Steel Dynasty - Chapter 1012

[Chapter 1005 Bargaining]

“That’s nonsense. Do you think I’m as stupid as you? I’ve kept a note of the insidious things you and the British and French have done over the years!”

Xiao Ming slammed the table in front of him, and suddenly he became furious. Brooke His lies are vulnerable to him. Spain does not have such great energy in Europe.

Brooke and Henry were frightened. It was obvious that this emperor was extremely smart and was not so easily fooled.

The atmosphere in the main hall became tense. Brooke’s eyes turned back and forth in search of countermeasures. It seemed that if appropriate measures were not taken decisively, this negotiation was likely to end in vain, and what they would have to endure next was the consequences of the Great Yu Kingdom. anger.

“Dear Your Majesty.” Brooke hesitated for a while but decided to be honest. He said: “Of course, some of our British politicians also made stupid mistakes that led to this unpleasant battle. Her Majesty the Queen punished these politicians. , and asked me to bring her greetings, hoping that Your Majesty can settle the feud with Britain and develop trade between the two countries.”

Hearing this, Xiao Ming snorted coldly. Although he knew that Brooke’s words were still mixed with lies, at least he did. Acknowledge that they, the British, took the initiative.

It doesn’t matter whether it was some British politicians or the Queen, because he had no evidence to prove who led the war.

Henry learned from Brooke’s mistakes and said directly: “We in France failed in this war, but we still hope to develop relations with the Chinese Empire, and hope that your majesty will allow it.”

As soon as the two people finished speaking, Pang Yukun suddenly shouted angrily: “You Waiting for the barbarians to come to the country is simply too much bullying. Today you have come to Qingzhou without reflecting on your mistakes or mentioning compensation after the defeat. Now you are brazenly talking about developing relations with the Chinese Empire. Your intention is only to improve the technology of the Great Chongqing. That’s all, what you think is so beautiful!”

Every time Pang Yukun said something, the translator translated it, and Brooke and Henry’s faces gradually became ugly. They avoided the important and took the easy, but in the end they could not avoid the fate faced by the defeated country.

“Your Majesty, we come to the Chinese Empire this time with full sincerity, and we are willing to compensate for the losses in this war.” Brooke said.

Before coming here, the House of Representatives had discussed for a long time the issue of how to deal with the country’s difficulties. He also had full autonomy, but he still had some bottom lines to hold on to on some issues.

Xiao Ming glanced at Brooke, and then motioned to Qian Dafu to let the envoy headed by Henry go to the side hall to wait. After all, it is inappropriate for another country to be present during negotiations between countries.

After receiving the order, Qian Dafu led Henry and his party to the side hall to wait.

Xiao Ming said straight to the point: “Before the negotiation, I want to tell you a piece of news. Dick and Wilson are still alive and are being imprisoned in the mine as coolies. If you are willing to redeem them, you can give them a price. If you are not willing, they will be free forever. It’s okay to stay here.”

“Dick and Wilson,” Brooke said in surprise. Many people believed that the two were dead, but they didn’t expect that they were still alive. They had also discussed this issue when he came. One must redeem the two of them while alive, otherwise, the loyalty of the British nobles will be greatly harmed.

“Your Majesty, we are willing to exchange General Dick and Wilson for eight thousand pounds.” Brooke first offered a very low price.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk…” Xiao Ming’s voice was filled with sarcasm, “It seems that I should really tell them the price you offered and let them know how much they are worth?”

During the exchange with Dick, Xiao Ming expressed his opinion about the current economic level of the UK. With a basic understanding, I also know exactly what the pound represents.

According to Dick, his family spent thirty thousand pounds to build a castle, and the Crystal Palace built specifically for the Queen cost three hundred and sixty thousand pounds.

In the UK, one pound is equal to 20 shillings, and one shilling is equal to twelve pence. The annual income of an ordinary British worker is about thirty to fifty pounds.

This value seems to be similar to the income of imperial workers, but the gold content of pounds is almost five times that of dragon coins, and the gap comes from this.

Brooke looked a little embarrassed. The price of eight thousand pounds could only be redeemed for low-level officers on the European battlefield, far from the level of Dick and Wilson.

There were beads of sweat on his forehead, and Brooke decided not to use his own cleverness. He obviously couldn’t outplay the young emperor in front of him.

“Maybe two hundred thousand pounds would be more appropriate. This is also our bottom line. His Majesty is so smart, I dare not hide it anymore.” Brooke said.

Xiao Ming nodded slightly. The price was not too exorbitant. Two hundred thousand pounds was equivalent to one million dragon coins, which was not a small amount. However, as a victorious country, how could the British pass so easily?

He said: “When you go back, ask your queen to prepare a ransom of 400,000 pounds. In addition to Dick, you also have hundreds of soldiers and officers here, package and sell them to you.”

Ignoring the ransom issue, he continued : “But these are all minor issues. You still need to meet these conditions before establishing diplomatic relations with the Chinese Empire. First, you need to compensate one million pounds for the loss of Qingzhou Navy ammunition and warships during the war, and cede Australia, Indonesia, and India at the same time. Three colonies, in addition, London served as a trading port for trade with the Chinese Empire. “

Brooke listened one by one, but he always felt that this method became more and more familiar. When he arrived at the trading port, he finally came back to it. It turned out that the emperor was using similar methods to sign unequal treaties with them.

“Dear Your Majesty, your appetite is really too big. The issue of compensation may not be a problem, but the colonies and treaty ports have touched the bottom line of our UK. When we came here, we already learned that His Majesty’s troops occupied Malacca, which originally belonged to the United Kingdom, in order to make up for your country’s war losses, we can admit that Singapore belongs to your country, but we will not trade Australia, Malaysia and India.”

According to Brooke, negotiations are not blind. To show weakness, sometimes you also need to show determination to intimidate your opponents.

“Since your colony is so valuable, it seems that I can only use the army to get it back.” The corners of Xiao Ming’s mouth raised, but behind the smile was naked murderous intent.

Brooke frowned. The emperor’s attitude was equally firm, which made the problem very troublesome. However, the Parliament did not give him much authority over the land. At most, they were willing to cede a small piece of the colony, but the current Chinese Empire What we want is all the colonies.

And this means that British power will completely withdraw from Asia.

PS: One update tonight and will be added tomorrow.

In addition, I would like to recommend a friend’s new book “Struggle in the Late Ming Dynasty”. In Yi’an at home and abroad, in Yin and Fu at home, all disciplines and laws must be revised.

Fighting against Japanese pirates, regulating officials, and using a whip, the Ming Dynasty in the sixth year of Wanli was in a prosperous state. However, according to the course of history, the Ming Empire will inevitably move towards the sunset.

Ning Xiu, who did not belong to this world, came to the late Ming Dynasty and led the Ming Dynasty towards another path of capital rejuvenation and industrial power.

Who said Ming died in Wanli? With the explosion of capital and the rise of industry, the Ming Dynasty has no regrets!

(End of chapter)