The initial cost of the new steam warship is indeed very high, but after the production line is formed, it will definitely not exceed 40,000 taels of silver (400,000 pounds) a piece, Zuo Mengeng is extorting the British according to the price of selling the old steam warship. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

The 500,000 pounds in compensation initially given by the British was actually quite reasonable.

Including the maintenance of the battleship, as well as the loss of ammunition, as well as the casualty allowance, etc., all add up, it will not exceed 500,000 pounds, and this even includes the half-crippled steam warship, as well as the cost of returning home to repair the sunken part of the ironclad.

The extra £1.5 million is purely a starting price from the ground, and it can also be regarded as a lesson for the British.........

Before going to France, Cromwell specifically learned about the Ming Dynasty from Joseph Holaff, knowing that the ancient country of the East was a rich place, and he pulled out a random merchant whose assets were more than one million pounds.

Joseph Horaf's words, in fact, have a lot of water, it turns out that the people he came into contact with are basically the rich businessmen of the Ming Dynasty, and when he first arrived in the Ming Dynasty, he was regarded as a "Kaizi", so he thought that the overall consumption level of the Ming Dynasty was very high.

Of course, even the wealth of the inland areas of the Ming Dynasty is not comparable to today's European countries.

This is the difference between developed and developing countries, and before the twentieth century, China was the richest country, and there was no one.

So Zuo Hongyu's conditions, in Cromwell's view, really don't look like blackmail.

For the next negotiations, Cromwell could only pinch his nose and admit it...........

In this way, the two sides clashed, the British sank 15 warships of various types, injured 23 warships, and more than 500 soldiers were killed or wounded, but the final result was to compensate the Ming Dynasty with 200,000 taels of silver.

The direct economic losses of the British in this war definitely exceeded five million pounds.

As for the second negotiation, it was about the share of the purchase of steam warships, as well as the transfer of wool technology.

Although the wool technology was a prerequisite for the British to purchase steam warships, it could not be given to the Ming Dynasty for free, and the only way was to use it at a discount to pay for the purchase of some steam warships.

Perhaps at the expense of compensation, Cromwell opened his mouth in the transfer of wool technology and immediately offered three million pounds, including three hundred thousand pounds worth of wool spinning machinery, and one hundred thousand pounds worth of skilled workers.

The wool spinning machine of the British is actually not expensive, the cost of a machine is only twenty or thirty pounds, and Cromwell is trying his best to pull orders for his country's manufacturing industry.

As for skilled workers, today's British textile workers are paid a maximum of two pounds a month, even so, in order to ensure the advantages of the wool textile industry, the British government also explicitly prohibits British textile workers from working abroad.

Fortunately, Daming is far enough away to have too many conflicts with the British wool textile industry, and at the buyout price of fifty pounds for a skilled worker, the buyout is given to Daming, and the British government does not lose money.

That's right, the British were going to do human trafficking, and in the eyes of Europeans, as long as there was enough interest, anything could be sold.

Zuo Hongyu was an excellent diplomat, but not a good businessman, and in his opinion, spending 300,000 taels of silver to successfully obtain wool weaving technology, and also to pack a complete set of textile equipment and skilled workers, this is a very good deal.

After all, wool technology is something that Li Hongfei has specially explained, and now as long as the fleet returns to China, it can be produced immediately, which can be regarded as overcompleting the task, even if it costs a little more money, it doesn't matter, anyway, he just extorted 200,000 taels of silver from the British, and this business is sure to make money.

Just as Zuo Hongyu was about to agree, French Prime Minister Mazarin, who was a witness to the negotiations, suddenly said: "Mr. Zuo, in fact, our French wool textile technology is also very good..........

Originally, the French were only invited to be witnesses to the negotiations between the two sides, after all, this is the habit of Europeans, believing that only when a third country is present can the negotiated contract be internationally binding.

But Cromwell never expected that Mazarin would cut off his beard halfway and wanted to pick peaches.

The temptation to buy a share of steam battleships is simply too great.

If it is said that before, the French were really not very interested in two million pounds of steam warships, and the money to buy a steam warship could build eight second-class sail warships.

But as witnesses of this naval battle, the French could not sit still, and they had to intervene in the steam warship.

Whether it is the steam power system on the battleship or the artillery technology, it is something coveted by France and even European countries, and in order to obtain these technologies, even if it costs a lot of money.

The French even thought further, the era of wooden sail warships was over, and with the two major naval powers of the Netherlands and England, France wanted to rise at sea, and no amount of wooden sail warships would be in vain.

Only ironclad ships are king.

