Considering this, Guo Kang took the initiative to say: "We don't think we can provide much of what you need here. If you have a surplus of iron, you can export it to us. But those iron ores must first meet your own military needs. ”

"Yes, we are vigorously building armaments during this time, and it is estimated that the export of iron ore and iron tools will still be very limited." Sun Shiwan didn't hide it, and said: "But because of the demand in this area, we still want to purchase a lot of things from you." As mentioned before, these items, we can also trade them with quotas for goods such as silk and sugar. ”

"What do you need?" Guo Kang asked directly.

"Good wood." Sun Shiwan said: "Since your country wants to develop the north, it will definitely cut down a large number of trees. As far as we know, much of the undeveloped part of the Rus region is covered with swamps and forests. These trees, to the locals, are in the way, but to us, they are excellent timbers. We are willing to purchase in large quantities, and the price is negotiable. ”

"You want so much wood...... Guo Kang thought about it, and then understood: "Oh, you also want to build a big ship, right?" ”

"Yes." Sun Shiwan nodded: "We have already cut a lot of wood over there, and it is estimated that it is not a way to fish like this." Moreover, we also found that there is a lot of wood in the cold region, and the quality is also very high. ”

"Before, we commissioned the expedition to the eastern province and went north along the Whale Sea, and we found a lot of high-quality woodland. However, they also had to build ships themselves, and the Ming navy wanted to cut off the route from time to time, so we thought that they could not rely too much on that side. ”

"If you want to go to Egypt to do business, we can support it." "We can work together to get good timber out of the Black Sea, transshipment it over Egypt, and then all the way to us," he said. Of course, I think that's a bit of a waste of capacity. If the Egyptian side can be stabilized, I think we can build ships on the spot. ”

"On the spot?" Guo Kang really hadn't thought about this before.

"Yes." Sun Shiwan said with certainty: "Egypt itself has a certain shipbuilding industry, and both of us can also send craftsmen to build ships directly in the Red Sea ports." If this plan can be implemented, it will bring a lot of income to Egypt and to your country. For us, it's an extra guarantee. ”

"My Dayuan's shipbuilding industry is in the major ports of the South Seas. Although the scale and technology are okay, after all, it is too close to the front line and too concentrated. He explained: "We have been fighting with the Ming army for decades, and now the navigation technology of both sides is not comparable to that of the past." For sea routes, everyone is becoming more and more familiar. The performance of the ship is also getting better and better, and it is more suitable for the sea conditions in the South China Sea and the open ocean. But in this way, our strategic position is a bit of a loss. ”

"The sea is no better than the land, and there are no checkpoints on the sea. The Ming army set off from Guangzhou and Jiaozhou, and was able to reach all the major ports in Nanyang. If they continue to harass like this, it will definitely interfere with our shipyard. Whether it is the replenishment of merchant ships or the construction of warships, they will be affected. But on the other hand, because they have a lot of people and many ports, we want to harass them, and the effect is probably not so good. ”

"So you want to arrange the shipyard a little farther away......" Guo Kang understood.

"Yes." Sun Shiwan said: "At present, we only control many ports, and we have been lacking sufficient depth. So although Dayuan is big, there is no way back now, and the port of Java is right out. It will be very unfavorable for a long-term war in the future. ”

"However, even if the Ming army increases its troops, it is now running around in the South Seas, and it is impossible to run directly to the West Ocean. We should be able to solve this problem by building a number of industries there. He proposed: "If your country can agree, we can also help to contact countries and ports along the route." Although we are not able to provide direct military assistance, we have been doing business in the West all year round, and we still have these connections. In the future, it should be able to help as well. ”

"It should be no problem to sell wood." After Guo Kang finished speaking, he looked at Wang Da Lama: "As for shipbuilding, you can negotiate with local businessmen yourself." If they are willing, you will buy our wood and find it made by Egyptians, and we will not care. But whether or not the government-run workshops can participate is not up to me. I can only help you ask and see what the imperial court has planned. ”

"No problem, thank you Guo Gongzi for your help." Sun Shiwanwan nodded: "I personally still hope that we can talk." If it succeeds, it is still possible for us to cooperate in iron smelting in the future. Because shipbuilding also needs iron, in this case, we can also invest in related industries. If you're interested, we can work together to forge and buy guns. ”

Guo Kang didn't want to give him an answer to this. Although it sounds good, the investment of so much money and craftsmen means that the Javanese dollar will definitely take advantage of the situation and ask for other benefits in terms of politics, military and so on. There are so many issues involved here that we have to think about it slowly.

