Chapter 94: The taste of conspiracy
"To be honest, this purchase condition is a bit harsh! This requirement is a bit high. It not only takes up a lot of our funds, but also exposes us to some risks! I can't make a decision. Give me some time. I need to ask for instructions!" Baron Leo said after hearing Palokin's suggestion.
Two days later, the encrypted telegram from Germany was delivered to Ruprecht, and in the face of the German conditions, Ruprecht fell into contemplation. He can feel that there are some problems!
The Russians finally moved their minds on the payment method. According to the normal transaction process, the buyer's payment is divided into 4 times, each time 25% of the payment is paid. The first payment is made after the battleship starts, the second payment is made before the battleship is launched and the third payment is made during the outfitting process. Finally, when the battleship is completed, the buyer will pay the balance in one lump sum! It is impossible for the manufacturer to advance payment to the Russians!
But this time, the Russians’ proposal was in terms of payment methods. The first payment was paid when the warship started work, and 30% of the total price was paid. When the battleship is launched and outfitted, another 30% is paid. 40% is paid when the final battleship is delivered.
The baron calculated an account for His Royal Highness in the telegram. The hull of a warship accounted for about one-quarter to one-third of the total price. The Russians' initial funds were indeed enough to cover the cost of building the hull, but Russia When people paid for the second time, they just said that after the outfitting was launched, there was no specific time set. Even if the Baron asked the Russians to set a time, it is estimated that the progress of the battleship has been half completed when the second batch of payment is in place! This means that before this, Ruprecht needs to advance about 20% of the shipbuilding payment!
This is not a decimal! The total price of the two warships is more than 2 million pounds, and 20% of the shipbuilding cost is 400,000 pounds! Although the time is only a few months, the interest occupied by the funds in these months is a large number! After calculating, this is not much different from the Russian price of 950,000. From this perspective alone, it is economically unacceptable!
"Tell them our concerns." His Royal Highness ordered immediately. However, in addition to economic aspects, the prince also considered another possibility, that is, what if the Russians do not pay in the end? 50% of the warships have been built, and the Russians only gave 30% of the money! Do you want to dismantle this half-built battleship or not? If you say that you don’t want the warships to be built half-and-half, then you can dismantle them directly if they don’t have a new home. The shipyard will pay at most one ship dismantling fee, but this is different! If this happened this time, Bavaria would have lost 400,000 pounds!
There is no such thing in history! The Agile and Japan’s two Garibaldi were the original customers who hadn’t wanted them. Then they found the next house and finally didn’t throw them in their own hands. But this time, the Russians’ demands were a bit high. If they were thrown in their own hands, Lu Precht tinkered with so many things, and half a year's profit was gone! What do the Russians want? Do they have other ideas?
The Russians want to threaten themselves by unsubscribing when the project is halfway through? This is indeed possible. The two battleships were built half-and-half, and the shipyard took hundreds of thousands of pounds. Do you mean stop or stop? If you stop, then you will definitely lose 400,000 pounds on your knees. If you don't stop, don't say how much money you have to pay, and who will you sell it to? This question is confusing enough.
This is a battleship of 12,000 to 13,000 tons. It is not a Munich-type armored cruiser. The average country cannot afford it. Whether it is Argentina or Chile in South America, or the Qing country that plans to rebuild the navy, it is unlikely to buy two such large ships. The battleship is not that the Russian-class armored cruiser is bad, but because it is too strong and too expensive. For these countries, the symbolic significance is greater than the actual combat significance.
Who will buy in the future? It must be a country that intends to fight a war. For example, the United States and Spain in the Spanish-American War, but the Americans absolutely support domestic products, and they have money, but in the case of their absolute superiority, they may not necessarily spend a lot of money to buy these two warships. And Spain? The possibility of purchase is unlikely, 2 million pounds is too much for this sunset empire. The war lasted for 100 days. Even if Spain intends to buy it, it is estimated that the two sides have not reached an agreement when the war ends...
The last possible potential customers are Japan and Russia, but if this warship starts construction in 1895, it will definitely be in service in 1898. There are at least 6 years before the Russo-Japanese War... This boat can't be smashed in your own hands for 6 years, right? Isn't this a loss? As for the possibility of buying in Japan? This is historically possible.
At that time, in order to show that it was not hostile to Germany, Japan specially ordered a 10,000-ton cruiser in Germany. Since Japan learned that the best cruiser in Germany is the Russian class instead of the Munich class, it will send one of the warships to Japan. It is possible. However, if you want to give both of them to Japan, the probability is a little lower. After all, people are just showing good intentions, and the relatives are from the UK. When you are a son, it depends on your relatives' attitude.
Although there are many potential customers, although the future world is not peaceful, it is really not easy to sell such a tall thing. If the Russians don’t buy it, then Japan will sell at most one ship, and the time is yet to be determined. After all, Ruprecht remembered that after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Japan was the first BB.
"Then since it is difficult to export large battleships, let's wait until I return to China." Ruprecht thought for a while and wrote in his reply to Vittorio. Anyway, there is no shortage of orders from the shipyards, Chile and Argentina. The second wave of orders has come, one for each country! And according to internal news, there may be two more ships, the shipyard is constantly working, so don't worry, just look at the attitude of the Russians!
"1898." Ruprecht kept thinking about the time point. In history, the time for the Qing to rebuild the fleet should have been at this time. He felt that the powerful Mainz-class armored cruiser was very likely to order the two warships. The key is the price, but if the Qing Dynasty can compensate a little less, then the money should be more abundant. UU Reading www.uukanshu.com And if the German Navy sells two old Munich-class armored cruisers at a reduced price, then it is very likely to build two more advanced armored cruisers!
The Russian class obviously meets the requirements of the German Navy, with larger tonnage, stronger firepower and protection, and greater endurance! If there are two Munich-class armored cruisers that can be shipped out, and the Russians don't want them, then the German Navy is also very likely to eat this order!
From a public perspective, these two warships are indeed more in line with the needs of the German Navy. Personally, the relationship between himself and the German crown prince is not bad, and Wilhelm II is very likely to help if things go smoothly. And judging from the current timetable, the German Navy should be supplementing battleships in the next two years and will not start construction of new armored cruisers. Therefore, Ruprecht believes that as long as he is not particularly unlucky, then these two ships will not fall into his own hands!
Of course, Ruprecht can also refuse, but the result of rejection is that the Russians may continue to buy warships from France as in history, which is very difficult for Ruprecht, who is short of money. So he was going to take a risk, Ruprecht thought about it, first go back and talk to Prince William, prepare a way out, and then consider how to answer the Russians.
Thanks to book friends, such as the First Tank Guard Brigade, zr Zhao Rui, hi112, Zsuzm and other book friends for their rewards~~~.
This chapter is published regularly, I took a look at the subscription increase, and it didn’t even have half of the previous day... And when it drops, it should, maybe, probably, almost exceed the record on Tuesday. So let's move two chapters first. Everyone in the author group said that the wireless end recommendation growth is indeed fast, but it is unstable. I hope this thing will not happen to the author--!
