Seven Seas Beacon Fire

Chen Houfu didn't know how to answer the Crown Prince. He wasn't a mind reader for the Balat people, so how could he know what they were thinking?

"I don't know."

"Houfu, do you think the Balat Navy is capable of building its own treaty heavy cruisers?" Li Che asked another question.

The Bharat Navy is building its own treaty heavy cruisers? Chen Houfu was taken aback for a moment, then recalled the Navy Intelligence Department's summary of the Bharat Navy's shipbuilding industry, and shook his head: "It has potential in the long run, but it is probably unlikely in the short term."

"How do you think Bharat's shipbuilding industry compares to Yingzhou's?"

“The two are not even in the same league.” Chen Houfu shook his head and said, “Yingzhou has at least built 5000-ton cruisers before. Later, during the war, they also built a ship similar to the Omaha-class cruiser in their own shipyard by assembling materials supplied by them. Moreover, the pocket battlecruiser they started construction on is about to be launched. Judging from the current progress, the construction is going quite smoothly. Yingzhou’s shipbuilding industry can now basically build capital ships of more than 1 tons equipped with large-caliber heavy guns. The next step is probably to build proper battleships.”

In contrast, while Bharat possessed much shipbuilding equipment and docks left by the Royal Victorian Navy, the Royal Victorian Navy did not leave Bharat with enough skilled and excellent shipbuilders, nor did it train a group of ship engineers capable of completing warship designs or even just copying blueprints.

Historically, no shipyards in Bharat have ever built any military vessels with a displacement of more than 3000 tons, and no company in Bharat is capable of providing adequate power for their warships.

Although the Calcutta Artillery Factory was capable of producing artillery, the artillery that the Calcutta Artillery Factory could produce were all models from the past of the Royal Victorian Navy, including the 9.2-inch and 7.5-inch naval guns from the pre-dreadnought era. The 9.2-inch naval guns could not be used on treaty cruisers, which exceeded the restrictions of the treaty.

In other words, if Bharat were to actually build its own heavy cruisers, they could only build those equipped with 7.5-inch guns. Such heavy cruisers would be at a significant disadvantage compared to other countries' heavy cruisers equipped with 8-inch or even 210mm guns.

Chen Houfu quickly completed his analysis of the Bharat shipbuilding industry. His analysis was clear and well-supported, presented to the Crown Prince in a manner that resembled a thesis defense.

"Yes, the Bharat Navy doesn't have the capability to develop heavy cruisers on its own, so they will definitely have to seek technical assistance from other countries. Do you think we can sell our heavy cruisers to Bharat?"

Li Che's question this time left Chen Houfu somewhat stunned.

what happened?

Did our Tang Dynasty's crown prince also collude with the Japanese?

At present, there has been no conflict between the country of Barat and the Tang Dynasty. In theory, there is no animosity between the two countries. However, the relationship between Barat and the Victorian Empire is well known. As a member of the British Commonwealth, Barat naturally leans towards the Victorian Empire. Moreover, if the Victorian Empire and the Tang Dynasty were to go to war again in the future, Barat would very likely join the war.

Therefore, many Chinese people consider Bharat a potential enemy. In addition, Bharat has always been very vocal on the issue of the Indian Ocean since its founding, claiming that the Indian Ocean belongs to Bharat. Although the Tang Dynasty has lost its ports in the Indian Ocean, almost all of the Tang Dynasty's shipping routes to Europe pass through the Indian Ocean, and these routes are undoubtedly under the threat of the Bharat navy.

In this situation, the Tang Dynasty would have preferred the Balat Navy to continue to deteriorate like this. However, the Crown Prince said that he wanted to sell his own cruisers to the Balat Navy.

"Your Highness, what's wrong...?"

"Heavy cruisers are ships that can be exported under the treaty. Even if we don't sell them to the Bharat Navy, the Bharat Navy can still order heavy cruisers from the Victorian Empire, or from the Kingdom of Gaul, or from the Kingdom of Syracuse. Nowadays, for the shipbuilding industry of various countries, there are only two ways to maintain shipyard warship orders and production capacity: one is to upgrade and refit old battleships, and the other is to build brand new heavy cruisers."

Therefore, as long as the Bharat Navy makes a request, there are plenty of countries in the world willing to sell them cruisers. Even if we don't sell, other countries will. It's better for us to sell them. At least we'll know what kind of warships we're selling to the Bharat Navy, and we'll clearly understand the advantages and disadvantages of the cruisers we're selling them. This way, we can know ourselves and our enemy, and it will also help our domestic shipbuilding industry maintain stable profitability. Isn't that good?

