The Rise of the Empire

"To be honest, this purchase condition is a bit harsh! This requirement is a bit high, which not only takes up a lot of our funds, but also exposes us to some risks! I can't make a decision. Give me some time. I need to ask for instructions!" Commissioned Baron Leo said after hearing Pa Luojin's suggestion.

And two days later, the encrypted telegram sent by Germany was delivered to Ruprecht, and facing the conditions proposed by the Germans, Ruprecht fell into contemplation. He could feel that there was something wrong with it!

The Russians finally moved their minds on the payment method. If the normal transaction process is followed, the buyer's payment will be divided into 4 times, and 25% of the payment will be delivered each time. The first payment is made after the battleship starts construction, the second payment is made before the battleship is launched and the outfitting process is completed, and the third payment is made during the outfitting process. Finally, when the battleship is completed, the buyer will pay the final payment in one lump sum! It is impossible for the manufacturer to advance payment to the Russians!

But this time the Russians proposed that in terms of payment method, the first batch of payment should be paid when the warship starts construction, and 30% of the total price should be paid. Another 30% is paid when the battleship is launched and outfitted. 40% is paid when the final battleship is delivered.

The baron calculated an account for His Highness the Prince in the telegram. The hull part of a battleship probably accounted for a quarter to a third of the total price. The Russians initially had enough funds to pay for the construction of the hull, but Russia When the people paid for the second time, they only said that after launching and outfitting, they did not set a specific time. Even if the baron asked the Russians to set a time, when the second batch of payment is in place, it is estimated that half of the progress of the battleship has been completed! This means that before that, Ruprecht needs to pay about 20% of the shipbuilding payment in advance!

This is not a decimal! The total price of the two warships is more than 2 million pounds, and 20% of the shipbuilding cost is 400,000 pounds! Although the time is only a few months, the interest of funds occupied in these months is a large number! After calculation, this is not much different from the Russian price of 950,000. From this aspect alone, it is economically unacceptable!

"Tell them our concerns." His Royal Highness ordered immediately. However, in addition to the economic aspect, the prince also considered another possibility, that is, what if the Russians do not pay in the end? 50% of the warships have been built, and the Russians only paid 30% of the money! Are you dismantling the half-built battleship or not? In the past, if warships were half-built and you didn’t want them anymore, then you could just dismantle them if you didn’t have another ship, and the shipyard would pay you a dismantling fee at most, but this is different! If this happened this time, Bavaria would have lost 400,000 pounds!

There is no such thing in history! The Agile and the two Garibaldi ships from Japan were abandoned by the original customers, and they finally found the next one. But this time, the Russians’ requirements are a bit high. Precht tinkered with so many things, half a year's profit was gone! What do the Russians want? Do they have other ideas?

The Russians want to threaten themselves with unsubscribe when the project is halfway through? This is indeed possible. The two warships have been built halfway, and the shipyard has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on them. Do you want to stop or not? If it stops, it means that it will definitely lose 400,000 pounds. If it doesn't stop, let's not talk about how much money I have to pay. Who will sell it to after it is built? This question is enough to make people brain-wrenching.

This is a battleship of 12,000 to 13,000 tons, not a Munich-type armored cruiser. Most countries cannot afford it. Whether it is Argentina or Chile in South America, or the Qing Dynasty, which plans to rebuild its navy, it is unlikely to buy two ships of this size. Battleships are not bad for Russian-class armored cruisers, but because they are too powerful and too expensive. For these countries, the symbolic significance is greater than the actual combat significance.

Who will buy in the future? It must be bought by a country that intends to go to war. For example, the United States and Spain in the Spanish-American War, but the Americans absolutely support domestic products,

People have money, but they may not spend a lot of money to buy these two warships when their own side has an absolute advantage. And Spain? The possibility of buying is also unlikely, and 2 million pounds is too much burden for this sunset empire. The war lasted a total of 100 days. Even if Spain intends to buy it, it is estimated that the two sides have not yet reached an agreement when the war ends....

Then the final possible potential customers are Japan and Russia, but if this warship started in 1895, it would definitely be able to serve in 1898. This year is at least 6 years away from the Russo-Japanese War.... This ship can't be smashed in your hands for 6 years, right? Isn't this bad? As for whether it is possible for Japan to buy it? This is historically possible.

At that time, in order to show that it was not hostile to Germany, Japan ordered a 10,000-ton cruiser in Germany. Since Japan learned that the best cruiser in Germany is the Russian class instead of the Munich class, then one of the warships will be disposed of to Japan. is possible. But the probability of giving both ships to Japan is a little lower. After all, they are just showing favor, and the father is still the United Kingdom. Being a son depends on the attitude of the father.

Although there are many potential customers, although the future world is not peaceful, it is really not easy to sell such a tall thing. If the Russians don't buy it, then Japan will order one in the middle at most, and the time is still to be determined. After all, in Ruprecht's memory, after the end of the Sino-Japanese War, Japan was the first to attack BB.

"Then since it is difficult to export large warships, let's wait until I return to China." Ruprecht thought for a while and wrote back to Vittorio. Anyway, the shipyard is not short of orders now. The second wave of orders has come, one for each country! And according to internal information, there may be two more ships. The shipyard is constantly busy, so don't worry, let's see what the Russians think!

"1898." Ruprecht kept calculating the time point. Historically, the Qing Dynasty should rebuild its fleet at this time. Feeling that the Qing Dynasty, which has a powerful Mainz-class armored cruiser, is likely to order these two warships, The key is the price, but if the Qing Dynasty can pay less, then the money should be more abundant. And if the German Navy sells two obsolete Munich-class armored cruisers at a reduced price, it is very likely to rebuild two more advanced armored cruisers!

The Russian class obviously meets the requirements of the German Navy, with larger tonnage, stronger firepower and protection, and greater endurance! If there are two Munich-class armored cruisers that can be sold, and the Russians don't want them, then the German Navy is very likely to take this order!

Publicly speaking, these two warships are indeed more in line with the needs of the German Navy. Personally speaking, the relationship between myself and the German crown prince is not bad, and William II is very likely to help with things that are easy to do. And judging from the current timetable, the German Navy should be replenishing battleships in the next two years, and will not start construction of new armored cruisers. Therefore, Ruprecht believes that as long as he is not particularly unlucky, then these two ships will not fall into his hands!

Of course, Ruprecht can also refuse, but the result of the refusal is that the Russians may continue to buy warships from France as in history, which is difficult for Ruprecht, who is short of money, to accept. So he decided to take a risk, Ruprecht thought it over, go back and talk to Crown Prince William first, prepare for a retreat, and then think about how to answer the Russians.

Thanks to book friends such as the First Tank Guard Brigade, zr Zhao Rui, hi112, Zsuzm and other book friends for their rewards~~~.

This chapter is published on a regular basis, and I took a look at the subscription increase, and it was not even half of the previous day.... And when there is still a drop, it should, maybe, probably, almost fail to surpass Tuesday's record. So let's start with two chapters. Everyone in the author group said that the wireless terminal recommendation growth is indeed fast, but it is unstable. I hope this matter will not happen to the author--!