Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 721: Banya Shipbuilding Plan
As a time traveler, Philip's life was generally simple, and Western breakfast was simple. So, although Louis wanted to chat with his father for a while during breakfast, when Philip drank the last sip of milk in the cup and took off the towel under his neck, he knew that it was time for him to leave.
Looking at the young man's agile back, Philip lightly supported the bridge of his nose without glasses and showed a helpless smile.
After all, he had been the king for nearly thirty years. Having seen countless people, how could he not know that his eldest son was actually still very immature and totally unprepared?
But there was no other way. The Indians in America were now raising the banner of the "Inca Kingdom". Politically, Spain had to send royal family members to take charge, so that it could at least unite those Spanish-Indian hybrids whose positions were not very firm. So, although it was known that Louis was not talented enough, his identity was here - at least for now, there was no one more suitable than him.
Oh, I hope Raimondo and Cromwell can teach this child well for me. Speaking of which, these years, especially after Rudolph died, I was too busy and had no time to teach him. As a result, this child was taught badly by his mother.
As soon as Louis's back completely disappeared from his sight, Philip also stood up, left the restaurant, and came to his temporary office in the Jerusalem Palace. His Prime Minister, Osvalles, was already waiting there.
"Please take a seat, Prime Minister. Have you had breakfast?"
“It has already been used.”
"Okay, let's start our work today."
"Yes." Flipping open a thick booklet, Osvalles said in a loud voice, "First, the torchlight parade last night was a great success. The monarchs of the participating countries were all very impressed. At the same time, our photographers are busy developing the photos. Tomorrow at the latest, the whole of Europe will see your speech from last night. Within 30 days, pictures of the torchlight parade will appear on every street corner in Europe. Your Majesty, although I have served you for nearly 30 years, you still keep surprising me. Your speech last night was so wonderful and inspiring."
"Haha. But Prime Minister, please remember that last night's speech was made out of necessity. In fact, we just experienced a great defeat."
"Yes, Your Majesty, I am well aware that we have suffered a great defeat. However, your speech not only saved the country from the adverse effects that this defeat might have caused, but also further strengthened our country's control over the EU countries."
Alas, the more problems a country has, the more it needs to centralize power. This has been proven by countless regimes in history. If possible, I would also like to have a small government. That would make things much easier for me.
Of course, he couldn't say this to his prime minister. So after raising his hand to signal him to drink some tea to moisten his throat, Philip asked him to continue with the second point.
"Your Majesty, the first batch of prisoners of war released by the Chinese have arrived at the southern entrance of the Suez Canal. Our intelligence officers have investigated. The Chinese are as treacherous and despicable as ever. They slandered Your Majesty for sending people to assassinate their emperor and used the eleven-draw method to kill him... In short, although these prisoners who have been released now try their best to cover it up, it can be seen that they are resentful of Your Majesty."
"Well, my Prime Minister, what do you think should be done with these people?"
"Your Majesty, they are all brave warriors who have fought for the country. Although they have been deceived by the enemy and have some ideological problems, we should still treat them well. So I suggest that we give them land in the Azores, let them own their own estates, and live there peacefully."
"Hmm~ This is a great suggestion. Let's do it."
"As you command, Your Majesty. Uh, Your Majesty, what did the Chinese ask the prisoners to bring?"
"...Hey, how much does the Chinese want in total?"
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, because we have too many prisoners this time. So after some calculations, if we want to take back these 200,000 prisoners, we must prepare at least 200 million double pillars."
"Two hundred million? We have to give it. Taking into account the one hundred million the Chinese gave us before, we should give another one hundred million."
"Your Majesty, the annual surplus of the Royal Government is still far from 100 million. However, due to our excellent credit over the years, we have no bank debts at all. Therefore, if necessary, we can directly borrow money from Milan Bank and Madrid Bank to complete the repayment. However, once such a large amount of expenditure is made at one time, the government will be under great pressure to repay the debt every year. What about the shipbuilding plan later?"
