The air after the heavy rain was extremely fresh, and the sea surface where the wild waves calmed was beautiful and charming. Under the bright moonlight, the students sat or stood on the front deck, listening attentively to the extremely thrilling experience of the fallen water, while his savior, the brave and fearless Prince Joachim, sat aside with a classical guitar, occasionally tweaking the strings and making several light tones.

After the fallen water finished speaking, a tall student teased: "Cilliacos, you are so lucky. We all thought you were going to Poseidon as a staff officer."

Someone followed and joked, "Yes, Cyriacos, when you get ashore, you can invite all of us to have a beer to celebrate!"

Siriacos, who was not tall, smiled shyly, and his green face looked particularly beautiful under the moonlight. In fact, he was born in 1891 and was one year younger than Xia Shu.

"Russia does not have good beer!" Natsuki said in a rescue attempt, "It's better to do this. Let's ask Cyriacos to sing a song!"

Cyriacos hurriedly said, "I sing so badly. If I had a piano, I might be able to play the previous song."

Natsuki smiled at him: "It doesn't matter, sing the song you are most familiar with, I'll accompany you."

Sometimes, a smile is a magical key that can open the knots in people's hearts. Cyriacos nodded: "Then sing wild roses!"

"Wild Rose" is a folk song that is widely circulated, with simple rhythm and beautiful tunes. With the melody played by the guitar, Cyriacos sang softly. In the second paragraph, some students hummed. In this way, the Xia Shu saved Ciriacos a piece without showing off. After singing "Wild Rose", he fine-tuned the guitar and began to play the tune of Maria Carey's "Hero" that the students had never heard before, and performed it in a low and vicissitudes of tone:

There'sahero (this is the Warrior)

If you lure lookin privately to lure heart (if you look at your heart)

Don't 'thavetobeafraidofwhat temptation are (you don't have to worry about who you are)

...

and thenaheroesalong with thestrenghtocarryon (The power of the warriors will take you forward)

and lure cast rfearsa privately de and lure know cansurvive (if you can overcome cowardice, you will know that you have learned to survive)

sowhen feellike hopesgnelookin private de lust andbestrong (when you feel hopeless in life, reflect on yourself and become tenacious)

...

The melody of modern lyrical songs is quite different from that of classical songs, but it is not so unique that ordinary people can't understand. After years of accumulation, Xia Shu's singing skills are no less than his swimming skills, and the right emotional expression deeply attracted the naval students present. In this era when literary and artistic expression forms are relatively monotonous, how many people have ever listened to such melodious and inspiring light singing?

After the song was sung, the naval cadets standing around the summer tree made him unable to feel the sea breeze. The prince with slightly wet hair smiled lightly, and then sang the Beatles' "Yesterday" and "dayinthelife" for everyone. These classic lyrical slow songs are suitable for singing on this quiet moonlit night, suitable for this group of young, ignorant and energetic teenagers to express their feelings and imagination. With the feat of fighting with the wind and waves before, Xia Shu's small concert was also free from the misunderstanding of showing off. This may be the first time that the naval cadets of different backgrounds, different personalities and different concepts gathered around him.

After experiencing a wonderful musical lyric night, Xia Shu's status on the "Charlotte" has undergone a fundamental change. Although Lieutenant Colonel Von Kells did not immediately promote his position, he asked him to follow him on the training ship, the first mate, the sailor, and the chief sailor arranged for the trainee officers and alternate personnel to study, and only the captain has always been alone. From this, it is understood that Xia Shu, who had a bad start, won the opportunity to challenge the hidden role of "Cadrey Captain" through a rare opportunity. What made him feel proud was that whenever he gave orders instead of the captain, the entire ship was following, and after the training and running-in of the previous stage, the performance of the naval cadets became increasingly mature and stable.

On the last Sunday of July, the Charlotte arrived at the second stop of the long-distance training station in St. Petersburg, Russia. Compared with those famous European cities, it was not established for a long time, but it witnessed the rise and prosperity of a powerful empire, which still plays an important role in Europe and the world.

