"I know it's a bit rude to say this, but... Maybe Your Majesty has overestimated the strength of Ford Motor Company. Manufacturers need a lot of capital turnover. US$2 million is the upper limit of our capital investment in the European market. The 1912 T-mobile production license discount of US$1 million is a very fair valuation. If Your Majesty insists on the equity transfer price of US$4 million, our only way is to reduce the equity acquisition ratio, otherwise we can only give up regretfully."

When saying this, Aizel Ford seemed serious and sincere. Natsuki, who was sitting opposite, quietly collected his expression and small movements in his eyes. Judging from Ford's answer, the US hopes to make a deal at a price of $3 million. Although there is room for negotiation, it is probably not too big.

In view of this, Xia Shu said in a hurry: "If Ford can give Limerick Vehicles the ability to produce 10,000 T-type cars per year, we can consider lowering the requirements in equity prices."

"As long as the vehicle company uses all the cash injected funds we have used to purchase production equipment and train enough qualified workers according to our requirements, it is not difficult to achieve the goal of producing 10,000 cars per year." When Xiao Ford answered, the technical director of Ford Motor Company, who accompanied him, whispered a few words in his ear. He immediately added: "Of course, the metallurgical factories in Ireland need to provide enough metal materials according to our standards. If the requirements are not met, they must be imported from abroad in a timely and sufficient manner. Several European countries have such technical conditions."

"That is, if we meet these conditions, Ford can ensure that we can achieve the ability to produce 10,000 cars per year?"

Ford hesitated for a moment: "Yes, your majesty, this seems difficult, but Ford Motor Company broke through this production capacity six years ago, and the current production line efficiency is even more effective in the past. However, your majesty, please be honest, annual output is one thing, and how much it can be sold each year is another. Whether the company can make a profit is determined by many complex factors."

"Your Excellency is right." Xia Shu raised her lips and showed a sly smile. "When I was in Germany, I was responsible for running a shipyard, whose name was Friedrich Royal Ship Repair Factory. Fortunately, my operating performance is pretty good."

In Germany and even Europe, this is a well-known inspirational story, but on the other side of the distant ocean, people's impression of the name Joachim is more about military and war. Ford obviously did some homework before coming, but it was not deep enough, so he had to laugh awkwardly: "So that's the case, then my previous worries are really redundant."

Xia Shu said: "The population of Europe is more than five times that of the United States. Europe is currently the largest industrial and consumer goods market in the world. Moreover, the social life and transportation conditions of many European countries have entered modernization, and the demand for household vehicles will not be less than that of the United States. Even if it produces 10,000 vehicles per year, it is far from meeting the needs of the European market."

After a brief exchange with the taciturn technical director, Xiao Fute said: "Your Majesty's analysis and expectations of the market are very close to our judgment. So far, there are hundreds of vehicle manufacturers in various European countries, but none of them have an annual output of over 10,000 yuan. If Limerick Vehicle Company can reach this scale, it will set a precedent in Europe and become a new benchmark in the field of automobile manufacturing in Europe. Because of this, we hope to acquire at least 45% of its equity to ensure that both of us can obtain ideal returns through this cooperation."

As Aizel Ford said, this cooperation has anticipated prospects, and it may even accelerate Ireland's industrialization process for five to ten years and greatly increase Ireland's military potential.

"As far as I am concerned, I hope there will be pleasant cooperation between Ford Motor Company and Limerick Vehicle Company, but whether the partnership can be established depends on the business negotiations between enterprises. As an equity participant in Limerick Vehicle Company, the Irish government will not deliberately create any obstacles in the negotiations. The representatives sent by the government are designed to ensure that national interests can be fully guaranteed. Good luck to everyone!"

Having said that, Ford and his group stood up and said goodbye.

After the American guests left, Xia Shu returned to his desk. It has been less than a year since the founding of the Kingdom of Ireland. All industrial projects have been basically planned and started after breaking away from British rule. Ireland is now capable of making aircraft and building ships. The industrial capacity has been greatly improved, but it is still a thousand miles away from the first-class industrial country, and its industrial R&D capabilities are particularly weak. Take Limerick Vehicle Company as an example. In the past few months, it referred to the design of Mercedes-Benz "Lightning" and the 1908 Ford T-Model car, it launched its own high-end and cheap cars. Although Xia Shu had the improvement suggestions given by Xia Shu, the effect was still not ideal. The actual car frequently broke out after it was on the road. If such basic technical problems cannot be solved, the Irish "puppy" tank may become a perfect work on the drawing board and a failed product with high failures, low efficiency and high cost in reality.

