Daming 1805

Chapter 367 Heading to London
In the room of Louis XVI in the Palace of Versailles, Charles reports his work progress to his parents.

After listening to it, Louis XVI couldn't help admiring, but also worried:
"You did a good job, quick enough and tough enough.

"There is no chance for the Duke of Orleans and others to resist, nor for outsiders to intervene.

"But, Shire, you directly arrest nobles and merchants like this, deprive them of their titles, confiscate their property, and exile...

"This may invite resistance from the entire noble and merchant community..."

Charles said very seriously:

"I understand, but I have to do it, these moths and destroyers must be completely removed.

"Otherwise, in our future reform and construction, they will obstruct and sabotage everywhere.

"France wants to recover and develop quickly, and the Bourbon royal family must get rid of them if they want to stabilize their rule.

"Moreover, I gave a clear charge, took out a reasonable charge, and dealt with it through the court trial.

"Just like the former Duke of Orleans, the tampering of the will of the ancestor of Louis XIV was done through the court."

When Louis XVI thought of the events of Louis XV's era, he was both relieved and calm.

Not knowing what to say, he just patted his son on the shoulder vigorously and said to his wife:

"I feel that Shire has finally grown up and has the potential to become a real king."

Queen Mary didn't worry much, she looked at her son very relieved and said:
"After going to Xintianfu, Charles has obviously matured a lot, with responsibility and determination."

Charles is also very proud to say:
"My best friend said that a leader must first have the ability and courage to make decisions.

"Leaders must first be able to make decisions, and then people will be willing and able to follow and obey.

"When everyone is confused, it is better to be uncertain about the correct decision than to wait.

"Secondly, you must have the courage to take responsibility, no matter whether the decision is right or wrong, you must face the result of your choice.

"In the face of failure, only leaders who can take responsibility can cheer up everyone again."

The Louis XVI couple nodded subconsciously when they heard this. They both lack this ability very much.

Queen Mary admired sincerely and said:

"His Royal Highness Prince Dashi is really a man full of wisdom.

"He also really treats Charles as a true friend.

"I can explain this truth to you without reservation."

When Charles heard Zhu Jingyuan's topic, he immediately became energetic:

"Of course, Prince Dashi and I are true friends, friends who talk about everything without reservation.

"We all hope that France and Daming can also become close partners like the two of us."

Louis XVI looked at his son, looked up and down for a while, and finally made a decision:
"Charles, since you have the consciousness to become a leader, you will preside over the court and cabinet meetings from now on.

"General daily things, you can decide by yourself. If you are undecided, come to me to discuss."

Charles froze for a moment, then immediately nodded and said:
"Thank you, Father, for your trust, I will take on this responsibility!"

Louis XVI himself had little interest in politics.

Instead of facing complicated and cumbersome national affairs, it is better to go back and play with your own locks.

In the past, no one could do these things for me, so I had to learn and take on such responsibilities by myself.

Now his son, his natural heir, the crown prince of France, and the future king, seems to have such ability now, so Louis XVI thought about delegating power.

From this day on, Charles gradually replaced his father and directly managed the affairs of the French court.

Lead the follow-up restoration, construction and reform work in France.

Louis XVI either stayed in the palace to toss about his personal hobbies, or accompanied the queen to play and attend banquets, and basically stopped intervening in government affairs.

This change in power made the French aristocrats and officials see it, making it even more certain that a "coup d'état" had occurred.

Soon after Charles took power, he convened a naval shipbuilding planning meeting to adjust France's future new warship plan.

Completely overthrow the warships in the existing design, and require the design and construction of a new type of battleship similar in tonnage to the new warship of Ming Dynasty.

The full-load displacement is limited to more than [-] tons and less than [-] tons.

The use of small water tube pure oil-fired boilers with steam turbines requires a maximum speed of 25 knots or more.

The range is more than [-] kilometers at a speed of [-] knots.

It can go directly to Canada and Ivory Coast from mainland France, and from Ivory Coast to Canada.

Eight to twelve main guns can be designed with double-mounted turrets as the standard, and at the same time, research on triple-mounted turret technology has begun.

The caliber of the artillery is more than 360 mm, and the multiple diameter is more than [-].

