"Welcome, my friend." In Berlin, Scrooge met Bismarck, who later became famous as the "iron-blooded prime minister".

"For our common good, of course." Scrooge replied. In front of Bismarck, a smart man who is second to none in German history and can even be called the number one, there is no need to say all those nonsense and deceptive nonsense. Getting straight to the point is probably the best thing to do.

"I know that your country is preparing for war with France. That's what I'm here for. Scrooge sat down on the couch next to Bismarck.

"How do you know that we are going to war with France?" Bismarck did not admit it, and, of course, he did not deny it.

"Your political goal is to turn the Kingdom of Prussia into the German Empire, right?" Scrooge smiled, "The unification of the German states, the creation of a unified German empire, this is not even your goal alone, but the goal of Prussia as a whole. I think anyone who pays attention to the several dynastic wars in Prussia over the years can come to such conclusions. ”

"That's just your opinion." Bismarck said.

"France has a lot of interests in the southern German states, which are the traditional markets of France. Once they were incorporated into the future German Empire, the French could not but fear that they would lose the market there, not to mention the fact that Prussian industry was developing so fast and that it was in great need of it. So, if I were Napoleon III, I would definitely not want to see the unification of Germany. ”

Scrooge glanced at Bismarck, and he saw that there was no expression on Bismarck's face, so he continued: "In addition, although Europe is large, it cannot accommodate two land powers. At the beginning, for the hegemony of the European continent, Napoleon III's France could go to the Crimea to fight the Russians, and now that your country is next to France, how can the French watch your country grow up like this? His Majesty Napoleon III had already proven that in order to ensure hegemony, he was willing to go to war. And your country has proved more than once that you are willing to go to war in order to unify Germany. So, I think the possibility of a war between you and France is very high, and it would be a miracle not to have a war on the contrary. ”

"But we are not interested in the so-called continental hegemony." Bismarck said.

"It's not a question of whether you're interested, it's whether you're capable of it. I think that the German nation is a great nation, and once it is united, it will shake the world whether he wants it or not. Germany did not lack such capabilities, and Emperor Napoleon III would have believed that countries with such capabilities would not pursue such hegemony? Doesn't he want to nip danger in the bud? ”

"What's more, the pursuit of control over a larger market is almost the instinct of industrial countries, and this is the pursuit of hegemony." Scrooge thought in his heart, "This is like in the rabbit country of later generations, although the harmless white rabbit wears rabbit skin every day, shouts Taoguang every day, and never dominates, but the rabbit threat theory is still super marketable, so that the rabbit skin is almost unbearable." Why is that? The reason is that whoever makes the rabbit country want to become an industrial power, there is no industrial power that does not pursue hegemony. Don't think you'll be fooled by wearing a bunny skin. ”

"We have no ambition to dominate Europe, but since the German people want reunification, of course we have to work for it." Bismarck said, "In order to deal with the problems that may arise in the process of reunification, we really need to be prepared for all kinds of things." ”

"I'm bringing with me something that will be beneficial to the reunification of Germany." Scrooge said with a smile.

On this visit to Prussia, Scrooge mainly wanted to do a few things. First, we will continue to deepen our cooperation with Prussia in industrial technology. First, Scrooge intended to sell the Prussians the technology associated with tube withdrawal and high-explosive shells, which had never been used before. On the one hand, it would add a sum of income to their wallets, and on the other hand, it would also give the Prussians more courage to start a war against France sooner, and to have more courage after winning the war against France. In the original history, after the German victory, it extorted 5 billion francs from France (the value of this indemnity was about 1,500 tons of gold, based on the price of one franc equal to about 0.3 grams of gold at that time). At the price of silver at the time, it was about 800 million taels of silver. about four times the amount of the indemnity paid by the later Treaty of Shimonoseki), ceded Alsace and Lorraine, and occupied the six northern provinces of France until France paid the reparations. It was also a market for German industrial goods for a long time. Scrooge knew that it was precisely because of the preparations for the war that Prussia might not be able to come up with enough cash. But it doesn't matter, you don't need any cash from him, you can lend them money, and let them use the money borrowed from you to buy weapons and related technology. Anyway, when they win, they will naturally be able to take money out of the French reparations and pay them back. Well, considering that this is futures, and considering the risk, it should naturally be more returned.

"In order to help your country maintain peace, I have brought you something like this." Scrooge said as he took something out and placed it on the table.

"Ah, you always carry so many things with you." Bismarck smiled, "You know, I'm not an expert and don't know much about these things. If the crown prince is here, well, he might be interested in that. But for me, there are too many of these things, or you can talk to me about the important ones. ”

"Well," said Scrooge, "remember the grenade, right?" ”

"Hmm." Bismarck motioned for him to continue.

"Now, we have a cannon that fires shells that hit and explode like grenades, but many times more powerful than grenades. Moreover, a young man, well, like the big Chinese guy I was carrying, about the same height and waist circumference, was able to throw a defensive grenade sixty meters away, which was not easy. But a cannon can easily fire a shell much heavier than a grenade at a distance of 8 kilometers, destroying a qiē at a distance of thirty meters around with a single shell. Like my Hercules bodyguard, he can drop twenty grenades into a trench sixty meters away in a minute, but my cannon, under the control of the best gunner, can fire thirty shells into the enemy's ranks in one minute. Scrooge began to be a princess and boasted about his melons.

"Wait, how many shells do you say a minute?" Bismarck interrupted Scrooge. It's not that Bismarck was hard of hearing, or that he didn't trust Scrooge and thought he was bragging. After all, Scrooge had not worked with Prussia once or twice, and his credibility was generally quite good. The Prussians with whom he had done business knew that Mr. MacDonald was a profiteer, but as long as he signed a contract, his reputation was really good.

"In the hands of the most elite artillery team, thirty rounds per minute, and in the hands of a passable artillery team, twenty rounds can be easily fired." Scrooge replied quietly.

"This is a revolutionary change for artillery, this speed is even faster than firing a gun, and the firepower of such a cannon can not be equivalent to fifty or sixty guns in the past? Well, you don't brag too much, and I can trust that. It's expensive, isn't it? ”

"Everywhere, my weapons have always been a model of cheap and good quality." Scrooge said, "As you said, one of my cannons can withstand at least fifty ordinary guns, but my cannons are cheaper than fifty ordinary guns." In addition, you are an old friend and customer of ours, so we will give you a discount, which will be calculated at half the price of fifty ordinary guns. If you're not a regular customer, the average person can't really buy such a cheap rapid-fire cannon from us......"

"Well, that's a good thing to hear you say, but it's too expensive." Bismarck shook his head and said. "Honestly, we can't afford to be equipped at this price."

"You can reduce the troops, anyway, one can top dozens of gates." Scrooge said.

"We still have to look at the samples before we can make a decision. Also, Mr. MacDonald, you know, we don't really have that much money right now. I wonder if you can give us some loans, um, like last time. In addition, is the technology of such an artillery of yours transferable? Bismarck asked.

"I'm fine, I have two sample cannons on my boat, ready for your inspection. As before, as long as you and your country can continue to maintain good credit, I am certainly willing to lend you money. No businessman will let go of what he has to make and not make it. Well, I think that in contemporary times, the problem of a qiē heavy dà can actually be solved by certain economic means. Scrooge replied.

"Perhaps, well, I forgot, you are a great admirer of Marx's political economics, and from his point of view, politics is the continuation of the economy, and war is the continuation of politics, and it makes sense for you to say so. The crown prince will be back tomorrow. He's interested in these technical stuff, so let's set up a time tomorrow afternoon to try out your two cannons. Bismarck said, "I've heard that you just made a business in England about the exchange of technology, and I wonder if we can do the same with each other?" ”

"Absolutely, Your Excellency the Prime Minister, I am also very interested in some of your country's technologies in electrical and smelting, especially in heat treatment, and I have great admiration for your country's achievements in mathematics. I would also like to facilitate cooperation between the University of Göttingen and Cleveland University. ”