Before the Imperial Navy carried out various designs for new warships and finally came up with the design of Jiangnan-class warships, in fact, the Imperial Navy had already designed and built two steam warships in the 19th year of Xuanping, both of which were offshore patrol ships with a tonnage of about 200 tons, that is, the new steam engine test ship plan set by the Navy last year.

Although the hull and steam engine used in the two offshore patrol ships are the same, one is propelled by paddle wheels on both sides and the other is propeller-propelled.

The main reason for the difference in construction is to test the impact of different propulsion methods.

In fact, many of the tests were carried out not on the two newly-built patrol ships, but on converted warships.

During the 19th year of Xuanping, the empire continued to carry out the renovation of a number of sail warships, and installed steam engine power on the previous sail warships.

The main refit ships were some auxiliary warships, mainly armed transport ships, and there were only two warships, namely a 200-ton offshore patrol ship and a 400-ton frigate.

The refit work began around March, and throughout the nineteen years of Xuanping, six different auxiliary transport ships were continuously refitted, as well as a patrol ship and a frigate.

It is worth noting that almost every one of the eight ships in this total is different, and it can even be said that the difference is huge.

Some warships are converted into paddle wheels, and the paddle wheel propulsion mode is divided into two strings and each arranges a paddle wheel propulsion, and there are also paddle wheel propulsion installed at the stern, and even the stern and two strings are installed and advanced at the same time.

There are also those modified for propeller propulsion, there are single propeller propulsion, there are twin propellers or even triple propeller propulsion.

In the installation of the steam engine, a variety of methods are also chosen, such as a single unit, there are also multiple units to push, and even the size, volume and power of the steam engine unit used are different.

The reason why the Navy is carrying out many different modifications is actually more to find a more stable solution.

Combining the experience gained from two newly designed steam patrol ships and eight converted ships, the Navy was able to gain experience with many steam engine warships on the one hand, and find the best way to use steam engines on the other.

After many experiments, and taking into account the Empire's current and future industrial and technological capabilities, the Navy came to the unanimous conclusion that the design and modification of steam engine warships should be based on propellers.

Although the wheel technology is more mature, while the propeller technology is not yet mature, the huge advantages brought by propeller propulsion are incomparable to the paddle wheel.

The battleship propelled by the paddle wheel, whether it is the rear paddle wheel or the two-string bright wheel exposed, has become a fatal weakness, once hit by the enemy's artillery fire, the entire steam engine power will come to naught.

Propeller propulsion does not have such a problem!

Therefore, even if technically speaking, the propeller propulsion technology is more complex, immature, and has many problems, but the navy still does not hesitate to completely abandon the paddle wheel technology after a series of tests.

This is the difference between military warships and civilian ships, and today's Yangtze River Shipping Company and Feng's Shipping Company, two companies involved in steamships, both use the paddle wheel propulsion method.

Because the paddle wheel technology is more mature, the cost is cheaper, and more importantly, they don't have to worry about any safety issues, and they are not warships, so they don't have to consider a series of consequences caused by the paddle wheel being hit by shells.

Of course, when the navy matures the propeller technology in the future, these companies will definitely follow up without hesitation.

But not now!

After a series of modification experiments, the Navy finally decided on the steam engine warship plan to be used in the future, and also officially began the steam engine modification plan for the main warship.

Although it is said that the Navy has completely stopped the construction of pure sail warships, and has already had the design and construction plan of steam engine warships, the many existing pure sail warships in the Navy cannot be directly thrown away.

With a slight modification or two, and with the installation of a steam engine, these sail warships can be transformed into steam warships.

Of course, not all ships will be refitted, after all, there is a cost to refit, and some ships with little conversion value will still retain the pure sail propulsion method.

On the navy side, in December of the 19th year of Xuanping, it finally submitted the 'Navy Steam Warfare Ship Construction Plan', which has been revised countless times, and this plan is not a simple naval construction plan for next year, that is, the 20th year of Xuanping, but a naval expansion plan that will last for five years.

In this plan, the navy will actively build up the navy in accordance with the goal of 'safeguarding the global interests of the empire' proposed by the Son of Heaven.