In Xiashu's eyes, St. Petersburg's prosperity is not as good as Hamburg, Bremen, and the majestic atmosphere of a capital of great powers. Architectural buildings of different styles such as Byzantine, Russia, Barocco and Greece and Rome constitute a beautiful exotic picture. Although Russia had not recovered from the haze of the defeat of the Russo-Japanese War and the national strike riots (the 1905 Revolution), the busy streets, brightly decorated pedestrians, together with the white, blue and red flags fluttering in the wind under the bright sun, demonstrated the vigorous vitality of this country everywhere (at the end of the 19th and early 20th century, Tsarist Russia gradually embarked on the path of capitalist industrialization, and its development growth rate in the fields of industry, economy, finance, etc. was higher than that of most powerful countries).

Given that the vast majority of naval cadets followed the rules during their brief stay in Karlskruna, Sweden, and one of the major purposes of this voyage also allowed these young people to gain knowledge, Lieutenant Colonel Kells gave the cadets half a day off as usual, but Natsuki and Christian were confined to their criminal record of overdue return, so they had to spend this quiet weekend on the ship.

In the harbor, cargo ships, cruise ships and private boats of different styles came and went. Xia Shu was not interested in their identity and content. He was concerned about the naval power of this country. If World War I was in accordance with the original appearance of history, the Russian fleet would appear among the German naval opponents.

The failure of the Russo-Japanese War caused the Tsarist Russian naval power to the end. At that time, only the Black Sea Fleet still had several armored ships and cruisers that could barely be filled. Although the booming Russian heavy industry gave this navy hope for a resurgence, the reconstruction of the fleet was destined to be a long and painful process.

Now in the Baltic Sea, the Russian Navy has only one "Glory" to support the scene. It belongs to the Borodino class, and failed to catch up with the expedition of the Second Pacific Fleet due to its backward construction progress. It escaped by chance. However, the defeat in the Battle of Ma made the Russians have no confidence in this seemingly powerful battleship. Involved by this, the construction of the St. Andre class (also known as Pavel I class, an expanded and improved version of the Borodino class) that started before the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War was suspended, and the designers learned from the lessons of the Russo-Japanese War and made major modifications. All old ships were lost, new ships had not arrived, and the sluggish Russian Baltic fleet's strength was even less than that of the Swedish coastal defense armored fleet.

The Portsmouth Contract signed in 1905 did not allow Russia to pay a ruble of war compensation, but the huge war expenses were itself a heavy financial burden. In addition, the Russian government had to pay pensions for the families of the dead and disabled officers and soldiers. The resettlement of repatriated personnel after the war and the reconstruction of facilities destroyed in the war, which almost emptied the treasury of the Russian Empire. No matter how urgent the Russian military and civilians and even the Tsar himself had to rebuild the navy, the Russian government could not pay for the reduction and reduction of shipbuilding plans in the short term. In order to maintain the dignity of the great power and make up for the strategic disadvantage of the navy, the Russian navy had to seek assistance from the outside. They originally hoped that French allies could provide a loan, but the financial situation of the French government was not ideal. Britain's position during the Russo-Japanese War always made the Russians resentful.

At this time, the cousin of Tsar Nicholas II, German Emperor William II, took the initiative to throw out an olive branch. Although the German-Russian alliance eventually turned into a ridiculous farce, the meeting of the two emperors still led to cooperation between the two sides: German bankers agreed to provide a loan to the Russian government to help the Russian navy overcome the difficulties, but the additional condition was that at least 50% of the loan was used to order warships from German shipyards. Therefore, the Russian naval delegation took a trip on the coast of Germany and signed shipbuilding contracts with seven German shipyards, ordering a total of 3 submarines, 10 large torpedo boats, 50 high-speed torpedo boats and 6 auxiliary ships. The Royal Friedrich Ship Repair Factory also obtained orders from it, and some high-speed torpedo boats and the first small near-shore submarines had been delivered to the Russian Navy.

In view of the corrupt political system of Tsarist Russia, in order to compete for the Russian Navy's follow-up orders, Natsuki asked Friedrich's shipyard to send people to permanently station in St. Petersburg. Their task was to establish good relations with Russian officials and grasp the Russian Navy's shipbuilding plan as soon as possible. Due to the restriction, Natsuki asked his companions who were on the shore to send a message. Not long after, two shipyard representatives came to the dock.

After obtaining Lieutenant Colonel Kells' consent, Natsuki asked them to board the training ship, but only talked on the deck.

