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'Sir Stuart, I think Captain Karn is only a little worried, not doubtful of your abilities. Hey, this is the territory of His Royal Highness the Prince, and with the style of His Royal Highness the Prince, I am afraid that this trip is really difficult. But no matter what, we have to get there, don't we? For the sake of our motherland, no matter what difficulties we must overcome! ‘

Stuart thought for a moment, and a helpless look appeared on his face. According to the investigation of these days, there is indeed an arsenal specializing in the production of rifles in this side of Fuzhou, which should be around the barracks in Mawei. These Qing people must be afraid that the method of making this rifle will leak out, so they specially took care of the arsenal that made this rifle, even if we come with the army, don't want to snatch this rifle. Of course, if it were us, I'm sure our King would do the same. Stuart's conclusion was also very realistic, and was immediately approved by several of his entourage.

Stuart and the others came on this trip to the new Mini rifle equipped in the Matail, and since the Dutch discovered that the Matail Army was fully equipped with this Minny rifle in the whole army, this new rifle with a long range and great power quickly attracted the attention of the Dutch governor in Batavia, Neskas. Neskas even found out the power of this musket through various channels, but so far he has not gotten a Mini rifle, which is mainly because the Ponytail Army is too strict with this new rifle. But even then, the Dutch officers in Batavia came to a shocking conclusion. That is, if your own country can also be equipped with this rifle on a large scale, then the combat effectiveness of your own country's army will be able to increase exponentially.

This astonishing conclusion made the Dutch a little crazy. Especially Nescas, after learning that England had invaded their Netherlands in alliance with France. The desire to get this new rifle is even more urgent. But these months. They used various channels and bought many spies to inquire about the method of making this rifle, but so far they have not found any clues. And I didn't even get a sample of a rifle.

In fact, if there were no tools in Geng Jingzhong's workshop, even if they were given a rifle to imitate, it would have to take three or two years of research before they could spend a lot of effort to make it, and the performance was far inferior to these rifles that the Mawei Army was equipped with now. The rest of the new rifle is fine, but there are two things that they are difficult to imitate. One is the precision-made barrel, and the main reason why this new horsetail rifle is so powerful is that it is engraved on the rifle with spiral lines carved inside their barrel. With this rifling, this rifle can shoot so far and so accurately.

But it is precisely because of this rifling that the Mawei Army Workshop has also been improved many times, and it can be said that the current new rifle is no longer comparable to the old rifle equipped by the Mawei Army at the beginning, although the power has not increased much compared with the previous one, but the service life has been extended many times. Among them, there is a credit for the more precise workmanship. Otherwise, if it were the same as before, the gun would wear out considerably every time it was fired, and the gun would be almost scrapped after hundreds of bullets were fired.

Another important factor is the material of the barrel, pure iron is indifferent, even fine iron is not good. At this moment, the alloy that was made after many practical years was used to select the best and most wear-resistant nickel alloy on the barrel. This is still Geng Jingzhong's own name, but he is not sure if it is nickel or not, but the chemical properties of the hit are very similar, so he called it this. There's no way the Dutch can get this thing out of now.

Nescas didn't have the idea of stealing the master, but he was not the first to send someone to investigate, and all the spies who came to investigate over the years were secretly arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence without exception.

In fact, Nescas's anxiety is also reasonable, just half a month ago, a group of businessmen from the Netherlands told him about the predicament faced by the Netherlands, Britain and France are reasonably attacking their motherland together, and these businessmen have been drifting at sea for more than half a year, and they don't know what the situation is in the Netherlands now, but no matter what the outcome of the war is, if they get this new rifle, their homeland Netherlands can be slaughtered.

The history of Europe did not come to a fork in the road, and the Netherlands was really in trouble at this time. The Third Anglo-Dutch War was a war fought both at sea and on land, with the French attacking the Netherlands both by land and by the British by sea. The French Army, under the command of famous generals such as Condé and Tyrrenne, fully demonstrated the strength of the first-rate army in Europe, and attacked the Netherlands with great momentum. As is often assumed, the Dutch Army was a symbolic embellishment, far from being a match for the French Army in terms of combat experience, weaponry, or combat prowess.

