After crossing this highest threshold, Zheng Zhilong's riding skills improved rapidly. Although the ride was still shaky and the front wheel kept swinging, it no longer easily tilted to one side. .
There is still a huge gap between him and a super accomplished person like a certain prince, and he is obviously inferior to Bo Dacai who learned to walk, but after all, he is the second person to ride a bicycle in the Ming Dynasty. This name is definitely worth showing off.
Judging from the shaking of Zheng Laofi's arms, Yao Ji could guess that the shock absorption effect of this kind of bicycle without inflatable inner tubes was very unsatisfactory, and it would be severely shocked if it encountered any obstacle.
If the yard hadn't been very tidy, with almost no pebbles, otherwise even if Zheng Laofi's driving skills had reached Bo Jue's level, he would have been labeled a "vibrator".
Even if a model of this kind of motion-sensing bicycle is made that suits him, Yaoji will not ride it easily. The seat does not even have a spring. After one lap, his little buttocks will be sore...
But for Zheng Laofi and Bo Dacaizi, the bicycle in front of them is a priceless treasure, and others will not agree to exchange it if they spend thousands of dollars.
Learning to ride a fairy car brings such a huge sense of accomplishment and pride that others cannot imagine and experience. Only those who have experienced it will understand and cherish it.
Every time Bo Jue goes for a walk on a bicycle, or openly shows off his wealth, he almost makes himself so happy that he rolls his eyes without the need for praise from others...
Zheng Zhilong has learned enough to entertain himself, and the subsequent meal-sharing sessions are even more indispensable. Even if Old Fart Zheng doesn't come, a group of food-loving ministers will not give up easily.
Today's dinner is not stir-fry, but Teppanyaki. In order to entertain Mr. Zheng this time, a certain prince asked Zhang Guoyuan to innovate in the cooking method.
Since there was no gas tank, we could only build a large stove in the yard and use several bellows to push and pull it back and forth. This way, it could provide fire similar to that of the Teppanyaki of later generations.
Teppanyaki is all about freshness and tenderness, especially the strips of beef that have been marinated in advance and fried to a crisp on the oil-sprinkled iron plate.
Just hearing the sound of the imperial chefs making delicacies can make everyone's mouths water and stomach buds agitate, including the snack connoisseur Zhu Cijiong, who is staring intently.
Sprinkle a little cumin, black pepper and coriander, and after a while the sizzling beef will be on the plate. It will be brought to the diners in less than ten seconds, waiting to be tasted.
Unless there are special circumstances, the recipes at East Palace and Kunning Palace are basically the same, but for things like Teppanyaki, you cannot set up a stove in Kunning Palace.
Zhu Cijiong heard that his brother was secretly eating delicacies from the fairy world again, so he asked his beautiful mother to go to the East Palace for dinner. The battle with his mother was fierce and it was in the final sprint. Naturally, he had no time to take care of his foodie son, so he readily agreed. .
As a prince and the prince's younger brother, he could walk sideways in the rear palace. He was not afraid when he saw a group of civil servants and generals. He greeted everyone and calmly sat aside and waited for the food to be served.
"Blow it first, then test the temperature with the tip of your tongue, be careful it's hot~"
As an elder brother, a certain prince could only tell his cheap brother this, otherwise this guy would definitely start feasting as if no one else was watching.
Children's mouths are very delicate and cannot withstand the burning of high temperatures. If they eat a large piece in one bite, they will be burned and it will take several days to recover.
If this foodie actually gets his tongue burned in the East Palace, he cannot save himself and has to be scolded by his beautiful mother. The mother is busy playing mahjong and asks the boss to take care of the second child. This logic seems to be very scientific and reasonable...
This is all based on experience. Unless you have an iron mouth when eating something like Teppanyaki, if you swallow it as soon as it comes out of the plate, you will most likely be burned into a fool.
"Yes, Brother Huang!"
As a senior snack connoisseur, Zhu Cijiong followed the emperor's instructions step by step very obediently. When he felt that it was almost cool, he started to pick up the beef with chopsticks, opened his mouth, and tasted it slowly.
"Yeah~!"
As soon as he stuffed it in, Zhu Cijiong was stimulated by the strong and rich pepper flavor. This was one of the most delicious foods he had ever eaten.
Without any explanation, he quickly swallowed the rest, chewed it a few times, and then swallowed it into his belly. Then he let out a long sigh of relief. It was so delicious.
The beef has reached the taste buds, but the aroma in the mouth has not dissipated. It can be said that it is an endless aftertaste. Taking a sip of ice-cold sour plum soup is simply the highest level of enjoyment.
