Chapter 56: National Petroleum Reserve

  Berlin Palace, the office of Wilhelm II. The imperial meeting is underway. Kaiser Wilhelm II, Prime Minister Bernhard von Bülow, Minister of Foreign Affairs von Kidren Wacht, Chief of the General Staff Moltke, Minister of War von Falkenhain, Minister of the Navy Tirpi Marshal Earl Ci, Crown Prince William, and Qin Tian all attended this meeting.

  It is very normal for people other than Qin Tian to attend the imperial meeting. After all, these are important ministers of the empire. Crown Prince William is the heir to the imperial throne and is eligible to attend the imperial meeting as the prince. However, Qin Tian is just an ordinary prince. Although Qin Tian has shown outstanding talents in the fields of commerce and shipbuilding, this still cannot change his status as just an ordinary prince. The reason why Qin Tian is qualified to attend this imperial meeting is because he proposed the main topic this time. Another aspect is probably his keen understanding of the world pattern.

  Even so, Crown Prince William looked at Qin Tian with hostility. Obviously, Crown Prince William thought that this was Qin Tian's further attack on the reserve position, and this had already seriously threatened his status. This is absolutely unacceptable to Crown Prince William.

"Damn Oscar, this hypocritical and shameless guy, he really wants to compete with me for the throne. He is just an ordinary prince, and the succession to the throne is far behind, how dare he!" Crown Prince William said very Angry, he almost wanted to question Qin Tian on the spot. If it wasn't for the wrong occasion and William II's special warning to him, I'm afraid he would have lost his temper on the spot.

"Everyone, everyone must be aware of the reason for holding the imperial meeting today. That is Prince Oscar's intention. We need to build a national oil reserve in the name of the country and the government. Please express your opinions on this!" William II The world said expressionlessly.

   "His Royal Highness Prince Oscar, now Germany's oil consumption is very small, and we can easily obtain oil from the Americans. Is it necessary to spend huge sums of money to build a national oil reserve?" Chief of General Staff Xiao Moqi was the first to ask.

   After all, buying oil, then building storage facilities, and building refineries, etc., all require large sums of money. This amount of money is at least calculated in the hundreds of millions of marks. When Germany's financial pressure is already very high, and its military expenditure is still seriously insufficient, there is no need to invest so much money in oil reserves. If you have this spare money, it is better to invest in the upgrading of armaments. Only in this way can the combat effectiveness of the German Army be further strengthened and the odds of winning future wars increased.

"Your Excellency Chief of Staff, it is very necessary to establish a national oil reserve. Although Germany's oil consumption is still relatively small. However, this number will skyrocket soon. Especially the military's oil consumption will be even greater. Constantly rising. Because of the performance advantages of oil-fired boilers and steam turbines, I have suggested that the navy’s future new capital ships and a series of warships built in the future will all use oil-fired boilers and steam turbines. This will increase oil consumption a lot .In order to ensure the combat effectiveness of the navy, it is also necessary to establish oil reserves." Qin Tian explained.

"His Royal Highness Prince Oscar is right. The navy's warships will all use oil-fired boilers and steam turbines. This will make us consume more oil. There are no oil fields in Germany, and all oil needs to be imported overseas. In peace It may not be a problem during the period. However, once the war breaks out, our overseas transportation lines may be completely cut off. Before the navy defeats the British, our oil consumption needs to use oil reserves. Therefore, the establishment of a national oil Reserve, which is very necessary for us to win wars in the future." Marshal Earl Tirpitz said.

"Your Excellency Marshal, the navy decided to adopt oil-fired boilers and steam turbines on a large scale based on someone's one-sided words without careful argumentation. Isn't it too arbitrary? What's more, Germany lacks oil, but it doesn't lack Coal. In my opinion, even if oil-fired boilers really have advantages in performance, it is not advisable to give up coal-fired boilers. After all, we use coal-fired boilers, at least we don’t have to worry about being stuck by the enemy.” William The crown prince jumped out, apparently thinking that it was too arbitrary for the navy to replace the oil-fired boilers and steam turbines. But in reality, Qin Tian was blamed. After realizing Qin Tian's threat to his status, Crown Prince William began to use various methods to suppress Qin Tian.

"No, Your Royal Highness. The Navy's decision to adopt oil-fired boilers and steam turbines is not without proof. Although we don't have much experience in oil-fired boilers and steam turbines. However, after testing, it has surfaced that oil-fired boilers and steam turbines The combination of turbines is much better than the coal-fired boilers and steam engines we used before. This can greatly improve the performance of the ships of the Imperial Navy." Marshal Earl Tirpitz refuted on the spot.

  Crown Prince William froze for a moment, and his face became very ugly. In his opinion, the navy clearly expressed its support for Qin Tian.

   "Damn Tirpitz, does he want to break the military's practice of not interfering with the succession of the throne?" Crown Prince William was very annoyed.

   "His Royal Highness, how much money will be invested in the construction of oil reserves?" Prime Minister Bernhard von Bülow asked.

   "If the reserve is based on the scale of 2 million tons, it will cost about 120 million marks." Qin Tian said.

  Prime Minister Bernhard von Bülow frowned suddenly, this is a lot of money!

"Oscar, don't you know that the empire's financial pressure is very heavy now? 120 million marks is enough to build three battleships! Not everyone has a huge personal wealth like you. A prince of the royal family should repay the country and the society." Crown Prince William began to make trouble on purpose. Marshal Earl Tirpitz came forward to refute him before, making it impossible for him to set the fire on Qin Tian. Now, Crown Prince William directly opened fire on Qin Tian.

   "His Royal Highness, I have made a lot of money through legal channels, so it seems to be no problem, right? Besides, how do you know that I didn't repay the country?" Qin Tian sneered.