Due to the relationship between Germany and Ireland jointly established a ship design and development organization, Ireland's ship R&D capabilities have jumped from a near-blank state to become the world's leading position. In addition, they enjoy independent technical patents on the three projects of heavy cruisers, ocean-going submarines and high-speed torpedo boats. However, due to the basic industrial level of Ireland, many projects that launched the attack have similar problems. The first thousand-ton submarine built by the Royal Ireland Shipyard, Germany and Ireland, a long-distance U-boat project that cooperated with Germany and Ireland, became a very troublesome thing for Xia Shu. The construction code of the project is the R-03 ship, with the original construction budget of 4.8 million marks, equivalent to 240,000 pounds, which is equivalent to one-tenth of the total cost of the King-class dreadnought.

The water displacement is 1,600 tons, and it adopts a saber-shaped straight deck and a curved hull. It has excellent water navigation performance than ordinary submarines, and has strong self-sustaining capabilities, which are suitable for trans-ocean voyages. According to theoretical calculations and past experience, if mass manufacturing is invested, the manufacturing cost of this type of submarine can be reduced by at least one third. Now, the main body of the R-03 is close to completion, and the actual construction cost is about to exceed 4.8 million marks. Considering subsequent testing and adjustments, the Royal Shipyard has applied to the Irish military for an additional 400,000 marks. After discussion, the Irish Parliament approved this funding. No matter how much the final cost will reach, the R-03 will become the most expensive submarine ever.

It is obviously a famous relationship with the "Hohenzollern genius". The R-03 has not been completed and the intelligence personnel of the great powers have long been eager to try. The Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Italian military expressed their strong willingness to participate in the project through various channels. The Irish military shipbuilding industry has attracted more than this. Shortly after the modernized and large-scale modification of the "Belfast" made a stunning debut, the Tsarist Russian government sent an olive branch to the Irish shipbuilding companies. They first negotiated with the Royal Irish Shipyard in Limerick to modify an old cruiser for the Russian Navy, and later proposed an astonishing intention to build a shipbuilding ship. They hoped to order a heavy cruiser with a standard displacement of 1.60,000 tons and a cost of 1.2 million pounds from the Royal Irish Shipyard.

Heavy cruiser is a new concept of ships that was born after the end of the war. Its tonnage, function and cost are between armored cruisers and battle cruisers. It is suitable for military tasks that are difficult to perform light ships and are not suitable for the main battleships. It can be used as a single ship, and can also serve as a reconnaissance sharp knife for the fleet. It is also very attractive to middle-class naval countries that are difficult to bear the high cost of combat patrols or dreadnoughts. According to the strategic agreement between Germany and Ireland, the largest and most powerful royal shipyard has started to be built.

The heavy cruiser was prepared to start the construction of the second ship in 1917. These two 150,000-ton new warships were borne by the Irish government of 70% of the construction cost, and the German Navy gave 30% free support. After completion, the two warships were included in the Irish Navy sequence, and the editors were mainly composed of Irish naval officers and soldiers. The German Navy sent personnel to board the ship to understand and master the performance of the ship so that they could be incorporated into the combat lineup of the German fleet when the situation needed and accept the unified dispatch of the German fleet commander.

Regarding the transaction intention of the Tsarist Russian Navy to order heavy cruisers to Irish shipyards, the top Irish military and political leaders showed two completely opposite attitudes. Interestingly, the native Irish people believed that this business could bring considerable profits to the Royal Irish shipyards and helped to set off the Irish military shipbuilding industry. Germans who became Irish nationality held strong opposition. Germany naturally would not ignore this heavyweight news. German Prime Minister von Bateman wrote letters to Natsu and Irish Prime Minister Haldes, reminding them that the Russians' actions had two sinister intentions, one was to disagree and destroy the ally relations between Germany and Irish countries, and the other was to steal the shipbuilding technology of Germany and Irish countries. The Irish government must not be deceived by immediate interests and do things that harm its own strategic interests.

Nowadays, Limerick's shipbuilding industrial zone is generally formed, and many shipyards have been put into operation. During the war, the belligerent countries lost more than 4,000 merchant ships in total. Due to the rebound and rapid growth of international trade after the war, countries' demand for new shipbuilding increased sharply, and Ireland's shipbuilding industry immediately ushered in a golden period. Whether from the perspective of economic interests or strategic development, Ireland did not need Russian shipbuilding orders at this time. In Xia Shu's view, if the Russian navy's demands are rudely rejected, it will not have much impact on the diplomatic relations between Russia and Iran, but it will lose a precious opportunity to show the strength of Irish military shipbuilding to the world. However, if the Russian order is accepted, it will arouse the disgust and even opposition from the Irish people and German allies, so it is appropriate to refuse on the grounds that the dock construction period has been fully scheduled.
Chapter completed!