has announced the start of the unlimited submarine war, the British will definitely find a way to destroy it. Their best way is to drag the United States into the water. Once the ocean cruise ship on the Atlantic Ocean is sunk by a German submarine, there will only be two results: either the US government will start to get into a feud with Germany because of the death of American citizens and eventually declare war on Germany; or Germany will announce that it will give up the unlimited submarine war and compromise with the United States, but will eventually lose the war due to lack of supplies.

For us, it is important to earn enough construction funds in this war. The Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Industry have already negotiated with the Japanese, and the two countries work together to control the wartime shipping market. Therefore, we need the Germans to insist on unlimited submarine warfare, so the more merchant ships they sink, the more money we make. Therefore, we must monitor every British cruise ship carrying Americans, notify them of Germany, and advise them to be careful in order to avoid being tricked by the British.

This is a solution. But President Wilson and the consortiums that have done business in the European War are all pro-British. It is hard to say how long they can be careful by this method. One day, Americans will die in unlimited submarine warfare. At that time, they will have to find ways to interfere with the decisions of the German senior leaders and let them persevere in unlimited submarine warfare. Aren’t the German Navy capable of wolf pack tactics? Tell those who are worried about the United States declaring warfare that even if the United States declares war on Germany, his army will not be able to escape the hunting of wolf packs, and safely transport the troops to the European continent across the ocean.

This is one of them, and the other is to prevent the United States from building ships on a large scale. The United States is a country among all countries that can surpass us and Japan to mass-produce merchant ships. Once the Americans make every effort to build ships, our shipping income will shrink significantly. The Commercial Intelligence Agency now has a solution to take off our merchant ships and go to the Atlantic to make up for the losses of British merchant ships, and then strive to maintain a low freight rate. The Americans think that shipbuilding is unprofitable, and then raise the freight rate after one year of unlimited submarine warfare. This is just an economic strategy, and the other is to suggest that the Germans induce American shipbuilders to strike, etc. I believe you can find a way to drag the American shipbuilding industry for a year or even longer. After saying so much, can you understand what I mean?"

"Mr. I have two meanings: one is to eliminate internal and external interference from Germany and allow them to insist on unlimited submarine warfare; the other is to delay and destroy American shipbuildings, so that when freight rates rise, there are not so many merchant ships to be put into operation." Zhang Shi said.

"It seems that I'm talking too much." Yang Rui smiled. This is actually just a matter of two sentences, but in order to point out some historical events, he had to say a few more words.

"Sir, don't talk too much." Zhang Shi knew that Yang Rui was sure to be up to his words, and was already thinking about how to start. "Sir, if the deep-water bombs can be announced and hyped, I think the Americans would even think that unlimited submarine warfare would not have a serious impact on shipping. The number of shipbuildings would not increase much."

"This is also a solution." Yang Rui nodded. Because he was training together at the beginning, the German Navy fully knew that deep-water bombs and anti-deep-water bomb tactical submarines were left with debris bins when designing. Once they encountered deep-water bombs, the captain could open the debris bins and let the debris float on the surface of the sea. The destroyers on the sea would think that the submarine had been sunk. At that time, the British Navy would find that German submarines were more and more, and when they finally found something wrong, it would take half a year to go.

"Let's leave this matter to Japan. Sending merchant ships to the Atlantic Ocean to assist allies in transporting goods and escorting goods is also their business. We are outsiders after all," Yang Rui added.

"Okay. Sir. Also, if the Germans want to buy our submarines, can we sell them?" Zhang Shi asked.

"Why, didn't the Germans look down on it last year? They also said that our submarine model was too old and they didn't want it at all." After hearing that Germany actually wanted to buy a submarine, Yang Rui immediately became excited.

"Last year was last year, but the news this year was that German executives believed that their submarines were too small and hoped that the shipyard would build more submarines." Zhang Shi said. "If you talk about this matter again, it is very likely to succeed."

"Is that true!" Yang Rui said heavily, and his heart beat violently for several times. Although China is a non-warring country, at this time, it will definitely be investigated by Britain and France after the incident. If the secret is leaked during the sales process, it will definitely affect the profit. Thinking of this, Yang Rui said. "Can you make sure that this matter is not discovered by the British intelligence department? Also, when Germany is defeated after the war, this matter will not be found out?"

"British intelligence officials are concerned about our army. The navy is not their focus. Besides, the number of submarines is too large and there are many intentional repetitions of the hull number. One-third of them are sold, and there are still hundreds of ships. Even if the British request a point inspection, there is no clue. Transportation is not a problem. Portuguese Mozambique can be used as a relay station. Even if they don't go to Mozambique, they can still travel with the merchant fleet. As for the post-war..." Zhang Shi considered: "Before Germany was defeated, we could find ways to destroy those transaction documents so as not to fall into the hands of Britain and France."

