When Zhang Yanlan was taking Wang Pu to visit the wheelhouse of the "Yingxing" ironclad ship, Fang Yizhi, Stephen and other experts from the Academy of Military Sciences rushed to hear the news, and when they met, Fang Yizhi complained about Zhang Yanlan and said: "Commander Zhang, why didn't you say hello when the prince came to Zhenhai today, I knew that we should also go to greet the prince." ”

Zhang Yanlan smiled bitterly at Wang Pu: "Lord Wang, now I have become Zhu Bajie looking in the mirror, and I am not a person inside and out." ”

Wang Pu said indifferently: "Don't blame Yan Scale, this king didn't let him inform you, in order to develop the ironclad ship, the experts of your Academy of Military Sciences have worked hard, and Mr. Song is even more ...... Don't talk about this, you are all meritorious ministers of the empire, and if you want to greet you, it should be this king who will greet you. ”

Speaking of Song Yingxing, Fang Yizhi and the others showed gloomy colors on their faces.

Wang Pu stepped forward and patted Fang Yizhi on the shoulder, and changed the topic: "Mizhi, what can the overall surname of the 'Yingxing' be?" ”

Fang Yizhi replied solemnly: "Whether a warship is strong or not mainly depends on three data, these three data are the first to push the speed, followed by firepower, and then to protect the ability, in terms of speed, the speed of the original sail ship is generally about five knots, and the maximum speed is only ten knots, and the maximum speed of the 'Yingxing' can reach twelve knots!" ”

Since the level of navigation in Europe was already more advanced than that of the Ming Dynasty in the 17th century, Wang Pu completely introduced Western concepts about navigation.

From the point of view of speed alone, the ironclad ship "Yingxing" with two large steam engines installed was undoubtedly better than all the sailing ships in the world at that time, and most importantly, the sail ships were greatly affected by the wind, while the ironclad ship "Yingxing" was almost unaffected by the wind, which was decisive for the impact of naval warfare!

As for the artillery and protection capabilities, not to mention, the "Yingxing" ironclad ship is equipped with a large general's cannon, its range is several times that of the most advanced European artillery in the same period, it is no exaggeration to say that once the Ming Empire's ironclad fleet and the most powerful navy in Europe at that time, the British Royal Navy encountered at sea, the British Royal Navy could basically only be in a passive situation.

Whether it is speed, artillery range, artillery lethality, ship armor, the Ming Empire's ironclad fleet occupies an absolute advantage, even the overall quality of the naval officers, the Ming Empire's sailors are not inferior to the sailors of the British Royal Navy in the same period, with the birth of the "Yingxing" ironclad ship, the Ming Empire has become a naval power!

However, there must be a prerequisite for this, that is, the stable surname of the ironclad ship, or the stable surname of the steam engine, if the stable surname of the steam engine is not enough, and it will lie down at the height of the naval battle, and the ironclad ship that has lost power will become a live target for the enemy ship, even if the armor is thick, it will not be able to resist.

Wang Pu asked with concern: "What about the stable surname?" ”

"The prince can rest assured, the stability of these two steam engines is absolutely reliable." Fang Yizhi said confidently, "Before it was installed on the ironclad ship, it has been tested for three consecutive months, during which there has been no failure, and its main components are all made of the best quality steel, which is enough to ensure that it can be used for decades. ”

"Okay." Wang Pu said excitedly, "Great, Mizhi, your Academy of Military Sciences has really made great contributions to the empire." ”

"That's what we're supposed to do." Fang Yizhi said solemnly, "For the strength of the Ming Empire and the prosperity of the Han nation, each of our descendants of Yan and Huang should contribute all their strength, even ...... Life! ”

Wang Pu shook Fang Yizhi's hands vigorously and shook them vigorously, but he couldn't say a word, the Han nation has such outstanding scientific and technological workers, and the Ming Empire has such outstanding citizens, why worry that the nation is not prosperous and the country is not strong? Wang Pu had never been so hopeful about the future of the Ming Empire.

■■■

In December of the sixth year of Longwu (1649), when the whole of Jiangnan was immersed in joy and every household was busy celebrating the New Year, Wang Pu led four infantry battalions, two baggage battalions, one engineer battalion and two artillery battalions of the Central Army to cross the sea under the escort of the third and fourth fleets of the Pacific Fleet.

At Zhenhai Wharf, hundreds of merchant ships and hundreds of warships are ready to go.

