"Mr. Minister, we are going to purchase four cruisers and six light cruisers from your country. I don't know if it is possible." Dong Shuheng asked tentatively.
"Your Majesty General, please forgive me for being so petty. You should buy a battleship. Only battleships with more than 74 cannons can participate in sea battle line duels. They are the protagonists of naval battles." Wen Han still wanted Dong Shuheng to do so.
Buy expensive and stupid wooden battleships.
Dong Shuheng will definitely not accept it. Nonsense. In a few years, I will take away one of these battleships with just one torpedo. The price of this battleship is almost as high as that of four cruisers.
"Mr. Minister, none of us can control such a huge battleship, and with our financial situation, we cannot afford such a battleship. The battleships purchased now are enough to destroy pirates. I hope you can understand!"
"Oh, General, I can understand you. In fact, you are already the most enlightened Qing official I have ever seen."
"Mr. Minister, in addition, I hope to hire some naval officers from your country to serve as officers of our fleet. After all, the British Empire's navy is the most powerful in the world. Of course, we will pay accordingly."
"This is no problem at all." Wenhan agreed readily. He was very satisfied with Dong Shuheng's explanation. This showed that the Qing Dynasty had no intention of challenging Britain's maritime status. Moreover, Britain also hoped that there would be as few pirates as possible along the coast of China. As for sending officers, this
Not only can they receive a large amount of training fees, but they can also allow the influence of the British Navy to penetrate into the Qing Navy.
In the end, Dong Shuheng and Wen Han agreed to purchase a small fleet of 4 cruisers and 6 light cruisers for 2 million silver dollars. This cost included the one-year training cost for an instructor group composed of 250 officers and professional sailors.
This is just the first business between the two.
"Mr. Minister, is your country interested in building a railway?"
Wenhan's eyes lit up. Railways are a big business.
"Of course, General, you must know that our British railway technology is the most mature."
"It's like this. Our Lord Governor is planning to build a railway from Xuzhou to Pukou."
"This is no problem. We in the UK can definitely take over this."
"But Mr. Minister, we have no way to pay the price in one lump sum, so the railway will be paid in installments. I don't know if your country can accept it."
"Oh, General, I can't give you an answer right now, but I think these details should be left to a professional business team to discuss."
In the end, the two agreed that Liu Qingbei would represent China and discuss the details of the railway with Charles, the commercial counselor of the embassy.
Dong Shuheng means that the British side can serve as the technical contractor, the construction personnel can be provided by the Chinese side, and the rails can also be manufactured by the Xuzhou Steel Plant. After technological upgrades using equipment imported from the United States, the Xuzhou Steel Plant is fully capable of producing qualified products.
of railroad tracks.
Wenhan was very satisfied today and no longer bothered with things like amending the contract for the time being. Overseas ministers like them generally have short terms. Why do every minister have to do something when they arrive in China? In fact, they also want to get something.
Their results made their report after returning to London even better.
With these two orders, Wenhan's term is basically over.
After seeing off Wenhan, Dong Shuheng met with the French Minister Bourblon. Dong Shuheng expressed his admiration for Napoleon III to Bourblon. He praised France's outstanding achievements in the development of ironclad ships. He also ordered two 3000-tonne ships from France at a price of 2 million silver dollars.
A ton-class ironclad cruiser.
Bulbulon was happy that he could obtain such a large order, and readily agreed to Dong Shuheng's request to send workers to participate in the construction of warships.
Dong Shuheng said that he would provide necessary protection to the Catholic Church in Jiangsu. At the same time, he would send at least 200 international students to study in France every year.
The two also signed a letter of intent to purchase some machinery and equipment.
Dong Shuheng breathed a sigh of relief after seeing off Bulbulon. The two families lost 4 million silver dollars once they were sent away, not including the investment in the railway. Even with the use of cheap labor and self-produced rails, the cost per kilometer
The cost will not be less than tens of thousands of silver dollars.
Finally, Dong Shuheng met with the American Minister Marsali. In fact, Marsali's term was about to expire, so he was so happy about this contract exchange.
Because John Cena had already greeted Marsali, Marsali was extremely enthusiastic about Dong Shuheng.
"Dear General, I think you have gained the friendship of the American people."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Marsali. I heard that you are ready to return to the United States. Congratulations on your return home. I heard that many Chinese workers were trafficked to the western United States. I hope that Mr. Minister can promote the protection of their rights and interests.
.”
Dong Shuheng's words made Ma Shali look embarrassed, but he did not dare to offend Dong Shuheng now. His political achievements were entirely dependent on Dong Shuheng.
"Your Excellency, General, I believe this is just the illegal behavior of a small group of people, and they will be punished by American law."
"Mr. Minister, I have entrusted Mr. Sena. I hope that after Mr. Minister returns to China, he can also help promote the introduction of the bill to protect Chinese workers."
"As a thank you, Mr. Minister, we will build a telegraph line covering the entire territory of Jiangsu, and I will leave this business to your country to complete."
