Expedition to Europe

The British Navy is a very traditional navy.

Paying attention to tradition is a nice way of saying it.

To put it bluntly, the British admirals are a group of old antiques with a rigid system, stubbornness, stubbornness and refusal to accept new things.

Because of this, although the British naval admirals discovered the power of aircraft carriers from the war between Lanfang and Japan, they refused to admit it. To this day, they are still immersed in the thinking of "giant ships and cannons" and refuse to step out.

This is a good thing for the Lanfang Navy. From Qin Zhiyuan's point of view, Qin Zhiyuan hopes that the British Navy will never get out of this vicious circle. In that case, the Lanfang Navy will get more time.

But for Lloyd George, this feeling is not so wonderful. Lloyd George knows that there is a problem in the British Navy, but he doesn’t know where the problem lies, so naturally he has no way to start. This kind of hopeless situation It feels so frustrating.

But it was obvious that Lloyd George was not here to chat with Qin Zhiyuan. Lloyd George handled the crisis in his own way.

"President Harding has made a suggestion, what is your opinion?" Lloyd George looked leisurely, as if he was not worried about the problems of the British Navy.

"Harding?" For a moment, Qin Zhiyuan really didn't react. Qin Zhiyuan was very unfamiliar with the name "Harding".

"You don't know? In the general election just a week ago, President Harding defeated the Democratic Party's James Cox and became the 29th President of the United States. I thought you had received the news." Lloyd George was a little bit Speechless, if Qin Zhiyuan knows nothing about the US presidential election, then Lanfang's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is really incompetent.

"Oh, Harding, Warren Gammeril Harding, of course, I know him." Qin Zhiyuan raised his glass and concealed his ecstasy with the action of drinking.

It’s really either embarrassing or ecstatic.

Simon Allen sent a telegram to Qin Zhiyuan several months ago, reporting on the progress of the relationship between him and Harding. It was under Qin Zhiyuan's instruction that Simon Allen would pay a huge sum of money to Harding. Support the election.

Now that Harding has fulfilled his wish to save the President of the United States, Qin Zhiyuan's investment has finally come to fruition. Why doesn't this make Qin Zhiyuan ecstatic?

Qin Zhiyuan knows that Harding is a conservative. When Harding comes to power, the United States will definitely return to the "isolationist" thinking. This is a good thing for Lanfang's expansion. The biggest good news is that if Lanfang and the British Because some things conflict, the Americans are very likely to stand aside until Britain shows its defeat. This is definitely a major benefit for Lanfang.

"What is President Harding's proposal?" Qin Zhiyuan really didn't know about this.

During the recent period, first in Australia, then in North Africa, and now in Madagascar, Qin Zhiyuan really didn't pay much attention to the United States on the other side of the ocean, and he didn't know anything about Harding's proposal.

Of course, the greater possibility is that Gao Hongshi submitted the report to Qin Zhiyuan, but Qin Zhiyuan hasn't read it yet.

"President Harding invited us, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and your Lanfang to convene a meeting in Washington. Regarding the expansion of the navy, you also know that all of us are facing the problem of restoring the economic development of the country, then we may There can be a consensus, a consensus about military expansion, think about the arms race between us and the Germans before the World War - oh, God, that was horrible, I don't want to do it again," Lloyd George said a little bit. The more, the more it shows the attitude.

Only then did Qin Zhiyuan understand that Lloyd George was talking about the Washington Naval Conference.

In the past, after the World War, the desperate Japanese tightened their belts and started an arms race with the British with the dollars earned by Japanese women selling their bodies and raising silkworms.

That’s right, it’s a Japanese woman!

There was nothing wrong with Japanese men, because at that time Japanese men were either in the army or in factories, and they were not responsible for economic development.

In order to get rid of the economic downturn, Americans did not approve of the arms race between Japan and Britain. Therefore, at the initiative of U.S. President Harding, Britain, Japan, France, Italy and other countries gathered in the United States to fight for the interests of each country. A meeting was held at Warship Scale.

Of course, it was not just the above five countries that participated in the meeting, there were also many other countries participating. For example, the Republic of China also sent a delegation, but it was a pity that the Republic of China did not get a chance to speak at that time. In terms of the navy, all the The whole world was open to the Republic of China and did not restrict the Republic of China from developing its navy at all.

It is estimated that the faces of the representatives attending the meeting would be burning with pain.

"Arms race - what does that feel like? Doesn't developing armaments objectively promote the development of science and technology?" Qin Zhiyuan was quite curious and went over Lloyd George's pain point again.

"It is a feeling that can make people despair. Indeed, the development of armaments will promote the development of science and technology, but every step forward in science and technology means that those big things that have spent huge sums of money to build before have become things that are behind the times. So in order to To stay competitive, you can only start building bigger and stronger ships. The saddest thing is that originally you thought you were building the largest and most powerful warship in the world, but it has not yet been launched, and the overall performance has lagged behind again - really , life is worse than death!" Lloyd George really hated the arms race.

