Pitt the Younger leaned back in his chair, opened the shipbuilding plan, and asked, "How much will this require?"
"600,000 pounds." Admiral Jervis had clearly drawn up a budget long ago and immediately said, "This is for developing the new warships, as well as the construction costs of the first twenty."
600,000 pounds was 15 million francs. Without anyone having pointed out the research-and-development route in advance, this already counted as fairly economical.
After all, even with ready-made steam engines available, Joseph had spent more than ten million francs building the first batch of over twenty Light of the Mediterranean-class Frigates.
Jervis quietly glanced at the Prime Minister's face, blacker than a lump of coal, and added:
"A large portion of this will be used to improve the steam engine. As you know, our country's steam engines pursue stability, so they use Standard-Pressure technology. They still require high-pressure improvements in order to raise them to the power needed by warships."
Pitt the Younger drew in a deep breath, paused for several seconds, and finally nodded. "Very well. I will submit an appropriation bill to Parliament."
As both Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, he knew the state of Britain's treasury very clearly.
With the enormous profits from Cane Sugar lost, and with domestic sugar prices still needing to be subsidized, the War against France had all but emptied Britain's finances.
600,000 pounds might not count as much—oh, no, the later construction would still cost a large sum, and the total expense ought to exceed one million pounds—but for the British treasury at this moment, it remained no small burden.
But Pitt the Younger knew very well that they had to seize back control of the Mediterranean. Otherwise, the trade income Britain lost would far exceed one million pounds.
More importantly,