Stir-fry?
Zhu Cijiong selectively ignored it.
Fortunately, I didn't stay at the Queen Mother's Kunning Palace for dinner, otherwise I wouldn't be able to enjoy such delicious food today.
Not only Zhu Cijiong, this sizzling beef dish was also praised by all the ministers. Not only is it delicious, but it is also very easy to eat.
Even the chief minister Xue Guoguan, who was accustomed to eating delicacies from the mountains and seas, was very excited after tasting the first piece of beef, and he ate nearly half a kilogram of beef without knowing it.
Since the prince implemented simple dining, the ministers at the table, except for the general Zheng Zhilong, only had four dishes for a meal at home.
Even though they are all meat dishes, they are eaten with fear, for fear that some jealous colleagues will find out that they will eat one of their own on some unlucky day.
Only when dining in the East Palace, I don't have this worry. Since the prince is treating me, no one dares to gossip. Secondly, if you are not the only one eating at the same time, any blind person who wants to take the opportunity to make trouble must think carefully beforehand.
The people who can eat at the same table are the prince's close ministers, so there is no need to worry. It is no exaggeration to say that if the prince were not present, he could almost throw away his cheeks and pour it directly into his throat.
When eating the prince's banquet, in addition to paying attention to the appearance and due etiquette, except for beef ramen, there is no set limit on the size of the meal. As long as you feel that you can still walk out of the palace, you can continue to eat.
Beef ramen is a special case, so it must be strictly limited to three large bowls. Otherwise, even a general like Huang Degong will be so full at certain times that he cannot bend down when he retires, and he can hardly hold his sword. .
Don't think this is alarmist. Among military generals, there are many people who would risk their lives just to eat ramen. If a certain prince hadn't deliberately stipulated that some military generals would have to be carried out after eating...
After finishing the meal, Zhu Cijiong can go to the rockery to rest. After all, it is very tiring for the prince to rely on the rockery to digest food. He must eat and drink enough and save enough strength to do such a heavy work!
"Lao Aiqing needs to take a lot of trouble in purchasing rubber!"
Just now I heard Bo Jue's report during the break. Yaoji also believed that he could not do anything without rubber, so he had to entrust Zheng Laofi's fleet to purchase large quantities in the Malay Peninsula.
Calculated based on the usage of the first bicycle and the second bicycle being debugged, the rubber stored in Ouchi is only enough to make tires for ten bicycles.
It is said that there are still some in Tianjin, but a certain prince thinks that the reserves will not be very large, because rubber is not a bulk consumer product, and even if it is imported, the sales market is very narrow, so the reserves cannot be very large.
Now the molds at the Academy of Sciences are ready, the prototype bike is out, and the supporting factories and craftsmen are all working together, but because of the material rubber, it is impossible to mass-produce bicycles.
This was completely intolerable to a certain prince, because of the ten bicycles that could be built right now, about half would have to be allocated to the Academy of Sciences alone.
Since the first one has been given to Zheng Laopi, and the second one has to be given to Bo Jue, Wang Zheng also contributed a lot, which is equivalent to ordering the third one.
Dean Song was a great scientific expert in the Ming Empire, so it was impossible not to give him one. Xiong Renlin manages the airship project and holds the title of vice president, so he was also rewarded with one.
There are four of them, and then there are the prince-in-law Gong Yonggu and the newspaper editor-in-chief Fang Yizhi. These two guys have to get one, otherwise they will not be able to live up to their reputation.
The remaining four must be given to the Tokugawa General. As a symbol of Ming-Japanese friendship, it is also important to maintain a personal relationship with the General.
As long as the Mud Empire is willing to send a large number of mercenaries, it can give one to Ferdinand III, the only emperor in Europe, and courier one to Philip IV, King of the Dentures of Spain.
The last one can be auctioned in the capital. The one with the highest price will get it. It is fair and reasonable. It is best to use this bicycle to recover the research and development costs of all ten bicycles.
If the price is lower than the expected price or if more bicycles can be built, then it can be given to Uncle Charlie in the UK or French Prime Minister Richelieu.
"Bicycle diplomacy" can be implemented in the future, and it doesn't matter if it is copied. This is not a big money-making project, and groups are fighting on the European continent.
Bicycles are at best the playthings of the nobles and cannot be mass-produced. Each bicycle costs one hundred taels of silver, and a thousand units are sold for only one hundred thousand taels.
For this level of income, a certain prince believed that selling his wife or rickshaws would be more profitable than this project. For the Ming Empire and himself, mining was the most reliable.
