Even by steamer, it took 25 days to arrive at the Dagu port in Tianjin from Hong Kong. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

After seeing the vastness of the Ming Dynasty's territory, Joseph Horaf finally understood why they had to wait a month in Hong Kong to receive an official reply from the Ming Dynasty.

As the Ming officials said, the territory of Britain is not as large as that of a province of the Ming Dynasty..........

The journey at sea was boring and boring, and Joseph Horaf and others were so strapped that they didn't even dare to play mahjong.

Looking at the envoys of the other three countries, using all kinds of means to curry favor with the Ming officials at the card table, Joseph Holaff's mood suddenly fell to the bottom.

"Shit! This gang of smashing is so hateful! If it weren't for the fact that the fleet of the British Empire could not enter the South Seas, how could Spain and Portugal be arrogant! Joseph Horaff said with a secret hatred.

Well, Joseph Horaff also realized that the money he had brought with his party was too small to spend.

If Li Hongfei didn't want to get benefits from the British, even the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would not have bothered to summon these "poor bastards", let alone meet the emperor.

Originally, Joseph Horaf and his entourage thought that Tianjin was the destination of their trip, but they had just arrived at the port, but they were told that there was still about 150 kilometers of land to reach the real destination, Beijing.

After a long journey of twenty-five days, Joseph Horaff and the others were numb, six days is six days, ninety-nine steps have come, and the last step has to be overcome even if it is gritted teeth.

In fact, Joseph Holaff, as a rear admiral of the British Royal Navy, what kind of long-distance journey has he not experienced?

It's just that staying with the "enemy" all day, and being on the territory of another country, without even the most basic escort, makes it unbearable for him.

Of course, watching others "spend money like dirt", it is impossible for him to have no ideas in his heart, and there is no harm if there is no comparison!

However, Joseph Horaf, who was ready for the long journey, almost dropped his jaw in shock.

Because they were told that it would only take four and a half hours to reach Beijing by steam train.

Then the envoys of the four countries were invited in, and a steel beast about eighty or ninety meters long "in the belly", with a loud whistle, the monster began to slowly accelerate, and slowly, the scenery outside the window regressed faster and faster, giving Joseph Horaf the illusion of riding a war horse.

"This kind of steam train, I heard a friend who does business in Shanghai mention it, saying that its speed is very fast, much faster than a steam warship, and it only takes half a day to travel from Shanghai to Suzhou. I didn't expect to have the privilege of experiencing it in person today, I was so lucky! A Portuguese envoy said excitedly.

The railway from Shanghai to Suzhou has long been opened, and now the goods of major factories in Suzhou can be transported directly to Shanghai by railway, which not only speeds up the logistics speed, but also avoids the embarrassing situation that the draft of the big ship is too deep and cannot enter the inland river.

"If we can bring this kind of steam train to Europe, it will definitely be effective in alleviating the damn road conditions everywhere!" Joseph Horaff said.

Although European countries are also hostile to each other, exchanges with each other are also indispensable, and perhaps the biggest obstacle to communication is the road conditions.

When Joseph Horaf saw the train as a means of transportation, his first thought was to improve the transportation situation in European countries.

"I heard that the diplomats of the Ming Dynasty met with us this time to discuss the sale of steam warships, since you like steam trains, it is better to discuss with the diplomats of the Ming Dynasty and give us the share of steam warships, and you Britain, just stay in Europe to build railways!" The Dutch envoy spoke.

At this time, even if the Dutch did not say it, the Ming officials would take the initiative to mention it, and the Dutch envoy took the initiative to reveal the news to Joseph Horaf in order to preemptively make him think that the Dutch had the absolute initiative.

"Humph! This steam locomotive is a way out for you, even if you are defeated in the future, you Dutch can build railways in Europe and repay your war reparations! Joseph Horaf snapped.

Although Joseph Horaff did not show weakness on the surface, his heart was already fluctuating.

He really didn't know that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Ming Dynasty met with the envoys of the other three countries at the same time to discuss the sale of steam warships.

Twenty steam warships, you can fight in the Bay of Bengal, nearly a hundred new British warships can not find the north, if the Dutch buy dozens more, then it will not be able to defeat the British Empire's Far East Fleet soon?

