After the ship-receiving work team left Shanghai by boat, they headed south across the South China Sea, and drove into the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Malacca; then turned northwest, crossed the Indian Ocean, entered the Red Sea, and entered the Mediterranean from the Suez Canal; then the route turned westward, drove from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Atlantic Ocean again, headed northeast, crossed the English Channel, entered the North Sea, and finally docked at the Port of Hamburg in Germany.

The entire voyage spans nearly half of the earth, with a journey of about 15,000 kilometers, and took a total of 52 days. The arrival of Hamburg Port was January 30, 1903.

When the two passenger ships arrived in Hamburg, they were welcomed by Germany. At the port, they were not only Xu Dingsheng, head of the East China government's business representative in Germany, Major General Xia Jie, Major Huang Zhe, and other Chinese personnel, as well as representatives of the two shipyards responsible for building warships, as well as representatives of the German military and government. There were nearly 100 people. At the same time, Germany also sent a military band to play music on the shore to express the welcome to the docking work group. In addition, there were nearly 200 reporters to the port, and there were more than 50 cameras, including journalists from other European countries.

After all, although China was opened by European powers at this time, it had been more than 60 years since China opened its doors, but for the Europeans of this era, this ancient Eastern country that was thousands of miles away was still full of countless mysterious mystery and fantasies. Therefore, as long as people from China were from Europe, they would be full of curiosity. Seven years ago, Li Hongzhang visited European countries and had a Li Hongzhang storm throughout Europe. He caused heated discussions wherever he went. One of Li Hongzhang's stop was Germany, who was received by the German government at that time. At the same time, he also visited Bismarck, the retired iron-blooded prime minister at that time, leaving behind a story of Bismarck meeting between the East and the West.

Although the members of the ship-receiving team who came to Germany this time were not comparable to Li Hongzhang in terms of identity and status, they were more legendary. They emerged from nowhere, defeating the Eight-Nation Alliance and rescuing the fate of the Qing Dynasty. Although they defeated their own side, such wars were common in Europe, and European countries did not suffer much loss; secondly, they also made the legend of overseas Chinese stronger, which naturally attracted the pursuit of media from European countries.

The booklet introducing the origin of overseas Chinese has long been translated into many Chinese characters and was published in Europe, and naturally there is a German translation. It has also triggered a craze for overseas Chinese in Europe. It is said that the island where overseas Chinese used to live is preserved with a large amount of treasure. Whoever can find this sunken island will become rich overnight immediately. Moreover, the geographical location of the island is not clearly defined in the booklet. It is considered that overseas Chinese intentionally conceal the location of the island so that they can salvage it in the future. Therefore, looking for the island where overseas Chinese used to live has become the most passionate study of European adventurers. And from the lines on the booklet to judge, analyze, and reason about the location of the sea area where overseas Chinese used to live. Now that real overseas Chinese visits Germany, it will naturally attract the attention of the entire German society.

The passenger ship stopped and the gangway was lowered. Xu Dingsheng and Xia Jie first met with Zhang Wei, the head of the ship pick-up work group, greeted each other, and met with other major personnel one by one, and introduced representatives from the two shipyards. Germany had arranged residences for the ship pick-up work group. Because there were many people this time, it was impossible to arrange them all to live in hotels. Fortunately, the members of the ship pick-up work group were basically soldiers, so they were arranged to live in the naval barracks in Hamburg, and four people shared a room. At the same time, Germany also arranged more than 50 carriages to take them to the barracks together.

Zhang Wei, Xu Dingsheng and Xia Jie were in a van. On the car, Xu Dingsheng told Zhang Wei that Germany would hold a grand welcome banquet for the working group tomorrow. Many German military, political and business officials will attend. Two old friends of the East China government, Prince Heinrich and Admiral Tirpitz, will attend, and a press conference will be held before the banquet. After the welcome banquet, Zhang Wei and the main members of the work group will also arrive in Berlin to receive a meeting with Emperor William II of Germany. Of course, this is just a courteous meeting, but it only means that Germany values ​​the East China government.

Zhang Wei was shocked after hearing this. Heinrich and Tirpitz attended the banquet. It was all Zhang Wei's expectation. Only the German Emperor's meeting was indeed very surprising. Because even in the time and space before traveling through time, except for the princes in the Middle East, the emperor and king were just symbols of the country and had no real power. However, the monarch personally met foreign guests, which was generally extremely important diplomatic relations, not to mention that most of the monarchs in this era still held most of the power of the country. Therefore, being able to meet with the monarch of a country in foreign affairs activities is extremely courteous.