Of course, there are other benefits to his direct opening. Seeing that such a big businessman expressed his position directly, everyone also responded one after another. Guo Kang's plan received a lot of approval at once.

Grand Lama Wang was also very happy and arranged for a clerk to come and prepare to record the specific donation items. As for more cooperation, they will make more detailed arrangements later.

Guo Kang also completed the task and left with Theodora.

"I've heard that you're asking for a lot of money from those merchants." Walking around the corner, Theodora said to him, "The plan is also huge. Judging from this amount, you alone will be responsible for a lot. Do you need me to help you manage that? ”

"You may not be able to manage this project." Guo Kang thought about it, but still shook his head and refused: "Now is the very beginning, every step is important. I think it's better to forget it. ”

"How big of a project do you think I can manage?" Theodora didn't look very happy and asked, "You can give me a portion, or you may." ”

"Didn't you just manage a few charity projects before?" Guo Kang asked rhetorically: "I think, you should only be in charge of some financial projects in the capital city at most." The operation in the Ross area is too large, too scattered, and the specific situation is too complicated, so it may not work. ”

"Then how can you do it yourself?" Theodora questioned, "How big of a project can you run yourself?" ”

"Me? Of course, the bigger the better. Guo Kang disagreed: "I already have a very detailed idea. The more resources and manpower the imperial court gives me, the better I can do. If they give me two or three more corps, I will be able to pull out the first batch of ten auxiliary brigades in five years, and I will be able to complete the preliminary organization of thirty war regiments in ten years. It shouldn't be too difficult. ”

"Isn't the biggest problem now that we lack the skills and have limited investment? Otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered to organize so many non-governmental forces and outsiders to help. He sighed and said helplessly.

“……”

Theodora was not very reconciled, but after thinking about his previous performance, he always felt that this thing might not be bragging, and he didn't know how to refute it for a while.

"The last time I said this to someone surnamed Liu, he was a person who was very capable of death." She complained: "I think it's better for you not to brag about this kind of every day." ”

"What's the same thing...... Guo Kang didn't understand it for a while, or maybe he didn't bother to think about it. He was stunned for a moment, then returned to his topic, and said to himself: "In this way, the presidents of the Chamber of Commerce just now, I am going to take the time to visit again." You can help me with this kind of thing. ”

"Huh? Which is it? Theodora hurriedly asked.

"Everything. Like that Georgian one, you can go to him first. Guo Kang said: "In the current situation, they may not have made up their minds and are not willing to pay in a hurry." But these people have a lot of connections in their hometown, and I wonder if I can give them some monetary benefits, so that they can organize some skilled people to help mine and open up wasteland. ”

"After the death of Emperor Timur, western Persia and the Caucasus were in chaos. Without his strong suppression, the Turkmen warlords of all walks of life raised troops one after another, and their big men often couldn't control their subordinates, and the fight became a mess. ”

"Our garrison in the Caucasus is only enough to defend the existing territories and fortresses. I heard from my father that a few years ago, the Georgians there organized a delegation to lobby in the capital, hoping to transfer more troops from the Timur Salawan province to recover all the old lands of the Kingdom of Georgia and shelter their compatriots. However, the imperial court was using troops against the west and the north at that time, and it could not draw people, so it did not agree......"

