Seeing such a large fee, everyone's expressions changed. Although France's economy has grown rapidly in recent years and its fiscal revenue has increased year by year, its annual military expenditure is only more than 4 billion francs. Moreover, due to successive years of wars, military expenditures have been greatly overrun. Now, it is simply impossible to spend so much money to purchase warships.

"Your Majesty, this year's military spending is really tight, and the Russian war is at its last moment. We need to make a lot of investment in it. In addition, there are new actions in Latin America, and we really can't afford more The funds are used to purchase new warships. I think we should wait for two years before we talk about it?" Eck said with a bitter expression.

As soon as he finished speaking, the expressions of Boult and Sucrete also changed. They looked at Xiao Jie worriedly, for fear that they would delay the shipbuilding plan after hearing Eck's suggestion.

Xiao Jie waved his hand and said: "This is not possible. The situation in the Atlantic Ocean is very critical now. A large-scale naval battle between us and the US and Canadian navies may break out at any time. The strength of the navy must be strengthened as soon as possible. As for the funding issue, you can temporarily Don't worry too much."

Hearing so much about Xiao Jie, Eke knew that he had made up his mind, and Xiao Jie said that he didn't need to worry about funding, so he was happy to say no more.

However, after hearing Xiao Jie's words, Autov had a bad premonition. Even though he guessed at the beginning that Xiao Jie would ask the Ministry of Finance to deal with this huge amount of funds, he still felt very uncomfortable when the matter came to an end.

Sure enough, Xiao Jie glanced at him, and then said: "Due to the current tense military expenditures, the Ministry of Finance will first allocate 1 billion francs for the shipbuilding plan, and in addition, the royal family will provide 1 billion francs, and the remaining 12 The 70 million francs will be borne by the military. Fortunately, the entire shipbuilding plan will be completed within 3 years. The Ministry of Finance and the royal family will be responsible for investing 2 billion francs in the first year, and the military will be responsible for the remaining two years. "Seeing that the current situation is critical and the finances are empty, Xiao Jie has no choice but to pay for it himself. Fortunately, over the years, the Andresi Group has developed into a large group with assets of more than 20 billion francs, which has earned him a lot of money, otherwise he really doesn't know where to get so much money.

Even though he only needed to pay 1 billion francs, Autotov still felt a little heartbroken, and was about to say something, but Xiao Jie glared at him, so he had to swallow all the words in his stomach. According to him, the whole country belongs to Xiao Jie anyway, and Xiao Jie is so rich now, why don't we just let him pay the fee all at once? How can it be so troublesome.

After the French Navy's shipbuilding plan began to be implemented, major French shipyards received a large number of orders one after another, which made those half-dead shipyards suddenly full of vitality. At present, there are 7 large shipyards in France, namely, the Valencia shipyard located in the Iberian Peninsula, which is also the largest shipyard in France, the Barcelona shipyard, the Malaga shipyard and the Lisbon shipyard, and the Marseille shipyard and Saint-North shipyard in France. Zell Shipyard, Le Havre Shipyard. Since France did not purchase major warships after the end of the war against Britain, these shipyards could only rely on the construction of merchant ships to barely survive Japan. The economic effect was very bad, and a large number of shipyard workers were unemployed. Well first, the French Navy's shipbuilding plan has brought these shipyards back to life. Due to the very tight construction schedule, the major shipyards had to work overtime, and those workers who had been dismissed before were also recruited back, which also promoted the development of the French economy in disguise.

While France is intensively implementing a new shipbuilding plan, Nicholas' army, lingering in the eastern part of the Eastern European Plain, is also preparing for the war.

"Marshal, I just heard that France has sent additional troops to Latin America. France, the United States, and Canada are already fighting in Latin America. Is it true?" Nicholas rushed into Kutuzo with a happy face. husband's office.

Kutuzov smiled wryly, he naturally understood Nikolai's current mood. "Yes, Your Majesty, France and the United States have indeed fought, and it seems that France is still at a disadvantage. Under the attack of the American army, the French army is now constantly retreating." Kutuzov said. As he was in charge of the military, he naturally got more detailed information than what Nicholas knew. Because of this, he was not as excited as Nicholas.

