"Your Royal Highness, it seems that we are in some trouble this time. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info"At the hotel where the prince was staying, Count Vittorio, the number one leader of the Bavarian Naval Design Bureau, came to the prince and brought design information from other competitors.

"Why are you a little unconfident in your design?" The prince said with a smile as he flipped through the materials.

"This time the competitors have learned a lot from previous failures, in fact, this new warship is not very advanced in theory, it is nothing more than equipped with a large number of main guns and has a strong long-range combat capability with the help of a new fire control system. At the same time, new steam turbines and boilers were used to improve power. ”

"Essentially, we use the same subsystems. The only difference is the design. I am very confident in the design of our battleships, but these well-designed will increase the tonnage, will increase the cost of the battleship! This time, Mr. Secretary of the Admiralty highlighted the issue of cost. We may end up losing out on the so-called price-performance ratio. Count Vittorio said with some concern.

"It's not so much a bidding as a counterattack from NORDSWISG, we were careless, we didn't finalize the matter before you left, and now they're ready. Although you have a good relationship with the Kaiser, this time it may not be very useful, after all, the Kaiser himself is the king of Prussia, and he has to think about his own interests. So, I hope, we can take back the low-level programmes that we have abolished. Vittorio said.

"Never! The Empire's funds are limited, and we must not compromise the quality of our ships for personal gain, so why can't we add another 200,000 to perfect it if we have already spent £1.8 million on building a ship? All the standards can't be lowered, you just have to bid, and I'll take care of the rest! The prince thought for a moment and categorically rejected the earl's suggestion.

"All the plans have been delivered?" Wilhelm II asked after glancing at Tirpitz opposite.

"Yes, the brief data of all the battleships are in front of you, the brief plans and line drawings of the Brom-Forss shipyards, the Royal Wilhelm shipyards and the Volken shipyards are in front of you." Tirpitz said.

"You know what? Tirpitz, I'm struggling right now. Wilhelm II was not in the mood to look at the design of the parties in front of him, and pushed it aside and said.

"I have always been hesitant to take a slice of the Bavarians in the interests of the Reich, whose hand is a little too long, whose economic and military power continues to expand, and with whom more and more North German capitalists and officials choose to cooperate, this time the prince's actions in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean have raised his popularity to a new level, and Bavaria's potential influence at the heart of the Reich is growing. I have to think about weakening that effect. “

"But at the same time, I have to admit that the Bavarian side does do things, both militarily and economically." The Kaiser was now depressed, on the one hand, because of the interest of Prussian industry and commerce and the aristocracy, and on the other hand, because of the efficiency of the empire. In the case of the former, the Kaiser could get along with 10,000 reasons to win the Prussian side, but it was clear that such a deliberate repression would cause discontent on many quarters and seriously affect the efficiency of the Reich.

Even if Krupp and other large groups have repeatedly said that their plans are already quite good, and they will not be worse than Bavaria at all, in the heart of the Kaiser, if it is purely about performance and technology, he still leans towards the Bavarian side. Leaning towards Bavaria will displease the Prussians, and the merchants who leaning towards Prussia will displease the other kingdoms and themselves, which is really a tangled problem!

Germany was full of hills, and Prussia was equally intricate, with neither the old Junker aristocracy nor the new capitalists being good at it. So the Kaiser is now playing a balance!

"The first round of selection must be based on the principle of fairness! As for funding, we can relax a bit for the time being. "In the end, the Kaiser decided to see the situation first." Let Prince Ruprecht and Heinrich join the jury. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty. In addition to the two princes, Admiral Pol, Riona and I, there was a vacancy in the jury, and it was intended to select one of the generals from the front, which currently consisted of Count Spee, Major General Schell and Major General Hipper. What do you mean, Your Majesty? Tirpitz asked, thinking for a moment.

"Scheer, he's been involved in more actual combat. Hipper's status and qualifications are somewhat inferior. That's it! Theoretically, Hipper's practical experience was the richest, but alas, he was a Bavarian, so in the end the Kaiser chose to let Schell participate in the review committee.

In addition, the prince wanted to put the plans of the Bavarian delegation to the end. Do you think it's okay? Tirpitz asked with a moment's hesitation. According to the regulations, each delegation has two days to present its own proposal, and a total of three parties participate in the bidding, so the last one will naturally have more time to prepare, and can make targeted adjustments to the former's plan. There are certainly advantages to this.

"It's not a big problem, Bavaria is preparing a little hastily this time, it's good to give them a little convenience, but I hope you can tell Prince Ruprecht that he is doing things for the German Imperial Navy, and I hope he can uphold the principle of fairness and justice."

When the Kaiser made the decision, everything went according to the booking plan, and on the fourth day after the prince's arrival in Berlin, the tenders began in earnest, and the Brom-Fox shipyards (on the Bavarian side), the Wilhelm Royal Shipyards (on the Krupp background) and the Volken shipyards sent their plans to the Admiralty, where the five judges of the Naval Bidding Committee were to first make a preliminary assessment of the plans. This time will take about a week, and then a week to listen to the introduction of the shipyard, and finally select a number of plans within 5 days and send them to the retest.

Among the six-member jury, Tirpitz, as the Minister of State of the Navy, is responsible for the entire jury, and the principle of one person, one vote is adopted when voting, and the three people can enter the re-examination when they support it in the first trial. And there is no upper limit on passing. As long as it is not a special difference, a particularly uncomfortable plan can almost easily pass the retest, no way, there are too many people involved in this bidding, in addition to the two princes can do not enter the oil and salt, whether it is Tirpitz, Admiral Ball or Scheer, they have to consider the influence behind these bidders. Leave the annoying things to the Kaiser!

Thanks to the book friends Governor of Asia, the First Guards Tank Brigade, the Lost War Song, the Little Man Follower, the Imperial Header, Yipin Huangshan Smoking is harmful to health, the Book Friend 12100, *Blue Sky** and other book friends for their tips~~~. Yesterday, more than a dozen book friends rewarded the author, and the author was very moved~~~, so he decided to continue the three changes! Thank you for the support of the Lost War Song, hisokavvv, Harvard Street, Little 3, and Eternal ∮ Silent Commuter Pass~~~! (To be continued.) )