"Your Excellency, you just said that you could take me to the industrial city to have a look, but I don't understand a little, what is an industrial city?"

Little Louis XIII, who was well-fed and well-fed, kept burping and had no image at all.

At this time, the waiter served them a cup of light black tea.

Zhang Tie and Xiao Louis have not left the noodle shop at this time.

The main thing is that someone is too full to eat, so some can't walk.

Anyway, there was nothing to do while sitting, so little Louis XIII chatted with Zhang Tie.

Earlier, he proposed to go to the capital to see, but because of the long distance, Louis Jr. gave up this idea.

But the administrator, Zhang Tie, suggested that he could go to another city with the same prosperity as Manhattan, but with a completely different urban development.

You can look at another city, and Little Louis is of course no problem.

Because in the cities of the Song Empire, there were too many things that surprised and curious him.

But what is an industrial city?

The city he knows the way, but what is the industry.

It is not surprising that Louis XIII the Younger did not know what to do, given that it was only the beginning of the 17th century, 1622.

It is important to know that the term industry did not begin to appear until the 19th century.

That's more than 200 years from now.

Hearing this, Zhang Tie smiled and said: "Well, industry, in fact, it is a city where all kinds of minerals are intensively mined, factories are concentrated, and there are large-scale shipyards and blacksmith shops." ”

As soon as Zhang Tie said this, little Louis XIII understood.

According to Zhang Tie, there are many blacksmith shops in that city, and there are many craftsmen of all kinds.

Louis XIII Jr. was a little unimpressed, and in his opinion there was nothing out of the ordinary.

In fact, where did he know the truth, the truth was completely different from what he imagined.

An industrialized city is not just a matter of having more blacksmith shops.

But in any case, an invitation was also issued. And he really wanted to see what the city was like outside of Manhattan, so little Louis agreed.

"Your Excellency, I wonder what you've been thinking about these days? You must know that now the vassal states of the Church Alliance have begun to prepare and train new legions. And I've been away from France for a long time, and things about aid ......"

After a little chatter, Louis XIII Jr. casually provoked the conversation.

Although they were not on a formal occasion, Louis Jr. did not want to miss any opportunity to inquire about the attitude of the Empire.

He's been in Manhattan for half a month now.

However, no progress has been made on the issue of aid.

It made him a little anxious.

Know the way. The situation in Europe is not up to itself.

When he talked to Zhang Tie about this issue earlier, Zhang Tie used the excuse that he needed to let the 'related' departments of the empire study and study, so the research dragged on for half a month.

Although the Reich can afford to drag it out, the problem is that France can't afford it.

The voyage to the Atlantic alone took more than fifty days.

Plus this half a month.

If the negotiation is settled, the return journey will take more than fifty days, and God knows what will happen to the European side.

Therefore, little Louis had to ask this question as if idle on such an occasion.

Zhang Tie took out a pack of large front door cigarettes from his pocket. Then he struck a match and lit it.

Big Front Door cigarettes are now very popular cigarettes in Manhattan, America.

"I'm also anxious about this matter, but I can't interfere with the affairs of the relevant departments. I think it will come to a conclusion in a while, after all, the loans and assistance you need are not a small number. ”

Not a decimal number, of course.

The amount of loan that the French need this time. But that's a lot of money.

A full 30 million dragon oceans, converted into the current currency of the French country, silver livre, that is 90 million.

Even if it is converted into gold louis, it is 12 million.

And that's just a loan. Not counting the weapons and ammunition that are required separately, there are also food, clothing, and so on.

If you do that, that's an astronomical sum.

You must know that the income of France is only more than a year now.

It's only a mere 25 million silver livres.

They are now proposing loans. And those aid supplies, but they are several times their annual income.

Therefore, Zhang Tie couldn't help but think about it carefully.

Isn't this the intention of the French to squander the money of the Empire.

What they think is too beautiful.