Chen Houfu agreed with the Crown Prince's statement, as it made sense. However, the arms sales market is not entirely based on product performance; the arms trade is largely a reflection of politics. Barat is a member of the British Commonwealth, so how could he buy cruisers from the Tang Dynasty?

"Your Highness, the Barat Navy seems to prefer ordering warships from the Victorian Empire, doesn't it? All their warships are currently British-made, while ours are metric..."

“Under normal circumstances, it is indeed not easy for us to obtain orders from the Bharat Navy, but what if the shipbuilding industry in the Victoria Empire is at full capacity and cannot provide cruisers to the Bharat Navy in a timely manner?”

Li Che's question puzzled Chen Houfu: "Is the shipbuilding industry in the Victorian Empire saturated? We have no intelligence indicating that the Royal Navy of Victoria is preparing to replenish a large number of heavy cruisers all at once."

The Royal Navy of Victoria certainly doesn't plan to replenish a large number of heavy cruisers all at once. Countries around the world are just starting to build these warships and will definitely need to continuously iterate to gain experience.

However, Li Che, as a time traveler, knew that the Victoria Empire's production capacity for heavy cruisers would not be entirely consumed by them. After ordering three of the world's smallest Iberia-class dreadnoughts from the Victoria Empire, the matadors of the Iberian Kingdom now felt it was time to upgrade their naval equipment.

The three Iberian-class dreadnoughts are enough to fill the gaps in the fleet; although small, they are still dreadnoughts. However, the cruisers of the Kingdom of Iberia are too old, and the Iberian Navy will soon seek to purchase heavy cruisers from abroad. Naturally, these Matadors will first consider the Victorian Empire.

In another world, the bullfighters initially planned to buy three heavy cruisers at once, just like the three dreadnoughts they already had, perhaps aiming to create a three-three fleet. However, due to funding issues, they only bought two.

Whether it's two or three ships, the orders from the Iberian Navy and the future orders from the Victorian Empire Navy will almost saturate the cruiser production capacity of Victoria's domestic shipbuilding industry. Don't think that the Victorian Empire is still the country that could start construction on eight capital ships a year.

Although many shipyards within the Victorian Empire could be modified to build heavy cruisers, Hayek's policies determined that, apart from the two shipyards currently building warships, other shipyards would not attempt to take a share of this market.

After all, the bulk of the orders for these warships will not go to most shipyards. However, building warships requires preparing new equipment of higher standards and recruiting experienced shipbuilding workers, all of which cost extra money.

But military orders aren't always available. If I spend money upgrading my factory and hiring workers, and then the order falls through, who will compensate me for my losses? Even if I manage to get this order, can I guarantee that I'll get similar orders in the future?

This event is also recorded in Europe in another world. During the armed conflict between Russia and Russia, NATO increased its military spending again and again and purchased a lot of weapons and equipment to aid Russia. A classic example is that Russia's front-line howitzers were short of 155mm shells. If they were short of explosive shells, they would definitely have to order them from factories, but the shell production capacity of old Europe was limited.

So NATO increased its military spending and provided funds. Do you think those artillery shell factories would use that money to expand their production lines? You're kidding! If my production lines are built and Russia is actually overthrown by the Russians, who will I sell my artillery shells to?

So many companies, including Rheinmetall, opted for a simpler and more direct approach—they simply raised the price of their shells, and that way they could spend the extra money you gave them.

The same applies to the shipbuilding industry in the Victorian Empire today; during economic downturns, all parties adopt increasingly conservative strategies.

After listening to Li Che's explanation, Chen Houfu roughly understood the Crown Prince's plan, but he still felt it sounded somewhat uncertain: "If the Barat Navy submits its warship order to the Victoria Empire before the Iberian Navy places its order, wouldn't we be unable to sell them...?"

“That’s easy,” Li Che said dismissively. “If Barat orders heavy cruisers from Victoria first, then we’ll just sell the ships to Iberia!”

So you're saying you can profit from both sides without losing out?

Chapter 378 Where is £150 million too expensive?!

The welcoming ceremony held by Bharat at the port of Kolkata was quite grand.

Li Che was still on the deck and hadn't disembarked when he saw the grand ceremony being held by Barat on the dock.

how to say?

In another world, Li Che believes that some of the quirks in Indian movies are simply exaggerated artistic expressions.

But now it seems that this is not entirely an exaggeration.

There were many young girls dressed in traditional Indian clothing on the pier, singing and dancing to a band. Li Che wasn't sure what the welcoming ceremony at such a national diplomatic occasion would be like for his Indian brother in another world; he could only say that the scene here made him feel like he might have stumbled into some kind of free day event at Casale Academy.

