Chapter 74

Gao Yang's hand, which was holding a cigarette, trembled slightly, and his eyebrows raised as he thought to himself, "The British sure have a big appetite!" Everyone in the room was stunned by the enormous figure Major Parker had just announced.

Major Parker had said 20 million pounds! Not silver dollars! If converted to US dollars, it would be nearly 100 million dollars!

It should be noted that in this era, the most economically powerful country, the United States, had just barely exceeded 100 billion dollars in gross national product this year.

Without considering inflation, and based solely on the price of gold, 20 million pounds would be equivalent to at least 4 billion RMB in modern times! This was absolutely a huge military procurement contract that could influence government decisions in this era!

Even for Gao Yang, this was a very large expenditure. Gao Yang had many places where he needed to spend money, whether it was paying the army, daily training expenses, purchasing weapons and ammunition, raw materials and machinery for the military factories, or various civilian construction projects and salaries for government officials, all of which relied on Gao Yang's continuous investment.

Because Gao Yang adopted a low-tax policy to support rapid economic development, the tax revenue collected within his jurisdiction was far from enough to cover the expenses.

Everything Gao Yang now possessed was built on his massive financial expenditures. Once the funding chain broke, Gao Yang would immediately find himself in a difficult situation.

Gao Yang fell silent, sitting quietly in his chair, his left hand touching his chin, and his right index finger tapping lightly on the table. Gao Yang was also somewhat worried, as this was just the initial investment. He also planned to spend a large sum of money with the Americans.

Gao Yang's original plan was to take back the Jiangnan Shipyard, which was directly under the jurisdiction of the Navy Department in the city, and invest heavily to expand it into a top-tier shipyard.

After that, he would directly provide the technical data for the North Carolina-class battleships and build two of them, one in the United States and one at the Jiangnan Shipyard.

Once these two battleships were completed, the battleship force would be sufficient. Of course, new battleships would be built in the future, but that would have to wait until after the war with Japan.

Gao Yang's plan was to use the remaining battleship tonnage to acquire more aircraft carrier tonnage. He would also provide the technical data for the Yorktown-class aircraft carriers to the Americans, and have them build two in the United States and two at the Jiangnan Shipyard, which would greatly enhance the shipyard's technical capabilities and experience in building large warships.

At the same time, the Jiangnan Shipyard would have the facilities to build 20,000-ton and 35,000-ton warships! These facilities and equipment would also cost a significant amount of money!

Since the technical data was being provided directly, Gao Yang estimated that the cost of a single Yorktown-class aircraft carrier would not exceed 13 million dollars.

The cost of a single North Carolina-class battleship would not exceed 40 million dollars, as the recently launched British Royal Navy Nelson-class battleship cost 7.11 million pounds.

The North Carolina-class, being a treaty-type battleship like the Nelson, did not require research and development costs. Even with the additional costs of transporting raw materials, personnel salaries, and technical equipment upgrades in China, the cost would not be much higher than the Nelson-class. After all, the Americans were getting advanced technical data for free.

Gao Yang had originally planned to build the Essex-class, but the technological capabilities of this era were not sufficient to build such aircraft carriers, and the Essex-class was too advanced for this era.

Gao Yang planned to immediately declare war on Japan and reclaim Taiwan once the four aircraft carriers were operational!

However, just the purchase of warships from the British had already cost over 100 million dollars. If the warships to be ordered from the United States were added, along with the recruitment and training of tens of thousands of naval personnel, the expenses would be enormous.

Additionally, the expansion of naval bases, the construction of new docks, the deepening of berths, the establishment of new naval bases, and the construction of various factories, fuel depots, and ammunition storage facilities would also incur significant costs.

Yuan Dian made a preliminary estimate: even without considering the costs of the new warships to be built in the United States and the shipyard expenses, the initial training of the current fleet to achieve basic combat readiness would require nearly 200 million dollars.

Gao Yang was not just responsible for the navy! He also had to support hundreds of thousands of army troops, provincial construction, and numerous large-scale engineering projects. Gao Yang's funds were not unlimited!

Everyone in the meeting room was holding their breath, watching Gao Yang, waiting for his final decision. Lin Jianzhang and Du Xigui were so nervous that they were sweating profusely, their tightly clenched hands trembling. This was the best opportunity for the Chinese Navy to be reborn! It all depended on Gao Yang's decision.

As Gao Yang's fingers tapped the table rhythmically, everyone's hearts beat in sync. The atmosphere became increasingly tense.

