System, help me become the empress

Chapter 172 Investing in Steam Ships
When Xu Youxi returned to the cockpit, several people were still looking at Xu Shengshi who went out with her.

"Don't look for it, he's gone out to get some fresh air."

The others tacitly kept silent, as if they understood Xu Youxi's behavior very well.

Han Beishi also guessed that His Majesty will definitely entrust him with some content that the "Taishanghuang" cannot listen to.He just knew that there is no deep affection in the royal family. Alas, His Majesty is still on guard against the Supreme Emperor.

"Have you figured out how to build the next steamship?" Xu Youxi's words brought Han Beishi's thoughts back and forth to reality.

After careful consideration, Han Beishi said: "I build it according to the standard of a military ship. In addition to increasing the size of the ship, it also leaves room for the fort."

"can."

Xu Youxi's original idea was that the next steamship would be built directly from pure steel, but there is no welding technology in this era, and it may take several years or even several generations of hard work to build a huge iron boat.

In terms of time and cost, it is not worthwhile.

What's more, Xu Youxi is still thinking about luck. If the internal combustion engine develops smoothly, the steamship will be eliminated in a short time?
She can wait for the technology to mature a little more, and she is considering building an invincible subway armored military ship.

"Since the next steamship is prepared for war, the appearance can use steel in an appropriate amount to resist the artillery attacks of foreign enemies." Xu Youxi mentioned by the way, "I heard that your parents used to build civilian ships. Do you know what a military ship looks like?"

Han Beishi paused, and said modestly, "I understand a little bit."

"You have heard of General He Jiangyi who was stationed in Taiwan. He has guarded the Dagan sea area for many years and has a deep understanding of military ships. If you have doubts about the design later, for example, where to design cannons on the ship and where to use steel reinforcements , You can ask him everything. Moreover, I think that if conditions permit, it would be good for you to call him over to design together. After the ship is built, there is a high probability that it will be used by General He’s army.”

"Your Majesty, don't worry, I have had some dealings with General He when I was building the Shipbuilding Bureau in Guangzhou, and I know that he is a very strict and responsible general."

"Okay, you can think about it yourself." Xu Youxi suddenly thought of the cost of shipbuilding, and added by the way, "I will approve some military expenses for the Shipbuilding Bureau. How much silver do you think is appropriate?"

"This……"

Ordinary large military ships cost around 6000 to taels of silver.Speaking of which, compared with ordinary warships, steam warships only need to add one more steam engine, so the final cost will not differ too much.

However, Han Beishi was not sure how many warships His Majesty planned to build. He neither dared to quote the expenses too high nor too low. After deliberating for a while, he said the one that he thought was too high Number: "What do you think of 10 taels of silver, Your Majesty?"

"10 taels?" So little!

Han Beishi suddenly became nervous. Did His Majesty see that he overreported?He can continue to negotiate to lower the price!
"The national treasury will first provide 100 million taels of silver to support the building of military ships in the bureau. When your first steam warship comes out, I will allocate another 200 million taels to you to continue building the next one."

Han Beishi was frightened by His Majesty's generosity, and he didn't know whether to thank His Majesty or persuade His Majesty to give less: "Your Majesty, you don't need so much!"

"The warship is for the officers and men of Dagan. It is the most important weapon to protect the sea area of ​​​​Dagan. No matter how much money is invested in it, I think it is worth it. You can spend the money. To all the technicians in charge of research and development You can’t be stingy, you must double the salary, since the imperial court has sufficient funds, what can you do if you give each technician an extra 80 taels of subsidy.”

"I don't care how you spend the money, as long as you can get things out. I will give you two requirements now. First, military ships must not cut corners, and every detail must be perfect; second, or The old requirement is that the safety of the ship comes first.”

Han Beishi couldn't help but be moved by Xu Youxi's importance, and he couldn't stop the idea of ​​building a better steamship in his heart.

When Xu Youxi left the cockpit, he was ready to go out to find Xu Shengshi.

Xu Ling, who had been silent for a long time, couldn't help but reminded in a low voice: "Your Majesty, do you need to arrange a few Jinyi guards to help you watch Han Beishi? One million taels of silver is not a small amount. If he takes this Qian Moxia, we also have a handle in our hands."

"It's only one million taels, do you need to mobilize people like this?"

Xu Youxi shook his head amusedly.

"...Your Majesty, didn't you say that the national treasury has no money? Even public schools are difficult to maintain. Why are you willing to invest such a large amount of money in shipbuilding? The ship can't eat or drink, let alone make money. It's boring."

How could it be difficult to maintain a public school? Xu Youxi was simply doing more work to deceive Yingran, but he didn't expect that someone would believe it.

"There is no money, but some money must be spent. And who told you that you can't make money with money in shipbuilding? Let me ask you a question. If there are only sailboats in Dagan at this time, and all the inventions about steam power have not yet appeared, But at this time, the Britons came over with a steam ship. They stood on the ship and said condescendingly that they now have a steam ship that they want to sell to Daqian. A ship is 500 million taels, do you want to buy it?"

Xu Ling thought about it for a while, and found that there was no way to choose: "What if we don't buy it?"

"Then go to war. They broke through the customs, seized the coastal cities and counties, and forced the court to pay for it. They have to compensate their military losses. It's not expensive, 1000 million taels, will you give me the money?"

"No!" Xu Ling gritted his teeth and refused.

"Okay, have the backbone, and continue to fight if you don't give up. Finally one day, the Dagan court drove these barbarians away, but do the math, how many innocent people will die during this period? How many families and wives will be separated, and how many people will starve to death on the streets ?”

Xu Ling fell silent.

"The most ridiculous thing is not this, but even if we drive away the foreign enemies, we still return to the original question, 500 million taels of steamship, should we buy it or not?"

Xu Ling was a little unconvinced: "They have a steamship, so they will definitely come and beat us?"

Xu Youxi cast a foolish look: "With such a good opportunity, don't you earn 500 million taels?"

"That is to say, Han Beishi can get out the steam ship and make the Dagan sea area safe from then on. Even if he really embezzled a million taels of silver and got the stolen goods, I can still pretend not to see it.

It took a long time for Xu Ling to speak: "Your Majesty, when will we start selling ships? It will fill the national treasury just around the corner!"

(End of this chapter)