"These Barat people are so hospitable!" Zhu Miaoyun had also never seen anything like it. Her impression of her third brother was still based on some shocking news reports circulating online, including, but not limited to, lizards, cows, horses, crocodiles...

Of course, there's also the "clean and hygienic" claim of a certain Chinese internet celebrity, and the scene in the live stream where an Indian stall owner washes his hands after using the toilet and then goes back to making scallion pancakes...

Zhu Miaoyun looked at the dark-skinned Barat people on the dock: "Um... I don't need to shake hands with them later, right? I'm really not racist or I like the caste system, but..."

“Of course not.” Li Che said, putting on white gloves with a serious expression. He wasn’t wearing Ming-style formal attire today (which is a modernized version of Ming Dynasty Hanfu formal attire, called Ming attire because the Ming Dynasty lasted for more than 500 years), but instead wore a naval uniform without rank insignia so that he could wear white gloves properly.

Although he knew that his third brother used two different hands—one for going to the toilet and the other for shaking hands—but...

"Are you alright?" Zhu Miaoyun asked with some concern, looking at Li Che's expression.

"Diplomacy always requires some sacrifices." Li Che adopted a posture of "the wind is howling and the Yi River is cold," and he had already put on his gloves. He just hoped that the grip of the waiting President Singh would not be as strong as that of The Piper of the Orpheus.

Accompanied by the military band's performance, Li Che stepped off the Blue Space amidst flowers and applause from the Balat people. Balat's Grand Commander Singh and Balat's Naval Commander-in-Chief Spanga even stepped forward to greet him, both wearing bright smiles. The intensity and level of attention given to him made Li Che feel that the welcome was a bit too enthusiastic.

Were these Balat people drunk or high on drugs?

However, after the new Great President warmly shook his hand and delivered a passionate speech to the Bharat media, who had already set up cameras, Li Che finally understood the reason behind it all from the English spoken with a strong curry accent.

How should I put it? Perhaps I hadn't seriously considered the national mentality of Bharat before.

The subcontinent of Bharat was quite fragmented; without the Victorian Empire's colonization of the Bharat subcontinent, there would be no Bharat people in the broad sense.

After more than a century of colonial rule by the Victorian Empire, the Barat people have finally gained independence, and this independence was granted by the Victorian Empire. Given the relatively harmonious relationship between the Barat and the Victorian Empire, it has become very important for the Barat government leadership to consider how to cultivate the Barat people's national self-esteem and self-confidence.

If this matter is not handled well, Bharat may become another fragmented small country in the future.

Generally speaking, there are many ways to strengthen national spirit and enhance national cohesion, such as war, economic development, religion, etc.

For Bharat, it's not easy to approach things from these angles.

In another world, India had a huge psychological advantage over its northern neighbor when it first gained independence. After all, in India's eyes, its northern neighbor had experienced various humiliations in the past few decades, while India had long been a member of the world's number one superpower. Just thinking about the glory of the British Empire, every Indian could proudly stand tall.

In this world, Bharat doesn't have the same psychological advantage over its northern neighbor. Although the unique culture and national character of the Bharat people mean they rarely feel inferior, for the current Bharat Federation, the fact that the most powerful country in the East sent its future crown prince to visit Bharat shows that Bharat is now a regional power that the most powerful empire in the East needs to pay attention to.

That's why Bharat is making such a grand entrance to welcome Li Che. The bigger the show they make, the more propaganda Bharat can do domestically—"The most powerful country in the East has sent people to visit us, aren't we successful enough? Isn't Bharat, led by President Singh, on the right track?"

Although ordinary people may not understand the logical connection between these things, that doesn't matter; that's how the Bharat leadership sees it.

However, Li Che underestimated the behavior of these Barat people. After his speech, the Grand Commander Singh waved his hand very enthusiastically. This Grand Commander seemed to have completely ignored the fact that among the visitors present today, in addition to the Crown Prince of the Tang Empire, there was also the Crown Prince's Consort of the Tang Empire.

His large hand reached out to the Balat girls dancing and singing on the dock. To be honest, it was only at this moment that Li Che realized that the girls on the dock were generally at least above average in appearance, and most of them had fairer skin than the Balat soldiers lined up on the dock or the Balat people in the distance. Many of them clearly showed Aryan ancestry in their facial features.

“These are…” Li Che could basically tell that the girls on the dock were all high-caste girls, but before he could figure out where the Barat people got so many high-caste girls to be “cheerleaders” on the dock, Commander Singh spoke up, still in his curry-accented English.

This president clearly studied in the Victorian Empire back then, so his English shouldn't sound like this. I wonder if he's been assimilated by the other Barat people after returning home all these years. Anyway, Li Che was completely dumbfounded halfway through speaking that terrible English.

