October 24, Yingzhou (now Newcastle, Australia).

A train from the north slowly stopped on the platform, and Spencer Compton, Minister Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of England and Baron of Wilmington, rose from his soft leather chair, stretched out his arms and stretched out a large lazy waist.

Truth be told, he's kind of a fan of the convenient means of transportation by train now. In the warm and comfortable box, there are various drinks such as alcohol, coffee, milk, cocoa, as well as snacks such as biscuits, pastries, canned food, etc., as well as various pictorials, books, and newspapers to pass the time of boredom - but unfortunately, they are all square Chinese characters, and he can't read them at all.

When you are tired, you can sit back on the leather chair and close your eyes and take a nap. In the evening, there is a soft and comfortable bed, so you can easily fall asleep.

If you are hungry, you can go to the clean and tidy food truck to enjoy a delicious meal, and order a few plates of seasonal fruits, everything seems so relaxed and comfortable.

That's the best way to travel!

As for the traditional horse-drawn carriage, oh, to hell with it!

"After the end of the war between the British and the Qi, we will introduce the railroad and trains to the Kingdom of England anyway." Under the guidance of several Qi diplomatic escorts, when he went to the VIP room on the platform, Baron Spencer Compton turned his head to look at the box behind him, and thought to himself.

Yingzhou, an important town in the southeast of Hanzhou, the largest coal export base in China, with a population of about 200,000, is a hub station from south to north, where the train will stop for 30 minutes to add coal and water, and by the way, a little overhaul of the steam locomotive, ready to set off for the next journey.

At this time, it was already evening, but countless gas lamps illuminated the train platform and waiting room, as bright as day.

The discovery of coal gas can be traced back to more than 80 years ago, when the Qi State was refining coal to coke. However, at that time, due to the simplicity of the gas collection container, and the fact that scientific researchers at that time did not fully grasp the properties of the gas, did not make use of it. I just think that the gas released from the coal can be easily burned, and the fire is very bright.

It was not until the 26th year of Qianwu (1668) that a senior craftsman of the Black Mountain Coke Factory successfully installed the first gas lamp in the workshop using gas, and then turned this "useless" gas into treasure and applied it to actual production and life.

Originally, the lamps were unsafe and prone to flammable explosions when used indoors, so they were only used sporadically as city street lights.

Later, after improvement, the various safety hazards of gas lamps were gradually eliminated, and they slowly began to be promoted and applied from Jianye Mansion to all parts of the country, and there was a tendency to gradually replace whale oil lamps with poor lighting effects.

Up to now, the modern life of Qi has been inseparable from the support of gas. The gas lamps have a strong illumination ability to illuminate the streets and private homes even brighter. Many government departments and large-scale factories have also introduced and installed gas lamps, after all, when you work overtime at night, you can't rely on the dim light of candles or oil lamps to help you do things, can you?

The factory's new machines are able to run day and night, and with cheap gas lamps, it is cost-effective to produce night shifts with large areas of lighting. Then, in response to the general demand for expanding production, local municipalities began to replace street lights one after another, installing such lighting equipment on the roadside of most of the factories and mines that were still black and foggy. In this way, it is safe for workers to walk at night, making shift production more secure. In some places, gas companies have planned to lay underground pipe networks so that gas can flow down the pipes into the lamps in the streets, alleys, halls and halls.

It can be said that one of the most "bright" marks in the industrialization process of Qi is this artificial light that emits a pale light, and it spreads from Hanzhou to the world, illuminating those "ignorant" areas that are still in darkness.

For the application of gas, in addition to gas lamps, Qi researchers also developed and manufactured gas stoves and gas stoves for use by the urban middle class and high income class. As soon as this "clean energy" was launched, it was immediately strongly supported by the government, because the use of gas stoves is more effective than direct coal burning, and it produces almost no exhaust gases, which is of great benefit to improving the air quality of the whole city.

Some of the powerful and wealthy people also pursued this new thing after using gas stoves and gas stoves, and regarded it as a symbol of modern civilized life, after all, no one wants their beautiful house to be smoked black by soot.

The elite and wealthy are like this, and those middle-class with higher incomes naturally have to keep up with the pulse of the times, catch up with the fashion, buy corresponding gas stoves, and try their best to bring their living standards closer to the upper classes.

According to the rough estimate of the commercial investment agency, with the government's vigorous promotion, the production and sales of gas stoves and gas stoves should be able to increase at a rate of 8-10% per year, which will gradually reduce the production cost and initial installation fee, and then stimulate the further increase in the sales of these products, and finally make it the standard for families above the middle class in Qi.

