On an ordinary and extraordinary day in May 1906, Natsuki attended the Imperial Diet as an observer. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 On the podium, the German Emperor in military uniform was making an impassioned speech. Under the Imperial Constitution, no one could directly interfere in the discussion and voting of a bill in the National Assembly, but the Emperor could exercise the right of veto over the results of the National Assembly, or he could do so to win the support of the members of parliament before the voting began.

"The Algeciras resolution is an act of contempt and bullying against Germany, and our enemies and commercial competitors have complied with it, and shamelessly use the voting rules of international law to render a resolution that is grossly unfair to Germany - an insult to our sacred dignity, an injustice to our legitimate interests, an indignation to our people, and a deep shame to our army. Ladies and gentlemen, our General Staff Headquarters had seriously considered the implications of the war, and there was no doubt that our army could break the French defenses in one fell swoop and make them bow down to us once again after the battle, but even if the war lasted only a week, the merchant fleet that we had spent decades building up would be catastrophic. Why? Because our navy is not able to protect our merchant ships, because the British talk of going to war frightened our poor navy, because our navy does not have an iron fist that makes the enemy feared like the army, because our navy does not have a suit of armor that is hard enough! ”

Despite the criticism of the weakness and incompetence of the German Navy, Tirpitz, who had come to the auditory meeting like Natsuki, was not sad and ashamed, but was radiant and energetic, because it was the first amendment to the Naval Act of 1900 that he himself had enacted that day to be voted on by the National Assembly. According to the content of this amendment, the budget for shipbuilding in the German Navy for the next ten years will be raised to 9. 400 million marks, starting from the following year, 2 battleships and 1 large cruiser (battlecruiser) were built per year. By 1917, the German Navy would have a strong fleet of 38 battleships, 20 large cruisers, and 38 small cruisers. This was an important milestone in the German Navy's formal challenge to maritime supremacy, and it was also a powerful response by the Germans to the "shame of Algeciras" -- German public opinion could not point the finger at Wilhelm II's decision-making mistakes, but blamed this defeat on the wanton intervention of Britain and Spain, and if Germany had a fleet capable of competing with the British Royal Navy, such a tragedy would not have happened. Because the Algeciras resolution had seriously damaged Germany's capitalist interests in Morocco and damaged the ever-expanding self-esteem of the Germans, everyone in Germany, from the big capitalists to the military and civilians, demanded that the construction of the navy be accelerated.

At the end of the Emperor's brief and powerful speech, all the members of the National Assembly gave him a standing ovation and watched him walk away from the hall. After that, the current President of Congress Franz. Graff. Feng. Balesten took the podium and announced in a tone of eloquence: "This will now be the first vote on the resolution of the First Amendment to the Navy Act of 1900, and I ask those present to observe it to abstain for the time being." ”

Observers, including Tirpitz and Natsuki, who were not members of Congress, got up and left consciously. In the lounge, just a few steps away from the venue, the Secretary of State for the Navy paced back and forth with a slight restlessness, and his entanglement lasted less than ten minutes. The applause and cheers from the room were clearly discernible and usually meant that an important bill that was welcomed by a majority of parliamentarians had been passed. The Secretary of State for the Navy clenched his hands into fists and made a gesture of relief, while Natsuki's reaction was much calmer. From Germany's colonial expansion to the Moroccan crisis, from diplomatic failure to the escalation of the shipbuilding race, this series of events can be said to be interlocking, and follow the historical main line known to Natsuki, but he is not a scholar who is well versed in the mysteries of history and politics, and can dominate this turbulent time and space in a butterfly effect, according to his own identity, he is more often just a bystander's perspective to observe, explore, and comprehend the mystery of this invisible chess game.

When Natsuki followed Tirpitz back to the venue, he greeted them with applause and eyes full of eager anticipation. Based on this staggering shipbuilding budget, the German navy will spend close to 400 million Reichsmarks a year, equivalent to two-thirds of the British navy's budget, and the size of the two navies and the territory they need to maintain are far apart, which means that the strength of the German navy will grow at an unprecedented rate. If the British maintain the current pace of shipbuilding, the gap between the British and German navies will be rapidly narrowed, and no matter what the British government's reaction to this, within a few years, Germany will become the real hegemon of both land and sea!

To express his deep gratitude, Tirpitz took the trouble to shake hands with the members of Congress one by one. Fueled by fanatical great-power ideals and nationalist sentiments, 397 parliamentarians congratulated him. Unbeknownst to most of them, the British were building their first dreadnought at an astonishing pace, and the new battleship, which had begun construction on October 2, 1905, had left the slipway in just 130 days and was almost complete - just before the Reichstag convened, an update on the British HMS (HerMajesty's Ship) had been sent to the German Navy office. Although there was no way to confirm its authenticity and accuracy, Tirpitz, who had always been deeply concerned about it, took it very seriously, and he was even prepared to announce the explosive news to the parliamentarians once the amendment to the naval law hit a nail in the reichstag, and to stimulate their nerves with the grim reality that the German Navy's active battleships were about to become obsolete.

Leaving the noisy venue and heading to the vestibule of the Capitol building, Natsuki's ears seemed to be still ringing, and the peaceful atmosphere here made him feel refreshed.

