How long does it take to cross the Atlantic Ocean from Los Angeles to Europe around Cape Horn, if you answer it in this era, it would probably take at least four months, and the Spanish minister Alfonso also thought so, but this return trip to Madrid was unexpected, he took a Tang cargo ship, from Los Angeles, and arrived in Madrid in less than six weeks. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

This gave Alfonso a strong desire to acquire steamships made by the Tang people, and the high speed of ships could not only speed up the flow of goods, but also have a major advantage in the transmission of information, especially in times of war, and the faster transfer from the mainland to the colony meant that the royal family and government could better understand the war.

However, Alfonso once mentioned this matter to Chu Bai, the vice minister of foreign affairs of the Tang State, and Chu Bai said very directly, "Datang has no intention of exporting China's steam ships to other countries in the near future." ”

Since the Tang people don't sell it, Alfonso wants to find out more about the secrets of steamships, but he doesn't know about shipbuilding and machinery, and on the Tang people's ships, the Spaniards' movements are restricted, and as for the engine room, which is more important, the Spaniards will not be approached at all.

Arriving in Madrid with a little bit of trouble and loss, Alfonso took Chu Bai to the Royal Palace of Madrid (Palacio Real de Madrid), which was built on a hill on the left bank of the Mansales River, which was a majestic building completed in this century, taking 26 years to complete, reflecting the highest level of Spanish architecture, and the whole palace was magnificent and luxurious. It contains countless gold and silver vessels and treasures of paintings, porcelain, leather goods, tapestries, musical instruments and other royal goods.

At this time, the young comrade vice minister was still thinking divergently: "It is said that the immigrant country has no cultural heritage, and the Tang Dynasty has just been established for two years. There are no places of interest like the Royal Palace of Madrid, the Palace of Versailles or the Great Wall, the Terracotta Warriors and Horses, etc., it seems that when you go back, you should suggest that you should build at least one cultural site with Tang Dynasty characteristics in China. It's good to be an attraction or something. ”

King Carlos III of Spain received the envoys from the Tang Republic with surprising efficiency, which naturally had the reason for the suggestion of the favored minister Alfonso, so on the night of Chu Bai's arrival, he met the monarch of the Bourbon dynasty at the Royal Palace in Madrid. Carlos III, who is one of Spain's more reliable monarchs of the century, is sixty-two years old, but he has a small pointed face and does not look particularly old. What is more impressive is that this king has a big nose. And it's a bit rosacea.

After Chu Bai saluted His Majesty the King, he handed over the letter of state, which had been signed by Zhao Daling, President of the Tang Dynasty. After Carlos III signed, this document will officially come into effect, and the Tang Republic and the Kingdom of Spain will officially become diplomatic countries.

This is a matter that has been established for a long time, and Carlos III has not delayed it. He signed his name with a quill pen. Then the national seal was added. Carlos III then signed an agreement to determine the border between the two countries, and although this agreement seemed somewhat nondescript, with large areas undefined, the two sides were able to reach a consensus on some important borders, which was already a success.

The real highlight was the discussion between the two countries on several other issues.

First of all, there is the issue of Spain importing weapons from Datang, and Spain hopes to get Datang's advanced weapons to arm its army. During the reign of Carlos III, the Spanish military system was changed, changing the mercenary system to a conscription system. Although Spain still suffered a lot of defeats after the reform, Spain's military strength has also increased to a certain extent. At the very least, there has been some progress in the organizational capacity of the troops.

Carlos III, who had hardly won any decent battles since his reign, hoped to lead the Spaniards to a brilliant victory in his lifetime. He signed a family offensive and defensive agreement with France, which was also ruled by the Bourbon family, and the two countries fought together against the British. Not long ago, news of an uprising in the New England colonies had broken out in Spain, and Carlos III was overjoyed. If the Spanish army can be quickly equipped with a batch of Tang weapons, then Carlos III's plan to send troops to North America to teach the British a lesson can be implemented more smoothly.

However, the Tang people insisted on binding the issue of arms trade to the general framework of the Tang and Western trade.