"Due to the huge war expenses and the continued investment of the Siberian Railway, their financial situation was not ideal, the State Duma rejected the proposal for an additional budget for the Navy for the second time, and it is estimated that they will not have new customization actions this year. However, the young officers of the Navy Department have received strong support from the emperor and are preparing a detailed, pragmatic and comprehensive naval plan and allowing foreign companies to participate in their naval reconstruction through bidding."

The two leaders of the shipyard expatriate representatives, a middle-aged man with thick lips and savvy dress, reported the information they gained here concisely. Xia Shu listened silently, while thinking about the value positioning of the shipyard expatriate agency. In order to maintain its operation, Friedrich's shipyard needs to invest at least 4,000 marks a month, which is equivalent to the profit of building 12 "thunderbolts" in a year. The expenses are expensive, but it is also worth the money. From what we have obtained now

Judging from the information and background network, Xia Shu feels that it prefers military intelligence structure rather than purely commercial representative offices, and military intelligence should be collected by the full-time government departments. From the standpoint of the country, the strategic intelligence learned by citizens should be provided to their own intelligence departments in a timely manner, but if it is always done for free, it would be too selfless. If the government's intelligence subsidy can be obtained for this commercial representative office, the two complement each other, which is also a good way.

After listening to the report, Xia Shu's thoughts returned to the topic. The Siberian Railway, which started construction in 1891, was a strategic project that Russia has ever built in comparable to the construction of St. Petersburg. In order to build this railway with amazing scale and difficulty, the Russian Empire, which was not very wealthy, had already devoted all its national strength. In the ten years from 1801 to 1901 alone, they spent 1.46 billion rubles on this railway, far exceeding the military expenditure of the same period. In order to ensure absolute control of the strategic lifeline of this empire, the Russians did not spend a penny of foreign funds, and all the funds for construction were

It was raised and borne by itself. This railway will definitely bring immeasurable economic benefits to the Russian Empire. Just think about the endless abundant natural resources of Siberia. However, in the short term, it will not bring obvious benefits to the Russian government. On the contrary, for a considerable period of time, the Russian government has to continue to pay rubles for this railway to build supporting facilities along the railway and maintain the daily operation of the railway. Before the flower of prosperity brought by the Siberian Railway blooms, it can only squeeze the sponge of the empire's treasury, making the already tense national finance even more stretched.

"In your sense, can foreign companies win orders for the Russian Navy's main ship?"

The middle-aged man looked at each other with his young assistant, who said first: "With the Russian national self-esteem and the existing scale of the shipbuilding industry, at most, the orders of cruiser-level warships to foreign shipyards, and the main ship...is almost unlikely."

The latter then added: “Unless there are some particularly important political considerations.”

Xia Shu nodded and asked again: "How is the operation of major Russian shipyards now?"

The middle-aged man shook his neat moustache: "During the war, the government repeatedly urged them to speed up the construction of ships and added some new orders. For this reason, all shipyards have added hired workers. As soon as the Portsmouth contract was signed, the government immediately canceled a large number of orders, and even four battleships under construction were stopped. Almost every shipyard suffered heavy losses and lived a very difficult life."

Xia Shu's thoughts were changing rapidly. The rapid development of Russian heavy industry was inseparable from the stimulation of war projects and reached its peak during the war. Once the war ended, it was completely reasonable to have a large-scale depression. It should be more appropriate to acquire Russian shipyards that were in trouble and on the verge of bankruptcy. If they can properly disguise their identity as investors, they can continue to compete in the garment of Russian shipyards to compete for the Russian naval orders. The Russian warships built here will have no technical secrets.

"Look at Russian shipyards that have financial difficulties seeking cooperation or acquisitions, especially those with qualifications to build large warships."

After receiving the clear instructions from Natsuki, the middle-aged man and his assistant just agreed without asking more questions.

The current operating conditions of Friedrich's shipyard are very optimistic, but its funds are not sufficient to acquire an old Russian large shipyard. Xia Shu's strategy must rely on the strong strength of the country to prevent leakage. This plan cannot be approved by Congress. In other words, it needs to use the empire's secret reserve funds, and the one who controls this funding is the supreme ruler of the country, Emperor William II.
Chapter completed!