At this moment, Major Parker suddenly spoke softly, "Mr. Gao, to complete such a huge contract, any opposition to this contract will be eliminated by the British Empire! No matter who it is!"

Gao Yang's fingers stopped tapping, and he slightly raised his head, looking at Major Parker and said softly, "You are the main person in charge of this military procurement contract negotiation, right, Major?"

Major Parker's face stiffened slightly, but he quickly recovered and said with a light laugh, "Mr. Gao, this is not important, is it? What is your opinion on the proposal I have put forward?"

Gao Yang rubbed his temples and said with a smile, "Can the British Empire persuade the other signatories of the Washington Naval Treaty?"

Major Parker said seriously, "Apart from the United States, we can persuade the other signatories to accept your country joining the treaty! As for the United States, given your good relationship with them, it shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Gao Yang nodded slightly and said, "I will speak to the Americans, but what if the Japanese strongly oppose it?"

"The Japanese?" Major Parker's eyes showed clear disdain as he said with a light snort, "The Japanese dare not defy the decision of the British Empire!"

"Good!" Gao Yang slammed his hand on the table and stood up, "20 million pounds, deal!" Major Parker let out a long sigh of relief; the huge construction costs of over 20 million pounds for the subsequent three Nelson-class battleships were finally secured! The Royal Navy would spare no effort to ensure the successful completion of this military procurement contract.

Sir Mackley stood up and bowed slightly, saying sincerely, "Mr. Gao, I will immediately relay the news to our country. Our government will give you a satisfactory response within three days at the latest."

Gao Yang nodded and said to Sir Mackley, "I believe the Washington Naval Treaty needs to be renegotiated."

After saying this, he turned to the two naval commanders beside him and said with a smile, "Now the navy is satisfied, right?" The two generals nodded eagerly.

After the negotiations ended, Gao Yang and his entourage left the British consulate. As a high-ranking official, it was no longer appropriate for Gao Yang to stay at his villa on Xuefei Road in the French Concession. Gao Yang chose to rest at the Shanghai Garrison Command.

Gao Yang and Gao Feng went to the Shanghai Garrison Command together. In the car, Gao Feng said softly, "Sir, this expenditure for expanding the navy has already exceeded our psychological limit. Such a huge expenditure will have a significant impact on other areas!"

Gao Yang nodded slightly and said calmly, "I know! This is why poor countries can't afford navies. Not only do you need to buy them, but maintaining them is even more expensive! However, it is necessary. In this era, a country cannot rise without a powerful navy!"

He took out a cigarette and lit it, then continued, "This time, it just happened to be a good opportunity. Mr. Churchill wants to return to the gold standard, and the signs of capital flight from Britain have already begun. This large order is not just providing 20 million pounds to the British government. Although it is a lot, it is not a particularly significant income for the British Empire, given its long history and solid foundation."

He said with a self-deprecating tone, "I thought I was really rich, but it turns out I'm still far from it."

He took a deep breath and continued, "Our perspectives on things are different. The British government hopes to use this order to stimulate the market and stabilize the financial turmoil after returning to the gold standard. Their ultimate goal is to defeat the US dollar and regain the status of the world's dominant currency! Additionally, after World War I, Britain has significantly weakened, and its influence in the Far East has greatly diminished. Japan, which has profited greatly from World War I, has become a real threat to British interests in the Far East! Therefore, the British government hopes to arm us to counter Japan's growing ambitions, just as they did with Japan before the Sino-Japanese War. This is a strategy the British have used for hundreds of years, and they are very skilled at it."

He gently rubbed his temples and sighed, "So-called allies become potential enemies as soon as they lose their value, and all sorts of tricks and traps emerge. You'll see, the situation will be the same when we go to the Americans tomorrow. They will also use us to counter Japan. The Washington Naval Treaty was originally a joint effort by Britain and the United States to trap Japan, but the Japanese, after the death of Ito Hirobumi, no longer had a strategist who could see through everything. The fate of Japan was sealed after Ito's death, even a hundred years later! Don't think that the British are really supporting me; in their eyes, I am just a pawn! As soon as I show any sign of surpassing Japan and threatening their interests, they will immediately prop up Japan again to maintain the balance! However, this time they have encountered a problem that even Einstein couldn't solve: I can travel back and forth through time! The British Empire, which has manipulated the world for hundreds of years, and its successor, the United States, are in trouble this time!"