I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 343 Is 1.3 tons still called a heavy patrol?
Daosheng Bank's main business is in the Qing Empire, and it is not qualified to do business in Amur. If any financial institution can do business in Vladivostok, then Vladivostok's finance will be in chaos.

If it were a purely Russian bank, such as St. Petersburg International Commercial Bank, a shareholder of Dowson Bank, George could still be lenient.

Daosheng Bank has a French-funded background, and its general manager is a German-Hebrew. George hopes that Daosheng Bank will give up and go to the Qing Empire to start business as soon as possible.

Speaking of business, the Bank of Siberia has also expanded its business to the Qing Empire. There are branches of the Bank of Siberia in the capital of the Qing Empire and various coastal treaty ports.

Last spring, someone in the Qing Empire anonymously reported that Datou had deposited a large sum of gold in the Bank of Siberia, which led to the Bank of Siberia being investigated by the Prime Minister's Office of the Qing Empire.

Faced with the Qing Empire's accusations, the Bank of Siberia resolutely kept its depositors confidential and refused to provide the Qing Empire with any information about the depositors.

The Qing Empire became angry and threatened the Bank of Siberia with closure.

The Bank of Siberia would rather close down than give in. In the end, with the joint intervention of the Russian Minister to the Qing Empire and the Amur Governor-General Office in the Qing Dynasty, the matter was settled.

Although this incident caused tension between the Qing Empire and the Amur Governor-General.

But Siberian Bank gained the trust of customers as a result.

In the past 100 years, due to the skyrocketing amount of silver mining, the price of gold and silver has continued to fall. Due to the lack of gold in the country, Japan has been unable to establish a gold standard system.

Within the next month, the Siberian Bank's deposits in the Qing Empire soared sharply, making it an instant success.

George also reminded the Qing Empire through Witte that it is best to pay the indemnity to Japan in silver as much as possible and not to use gold to pay.

Mikhail simply sent people to set up factories in the Qing Empire, purchase raw materials locally, process them into cloth and sell them to the outside world.

There were so many fishing boats in Vladivostok that it was impossible to eat all the fish caught every year. In Vladivostok, it was so cheap that almost no one wanted it, but when it was sent to the Qing Empire, the supply exceeded demand.

The elaborate services of the court tailors in the Yuriev Palace were not suitable for, and were not capable of, supplying the Qing Empire in large quantities.

It was not just the Bank of Siberia that went to the Qing Empire to do business. After the signing of the "Qing-Russia Mutual Assistance Treaty against Enemies", almost all Vladivostok companies were gearing up to do something in the Qing Empire.

Amur Enterprises is still very strategic and does not follow the rules mechanically. Instead, it formulates business plans based on the situation of the Qing Empire.

While George expanded his living space externally, he did not forget to continue to improve his own strength.

Datou was so wronged. He had no savings at all in the Siberian Bank, and he had no idea who made this up.

Japan would definitely disagree with using silver as payment.

The steam unit composed of two Parsons steam turbines has a power of up to 20000 horsepower, which enables this type of cruiser to reach an astonishing speed of 29 knots. Once completed, it will become the fastest cruiser in the world.

Since Vladivostok did not yet have the capability to produce large steam engines, the power system used by the cruiser was purchased directly from Parsons in England.

The reparations from the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894 were a windfall for Japan, and Japan required the Qing Empire to pay them in gold.

The Bank of Siberia also struck again, buying up mining resources in the Qing Empire, especially coal mines and iron mines that were crucial to industry, and wanted to keep them firmly in their hands.

This cruiser integrated the design advantages of Bai Yi and other ship designers. The displacement was finally determined to be 5700 tons. Its armament system was two twin-mounted 203mm main guns, 10 152mm rapid-fire guns, and 6 torpedo launchers. Tube.

Many Amur products were not suitable for large-scale sales in the Qing Empire because of their high prices, such as cars and cosmetics, which ordinary Qing people could not afford to consume. The highest-selling commodities in the Qing Empire were bulk commodities with low profits.

At the end of September, the keel of the first cruiser was laid at the No. 9 dock of the Vladivostok Shipyard.

For example, food, and cloth.

But that doesn't matter, the situation is different now. If Japan wants to start a war again, the "Qing-Russia Treaty of Mutual Assistance against Enemies" can come into play.

Although George didn't know how this happened, after the incident, George wanted to give Big Hair the best grievance award.

Alexeyev has always paid close attention to the Vladivostok Shipyard. After the cruiser began to lay the keel, the Siberian Fleet sent people to the Vladivostok Shipyard to learn about the construction status of the modified cruiser.

Subsequently, Petrov, an officer from the St. Petersburg Navy Department, arrived in Vladivostok for further inspection of the Vladivostok Shipyard.

Petrov is about the same age as George and has the rank of major. He is actually Alexei's illegitimate son and should be called Uncle George.

Alexei never married, and Petrov was his only son.

