Chapter 253: The Redhead Banshee

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"Yo yo, you're such a big person, and you're still playing with a child's temper?" Zhao Zhe smiled, stepped forward, hugged her fragrant shoulder and said, "What about that matter, it's not good for me." However, our daughter is a golden branch and jade leaf. How can it be casually revealed? ”

Cai Guyan twisted his shoulders, and glanced at him lightly after breaking free: "I have friends here today, and I don't want to worry too much about you." Instead, he smiled affectionately at Caterina: "Miss Caterina, you came just in time, I heard you mention some Western interests last time, and now it is still refreshing, I haven't heard enough." ”

Caterina still feels a little strange that Zhao Zhe is Cai Guyan's husband, it is said that this Miss Cai has a noble and elegant temperament, and she is a graceful and luxurious person. The business is very large, and he is one of the few wealthy people in the country. Who would have thought that he would marry such a person. But Cai Guyan wanted to hear some Western things, so she also sat down, drank tea leaves with a long aftertaste, and told some things.

Zhao Zhe also drank tea and listened to it on the side, and in the past few years, he has been paying more attention to domestic and some surrounding countries. There is not much energy to take care of the Europeans. But he knows that Europeans are his real rivals. The Holy See is unfathomable in strength and extremely influential. and the dedication and enthusiasm of Europeans for the power of science and technology. The most important thing is that they are full of aggressive and aggressive spirit, and they have an indelible bandit factor in their bones. The Mughal Dynasty, which seemed to be extremely powerful among the surrounding countries, seemed to be completely controlled by the East India Company in the end, and finally died out. As for the entire Chinese nation, how can it be that the Europeans suffered from it?

With Caterina's narration, Zhao Zhe gradually gained some understanding of today's Europe. The steam engine is no longer a mysterious technology in Europe, but it has not yet been used on ships. However, there seemed to be some signs of industrialization to come, as Catalina made fun of the Englishman's invention of the high-efficiency loom, which later led to a movement against the loom. But Zhao Zhe vaguely knew that it seemed to be the precursor to the outbreak of the industrial revolution in Europe.

It can be understood that it is precisely because of the industrial revolution that Europe's scientific and technological strength and production capacity have exploded unprecedentedly. As a result, the gap between Asia and Europe was gradually widened, and it occupied a dominant position in this world. However, Zhao Zhe also knows that this so-called industrial revolution has little effect in decades and hundreds of years. Fortunately, Zhao Zhe's thinking of industrialization of products has never been gotten rid of, and in the Sanctuary Research Institute, there are a group of people who specialize in mass production processes and machines. After Zhao Zhe's intentional or unintentional allocation, there have gradually been suggested lathes and assembly lines.

Unlike Europe, which needs to go through the era of steam engines, because of Zhao Zhe, the Great Zhao scientists led by Xu Linglong. Skipped the steam engine and specialized in electricity, as well as the internal combustion engine. In both cases, there has been some success. Gasoline is extracted from crude oil, and the crude oil residue is used for thermal power generation. In a sense, Da Zhao already has some advanced technologies that only existed in the later stages of the European Industrial Revolution.

The Industrial Revolution had to be completed before the Europeans did, all the products were industrialized, and then dumped on Europe and other countries to suppress their industries. Zhao Zhe was silent, pondering all kinds of things in his mind. Caterina didn't know that she casually told some interesting stories, but it made the emperor of Da Zhao change many ideas, and it also brought a lot of disasters to the whole of Europe.

Textile machines, whether in Europe or Asia. It's an antique that's been around for a long time. But the reason why this thing can drive the industrial revolution is that Gaine is said to have improved the textile machine by a guy in Europe to the point where one person can handle the work of dozens or even hundreds of people. It is precisely because of this machine that many people lose their jobs. However, it is estimated that this is unlikely to happen in Da Zhao, and it is completely possible for Da Zhao to push these textile machines under the official power. While keeping the number of simple manual textile workers unchanged today, the production capacity will be increased by tens or hundreds of times. First, it can bring down the price of Dazhao's expensive clothes, so that ordinary people can change new clothes from time to time is no longer a luxury, and directly improve the quality of life of the people of Dazhao. Second, a large amount of cheap cotton cloth can be used to suppress the European textile industry. Once their textile industry is killed, although it may not be able to extinguish the trend of the industrial revolution of the other party, it can at least delay it.

In addition, there is the development of ships. Da Zhao already has his own navy, but Zhao Zhe has not paid too much attention to it, not that he doesn't know the important surname of the navy. It's just that there have been too many messy things in the past few years. There is no money left over to improve battleships, transport ships and other things. But now there is no need to worry about money, it has been more than a year and a half since the defeat of the Mughal countries, and 40 million taels of gold, which is equivalent to hundreds of millions of taels of silver, has been in place one after another. The two million prime-age labor force that does not cost any money also allows Da Zhao to free up a lot of hands while maintaining productivity without decreasing. Under the control of Shen Yijun's stinginess, Da Zhao's treasury was unprecedentedly full at this time. Immediately take out 100 million silver to improve those shipyards, and the construction of big ships will not be stretched.