Well, multi-storey residential and apartment buildings in cities will introduce such products in large numbers, making the installation and use of gas stoves and gas stoves more intensive and large-scale, and further reducing their costs.

This thing is much more convenient than using a coal stove in the corridor, and the indoor environment will be cleaner and more hygienic.

The rise of gas stoves and gas stoves will cause the sales of honeycomb coal to begin to decline, which should be a high probability thing, and will inevitably affect the operating profits of related honeycomb coal plants.

During the reign of Emperor Taizu, in order to protect the fragile environment of the Han continent, a "Forest Protection Law" was promulgated, which strictly prohibited people from cutting down the surrounding areas of residence and primeval forests to avoid local soil erosion.

In order to provide fuel for cooking fires, Hanzhou has established a honeycomb coal plant in almost every county to sell machine-made briquettes. As a result, local city dwellers now mainly use briquettes for cooking and boiling water – one of the city's main sources of pollution, and the cost is not much more expensive than buying firewood.

In rural areas, thrifty farmers generally use harvested crop straw and scavenging dead wood and weeds as fuel in order to save money, supplemented by a small amount of honeycomb coal. Of course, there are also a small number of wealthy farmers who like to use honeycomb coal to show off their status, which is another matter.

In fact, it is also very fair to say that God has given the Hanzhou continent barren land, not abundant water resources and unpredictable climate and environment, but it seems to compensate for the lack of this land, and has endowed the Hanzhou continent with rich mineral resources: the coveted gold and silver mines, the extremely high-grade and abundant iron ore, and the same huge reserves of coal mines, all of which have laid a solid material foundation for the industrialization of Qi country.

Coal, as the most important industrial fuel in this period, has been used to the extreme by Qi State, from coal mining, to coal refining, extraction, and a series of related ancillary products derived from it, has constituted the coal chemical industry that has begun to take shape in Qi State.

It's not just light that you get from coal, it's also a dirty, slimy, and foul-smelling oil – coal tar. Through coal tar, more than a dozen dyes can be synthesized, which are used for dyeing in the cotton textile industry, which is more reliable than the dyes extracted from plants, and the raw materials obtained are more stable. Well, this is also one of the important reasons why the quality of dyed cotton cloth in Qi is generally better than that of other countries.

In addition to this, coal tar contains a number of noteworthy chemicals that could create a whole new field of industrial research.

The first was the extraction of a substance from coal tar that would later become very important, called aniline.

Aniline is one of the most important intermediates in the dye industry, and can be used to make various colors of dyes in the dye industry. In the pesticide industry in later generations, it was used to produce many insecticides and fungicides; Aniline is also an important raw material for rubber additives, which is used to make antioxidants; It can also be used as a raw material for pharmaceutical sulfonamides, and is also an intermediate in the production of spices, plastics, varnishes, films, etc.; It can even be used as a stabilizer in explosives.

The second is the conversion of aniline into phenol, another substance. Phenol is commonly known as colpetrolic acid, which has the functions of sterilization and antiseptic. It was first used in a trial sewage treatment process and later gained fame when a surgeon at the Royal College of Physicians used it to prevent post-operative infections. It was this doctor's achievement that enabled many patients who underwent surgery to avoid dying due to rotting wounds.

However, the most important thing is the third discovery in coal tar - aniline black. This is the first organic dye obtained from the laboratory. Its appearance has aroused great interest in the chemical community of Qi State. After years of exploration and experimentation, aniline black has gradually been used in industrial printing inks, wood coatings, decorative coatings, plastic coatings, shoe polish coloring, leather dyeing and other purposes.

"If we can introduce relevant coal chemical technology from Qi, it will definitely turn the rich coal resources of the Kingdom of England into a huge commercial resource." After listening to the entourage's brief introduction to the development of Qi's coal chemical industry, Baron Spencer Compton had a somewhat fascinated expression on his face.

The armistice agreement between the British and Qi has come to an end after more than four months of painstaking negotiations in Chang'an. After the Kingdom of England made huge concessions, the main terms of the contract were tentatively agreed, and all that remained was the details and how the parties would follow them in the future.

Under these circumstances, Baron Spencer Compton decided to return to Europe and submit the draft contract to Parliament for consideration and to His Majesty's Royal Gaze. If nothing else, the parliament will vote for it, and His Majesty will sign and seal it, and the Anglo-Qinian War will come to an end.

Before the negotiations began, at the strong request of Baron Compton, the Qi government agreed to the proposal to temporarily suspend all acts of war, and to lift the blockade and harassment of the Kingdom of England and even the North Atlantic routes.