The thickness of the main armor is more than [-] millimeters, and the thickness of the horizontal armor is more than [-] millimeters.

These requirements put forward by Charles can actually be regarded as relatively loose.

It can be relaxed to a maximum tonnage of 360 tons, as long as eight to twelve [-]mm guns are required.

The Queen Elizabeth class in history, with eight 380 mm guns, has a displacement of only [-] tons.

The French also have accumulated in boilers and turbines, and have been able to realize small water tube oil-fired boilers and steam turbines.

The efficiency of the power system may not be comparable to that of Daming, but the speed of 25 knots can still be piled up.

Therefore, these indicators of Shire are not rigid, but a general range and direction.

To design and build the state of the city, Charles, the French admirals, and warship design craftsmen have to carefully discuss and plan.

On the other side, the three members of the British royal family, Charlotte, Frederick, and Amelia, also returned to London, where they had been away for more than three years, and returned to the palace where they used to live.

They first met the Prince Regent of the United Kingdom, the Prince of Wales, at Buckingham Palace.

Charlotte first gave her father a big hug:

"Dad... I'm back..."

The Prince of Wales hugged his only daughter, also full of excited thoughts:

"Finally back, my baby..."

After the father and daughter settled their emotions, Frederick and Amelia also came up to say hello, hugging and saying hello to the eldest brother in turn.

The four then went together to meet their father, mother and grandfather, grandmother, King George III and Queen.

George III's mental illness was getting worse, and he had not been fully awake for a long time.

However, when his favorite son Frederick, favorite youngest daughter Amelia, and only granddaughter came together, George III's mind stabilized for a while.

George III barely said a few words to his son, daughter, and granddaughter, and then had tons of meals together.

In the evening, George III fell ill again and began to talk nonsense.

The next day, Charlotte, daughter of Queen of America and Regent of England, followed her father to a cabinet meeting.

In addition to the cabinet members headed by William Pitt, there are also important naval generals headed by Nelson.

The moderator of the meeting was Prime Minister William Pitt, but it was Nelson and Grenville who spoke the most.

Nelson kept questioning and confirming the previous news with a very serious expression:

"The tonnage of Daming's new battleship has really reached [-] tons?"

Grenville nodded seriously:
"Yes, I'm sure, even if it's less than [-] tons, it's at least [-] tons.

"Those two ships were over 220 meters long and over 30 meters wide!
"After Daming's fleet visits France, it will visit us in England.

"At that time, His Excellency Nelson can go to the site to visit and evaluate in person."

Nelson actually did not doubt Grenville's judgment, but it was always difficult to accept this reality:
"Why did Ming take the initiative to build such a large warship...

"We originally prepared a capital ship that was bigger than Da Ming's conventional warships, but now it has directly become a secondary main force.

"Da Ming directly started building [-]-ton warships in batches, which completely reduced our previous plan to a laughingstock."

The expressions of the other cabinet members were a bit ugly.

Grenville hesitated for a few seconds before continuing to explain the situation to Nelson:
"Da Ming's new battleships...even the new cruisers, the entire fleet is pure fuel oil battleships.

"They can sustain a speed of [-] knots for more than [-] kilometers without resupply.

"Pure fuel oil warships have shown unparalleled advantages in continuous voyage.

"But we have no controllable source of fuel of our own..."

Nelson was equally entangled. What Grenville said, Nelson had already considered.

Nelson saw the advantages of fuel power when he first designed the dreadnought battleship with full-caliber artillery.

After the experimental battleship was built, when he began to design the formal enlarged dreadnought battleship, Nelson also considered the huge advantage of fuel power.

It's just that the environment and conditions do not allow it. The UK does not have a stable fuel production area, so pure fuel power is not enabled.

Now this problem was once again placed in front of him.

Nelson was silent for a few seconds:
"To change, the fuel power must be replaced, and the efficiency gap between fuel and coal is too great.

"It is difficult for a coal-fired warship to continue to fight with an oil-fired warship, and the power can even affect the battle situation.

"We have not discovered oil fields in our homeland and colonies for the time being, but oil fields may not be discovered in the future.

"We can explore for oil first, and at the same time build a large number of oil storage facilities to store oil.

"If you want to obtain faster and more durable high speed, you must use pure oil-fired boilers.