"Of course we can't pay all the money. After all, Spain didn't take all the spoils after India was conquered. How about this? I'll personally contribute 50 million, and you can ask other countries to collect the remaining 50 million through the European Council."
"I understand, Your Majesty. I think the allies who have made a lot of money in India recently will not and dare not refuse this proposal. Then, let me move on to the next item, the shipbuilding plan."
"OK."
"According to the intelligence from our American squadron, the Battle of Lima lasted a whole day. At night, the Chinese fleet also turned on the searchlight. From this, we can infer that our electrical technology was indeed leaked by Professor Kepler, and the Chinese are about to have giant ships of more than 10,000 tons... According to your Majesty's instructions, in order to meet the challenge of the Chinese to us in the Far East, the navy is the key among the keys. Therefore, the Royal Government has formulated a five-year shipbuilding plan.
At present, my country has five battleships (Prince, Duke, Barcelo, and the newly commissioned San Juan and Gonzalo, all of which have a standard displacement of 12,000 tons), 16 heavy cruisers, 30 light cruisers and destroyers. There is one battleship under construction (Philip I, with a standard displacement of 15,000 tons), three heavy cruisers, two light cruisers and five destroyers. The light cruisers and destroyers under construction are all equipped with torpedo launchers. The Academy of Sciences has already produced a high-pressure air-propelled torpedo, which can reach a speed of 8 knots in calm seas.
The Royal Government plans to continue to invest more than 30 million yuan per year to strengthen the navy from 1642. From 1643 onwards, the total displacement of new warships received by the navy each year will be guaranteed to be more than 60,000 tons. If all goes well, by 1647, the Royal Navy will have nine battleships, 25 heavy cruisers, 40 light cruisers and more than 60 destroyers. Corresponding supply ships, repair ships, etc. will also be equipped. "
"Well, this shipbuilding plan..." After listening to Osvalles' ambitious description, Philip was entangled: the technology tree of this era was not only strangely developed by the time travelers, but also developed very quickly. The shipbuilding plan just now was reasonable: in the third year after conquering India, the annual income of the Spanish government had risen to 560 million. Although the military expenditure has skyrocketed in the past two years due to the expedition to Southeast Asia, this year's annual expenditure is estimated to reach 510 million (excluding the cost of ransoming prisoners). However, after the war in the Far East is over, even if the expenditure in America will increase, the total expenditure will still decrease.
But the problem is that the technology tree of this plane is very unreasonable. What if one day, the internal combustion engine is developed?
After thinking for a long time, Philip nodded heavily and said, "Prime Minister, let's implement your plan first. If the government has financial difficulties, the royal family can subsidize it."
“Thank you for your generosity.”
"When will the Philip I be able to enter service?"
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty. The battleship has just completed the engine installation. Currently, the main frame of the lower deck has been completed. The upper deck building and outfitting will probably take another year."
"Hey, the number of warships is not enough. How about sending the San Juan and Gonzalo to America. My intuition tells me that after the Chinese emperor gets his own 10,000-ton warship, he will definitely want to show off his power in America first."
"Your Majesty, this means that the Indian Ocean Squadron will only have two battleships. What if?"
"It doesn't matter. After this war, we were badly injured, and the Chinese were not feeling well either. From my observation of the Chinese emperor for nearly forty years, although this guy is shameless and cunning, his style of doing things has always been very steady. Before his navy is fully established, he will not send his fleet, which has just been established, into the Indian Ocean to seek a decisive battle with me."
"Well, as you wish, Your Majesty."
"On the royal side, I will personally add another 3 million yuan per year to build and expand ports starting from La Coruña, including Ceuta, Barcelona, Sicily, Alexandria, Socotra Island, Mumbai, Colombo, Kolkata, etc. We must ensure that the repair plants in these ports have the ability to fully repair battleships."
"Thank you, Your Majesty. With your meticulous care, your fleet will surely be invincible."
"Hahaha, how can someone like you, Prime Minister, start saying such unfounded words? In short, the decisive battle between us and the Chinese is often the naval battle. It is never too much to attach importance to the navy and support the navy, no matter what we do!"