It is true that war is the first driving force for the development of science and technology, but if science and technology is developed in the context of military competition, it will indeed make people desperate.

"You mean, we should attend this meeting and then restrict the naval development of various countries--" Qin Zhiyuan's expression was a little solemn, so he asked Lloyd George's opinion first.

To be honest, Qin Zhiyuan hopes to engage in an arms race with the British, but it is different from the current battleship competition. Qin Zhiyuan hopes that the British will desperately produce battleships, and then Lan Fang will desperately produce aircraft carriers. Then one day, when George V and Qin Zhiyuan both feel that this is not a solution, Britain and Lan Fang will have a decisive battle.

"Yes, I tend to participate. We can agree on an upper limit that everyone can accept, and then play this game within the scope of the rules." Lloyd George's calculations are good.

Lloyd George's meaning is to compete in quality, not quantity. Whether it is from the perspective of naval ship technology or personnel quality, Lloyd George is confident that Britain will not lose to anyone.

Lan Fang is different. In Lloyd George's view, Lan Fang is the representative of stupid people with a lot of money. If Lan Fang cannot rely on the number of battleships to gain an advantage, Lan Fang will always be severely suppressed by the British Navy.

"Upper limit! What is the upper limit you want?" Qin Zhiyuan tested Lloyd George's bottom line.

"In principle, of course, the more the better, but considering Britain's ability to bear, I think 700,000 tons of battleships is a normal number." Lloyd George was really impolite, and the number he quoted was much higher than the quota Britain had obtained in the original history.

In the original history, Britain, like the United States, obtained a quota of 500,000 tons of battleships in the Washington Naval Treaty, Japan was 300,000 tons, and France and Italy were 175,000 tons.

The original text is in Liu # 9 @Book/Bar!

This number makes some people happy and some worried. The British and Japanese think that theirs are not enough, and the French and Italians also shout that they are not enough, but even before the outbreak of World War II, France and Italy have not used up their quotas.

In fact, Lloyd George's offer of 700,000 tons made sense. Think about it. Britain now has a total of 23 battleships, basically all of which are more than 20,000 tons. The largest "Hood" is 43,000 tons. Giving the British only 500,000 tons is indeed not enough.

Of course, if Japan's quota is given to Lan Fang now, Qin Zhiyuan will not be able to use it up. In Qin Zhiyuan's plan, Lan Fang will have a total of six battleships. Even if each ship is 35,000 tons, only 210,000 tons can be used.

"700,000 tons, this number is really amazing, then we will have 600,000 tons." Qin Zhiyuan said casually, not noticing that Lloyd George's face had turned liver-colored.

"600,000 tons! Do you know what 600,000 tons means? Do you want to build a fleet with 20 battleships? I'm afraid you don't have enough people to operate them." Lloyd George's tone was a little mocking.

Speaking of the navy, the British are indeed qualified to ridicule anyone. Of course, Qin Zhiyuan doesn't want 600,000 tons. The problem is that the sky-high price is not paid.

"So how much do you think Lan Fang should have?" Qin Zhiyuan didn't care, and still tested Lloyd George's bottom line.

"100,000 tons is enough. Compared with your territory, 100,000 tons is a suitable number." Lloyd George is really shameless.

It is indeed shameless. The three battleships that Lan Fang now owns, "Vladivostok", "France", and "Ningbei", have a total of more than 100,000 tons, and this has not counted the "Lan Fang" that has been launched but not delivered.

If Lloyd George's suggestion is followed, then Lan Fang now has more than its share of warships, and even the "Lan Fang" has to be dismantled, so as not to exceed too much.

Qin Zhiyuan certainly doesn't want to dismantle the "Lan Fang", and he didn't argue with Lloyd George, but just smiled and didn't comment.

"Really, Lan Fang doesn't need too many warships. If Lan Fang has too many warships, it will affect regional peace, make Lan Fang's neighbors feel a sense of crisis, and then trigger a further arms race, which is something none of us want to see." Lloyd George was also very earnest, trying to persuade Qin Zhiyuan to give up his ambition of 600,000 tons.

"Arms race - to be honest, I'm not afraid. If all warships are worth 22 million US dollars like the 'Vladivostok', then I'll start with 20." Qin Zhiyuan is really rich.

Just as Qin Zhiyuan said, the "Vladivostok", also known as the "Nagato" in the past - the construction cost was about 44 million yen, which is about 22 million US dollars in US dollars.

Of course, this was before the war between Lan Fang and Japan. After the war between Lan Fang and Japan, the yen has depreciated significantly, and the current exchange rate to the US dollar is about ten to one.

Hearing Qin Zhiyuan's lofty ambitions, Lloyd George was finally dumbfounded. Only now did Lloyd George remember that Qin Zhiyuan was not only the king of Lan Fang, but also one of the richest men in the world. Three hundred or four hundred million US dollars was really something Qin Zhiyuan could afford.