"The future is the era of fuel power, and coal has entered the countdown to phase out.

"The warships that have already started construction can also be suspended. We have to redesign after seeing Daming's warships."

Nelson finally made up his mind and asked the British Navy to completely switch to fuel power.

But not everyone thinks so, even in Pete's cabinet, some people find it hard to accept:
"Your Excellency Nelson, do you mean that in the future, the main ship will be powered by pure fuel oil, and other secondary ships will still use coal-fired power?"

Nelson directly gave the opponent a blow:
"It's not that the battleships are powered by fuel oil, but all the warships in the entire fleet must be powered by fuel oil!"

Immediately someone came out and continued to ask:

"What about overseas coal filling stations?"

Nelson subconsciously said:

"Of course it should be changed into a fuel storage depot, or a fuel supply station? This is something the imperial court needs to consider..."

The other party still wanted to refute, and Prime Minister William Pitt stood up:

"Everyone, don't worry, I think it is too troublesome to replace the power system of the old warship.

"So the new warships can be powered by fuel oil instead, and the old warships don't need to be specially modified, and continue to use coal."

Nelson didn't care much about this matter, he just determined the direction of the fuel-powered battleship.

The first topic was over, and Nelson subconsciously wanted to discuss the design details of the new battleship in memory.

But considering that Daming's new battleship is coming soon, it may be changed after discussion.

Instead of making a trip in vain, it is better to wait for Da Ming's warship to come and design according to Da Ming's warship.

Eight days later, the fleet of Ming's new warships headed by Fearless and Invincible arrived in England and docked at the pier off the coast of London.

Once again the fleet received an exceptionally warm welcome, with onlookers all around the pier off London.

The Prince Regent of the United Kingdom, the Prince of Wales, took his younger brother, sister, daughter, Prime Minister William Pitt, Foreign Secretary Grenville and other court ministers, and Nelson took the navy, warship designers and craftsmen together.

Except for Grenville, Charlotte, and others, the British Prime Minister, cabinet ministers, and core navy generals have all heard about the situation of Ming's new warship, and they already know that the opponent has an exaggerated size.

However, it is not easy to understand on paper. Many people do not have an intuitive feeling simply by looking at the data.

When they went to the scene to watch directly, they got the most direct shock.

Most of the British royal family, nobles, wealthy businessmen, and soldiers looked at these warships with amazement.

Nelson stood on the deck of the Intrepid, estimating the size of the battleship back and forth, and then lowered his voice and said to Pete:
"Mr. Prime Minister, according to my judgment, the speed of these two warships is probably not just 25 knots."

Pete was visibly taken aback:
"Mr. Nelson, are you serious? What do you mean by more than 25 verses?"

Nelson pointed to the keys and bow of the battleship, then turned to the side, and said to Pete at the same time:

"The faster a boat is designed to go, the smaller the overall breadth of the boat is usually.

"The aspect ratio of this ship exceeds seven, even the fastest cruiser does not have such a large aspect ratio.

"And the exterior line of the ship, which can be considered a new design, should reduce drag.

"Comprehensively, the suitable speed of this ship has a high probability of exceeding 25 knots.

"It's even possible to get to 27 knots, which is a desperate speed.

"The 27-ton battleship at [-] knots can easily hunt and kill all previous warships..."

As Prime Minister, Pete also has some knowledge of naval ships. After listening to Nelson's analysis, he also felt that what he said made sense:

"Then what should we do? Can our warships also be built at 27 knots?"

Nelson shook his head after listening:

"Maybe it can be achieved, but it's meaningless. We can't build a few warships of the same size even if we devote all our efforts to it.

"As for Daming's plan, it directly starts with 32 ships, and it is impossible for us to compete with it.

"Instead of continuing to hope to confront Daming, it is better to consider how to maintain the status of living in Taixi.

"According to Grenville, the Ming fleet has already been to France, and will visit all Western countries in the future.

"The French, Germans, Lucians, and even Austria, Spain, and Ottomans, what would they think when they saw this kind of warship?
"Will they also want to build one of the same level, or even bigger?
"My idea is to build a similar-scale warship first, and then design and build a larger-scale similar warship after accumulating experience."

Pete nodded solemnly and said:

"we can only do this……"

(End of this chapter)