The whole program is divided into three parts!

The first part is to build coal warehouses to reserve coal in major ports, including the navy's own naval bases and major civilian ports, and to set up repair shops that can maintain and repair steam engines.

After all, in addition to the navy's Jiangnan steam battleship, there is an enlarged version of the design plan, and this enlarged version of the plan is also included in the plan, although its detailed design has not yet been completed, but one thing is certain, that is, its displacement will be at least more than 3,000 tons, and this is only the most basic, after the final completion of the design, it is possible to become 4,000 tons, it is also possible to become 5,000 tons.

The Navy has high hopes for this multi-thousand-ton battleship and positions it as the main battleship of the new era.

The second part is to carry out all kinds of personnel training, especially the relevant courses of steam engine warships in the sea school, because it is foreseeable that the combat mode of the warship using the steam engine is definitely very different from that of the pure sail warship, whether it is daily navigation or combat, it is necessary to specialize in new talents.

And the third part is the battleship construction and modification plan that everyone pays the most attention to!

The navy expects that in the next five years, without affecting the existing combat effectiveness of the army, the existing warships will be gradually refitted, and the modification will include all the main warships, that is, the existing many battleships, cruisers, and frigates will be gradually modified to varying degrees, and some ships will only be equipped with steam engines, while some may be equipped with wrought iron armor.

This refit plan is to prevent the existing sail warships from falling into vain, but if it is only refitted, it obviously cannot reflect the ambitions of the navy.

So, there is also a program for the construction of new warships.

In the next five years, the navy will build 12 steam battleships one after another, and according to the Jiangnan as a reference, the tonnage of this new type of steam battleship should be more than 1,500 tons!

At the same time, according to technological progress, the construction of a new generation of main steam battleships will be started at an appropriate time, that is, the main steam battleships, which will replace the battleships represented by the Jiangnan and become the new major fleets of the Navy.

At the same time, in the next five years, no less than sixteen cruisers will be built, and a new generation of cruisers will be required to surpass the traditional sail battleships in terms of protection and firepower, and the target will be the 1,300-ton sail battleships in service in the Imperial Navy.

This kind of cruiser, like the existing 800-ton cruiser, will mainly serve as the flagship of the overseas detachment, and if necessary, accompany the battlefleet to participate in the decisive battle of the fleet, so there will be such a high standard.

At the same time, in the next five years, no less than 26 new steam frigates will be built, mainly for daily patrols, escorts and other tasks.

The entire shipbuilding program is expected to build fifty-eight capital ships, almost creating a new imperial navy!

Coupled with the existing nearly 100 capital ships and waiting for them to be converted into steam engines, the entire Imperial Navy will have at least 150 steam-hardened capital ships.

As for all kinds of coastal patrol ships, transport ships, supply ships and other auxiliary warships, there are more of them.

The Navy's 'Naval Steam Battleship Plan' was larger than any previous naval expansion of the Empire, and the actual cost was much greater.

It is absolutely impossible to support the existing naval military spending alone.

For this reason, in the allocation of the expenditure budget at the end of the 19th year of Xuanping, the empire for the first time tilted the financial expenditure towards the navy, and for the first time used special funds for fleet expansion to ensure that the expansion of the navy could be carried out.

This is also the first time that military spending has risen in the proportion of fiscal expenditure in the allocation of budget expenditure next year.

Since the end of the War of Unification, although the total amount of military spending in the empire has been rising every year, the total proportion has been declining, but next year, it will rise.

The total budget for Xuanping's 20 years of fiscal expenditure is 150 million yuan, while military expenditure accounts for 42 million yuan, accounting for 28 percent of the fiscal expenditure.

Of these, the Navy will take 12 million of them, and the Army will take 30 million.

Although the Navy's military spending is still far inferior to that of the Army, this is the first time that the Navy's military spending has exceeded 10 million, and it was only a few million in the past.

And the increase in military spending on the budget also means that the empire is once again preparing for the start of a major war!

Who is the enemy in this war?

All the people on Earth except the Empire!