Daming 1805

On the morning of the third day of the first lunar month of the Great Era.

Ming Emperor Zhu Jingyuan took his entourage and boarded his exclusive royal train.

Cross the Yangtze River to Zhoushan Naval Port to participate in tomorrow's ship review ceremony.

Those from Daming who participated in the ship review took another train to go there at the same time.

Representatives of the Thai and Western countries were also arranged to take the train there.

Although it is possible to reach Zhoushan by boat in one day, it is not as fast as the train.

From Yingtianfu New City to Zhoushan County, Ningbo Prefecture, the land route is a little closer than the sea route.

It takes [-] hours to switch from an inland river boat to an offshore boat.

Even if the train travels at a speed of [-] kilometers per hour, it only takes eight hours to get there.

The key is that trains are safer.

For Zhu Jingyuan, if you can take the train, you don’t take the boat, and if you can take the boat, you don’t take the plane.

In the evening of the third day of the first lunar month, all the personnel arrived at the Zhoushan military port.

After Zhu Jingyuan arrived at his residence, he first met Chen Huacheng and Guan Tianpei, who were in charge of the navy's ship review organization.

Listen to their report on the preparations for the ship review.

On the whole, everything went smoothly, and there have been no mistakes so far.

The royal families, officials, and generals of the Thai and Western countries also went to greet the middle-level generals of their navies who stayed in the military port.

These generals and crew members who are directly responsible for the control of their warships have to participate in the ship review according to Daming's requirements, and also participate in simple rehearsals.

Correspondingly, they also basically understood the general scale of the ship review in the process.

Now they also immediately reported to their monarchs and chiefs.

Two super battleships of more than [-] tons.

Eight large battleships of more than [-] tons.

Sixteen medium-sized battleships of more than [-] tons.

Four [-]-ton aircraft carriers.

Sixteen [-]-ton aircraft carriers.

There are a total of 46 capital ships, with a total tonnage of more than 220 million tons, which is almost equivalent to the sum of the tonnage of capital ships of major countries in Thailand and Western countries.

In addition, nearly [-] cruisers will participate in the ship review, and the total tonnage is almost the sum of all major countries in Europe and America.

Destroyers and submarines will not directly participate in this ship review...

However, there will be a total of more than [-] carrier-based aircraft of various types participating in the ship review...

The generals on the naval ships of various countries were a little excited when they talked about these data. They had never participated in a fleet of this size.

The kings, top aristocrats, naval and army generals of all countries in Thailand and the West were all stunned when they heard this.

But these data are so real.

Because these battleships are right in front of their eyes.

The residences of personnel from various countries in Thailand and the West are arranged opposite the berth of the military port, and they can directly see most of the warships in the military port.

At this time, in the situation in the military port, the giant battleships can be lined up, and the [-]-ton cruisers are all piled up.

Even a capital ship has no chance to occupy an entire berth alone.

Usually two battleships are side by side and tied to the trestle by fixed cables.

Cruisers need several ships together.

Nelson stood in his room, looked out at the military port through the window, and muttered to himself:

"There are more warships, aircraft carriers, and carrier-based aircraft in this military port than all the countries in the entire Europa continent..."

Wellesley echoed with a sigh:
"And these certainly aren't all of Daming's warships..."

Nelson didn't speak directly, just sighed and shook his head, continuing to observe the warships in the dock.

Nelson's mentality has completely changed now.

At the end of the World War, Nelson was full of pride, thinking that the major naval countries of Thailand and the West would be able to compete with the Ming Navy.

Among the major naval countries in Thailand and the West, the largest and strongest fleet is the United Kingdom.

The navy of the United Kingdom alone poses a certain threat to the Ming navy.

Especially in the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Qinhai, the British Navy can even gain certain advantages by virtue of its geographical advantage.

When Nelson was planning and designing the dreadnought battleship, he thought he had found an opportunity to overtake on a curve with his unique design concept.

With that brand new warship, it directly surpassed the Ming Navy.

The result is also an obvious failure.

In the process of negotiating the armistice of the world war, the situation has taken a sharp turn for the worse.

Da Ming took out a more powerful artillery, and Da Ming also showed a stronger foundation to continue fighting.

After the armistice negotiations ended, in just a few years, the gap between the navies of the European and Western countries and the navy of the Ming Dynasty went from being evenly matched to being difficult to resist.

Daming also completed the perfect warship he envisioned.

The key is to quickly complete the construction and start large-scale mass production at a speed far exceeding that of the Western countries.

