Chapter 51 The "Thousand Ships Plan" of the Ming Navy (please collect, vote, recommend, and continue to read)

"Daozi, how do you plan to deceive and mislead the British?"

The question was asked by Lin Zexu, Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. When it came to lying to the British, beating the British, and robbing the British, he became particularly energetic. British imperialism is so bad, no matter how you bully it, it is right!

After Zhuge Weidao heard Lin Zexu's question, he smiled and said to Zhuge Weiyi: "Tenth brother, our plan to weaken the heroes is your own handiwork. Otherwise, please come and explain it yourself."

The main content of this "strategy to weaken the British" is a false shipbuilding plan, so it should be proposed by Zhuge Weiyi, the Minister of Arms of the Navy Ministry.

"Shao Mu, let me tell you," Zhuge Weiyi smiled and took the question, "I have asked the Naval Armaments Bureau to start preparing a 'Thousand Ship Plan'!"

"What is the 'Thousand Ships Plan'?" Lin Zexu didn't understand, so he asked.

Zhuge Weiyi smiled and said: "It is a comprehensive fleet update plan to build three hundred fifteen thousand ton ironclads, three hundred four to five thousand ton fast cruisers and four hundred two to three thousand ton protected cruisers in batches!"

"What?" Lin Zexu was startled by Zhuge Weiyi's words, "Marquis Wanling, are you telling the truth? Build a thousand ironclads and cruisers. How much military expenditure will that cost?"

"At most one billion," Zhuge Weiyi said with a smile. "If mass production can be achieved, the cost can be reduced a lot. Seven to eight hundred million may be enough!"

Zhuge Weidao also smiled and said: "Lin Zhongtang, King Yanping, what do you think? Spending 700 to 800 million to build a thousand armored ships and cruisers, can you scare those British guys to death?"

This "Thousand Ships Plan" is of course a myth, but it can be discussed now, which is enough to show how amazing the Ming Dynasty's industrial strength is now - this plan was not thought up by Zhuge Weidao, but by the Ministry of Navy

Zhuge Weiyi, the Minister of Arms, came up with it. Since he can be the Minister of Arms, of course he is proficient in armaments and shipbuilding.

This "Thousand Ships Plan" is really not impossible for the Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding industry. Cruisers of two thousand to five thousand tons are just random goods for the Ming Dynasty. What is really difficult is

There are three hundred 15,000-ton ironclads and 1,200 305mm caliber naval guns equipped on them. The barrels of such large-caliber artillery are difficult to make, and the yield rate is not high. But it is not impossible to build, but it is just a bit laborious.

Time, eleven or twelve years will definitely be enough. On average, one hundred ships will be started a year and completed in two years (warships at that time were relatively simple and could be built relatively quickly). In twelve years, one thousand ironclads and cruisers will be completed.

Already have it?

Lin Zexu turned around and glanced at Zheng Guoan, Minister of the Navy, "Your Majesty, this is not true, is it?"

"It's definitely fake," Zheng Guoan said with a smile. "The shipbuilding cost of seven to eight hundred million is okay. Our annual income next year will be one billion silver dollars! The shipbuilding cost of seven to eight billion is divided between eleven and two."

It's not impossible to get it out within the year, but if it doesn't work, you can still issue some bonds. But the maintenance cost of these thousand ships is huge. The personnel alone need to be hundreds of thousands, and many military ports, barracks, and repairs have to be built.

More shipyards and even naval schools need to be built."

He smiled and said to Zhuge Weidao: "Taozi, you are making this plan to trick the British into following suit, right?"

Zhuge Weidao smiled and said: "Your Majesty is wise, this 'Thousand Ships Plan' is to deceive the British to follow, and the British dare not not follow. Haven't they been saying that our Ming Dynasty is the Yellow Peril in the past few years? Now the disaster is coming,

They can't be cowardly! If they are cowardly, how can they still be the overlords of the West?

But can they afford to keep up? The British mainland, Ireland, Scotland, and the white population in overseas colonies total only more than 20 million. Even including the population of India, it is only more than 200 million. And we

With a population of 360 million, steel, electricity, coal, and oil, any one of them is several times that of the entire British Empire. Even if it overwhelms the entire Europe, it is more than enough! There is only one item of shipbuilding, and Britain can still compete with us.

