King of Beiyang

"Your Excellency, the Third Young Master wants to invest in the construction of steel mills, arsenals, and shipyards, as well as railways. This will undoubtedly greatly promote the development of Westernization."

Once these steel mills, arsenals, and shipyards are completed, they will greatly enhance our strength.

However, there are probably significant risks involved.

The imperial court won't just stand by and watch us build so many factories.

Especially since the Third Young Master wants to build these factories on the Liaodong Peninsula, which involves Anshan, the jurisdiction of the Shengjing General!

Zhou Fu had a serious expression; he was Li Hongzhang's most trusted advisor.

Li Hongzhang nodded; he understood this as well.

After Prince Gong Yixin lost power, the Westernization Movement suffered a severe blow.

Even Li Hongzhang faced considerable criticism and suppression from the die-hards.

If Li Hongzhang hadn't held considerable military power, controlling the Huai Army, the Beiyang Army, and the Beiyang Fleet, he might have already been eliminated.

"Father, I have a suggestion," Li Jingfang said.

"Tell me about it?" Li Hongzhang asked.

"Father, those diehards and nobles in the court are arrogant and domineering. But they are afraid of foreigners."

We can have our third brother invest under the name of a foreign company.

He even suggested that his third brother hire foreigners to manage the business.

When facing foreigners, even those die-hards and nobles probably wouldn't dare to act recklessly!

Li Jingfang said.

Li Hongzhang's eyes lit up.

He knew very well that those guys in the imperial court were all bullies who preyed on the weak and feared the strong.

But when faced with foreigners, they were all terrified and couldn't even stand up straight.

If Li Hongzhang's son wanted to build a factory on the Liaodong Peninsula, he would definitely face all sorts of difficulties.

But if it's a foreigner, then it's probably a different story.

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"Alright, let's do it that way! Send a telegram to the third brother, he should know what to do!" Li Hongzhang instructed.

"Yes, Father, I will personally send a telegram to my third brother!" Li Jingfang replied.

"In addition, we still need to make some concessions. General Yulu of Shengjing is also a man who loves money. Send him some silver and he'll just ignore it!" Li Hongzhang continued.

"Yes, Your Excellency!" Zhou Fu and Sheng Xuanhuai both replied.

"Gentlemen, this matter must be kept strictly confidential. Absolutely no word of it must be leaked. Otherwise, if the court finds out the truth, we will all be punished!" Li Hongzhang warned.

"Yes, Your Excellency!" They all understood this.

After receiving the telegram from Li Jingfang, Li Jingyuan, who was far away in Europe, understood the concerns at home and immediately replied that he would make preparations.

The current situation in China is that the Westernization faction fears the conservative faction, while the conservative faction fears the foreign masters.

Therefore, hiring foreigners to manage those projects should save a lot of trouble.

This can be considered as learning from the barbarians to control them!

Li Jingyuan registered a company called Far East Development Company in the German Empire, which was responsible for the construction of the factory on the Liaodong Peninsula.

The head of the Far East Development Company will be German.

With the Far East Development Company as the main entity, it invested in the construction of steel plants, arsenals, shipyards, and railways, etc.

In that case, even if the Qing government wanted to strangle them, they would have to see if they had the guts to oppose the foreigners.

Judging from those guys' behavior, they wouldn't dare offend the foreigners at all.

At the Vulcan shipyard, the design of the new cruiser was quickly completed according to Li Jingyuan's requirements.

Rudolf Hacker, the chief engineer and technical director of the Vulcan shipyard, even traveled to Hamburg in person to negotiate the order with Li Jingyuan.

"Mr. Li, I really don't understand why you chose Krupp to build the shipyard instead of us?"

The Vulcan shipyard was the largest and most technologically advanced shipyard in the German Empire. Even in the whole of Europe, it was one of the top shipyards.

We are fully capable of building you a truly modern, large-scale shipyard.

Rudolf Hacker looked like a resentful woman who had been abandoned.

Despite the fact that the Vulcan shipyard has received many orders from the Navy in recent years.

However, a large, modern shipyard would cost at least 20 million marks.

If the Vulcan shipyard can secure this order, it will be able to reap considerable profits.

"Your Excellency, I apologize; this was my oversight. However, I have already signed a contract with Krupp. I'm afraid it cannot be changed now."

Of course, there are still many opportunities for us to cooperate.

"Once this batch of warships is completed, I will place even more orders!"

Li Jingyuan said.

In Li Jingyuan's view, most of the warships of the Beiyang Fleet, except for a few, were of little use.

Therefore, once he takes command of the Beiyang Fleet, he will inevitably have to build even more warships on a large scale.

Before they have the capacity to build it themselves, purchasing it from outside becomes the only option.

Rudolf Hacker nodded, though with some regret.

However, if we can get more orders from Li Jingyuan, then it won't be a loss.

"Mr. Li, these are the design drawings we have completed." Rudolf Hacker took out several design drawings from his briefcase.

Li Jingyuan examined it carefully.

According to the specifications marked on the design drawings, this cruiser had a displacement of 12 tons, a maximum speed of 25 knots, and was equipped with three triple 155mm rapid-fire guns (45 caliber), six twin 120mm rapid-fire guns (45 caliber), four 88mm rapid-fire guns (45 caliber), twelve 47mm rapid-fire guns, and two 37mm rapid-fire guns. It also featured two triple 356mm torpedo tubes.

The thickness of the main armor, including the waterline armor, main gun turret armor, and conning tower armor, all reached 100 mm.

Li Jingyuan was very satisfied with the performance of this warship.

At least when compared to the Japanese destroyer Yoshino, it had an overwhelming advantage in terms of firepower, defense, and speed.

Especially considering that the Japanese had only one protected cruiser, the Yoshino.

If the Beiyang Fleet were to equip itself with a few more new cruisers, it would be able to completely crush the Japanese in future naval battles.

"Your Excellency, this is indeed a very good warship, I am very satisfied!" Li Jingyuan made no attempt to hide his satisfaction.

He had already decided to name the warship the "Sea and Sky" class cruiser.

The exact number to be built will depend on the price.

If the price satisfies him and the cost-effectiveness is high, ordering several more is not out of the question.

Rudolf Hacker's face immediately lit up with a smile.

Li Jingyuan's attitude suggests that the likelihood of this deal succeeding is very high.

Next, it depends on how much the two sides can negotiate on the price.

For the Vulcan shipyard, this is simply a matter of high or low profits.