Moreover, if steam warships are allowed to enter Europe, the strategic balance between the Mediterranean and the North Sea will be broken in an instant, and the British Empire's maritime superiority on its own territory will no longer exist.

"No, this kind of thing is terrible, you have to find a way to stop the other party!" Joseph Horaff thought to himself.

Not only Joseph Horaff was anxious, but the Dutch envoy who struck preemptively was not happy either.

At the poker tables in recent days, the Dutch finally "figured out" the conspiracy of the British, who wanted to divide the entire Far East with the Ming Dynasty on an empty promise.

Although the Ming Dynasty officials made it clear that they would not believe the promises of the British, the Dutch were not calm!

In the face of such a big piece of cake, who dares to say that he will not be moved, even if he is not tempted for the time being, it is just waiting for the price to be sold, and he wants to get more benefits.

Otherwise, why didn't the Ming Dynasty officials send these British casually, but instead made a formal appointment with them in Beijing?

However, at this point, the Dutch did not have much to deal with, but could only do their best to get as much share of the purchase of steam warships as possible.

I have to say that Liu Kongzhao played this move well, and both the British and the Dutch had already begun to compete before they arrived in Beijing.

.............

The steam warships sold by the Ming Dynasty this time were the first 100 steam warships converted from Fu ships, although they were added before the refit, the total time in the water was not more than five years, but due to the continuous upgrading of the steam warships, after the first batch of refits, and participated in the Chibi water battle, the steam warships had to face the embarrassing situation of retirement.

Nowadays, the use of these warships can only be used as target ships, or sailor training ships.

The cost of serving as a target ship is too high, even if the steam engine and the ship's guns are dismantled, the dismantling cost is a large expense.

What's more, in several major battles with the Qing Army's naval division, a large number of naval division warships were captured, and the target ships of the Ming Army's naval division are still very rich.

As for the training ships, it is completely enough to keep forty or fifty of them.

The cost of a steam warship converted from a Fu ship is about 20,000 taels of silver, after all, its hull is not too big, in addition to the steam engine equipment worth nearly 10,000 taels of silver, the most valuable thing may be the eight Furlong heavy guns on the ship.

A furlong machine heavy cannon, even if the production cost is not counted, the copper consumed for casting the cannon alone is worth more than three hundred taels of silver, and after adding the wages of craftsmen and the profits of the weapons manufacturing house, the price of a single heavy gun used by a single ship is about five hundred taels of silver.

Why did the Ming Dynasty use relatively expensive copper cannons instead of cheaper steel cannons?

At the end of the day, the fragility of cast iron was not up to the pressure of increasing chambers, and steel at the time was almost as brittle as cast iron.

Moreover, cast iron is very easy to rust, especially on ships with high salt and high humidity, so people can only use copper to make cannons, for this reason, Song Yingxing also specially developed an alloy copper (a combination of copper and tin) in order to make artillery with higher strength, which was called "gun copper" at that time.

In terms of hardness and high toughness, gunmetal is very close to the characteristics of steel, and can completely replace steel in the manufacture of artillery.

There are eight such new guns on a Fu ship, and they are also new guns that are not currently available in European navies, even if they are sold separately, and a gun costs 5,000 taels, and some people will rush to buy it.

After all, the second-hand Hongyi cannon sold by the Portuguese to the Ming Dynasty in the early days was also priced above 1,000 taels of silver, but in terms of performance and artillery caliber, accuracy, rate of fire, or power, it was far from being the opponent of the new artillery of the Ming army.

At least the Dutch don't lack this money............

So in the end, the Ministry of Commerce fixed the export price of this batch of steam warships at 200,000 taels of silver each.

"Two hundred thousand taels of silver........ Won't it be a bit expensive? After all, these warships can't even carry three shells of the new ironclad ship, even if they are solid shells of Westerners, if they hit below the waterline, they can be sunk with up to five rounds, will people be willing to spend money to buy them? Foreign Minister Liu Kongzhao said with some concern.

