Addis Ababa, the new capital of the Abyssinian Empire. Pen~Fun~ Pavilion www.biquge.info Qin Lang and Duncan came here for the same purpose as when they were in Eritrea: to sell arms and stimulants - canned luncheon meat was excluded. Unfortunately, for ethnic and religious reasons, the Abyssinians do not seem to eat pork.

It's not a good sign for their business. But what worries Duncan even more is the arms business.

Emperor Menelik II, who had been an ally of the Italians before relations were broken by the Treaty of Uchard, knew very well what his old friend wanted to do now, and was worried about his country's restless kings and dukes, so the emperor was constantly trying to strengthen his military power.

Menelik II had already purchased large quantities of weapons through arms dealers. Half of his army was now armed with Western-made breech-loading rifles, as well as about thirty mountain guns and twelve mortars, and it was said that the Abyssinian army also had a small number of machine guns that were rare even in European armies.

This is still not a good sign in Duncan's opinion. Abyssinia is not a particularly wealthy country, and it is still very backward, and His Majesty the Emperor and his Empress probably will not buy some new ones to replace the weapons they have while they are still usable...... Most likely.

"Looks ...... Again, we can only sell stimulants. He sighed.

Immediately, Duncan thought of the depressed Italian officers he had encountered in the Eritrean tavern. It took little effort for Qin Lang to turn them into methamphetamine users and salesmen, and it might not be long before this addictive chemical would flood the Italian colonial army......

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm worried about business, Qin." Duncan came back to his senses, "Since the Abyssinians already have so many modern weapons, I doubt that Emperor Menelik II will buy our rifles again. Perhaps, as in Eritrea, we can only ...... Aren't you worried? He asked rhetorically.

"I am more worried about how we can get into this country than I am about selling our weapons to the Abyssinian Emperor." Qin Lang replied. Abyssinia is surrounded by Western colonies, and smuggling weapons is difficult, compared to the fact that sending weapons to Mexico is a trivial matter.

"Have you thought of a solution?"

"There is a plan, but it is not perfect......" He suddenly saw one of the emperor's slaves approaching, so he immediately stood up and began to arrange his somewhat crumpled clothes. Duncan's reaction was a little slower, and by the time he stood up, the slave had already walked in front of him.

"The Emperor agrees to receive you." The slave said, then turned around and made a gesture. "Follow me."

"A very arrogant fellow, isn't he?" Qin Lang smiled at Duncan, sped two steps to keep up with the slave, and walked into Menelik II's ...... Residence.

Even from a Western point of view, that house could not be called a "royal palace" at all. But this is not surprising: the Amharas are nomadic peoples, Abyssinia has not had a fixed capital for a long time, and Menelik II chose Addis Ababa as his capital only a few years ago.

The city is still in its infancy - in fact, it's just a military town. There are very few buildings in the city, and apart from the emperor's "palace", the other buildings are also the residences of kings and dukes. The development of Addis Ababa began only after the defeat of the Italian army at Adwa - and thanks to the efforts of many Western engineers, it became a modern city with a permanent population of 70,000.

The construction of Menelik II's Grand Palace would not begin until after the end of the war.

Therefore, "residence", Qin Lang prefers to use it to call the emperor's residence. Led by the slaves, he and Duncan walked in and soon met the Emperor and his Empress.

While saluting the two "Honorable Majestices", Qin Lang was also recalling some things he knew.

Naturally, Menelik II had been a traditional ally of the Italians, but the Treaty of Uchardi put an end to this friendship based on interests - but at the outset, it was what both sides wanted: the Italians needed to profit from the Abyssinian Empire, which had fallen apart by the death of Emperor Johannes IV, and the new emperor needed money and weapons from Italy to control the situation.

In fact, it was supposed to be a mutually satisfactory treaty, but the Italians did it foolishly - Article 17 of the Amharic version of the treaty states that the Abyssinian government "may associate with the sovereigns of Europe with the assistance of the Italian government", and the Italian text changes this paragraph to "Abyssinia's dealings with other nations must be through the Italian government"......