Jiner. But the British government's financial income is much less than ours. Even if we include the money collected from India, the annual income is only a fraction of ours. Hey, a thousand ships, how can they keep up?"

Zheng Guoan stroked his beard and said: "Daozi, can you finish what you have to say at once? You are a young man, don't be like those elderly military advisors who say half of what you say. Speak quickly, those British people

If you want to follow but can’t, what will you do in the end?”

"Your Majesty," Zhuge Weidao said with a smile, "They dare not not follow, but they cannot all follow. In the end, of course they will find an opportunity to negotiate with us on naval armaments! Otherwise, Lin Zhongtang will be defeated in the Jin Kingdom.

There is no reason to go to England to seduce them and then support Emperor Daoguang of the Jin Kingdom."

"Hahaha!" Lin Zexu heard something that made him happy again. He laughed a few times before interjecting and asked, "Daozi, how do you think I should deceive those British people?"

Zhuge Weidao said with a smile: "Of course I'm tricking the British into building more 15,000-ton ironclads. They can't afford to build 300 ships in ten years, but it's still possible to build 100 ships by selling iron!

"

One hundred pre-dreadnoughts cost two million silver dollars each but still cost two hundred million!

When the British build all these pre-dreadnoughts, the Ming Dynasty will be able to launch dreadnoughts. By then, all these pre-dreadnoughts will be obsolete.

In this way, the British will spend 200 million in vain! And this is not the worst thing. The worst thing is that in order to build so many Dreadnoughts, the British shipyards will definitely build many 20,000-ton docks and slipways.

Once the dreadnoughts come out, these docks and slipways will be useless (of course civilian ships and small-tonnage warships can also be built), and those shipyards will have to continue to spend money to build larger docks and slipways!

This is another waste!

Of course, the Ming Navy will not really build such a 15,000-ton pre-dreadnought. It is better to spend money on building a 15,000-ton armored cruiser. It is better to use it in one step.

Fully oil-powered and fully equipped with naval guns. In this way, when the "World War I" begins, the Ming Dynasty will have at least dozens of armored cruisers, which is much more practical than the same number of Dreadnoughts.

"A hundred ships?" Lin Zexu said with a smile, "Our concession is a bit big!"

Zhuge Weidao smiled and said: "Lin Zhongtang, this 'Thousand Ships Plan' is not only designed to deceive the British, but it is also a bargaining chip created to put pressure on the British. If we give in on the number of shipbuildings, it is absolutely fine."

We can make up for it from other places, such as spheres of influence. On the one hand, we have the bargaining chip of arms negotiations, and on the other hand, we also have Daoguang's bargaining chip to cause chaos to the British. It is unjustifiable not to blackmail the British."

"Sphere of influence?" Lin Zexu asked, "Where do you want it?"

"I think we can propose that Japan and the Hawaiian Islands be included in Ming's sphere of influence!"

"Japan?" Lin Zexu was stunned, "This is not easy to handle!"

"Lin Zhongtang, we won't fight Japan this time!" Zhuge Weidao said with a smile, "But we have to use this as a bargaining chip to force Japan to withdraw from the fight for Hawaii."

I have to say that when it comes to international politics, Zhuge Weidao is a master without reading the "Book of Heaven" - he is better than King Wuzhong in this regard! King Wuzhong is a master of science and engineering, but his information of the times is still relatively closed.

Do you know how the bad guys in the world work? Zhuge Weidao is well-informed, and he himself is familiar with the methods of diplomats in history.

He knows best about creating bargaining chips and exerting extreme pressure!

And the two demands he is making now for "Japan" and "Hawaii" are actually creating bargaining chips and exerting maximum pressure. They are treating Japan as a bargaining chip that can be traded, and at the same time putting pressure on Japan to force them to deal with the Hawaii issue.

make concessions.

The Hawaiian Islands did not have much value in the age of sailing - they were not on the "wind gust", and sailing ships rarely docked in Hawaii. But in the age of steam and fuel power, the value of Hawaii became apparent.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty, Britain, and Japan all wanted to compete for the Hawaiian Islands. Each of the three countries occupied some islands and refused to give in to each other.

This time Zhuge Weidao wanted to use arms negotiations and Daoguang printing to exert double pressure to force Britain to make concessions. At the same time, he also put pressure on Japan by bringing Japan into its sphere of influence and forced the Tokugawa shogunate to withdraw from Hawaii.
Chapter completed!