And just before this meeting, the British representative in Bavaria suddenly came to Berlin to readjust the demand for hardened armor in 1899! And this demand has directly increased by more than 50% compared to 1898! Such a big change must be boring! At first, the British did not intend to say it, but after the prince threatened the limited number of armor exports, the British representative vaguely said where the armor was going under the pretext of the need of third countries.

Combined with the information collected from some other sources, the prince concluded that the Japanese had purchased battleships from the British, and the number would definitely not be small! As for the performance of the battleship? The 4 12-inch guns must be real, and the content behind is estimated by His Royal Highness the Prince himself.

Of course, on the whole, as a piece of information, His Royal Highness the Prince is still very good, at least generally correct! There is no problem in the big aspects, but what about some problems in the details, and besides, the prince does not work in the Russian intelligence service, so he tells you that it is because of the need to sell weapons. It's okay to bluff people, so what's the matter with so much?

"Sss All Russians, including Nicholas II, gasped! In 1899, three battleships were ordered in one go! That means that in 1902 Japan will have 3 battleships, and by 1904 the number of battleships will most likely reach more than 6!

Looking at the performance again, all the capital ships of the Japanese were at a speed of more than 18 knots, while the slowest battleships of the Russians did not even have 16 knots! The firepower and design are also inferior, plus the quality of the Russian Navy is somewhat inferior. If this really starts, Makanov is not sure!

I have to say that the words of His Royal Highness Prince Ruprecht really scared the Russians! There's no way not to believe it! The Russians may not expect the enemy to be lenient, but everyone understands this meaning, and everything must be considered for the worst. And at this juncture, if the other party can say such a thing, there must be a basis, after all, the other party is a prince, and the Russian tsar is sitting opposite!

"It doesn't matter if you believe it or not, because the facts will prove everything I said, here is a document on the import of armor handed over by the British, which shows the demand for armor, you can take a look, of course, it is impossible to take it." After saying that, His Royal Highness the Prince handed a document to Nicholas II opposite.

"Well, now I give you a chance to choose, you can order 4 warships now, each at a unit price of 1.8 million pounds, or you can order two now, 1.8 million pounds each, and if you order 2 more ships in half a year, the price of each ship is 1.85 million pounds! What do you think? Think about it. Of course, if you think you are really not satisfied, you can not buy it, we don't have to worry about not finding the order. After the prince had finished speaking, he leaned back in his chair and looked at the iron-faced Tsar and the Russian dignitaries next to him in a very relaxed manner.

The current prince is definitely a Lao Tzu is so NB, he loves to buy and buy, and he doesn't buy and get out, and he has the feeling of facing India in later generations! Seeing the other party gritting his teeth with envy, but he couldn't speak, he could only silently take out the gold ruble in his purse, that feeling, that sourness.

"We need time to discuss this, and it takes time to raise funds." At the behest of Nicholas II, Makanov did not say it explicitly, but the purchase of new warships was a foregone conclusion. Even the Russians don't even have the meaning of bargaining, not that the Russians don't want to lower the price, but the opposite one is really to the extent that oil and salt are not entered, and in the case of an absolute seller's market, it is really not easy for the Russians to lower the price!

Then the only question now is how many ships to buy, and when to start construction, but at this time, His Royal Highness the prince still did not forget to sprinkle a handful of salt on the wounds of the Russians!

"Before the start of construction of a new ship, your country must pay 50% of the price, and before the battleship is launched, you must pay the remaining 50% of the final payment. This should also be included in the agreement. The prince did not care in the slightest that Nicholas II could kill people, and said slowly.

"There is no way we can accept such an offer!" The angry voice of Nicholas II echoed throughout the conference room, causing the whole process of the meeting to change.

"Isn't it just a lack of money? Please, use your brains, in this era, not only the French and British are rich, but the Americans are also rich, and now there is a common enemy between the United States and Russia, and it is better to borrow money from the Americans than from the French! ”

"Of course, I don't think your country will have any difficulty in paying for it, and the Americans have already told me the price of hiring your country's three cruisers, which is enough to pay for the first instalment. Maybe I'm a little biased, but I have to say that your country is still too stingy! I always want to minimize the cost! But as everyone knows, it is precisely because of this reason that you have lost opportunities again and again. ”

Ruprecht was not worried that Nicholas II would flip the table, and nearly 3 million pounds of dollars in exchange for three armored cruisers and the officers and men on board in the Spanish-American War were in Nikolai's hands, which was equivalent to exchanging a batch of old ships for a batch of new ones.

In the Spanish-American War, if purely from an economic point of view, the Japanese made a lot of money, and the Russians made a small profit! 3 somewhat obsolete cruisers for 3 million pounds, what a value! Of course, the little profit that the Russians had made in exchange now had to go into the pockets of His Royal Highness the Prince.

"In fact, if the asking price in Bavaria is not so high, we can carry out more areas of cooperation, and if your price can be lower, then it is not impossible to buy army artillery from Bavaria."

Nicholas II knew that it would be almost impossible to get the other side to give in, but at the last moment, he made one last effort. Hopefully it will bring the price down a bit. But what surprised Nicholas II was that the greedy, murderous and cunning Prince Ruprecht was waiting for the words of the Tsar!

How could a mere naval order satisfy the prince's appetite for money? From the current point of view, the Russian Navy's order is estimated to be more than 7 million pounds. It is almost impossible to squeeze more oil and water out of the navy. After all, the Russians themselves still have to build a batch of battleships, and the French will have a piece of the pie anywhere. And in the history of Russia, there were only a dozen battleships that participated in the war during the Russo-Japanese War. And the cost of his own battleship is about equal to 2 ordinary battleships.

If there is no major change in the finances of the Russians, then the number of battleships may decrease, and if Russia can have 12 battleship-class warships at the time of the war, it will be at the limit of producing 4 by itself, and it will be impossible to get more shares!

Thanks to the book friends of the First Guards Tank Brigade, Fang Zhan 2004, and the sea side of the reward~~~, as well as the book friends' dreams, Bai Ding exchanges, model husbands, and horseshoe monthly ticket support ~~~! Ask for subscription, ask for tips~~~!! (To be continued.) )