Steel Dynasty - Chapter 575

[Chapter 575 European Situation]

“Is Your Highness really planning for us to go to war? Your Highness, please don’t forget that no matter how big the country is, if it is warlike, it will perish. Even if Your Highness can defeat us, our strength will definitely be greatly reduced when the time comes.”

Xiao Qi said loudly. .

“It’s not that I want to start a war, but you are forcing me to start a war. In this case, we will all be destroyed.” Xiao Ming looked like a rogue who is afraid of whom.

Seeing this, Xiao Qi and Zheng Hao fell silent. Now Xiao Qi had obviously eaten the weight and became determined.

Cui Zhang and Wang Xi were secretly happy. They wished that these three families would fight so that they could profit from it.

After looking at each other for a while with Xiao Ming, Xiao Qi was finally defeated. Now Xiao Ming was proud as the victor, but trembling as the loser.

After hesitating for a while, he said: “This matter is too important. I can’t be the master. This matter must be decided by His Highness King Wei. I just hope that His Highness can give me time and not take the opportunity to plunder the land again.”

Xiao Ming revealed He smiled, and his strong appearance finally frightened Xiao Qi. He said: “Yes, but my patience is limited.”

Xiao Qi nodded, turned and left.

Cui Zhang sighed, “Hey, we have to climb to the sky again for ten days.”

“Why do you need to be impatient, Your Highness? There is food, drink, and opera in Qingzhou, so this day is not boring.” Wang Xi said with a smile. .

Cui Zhang sneered secretly in his heart, thinking how could Wang Xi know that they had reached a deal with King Qi in private, but he remained amiable on the surface and said: “What Wang Shilang said is absolutely true. In this case, today we will Let’s go for a walk in the Qingzhou Theater.”

After that, the two of them went.

Zheng Hao and the others left without staying much. He hugged Xiao Ming and left too.

At this time, Zhan Xingchang said to Xiao Ming: “Your Highness, will the King of Wei agree? This Yangzhou is a prosperous place famous in the world.”

“We are not afraid that he will not agree, but we are afraid that he will agree. Now we have more than a month. After conquering three cities in a row, no matter how stupid this King of Wei is, he should understand that he is no match for us, and it is in their interest for him to delay our attack at this time,” Xiao Ming said.

Zhan Xingchang nodded, “It’s just that delaying time is more beneficial to us. With the population of these four states in our pocket, our strength will be greatly increased.”

“Yes, but the reason for the truce this time is because of the four-party alliance. The problem of ammunition also makes me feel helpless. The military workshop came to report that there is not much ammunition stored in this warehouse.” Xiao Ming sighed.

Zhan Xingchang’s expression suddenly became a little exciting. Unexpectedly, Xiao Ming was just trying to scare Xiao Qi, but he was actually unable to attack again.

“So that’s it. It’s true that a batch of ammunition should be left for self-defense, and not all used for conquest.” Zhan Xingchang said.

Xiao Ming nodded. This time, the Pengzhou Station, the Battle of Tongzhou, and the Battle of Huaizhou consumed 1.2 million musket rounds and 16,000 solid artillery shells.

Although some were recovered by cleaning up the battlefield after the war, some shells still went to unknown places, and the marbles were even more lost because they were too small.

Moreover, the marbles that were driven into local soldiers could not be removed.

“Exactly.” Xiao Ming said, the continuous war had almost exhausted the inventory.

But now that the converter steelmaking production line is available, this problem is no longer a problem, but he needs time reserves.

After chatting with Zhan Xingchang for a while, Xiao Ming went to the steel workshop again. He often went to this place these days. Whenever he saw a whole furnace of molten steel flowing out, he would be very satisfied.

Because this is one step closer to the industrial revolution. After all, to completely realize the industrial revolution requires a large amount of steel to manufacture various types of machinery.

After observing the production of steel for a while, and then the production of the second converter, Xiao Ming went to the palace.

Just after returning to the palace, Xiao Ming was preparing to take a rest when Li Kaiyuan walked in with a man with red hair and blue eyes.

“Your Highness, long time no see.”

The person following Li Kaiyuan was none other than Dutchman Rod.

A few days ago, Li Kaiyuan was still talking about trade with the Dutch, and also mentioned that Rhodes had arrived in Dengzhou. Unexpectedly, Rhodes followed him to Qingzhou.

“Your Highness, Rhodes said that Count Clare asked him to come to Qingzhou, so he brought him here.” Li Kaiyuan said with a smile.

Xiao Ming looked at Rhodes at this time, “Take me to say hello to Earl Clare. There must be something important for Earl Clare to ask you to come here this time.”

“Yes, Your Highness, the British are very busy at sea during this time. “

Our fleet is under great pressure, so Earl Clare hopes to sign a military alliance with His Highness, hoping that His Highness can work with us to block the British attack in the Asian waters. These damn British guys are really driving us crazy. ” Rod complained.

“Aren’t the British always in the Indian waters? As far as I know, the southern waters are mainly colonies of the Dutch and Spanish.” Xiao Ming said thoughtfully.

“No, there are also French and Portuguese.” Rhodes corrected him, “Your Highness is right, the British have been in India, but our merchant ships brought unfortunate news. The British improved the damn The steam engine is said to have greatly increased their cloth production. Now these British guys are looking for dumping places for their goods. They will definitely have ideas here. Count Clare is just taking precautions.”

Xiao Ming remained calm on the surface, but was slightly secretive on the inside. According to his understanding, the invasion of the western part of the world by the steppe barbarians led to the end of the Middle Ages ahead of schedule for more than half a century.

And now Rhodes’ words have further confirmed his guess that Western technology is about half a century ahead of the same period today.

He couldn’t help but ask: “When did this happen?”

“It takes more than three months for our merchant ship to arrive in the Netherlands from the city of Geranje. Including one year, the total is one year and three months. However, when everyone knew, the first batch of steam engines had already Entering the textile factory.” Rhodes spread his hands.

Xiao Ming’s eyes narrowed, he didn’t expect that he would get this big news accidentally.

“Now all the countries in Europe want to get steam engine technology from the British. It seems that they are very interested in this thing.” Rhodes said to himself.

He has been away from the Dutch mainland for too long and is now slow to change in Europe.

The purpose of Rhodes coming here this time is to test the military alliance. After thinking about it, Xiao Ming said: “Military alliance may be a good idea.”

“Of course, plus His Highness’s more than thirty warships, the British There is no advantage in this sea area.” Rhodes’ eyes were earnest.

Xiao Ming was stunned for a moment. It seemed that Rhodes and Claire already knew about the addition of twenty-four warships to his fleet. These Dutch people were really well-informed.

(End of chapter)