Chu Bai said: "The arms trade is also a trade between the two countries, and it has an obvious political nature, Datang does not agree with the special case of arms trade, we believe that after the formal establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, they should carry out mutually beneficial bilateral trade in a mutually negotiated and appropriate trade framework." ”

If his words were put in modern times, no one would raise any objections, but it was now the eighteenth century, and Carlos III and his courtiers listened to Chu Bai's words with considerable disdain. In Europe, where mercantilism is rampant, people believe that trade must be the one that loses and the other gains, and that selling more and buying less is the only way to get rich. The Tang Republic has its own excellent manufacturing industry, which can produce a large number of goods, and more importantly, it is too close to the Spanish colony, if you indulge the flow of Tang goods into the colony, then Spain's own goods will be sold less, the profits of its own merchants will be reduced, and of course, more importantly, the income of the royal family and the government will be affected.

Chu Bai was also a little aware of this problem, and he had to take out one of his key bargaining chips, and said: "The Tang Republic is willing to sign a trade agreement with Spain to give the other party the status of the most favored trading country, so that one country's goods can enter another country and enjoy lower tariffs than other countries, and at the same time, the other country will also guarantee that the other party will obtain lower tariffs." ”

It's just that this bargaining chip was thrown, and the Spanish king and his courtiers were still not interested.

"I think things like a trade deal need to be negotiated slowly, there are a lot of issues involved, and a lot of interests need to be coordinated," Carlos III said. Let's start with the arms trade. ”

Chu Bai will never give in easily, he said: "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, Datang's position is firm and clear, that is, if the trade agreement cannot be negotiated, then the arms trade cannot be carried out as a trade, and Datang insists on a stable trade framework to carry out reasonable and mutually beneficial trade." ”

The negotiations could not go on here, and Carlos III was a little stupid and suspended the negotiations. The king's etiquette could not be lost, he ordered someone to take Chu Bai to visit Madrid the next day, and in the evening ordered a nobleman to hold a welcome ball for Chu Bai, while he himself ran out to hunt with several henchmen, this king loves the sport of hunting, and even wears hunting clothes many times.

The sixty-two-year-old king was still riding fast, but after shooting a hare, the king became a little tired, and began to rest under a large tree under the service of his attendants. The courtiers also gathered around the king, because everyone knew that the king did not come out to hunt today.

"These damn Tang people, they are really hard-mouthed, they didn't think that they wouldn't sell arms to us if we didn't pass a trade agreement." Carlos III took a sip of sweet wine and moistened his throat.

"Actually, it is not surprising, they came all the way from the west coast of the American continent to Madrid for the trade agreement. ”

Carlos III said hatefully: "But we cannot tolerate the flooding of the markets of New Spain with the goods of the Dons, which is a blow to our economy. ”

Minister Lloris da Blanca said: "The situation in the colonies is not good, Spanish goods have always been a problem in New Spain, even if Mr. Du gives orders, but people still like to buy goods trafficked by the Dutch, like to use English cotton cloth, so in the final analysis, it is because our Spanish goods are not competitive, Your Majesty, you have worked hard to develop our industry, but in terms of technology, we have some shortcomings." Obviously, the industrial technology of the Tang people was superior to that of the British, and it was very wise for His Excellency Alfonso to propose to obtain technology from the Tang people. ”

Carlos III was quite impatient and said, "What do you want to say?" ”

Lorida Blanca said: "The trade reciprocity mentioned by the envoy of the Tang Dynasty is a very interesting way for His Majesty to mention. To a certain extent, the two countries will also make great progress in trade if they take what they need. The problem of Spain now is not that we are not rich, but that we are not strong enough, and the gold and silver will run out, but when we spend the gold and silver, we have not accumulated a solid foundation, then it is difficult for Spain to avoid a decline in national power. In fact, we can sign this trade agreement, Spain has signed such agreements with many countries, and only the Tang people are willing to treat us with very few tariffs, Spain may not have a large number of industrial products, but our huge colonies can provide a variety of tropical cash crops, fuel, ores and other commodities, these things we can't digest so much in our country, and it is obviously better to sell to other countries than to sell to the Tang Republic. At the same time, we can obtain some of the technical products we need from the Tang Kingdom, just like the musket this time, as long as we get it, we can arm our troops, and we can also learn the military technology of the Tang people to promote the development of our country. ”

Carlos III felt that what the minister said was quite reasonable, he thought that the Tang Dynasty was just a small country, even if the industry was very strong, but it was not as good as the huge Kingdom of Spain, if in terms of exports, he believed that Spain could export more things to the Tang Dynasty, selling more than buying, it seemed that Spain would take advantage.

It's just that the king didn't calculate a practical problem, that is, the number of Tang commodities may be smaller, the volume is smaller, but the unit value will be greater, and Spain sells ten ships of goods, which may only be worth one shipload of goods from the Tang people. (To be continued.) )