Chapter 67 Lu Chengxiang's Tsar's Secret Conversation The two empires compete to buy cars

Selling high-value-added goods such as cars was originally one of Lu Chengxiang's purposes for coming to Moscow this time, but he didn't expect that the bait he threw down had not yet fallen, and the fish would be hooked. Although Lu Chengxiang felt that the fun of the game was a little less, he was even more happy to see it.

"Huh! Your Majesty, this car is a good thing, but the price is so high that until now, we have never sold it outside our Ming Dynasty. The Ottoman envoy, hearing the price of our car, was so frightened that he hurriedly said that he would discuss it with them and the Sultan! Lu Chengxiang also told the tsar that the Ottoman Empire had begun to pay attention to the car by saying that the price of the car was high.

Although Tsar Alex did not show an expression, he chuckled in his heart.

Count Petrov and the ministers around him were the same, but he immediately said: "Lord Lu, no matter how expensive things are, there should be a price, right?" ”

"Yes, yes! The price of our cars to the largest dealers is uniformly determined," Lu Chengxiang said, "This kind of car is 50,000 taels, and the kind of truck and passenger car is between 100,000 and 150,000 taels depending on the configuration." ”

Seeing the tsar's expression, Lu Chengxiang said: "As a rich person, it is still acceptable to buy a small car and drive it. But it still takes a lot of silver to buy a large number of cars for transportation! ”

The Tsar nodded and said, "This price is what I expected!" However, Mr. Lu, I want to ask him, does the Ottoman Empire really want to buy a car? ”

"It's true!" Lu Chengxiang said, "It was because they wanted to buy a car that we held a meeting to study the price of selling cars abroad!" The things we produce, except for weapons, are to be sold publicly, and when people ask for a price, we naturally have to quote it! And this price is our uniform price, so as not to mess up our sales units! ”

"So, until now, the Ottomans haven't bought such cars, right?" Count Petrov asked.

"As far as I know, not yet! However, as you know, Lord Earl, our Ming Dynasty is very complicated, and we dare not guarantee whether the Ottoman Empire has other channels to buy cars! The Ottoman Empire's interest in cars is not something that has only been shown today! They allowed our car to drive to Istanbul last year! They also learned about cars much earlier! ”

"Mr. Lu, if we buy more than ten cars, can it be much cheaper?" The tsar was in a hurry.

"Your Majesty, when I said the price, the low price given to the first-class wholesaler, the ten cars you bought, I'm afraid you can't enjoy this low price, and it's even cheaper! Moreover, I'm afraid I will have to cash in cash! Lu Chengxiang pulled the words back and said, "However, regarding the cooperation with His Majesty the Tsar, our President Zhang still has some words that he wants me to bring to His Majesty the Tsar, which needs to be talked about separately!" ”

Although the tsar does not have as many eyes as Lu Chengxiang, he is also a smart person, and when he heard Lu Chengxiang say this, of course he understands that many things cannot be talked about openly. The tsar invited Lu Chengxiang and the general to a secret room in his inner palace, and he also brought a general and a secretary to make records.

However, after sitting down, Lu Chengxiang said to the Tsar: "Your Majesty, I hope that our conversation today will not be recorded!" ”

The Tsar was stunned for a moment, turned back to the secretary and said, "Don't take notes!" ”

Lu Chengxiang said straight to the point: "In view of the fact that our two countries have redrawn their borders, the two countries are already friendly neighbors. We, Mr. Zhang, asked me to bring a message to His Majesty the Tsar. We will definitely not allow the Ottoman Empire to defeat and occupy the Russian Empire. If necessary, we can even sever relations with the Ottoman Empire and send troops to assist the Russian Empire against the Ottoman Empire. ”

When Tsar Alex heard this, he stood up excitedly, came to Lu Chengxiang, held his hand and said, "Lord Lu, is this really what the great President Zhang said?" ”

"It's true!" Lu Chengxiang also held the hand of Tsar Alex and said, "It is not in our interests to let the Ottoman Empire occupy the Russian Empire!" ”

The Tsar returned to his seat and said, "Yes, yes! It is our Russian Empire that is truly friendly to you, and it is in your interests that we win! ”

Lu Chengxiang said: "We Mr. Zhang judge that the Ottoman Empire is still very strong. This time they bought about three thousand muskets, as well as a large amount of ammunition. This poses a great threat to you. Although we secretly sold you a thousand muskets, according to the Ottoman Empire, there are many less! ”

When the tsar heard Lu Chengxiang's words, he looked depressed, lowered his head and said, "We can't get more gold and silver at once!" ”

Lu Chengxiang said: "We, Mr. Zhang, have taken this situation into account, and if Your Majesty is willing, we can also provide you with a thousand muskets and ammunition first." You can pay us in three installments with grain, fur, minerals, etc. But you can't say it to the outside world! We don't want to be openly hostile to the Ottomans yet! Thank your Majesty for your understanding! ”

Tsar Alex stood up again, went over to shake Lu Chengxiang's hand and said, "Thank you to our great friend!" We do! ”

Holding the hand of His Majesty the Tsar, Lu Chengxiang said: "Regarding the car, if you want to buy it, you must pay for it. Because in our country, there are still many people who can't buy a car after paying the money! ”

When the tsar heard that the money was to be paid, he was depressed again.

