The Emperor remembered clearly that in the future decisive battle between the Northern Fleet of the Ming Navy and the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet, the Dingyuan class ironclad ships equipped with 305mm main guns and the Japanese Sanjing ships equipped with 320mm main guns did not play much of a role.
On the contrary, the cruiser Yoshino, which was equipped with four 152mm rapid-fire cannons, eight 120mm rapid-fire cannons, and 22 47mm rapid-fire cannons, was in the limelight during the war.
Its powerful rapid-fire firepower was undoubtedly a fatal threat to the warships of the Great Ming Navy.
This time, if the Great Ming Navy equipped four Mersey-class cruisers with the same powerful rapid-fire firepower. In that case, the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet would not be enough.
The cruiser Yoshino had a maximum speed of 23 knots, making it the fastest warship in the world. The warships of the Northern Fleet of the Ming Navy were far from being able to compare to the cruiser Yoshino in terms of speed.
Even the Mersey-class cruiser only had a maximum speed of 18 knots.
Therefore, the Emperor of Hiroshi immediately requested for the second modification, which was to further increase the speed of the Mersey-class cruiser. In order to be able to catch up to the cruiser Yoshino in future naval battles. There wouldn't be a situation where he couldn't beat or escape.
"Sir, I also wish to make a second improvement to the Mersey-class cruiser, which is to increase its speed. These Mersey-class cruisers of the Ming Empire must use the most advanced boiler and steam engine. They can install more boiler to increase the speed of the warship to more than 23 knots!”said the emperor of Guang Dong.
"Your Majesty, I'm afraid this is a little too much.”Sir Ogner could not help but frown.
"What's wrong? With the advanced technology of the Sun Never Sets Empire, was it impossible to achieve this?”The emperor raised his eyebrows.
"Of course not. Your Majesty, if we want to increase the speed of the warship, we need to install more furnaces. Then, the cost of production would naturally increase!”Sir Ognes said.
It was obvious that Sir Ogner wanted the Emperor to pay more.
"Sir, this is my greatest request. The price was one million taels of silver per ship. If your country is unable to do this, then I can only cancel the order!”The emperor threatened to cancel the order.
"Alright, Your Majesty, you win!”Sir Ogner compromised.
"Then, Sir, when can we deliver the four Mersey-class cruisers?”Emperor Guang Dong asked.
"Your Majesty, if we sign the contract now and pay the deposit, we will have to pay the deposit. Within three years, they could all be handed over to the Great Ming Empire!”Sir Ogner replied.
The emperor nodded. But for the Ming Empire, there was still enough time.
Since he had signed the contract with Sir Ognes and paid the deposit, there was no need for the Emperor of Guangyao to do it himself.
Li Shaoquan, the Minister of Military and Political Affairs, who was also the Governor of Zhili and the Minister of Beiyang, represented the Ming Empire to sign the warship construction contract with Sir Ognes and paid a deposit of one million taels of silver.
When the warship reached the middle stage of construction, he would pay another one million taels of silver. After the warship was completed, he would pay another one million taels of silver. After the officers and soldiers of the Ming Navy received the warships and confirmed that there were no problems, they paid the last one million taels of silver.
In this way, he could try his best not to be tricked by the Sun Never Sets Empire.
The Emperor of Guang Dong had invested in the construction of warships to strengthen the navy. This made the Northern Squadron extremely excited.
One had to know that the current Northern Navy did not have many warships and was still in its infancy.
The support of the Emperor of Guang Dong was undoubtedly very important to the Northern Squadron.
In this time and space, the Emperor of Guang Dong would definitely support the development of the Northern Fleet. The Ming Empire could not afford the consequences of failure in future wars.
Of course, there wouldn't be any more incidents of the Northern Fleet's military funds being used to repair the garden.
After the death of the Empress Dowager of the West, the Emperor of Guangchang had ordered the construction of the Summer Palace to be suspended. There was no need to waste too much money here. The limited funds had to be invested in more urgent areas.
In the 11th year of the Ming Dynasty, at the end of October 1885, the two ironclads ordered by the Ming Empire from the Germanic Empire, namely the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan, finally returned to China. At the same time, the cruiser Jiyuan also returned.
The Minister of Military Affairs and Governor of Zhili and the Minister of Beiyang, Li Shaoquan, asked for instructions, hoping to hold a ceremony for the Beiyang Squadron.
After the Emperor of Guang Zhou learned about it, he gladly agreed. Furthermore, he decided to personally head to Jin Wei to attend the ceremony of the Beiyang Squadron.
Emperor Guang Dong also hoped that the fate of the Beiyang Squadron could be changed in this spacetime.
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