My Italian: Chapter 481 Imperial Council

In fact, apart from France, the United Kingdom, Russia, and the United States were all surprised by the Italian shipbuilding plan. But compared to France, they are more limited to surprise. The only thing that has moved is the United Kingdom. The British Empire Navy transferred two battleships from the mainland to the Mediterranean Fleet, which can be regarded as its response to the Italian shipbuilding plan.

After that it's gone.

There are not even as many topics about its shipbuilding as the new battleship Dreadnought.

That's right, it's the epoch-making Dreadnought. For the ship, Lieutenant General Fisher, who was the commander-in-chief of Portsmouth at this time, praised it very much. He praised this Italian-built battleship as an epoch-making masterpiece, and called on the British Navy to keep up with it, so as not to fall behind.

However, the British Empire has its own national conditions. There is no need to demonstrate the new type of battleship, so how can it be built directly. Therefore, countries are still in the demonstration stage, and construction needs to wait.

Just as the European countries had their own plans because of Italy's plans to build a navy, an undercurrent was surging in the Far East.

In Tokyo, the demonstrators had just dispersed, and the Russian flags fell all over the floor. As the core point of the protest, the colorful exterior wall of the Russian embassy in Japan was just beautiful.

Seeing the crowd disperse, the Japanese military police guarding the embassy also breathed a sigh of relief. Demonstrating against the Russians every now and then, their police are also exhausted. If it weren't for their duty, they all wanted to demonstrate against the Russian protests. In order to protect the interests of North Korea, the police only receive 60% of their official salary. How can a family live on this little money.

The thoughts of the little policemen don't care at all for the big figures involved in the dispute between the two countries, because they have more important things to pay attention to.

In the palace, an imperial meeting is being held.

"Your Majesty, gentlemen, at present, the funds of our Ministry of Finance can last for three months. If there is no way, then the government will go bankrupt."

Along with the Prime Minister, Sone Arasuke, the Minister of Finance who came from the army, informed the people present of the situation of the Ministry of Finance.

"Can you borrow more from countries such as Britain and the United States?" Tosuke Hirata, Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, made a suggestion.

Faced with this suggestion, Soni Arasuke said bitterly. "At present, there is nothing to borrow. Our country has taken out all the mortgages that can be used for mortgage loans. There is only one available method."

Although Zene Arasuke didn't say what it was, everyone present knew what it was.

Speaking of Japan's financial misery, Carlo has contributed a lot. In the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1885, Japan suffered heavy casualties, and no compensation was obtained. If it weren't for the support of the British Empire, even North Korea, a springboard to the mainland, would not have been obtained.

We must know that in the original history, after Japan received 230 million taels of silver compensation from the Qing Dynasty, its total fiscal revenue directly increased from 134 million yen in 1903 before the war to 279 million yen in 1895 after the war. With the rapid growth all the way, it reached 438 million yen in five years. (The Three Kingdoms intervened to return the Liao Dynasty and gave an extra 30 million taels of silver)

In the absence of huge indemnities from the Qing Dynasty, although Japan has obtained the right to protect North Korea, the Korean peninsula is not enough to supplement Japan's finances. Even if Japan mobilizes more people to work abroad, Japan's finances have been delayed. Passed the 300 million yen mark.

This also led to Japan's continuous military expansion, and Japan's finances were the first to fail. It was only 1903, and Japan's finances couldn't stand it anymore.

Facing the complaints from the Minister of Finance, Prime Minister Katsura Katsura asked the Foreign Minister beside him instead.

"Mr. Komura, how is the conversation with the Russians going?"

Faced with the prime minister's question, Komura Kotaro, who served as the crucial ambassador to the Qing Dynasty during the Sino-Japanese War, replied immediately. "The current negotiations with Russia are not going well. I have a feeling that the Russians are deliberately delaying time."

Komura Kotaro said that Japan wants to delineate their respective spheres of influence with Russia, because Russia has also extended its hand into North Korea. This situation is of course that after the Qing forces withdrew from North Korea, the small court of North Korea was afraid that Japan would be unfavorable to them, so they wooed the Russians and tried to use the struggle between the two to maintain their political status.

The negotiation between Japan and Russia is to occupy the Korean peninsula alone.

Facing the words of the Foreign Minister, Gui Taro thought for a while and then asked the Minister of the Navy beside him. "Yamamoto-kun, if your navy faces the Russian Pacific Fleet, what are the chances of winning?"

Although this was just an inquiry from the prime minister, all the important ministers present paid attention to this issue, because it was related to the future of Japan.

Facing the eyes of everyone, Gonbei Yamamoto, the Minister of the Navy, immediately spoke. "If the Combined Fleet engages the Russian Pacific Fleet normally, we have a 60% chance of winning."

The words of 60% chance of winning made everyone present frown. Because the chances of winning are too low, Japan has put all its belongings on it, and the chances of winning are too low and the risk is too great.

"What if there's nothing you can do?"

It was Prime Minister Katsura Katsura who spoke, and Foreign Minister Komura Kotaro Komura, who is familiar with diplomatic rules, changed his face after hearing this.

Katsura Katsura, who finished speaking, didn't care about other people's faces, but stared at Gonbei Yamamoto, waiting for the other party to give him a reply.

Faced with the Prime Minister's continued questioning, Gonbei Yamamoto thought for a while. "Our Admiralty has made such a plan before. If we want to use all means to defeat the Russian Pacific Fleet, there are two points to consider. First, our fleet must be concealed. Second, the Russian fleet stationed in Lushun must not be prepared. , we can use torpedoes to raid the docked Russian warships, try to annihilate part of them in the naval port, and then lure them out to sea and sink them in one fell swoop."

"What if the other party doesn't come out?"

Facing this question, Gonbei Yamamoto smiled. "If this is the case, it would be even better. We will use the ship to sink at the port of Lushun and block the Russian warship inside."

Regarding the situation of Lushun Port, the Japanese Navy has already figured it out~www.mtlnovel.com~ Although Lushun is an excellent ice-free port, it has shortcomings. The inner port of Lushun is relatively narrow and the water is relatively shallow. There is only one other port. entrance and exit. Large warships can only enter and leave the inner harbor at high tide and must be towed by tugboats.

Although Gonbei Yamamoto didn't say what the odds of winning were, Gui Taro weighed it himself, so that if it goes well, there is basically an eighth chance of winning.

That being the case, some means must be used.

"Mr. Komura, the negotiations with the Russians will still continue. As for when the negotiations will be terminated, we will wait for the notice."

Facing the words of the prime minister, what else can Komura Kotaro say, for the final victory, a little reputation is nothing.

"Please rest assured that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs knows what to do and will not let the Russians notice anything unusual."

After receiving Komura Kotaro's reply, Gui Taro looked at Yamamoto Gonbei to defend his way. "Yamamoto-kun, I'll leave it to your navy from now on."

"Hi!"

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