These hundreds of merchant ships are requisitioned from the people, there are Songjiang Wang's family, there are Quanzhou Zheng family, and there are twenty-six large flat-bottomed merchant ships from the Netherlands, these twenty-six Dutch merchant ships are to do business in Daming, and the result is unfortunately forcibly requisitioned by Wang Pu, for this matter, the Dutch caravan's steward Kurod has found Zhang Yanlu to negotiate several times.

The wind is beautiful, the sky is high and the sea is blue.

Surrounded by Li Dingguo, Yan Yingyuan, Yan Ermei, Wang Yi, Zhang Yanlan, Li Ang, and other army and navy generals, Wang Pu stood solemnly on the side of the port.

Thousands of officers and men of the Central Army were like a rolling iron stream, slowly pouring onto the merchant ships anchored in the harbor, and at this moment, Wang Pu's mood was undoubtedly quite excited.

The Central Army's cross-sea expedition to the East was only the beginning, and the Central Army would then conquer the South Seas, open up Australia, and seize colonies in South America, North America, and South Asia from the European powers, as well as colonies in Africa...... Next, it is necessary to send troops to Europe to completely break the backbone of the European powers.

The consistent and modest image of the Han nation formed for thousands of years is finally going to undergo earth-shaking changes, and from now on, there will be no more gentle, humble and courteous Han nation in this world, and from now on, there will only be the Han nation that invades the surname and advocates force!

When Wang Pu was thinking about it, a commotion suddenly sounded outside the naval station.

Wang Pu turned around, frowned and asked, "What's the matter?" There are people in the naval garrison who dare to come and make trouble? ”

Zhang Yanlan took two steps forward and said with a wry smile: "Lord Wang, it is the steward of the Dutch caramel, Kurod, because of the requisition of twenty-six merchant ships, he has already made two representations, three protests and four condemnations to the lowly position, and said that he will warn him if he takes it next, and even resorts to force......

"Negotiations? Protest? Reprimand? ”

The corners of Wang Pu's mouth couldn't help but float a weird smile, what a familiar word, in the world before he crossed over, aren't these words commonly used by Chinese political axes? In the face of the injustice of the Western powers, the political axe with a weak fist can do nothing but sing these useless clichés.

Now, everything is reversed!

The current Ming Empire's fist is hard enough, so Wang Pu doesn't take the Dutch's negotiations, protests or bullshit condemnation in his eyes at all, and even the threat of force from the Dutch is not taken seriously!

At this time, the Netherlands was indeed very developed in commercial transportation and trade, with nearly 20,000 large merchant ships, almost the sum of the merchant ships of Britain, France, Spain and Portugal, so it would have the reputation of a coachman at sea, but the Dutch did not have the military strength to match its commercial strength, and intelligence showed that the Netherlands at this time had not yet set up a colonial base in the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, without the support of the Cape of Good Hope, the Netherlands wanted to mobilize heavy troops to expedition to the Ming Dynasty is simply whimsical!

But then again, at this time, Da Ming did not have the strength to expedition to Europe, so it was better not to tear his face or not to tear his face, and Wang Pu was also trying to do something through European businessmen, this Kurod sent it to the door by himself, thinking about this, Wang Pu said to Zhang Yanlan: "Bring the steward named Kurold to see me." ”

"Yes."

Zhang Yanlan took the order and left, and soon came to Wang Pu with a red-nosed Dutch old man, it was obvious that this Dutch old man was the caravan steward Kurod, this guy had heard about Wang Pu's identity from Zhang Yanlan's mouth, and before he walked in front of Wang Pu, he was very humble and stroked his chest with one hand, and made a grand aristocratic salute to Wang Pu.

"Your Royal Highness, your prestige is like the sun in the sky, and your ability to fight has long been spread throughout the world, Viscount Courold from the Republic of the Netherlands pays you the highest respect, and on behalf of His Majesty the Consul, I extend my most sincere greetings to His Royal Highness......"

Wang Pu's tail was numb when he heard this, and he hurriedly waved his hand and said, "Your Excellency Kurod, I heard that you have been treated unfairly in Daming, is there such a thing?" ”

"Oh no, it's not." Kurod hurriedly denied, "Your Royal Highness the Wise and Wise Prince, I have received the most hospitable and thoughtful reception in the Ming Empire, and I have not been treated unfairly as you said, it is just a small misunderstanding. ”

The Dutch were born merchants, and the old man of Kurod was relentless in asking for trouble with Zhang Yanlu because of the requisition of merchant ships, and his purpose was nothing more than to fight for more rights and interests, so that his caravan could buy more silk and porcelain, but when he met Wang Pu, he immediately changed his mind.