"With the latest power, the strongest armor, and the best firepower combination, the combat effectiveness of this light cruiser is no less than that of the Siberian Fleet's flagship 'Yuryev'."

George was confident in Vladivostok's technology. In George's opinion, the "Yuriev" was a defective product and was not worthy of the name at all.

This is normal. If the performance is strong in all aspects, it will not be the Siberian Fleet's turn. The Baltic Fleet is the biological son of the Imperial Navy.

"The performance is indeed excellent, but the price is too expensive. Can't we design a cruiser with less excellent performance, but a cheaper price that can be equipped with a large number of equipment?"

Petrov sincerely discussed with George.

When they were in St. Petersburg, George and Alexey had a dispute. Alexei's attitude was that there was no need to pile materials on cruisers, only battleships deserved attention.

In Alexey's words, cruisers are used to scare people. The real solution to the problem is battleships.

It cannot be said that Alexei's idea is wrong. The key is that the thinking is different.

Battleships often weigh 7 to 8 tons, have a crew of to people, and cost much more than cruisers.

The cruiser has a standard establishment of 380 people. It can run from Vladivostok to Coconut City with one coal refueling. It is completely designed to meet the needs of Vladivostok. So even from an economic perspective, cruisers are more suitable for the Russian Empire than battleships.

"The Amur River Fleet does not need too many cruisers, just enough."

George's words gave Petrov a sense of absurdity.

You are already equipped with a cruiser, which is the most advanced cruiser in the world. How dare you talk about inland water?

Let’s not talk about the three major fleets of the empire.

Where do you want the British Royal Navy to put its face?

There was something about George that he couldn't explain too clearly to Petrov.

In addition to protecting the safety of the waterway, George's purpose of building the cruiser was to provoke an arms race with Japan, so he not only had to pile up materials, but also piled up the costs as high as possible.

Japan has not yet received the compensation, and Yawata Iron Works has already begun purchasing equipment in the United Kingdom and the United States. If George does not cause some trouble for Japan, sooner or later his life will be overturned.

The Bank of Siberia purchased mines on a large scale in the Qing Empire with the same purpose of curbing Japan's heavy industry.

Without heavy industry, Japan could never have become a threat to the Russian Empire.

"Does the Vladivostok Shipyard have the capability to build heavy cruisers?"

This is the main purpose of Petrov's trip.

The displacement of heavy cruisers is generally around 10,000 tons, and there are not many such slipways in St. Petersburg.

The Vladivostok Shipyard has at least three slipways capable of building 3-ton warships.

"absolutely okay."

George believed in the technology of the Vladivostok shipyard.

The Vladivostok Shipyard already has the ability to build large ships of 10,000 tons, including warships.

However, the Admiralty's design plan still left George speechless.

The heavy cruiser that the Navy Ministry hopes to be undertaken by the Vladivostok Shipyard has a displacement of an astonishing 13220 tons. The armament system is four single-barreled 4mm main guns, supplemented by 203 16mm rapid-fire guns.

George didn't know why the displacement had exceeded 1.3 tons, but in the name of a heavy cruiser, the more powerful 305 main gun was not used.

The key point is that the Ministry of the Navy knows that the Vladivostok Shipyard has reached a technology transfer agreement with Parsons of the United Kingdom. The heavy cruiser still uses an old steam engine with only 1.55 horsepower. This will result in the warship’s maximum speed never exceeding 20 Festival.

The armor uses nickel-chromium alloy steel developed in Vladivostok.

"1.3-ton heavy cruiser! Where did this blueprint come from?"

George was very angry, and finally knew how the Navy's military expenditures were spent.

You've been working on these all day long and you've already eliminated the weird warships before they even started. If you don't get beaten, who will get beaten?

If you really don’t know how to design, can you just learn from the Japanese and directly copy the battleships of the British Royal Navy?

If you don’t want to copy the British, and you can’t afford to lose this person, you can just ask the French to help with the design.

The 1.3-ton heavy cruiser has the same number of main guns as the Vladivostok light cruiser. It only has six more 6mm rapid-fire guns, but its displacement is 152 tons more. What a weird thing!
"This is the sister ship of the Russia. If the Vladivostok Shipyard can build it, there will be three more follow-up orders."

The information Petrov provided made George's scalp tingle.

There is more than one heavy cruiser like "Emotion", and together with the "Russia", a total of 5 ships will be built.

No wonder the Navy is issuing bonds.

"1.3 tons, why not a battleship?"

George would rather not take the order than make this money.

"Because the Empire needs heavy cruisers."

Petrov's words made George realize that this drawing was probably not designed for a cruiser, but a modified version of a certain battleship to build a cruiser.

Although this thing sounds a bit ridiculous.

But it gave George the feeling that the Imperial Navy was really capable.

"Just wait, I'll ask Bai Laoyi to redesign one."

George didn't want to waste resources, let alone time.

Although Bai Laoyi could not be said to be a top naval designer, if Bai Laoyi came up with such drawings, he might as well just buy a piece of tofu and kill him.

(End of this chapter)