After a while, Tirpitz came from behind with a smile on his face.

"What a bright sunshine!"

"yes, what a sun, what a good time." Natsuki adjusted his expression and shook hands with the Secretary of State of the Navy with a happy smile - this was a mutual congratulations between the partners and the mutual encouragement of the master and apprentice. Recently, Tirpitz has been courteous to the royal family in order to pass the amendment to the Navy Law, and after that heart-to-heart conversation, he and Natsuki seem to have returned to the previous state of mutual respect and mutual support.

Standing in the middle of the circular vestibule, Tirpitz said with pride: "The next ten years are in our hands." ”

"In the next ten years, we will realize the dreams of generations of Germans, and hopefully there will be no more regrets." Natsuki said.

"I will now go to the palace to tell Your Majesty the good news." "At three o'clock in the afternoon, we will discuss the construction of a new first class battleship in the Navy's office, with the participation of key members of the planning, logistics and design departments," Tirpitz said. In accordance with Your Majesty's will, I sincerely ask Your Highness to deign to come. ”

"It's an honor." Natsuki replied.

Although the Secretary of State of the Navy did not say it directly, Natsuki knew that he had encountered a very difficult problem in the design and construction of the new first class battleship -- knowing that the new battleship of the British Royal Navy had been launched, the German Emperor was impatient to ask the Navy to speed up the follow-up, but the new British battleship was like a ghost ship in the fog, and people only heard its voice but did not see its appearance, and no one was sure how powerful it was. In fact, as early as four years ago, when the construction of the German-class battleships began, the German Navy design department began the design work of the new first-class battleships, and came up with six different sets of plans. In other words, the Navy has not yet come up with a conclusive plan for building ships, and it is impossible to carry out detailed technical design.

While German engineers were overwhelmed by the finalization of the design of the new battleship, German spies embedded in the British shipbuilding department obtained a technical document on the Minotaur-class armored cruisers. After careful calculations, the Technical Committee of the Royal German Navy came to the conclusion that the German Scharnhorst-class armored cruisers, built at the same time and already launched, were inferior in terms of firepower and protection (after all, there was a difference in displacement of nearly 2,000 tons). Thankfully, once the two sides met at sea, the former escaped with a top speed 2 knots above his opponent. In other words, Prince Joachim's half-shot modification of the large cruiser saved the two German armored cruisers from the tragic fate of being unable to defeat and escape, and all the controversy and criticism surrounding the project came to an abrupt end.

After leaving Capitol Square, Natsuki also went to the palace, but instead of meeting the emperor, he visited his sister Louise and the "tulip" kept in the royal stables - a year and two had passed since he said goodbye to Hill Manor. During this time, Natsuki would take a photo with him every time he returned to Berlin, and then send a cover letter to Charlotte, who was far away in England. At first, Charlotte only briefly described Brigadier Hill's recovery at Natsuki's request, but with Natsuki's knowledge, it was not difficult to arouse the curiosity of the British girl, and the two gradually had communication with Brigadier Hill outside of the horse, and this kind of old-fashioned Hongyan biography also gave the two young hearts a chance to close the distance.

"The courses at the Naval Academy are almost over, and the next step will be a five-month training ship, and if it goes well, I will be able to become a full-fledged naval officer by Christmas." Speaking of this to Louise, Natsuki was proud.

"A genius is a genius, on the one hand, the naval courses are excellent, on the other hand, the shipyard is in full swing, and I also took the time to fall in love, which is the same!" The princess teased playfully.

"In love?" Natsuki smiled, "I've been in love for 16 years, maybe it's time to relive that beauty." ”

"Ha, did you fall in love 16 years ago?" Louise tilted her head to look at Natsuki. In the past year or so, she has grown very fast, and now she is only three or four centimeters worse than Xia Shu, and with mid-heel shoes, she has the height of many adult women, and the connotation on her chest is obviously much richer.

In the eyes of his sister, his way of thinking has always been different from ordinary people, and Xia Shu gave an affirmative answer nonchalantly.

Louise pouted and laughed: "Hmph, lie! ”

Natsuki shrugged to himself himself.

Louise put her hands behind her back and took a few steps forward with her head down: "Hmm...... How has Christian been lately? ”

"Oh, that guy!" Natsuki first tested Louise's reaction in a disdainful tone, she still seemed to have some expectations for Prince Oldenburg.

"Since the last time we left him to go to the UK to participate in the sprint competition, he seems to be a different person, he has worked very hard in his schoolwork, some of the courses are better than mine, and the fat in the lower abdomen has toned muscles, next time I can show him it."

"It's not uncommon!" Louise pouted, her fair cheeks flushed slightly.

Xia Shu smiled: "Anyway, before the next meeting, you still have half a year to change your mind!" ”

"Are you going to make a world trip?" Louise asked, envious and worried.

"The Baltic Sea, the North Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and then back to the Atlantic, the North Sea, and the Baltic Sea, circling the Earth, but not every continent will go, so strictly speaking, this is not a world trip. ”

Louise thought for a moment, "Send me a postcard everywhere you go!" ”

Natsuki agreed with a serious face: "Well, I will complete this task with Christian." ”

Louise just smiled shyly.

(End of chapter)