Lu Chengxiang said: "That's it! I can use what little of my rights are, as long as you pay half of the car for the first time, and the rest can be paid for with minerals, grain, cattle and sheep. I will then cash these things back to the head office. How about Your Majesty? ”

"Great, my most honored friend!" Tsar Alex stood up excitedly, sat down again, thought for a while, and said: "I will buy twenty wagons and two coaches." Also, can you change the bus to the kind of RV you are in? ”

"It can't be transformed! It's the kind of RV that was made when it was produced in the factory. The price of one car is the price of ten buses! Li Zicheng said.

"Oh my God! I can't afford that kind of bus right now! Damn war, it's too much money! "The tsar really didn't have the money to buy a house car.

However, Lu Chengxiang did not expect that the tsar would be able to buy twenty trucks at a time. Even if you pay half of the silver in advance, it will cost you a million taels of silver. He didn't know that Tsar Alex wanted to dig up the gold that had been buried in the Kremlin and made it himself.

However, the main thing Lu Chengxiang did when he saw the tsar was to tell him that the Yaogang people could send troops to help them when they couldn't defeat the Ottoman Empire. When these words were handed over, the tsar had confidence. However, this confidence was based on the fact that the kiln people sent troops to help them, and when the tsar encountered hardship, he would first think of asking the kiln people to send troops. This is also a foreshadowing for the kiln gang people to send troops first.

When a meeting was held to study Lu Chengxiang's meeting with the Tsar, Zhang Zhimu asked him to say this, Lu Chengxiang agreed, but he didn't think of the significance of this matter at that time. After saying it at this time, Lu Chengxiang felt in his heart that Zhang Zhimu was really like a devil. When the Russians were exhausted from fighting, it was too tempting for him to suddenly hand him this straw. From the blue eyes of Tsar Alex, Lu Chengxiang could see that the people of Yaogang did not want to send troops, and the tsar was not happy. Lu Chengxiang suddenly had a feeling in his heart that the tsar was sold and helped people make money.

At this time, Lu Chengxiang knew that the Ottoman Empire had bought more than fifty trucks.

It turned out that after Ningde occupied the area between the northern part of the Alborz Mountains and the Caspian Sea, and directly bordered the Ottoman Empire, they began to build a road to the Ottoman border. Immediately after the construction of the simple road, passenger and freight transportation was opened. Merchants who came back from the Ming Dynasty preferred to pay more for freight than to quickly and safely transport their goods to the Ottoman borders. In this way, there were many goods, and the big shopkeeper of Yaogang in Istanbul began to do work, and finally let the Ottoman Sultan agree to Yaogang's car driving directly to Istanbul.

When the first team of cars entered Istanbul, it also caused a sensation in the city, and the Sultan naturally wanted to see what was going on with the cars.

The Ottoman Sultan also broke out on the battlefield, and when he saw a big car, he naturally thought that the impact of the car was much greater than that of the horse-drawn carriage, and the usefulness on the battlefield was naturally too great. Therefore, the Sultan summoned the chief treasurer and asked to buy a big car. The family also studied this matter for this purpose. Everyone agreed that the production of large cars should be sold outside. Such high value-added things are much higher than the silver earned by ordinary industrial products, and the benefits are also the best. The Sultan's request was therefore granted. However, after the Ottomans bought a large amount of musket ammunition, they did not have much money, and the kiln men promised them to pay for the goods in two installments, and the Ottoman sultan bought fifty cars at once. That's a business of Wu Bai Wan taels of silver. The Sultan was also so worried about the long war with the Russian Empire that he wanted to fight hard.

The Sultan was in a hurry, and did not wait for the Yaogang car to arrive, so he had to leave ten cars of the Yaogang transport team, and said that when the new car arrived, he would return the new car to the Yaogang people. He knew that the use of the car required training.

It should be said that the use of cars in the Ottoman Empire was much earlier and much more numerous than the Russian Empire. This is also one reason why Lu Chengxiang wants to sell cars to Russians. Squeezing the blood of the two powerful states, the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, with weapons and automobiles, was a strategy of the Yaogang people. When they are thin and unstable, you can clean them up as much as you want!

The silver used for the development of the entire western region is basically the silver accumulated by the two empires over several generations. War is a demon that swallows gold and flesh, and both the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire have gained a lot from victory, and now is the time for them to pay.