Marsali was very cautious after hearing this. With this order, he will definitely reach a higher level after returning to China, and relying on his own connections, his family will also make a lot of money from this business.
After sending away Marsali, Dong Shuheng truly completed his mission of breaking the friendship.
…
"President, I see you have a good conversation with the ministers from the three countries, but why do you seem unhappy?"
"Xueqin, although I spent money to buy things, there are many of those things that we don't need to buy in the first place. If we wait for another two years, we can make them ourselves. This is the diplomacy of a weak country, and compromises must be made everywhere. This
The first time I didn’t spend money to buy something from them, the next time they would come in a warship to rob me.”
"Now we have bought some things we need, and at the same time we can temporarily stabilize the great powers. Before, they clamored to change the contract. According to the consistent practice of the imperial court, they must have ignored it. In the end, this matter must have ended in war.
Closing. When the time comes, it will be time to cede territory and pay compensation..."
"Hey... Your Excellency is right. The people in the Qing court have not yet understood the situation. They really care about food rather than fighting." Peng Yulin sighed.
"Xueqin, I estimate that our small fleet will be assembled in more than half a month. There are hundreds of British warships in the Far East, and it will be easy to choose the right ones. At that time, I will transfer Lao Liu to the Nanyang Navy
.”
"When you go to the Yangtze River Navy, I am going to let you organize a campaign to recapture Zhenjiang. The Army and Marine Corps will then act with you. And you will be the commander-in-chief of this battle."
"President, Xueqin will go all out. But President, Xueqin is new here after all, so I'm afraid there will be dissatisfaction in the army."
"Xueqin, you have filtered it out. Our Huaihai Navy has only been established for half a year, and no one dares to say that he is senior. Moreover, the Huaihai Navy's first priority is military discipline, and military discipline is based on military orders, so you don't have to worry about someone disobeying orders. You
If you know you can win the battle, everyone will naturally obey you."
"Yes, President, when will Xueqin go to the Yangtze River Navy?"
"Let's go there in two days. You need to follow Old Liu to familiarize yourself with the navy's command for a while, and you also need to get to know the soldiers under your command, so that you can calculate your own strength during the war."
After these things were done, Dong Shuheng did not go to Yangzhou immediately because there was a Prussian mission that was about to arrive in Shanghai.
According to the news from Guangzhou, this mission was personally led by Prince Adalbert, commander of the Prussian Navy.
This mission was not at the invitation of Wang Tao and the others, who had not yet arrived in Europe. On the contrary, this mission was organized by Prince Adalbert himself.
Prince Adalbert is the current commander of the Prussian Navy. However, as an army power, Prussia does not attach importance to the navy.
After the second anti-French alliance defeated Napoleon, European countries redefined their spheres of influence in Vienna. Among them, Sweden ceded Western Pomerania to Prussia. From then on, Prussia had access to the sea and had its first navy.
Although this navy only has 6 dilapidated sloops of several tens of tons.
In 1836, Prince Adalbert led the establishment of a naval committee and began to build the Prussian navy. He divided the navy into a naval force and a shipbuilding force, one responsible for combat and the other responsible for building warships.
…
During this trip, Prince Adalbert wanted to prove the value of the navy to Prussia.
He saw hope in the orders sent from distant China. At the beginning of this year, Prussian businessmen suddenly completed several large orders in the East. Additional follow-up orders were then passed to Berlin. Prince Adalbert saw an opportunity. If Prussia
Being able to gain economic benefits in the East will be a good reason to develop a navy.
Therefore, he thought of going to the East to see for himself, and his fleet also needed a long voyage to temper it.
The mission fleet included a large amount of machinery and munitions ordered by the Huai Navy from Prussia when Dong Shuheng had just crossed over, as well as the army officer corps and some engineering and technical personnel sent by Prussia to the Huai Navy.
Dong Shuheng stayed in Shanghai to welcome the arrival of the Prussian mission. At this time, Prussia could only be regarded as a second-rate power in Europe. The country itself was an army power with a small navy and no overseas interests. It was not known to European countries.
Attention. As the saying goes, making friends at a distance and attacking at home, Prussia was Dong Shuheng’s natural ally at this time.
Therefore, this time Prince Adalbert led a fleet to visit China, not many European countries paid attention to it. They just regarded this matter as a long-distance trip for a prince.
On the East China Sea, the Prussian fleet left Guangzhou and headed north along the river.
"Mark, this country is so big and rich. It's not a barren desert like the Ottomans, nor is it as ignorant and backward as Africa. We should have come here a long time ago. We in Prussia are getting poorer and poorer on the European continent, while Britain and France are getting poorer.
We came here with the navy to carry out trade and made a lot of money." Prince Adalbert said to Mark, the attendant at his side.
"Yes, this place is so wealthy. The general bought so many things in one go. If we had come here to do business earlier, our Prussian industry would have developed better."
"Yes, what can those armies bring to the country? They only know how to spend money. This time we must meet the Chinese general and build a good relationship with him." Prince Adalbert said longingly, happily
His temperament diluted the fatigue of the journey.