"It is not necessary to destroy it. The British and French armies will not occupy Germany. They will only disarm Germany and force him to sign a defeated treaty." Yang Rui himself was also thinking about this matter, "In this way, it can still be sold, but this matter must be discussed with Krupp Company, and the payment for the goods will be paid to us by Krupp. The fewer people know the whole thing, the better..."

"I understand." Zhang Shi said. "But how many submarines do we sell to Germany?"

"How many ships? Don't talk about how many ships are first. After everything is agreed, we will deliver ten ships. If the British don't pay attention, ask the General Staff if they can sell as many ships. They say they want to keep them. Then leave them as many ships, and sell the rest." Yang Rui said this and suddenly thought of the two 25,000-ton aircraft carriers that were about to order from Japan. The crew vacated on these submarines can be pulled onto the aircraft carrier.

In just over twenty minutes of explanation, several major events related to world shipping in wartime were determined. After Zhang Shi left, Yang Rui thought about it again and thought that the speed of selling submarines to Germany should be controlled, otherwise the unlimited submarine warfare would be too fierce, and the British would starve to death because of food cuts. The victory of Germany would be fun.

He thought about it, and Li Zilong brought in the Naval Design Bureau people he originally wanted to meet. Yang Rui thought it was just Wang Pingxuan's designers, but he didn't expect that Zhu Luhe, the director of the General Logistics Department, brought a group of people in.

"Sir. These are all international students who studied in the UK a few years ago and later transferred to MIT in the United States. Now the country needs them, so they have to return to China early." Zhu Luhe introduced straight to the point. He pointed to the four people standing on the side and said, "These are people studying aviation, including Ba Yumo, Wang Zhu, Zeng Yijing, and Wang Xiaofeng."

When Zhu Luhe mentioned whoever his name was, he bowed to Yang Rui. Yang Rui was familiar with the names of the four, namely Ba Yumo and Wang Shu. But he did not pretend to be beautiful to these two people. He felt that who would achieve success in the new environment and who would be mediocre, and that would still need to wait and see.

"Okay! Very good!" Yang Rui rarely praised it. After he said this, the somewhat reserved international student's expression suddenly changed from reserve to excitement. However, he said, "The country needs aircraft designers, ship designers, especially professional designers. Originally, he should support you in setting up your own design studio and design bureau, just like before supporting Feng Ru Aircraft Company.

However, jade cannot be made into a tool without carving, and design is not as simple as drawing. In order to give you more experience and a more open-minded mind, you can only send you to a state-owned aircraft company first. When you feel that you are qualified and can produce your achievements, you can ask the General Secretary or the Ministry of Works to approve the establishment of a new design room; if you always feel that you are not valued and your achievements are not recognized, you can resign and write a business plan to convince the venture capital company to invest in you. However, this is a simple business behavior, and the profits and losses are all on you..."

The General Secretary and the Ministry of Industry have been poached by venture capital companies managed by the Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of Commerce dares to poach them entirely thanks to Yang Rui's support. Now, when he heard that Yang Rui came to venture capital again, Zhu Luhe immediately smiled bitterly and said, "Sir, don't dig, there will be no one on the military industry side if you dig again."

Zhu Luhe complained, but Yang Rui said: "I am helping you. When Feng Ru and his group were nationalized, how can he have today? State-owned companies need to have them, but private companies cannot have them. Without competition, there will be no progress. Besides, with the current situation of our country, this plane can be sold to the military and government and exported to whom? Let them set up their own companies, and the pressure will be all on themselves. Whether it is a dragon or a tiger, it depends on their luck."

Ba Yumo, Wang Shu and others returned to China to do something big, but they were worried about being trapped in political struggle. When they returned to China, they heard that the Xin Dynasty did not like the Min-sect navy very much. Although they were not all Fujian-sected, they had some relationship with the Fujian-sected group, so they were always worried. As for those who learned to build ships, although they designed the Shenwu, they never knew what it was. They didn't know until last year that it was the emperor's yacht, and they couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

There were many worries. After returning to China, the students were even more excited to find out that they could meet the Prime Minister in person after being warmly received by Zhu Lu, the leader of the General Secretary, and Lieutenant General. However, after hearing what the Prime Minister said, the people who originally thought they could be valued were reused again.