This is how to deal with the "Qing King Division" with three bases and high-level troops to make a comeback. The possibility of counting on a wave to take away Huangtaiji has been reduced to zero.
Before at least 300,000 Ming regular troops can be gathered, mercenaries must be used to support them for a while, otherwise the northern defense line will really collapse under the heavy pressure.
Mercenaries simply come from two channels, Japan and Europe. The former is closer and the cost is lower, but the thinking of the Tokugawa generals is incomprehensible to ordinary people, and he may decline a certain prince's request.
The latter is too far away, but the mercenaries in Europe work for money. As long as the sponsor can pay enough, these guys will dare to form a group to go there even if they have to deal with Decepticons...
As long as Lao Tang's friends can bring letters to Rome, Madrid, and Vienna, and use the Pope's face as a guarantee, they will definitely be able to bring a certain number of mercenaries from Europe.
The exact number is still uncertain, but if you have to travel such a long distance, you may lose a lot of people on the way. Those who can reach Daming are lucky and strong guys.
After arming these guys who are risking their lives for making money, they can almost use one as ten on the battlefield. No matter how powerful the braided cotton armor is, it can't withstand a real hammer critical strike of 2.5 million points of damage...
I heard that after Ferdinand III eliminated Wallenstein, he really couldn't afford to support the powerful minister's army of more than 100,000 locusts. For this reason, many mercenaries became unemployed.
A certain prince believed that in this era of war and chaos, it was very necessary to provide these powerful Europeans with battlefield experience with a decent and promising career.
Heavily armed, with a monthly salary of five taels, food and drink, and a reward of one hundred taels of silver for killing a pigtail. To them, this seems to be the most attractive high-paying position in the world.
On the European battlefield, many mercenaries receive almost no ready silver coins from their employers, because employers pay the money directly to military contractors. The most mercenaries can receive is about one silver coin per month, which is equivalent to only 0.7 taels of silver.
If mercenaries want to earn a lot of silver coins, they can only go through two channels, one is to loot towns, and the other is to collect the loot and then sell it.
The premise for realizing such an assumption is that after years of war, the economy in the Holy Roman Empire is close to collapse. Many adult men have almost no other source of income except serving as soldiers.
And for the Germans, especially the Germans, who constitute the majority of the population in the empire, fighting is the job they are best at, and it is the ancestral business they rely on for their livelihood!
For example, the famous Count Karl I of Hesse-Kassel developed surrounding countries such as the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and Venice as his mercenary clients, and often urged his subordinates to look for "business opportunities" in surrounding areas.
Don't despise Karl I for this. This count also adapted to local conditions, because Hesse is almost one of the worst places in southern Germany, with barren land and piles of stones.
If adult men over the age of sixteen do not want to starve to death, becoming a soldier is the best way out. Hesse cannot afford to support an army of tens of thousands, so exporting labor force becomes the only way.
In this way, Karl I can make money, and the adults in the country can fill their stomachs, and Karl I doesn't have to worry that they will rebel unbearably. It can be said that it kills two birds with one stone.
The unit price of each mercenary is an astonishingly low twenty silver coins, which means that as long as you give twenty thousand silver coins to Karl I, the other party will rent you one thousand mercenaries. Of course, the salary is calculated separately.
But by the 1770s, the salary of Hessian mercenaries was only three silver coins per month, so now, renting German mercenaries is simply great value, extremely great value!
Before Karl I, various states within the Holy Ra Empire had been doing this for a long time, but after the Thirty Years War, Hesse was still doing it, so its "performance" seemed to be more outstanding.
In general, Swiss mercenaries are the most expensive, but also of the best quality. German mercenaries are the most cost-effective, have the largest number, and are easier to hire. It depends on what kind of military contractors Laotang's friends can find in Europe.
Even if an army of 50,000 is brought in, a certain prince can still afford it. Looking at the world, he can provide enough food and wages for this large-scale mercenary army.
But this is the ideal state. Military contractors in Europe don't know much about the new employer's situation. Most of them rely on the explanations and deceptions of the warlocks. There are not many people who dare to accept the contract.
It would be overwhelming to be able to transport ten thousand hungry mercenaries, but it could more or less solve the Ming Dynasty's urgent needs.
If these mercenaries are transported to the Liaodong Peninsula, their combat effectiveness will not be less than 20,000 to 30,000 Japanese troops.
Enough to drink a pot of Huangtai Chicken!
This palace has money and you have strength. This is definitely a mutually beneficial deal!