"This is really great, Marshal, then can we take this opportunity to launch a counterattack against the French army and drive them all out of Russia." Nicholas shouted excitedly, waving his hands.

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid things are not as simple as you imagined." Kutuzov said with no trace of joy on his face.

"Why? Isn't this our once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?" Nicholas said with some displeasure.

"Your Majesty, do you know how many troops France has sent to Latin America? Do you know the details of the war in Latin America?" Kutuzov asked.

Nicholas shook his head. As soon as he got the news that France was going to war with the United States and Canada in Latin America, he immediately rushed to Kutuzov's place. He naturally didn't know the details of the war.

"Your Majesty, according to the information we have received, so far, France has only sent the French 1st Army to Latin America. During the battle in northern Mexico, the French army killed tens of thousands of American troops with 2,000 casualties. You Do you know what that means?" Kutuzov asked.

Nicholas' face turned ashen, his two fists were clenched tightly because of anger, and he didn't say anything.

Seeing that Nikolai was silent, Kutuzov went on to say: "This means that the main force of France is still in Europe. Besides, after these three months of rest, the French team, which was hit hard before, should also recover its strength. The situation we are facing now, not only has not eased, but has become more severe."

"Then what should we do? According to what you mean, won't we never have a chance?" Nicholas roared unwillingly.

"Your Majesty, although our strength has recovered a lot after three months of rest, we are still at an absolute disadvantage compared with the French army. Now, we only have 500,000 troops, of which 300,000 are new troops. The recruited army, and there are almost 100,000 people who don't even have a rifle. You say, how can we fight the French with our current strength. Besides, the French army is sticking to the line of defense now, and we haven't given us a chance If we attack rashly, it will only increase casualties." Kutuzov said with a dejected face. Once upon a time, the mighty Russia actually reached the point where it is today!

"Then why don't we do anything? After spring comes, the French will still take the initiative to launch an attack. At that time, we will have no chance of winning." Nicholas also said bitterly. All he can think of now is to drive the French army out of Russia for revenge. It is estimated that he is the most useless among the Russian tsars.

"Your Majesty, to be honest, we have already lost this war. We have lost it completely. If we continue to fight, it will only consume our country's strength. As for the outcome, it will not change at all." Kutuzov said dejectedly.

"No, I'm not reconciled, the great Russia will never fail. I still have 500,000 troops, and I still have a chance to win." Nicholas roared frantically.

"Your Majesty, you should not be impulsive now, but think about how to save Russia. If you continue to fight against France, Russia will only perish." Kutuzov persuaded.

"Then what do you think I should do? Surrender to France?" Nikolai stared at Kutuzov and said, eyes full of anger.

"Since we have lost the war, what's wrong with admitting defeat to France? I think we should send someone to sue France for peace to end the war as soon as possible so that the country can recuperate. As long as we can persuade France to end the war , no matter how high the price is, it is worth it. Although we have lost now, we have kept the country~lightnovelpub.net~ so that we will have a chance to win in the future. France cannot be strong forever, Just like the Napoleonic Empire back then, there will always be a day of decline. At that time, it is time for us to preserve our hatred." Kutuzov tried hard to persuade.

"However, do you think that when France already has an absolute advantage, they will strengthen our peace? You don't know that France condoned those traitors to establish the Russian Liberation Army and the Russian Revolutionary Army. From this, it can be seen that they are If we want to split Russia, if we take the initiative to seek peace, then Russia will inevitably be split. In that case, even if the war can be ended, what's the point of lingering like that?" Nicholas retorted. Perhaps, it is not ashamed for a courtier to take the initiative to seek peace from the enemy country. But for him, the aloof Russian Tsar Nicholas, this is definitely more uncomfortable than killing him. For a long time, he had longed to become the greatest emperor in Russian history, but he never expected that the ending would be like this.

"However, if you don't try it, how will you know the result?" Kutuzov still did not give up.

"You don't need to say it. I will not admit defeat to that despicable Andresi. Gather the army and prepare for a decisive battle with the French army. If you say you want to ask for peace with France, then don't blame me for the crime of shaking the morale of the army. I arrested you." Nicholas said viciously. He has decided to launch a counterattack against the French army at all costs, even though he knows that this is simply hitting a stone with an egg.