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Chapter 23 Transaction with Xia Kingdom

The Belis were once a nomadic nation.

During the Cold War Age, the Belis people conquered east and west, and were known as the Kingdom of Horseback. They once had a very vast territory.

However, the powerful Belis Empire was short-lived, quickly feudalized and soon disintegrated, forming many small principalities. These small principalities continued to integrate and intermarry with Western countries and nations, and many countries in the Western Ocean Alliance now

It can all be traced back to that long history.

The Belis people are proud. After the collapse of the Great Belis Empire, some people who stayed in the birthplace of their homeland have never given up restoring their former glory. They attributed their failure to the destruction and hostility of the Europas, so they have been fighting against the Europas.

People are in a state of hostility, and only less than fifty years of hundreds of years are in a state of peace.

However, the emergence of gunpowder weapons greatly injured the Bili people. This kind of weapons ended the era of the grassland peoples.

However, the Belis people quickly embarked on the road of independence. All adult men, including some women, served in the military. In addition to developing the already developed animal husbandry industry, they also vigorously developed modern mining and manufacturing industries to strengthen the economy.

and national strength. Externally, it is divided into two. It adopts mercantilism towards the countries in the west and the Western Ocean Alliance to obtain the resources that are in short supply in the landlocked countries. It adopts a hostile attitude towards Europe in the east and treats its eastern neighbors in terms of national education.

Shaped as an evil enemy.

Last year, they sent troops almost at the same time as the Assyrians, echoing each other from a distance, causing great military pressure on the Europa Empire.

In January 1834, the Belis pretended to reach an armistice agreement with the Europeans, and their negotiators even made a gesture of discussing trade between the two countries.

This successfully paralyzed the Europeans.

In July 1834, the Belis people found an opportunity to launch a sudden attack while the Assyrians were fighting fiercely with 50 European divisions.

The Europeans were caught off guard, and a hole was torn open in the long-established defense line that had cost countless people. The hole became bigger and bigger, and the army that had lost supplies on the front line was defeated by the inspired Assyrians.

The latest news is that the Assyrians have captured three steppe provinces, which is the same record as the Red Moon War five years ago. This time the Assyrians did not continue to attack because they learned from the last time they went too deep into the front line.

They have learned a lot of lessons and are ready to consolidate the existing results, not to mention they have a strong ally this time.

The only thing that pleased the emperor was that the imperial troops in the occupied northern areas were still fighting. They relied on various cities as strongholds to carry out limited counterattacks. This was also a lesson learned from the Red Moon defeat. These deep cities or logistics centers had a certain amount of reserves.

War resources give these armies a certain degree of combat capability.

Unable to deal with these rebels, the Assyrians did not dare to send troops to the northern part of the Gyeonggi Province. Their war with Europa was in a stalemate.

The Belis were unstoppable. They moved forward from the northwest and captured five provinces in one month before slowing down a bit. The resistance of the Europeans also caused them considerable losses.

The imperial military and cabinet's suppression of news of the defeat spread rapidly as northern people fled south, because paper cannot cover fire.

When the accurate news officially reached Genoa, it was already August 1834.

Even far away from the flames of war, the Genoese were worried.

Prices began to rise, especially for food. This also affected the wealthy people who invested in securities in the north, and many stocks turned into waste paper overnight.

Count Koval said in a letter to Sean that he lost all the profits he had made in the past ten years overnight. Fortunately, he had recovered a lot of his investments in the north in the past two years to obtain funds to invest.

Focus on Genoa's emerging industries, otherwise he will go bankrupt.

Count Koval's letter was very personal, as he discussed some terrifying possibilities with Sean in a veiled way.

He was very pessimistic about the future. The rich people in the northern part of Gyeonggi Province fled south with their families, while the rich people in the Holy City moved south. The Holy City was shocked three times a day. The skyrocketing population pushed up food prices, which increased in a month.

Three times, and the members of the Noble Council are still struggling with who should be responsible for the defeat.

Crown Prince Jean Sauron finally took control of the northern military and became the commander-in-chief of the northern resistance against the enemy.

The war inevitably affected Genoa, and there were rumors that the empire would implement a wartime policy, which meant that the cabinet could increase taxes and raise troops at will, citing war needs.

For Sean, the direct impact is that the navy's orders have changed from a prepayment system to a settlement system, and the total number has been reduced by nearly half. The total number is only fifty shark-class warships. Obviously the empire will focus on war on land. If

Even the homes on land are gone, so there is no sea.

At this time, the ambassador of the Xia Kingdom came to Poitou. The ambassador's name was Zhao Ran. Xiao Si had met him at the Holy City University five years ago. The following year, he became the ambassador of the Xia Kingdom to the Holy City.

This foreign ambassador came with a message from Carlos II.

Carlos II basically gave up the sea for the time being. He allowed Kang Shipbuilding to export ironclad ships to the Xia Kingdom, but for each exported ship, based on displacement, the empire would charge an export tax of 100 gold louis for each ton of displacement. Based on 1,000 tons.

For example, the Empire will impose an export tax of RMB 100,000 on the Shark-class class. As for the 2,000-ton Rocky Mountain ironclad cargo ship, the Empire will impose an export tax of RMB 200,000.

Before this, the empire would never allow the export of these new ships. The Europeans still had fresh memories of the Xia Kingdom's hegemony on the oceans, but the emergence of steam ironclads obviously gave the Europeans an advantage on the oceans for the first time.

It's a pity that God is not as good as man. Being forced to allow export, Carlos hopes to use this as an opportunity to allow the Xia people to fight against the fish monster independently, and at the same time, to seize as much wealth as possible to support the war on land.