In this way, the Kingdom of England could breathe a sigh of relief and could import some much-needed grain, timber, sugar, tea, coffee, and other necessary production and daily necessities from abroad.

And the goods piled up in various ports can also sail smoothly to North American territory and several tropical islands in the Caribbean, in exchange for massive amounts of tobacco, cotton, and lovely gold and silver currency.

In three years compared to the pre-war period, the overseas trade of the entire Kingdom of England had fallen by more than ninety percent, all merchant ships were trapped in ports, the goods produced in workshops and workshops were left unattended, and countless factory owners and traders went bankrupt.

Many of the country's civilians were reduced to homeless people, and died tragically on the streets of London on winter nights due to hunger and disease.

The continued naval blockade of Qi, the desperate uprising in Ireland, and the disturbing war of secession of the Kingdom of Scotland have had a tremendous impact on domestic industrial and agricultural production, which can be fully described in a few words.

It was once thought that it could avoid war with its superior geographical advantages as an island nation, but in the face of an attack by a maritime hegemon more powerful than the Kingdom of England, this unique geography became a disaster, and it was difficult for millions of people of the kingdom to obtain any foreign materials and personnel support.

It's like a nightmare, it's time to put an end to it!

Of course, ending this war also cost the Kingdom of England extremely dearly.

The island of Newfoundland, Arcadia (present-day Nova Skustia Province in Canada, at this time Cape Breton and Saint-Chan Island were French territories), British Belize, the British Bahamas and other overseas colonial territories were ceded to Qi State.

Seven million pounds sterling - a disgraceful figure, one pound per man for the size of the population that England possessed, to be repaid over twenty years, at the rate of four per cent per annum, secured by the customs duties of the Kingdom of England.

Ireland was allowed to establish an independent state, but the Kingdom of England could retain the right to reside and administer the three counties of Northern Ireland in the form of a lease.

The domestic market will be opened, with London, Bristol, Liverpool and Newcastle as designated treaty ports, and the import and export tariffs on various commodities will be negotiated and formulated by the two countries.

Unleash their captured officers and merchant sailors.

The King of England sent members of the royal family to Chang'an in person to apologize (apologize) for provoking the war.

Many terms such as land cession, indemnity, market opening, and royal apology may seem harsh, but in the eyes of Baron Compton, they are still reluctantly acceptable.

Newfoundland and Acadia were ceded from the French in the War of the Spanish Succession, and it is not a pity to lose them to Qi. Moreover, handing over these two places to Qi would also drive a wedge between Qi and France (both of which have a large number of descendants of French immigrants).

Belize was taken from the Kingdom of Spain and ceded to the Kingdom of Qi, just in time to break up the nominal alliance between the two countries and let them pour fuel on the competition for territory in the Americas.

Hmph, I don't believe it, Qi is a subordinate country in South America that continues to invade and seize the territory of Spanish America, and the Kingdom of Spain can endure it again and again?

Now, the transfer of Belize to Qi must have further stimulated the fragile nerves of the Kingdom of Spain.

To the north of their New Spain Viceroyalty is the territory of Yinzhou of Qi, to the southeast is the newly acquired Belize of Qi, and there is also the Viceroyalty of Haizhou near the Isthmus of Panama.

As for Ireland, it may be more harmful to the Kingdom of England if it is allowed to establish itself independently, and it is a pity.

After all, the loss of this colonial territory at the doorstep of the country, the loss of tens of millions of pounds of exploitation income every year, and the loss of many manor owners and aristocrats who invested in Irish land at once, may be opposed and protested by some aristocratic parliamentarians in the country.

However, this armistice was not without any benefits to the Kingdom of England, at the very least, the Kingdom of Qi recognized the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of England in the British Isles, and abandoned its position in favor of Scottish independence.

Yes, that "old tyrant" James III was abandoned by the people of Qi!

In addition, the large-scale entry of Qi capital and commodities into the Kingdom of England inevitably suppressed the development of domestic "national industry", but it was more or less possible to introduce a large number of advanced Qi industrial technology and management methods.

In the course of more than four months of negotiations, Baron Compton vaguely felt that the Qi State did not seem to want to weaken England excessively, but openly and secretly stated that he would join hands with the Kingdom of England, which had undergone a "baptism" of war, to continue to implement the continental balance of power strategy, prevent the emergence of a certain hegemon in the region, and prevent the unification of the European continent.

Support the independence of Ireland to contain the Kingdom of England, unite England to balance the European continental countries, and finally realize the maritime strategy of the island nation!

Baron Compton pondered for a moment's time.

Could it be that our England is a "stirring stick" for Qi to pass through the European continent?

(End of chapter)

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