Although the Ming Dynasty did not sell ironclad ships, the manufacturing technology of ironclad ships is not difficult, and the key is to master the power system of ironclad ships.

So the steam battleship, the French are determined to win.

Although Zuo Hongyu doesn't know how to do business, he is not stupid, and now there is another country bidding, no matter what the final result is, the only one who makes a profit can only be Daming.

And what he has to do now is to drag ...........

Before going to the West, Li Hongfei once told Zuo Hongyu that there are many countries in Europe that have mastered wool manufacturing technology, although the British are the most developed, but they should not be taken by the British and be wronged.

So, Zuo Hongyu used the excuse that he needed to discuss with the members of the entourage and started Tai Chi, which dragged on for half a month.

It was not until the arrival of the Dutch envoys in the port of Honfleur and the Italians, who also mastered the wool technology, that the original negotiations between the two countries to divide the share of the purchase of steam warships directly turned into a four-nation meeting.

Of course, counting the Ming Dynasty, which sold steam warships, the representatives of several major naval powers in the world today, except for Spain and Portugal, gathered in the small port of Honfleur.

Because the Dutch were at war with Britain, many things could not be discussed directly at the meeting, so they could only invite Zheng Chenggong and Zuo Hongyu to a cocktail party in private.

The Dutch finally made a bloody investment this time, not only agreeing to transfer the colony near the Straits of Malacca at a low price, but also willing to provide the wool weaving technology that the Ming Dynasty wanted to obtain for free.

The wool weaving technology of the Dutch has only been obtained in recent years, and the technology is indeed available, but the corresponding manufacturing system is not perfect, and it is impossible to provide textile equipment and skilled workers.

So I simply gave it generously, no money, and gave it away for free.

In fact, after this period of delay, the British were also anxious, the transfer fee was reduced from the initial three million pounds to one million pounds, except for the promised skilled workers and supporting equipment, the British only earned 600,000 pounds of transfer fees, which is already lower than other countries, through bribing the British nobles, to obtain a simplified version of wool textile technology, the price is lower, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the price of cabbage.

The Dutch offered such a good treatment, and their requirements were naturally not low, the purchase share of fifty steam warships was only the most basic, and the Dutch even wanted to order two ironclad ships from Daming, as well as a six-inch (200 mm) naval gun production line.

For this, the Dutch even intended to abandon the colonies of the entire Indian region.

In their opinion, since they must give up the Strait of Malacca, then the coast of India will definitely not be able to hold for long, and the ambition of the Ming army will definitely not be limited to the South Seas, and they will simply package and sell it while there is still use value now.

200 mm heavy artillery production line, steam warships, ironclad ships, this set is basically equivalent to the highest military technology of the Ming Dynasty today.

What do the Dutch want to do?

They want to dominate Europe, like the Ming Dynasty in Asia, and become the master of Europe.

Not to mention, today's Dutch, the sea power can be called the first in Europe, if it weren't for the fact that there are too many colonies that need to be managed, it is not worth the British at all, if they really want to let them obtain these technologies, the future "empire on which the sun never sets", it is estimated that there will be nothing to do with the British.

Zuo Hongyu was very excited, fifty steam warships that were about to be eliminated, a heavy artillery production line, and two ironclad ships could be exchanged for all the Dutch colonies in the Far East, and this deal was definitely a good deal.

The steam battleship was meant to be sold, as long as there was enough profit, to whom was it not sold?

There are only five heavy artillery production lines in the entire Ming Dynasty, because the Ming Military Research Institute is developing rifled guns.

Rifled guns are engraved with different numbers of rifling in the barrel, which can effectively ensure the stability of the projectile and greatly increase the firing range.

When the rifled gun is fired, the projectile rotates along the rifling line of the rifling line, and has a certain rotation speed after exiting the muzzle, which can keep the shell flying steadily.

Once rifled gun technology is overcome, the existing smoothbore gun production line can only take a back seat, taking advantage of the current technological advantages, and it is understandable to sell it at a good price.

As for the ironclad ship, in fact, the biggest advantage it has shown so far is not its offensive ability, but its strong defensive power.

How to break the defense, the military personnel of the Ming Dynasty have already studied a countermeasure, which is nothing more than a duel between spear and shield, with the defense power of today's ironclad ships, only larger caliber artillery is needed to destroy them.

And the 260-mm main gun on the General Xuanwei was prepared to deal with ironclad ships.

Therefore, even if it is sold to the Dutch, in the future, the Ming army sailors will face it up, and there will also be a way to kill the other party.

