Steel Dynasty - Chapter 1119

[Chapter 1108 Envoy]

“Rod, I didn’t expect that we would meet again.”

At the gate of Qingzhou City, officials from the Foreign Affairs Department led by Tang Wenjie were waiting for the envoy from Europe.

According to the telegram sent from Guangzhou, the scale of the European mission this time was unprecedentedly large. Five countries, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal, sent envoys at the same time.

Although he has lived in Qingzhou for a long time, it feels quite unpleasant to come to Rhodes again.

Their relationship with this Eastern Empire was once as close as lovers, and the trade between the two countries was enough for the Dutch to live a prosperous life.

But now all the Dutch colonies in Asia have fallen into the hands of this Eastern Empire, trade has been completely interrupted, and relations have reached a freezing point.

“Minister Tang, please stop teasing me. I hope our relationship can return to its former self after this war.” Rhode said bitterly.

After returning to the Netherlands, he received unprecedented neglect in the Netherlands, but after the defeat of the coalition forces, he was reactivated. After all, he was very familiar with this Eastern Empire and was the most suitable candidate.

Standing next to Rhodes were Brooke and Henry, both of whom had complicated expressions. Recalling the failure of their first visit, they still felt a little grudge.

And thinking about the shrewd emperor of the Chinese Empire, the two of them added another layer of frustration.

In addition to the three familiar faces, Tang Wenjie also greeted the envoys from Spain and Portugal. In this mission, Portugal and Spain obviously played supporting roles, and they had the smallest number of people.

“Please! The Emperor is already waiting for you all in the Royal Garden.” Tang Wenjie said with a smile, a proud smile on his face.

This is the confidence that comes with a strong country.

Rhodes looked at Qingzhou City with an expectant look. When he lived in Qingzhou, the place changed almost every day, and he felt a little itchy after such a long time.

Leading everyone into Qingzhou City, Rhodes saw a surprise without any surprise. At this time, the cement roads in Qingzhou were being renovated. The former cement pavement was pried open, and the construction workers were laying a black material.

The material is like black rubber mixed with sand, and the hot temperature and pungent smell can be felt even from a distance.

Two huge machines are used to lay this kind of road. The machines spit out black smoke. In the front, one machine lays the material flat, and the following machine crushes the material firmly.

They can imagine the weight of this machine just by seeing the huge metal cast rollers on the front of the machine.

The mission’s journey stopped here. Everyone stared at the strange scene in front of them with wide eyes and wide mouths.

Especially the roaring huge machinery made them frightened.

“Minister Tang, what is this?” Rhode swallowed.

Tang Wenjie said casually: “This is an asphalt road being laid. The cement road is too ugly and easy to break, so the empire is planning to replace the empire’s main roads with asphalt roads.”

“Asphalt? What is this?” Everyone was talking about it. .

Tang Wenjie said bluntly, “This asphalt is a chemical material extracted from petroleum.”

Now that the empire’s scientific foundation has been firmly established, there is no need to hide some superficial things. Speaking of them appropriately can help. to shock the enemy.

After all, even if all the technology is given to Europe, it will take them a lot of time to catch up with today’s empire.

Rhodes shook his head slightly, “I would feel out of date if I didn’t come back from Qingzhou in one day.”

After a while of admiration, everyone continued to walk inside, bypassing the road under construction in front, and the road behind it that had been repaired a few days ago.

Everyone was shocked when they walked on the flat asphalt road. Compared with the cement road, this asphalt road was very comfortable to walk on.

Rhodes noticed the white and yellow straight lines on the road, which divided the road into two halves. He couldn’t help asking: “What is this?”

“Road wire.” Tang Wenjie once again threw out a vocabulary that was unfamiliar to Rhodes. From his explanation, everyone gradually understood the function of this thing.

“It’s really amazing.” Although they were hostile, Brooke and Henry still praised him.

The two looked at the bicycles that were constantly coming and going on the road and said: “Last time we came here, there were not many bicycles. I didn’t expect that ordinary people in Qingzhou can afford bicycles now. This road is specially prepared for bicycles. Why?” They only ride outside the white lines on both sides of the road?”

Tang Wenjie laughed and said, “You are wrong, this road is not built for bicycles, please see!”

After that, he asked the mission to People were standing on both sides of the road as a line of cars was approaching them.

These cars are all black, with a small golden dragon flag hanging on the front of the car. They are specially used to pick up and drop off missions.

The envoys could no longer be described as surprised at this time. They stared at the speeding car as if they were seeing gods.

The main means of transportation in Europe is still horse-drawn carriages. You can imagine how surprised they were when they saw this kind of vehicle that did not require a horse but ran as fast as a steam locomotive.

The car quickly stopped in front of everyone, and Tang Wenjie said: “Everyone, there is still twenty miles to the palace, so let’s go there by car.”

“Car!” Rhodes really didn’t want to ask anymore, because it would only show his ignorance. .

Brooke and Henry had the same expression. They used to think that the people from the Eastern Empire were bumpkins, but now they discovered that they were the bumpkins.

Tang Wenjie was very satisfied with the reaction of these envoys. It was necessary to destroy the opponent’s psychological defense before the negotiations, so that they could easily get their trump cards after the negotiations.

Riding in the same car with Rod, Brooke, and Henry, Tang Wenjie started chatting, “Qingzhou City is developing too fast now, and sometimes I can’t keep up. The Qingzhou City Wall you see now is the only city wall preserved in Qingzhou. The other three walls have been demolished. Now the population of Qingzhou exceeds three million, and the city needs to be expanded. “

Brooke and Henry almost wanted to kill themselves when they heard this. Qingzhou alone has a population of more than three million. This is. Almost equal to the total population of the Netherlands.

The cities they stopped at along the way from Guangzhou to Dengzhou were all densely populated, and this alone was enough to show the terrifying strength of the Chinese Empire.

While Tang Wenjie was spitting, the car turned around and headed towards the imperial city. As the car sped, the scenery of Qingzhou City flew by in front of everyone’s eyes.

For them, the current Qingzhou has completely gotten rid of the old appearance of the former folk houses. The urbanization here has not only caught up with London, but also has the potential to surpass it. They only need to look at the neat residential areas on both sides and the bustling businesses in the center of the city. District is enough to understand.

(End of chapter)