At this time, Nelson still thought that if he couldn't compete with Daming in terms of numbers, he would gain an advantage in the tonnage of a single ship.

Retains a threat to the Ming Navy.

As a result, this goal has undoubtedly failed.

The warship that I imagined had an advantage in tonnage was also a circle smaller than Daming's mass-produced warship, and instead became a garbage warship that could be easily suppressed.

At that time, the goal of the British Navy finally changed from threatening the Ming Navy to maintaining its position in the western continent.

But at the same time, Nelson still believes that the combined navies of all the countries in Taixi still have a chance to fight against Ming.

The British Navy, which has the most experience in naval warfare, must still be the core of this combined fleet.

Once this kind of combined fleet appears, he will still be the leader of this kind of fleet.

But in recent years, the state of European countries has taken a turn for the worse, and civil war may even break out at any time.

Nelson no longer expected that kind of combined fleet.

Up to now, looking at the fleet of the Ming Dynasty's local military port, Nelson began to feel that even if the navies of the Thai and Western countries could really unite, it would be difficult to pose a substantial threat to the Ming Dynasty Navy.

In terms of numbers, it may be possible to barely match up, but the gap between the size and combat capabilities of a single ship is too great.

Residence of the representative of the Prussian state.

A battleship left behind in Prussia, the lieutenant colonel and deputy captain in charge of managing affairs on board, explained the situation of the navy to his king.

After listening to the introduction, King William III of Prussia almost subconsciously asked:

"This shouldn't be all of Ming's battleships and cruisers, right?"

The deputy captain of the lieutenant colonel immediately added as a matter of course:

"Of course not all of them, according to those Ming Navy soldiers, there are more battleships coming.

"All the battleships already in service will participate, but some aircraft carriers are left overseas.

"Only about half of the cruisers will participate in the ship review, and they will take other destroyers to cruise overseas.

"And I heard from them that this time point is actually inappropriate. There are at least eight [-]-ton super battleships in Daming's shipyard.

"There are at least eight [-]-ton and [-]-ton capital ships, and more cruisers are under construction...

"After three years, when all these warships are in service, the size of Ming's navy will expand again..."

William III couldn't help opening his mouth when he heard this:
"There are still [-] capital ships in the shipyard? Eight of them are [-]-ton class?"

The second son of William III, the first emperor of Germany in Zhu Jingyuan's previous life, and the current Prince William reminded his father to explain:

"Since the signing of the Europa Naval Treaty, Ming Dynasty has always maintained the speed of starting eight capital ships every year to cope with the shipbuilding plans of the Europa countries.

"However, in the past two years, the shipbuilding of European countries has stopped one after another, and the speed of Ming's shipbuilding has also slowed down a little...

"The construction cycle of capital ships is three years. Now there are only 24 capital ships in the shipyard instead of [-], which shows that the speed has slowed down."

William III actually knew this information, which is basically public information.

But when facing such an intuitive face, William III still couldn't help but lose his composure.

The Europa Naval Treaty stipulates that each Thai and Western country can only build a capital ship of 32 tons, that is, eight high-speed battleships of [-] tons.

Daming's side...but eight ships are built every year, and the tonnage is even larger, with an average of [-] tons per ship.

Although the treaty stipulates that all countries are given the same share, except for the major countries of Britain, France, Spain, Prussia, and Luxembourg, other countries simply cannot use up the 32-ton capital ship share.

Daming still has a lot of room to build the share of capital ships of a major Western and Western country every year.

Over the past few years, the number of warships and the size of a single ship in the Ming Navy have surpassed all countries in the entire western Pacific continent.

William III looked at his son, consulting and confirming questioning:
"William, you have followed the Ming Emperor for many years, and you should be the one who knows the Ming Emperor best among us Prussians.

"According to your understanding, the Emperor Ming has such a powerful force, why didn't he directly annex the remaining independent countries by force?"

Prince William shrugged awkwardly:

"According to my understanding, His Majesty the Emperor's purpose should be very simple, which is to conquer the enemy without fighting.

"Through suppression, guidance, and infiltration at multiple levels such as economics, politics, and culture, the countries of Europa are slowly losing their independence.

"In the end, we have to actually integrate into the Ming market, or more directly and openly join the Federation of the Ming Empire and become an internal vassal state."

"In fact, His Majesty the Emperor has been doing this all these years, and the world situation in these years has also met His Majesty's expectations.

"The various problems that have arisen within the countries of Western Europe are also expected by His Majesty the Emperor.

