Chapter 447: Shipping Tycoon One

What was the most profitable thing in Germany in 1900? A variety of industrial and mining enterprises and chemicals are definitely among them. Germany, as a rising industrial country, has precision instruments, chemical products (such as dyes), and optical equipment at the same time but the world's top level. As for the things that appeared in the second industrial revolution, such as electricity and internal combustion engines, it is also an option, but whether it is the application of cars or airplanes, it is still a bit too early at this point in 1900.

There is also a very profitable business in Germany, and it is very suitable for people like Ruprecht who controls a large amount of national capital to operate, that is sea transportation! You know, until the 21st century, sea transportation is still the most important way of transporting goods between continents. Not to mention now?

Before the First World War in history, the world's top powers had a sufficiently large transport fleet. The first one was naturally the British Empire. When the war began, the United Kingdom had 8,587 steam-powered ships and 653 sailing ships, with a gross tonnage of 19.25 million tons. , Accounting for 40% of the world's total tonnage of merchant ships! The Germans are not to be outdone. The total tonnage of civil ships reached 7.15 million tons, ranking second in the world, accounting for about 15% of the total tonnage of ships in the world. And the third is naturally the Americans on the other side of the ocean. The Americans own 2,388 ships with a registered tonnage of 5.46 million tons. They account for about 10% of the total tonnage of ships in the world!

Germany is a continental country. It needs to import a large amount of raw materials and food every year, and it also needs to export a large amount of industrial products. It naturally needs a large number of freight and merchant ships. At the same time, Germany also has a huge market for passenger transportation, relying on government subsidies and policies. Support, passenger transportation in Germany is also very developed! The famous blue ribbons in history are enough to illustrate this problem!

At the beginning of the war, Germany had 42 fast cruise ships, including the largest cruise ships of the time-the Emperor Cruise and the Motherland Cruise. (There was also a cruise ship called Bismarck that was not in service and was given as compensation after the war. (British) These two ships, with a displacement of up to 52,000 tons, were the largest cruise ships in the world before the French cruise ship Normandy, and created an excellent result of crossing the Atlantic at a speed of 24.75 knots. Of course, this result is still not as good as Mauritania. The high speed above 26 knots.

In addition, there are more than 10,000-ton cruise ships such as Cape Trafalgar (displacement 18,700 tons), William the Great, and Crown Prince William flooding the German maritime transport industry. However, it is a pity that after the outbreak of the war, 11 of these ships were contacted and detained in American ports, 6 were monitored by the British in other neutral ports, 14 were blocked in German ports, and 6 were blocked. Captured by the British, only 5 temporarily escaped!

Therefore, it can be seen from these data that the maritime transport industry in Germany was quite developed before World War I! And the reason for being so developed is because there is a huge market! With the strong support of the government, the huge German transport fleet has also gone to the world. For example, in the history of the Japanese-Russian War, the Russian Second Pacific Fleet’s coal supply was handled by the German Hamburg Shipping Company!

Of course, this was the German merchant fleet. In the present dimension, the German merchant fleet is far from reaching the size of the later generations. It can be said that it is in a period of ascending, and the prince controls a shipyard with the highest efficiency in Germany. Rohm-Fosse Shipyard), while operating another Germany's largest shipyard (Germanian Shipyard), if you want to enter this industry, you have a natural advantage!

More importantly, the Wittelsbach family itself represents the Kingdom of Bavaria. The rapid development of the German shipping industry is inseparable from the support of the government. As a merchant fleet directly under the royal family, the natural support is Bigger, this is the second advantage.

And the third advantage is that the expansion of overseas markets is very convenient! The prince has already obtained an order for the transportation of supplies for the Russian army in the Far East. Naturally, ships are needed to transport these materials to the Far East, so may the prince choose other shipping companies?

Bavaria has succeeded in enclosing the Mesopotamia. If nothing happens, the oil in the Mesopotamia can produce at least 3 million tons of oil per year after development. How can this crude oil be transported back? Naturally, it also depends on its own fleet. There are also food exported from farms in Asia Minor and Mesopotamia that need to be transported back. These are huge market demands!

In addition, the prince and the bigwigs of the United States, such as Roosevelt, Hay and others, forged a "deep friendship" in the US-Japanese War. In addition to the large quantities of non-ferrous metals and other minerals that Germany imports from the United States every year, these things are also transported, so if the conditions are the same, why didn't the prince choose his own transport fleet?

In addition, there is the Princess Mary line. The Austro-Hungarian Empire also needs to import a large amount of raw materials, but the shipbuilding and shipping industry in the Austro-Hungarian Empire is not developed. As an ally and in-laws, King Fritz also needs to share some benefits for the prince, right?

"You want to build a fleet and give me the ownership?" Princess Mary said in surprise, because he could not realize that his husband would be so lavish~www.wuxiaspot.com~ This is also to deal with the most Bad situation. "The prince sighed and said: "If we fail, then we will lose everything, the government, the army, and the factories in Germany. Those capitalists under the banner of sashimi will rob us of everything! So we must be prepared. This transport fleet is one of them. "

"I do not intend to register this shipping company in Germany, but in the United States, Brazil and other countries. The surface characters try to choose people who are not directly related to us. As for those who operate secretly, I will use another group of reliable ones. But people who have not been exposed. If one day we lose power, then we will be at least a rich man." The prince sighed.

"And the person I trust most can only be you. If I don't give it to you, should I give it to others?" the prince asked rhetorically. After all, in this world, only he and Princess Mary know what kind of crisis the future faces!

"Are you still worried that we will fail?" the princess said uneasyly.

"Even if we do not fail, once war with the United Kingdom goes to war, all ships flying the German and Austrian flags will be cleaned up by the Royal Navy in a short period of time, or stranded in the harbor, and this time, because The relationship of war is also the time when the shipping industry is most developed. After all, the British sea transportation line will be hit, so the merchant shipping companies of other countries will win a glorious period. How can we give up this opportunity?" The prince smiled Said.

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