That is, according to the Treaty of Ucari, Abyssinia had become an Italian protectorate.

This method had been successfully used many times before, but only in more primitive and backward regions, and Menelik II, the emperor of a Christian country with a history of political intrigue for thousands of years, soon discovered the plot of the Italians and declared that he did not recognize the legitimacy of the treaty, even if the Italians offered to bribe him with two million rounds of ammunition.

As a result, the Italians used an even more stupid measure to pay tribute to the emperor. They groomed the illegitimate son of the late Emperor Johannes IV, Duke Mangasia, to act as a new agent and turned Tigray into his base of operations. Unfortunately, however, years of famine and war destroyed the strength of the Tigray Kingdom, and the aid promised by Italy ...... There is not even a shadow at all.

In such a situation, if the Duke of Mangasia had been living with the Italians, he would have been the biggest fool of the Abyssinian Empire - but the Duke was not so stupid. So in June, he swore allegiance to Menelik II and swore an oath to fight the Italians.

Under the leadership of the Duke of Mangasya, other kings and dukes also defected to the emperor, which quickly increased the number of soldiers at Menelik II's command to nearly 200,000.

For the Italians, this was clearly not good news: the enemy that needed to be dealt with was even stronger, and they wasted months in vain. But that's not all, Qin Lang felt that neither Baratieri nor his officers and soldiers had yet to realize how serious the problem was—at least judging from the results of the Battle of Adwa, they really didn't realize it.

However, Menelik II and his empress were not yet aware of this; They did not yet have the confidence to defeat the forces of Baratieri. Before Adua, no one believed that the Abyssinian army could completely defeat the Italian army, and this was the key point that he could exploit.

Qin Lang was full of confidence.

After the translator's introduction, Menelik II began to speak, and in English, although he spoke unnaturally and slowly. "Hello, friend from the United States......" He wanted to continue, but his English was not very good, and he still had to rely on the help of a translator in the end. Ask these two Americans what they brought to me. ”

The translator immediately complied. "The great Emperor of Abyssinia wants to know what you have brought for him, guests from America."

"We have received information in Eritrea that Governor Bharatieri may lead an army to launch an attack on Abyssinia by April next year." Qin Lang said as he observed the other people in the room, the kings and dukes of the Abyssinian Empire, and the slaves who served the emperor.

And Queen Tetu. She is a descendant of the former emperor's northern family, and is also the ruler of this empire, and has her own army. This means that she is also a potential customer, and as long as Menelik II and any of her can be convinced, the remaining one will naturally buy his weapons......

The Emperor burst into a loud laugh, and the interpreter began to relay his answer. "Thank you, American guest, but I have long been aware of the intentions of the Italians. I have gathered a large army, and as soon as the Italian army invades Abyssinia, they will be met head-on. ”

"I have no doubt that the glorious and brave Abyssinian army can defeat the Italians and win a great and world-renowned victory for His Majesty and Her Majesty the Empress." Qin Lang said with a deferential expression, "But I think that the Abyssinian warriors need some more modern weapons, which can help them effectively destroy the enemy." ”

"It looks like you're an arms dealer," Menelik II seemed surprised for a moment—but only "it seems," for he quickly burst out laughing, "but you're a little late, and my army is armed with weapons made in Europe, and it's well stocked with ammunition. ”

Qin Lang also smiled. "Indeed, Your Majesty. But my weapons are much more advanced than the ones you bought, and even in the armies of Europe, similar weapons are just beginning to be put into service. They are more powerful and have a longer range. ”

"Every businessman will say that, American, but by what means are you going to prove what you just said?"

"I brought some samples to Addis Ababa, Your Majesty. If you allow it, we can do some small tests on the range. Qin Lang smiled and issued a clear invitation.

The emperor glanced at his empress, then stood up. "Show me."

(To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to the WWW.CMFU.COM, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )