Chapter 833: Failed Contact

When the word friendship is used between nations, it is often a lie. Whether the interests of the Ming Empire and France have anything in common is the key, and the last time the Imperial fleet arrived in Marseille, it was the Prime Minister's Mazaran who politely restrained him, and there was no problem with this. No one can let a group of guys armed to the teeth run around their own territory at will.

Pierre did not respond to Zhang Guangde's accusation, but directly changed the topic: "Your country's arming of Spain has actually hurt the interests of France and the friendship between Ming and France. ”

Zhang Guangde's brows furrowed, this guy looks very difficult. Fortunately, he didn't plan to talk about friendship with him, Zhang Guangde gave a very domineering answer along his topic: "Daming has no intention of being an enemy of any European country, nor does he reject the friendship of any European country." ”

"For example, the battle for the sea in the East Indies and the concession under your feet? And the gold coins that Spain paid for arms in exchange for your country's weapons and equipment? Pierre grasped the words with great astonishment, and the sarcasm in his tone was undisguised.

"It's really a joke, the Dutch people regard the kindness of the Ming Dynasty as weakness, and a few broken ships dare to show off their might in the Daming Sea and forcibly occupy my treasure island captain. Our Cabinet warned on several occasions, but the Netherlands ignored them, which led to a confrontation between the two countries. As a loser, the Dutch people have not complained, are you planning to declare war on the Ming Dynasty on behalf of France? The relationship between Portugal and the Ming Dynasty, I think you know it very well in your heart. As for the Spanish state, there is no enmity between the two countries. Why can't arms be sold? Zhang Guangde's face was excited, and even when he mentioned the declaration of war, his eyes were eager to try.

Pierre couldn't understand why this guy was so excited. It seemed nice to see France and Daming at war. Is it ......? Once this person enters the state of brain supplementation, the IQ will decline. The smarter a person is, the more likely they are to be cranky. If it is an opponent who knows better, this Pierre will not be like this, but he doesn't know much about the Ming Empire and Zhang Guangde. I know that he is pouring the advanced arms produced by Daming, and the business is very average.

The reason why arms are not easy to sell is because they are expensive. Now in Europe, the technology of flintlock hammers has not yet been solved, and it is still produced manually. The output is small, the cost is high, and the excitation rate is very low. According to information from the battlefield, the Spaniards were no longer using arquebuses in Luxembourg. Rather, it is a flintlock pistol that is lighter and easier to handle. Just the musket. The field guns used intensively by the Spaniards were powerful, had a high rate of fire, and were light and easy to transport.

Louis XIV didn't want to be a loser, and if he couldn't complete the task, Pierre's future would be uncertain when he returned. Now when I look at Zhang Guangde's posture, I naturally think in my heart, could it be that the Spaniards are one step ahead? Someone has been sent here. What ambassador (foreign minister) of the Ming Empire was bribed to advocate a joint war between Spain and the Ming Dynasty against France?

It's not impossible. The Spaniards were once powerful, they had colonies in Asia, and they had more contact with the Ming Dynasty. In case things are really as I thought, the fleet of the Ming Empire sailed over, don't dare to say anything else, blocking the coastline of France can't be done, it's okay to block your port, right? There is also the equipment of the Ming Dynasty, the number is not much now, and when it starts to fight with the Ming Dynasty, it will be transported in a steady stream, and a Spain will be able to cripple France. I shudder when I think about it.

"Your Excellency, the French Empire has no intention of being an enemy of the Ming Dynasty, and the purpose of my visit on behalf of His Majesty the Emperor is to build a bridge of friendship between the two countries." Pierre changed the subject again and began to talk about feelings.

Zhang Guangde didn't buy it at all, cocked Erlang's legs, lit a cigarette for himself, and said: "Once again, the Ming Empire will never take the initiative to infringe on the territory and interests of other countries. I'm here because the Portuguese are not clean, the smart people have run away, and he is the only one left. Okay, everyone is not stupid, if there is anything to say, don't go around in circles. ”

Pierre liked this guy a little directly, nodded and said, "Since that's the case, you're welcome." The French Empire wanted to purchase arms produced by the Ming Empire. Zhang Guangde smiled, stretched out his hand to the side, Ni Zhigao handed over a price list, it had been prepared for a long time, and he was waiting to be slaughtered for a year.

The representatives of the two countries tore off the veil of warmth and affection and talked about their interests in an undisguised manner. After reading the price list, Pierre's face was a little ugly, this price is simply grabbing. A musket costs 200 silver coins, and a cannon without ammunition dares to ask for 3000 silver coins. If there are only 10,000 smoothbore guns, it is 2 million silver coins. One hundred cannons, which is 200,000 silver coins.

