"Xu, you prepare, there will be a guest from Spain tomorrow. We are going to negotiate business with him at the design bureau. At dinner, Leo said excitedly, after all, this is the first time that the battleship he designed has been taken out, and it is very commemorative.

"It seems that Spain is speeding up the pace of revitalizing its navy." After dinner, Xu Jie thought silently in his heart. In his plane, Spain, as a former colonial power, was still struggling to maintain its fleet, and began to accelerate its construction after 1890. There was no other reason for this, after all, Spain had two important colonies overseas to maintain, the Philippines and Cuba. When the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, the dismal Spanish Navy was defeated twice in San Diego and Manila, not only eventually losing the two important colonies of Cuba and the Philippines, but also depriving the Spanish Navy of the opportunity and need for development forever. And Spain after the Peace of Paris was inferior to the Netherlands in the entire imperialist colonial system, after all, the Netherlands still held the huge Indonesia.

From a strategic point of view, the Spanish-American War finally established the hegemony of the United States throughout the Americas, and more importantly, the United States imperialism not only acquired two important colonies, Cuba and the Philippines, but also Guam...... Puerto Rico and a series of other islands in the Pacific Ocean extended their tentacles to the Far East, eventually laying a solid foundation for American imperialism to turn the entire Pacific Ocean into an American ocean. It is also ready for the rise of the US Navy. So from the bottom of his heart, Xu Jie did not want the US Navy to rise so rapidly, and he did not want the US Navy to extend its tentacles to the Far East before 1900, in Xu Jie's plan, after all, if the United States took the Philippines and a series of islands, with the powerful industry of the United States. Eventually, the United States will lock China in the first island chain, and a situation similar to that of his time is not what Xu Jie wants to see. Therefore, Xu Jie decided to make a very hard effort to help Spain, and Cuba was probably hanging in the face of the American fleet. But the four cruisers of Duvy in the Far East were scumbags in the eyes of the great powers in 1898. (the largest is 5,000 tons, the smallest is 3,000 tons) Of course, the Spanish fleet in the port of Manila is even worse than the scum. ,…,

**Meeting room of the Ship Design Bureau.

"Let me introduce you, this is Admiral Severa from the Kingdom of Spain." Entrusted Leo to introduce to Xu Jie.

"Hello. Mr. Xu, Admiral Severa of the Royal Spanish Navy. The visitor stepped forward and stretched out his right hand.

"Hello, Honorable Admiral. On behalf of all the staff of the ** Ship Design Bureau, I am miraculating your arrival. Xu Jie also stretched out his right hand to shake hands with Severa. After exchanging a few polite words, the two sides began to get to the point.

"The **-class dome cruiser designed by you and Mr. Xu is very good. We, the Spanish Navy, are very interested in this, so we made a special trip to your country to negotiate a contract for this class of warships. A person who looked like an adjutant took out 2 documents and handed them to Leo and Xu Jie.

"You mean to produce this type of warship like in a Spanish shipyard, don't you?" Leo asked with a frown.

"That's right, if you agree to provide technical support and build it in Spain, I think the Spanish Navy will order 2 **-class dome cruisers." The adjutant said.

"You should understand that there is an essential difference between providing technology to be produced by you and buying a whole ship from us." Entrusted Leo said solemnly.

"We can buy technology. The price will surely please you. Sevela said. ,…,

"Price is one aspect. But more importantly, will the Italian Admiralty agree to your purchase of technology? You know, this is a cutting-edge battleship, and both the Italian Navy and Mr. Bryn value this battleship. The fact that the Italian Navy ordered 4 ships at once is enough to tell the story. Leo said very dissatisfied.

"We are consulting with the Italian Navy on this issue. I don't think we need to worry about the issue of technology output, we now want to know, how much do you plan to sell the relevant technology? Severa asked, smugly.

"Sir, I would like to remind you that even if the Italian military agrees to the transfer of technology, it will be up to us ** Ship Design Bureau to decide whether to sell it or not. To put it bluntly, I will not sell the technical data of the **-class dome cruiser at this time. Entrusted Leo was very dissatisfied when he heard that the other party had left him alone to contact the Admiralty.

"Entrusted to Mr. Leo, I misunderstood what I meant to you. For the export of technology for this type of ship, sooner or later we will have to make contact with the Italian Navy. We just did it ahead of time. Sevela explained. …,

"But Your Excellency only buys drawings and does not involve the Italian side in the construction of the hull, I don't think either the Italian Navy department or the major naval shipyards will be very satisfied, and the technical negotiations between you and the Italian authorities will also be affected." Xu Jie said euphemistically. His meaning was clear, not to allow the Italian shipyards and the military to receive certain benefits. The transfer of technology is unlikely. ,…,

"You know, the Spanish Navy is still very satisfied with this class of warships. But we are also our own national conditions. The financial situation in recent years allowed us to purchase only 2 new Dome cruisers...... And in order to improve the level of shipbuilding in the country, we need to buy technology to build in the country. The adjutant said seriously.

"If you don't agree to the transfer of technology, I think our country will have to settle for the next best thing and buy British dome cruisers. They stated that there was no problem with technology transfer. Although technically it is not as good as your ** class, in the long run, I would like to buy British technology to build in a Spanish shipyard than to buy a warship in your country, both technically and economically. Admiral Severa smiled.

"Buy technology from the UK and build it yourself? I can say responsibly. As far as the pure dome cruiser is concerned, Britain will not build a battleship with the same cost performance as the ** class in 2 years. Xu Jie sneered, it's only 1899 now, what are the protective cruisers at Armstrong Shipyard? Even the cruiser Blanc Guncarada, launched by the Chilean side in 1893, surpassed the ** class in terms of performance. Before 92, there would have been no dome cruisers comparable to the ** class.

"Even taking into account the benefits of technology transfer and self-construction, I don't think the Spanish Navy will order an outdated battleship that is already more than 3 years behind the Italian Navy just after it was bought, right?" Looking at Severa's expression of wanting to speak and stopping. Xu Jie said solemnly. "Since you want to save money, then every silver coin must be converted into real combat effectiveness, and a ship like the current Armstrong shipyard, which will become obsolete in a few years, I don't think it will be able to enter the eyes of your navy." ,…,

"I think there may be some misunderstandings between us, and I suggest that we adjourn the meeting and clear up our respective misunderstandings first." After being stunned for a while, Sevela said with a little embarrassment.

"Okay, if you can, I hope that the next time we meet, you can come up with a plan that is acceptable to us." Leo said in a dark voice.

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