Although Kurod is a businessman, his ears and eyes are extremely psychic, of course he knows Wang Pu's identity, and he also knows that Wang Pu is the de facto ruler of the Ming Empire, what a rare opportunity to meet with the supreme ruler of the empire? Of course, Kurod will not miss such an opportunity, and he wants to submit a petition to Wang Pu to become the agent of the Ming Empire in Europe, so as to monopolize the commercial trade between the Ming and Europe.

Compared with the huge profits that can be brought by monopoly trade, the requisition of more than 20 merchant ships is insignificant, and if Wang Pu is willing to let Kurod become the agent of Ming goods in Europe, Kurold is even willing to transfer more merchant ships from Taiwan, Batavia, and even from the Netherlands to serve Wang Pu.

"Oh, really?" Wang Pu shrugged his shoulders and smiled, "Viscount Kurod, your reasonableness is enough to be praised. ”

Wang Pu is not a fool, these years of grinding in the political arena have made him a veteran in the political arena, and the red-haired devil Kurod has not pouted his legs, Wang Pu knows what he is going to pee.

If you want to be the business agent of the Ming Empire in Europe, there is no way to do this!

The silk and porcelain of the Ming Dynasty were bestsellers all over the world, and if Kurod had been allowed to monopolize European trade, wouldn't he have ceded the pricing power of the goods to others? In this way, wouldn't the profits from the silk and porcelain trade make this guy take the lion's share? A fool would do that.

Sure enough, the old man Kurod spoke shamelessly: "Your Royal Highness, your country's silk and porcelain are very exquisite, and they also have a high reputation in Europe, but unfortunately, due to the lack of responsible agents, the sales of your country's silk and porcelain in Europe are very chaotic, and excessive competition has reduced the price of goods, so I think that His Royal Highness should find a suitable agent in Europe to control the sales of silk and porcelain in a unified manner, only by doing so, can your country's goods be sold at a better price, Your country will be able to make more profits. ”

"Really?" Wang Pu smiled faintly and said in retort, "If this is the case, this king is happy to be the agent of your country's goods in Asia, I wonder if Viscount Kurod can convey this king's will to the consul of your country?" ”

"Uh, this ......"

The old man Kurod was immediately extremely embarrassed, so he could only retreat, "Your Royal Highness, your country's customs levy a tariff of two hundred percent, is such a tax rate too high?" I think that it is reasonable to impose a tariff of 80 per cent on the reputation and quality of your goods, and that the reduction of tariffs will reduce the price of your goods in Europe and promote the growth of sales, so that in the long run, your country's tariff revenues will not decrease, but will increase moderately. ”

There is some truth in what Kurod said, and the reduction of tariffs will indeed lead to increased trade.

However, Wang Pu also knew that Kurod's suggestion was not for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, the real reason was that the Dutch had not much silver in their purses, and the silver in the colonies had almost been looted, because of the silver standard trading system implemented by the Ming Dynasty, the Dutch could not trade with the Ming Dynasty without silver, so Kurold would ask for a reduction in tariffs.

Wang Pu smiled half-truthfully: "Viscount Kurod, you Dutch people shouldn't ask this king to lower the tariff because there is no silver, right?" Hehe, it doesn't matter if you don't have silver, you can exchange it for gold, as for the comparison between gold and silver, this king thinks that it is more appropriate to exchange one tael of gold for four taels of silver, of course, if your country thinks that this comparison is not appropriate, we can also sit down and negotiate slowly. ”

Wang Pu finally showed his hideousness, his purpose is very clear, that is, to use the dumping of silk, porcelain, famous tea, cigarettes and other commodities to squeeze the silver in the hands of the European powers, force the European powers to accept the silver standard trade system of the Ming Empire, and then use the right to speak in the price comparison of gold and silver to squeeze the gold in the hands of the European powers, so as to completely destroy the European gold standard trade system.

If the European powers do not want to submit to the Ming Dynasty in the trade system, there are only two ways, one is to close the country like the book, but this is unimaginable for European countries, and the other is to open the door of the Ming Dynasty by force, force the Ming to pay compensation, and then dump opium and other commodities to the Ming in exchange for silver, but unfortunately, the current European powers do not have the military strength to open the door of the Ming Dynasty.

(To be continued)