Iron Dynasty

PS: I'm sorry, tonight at 5th watch, the snail missed this time, and I must have a long memory next time, beg for mercy!

In the main hall, Xiao Ming and Wang Xuan stood opposite each other.

After receiving Xiao Ming's order, Wang Xuan said: His Royal Highness, the secret guard has already gone to Chu land. If such a major event really happens, it is estimated that we will get the news soon.

Wang Xuan's tone is very confident. In the past two years, the government has invested a lot of money in the Secret Guard, which has allowed the Secret Guard to expand rapidly. Now there are thousands of Secret Guards under his banner.

These secret guards are distributed in key monitoring areas, with strict organization, and it is they who send back a steady stream of messages.

Nodding his head, he said to Wang Xuan: Yes, but the work of the Secret Guard needs to be strengthened. This time, the matter of your arrest of Shanxi merchants has long been known to the emperor. It seems that the emperor also has an organization to spy on information. .

Wang Xuan nodded, We were indeed negligent. Later we learned that they were from Lijingmen.

This is not bad. You finally have an opponent and can compete with each other. Also, the monitoring of Chang'an and the barbarians cannot be relaxed. The dynamics of these two places are also very important.

Yes. Wang Xuan nodded and turned to leave.

Watching Wang Xuan leave, Xiao Ming fell into contemplation. The news brought by Cao Zhengtong this time really surprised him. He did not expect that the King of Chu would go to war with the Dutch.

I have to say that this shows that the Dutch really pushed the King of Chu in a hurry, but the appearance of such a domineering Dutch count in this area is also not good news for Xiao Ming.

Now that the sea trade routes are completely blocked, this is also a huge problem for Xiao Ming. As Cao Zhengtong said, sea routes are wealth.

He couldn't let such a huge wealth be in the hands of the Dutch.

The Silk Road on land has been cut off, and now the sea route has also been cut off. Xiao Ming is really a big one and two big ones, and the Great Yu Kingdom is really a mess.

Two days later, Wang Xuan really brought news of the Battle of Qiantang in Chu. The King of Chu's fleet was destroyed by the Dutch more than 30 ships, and the prince Li Chuyuan was almost captured by the Dutch.

The Lin'an Wharf was even in ruins by the Dutch. Finally, under the coercion of the Dutch, the King of Chu had to sign a new negotiation agreement on the Dutch warship.

This agreement recognizes the Dutch ownership of maritime trade. All ships passing through the trade route must pay heavy taxes to the Dutch. At the same time, all goods sold by the Dutch to Chu are exempted from taxation and so on.

Is this news reliable? Xiao Ming asked with the news from Wang Xuan.

It's very reliable. It is said that in order to humiliate the King of Chu, the Dutch disclosed this agreement to the local maritime merchants, and these news came from these maritime merchants, Wang Xuan said.

Xiao Ming sneered twice and said, I didn't expect it, I didn't expect that the King of Chu really set a precedent for the Great Yu Kingdom. He was the first to sign the first unfair betrayal in history under the threat of force from the colonists. Agreement.

The King of Chu has always had a higher heart than the sky. I am afraid that this time I will cry and beg His Highness to purchase arms. Wang Xuan suddenly laughed.

Hey, I'm really not sure. This time I was taught a lesson by the Dutch. King Chu's urgency must buy a lot of arms, and because of this, the Dutch will definitely not sell arms to Chu again. Wang. Xiao Ming suddenly had some expectations.

The two were talking when suddenly the voice of the servants of the palace came from outside the door, Your Highness, the messenger of the King of Chu outside the door asks to see you.

Your Highness, this is called Cao Cao, and Cao Cao is here. Wang Xuan laughed.

Xiao Ming nodded, It seems that the king of Chu was very angry this time, as the so-called snipe and clam fight, the fisherman wins, before the king of Chu was waiting for the king and the barbarians to fight and lose both, now we can finally see him joke.

After all, Xiao Ming asked Wang Xuan to evade temporarily, but let the envoy of the King of Chu come in.

Meet Your Highness under Li Wei. The person who came was an old man, about fifty years old.

Frowning his brows, Xiao Ming said, Excuse me, the messenger is here this time, I don't know what is going on?

Go back to your Highness, this time His Highness the King of Chu sent me here to purchase artillery and muskets. His Highness the King of Chu asked me to give me a message to the King of Shu. Please, Your Highness, thank you for being the descendants of Yan and Huang, and be sure to provide a thousand dollars for the land of Chu. naval guns.

A thousand naval guns? Xiao Ming almost jumped up, he said, The king of Chu is crazy, where did this king come from so many naval guns? Hey, how did the king of Chu know about naval guns?

At the end, Xiao Ming suddenly said in shock.

Li Wei was not in a hurry, he said: It was the Dutch who told His Royal Highness the King of Chu about the naval guns, and it was for show off. His Highness said that as long as a thousand naval guns can be obtained, His Royal Highness Qi's request made He can think about it.

Xiao Ming rolled his eyes, a thousand naval guns was really a big deal, it was enough for the King of Chu to build a fleet with powerful artillery.

Moreover, these naval guns are generally heavy artillery, and the price is much more expensive than the general city defense artillery. One thousand artillery pieces are a lot of money.

Overall, this business is really tempting, but Xiao Ming himself does not have enough naval guns now, let alone the King of Chu.

So he said: I'm afraid I can't help. The number of artillery pieces produced in Qingzhou is limited, and a thousand guns are too many.

Li Wei was still not in a hurry or slow, he continued: His Royal Highness Qi, wait a minute, His Royal Highness the King of Chu said that what Qingzhou lacks is ships, not guns, and what Chu lacks is guns, not ships, and the two complement each other for everyone. It is favorable, His Royal Highness the King of Chu is willing to exchange the artillery with the craftsmen of the merchant ships and shipyards, I hope His Highness think twice.

Merchant ships and craftsmen. Xiao Ming's heart beat unsatisfactorily.

This time, the King of Chu was really right. What he lacked right now was indeed ships, both merchant ships and shipbuilders, and they were desperately in short supply.

After pondering for a while, he said: This king can squeeze out some naval guns, but the number will not be much, there can only be more than 30 guns, and the remaining naval guns will be delivered in the next few years, other than that , there is nothing this king can do.”

This time, the King of Chu was taken aback by the Dutch. After all, the agreement has been signed. Every year, the King of Chu will lose more and more.

Your Highness said, you can wait. Li Wei said.

Xiao Ming nodded, That's ok, but it's an old rule, the deposit must be in place, otherwise this business can't be done by the king, and the king must see the merchant ship and the craftsman first.

With such a large order, Xiao Ming could only let the military workshop continue to expand. This thousand guns seemed to be a lot, but it was actually the size of ten Galen ships.

And the delivery in several years is not enough to pose a threat to him, because after three or four years, the ghost knows how far the Qingzhou Navy will develop. At that time, these naval guns are estimated to be obsolete.

As Your Highness wishes. Li Wei nodded his head.