The majestic French Empire also engages in prostitution for free. If word spreads about it, won’t they be afraid of losing their reputation and embarrassment?
Zhu Xianhai sarcastically said in his heart,
But on the other hand, it must be said that Lesseps Bonaparte was indeed very good at negotiating. He offered a bait that made it difficult for Zhu Xianhai to refuse - admitting Nanhua's expansion.
This is equivalent to admitting that Germany annexed the Czech Republic and occupied Poland. Oh, no, it should be said that the three pineapple countries joined the Maoist Republic.
In short, as the most powerful imperialist power in this era, the benefits to South China are self-evident if it recognizes South China's annexation of Chile and Argentina. It is equivalent to the endorsement of South China by the established European powers.
In comparison, what are a few airships?
However, Zhu Xianhai did not agree immediately. After thinking for a while, he said.
"Leseb, do you know how expensive an airship is?"
How expensive?
Lesseps Bonaparte looked at Zhu Xianhai with some doubts.
"First of all, its raw materials are very expensive. Its airbags require the use of a lot of rubber. Rubber, you know, is not only expensive but also very scarce. In order to produce these airships, we import a large amount of rubber from Brazil. I can tell you
What’s more, the cost of an airship is not even inferior to that of a warship!”
This is of course a bit exaggerated, but it is also true!
Because rubber was expensive in this era, each ton of rubber was worth six thousand five hundred pounds, which is almost thirty thousand silver pesos.
"Currently, we not only need to use a lot of aluminum to build an airship, but also several tons of rubber. The cost of this raw material alone is as high as hundreds of thousands of silver dollars. Plus the production cost, the actual purchase of an airship
The unit price exceeds 650,000 silver dollars!”
In fact, it’s certainly not that high!
But the quotation you give to others must not be lower, which also includes technical costs. The cost of international arms is never the cost of raw materials.
"Oh! It's so expensive!"
Lesseps Bonaparte couldn't help but take a breath. Originally, he didn't think the airship was expensive, but when he heard that it was made of aluminum and rubber, not only did he not think that 650,000 was not much, but even
It may be a lot cheaper, after all, the value of a rubber condom is...well, a silver dollar.
Made of rubber...isn't it expensive?
"My brother, send such an expensive airship out..."
Shaking his head, Zhu Xianhai said.
"Just for a vague promise, I think it will be difficult to convince other people, but,"
After a pause, Zhu Xianhai continued.
"But what? If France can recognize our annexation of the two places at the appropriate time, as you said, I would like to give it to France as a birthday gift in the future, such as on the emperor's birthday next year. Of course, it can also
A New Year’s gift to France.”
"I'm afraid I need to communicate with Paris first!"
Lesseps Bonaparte's answer was within Zhu Xianhai's expectation. For Zhu Xianhai, who was accustomed to not seeing rabbits but letting hawks fly, he was not so generous as to offer real money and silver in exchange for a promise. If you want an airship, you can always do it.
I need to take out something first.
The two of them chatted for a while. After Lesseps Bonaparte said goodbye and sent him out of the office, almost as soon as the guy entered the elevator and disappeared down the elevator, the smile on Zhu Xianhai's face turned into a sneer.
"This idiot."
Zhu Xianhai finally couldn't hold it in any longer.
"My lord, it seems that Ambassador Bonaparte has made a request that makes you very unhappy."
Zuo Zongtang asked.
"airship!"
Zhu Xianhai sneered.
"That guy is interested in our airship."
"What? Airship? My lord, airships are a weapon of our military and we cannot give them to others easily!"
Zuo Zongtang all said,
"None of these foreigners are really comfortable. They want airships as soon as they talk about Zhang, and they don't even look at what they can give us..."
He suddenly closed his mouth as he spoke.
"Lord, he must have made a price then!"
"Yes, I want to exchange recognition for our annexation of Chile and Argentina for airships."
"That being said, it seems acceptable..."
Zuo Zongtang nodded slightly and agreed.
"My lord, although the airship is a powerful weapon for the military and the country, if it can be recognized by France, it would be... well, it is not appropriate. After all, the airship is our trump card. It can be called a weapon for the military and the country. How can we let others do it so easily?"
"Although the airship is powerful, it cannot be said to be a military state..."
Zhu Xianhai raised his brows and stopped talking. He knew the weaknesses of the airship better than anyone else. The seemingly huge airship was not as "indestructible" as it seemed.
In fact, it is vulnerable.
hydrogen!
That thing always explodes easily.
But the British and the French don’t know!
They now only see the benefits of airships!
In today's world, there is no air force that can compare with it. The French have seen the benefits of airships, and the British must also be able to see them. When the French want to get airships, the British will definitely also make deliberate efforts.
Want to get it.
After all, they had witnessed in Argentina how brutal the dimensionality reduction blow of the airship from the air to the land was.
An airship combined with a small aviation dart can kill tens of thousands of Argentine soldiers!
What if it were replaced by a bomb?
The pattern of warfare was completely changed by airships.
In this case, how could they turn a blind eye to the airship?
"In this era of the jungle, no one wants to see themselves being passively beaten. They will definitely try their best to get the airship, whether it is researching it themselves or buying it, I am sure that in the next ten or twenty years,
, the airship forces of various countries around the world will achieve unprecedented development..."
When he finished speaking, Zhu Xianhai almost didn't whistle - every household of the world's major powers has hundreds of airships. This is simply the arrival of the Kirov era!
"What my lord said is true. After reading the report of the airship force, I also feel that the size of the airship force should be expanded, and we should also build larger airships so that they can carry more weapons. Since Britain and France are
The country is also eyeing the spacecraft, so we have to pay more attention."
Even Zuo Zongtang realized the importance of the spaceship, and the British and French would definitely not ignore him.
Zhu Xianhai nodded.
"Attention? There is no need to pay attention to anything anymore. As I said just now, the problem now is not whether we can sell it or not, but that we cannot prevent the world from entering the airship era. After all, airships are the battleships of the new era."