"Miss Katarina, it's not that I don't help you, it's that I'm too embarrassed." Just when Zhao Zhe's thoughts were flying, Cai Guyan said to Caterina with regretful words: "Our country's exquisite artillery is extremely strictly controlled, and it is impossible to buy it for you." ”

"Miss Cai, you misunderstood what I meant. I do not want to buy and sell the exquisite artillery as a commodity, but I want to replace the artillery on our ships with the exquisite artillery of your country. Katerina's face did not change, but she said eloquently: "This is fundamentally different from the export of weapons, and you know, although I was born in Spain, I don't have a good feeling for Spain. It is impossible to sell these weapons to them. I use these cannons just to deal with pirates. ”

After Cai Guyan glanced at Zhao Zhe calmly, he still shook his head and said, "Miss Katarina, it's a pity." Although I have some energy, it is impossible to get a delicate artillery. ”

"I'm sorry, Miss Cai, I was presumptuous." Caterina showed a little disappointment in her eyes, and said, "I hope this conversation will not affect the friendship between us." ”

"Miss Caterina wants to buy some exquisite artillery?" Zhao Zhe suddenly squinted his eyes and laughed: "Perhaps, I have some way." ”

"Zhao Zhe, this can't work~" Cai Guyan's face was a little annoyed and said: "Linglong artillery is the foundation of our country, how can you do such a thing." ”

Katerina's eyes lit up, but she didn't speak, just looked at the two of them quietly.

"Don't be impatient, Miss Caterina is your friend, and she won't use Linglong artillery against our Da Zhao. Miss Katerina, are you right? Zhao Zhe's eyes narrowed into a slit, glanced at Katarina's tall and plump place, and chuckled.

"You~hum." Cai Guyan saw his eyes and couldn't help but snort angrily. I was buried in my heart, and it is estimated that the emperor has taken a fancy to Caterina again and wants to use exquisite artillery to please the beauty. What a man, Faint King.

Caterina's eyes lit up, if it were normal. Someone who dares to look at himself like this may have drawn his sword and cut it down a long time ago. However, at this time, she endured it. After all, this person is not only Miss Cai's husband, but can also provide her with exquisite artillery. This exquisite artillery, as well as muskets. She had seen some of them from Chen Susu, which were used as caravan guards, and although they were small in size, their power and range were far beyond her imagination. The weight of this cannon is two-thirds lighter than the cannon on her ship, but it is slightly more powerful, and the range is much farther, reaching nearly three thousand meters. The most important thing is that the crosshair is excellent, and the shells are reloaded much faster. It can be said that this is the most ideal shipborne artillery.

If she can be equipped with this kind of artillery, the overall combat effectiveness of her fleet can be several times stronger. And because the guns are lightweight, the ships will be much less heavy.

There is also the exquisite musket, which is full of imagination in both design and craftsmanship. The musket she wielded was the most advanced in Europe, a breech-loading musket that was not slow to reload, and could be loaded with prefabricated bullets into the chamber. But compared to the exquisite musket, it is far from it. Whether it is the crosshair, power, or rate of fire, there is a world of difference.

This made Katerina, with a strong **, want to exchange all the equipment on the ship for Da Zhao's exquisite artillery and musket.

After calming down, Caterina asked solemnly, "Mr. Zhao, are you really willing to help me get some exquisite artillery?" ”

"Of course, I'm just like Lone Smoke, I'm a businessman." Zhao Zhe shrugged his shoulders and smiled: "However, my brother is a good account." Although you and Lone Smoke are friends, in terms of price, I won't be much cheaper than you. After all, you know that to get this stuff, I'm going to have to use a lot of strong networks. ”

"I can bid five thousand taels of silver, or the equivalent of gold, for a delicate artillery." Caterina was so moved that she directly offered a sky-high price. For several years, she had been wandering the world, exterminating many pirates, doing business along the way, and making a lot of money. Although the price of 5,000 taels is very expensive, if it can increase the combat effectiveness of the ship several times, even if it costs more, it is willing to spend more money.

"Miss Caterina, are you cheating on me?" Zhao Zhe glared at him, and said in surprise: "You can go and inquire, what is the price of the military department to buy Linglong artillery from the department of the government?" That's a full 4,000 taels of silver a door, and it's not a big discount. You want to get five thousand taels of silver from me, you just want to swallow me even to the bones? Zhao Zhe looked at her with a resentful expression, as if the red-haired girl was a banshee who ate people and didn't spit out bones.

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(To be continued)