The Xia people were very interested in steam ironclads. The leader of the Poitou secret police, Daly, even arrested many Xia people's spies.

Daley personally accompanies the ambassador's visit. He will serve as a witness to witness the negotiations between the two parties and endorse Sean.

The Xia people are temporarily unable to use the power of the country. This is entirely the initiative of the ambassador, because the ocean between the two countries is ruled by fish monsters, and he cannot contact his motherland. However, there are tens of thousands of Xia people stranded in Europe.

Most of them are businessmen. These people cannot return to their country and are in anxiety all the time.

Someone told Sean that Ambassador Zhao easily raised about 25 million gold louis from Xia merchants.

In fact, although Sean's shipyard is still busy with naval orders for the time being, Kang Dynamics, whose main business is the production of special steam engines, is in uncertainty. The orders he reached in the agreement with the Torres family have been significantly reduced because many northern shipyards are supporting

If they don't get through, they will go bankrupt or change careers.

After visiting the shipyard on site, Sean introduced to the ambassador:

"Mr. Ambassador, there is currently a 2,000-ton Rocky Mountain cargo ship and three Navy 1,000-ton Shark-class ironclads. For the latter, you can try to persuade the Navy to agree to the transfer, because the Navy has not paid yet. You know

Cargo ships need to be escorted by warships. Of course, if you are willing to wait, there are still two 2,000-ton cargo ships and five 1,000-ton Shark class ships under construction in the dock, and they are expected to be launched in mid-September."

"Dear Earl, I would like to know how much you are asking for?" Ambassador Zhao asked.

"Rocky Mountain costs 2.2 million, and each Shark-class ship costs 800,000, including personnel training, but does not include artillery."

Ambassador Zhao was silent.

He had already collected information. Kang's Shipbuilding sold the Shark class to the Navy for about 700,000 yuan. The Rocky Mountain currently belongs to Kang's Power. After all, Kang's Power is different from Kang's Shipbuilding. It is completely owned by Sean.

When the company, Kangshi Shipbuilding sold the first 2,000-ton steam iron-clad cargo ship Rocky Mountain to Kangshi Power, the price was about 2 million.

In comparison, Sean's current offer is quite reasonable.

"This is my sincerity!" Sean emphasized.

"Thank you Earl for your kindness, and I would like to express my gratitude again to Earl for rescuing the citizens of this country." Ambassador Zhao said. He was referring to the Xia Kingdom ocean cargo ship that Sean had turned to for help when the fish monsters were in trouble last year. Those crew members are still there today.

Stranded in Vichy, Sean allowed them to find work to support themselves.

Ambassador Zhao had heard about Sean for a long time. He never expected that he had not noticed the young man at all back then and now he has become the most influential man in Genoa. Just as he was brought to him by the trains and emerging industries in Genoa during his trip south this time.

Deeply impressed.

"Count, you know that fish monsters are raging in the sea now. I am so worried that I can't sleep at night. I don't know what is happening in my motherland. I desperately want to return to my motherland on a steam armored ship." Ambassador Zhao

He said, "I have decided on Rocky Mountain. As for the three Shark-class ships, please give me some time to convince your emperor. At the same time, what I need more is a marine steam engine, and I am willing to pay more for this."

"Mr. Ambassador, the steam engine itself is not included in the sale. Your Majesty only allows the sale of the entire ship." Sean shook his head and glanced at Daley who was sitting beside him. "Of course, as supporting equipment, an extra one will be added to each ironclad ship.

It is understandable that we need a set of key equipment. After all, it takes one and a half months to sail from Poitou to your country. After arriving in your country, we will need to face equipment damage at any time during future use."

"So what's your quotation?" Ambassador Zhao was very happy.

"The Shark is worth 1 million, including two matching steam engines and related equipment, and the Rocky Mountain is worth 2.5 million, which also includes supporting key power equipment." Sean said.

However, Sean changed the topic: "You need to meet the emperor of our country again, and I am optimistic about the success!"

Ambassador Zhao came in a hurry and left in a hurry. He could see that Sean was willing to export steam engines to him, but only if he got permission from the empire. Ambassador Zhao didn't want to buy the whole ship. Firstly, the construction speed was too slow. Secondly,

He is a patriot and wants to get some secrets about steam ironclads.

Obviously, Sean rejected the possibility of a private transaction, not to mention that there was a secret policeman who witnessed the entire transaction process.

Soon, Sean read in the newspaper the news that Xia merchants collectively donated 5 million to Carlos II to thank the empire for providing them with shelter as stranded foreigners.

Immediately afterwards, Xiao En received the emperor's order and agreed that Kang Dynamics would export marine equipment to Xia State. The export tax would be calculated separately and the tax rate would be 20%.

Ambassador Xia had to come to Poitou again to renegotiate if the emperor allowed the export of marine power equipment.

The Xia people ordered 5 Rocky Mountain-class armored cargo ships and 20 Shark-class battleships, with a total tonnage of 30,000 tons and a value of 40 million, because the ambassador received generous support from his compatriots. For this, the Xia people had to pay the entire

The export tax for ships is 3 million yuan, and the export tax for key equipment is 1.3 million yuan.

Carlos II and the cabinet were very satisfied with the deal. They suppressed the strong dissatisfaction of the navy and agreed to transfer all the taxes paid by the Xia people to the navy.

It is worth noting that this transaction is provided with credit guarantee by several major banks in the Holy City, and these banks are quietly extending their tentacles to Genoa. This is also risky, because the Xia people can only come up with half of it at the moment.

of cash.

"Capital always looks for the safest place," Sieyes told Sean.


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