Since this meeting was mainly for the purpose of peddling steam warships, it was necessary for Liu Kongzhao to inform Wu Hao in advance and understand the pricing of the Ministry of Commerce.

"Minister Liu, don't worry! This battleship is not a dead thing, you can't shoot me, I can give you a shot back! Besides, since people came to buy it, they naturally knew about the proud record of the steam battleship in advance, even if it was expensive, those who wanted it would naturally pay for it obediently. In short, one is willing to fight and the other is willing to suffer. Wu Hao said confidently.

It is not unfortunate that second-hand goods that have been used for five years are directly sold at a high price of ten times, but this is the effect they want, who makes the Europeans covet the steam engine of the Ming Dynasty, but also reluctant to accept the artillery on the battleship?

"That's right, even if we can't sell it, we can use it ourselves."

In Liu Kongzhao's view, even if you can't do business, there is no loss.

"You're not a businessman! In fact, you don't need to worry about selling battleships at all, the only thing you have to worry about is how to distribute the shares, don't see which of them is generous and sell them all to the other party. Wu Hao reminded.

is worthy of being an old driver who followed Li Hongfei at the beginning, Wu Hao has actually seen through the essence of this arms sale for a long time, and to put it bluntly, it is a political investment.

Even if they bid for one million ships, as long as these countries want to win over the Ming Dynasty, they will give it even if they go bankrupt.

If it weren't for the purchasing power of the Western effect, Wu Hao would really increase the price, I have to say that Wu Hao's business acumen is still very flexible.

A hundred steam warships, if all of them are sold, it will be a full 20 million taels of silver, even the Dutch today can't take out so much cash in one breath.

The Dutch had done business with the Huaxia Ocean Trading Company for nearly 40 million taels of silver, and their stocks had already been squandered, and the goods they shipped to Europe were difficult to cash out for a while because of the war with the British.

Coupled with huge military spending, the Dutch now have little money to spare, and 200,000 steam warships are just within their affordability.

As for the purchasing power of the British, although Wu Hao doesn't know much about it, he dares to defend it with the Dutch, and he must be a master who is not short of money.

And Portugal with the Spaniards........... Although it is a declining old colonial power, it still has a heritage.

"I understand, it's just 200,000 boats, whether you like to buy it or not!" Liu Kongzhao finally reacted.

Due to the various preparations in the early stage, the initial talks were still very smooth, and both the British and Dutch envoys were actively cooperating with the talks.

After all, their country is still facing the threat of war, and the sooner they win the weapon order, or in other words, get the support of the Ming Dynasty earlier, the direction of this war may be completely different.

However, neither the British nor the Dutch could not make up their minds for a while after facing the conditions proposed by Liu Kongzhao.

It's not that they think that the Ming Dynasty lion opened his mouth, although the Dutch thought a little, but Joseph Horaf didn't have the slightest idea, after all, wool weaving technology, even if Britain was highly secretive, the surrounding countries were also capable of stealing the manufacturing process.

It's just that this kind of craftsmanship is equally important to neighboring countries, so the clerks sent by Li Hongfei to Europe can't get this kind of technology from the people.

In other words, even if the British did not agree to this condition, the Ming Dynasty could still get this technology from the Portuguese, Spaniards, and even the Dutch.

But.......... Regardless of wool technology or the ownership of the Malacca region, the envoys sent by the British and Dutch this time could not make their own decisions.

The envoys of both countries said that such a request made by the Ming Dynasty would need to be ordered by the respective kings themselves.

At this point in the negotiation, it is very embarrassing.........

Neither the British nor the Dutch envoys have enough power, and now there are no video communications, satellite phones, or even telegraphs, how can we talk about it?

The only way is to return to the country as soon as possible, but this time and again, to say the least, will be a year later, and the war may be over by then..........

Liu Kongzhao was also very annoyed, and even put down his cruel words: The representatives of the two countries can't make a decision, what are they doing in Daming? The share of these 100 warships was simply divided equally between the Portuguese and the Spaniards.

Fortunately, Liu Kongzhao didn't really do this, otherwise the Portuguese and the Spaniards would have laughed, as long as there were fifty steam warships, the colonies of Africa and the Americas, the two countries could be divided equally.