After arranging the army's deployment, Ernst's first stop in Trieste was the Royal Shipyard, where he met Archduke Ferdinand.
"Ernst! What brought you to Trieste so suddenly?" Archduke Ferdinand was rather surprised by Ernst's arrival.
"Father-in-law, I came to make preparations for the wedding in advance! Of course, before the wedding, I also happened to come to Europe to purchase factories and machinery."
"Heh!" Archduke Ferdinand sneered. The latter half was the truth. As for preparing for the wedding, it would not have mattered if he came a few months later.
"Fine, I won't hold it against you. Since you're here, you can also take a look at the ships we're building."
Just as Ernst had predicted a few months earlier, the Great Depression had caused many orders to be cancelled, leaving vacant slots behind.
"The ironclad under construction in this dock was the one I picked from countless proposals. It has not been named yet, and its displacement is a little over 6,990 tons. I followed your requirements and did not build anything over 7,000 tons."
Ernst did not know whether to laugh or cry. What he had said was that they should build two ships over 5,000 tons, while anything over 7,000 tons was not under consideration. Ferdinand had truly hugged the line and made a warship of just over 6,990 tons.
"Actually, if you could build a warship over 7,000 tons for the same price, I personally would not object, as long as it did not exceed the budget. But if other countries saw this ship, it might trigger a naval arms race," Ernst said.
This ship's displacement was practically no different from the 7,000-ton class. Together with the Archduke Ferdinand, which was undergoing trials, that made two top-tier warships. People who did not know the full