In short, this wise man said that he had long heard that His Highness the Crown Prince of the East was fond of collecting princesses from various countries. Therefore, many princely states in Barat had sent their own princesses to welcome His Highness the Crown Prince from afar. If His Highness the Crown Prince took a fancy to any of the princesses here, that princess could serve His Highness the Crown Prince tonight. Of course, there was no limit to the number of princesses.

Li Che really wanted to tear the mouth of the guy in front of him apart.

What the hell do you mean I like collecting princesses?

What the hell am I collecting princesses for?

I've only married a princess from the former Ming Dynasty, taken a princess from the Tokugawa Shogunate, and sometimes the princess from the Song Dynasty's Prince's Mansion comes to visit, but that's to see my wife. As for the Romanov princess, I've been completely innocent with her all this time! The princesses from Silla and Ryukyu haven't even been sent over yet!

How could I...

"How about it? You've been playing too much Princess Collection. Now you realize your reputation is beyond saving, huh?" Zhu Miaoyun said sarcastically, arms crossed. From Princess Yongning's gaze, Li Che was quite certain that if he dared to nod today, Zhu Miaoyun might come up and kick him hard... oh no, rather, she might kick him with her high heels in a fit of anger.

Li Che immediately declined the kind offer from the kings of the various princely states of Barat. To be honest, many of the girls in Barat were indeed quite beautiful, but unfortunately, this time he brought Zhu Miaoyun instead of Mingzi. If it were Mingzi, she might have already started subtly helping him choose girls.

Ah, Mingzi, my dear Mingzi~

-------------------------------------

After enduring the various welcoming ceremonies of the first day, Li Che and his delegation began formal bilateral dialogue with the Bharat Federation the following day of their visit to Bharat. The two sides spent the morning communicating on issues such as the border between the two countries, shipping security in the Indian Ocean, and trade between the two countries. Although they did not reach an agreement on all issues, both sides agreed that some minor contradictions were not enough to hinder the development of normal bilateral relations between the two countries.

It must be admitted that although the newly established Bharat Federation made some mistakes, it has so far shown the vigor of a newly formed nation.

Hopefully, the Barat of this world won't pull off some inexplicable maneuvers like those of the Third Brother from another world, leaving the Tang Dynasty baffled for days on end.

During the conversation that afternoon, General Spanga, who had barely spoken all morning, finally found an opportunity. Li Che had already noticed the strong interest that the Commander-in-Chief of the Balat Navy had in the Jiangzhou heavy cruiser docked at the pier.

After all, Li Che believed that the Bharat Navy must be extremely envious of this heavy cruiser, which was the epitome of advanced technology in this era.

As expected, General Spanga soon brought up the two cruisers of the Tang Dynasty Royal Navy anchored in the harbor. Spanga praised the long history of shipbuilding in the Eastern power and affirmed the excellent performance of the Eastern power's warships in the previous world war. He then expressed interest in the performance of the two cruisers.

Chen Houfu, naturally, introduced some key performance indicators of the two heavy cruisers at the opportune moment, including the effective range of the new 210mm naval guns, the total gun projection of the cruiser, the output power of the propulsion system, and the maximum speed.

When General Spanga heard the previous figures, he remained relatively calm. However, when he learned that the Jiangzhou heavy cruiser could reach a speed of 32 knots, he could no longer contain himself, just as if he had seen a stunning beauty.

"32 knots? That's faster than a Royal Navy battlecruiser of the Victoria?"

“Yes,” Li Che said with a smile. “In fact, the Jiangzhou heavy cruiser is just an exploration of this type of warship in our country. The heavy cruisers we will commission in the future will be even faster.”

"How fast can it be?"

"I can only say that our design bureau has indicated that speeds of 35 knots or higher are not out of the question if the customer requires them."

"35 sections!"

Spanga's eyes widened. After whispering to the two Bharat naval generals beside him, General Spanga pondered for a moment before tentatively asking, "How much would such a heavy cruiser cost?"

Are you asking about the price right away?

Although Li Che was a little surprised, he quickly responded directly: "The cost of a heavy cruiser is closely related to its tonnage, firepower, speed, and other factors. If the cost of our Jiangzhou heavy cruiser is converted into pounds, then the selling price should be over 150 million pounds."

“1.5 million pounds!” General Spanga’s eyes widened. He had never expected that this 10,000-ton cruiser would cost so much. “Isn’t this a bit too expensive? Before the outbreak of the World War, such a price could almost buy a super-dreadnought from the Victorian Empire. The first super-dreadnought of the Victorian Royal Navy cost only 1.8 million pounds.”