But from what Zhang Wei learned, William II is an arrogant, masterful person who likes to be smart and often has a brilliant mind, especially William II is an advocate of the theory. Therefore, why did he give such a high courtesy to the East China government?

In fact, Germany is a very pragmatic nation, and there is a necessary reason to attach such importance to the East China government. The two warships built by Germany for the East China government went very smoothly. At this time, the two warships not only started to water, but also conducted two shipyard sea tests respectively. In the second sea test, the two warships ran high speeds of 22.1 knots and 22.3 knots respectively.

Although in this era, a warship's speed of 22 knots is nothing, this is just the second sea test, and the engine's power is less than 70%, which is quite not simple. The engineers responsible for building the warship estimate that if the power reaches more than 90%, the speed will reach about 25 knots. In the era of using reciprocating steam engines as power, this is indeed a speed of the speed level.

Since Germany had purchased the design of this type of warship, it naturally sent officers to participate in these two sea tests, and was very satisfied with the navigation performance of the warship, mainly because of its speed. Now it is waiting for the crossover to complete the design modification according to their opinions, and then start building it on its own.

Of course, the military cooperation between the two sides is more than that. The Brunswick-class battleship, the first ship of the Brunswick-class battleship modified by the Crossing World War, has been launched and has undergone two sea tests at the shipyard. It is expected to be put into service in 1904. The German Navy is very satisfied with the battleship with a displacement of more than 14,000 tons and a 4 second-class main guns.

Even Britain on the other side of the strait was shocked when he learned about this type of warship built by Germany, because the concept of a second-class main gun had just appeared in the UK. Moreover, the first type of Edward VII-class battleship built by Britain, which had been equipped with a second-class main gun, had just begun construction and would not be put into service after at least 1905. This means that after the Brunswick-class battleship in Germany was in service, the single combat effectiveness of all British battleships was not as good as that of the Brunswick-class battleships in about a year before the Edward VII-class battleships were in service.

Although this gap lasts less than a year, and Britain still has an absolute advantage in the absolute number of battleships, and its naval experience, tactics, traditions, etc. are not comparable to Germany, but for the past 200 years, Britain has been ahead of the world in naval technology, leading its main opponents for at least 5-10 years. This is the first time that the crown of the strongest warship has been given up.

Although the combat effectiveness of a warship cannot be measured purely by firepower, the quality of the German Krupp armor is above the British Vickers armor, and now the firepower has also come up. The only thing that makes the British a little relieved is that the main gun of the Brunswick-class battleship is 280 mm, which is smaller than the 305 mm caliber of the British battleship. However, the United Kingdom has also discovered that for Germany's next type of battleship, the German-class battleship will use a 305 mm main gun, so the British cannot help but nervous.

So British newspapers also reported this news with sensational titles such as "German built a battleship that is stronger than Britain", "British Empire handed over the crown of the strongest battleship", "The coming of the crisis - the launch of the German Brunswick-class battleship", "Will the Royal Navy weaken from now on?" and so on, which greatly satisfied William II's vanity. At the same time, they also understood that if they want to develop the German Navy and build a fleet that can compete with the Royal British Fleet, they must cooperate with overseas Chinese, because only overseas Chinese can design a better warship than Britain, and let Germany's strong manufacturing capabilities be used to play. In addition, the cooperation between the two sides in steam turbines and integrated fire control systems is also progressing steadily.

Moreover, the military cooperation between the two sides is not limited to the navy. The German Army also praised the mortars designed by the time traveler, believing that the value of this weapon is by no means under the shutdown of the Maxim machine. With the mortar, the combat effectiveness of the German Army can be greatly improved. France's m1896 type 75mm field gun is no longer in danger. Therefore, the army also hopes to cooperate with the time traveler again to see if we can find any good things from the time traveler.

In addition to military cooperation, the economic cooperation between Germany and the East China government was also extremely strict. In 1902, the trade volume between the two sides exceeded 35 million German marks, ranking 9th among countries or regions outside Europe. Germany mainly exported machines, instruments, arms, and high-quality steel to the East China government; and imports mainly included minerals, raw materials, and grain. This was only the first year of the official establishment of the East China government. With the development of the East China government, the trade between the two sides still has room for further expansion.

In addition, with the East China government as a springboard, German industrial products can also be sold in large quantities to China, and the economic benefits to China are much higher than when they occupied Qingdao before. Although many Germans still fantasize about retaking Qingdao again, even people like William II who often have a lot of imagination understand that Qingdao will basically never come back.
Chapter completed!