The Dutch provinces of Geerdland, Ofressel, and Utrecht fell one after another, and even General Wilhelm, who had been expected by the long wait, could not withstand the onslaught of Louis XIV's cavalry. The French army won one victory after another, breaking through the Ætheel River defense line and approaching Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. In desperation, William of Orange, who had just become the head of state of the Netherlands, reluctantly ordered the Muyden Levee, which had protected the Dutch for generations to recuperate. The raging waters immediately poured into the fertile fields, and the sea between the Zuiderzee and the Rhine became a vast sea, and thousands of Dutch were forced to move to their ships, ready to evacuate at any moment. However, the French vanguard withdrew in time to avoid being annihilated, and the land offensive came to an end.

In the following months, in fact, a month earlier, in the naval battle of the Anglo-Dutch Battle of Sol Bay, the Dutch veteran German who was nearly seventy years old. Knight commanded the Dutch fleet to repel the British fleet with great difficulty, and although the damage was not large and his own losses were not large, the strategic significance of this naval battle could not be ignored. The Dutch preemptive attack not only crushed the British plan for an invasion of the Netherlands proper, but also frustrated Prussia's attempt to invade the Netherlands by land. More importantly, because of the disadvantage of land operations, the British and French forces planned to use the combined fleet to transport a powerful landing force in an attempt to forcibly land on the strategically important island of Texel in the northwest of the Netherlands, so as to establish a forward base and attack the Dutch mainland. But because of virtue. The flanks of Knight's fleet were pinned down, and the plan was declared bankrupt.

Neskars is still unclear about these things, and if you want to know about them, you will have to wait until next year. Stuart, the messenger sent by Neskas, and the Dutch officers were really impatient to wait for an afternoon, but none of them expressed their feelings on their faces. The original rich and fragrant tea has been brewed as if it were boiled water, and Stuart's patience has been gradually exhausted in the little by little time, and when he was about to go back and come back tomorrow, Geng Jingzhong finally appeared.

With the sound of footsteps, a young man dressed in a scarlet trolling entered the hall, accompanied by a middle-aged official wearing a brocade rooster official uniform embroidered on his scarlet chest, and several entourages, and their long-awaited lord finally arrived. "I, Stuart, have been ordered by the Governor of Batavia to meet His Royal Highness the Prince, and the Governor has asked me to greet you on his behalf."

"Hehe, your governor has a heart, but there is one thing you are mistaken, I am no longer His Royal Highness the Prince, and now I am the Xingming of the Ming Dynasty to capture the Metropolitan Governor, you can directly call me Your Excellency the Metropolitan Governor!" Geng Jingzhong said with a smile. It seems that the Dutchman really did not know this, or he did it but felt that the title of prince was more noble. It's just a title, Geng Jingzhong just needs to correct it.

"Oh, Your Excellency the Grand Governor, it is a pleasure to meet you, this is a gift that the Governor has brought me to you, please smile!" As he spoke, his entourage opened several boxes behind them, which were filled with some relatively rare Western gadgets. At the same time, three Dutch girls walked behind them, all of them beautiful and moving, but they were previously veiled, which made people mistakenly think they were ordinary retinues.

"This" Geng Jingzhong was speechless, what is this. When you're a pervert? Will you be tempted when you see a beautiful woman? But until it is clear what the Dutchman is trying to do, it is better not to be angry, and it is not worth being angry. "Well, I've got the gift! Thank you, Your Excellency, on my behalf. After finishing speaking, he turned his head and whispered to Zeng Yangxing beside him: "Uncle Zeng, I remember that your second son has not yet married, and these three women will be regarded as my coming-of-age ceremony for him!" ”

In fact, in the past few years, there are not a few Westerners in Fujian who have intermarried with locals, and there is nothing that can't be seen about this matter, anyway, it's just three women, Zeng Yang smiled and replied: "Hehe, then I'll thank the Metropolitan Governor on behalf of the two boys in my family!" ”

Seeing that the other party did not take these gifts seriously at all, Stuart was not angry, but continued with a smile: "Your Excellency, our Governor said that the Netherlands should be your best friend, so it is very important to cooperate with you in a comprehensive way. As the head of the Dutch Consulate in the Far East, he sincerely hopes that you will be able to do business with us in the Netherlands, which will be of great benefit not only to you but also to us in the Netherlands. ”

"Oh!" Geng Jingzhong suddenly came to his senses when he heard this, the bait thrown by the Dutch was really tempting, but he didn't know that this bait was not poisonous. At this time, for Western countries, this trade right can be tightly controlled, once the Netherlands and Fujian start trade, the final benefit is still the Fujian side. (To be continued......)