Therefore, Zhang Tie planned to delay it and not agree to their request for assistance in a short time.

And little Louis also understands that the request they have sent is a bit too difficult.

After all, that's a lot of money.

Even on the European continent, there is no country that can do it.

In fact, the French also understand that they themselves are asking too much.

It's just that they plan to bargain on the Empire's side.

is the so-called sky-high asking price, and the money is paid back on the ground.

The price is a little higher, even if the two sides raise the price at the last time, the French will still get enough benefits.

Therefore, with such considerations, the French would rather demand more than too low.

As for the thoughts of the French, Zhang Tie can more or less guess some.

But even so, Zhang Tie didn't plan to agree too quickly.

At the same time, in addition to loans, the fact that the French wanted unlimited aid from the imperial side with weapons and ammunition made Zhang Tie a little strange.

In fact, Zhang Tie still likes aid weapons and ammunition very much.

After all, weapons and ammunition, not gratuitous assistance.

Although the French have no way to pay now, they can sign an agreement on the arrears.

Anyway, the French side will always have to pay it back when the time comes.

Not to mention, there will be interest at that time.

What's more, what is the most profitable thing in this world?

It's always the same since ancient times, and that's munitions.

If the French really began to get arms from themselves, wouldn't the empire have another way to make money in the future?

That's a great thing.

It's just that the French want too much ammunition, muskets, cold weapons, and armor.

Zhang Tie pondered. If the French were to be equipped too strongly, it would be very undesirable for them to defeat the Church side.

Therefore, Zhang Tie sent people to Europe by boat and told the administrative officials of the concession to let them go and have a secret contact with the people of the church to see if they were interested in weapons or anything.

In short, there should be a great demand for weapons and supplies in the chaos in Europe.

When he didn't get a reply from the European side, Zhang Tie could delay it for a day here, so it would be delayed for a day.

Besides. In the list of weapons of the French, the number of muskets was in the greatest demand.

It can be seen that the French now also want to use the war to train and train a number of musket units.

It's just that the French don't have the same strong musket manufacturing process as the Empire, and they still use arquebuses.

Compared to the light flintlock pistols of the Empire, it is simply incomparable.

Besides, if you want to equip a large number of troops, you won't be able to rely on those musket shops in France.

So. The French simply wanted to get a batch of muskets from the Empire and send them directly to the troops, which also saved time in manufacturing.

In this way, a musket unit can be formed in a short time, isn't it?

It's just that the French did not take into account another problem.

That's this flintlock pistol, they can't make. Then in the future they will definitely be stuck in the arms of the Empire.

It's just that the French don't think about this at all, what they need is a lot of weapons, which can be quickly equipped into the troops.

Because the musket tactics of the imperial side are really too sharp.

Performance on the side of the American Volunteers. D'Artagnan is really in the eye.

After receiving d'Artagnan's report, the French began to pay attention to musket tactics.

At the beginning, the number of volunteers in the Americas was only more than 8,000 people, but against the Holy Roman Empire army of 50,000 or 60,000 people. Unexpectedly, he did not fall behind and defeated the other party at the same time.

Such a result could not help but make the eyes of the French shine.

But the problem is that the French don't have so many muskets for their troops, and the muskets used by the American volunteers are much more advanced than those used in arquebuses.

The level and craftsmanship of the French muskets were far from those of the Empire.

"I can't answer the question of the loan here, and at the same time, I don't have the right to call the shots when it comes to supplies and food. But the reply from the military department was very fast, muskets and weapons, as well as all kinds of armor and so on, there was no problem. ”

Every now and then you have to give a sweet date to eat, and you can't disappoint the French too much.

Zhang Tie still understands this truth.

So, he said to Louis XIII Jr.

In fact, the Ministry of War and Intelligence have long analyzed that the purpose of the French asking for weapons is simple.

And the benefits that the empire can get from this are also very large, so there is no reason to refuse at all.

With the current level of technology of the French, it would take at least a few decades to make a flintlock pistol.