Faced with General Spanga's questioning, Li Che scoffed: "General Spanga, as you said, those were prices before the outbreak of the World War, and they were internal prices for the Royal Navy of Victoria. Before the outbreak of the World War, the Royal Navy of Victoria paid £220 million to build a battlecruiser for its own use, but after the war, the cost of an Admiral-class battlecruiser had reached over £600 million. That's not how you compare prices, General."

“But…” General Spanga nervously rubbed his hands together. “This price is really too expensive for us.”

"Where is it expensive? General Spanga, I know you're not a professional in warship design, so please don't make things up. I think you probably don't know this, but the Kingdom of Iberia is also planning to purchase cruisers. They're even planning to buy three 10,000-ton cruisers at once. Can you guess how much money the Kingdom of Iberia has prepared for these three ships?"

"How much?" Spanga was completely shocked by the cost of the Jiangzhou, and his thoughts were subconsciously being led by Li Che.

“2.6 million pesetas!” Li Che held up five fingers: “That’s equivalent to 550 million pounds!”

Chapter 379 The Bharat Navy Wants Independence

"Your country's naval warships either come from the support of the Royal Victoria Navy or from the Royal Victoria Navy at extremely low prices. Therefore, I think your country may not have an accurate understanding of the current prices in the warship sales market. The newest and most modern warships are very expensive."

Your country could also inquire with the Royal Navy of Victoria about the cost of ordering the same type of heavy cruiser currently under construction. Believe me, this kind of brand-new, high-end, large warship, not from existing stock, will cost at least £1.7 to £1.8 million.

Lee Che is an expert on the construction costs of large surface ships in the Royal Victoria Navy today. Since the end of World War II, or more precisely, since the end of the war in Europe, the Royal Victoria Navy's once unparalleled shipbuilding capabilities have been rapidly shrinking, and the extent of this shrinkage is no less than that of the Beacon Navy after the end of the Cold War.

This is not an exaggeration. It is true that when Hayek's big hand is unable to maintain such a large-scale shipbuilding program in the Royal Navy, and is unable to provide your shipyards with orders to maintain production lines, and then your civilian shipbuilding industry is also shrinking further due to the economic crisis, how can things be good when you count these factors one by one?

Li Che knew how much a heavy cruiser cost in the same era in another world: £180 million, no exaggeration. That was the price for personal use; if it were to be sold, the price would be even higher.

Li Che's asking price of £150 million for Bharat was a price that would allow shipyards in the Tang Dynasty to make a profit, and not a small one at that. Unlike some countries in South Korea that were willing to lose money to gain market share, Tang Dynasty shipyards were not willing to do so.

General Spanga's expression was grim. In the past few years, he had indeed been preoccupied with the world ranking of the Bharat Navy. How could every Bharat citizen not be proud that the country had a navy that was among the top 10 in the world so soon after its founding?

However, although what the Crown Prince said today was not very pleasant, the reasoning was indeed correct. The Bharat Navy was indeed created at a very low price during a special historical period and under a special political background.

So when Bharat began to develop its navy on its own, all the favorable conditions of the past would no longer exist. Bharat had to face all the problems that other countries encountered in the process of developing their navies, and the first problem it encountered was the economic one.

A navy is a money-devouring beast. No poor country in the world can build a powerful navy. Of course, "poor" does not refer to per capita wealth. A navy represents the total strength of a country. Either you have decent technology but a high per capita wealth, or you have a low per capita wealth but an explosive base. In short, after multiplying per capita wealth by the base, your country must be rich enough.

Often, the problems in the development of the navy always boil down to one mundane word—money!

The Bharat Navy is currently facing such a problem. Bharat is not a small country. As the second most populous country in the world, Bharat has one of the highest population densities in the world, and the conflict between people and land is naturally quite prominent. However, fortunately, Bharat has a very hot climate and many rivers, including the Ganges, so Bharat's agriculture is doing well, and feeding the whole country is usually not a problem.

The kings of the princely states on the Bharat subcontinent were also among the wealthiest people in the world. They possessed wealth accumulated by their ancestors for generations. As the crown jewel of the Victorian Empire, Bharat was also astonishing in terms of the total wealth contained in the entire country. Thanks to the well-established tax system left by the Victorian Empire, the annual income of the Bharat government was quite considerable.

However, the problem is that the Bharat government is now spending more money on various aspects of the country, whether it's commissioners at all levels putting money into their own pockets or using it to repair domestic water conservancy and transportation projects. In the past two years, the Bharat government, which began to control the entire country after independence, has gradually realized that governing a country actually costs so much money.