Steel Dynasty - Chapter 446

[Chapter 446 The bottom line of negotiation (fourth update)]

The north wind blew snowflakes and fell on the smooth cement road in Qingzhou City.

The gray ground was dyed with a layer of crystal white, which meant that the New Year was approaching another day.

Ever since she got a taste of Fei Yue’er’s underwear, Princess Pingyang has been playing in Qingzhou. She didn’t choose to go back to Chang’an until half a month later. After all, she was going to celebrate the New Year in Chang’an.

Before leaving, Princess Pingyang gave Xiao Ming a thousand instructions. Don’t forget about the construction of the princess mansion.

Xiao Ming naturally agreed to this. In modern countries, economic development is stimulated by attracting wealthy people to settle down, so he naturally wants to take advantage of it.

In the past half month, Fei Yue’er has been accompanying Princess Pingyang. After becoming the princess, Fei Yue’er gradually took on a responsibility that belongs to the princess, which is lady diplomacy.

And Xiao Ming is not idle either. Now that Qingzhou’s finances are tight, he has to seize any way to increase the government’s income.

So he asked Lu Luo to rush to make a large number of underwear, and asked Li Kaiyuan to take these underwear to Chang’an.

While Princess Pingyang was eating, drinking and having fun in Qingzhou, she naturally agreed to help her sell this kind of intimate clothing in Chang’an. She is the fashion vane of Chang’an. As long as she uses it, this kind of thing will soon become popular in Chang’an City.

Pang Yukun was naturally happy to add another source of income to the government office, and because the underwear production and textile workshop recruited another 300 people, this made the lives of 300 homeless households secure and made money. And developed the local economy.

After sending Princess Pingyang away, Xiao Ming prepared to spend the new year in Qingzhou with Fei Yuer in peace and contentment, but he never thought that an uninvited guest would come to Qingzhou.

This person was none other than Rhodes who met Xiao Ming in Dengzhou City, the guy who claimed to be the Ambassador of the Netherlands.

“Rhode has met His Highness King Qi.”

In the main hall, Rhodes bowed respectfully to Xiao Ming. After receiving Claire’s order, he entered the hinterland of Great Yu again.

In Dengzhou City, he expressed his idea of meeting King Qi, so Yang Chengye sent someone to notify Xiao Ming. After getting Xiao Ming’s consent, Yang Chengye sent someone to send Rhodes to Qingzhou.

“Excuse me, Ambassador Rhodes. Now that you have come to Qingzhou, I think you must have changed your original mind. I also don’t want to use war to solve Ryukyu, but sometimes negotiations break down and we have to take action.”

Rhodes His eyes were deep, and he had been observing the city since arriving in Qingzhou City. After seeing the clean concrete roads, regular underground pipelines, and soldiers carrying flintlock rifles at the city gate, he suddenly felt a sense of frustration.

Because he didn’t even know what this kind of thing used to pave roads in Qingzhou was. Although he knew from the people of Qingzhou that it was cement, there seemed to be no such thing as cement in Europe.

“Dear His Highness King Qi, Earl Claire also does not want to resolve the conflict between us through war, so this time he sent me to Qingzhou to discuss matters about Ryukyu and the shipping route again with His Highness.”

Xiao Ming nodded, “Then your Claire How is the earl going to deal with this matter? “

For him, if Ryukyu can be recovered peacefully, he naturally does not want to start a war. After all, every war costs him a lot.

“Earl Clare is willing to give up the main island of Ryukyu, but the earl hopes that His Highness will allow us in the Netherlands to retain the city of Geranje. This is the last dignity of our Netherlands.” Rhodes bowed and said.

“Relanje City?” Xiao Ming frowned. This Relanje City is a city built on an affiliated island on the east side of Ryukyu Island. The Dutch port was built on this place.

At the same time, there is a city on this small island, and Wang Xuan has already told him this information.

“That’s right, it’s Relanjia City. We also have a bastion on Ryukyu Island across the sea called Mingkes. We are willing to hand over Mingkes and Ryukyu Island to His Highness.”

Hearing this, Xiao Ming He fell into silence. There was no room for others to sleep on the side of the bed. Maintaining armed forces in the city of Relanja was always an unsettling factor for the Dutch. He said, “No, the city of Relanja must also be returned.”

There was a vague flash in Rhode’s eyes .

He was angry, but after understanding the strength of King Qi, he chose to suppress it. He said in a deep voice: “Your Highness, King Qi, this is our final bottom line. How come His Highness, King Qi, can’t leave any dignity to us Dutch people? Then we can only meet on the battlefield.”

Xiao Ming frowned and said, “I haven’t finished speaking yet. All the territory of Ryukyu belongs to me. This cannot be used for negotiation, but in your case. After recognizing Ryukyu as my king’s, I can transform the city of Jelanje into a trading port. You Dutch merchants can do business as before, but there is one thing. Your warships and garrison must withdraw from the city of Jelanje, and I will leave the city. The king’s soldiers and fleet replaced him.”

“Is this any different from returning the city of Relandia?” Rhodes’ heart felt cold.

“Of course there is a difference, so at least your Dutch merchant ships can still travel to Ryukyu, otherwise you will lose everything forever.” Xiao Ming said unceremoniously: “Remember, you are the invaders, so you can still participate in the East Asian war. You should feel lucky about the trade. “

Xiao Ming does not plan to discuss too much with the Dutch about Ryukyu, and there is no need to be gentle when facing the invaders.

Rhodes was silent. Just as he had guessed when he came, they met a very powerful vassal king, which almost brought them to a desperate situation.

After a long time, he said: “I’m sorry, His Highness King Qi. I think this matter needs to be discussed with Earl Clare one last time. After that, we will decide whether to finally agree to His Highness’s conditions.”

“Of course, but you don’t have much time. “

, I hope you can make this decision quickly. “According to the plan, the fleet will go south in March after the Chinese New Year.

Rhodes nodded and asked: “I would like to ask Your Highness, what exactly is this cement? Can Your Highness allow me to visit the factory in Qingzhou? This may help us understand each other better, and we may also be able to deepen our understanding of each other in the future.” Cooperate.”

Hearing this, Xiao Ming smiled. At this time, the Dutchman still wanted to see his true strength.

He said: “Cement is an excellent building material, which is very common in Qingzhou. Since the ambassador is interested, I will take the ambassador to visit.”

In contemporary times, the first batch of cement in Europe was only made in 1796. After production, Rhodes said so, according to the time point, there is really no such thing as cement in Europe.

After that, Xiao Ming asked people to prepare horses, and he led Rhodes onto the streets of Qingzhou.

A foreigner with red hair and blue eyes suddenly appeared on the street. The people were immediately frightened and fled in all directions. Some people even shouted “Monster”, which made Rhodes very depressed.

(End of chapter)