What's more, since the Empire's flintlock muskets cracked the process, all the builders have been set up on the side of Ontario City, and the builders have been secretly monitored.

The empire also doesn't have to worry about the manufacturing process leaking out in a short period of time.

Therefore, when the time came, the French used the weapons of the Reich, and later replenishment and other aspects could not do without the Reich.

And the Ministry of War and Intelligence also felt that it would not be good for the Reich to make the French too strong.

The best way to do this is to make the weapons of the Empire pop up quickly on the European continent.

The position of the empire is that of an arms dealer.

The more chaotic Europe is, the more profitable the empire is, and the more benefits it will have.

The question now is how to make other countries besides France begin to need Imperial weapons.

That's the most important point.

It is precisely because of this that Zhang Tie will send people to Europe and order the concession officials in Lisbon and Marseille to settle the matter.

Of course, when Europe is in turmoil, the Arab world cannot give up.

The Ottomans have always had their eyes on the European continent, so I guess they need weapons too.

When the time comes, the European vassal states will use imperial weapons to go to war, which will definitely be an eye-opener for the Ottoman Empire.

At that time, the empire could also take the opportunity to contact the Ottoman Empire to sell its own arms.

Isn't the concession in Cairo, Egypt, also under construction?

At that time, with the Cairo Concession as the center, the imperial arms will be able to enter the Arab world.

The tribal chiefs of the Arab world must have liked this lightweight weapon.

Even if they don't like muskets, the Empire can still supply weapons from the Metaverse.

The cold and made with modern technology will definitely make these people like it.

The visit of Louis XIII Jr. has already given the Imperial Military Department and the intelligence services some new ideas.

"Oh, it's great that the Empire has already made a decision on the aid of weapons." , Just when Zhang Tie began to think crankily after telling Little Louie about this, Little Louis waved his fist excitedly.

Yes, his loan and weapons assistance this time is the most important thing.

I think right, those clothes and food are not very important.

After all, the clothing of the French army can now make do with itself, and the food will not starve to death.

Only loans and weapons are what they need most.

"Yes, we can supply 10,000 pairs of armor, 50,000 standard machetes, 50,000 bayonets, and 30,000 flintlock guns."

Such a number is enough to form an army of 100,000 people.

What else could little Louis XIII be unhappy about?

"It's just that the military department has just drawn it up, and it hasn't been notified to me yet. It will take a while to think about it, after all, there are a lot of procedures and procedures to go through. ”

Zhang Tie shrugged his shoulders at Little Louis and looked at him with a helpless expression.

Little Louis didn't care about that.

As long as this matter is settled, what does it matter if it drags on for a few days.

As the heir to France, he also knew that certain departments of an empire could be dragged on, so he said he knew a lot about it.

"Are you sure about this?"

Louis XIII Jr. asked.

Zhang Tie nodded and replied, "One of my cronies is in the Ministry of Intelligence, so what I said to you is absolutely true. ”

Call!

Little Louis XIII exhaled.

"That's fine, with weapons we don't have to worry about the Church Alliance."

Zhang Tie looked at Little Louis with a smile, and said in his heart: I hope that with these weapons, the French can compete more. When the time comes, let the Church Coalition know that the Church Alliance knows how powerful it is, and when they know the power of the muskets, we can sell our weapons to them very well, right?

It all depends on whether the French can beat them up.

For the Empire, the bigger the war in Europe, the better it will be for the Empire.

Wow haha!

In his heart, Zhang Tie laughed wildly.

After a few more conversations with Louis XIII Jr., the two left the noodle shop and went outside, taking the guards who were waiting outside.

The French are still unaware, and in the eyes of the Empire, they are just an existence that can be exploited.

If the need arises, the Empire could even pay soldiers somewhere to help the Church Alliance.

As long as it's good for the Empire, isn't it.

The Song Empire is the blackest and most shameless (to be continued......