"Even if I can draw it, I don't think I will agree." Theodora shook his head and interjected in a low voice: "The division of the Kingdom of Georgia is actually a good thing. They were only more afraid of Timur, which is why they wanted to take refuge in us for the time being. Moreover, our annexation of the eastern shores of the Black Sea was more a political act by my great-grandmother, the Queen Mother, by political means than by military conquest. Many local aristocrats were not convinced. ”

"Now, if we help them unify their kingdoms, these people will immediately become confident that they are too numerous and powerful to threaten the surrounding Turkmen tribes, and they will start plotting a rebellion."

"Then can they beat others?" Guo Kang was puzzled: "Next to Georgia, there are still a lot of large and small forces." ”

"I can't beat it." Theodora was confident of this: "Next door to them is the home of the Safavid Order. Timur ordered the order to collect local taxes on their behalf, so there were often conflicts with them. There are often various large and small conflicts between the two sides, and the Georgian natives have never won...... I know these local tyrants very well, and they don't know anything but bragging now. Even for the sake of the local people, I don't think we should meet their strange demands. ”

"That's ......" Guo Kang understood a little: "No wonder the people over there like to run to the other side of the Black Sea, to the hinterland of our side." It seems that there may be a feeling that the mountain rain is coming. ”

"You want to recruit them to help?" Theodora asked.

"Yes." "It's all up to us to fill it, and there's still a big gap in the short term, so I'm going to recruit people from two sources," Guo said. One is the Alemanni, which we've tried. Also, the Caucasians. ”

"The Alemanni should be fine." Theodora thought for a moment and said, "Before, the Wu Wangfu hired some Alemanni people, so I also specialized in research. The situation on their side is a bit like France one or two hundred years ago, because the population has increased, but the agricultural technology has not improved much, resulting in the common people have no place to live, and the small and medium-sized nobles have no place to settle their children. In this way, they will either have to wage crusades externally, or they will have to fight each other themselves. ”

"The French were fortunate to be at the time when the Catholic Church was at its most appealing, and could let the nobles and knights go to Jerusalem to vent their excess energy. But now, the Alemanni don't have that chance. They migrated to Bohemia and Hungary in order to carve out a new space for their lives like the Baltic Crusaders. But people in these places are not so easy to bully. To be honest, I don't know who is fighting now. ”

"I heard that our Royal Highness King Wu has been active over there in the past few years." "I look at what they say, although this person doesn't have much talent, so that as long as he makes some big decisions, it's basically bad," she said. However, he is very popular among the European folk. ”

"At first, I also thought that he was recruiting some roosters and dog thieves, and it would not work. But looking at it now, among those who are — or those who can hold on — the average is pretty good. If we want to recruit people from the private sector on a larger scale, we can probably introduce him directly. ”

"We can give him more preferential conditions, ask him to come forward to help, and use his reputation and connections to contact the small guilds and small lords in those places who want money, and ask them to turn those poor craftsmen who have no business, old apprentices who have no places to turn them into regulars, young sons who have no property to inherit, and broken knights who have no land to seal...... Bring the extra apprentices and the people and the like, and give us all the package. In this way, it may save money and trouble than going directly to the businessman. ”

"That's a good thing." Guo Kang thought for a while and agreed: "What about the Caucasians? ”

"Find a church." Without hesitation, Theodora said, "The merchants are unreliable, but the church is much better." Because of the special situation on their side, many of the people who wanted to leave were persecuted by heretics, lords and bandits from all walks of life. Whether it's for religious reasons or traditional means of seeking asylum, in this case, everyone will habitually go to the church. ”

Compared to the lords and merchants, the church was actually more isolated there, and it was much more difficult to even run away and pretend to convert. So, it's a lot easier to meet their requirements. Moreover, the people of the church generally have a higher level of education. What we need most is people with management skills and skills. On the church's side, there should be a lot of them. ”

"When these people come to our wilderness, we will regroup them and join our cantonment regiments and farms. In this way, the efficiency can be greatly improved. ”

"No problem." Guo Kang nodded and said, "It's true that you can do it directly." ”

"What's the matter, do you still say I can't take care of things?" Theodora still seems to be haunted.

“…… Okay, you can. Guo Kang said helplessly.

"What an attitude?" Dissatisfied, Theodora grabbed him and dragged him away.

(End of chapter)