The conditions of the Dutch are very tempting, but Zheng Chenggong's words made Zuo Hongyu dispel this idea: "The number of Daming sailors is currently limited, and managing the Nanyang region is already the limit. What we need most today is not overseas colonies, but money. ”

Indeed, Zheng Chenggong's evaluation of the Daming Naval Division is still very objective, although the Daming Naval Division is reckless in Europe, but in the final analysis, it still relies on the suddenness of the ironclad ship, and at present, there is only one ironclad ship in the entire Daming Dynasty.

With the current pattern of the Ming Dynasty, it naturally looks down on those low-cost wooden sail warships, and in a short period of time, let alone entering the era of ironclad ships, even wooden steam warships are not able to fully equip the troops in one or two years.

Although Zheng Chenggong's fleet has gained prestige in Europe this time, don't forget that Zheng Chenggong mobilized almost half of the active Daming Naval Division to defeat a medium-sized detachment of the British.

If the major European naval powers really want to fight to the death with the Great Ming Naval Division of the Labor Division, Zheng Chenggong can only lead the fleet and flee back to Asia in disgrace.

Not to mention being murderous in Europe, even if the Dutch give up the cake of India, Daming will not be able to eat it at present.

Another point is that Daming is also short of money.

Rather than spending this unjust money in exchange for a large number of colonies that are currently uncontrollable, it is better to directly discount it, as long as there are sufficient funds, with the vast territory of the Ming Dynasty, on the long coastline, a large number of shipyards will be opened, and the construction of more than a dozen ironclad ships will be launched at the same time, it is not impossible.

In fact, the Dutch took the initiative to throw out the bait of India, which also meant stumbling on the Ming Dynasty, India is indeed rich in resources, but all forces converge here, nominally most of the colonies are under the jurisdiction of the Dutch, in fact, the Dutch are also powerless today.

If Daming takes over this mess, it is tantamount to grabbing money from European countries, and countries will not sit idly by.

As a result, the Dutch had the military technology provided by the Ming Dynasty and began to develop (without the colonies in the Far East, the Dutch's front would not have been so long), while the Ming Dynasty had to invest a lot of energy in the Far East because of a hot potato.

Under the advantages of the other, the Dutch may be able to take advantage of this to slowly catch up with China, and at the worst, they can also claim hegemony in Europe, Africa, America and other places.

In line with the principle of asking for money and not land, Zuo Hongyu thought about it again and again, and finally rejected the pie thrown by the Dutch.

In order to ensure the "balance" of military power in Europe, Zuo Hongyu even politely rejected the Dutch's offer to give away wool textile technology for free, and only offered the Dutch a share of the purchase of 30 steam warships in exchange for the Strait of Malacca, which had been proposed earlier.

Wool textile technology, almost all European countries have mastered some fur, but the really powerful, or the British, after all, people are based on wool to start, 30% of the domestic enterprises, are inseparable from wool weaving.

The technology of the British is the most mature, in the wool textile technology, Zuo Hongyu would rather spend money and buy ready-made, because the free technology, after returning to China, must slowly grope and eat thoroughly, this is not a military industrial enterprise, it is not worth wasting this time at all.

Originally, the original plan was for the Dutch to get a share of the purchase of forty steam warships, and the remaining thirty ships were handed over to the British, but France and Italy now also want to get involved, and Zuo Hongyu is not easy to refuse.

simply take the opportunity to get some benefits from these two countries.

When the Dutch envoy and Zuo Hongyu signed the purchase agreement for the steam warship and paid the deposit, the Dutch had another moth..........

The Dutch envoy directly found Zheng Chenggong this time, which roughly means: I have now bought a steam battleship, and the Strait of Malacca has also been given up, but the steam warship you delivered is in the Far East, this time and again, plus the time required for the officers and men of the navy to become familiar with the driving of the steam warship, the Anglo-Dutch war is estimated to be over, so what is the use of buying this battleship?

Well, the Dutch actually saw that in the European region their fleet no longer had much advantage.

Therefore, the Dutch made another request, and they were willing to pay for the Ming navy anchored in the port of Daunfleur, hoping to help the Dutch navy win in the next crucial naval battle.

Hire a great sailor, the Dutch did it once in the Far East, and in just one battle, they beat the British to hide in the Colombo fortress and dare not go to sea, this time the Dutch plan to repeat the old tricks, ready to completely solve the British in a war.

However, the Dutch made a mistake this time, Zheng Chenggong was a Ming soldier, not a mercenary like Zheng Zhilong who wanted to make money.

Therefore, Zheng Chenggong didn't think about it, so he rejected the other party.

Even if the Ming Dynasty is very short of money now, it will not be reduced to the level of letting the army defending the country become mercenaries.