Before Yang Rui finished speaking, he continued: "My philosophy is the same as before. Technology determines success or failure. Since it is a talent, what the government needs to do is to make it possible for it to play its knowledge. For this reason, you all have two ways: one is to stay in a state-owned company and then borrow the resources of the state-owned company to display your talents; the other is to jump out of the state-owned company and go to the venture capital company of the Ministry of Commerce. They will not value your family affairs, your character, your education, or even your talents. What they want is to make money. As long as your projects can make money and do not violate the patent law, they will invest in you and let you play your strengths.

The Taiwei Mansion, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Tingwei Mansion have special procurement departments, and all external procurements are subject to bidding; whether it is a state-owned company or a private company, it is treated equally; if someone violates the rules, even if the government violates the rules, then there is a special agency called the Bidding Supervision Committee under the Juyi Academy, where you can write your opinions there. There is no need to sign, as long as there is real evidence, they will investigate fraud. In order to seek re-election, the favorite thing for those members of the Juyi Academy is to catch mice and eliminate harm to the people.

There are only two roads, so it is more comfortable to go in the morning. After all, it has the advantages of first-mover and resource; it is harder to be in the wild, but people are free. As long as you have the ability or are not afraid of the company going bankrupt, you can sleep every day."

The unique welcome speech made these dozen international students applaud. Yang Rui didn't care, and suppressed the applause and said, "But what I'm worried about is that you are too ambitious and think about using it when you come back. This is wrong. Ideals are one thing, and practice is another thing, that is, you really want to do something. Then you should endure a few years of hardship and work hard in a state-owned company for a few years. Only when your wings are hard can you fly."

Seeing that the Prime Minister pointed out such a clear path, the international students present laughed again. Zhu Luhe kept shaking his head. He was public and was puzzled when he saw that Yang Rui only regarded state-owned companies as training stations. Yang Rui didn't blame him when he saw that he was like this. In his opinion, as long as he did not steal or embezzle the tangible and intangible assets of state-owned companies, what's the pity for cultivating a few talents? Isn't it even more a pity for the school to train tens of millions of people for free every year?

There are also those college graduates. Many of them do not join state-owned companies and go to private companies. Do they also ask them for training fees? The most important thing for the government is to prosper the economy and develop science and technology. As long as the economy and technology are both in China, why care about public and private? On the contrary, the concepts will be open in the future. The country should impose resource occupation tax on those high-tech talents who immigrate to the United States, otherwise they will suffer losses.

Yang Rui's welcome remarks were just an interlude, but these remarks made everyone present liven up. The remaining people who learned to build ships introduced themselves. Yang Rui once again heard the names of the last Shenwu name: Wang Pingxuan, Ye Zaifu, Wang Kaizhi, Ma Deji, Situ Quan, Guo Xifen, Wu Daming, Yu Jianfu.

Judging from the evaluation after use, the Shenwu is a generally successful design, but because the United States has too inferior shipbuilding technology, the people who supervise the construction do not have much experience with this kind of warship, and the construction is very failed, and the longer it is used, the more faults it will be. Since this time, it is an order from the Japanese shipbuilding station, the Shenwu will go to Japan for overhaul. As for the Japanese who will steal ship information, this is no longer enough. After all, there are two aircraft carriers to be built in Japan. With the Japanese's carefulness, no matter how they prevent it, the drawings will be imitated by them.

After the four people who studied aviation were left in the room, the people in the Shenwu design team were spread out. A drawing that had been grabbed by Zhu Lu and the adjutant was spread out. Chief designer Wang Pingxuan stood on one side to introduce the situation of the new aircraft carrier to Yang Rui. However, Yang Rui looked at the ship drawings and asked, "When will this ship be built?"

Unexpectedly, the Prime Minister was so anxious. Wang Pingxuan coughed and replied: "Back to the Prime Minister, the tonnage of this ship is as high as 27,500 tons. Based on the progress of Japan's battleship construction, it can be completed in two years, but it will take another one more year to be put into service, which is a total of three years."

The tonnage is not 25,000. Yang Rui calculated silently in his mind, feeling that according to this design, the tonnage of the aircraft carrier has been nearly 130,000 tons. I wonder if the first-class people in Europe and the United States will increase their aircraft carrier tonnage at the Washington Navy Conference, for example, from 135,000 tons to 150,000 tons or more.

I'm thinking about what happened in the future. Yang Rui asked again: "What are the improvements compared to Shenwu?"

"Return to the Prime Minister, this ship has not changed much because it attacked Shenwu." Wang Pingxuan is a very honest person and his answer is also honest: "The biggest change is the power. The total power weight of the Shenwu is more than 7,400 tons. The Japanese shipbuilding company can borrow British power technology. Like the Hiei, it will use the improved Yaro boiler. Although the oil-coal mixed boiler is used this time, and the power cabin will be arranged interlaced, the total tonnage of the power system is still below 7,000 tons..."
Chapter completed!