Iron Dynasty

The north wind rolled snowflakes and fell on the smooth concrete road in Qingzhou City.

The gray ground was stained with a layer of white, which means that the New Year's Day is approaching.

Princess Pingyang has been playing in Qingzhou since she learned about the underwear launched by Feiyue. She didn't choose to go back to Chang'an until half a month later. After all, she was going to spend the New Year in Chang'an.

Before leaving, Princess Pingyang urged Xiao Ming not to forget the construction of the princess's house.

To this, Xiao Ming is naturally full of promises. In a modern country, even by attracting rich people to settle down to stimulate economic development, he naturally has to make good use of it.

Fei Yue'er has been with Princess Pingyang for the past two weeks. After becoming a princess, Fei Yue'er gradually assumed a responsibility that belonged to a princess. This is lady diplomacy.

And Xiao Ming is not idle either. Now that Qingzhou's finances are tight, he has to seize any way to increase the income of the government.

So he asked Luluo to make a large number of underwear, and then asked Li Kaiyuan to take these underwear to Chang'an.

When Princess Pingyang was eating, drinking and having fun in Qingzhou, she naturally agreed to help herself sell this kind of intimate clothing in Chang'an. She is the fashion vane of Chang'an. As long as she uses it, this kind of thing will soon be popular in Chang'an City.

Another source of income has been added to the government office. Pang Yukun is naturally happy, and because the underwear production and textile workshop has recruited 300 people, this has made the lives of 300 refugees more secure, and they have made money. The local economy has also developed.

After sending Princess Pingyang away, Xiao Ming planned to spend a year in Qingzhou with Feiyue'er, but he never thought that an uninvited guest would come to Qingzhou.

This person is none other than Rhodes who met Xiao Ming in Dengzhou City, the guy who claimed to be the Dutch ambassador.

Rod has seen His Royal Highness King Qi.

In the main hall, Rhode respectfully bowed to Xiao Ming, and after receiving Claire's order, he entered the hinterland of the Great Yu Kingdom again.

In Dengzhou City, he expressed the idea of ​​meeting King Qi, so Yang Chengye sent someone to notify Xiao Ming. After getting Xiao Ming's consent, Yang Chengye sent someone to send Rhodes to Qingzhou.

No gift, Ambassador Rhodes, since you came to Qingzhou, I think you must have changed your original mind. This king also doesn't want to use war to resolve Ryukyu, but sometimes the negotiation breaks down and we have to take action.

Rhode's eyes were deep. After arriving at Qingzhou City, he had been observing the city. After seeing Qingzhou City's clean concrete roads, orderly underground pipes, and soldiers with flintlock guns at the gate of the city, he suddenly felt a sense of frustration. .

Because he didn't even know what this Qingzhou pavement was. Although he learned from the people of Qingzhou that it was cement, it seemed that there was no such thing as cement in Europe.

Respected His Royal Highness King Qi, Earl Claire also doesn't want to resolve the conflict between us through war, so this time I sent me to Qingzhou to discuss with His Highness again about Ryukyu and the route.

Xiao Ming nodded, Then how is your Earl Claire going to handle this?

For him, if he can recover Ryukyu peacefully, he naturally does not want to start a war, after all, every war costs him a lot.

Count Claire is willing to give up the island of Ryukyu, but the count hopes that His Royal Highness will allow us to keep the city of Geranja in the Netherlands, which is the last dignity of our Netherlands. Rhode said with a bow.

Relanza City? Xiao Ming frowned. This Relanza City was built on an island on the eastern side of the Ryukyu Island. The Dutch port was built on this place.

At the same time, there is a city on this small island, and Wang Xuan has already told him this information.

That's right, it's the city of Relanzha. We also have a bastion on the island of Ryukyu called Mingkes across the sea. We are willing to hand Mingkes and the island of Ryukyu to His Highness.

Hearing this, Xiao Ming fell into silence. He could not allow others to sleep peacefully on the side of the couch. It was always an uneasy factor for the Dutch to maintain their armed forces in the city of Geranja. He said, No, the city of Geranja must also be returned.

Rod's eyes flashed with anger, but he chose to suppress after understanding the strength of this King Qi, and he said in a deep voice: His Royal Highness King Qi, this is our last bottom line, how can His Royal Highness King Qi not have any dignity at all? Leave it to us the Dutch, then we'll only see each other on the battlefield.

Frowning his brows, Xiao Ming said: I haven't finished what this king has said, all the territory of Ryukyu belongs to this king, and this cannot be negotiated, but after you admit that Ryukyu belongs to this king, this king can Transform the city of Geranja into a trading port, and you Dutch merchants can do business as before, except that your warships and garrison must be withdrawn from the city of Geranja, and replaced by this king's soldiers and fleet.

Is this any different from returning Relanzha City? Rhode's heart was icy cold.

Of course there is a difference, so at least your Dutch merchant ships can still travel to and from Ryukyu, otherwise you will lose everything forever. Xiao Ming said unceremoniously: Remember, you are invaders, so you can still participate in East Asia's Trade you should be lucky.

Regarding Ryukyu Xiao Ming, he did not intend to discuss too much with the Dutch, and he did not need to be kind in the face of the invaders.

Rhodes was silent, as he guessed when he came, they encountered a very powerful vassal king, and this made them almost desperate.

After a long time, he said, I'm sorry, His Royal Highness, King Qi. I think this matter needs to be discussed with Earl Claire for the last time. After that, we will decide whether to agree to His Highness's conditions.

Of course, but I'm afraid you don't have much time. I hope you can make this decision quickly. According to the plan, the fleet will go south in March after the Chinese New Year.

Rhode nodded, and he asked: I take the liberty to ask Your Highness, what exactly is this cement? Can Your Highness allow me to visit the factory in Qingzhou, so that we may get to know each other better, and maybe we can deepen it in the future. Cooperation.

Hearing this, Xiao Ming smiled. At this time, the Dutch still wanted to see his true strength.

He said: Cement is an excellent building material, which is very common in Qingzhou. Since the ambassador is interested, this king will take the ambassador to visit.

In contemporary times, the first batch of cement in Europe was only produced in 1796. According to Rhodes, according to the time point, there is really no such thing as cement in Europe.

After all, Xiao Ming asked people to prepare horses, and he took Rhodes to the streets of Qingzhou.

A red-haired, blue-eyed foreigner suddenly appeared on the street, and the people immediately ran away in fright. Some people even shouted monster, which made Rhode very depressed.