"According to His Majesty's theory, as long as the imperial court allows the uncontrolled development of business, the current result will eventually appear.

"The best way for the countries in the most difficult situation to get out of this predicament is to fully adopt the system and at the same time directly seek help from Daming.

"Once you become a vassal state of Ming Dynasty, all the current problems will be solved."

After hearing this, William III pondered for a while:

"You mean to say that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty sought to subdue the enemy without fighting, that is, he pursued not to use war methods.

"Then as long as other countries don't surrender and don't take the initiative to use force against Ming Dynasty, won't Ming Dynasty launch wars against other countries?

"However, the more important thing is, when two countries are at war, and the weaker side chooses to join Da Ming, how will Da Ming choose?
"Will you take this opportunity to directly join the war between the original two countries as the suzerain country of the side that takes refuge?"

Listening to William III's question, Gneisenau also looked at Prince William curiously, waiting for the prince's answer to this question.

Prince William's expression was a little strange, and there was a hint of disgust in the accident:

"At this moment, I realized again that His Majesty the Father, who has been living in the local area, still cannot escape the European way of thinking.

"Just like what His Majesty the Emperor of Ming said in Western Cape, the Europa people will regard Daming's tolerance and kindness as weakness.

"I will regard Da Ming's goal and position of not using war means as much as possible as the premise and opportunity for me to act recklessly.

"His Majesty the Emperor of Ming Dynasty does have the idea of ​​subduing others without fighting, but this is not his guarantee to anyone."

William III and several core officials around him were obviously taken aback.

Then they subconsciously entered a short state of reflection.

However, this state did not last long, and Gneisenau already had a new idea:

"It's really hard for us to think outside of the European way.

"But our thinking is actually not wrong in terms of strategy.

"As the most civilized nation and country, Ming has the ideal to solve problems through peaceful means.

"It's a very noble ideal indeed.

"But the reality is that this ideal imposes a certain degree of restraint on their behaviour.

"Others did not restrict them, nor did they have to restrict themselves because of the environment, but they actively restricted themselves.

"Unilateral restrictions on them, no restrictions on others.

"This is our chance!

"It's the opportunity of all other less civilized countries!
"Since Ming is reasonable and seeks to solve problems without using war means, he will definitely remind, persuade and warn other countries.

"Other countries only need to stop when Daming's warning becomes more and more severe to the extreme.

"Should not be directly punished...

"There may even be a chance to talk about conditions and rewards..."

Regarding Gneisenau's analysis, William III nodded frequently.

Prince William next to him had a puzzled expression on his face, subconsciously uttered a very elegant saying:

"I'm a barbarian?"

William III was a little taken aback when he heard these four words, and Gneisenau next to him said with a smile:

"We are indeed barbarians, so we have to live by the rules of barbarians."

Prince William was also taken aback this time:
"Because we are barbarians, shouldn't we actively learn civilized systems, civilized ways of thinking and decision-making?"

Gneisenau wanted to laugh but also worried:
"Your Highness, we are barbarians, not only because our system is different from Ming Dynasty, but more importantly, we are Europa people.

"We are different from Daming people in terms of image.

"Even if we learn the system and culture of Ming Dynasty, the people of Ming Dynasty will think that we are barbarians as long as we look at our image.

"Our status and geographical environment in the world are also completely different from those of Ming Dynasty.

"Our country is surrounded by barbarians, beasts who choose to devour people, and pure civilization cannot give us the strength to overcome danger.

“Unless we become as powerful as Ming, we have no chance of considering more civilized approaches.

"Compassion and elegance, civilization and order are the patents of the strong..."

Prince William fell silent after hearing this.

The whole person fell into a kind of confusion in thinking.

Prince William felt that what Gneisenau said was true, and that the status, environment and ethnic groups of Prussia were indeed in this state.

But at the same time, I also feel that Gneisenau's statement is not quite right.

Just don't know how to argue.

The point is, if I directly admit that I am a barbarian, if I live and deal with the situation according to the barbarian's principles, I really have nothing to say.

In other national rest areas, various discussions have also appeared one after another.

Almost everyone was extremely shocked by the scale of Daming's ship review.

Many people and the British glanced at it, and once again felt the despair at the naval level.

Then many people, like the Prussians, worry and consider and discuss the future situation of the world.

In such an atmosphere, time slowly came to the morning of the fourth day of the first lunar month of the Era.

A ship review with the largest gross tonnage in the history of the world began.