"Although the quality of your country's arms is excellent, the price is really unacceptable." Pierre was not wronged, and if he accepted this price, he would definitely go back and feed Louis XIV to the dogs. Zhang Guangde knows that this price is absolutely inflated, but when he does business, he asks for a price all over the sky and pays back the money on the ground.

"Uh-huh!" This shrugged, what do you mean? In fact, Zhang Guangde has information that shows that after Louis XIV came to power, the country's economy was on the verge of collapse. In the following years, tax reforms were carried out. The state treasury was in a better situation, but Louis XIV was militaristic, and the country's economy never did well. Despite this, Zhang Guangde did not plan to dispose of the arms in his hand cheaply, after all, there were still three big customers to be slaughtered.

In Europe in this era, the industrial level was relatively hard and forced, in contrast, the Ming Dynasty had begun the industrialization process of the coastal provinces. The wealth plundered from abroad poured into the industrial sphere in large quantities, which was incomparable to the European countries. The industrial revolution of the British has not officially begun, and France is a piece of. In France, which is still dominated by agricultural civilization, is there a big Ming that has begun industrialization? To put it cruelly, an agrarian country cannot be compared with an industrial country at all. This point is very clear from the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Japan, a small country with only four islands, actually gave birth to the ambition of swallowing China.

"The unit price of a musket is 30 silver dollars, and the artillery is 300 yuan a piece." Pierre stubbornly opened a low price, in fact, he knew in his heart that this price was enough for Zhang Guangde to beat him out with a broom. But since it's business, hehehe.

"If memory serves, more than forty years ago, the Portuguese sold a batch of English minted naval guns to the Ming Empire for nearly four thousand taels of silver. Personally, I think that at the time, the price was reasonable. I would also like to remind you that even now, this price is still reasonable for naval guns. The field artillery produced by the Ming Dynasty, even if it is not valuable, whether the price offered by your Excellency is a little insulting remains to be studied. My instincts tell me that you are insincere. In that case, let's not talk about it any further. After speaking, Zhang Guangde stood up, turned around and walked inside.

Pierre was dumbfounded, he didn't expect this thing to be so fucked up, and he said that he would flip the table. Just when Pierre didn't know how to continue, Canon appeared with the maid and brought some small snacks. Seeing this scene, Canon was a little surprised, covering his mouth to look at Zhang Guangde and then at Pierre.

"Honey, what's wrong with this?" Zhang Guangde was not angry with Canon, but said with a smile: "Isn't France the cultural center of the European continent? It seems to me that the French gentlemen have not yet learned how to get along with people, and they habitually want to snatch something from others. ”

This is a bit insinuating, it is Portuguese, and Pierre, who has outstanding language talents, still understands it. Is this an allusion to the expansionist policies of the French Empire over the years? After the end of the Thirty Years' War, there was no calm in Europe, with the Netherlands fighting England and the Ottoman Empire plotting against Vienna. France has never been idle, isn't this a fight with Spain?

To put it mildly, Louis XIV's excuse for going to war was a bit of nonsense. But under the pretext of this thing, I really don't need too much theoretical basis, just have a so-so one. Hasn't Europe always played like this? Pierre didn't care about Zhang Guangde's sarcasm at all, he cared if the deal would be terminated.

Ni Zhigao was very competent, and made a gesture to Pierre: "Your Excellency, please go back." ”

The first contact was unhappy, Pierre had to maintain his demeanor, stood up and nodded: "I will come again, I hope that next time, both sides can have a good mentality." ”

Walking down the street, Pierre was not walking fast, wondering if there was something wrong with him. There is no doubt that this is the end of a failure, and this foreign minister of the Ming Empire does not seem to have much patience. Just when he felt helpless, a carriage approached and slowly stopped. Five of his attendants immediately stepped forward and stood in front of Pierre, watching warily at the carriage parked beside him. The car door opened, revealing the face of a noblewoman, and smiled at Pierre: "Your Excellency, it seems that you need help. Pierre recognized the woman and bowed slightly, "Marquise, I didn't expect to meet you here." ”

As the carriage continued, Pierre looked calmly at the lady opposite, a widow who had inherited the estate of the Marquis de Rambouillet. In Parisian social circles, this is a well-known woman, she has many aristocratic lovers and has a huge influence in Parisian high society. On the outskirts of Paris, she had a hacienda that often hosted some salons of high society.

"Honorable Madam, how did you end up here?" Pierre is a proactive person who does not intend to wait passively.

"The lover of His Excellency Zhang Guangde, the Foreign Minister of the Ming Empire, has some business dealings with me, and I heard that she is about to give birth, so I specially came to see her. Actually, I'm more curious, Dear Mistress Pierre, how did you end up here? Don't say anything about Portugal's participation in the diplomacy of the war against Spain, this is not Lisbon. (To be continued......)