"Your Majesty, this matter is of great importance, isn't it..."
Fang Yizhi felt that he had to calm down and think about this crucial strategic issue before making a reasonable and appropriate decision.
"When we get back, let's hold a military meeting!"
Emperor Haojing has not yet sent people to report the conditions proposed by Louis XIV to the northern capital. Since Fang Yizhi insists, let him give him face and brainstorm ideas.
The foreign guests visited Tianjin for three days, and then embarked on their long-awaited trip to visit Beidu, which was the top priority of the trip.
Since a large number of turrets were built along the route, one every other mile, passengers could not help but feel a little unsightly when looking out.
There is nothing we can do about this. Firstly, we must prevent bad people from damaging the railway. Secondly, we must prevent thieves from prying the rails and selling them for money. Thirdly, we must conduct frequent maintenance.
The railway from Calais to Paris used this model, and although it cost extra money to build gun towers and deploy soldiers, it was definitely worth it.
Louis XIV looked at the unique scenery outside the window, but felt a little anxious because the emperor of the Ming Empire did not reply to him and needed to submit it to a meeting for review.
The matter was of great importance, and this move was of course understandable. Colbert also advised Louis XIV that there was no need to be anxious, and that he would definitely get an answer before leaving.
At this time, Louis XIV suddenly felt that his asking price was a bit high, and he might have frightened the other party.
It might be more appropriate if the number is reduced to six each of the two warships.
He has never offered a sky-high price before, for example, he has not asked the other party to provide the construction technology of a fifth-level ironclad ship.
It only requires the construction technology of a fourth-level ironclad ship, which leaves room for both sides to change.
Now that the offer has been shown to the other party, it is too late to modify it at this time. Instead, it will be regarded as a sign of weakness on your part.
The waiting process is naturally the longest, and Louis XIV can only pray for good luck now.
He could not tolerate Condai's long-term misdeeds in the North American territories, especially the destruction of the alliance between France and Ming Dynasty.
It would be great if we could take this opportunity to take back Kong Dai's military power and get rid of all his supporters.
If Kong Dai happily obeys his orders, he can still give him a decent treatment, otherwise...
The train arrived in Beidu on the same day, and the heads of state of various countries were amazed by this train station.
The train station of Beidu New City is located in the east of the city. There is also a small train station in the city, located in the imperial city.
The purpose of building this small train station is to make it convenient and safe for the royal family to enter and exit without affecting the travel of ordinary people.
The entire diplomatic mission could also be accommodated in the imperial city, but for the sake of their own safety and not to interfere with each other, Emperor Haojing decided to let the heads of state stay in their respective embassies.
Wait until the afternoon of the next day to proceed with the most important process, which is the summit of the ten heads of state.
"My dear friends, this is what I have discussed with my chief assistant. If anyone has a better suggestion, there is no harm in speaking up."
Those who can enter the army are naturally smart people, and Emperor Haojing also wants to hear the opinions of experts.
"Your Majesty, will this move affect the commissioning of the navy's main battleships?"
Seeing that no one was willing to speak, Xia Wanchun, the second assistant, took the lead in speaking.
"After the launch of eight level five ironclad ships and eight level four ironclad ships last year, the Tianjin and Penglai shipyards started construction of the same number and type of capital ships. This batch is expected to be completed in six to seven years. Even if Louis XIV chooses The third item, the shipyard can also deliver all, and the delivery time of other weapons is no problem at all."
Emperor Haojing had already considered this and gave Louis XIV a chance to master the game.
"Your Majesty, will this move make the French navy close to or reach the level of our Ming Dynasty navy within ten years?"
Sun Chuanting is quite concerned about this aspect and is very alert to possible threats.
"Let Jie Aiqing explain it!"
Emperor Haojing has professionals under his command, and he has taken his fleet to fight in Europe before. He is considered the number one person in the Ming Navy at the moment.
"Everyone, excluding the Zheng fleet, the imperial fleet is currently equipped with four Level 5 ironclads and twelve Level 4 ironclads. Due to the previous purchase plan of 80 additional Level 3 ironclads, the construction period of this type of ironclads is longer. The fourth- and fifth-level ironclads are both short, so they can increase from more than 20 ships now to nearly a hundred in ten years. There is a lot of room for their number to increase. The second-level and first-level ironclads have been reduced to auxiliary battleships. , I won’t go into details here. The French Navy currently only has three third-level ironclads, and the rest are first-level ironclads and self-built ironclads between first-level and second-level ironclads. If Louis XIV chooses the third option, In ten years' time, the French Navy will have eight level five ironclads, eight level four ironclads, and less than ten level three ironclads. In fact, it may be able to challenge our Ming fleet, but it still cannot compete with the imperial court and the Zheng family's combined fleet. Competing. If the Zheng family does not participate in the operation at that time, the court can change the shipbuilding plan at any time according to the King of France's choice. The eight third-class ironclad ships under construction at the Fujian Shipbuilding Shipyard will be cancelled, and all eight shipyards will be used to build fourth-class ironclad ships. Eight 10,000-ton shipyards in other shipyards will be freed up to build eight level five ironclads. In this way, our country can equip eight level five ironclads and eight level four ironclads together with France, and still be able to build eight level five ironclads. Both the tonnage and the capital ships suppressed the French Navy at the same time.”
In fact, the silver coins in his pocket were enough to spend, and Jiexuan even wanted to use all sixteen shipyards to build fifth-level ironclads.
However, the cost of one ship is as high as nearly 10 million silver coins. This is a big plan involving hundreds of millions of expenditures.
Evenly spread over six years, nearly 27 million silver coins would have to be spent every year, which would put considerable financial pressure.
"Can I please interrupt?"
"Song Aiqing just says it's okay!"
"If it is for emergency use, and the fourth-level ironclads will eventually be eliminated, it is better for the imperial court to concentrate its financial resources and build all fifth-level ironclads. First, it can be used to suppress the French navy. The fifth-level ironclads still have a clear advantage against the fourth-level ironclads. . Secondly, the tonnage of this type of ironclad ship is larger, so there is naturally greater room for improvement, and the service life is also longer, which can be more than fifty years. Thirdly, if there is no war by then, these battleships can be returned to the shipyard to repair them. , sell it to me as an ally of the Ming Dynasty, and get the funds back to build a level six or level seven ironclad ship!"
Song Yingxing came from the Academy of Sciences. Although he is no longer the dean, he is still a senior person. He had a rough look at the imperial court's shipbuilding plan and had an idea.
"What do you dear ladies think of this strategy?"
Emperor Haojing agreed with this plan in his heart, but he still had to listen to the opinions based on the principle of brainstorming.
No one could guess what the emperor was thinking. Due to the special relationship between the emperor and Lao Songtou, they could only agree.
Of course Jiexuan supported this proposal very much, but as the Minister of the Navy, he was alone and could not fight against the large number of civil servants.
"Otherwise, for the sake of safety, if the King of France chooses the third option, our Ming Dynasty can start construction of eight level five ironclad ships as a response. Together with the original battleships, most of them will not suffer losses. If the output of the mines of the New Inca Empire can be greatly increased, This will allow the imperial court to increase its revenue by 30 to 40 million silver coins per year, and it will also enable the construction of another eight fifth-level ironclad ships."
Fang Yizhi proposed a compromise plan. If the shipbuilding plan was too radical, some people might be a little reluctant.
Now the ministers agreed with Fang Yizhi's plan. Although the annual income was quite high, there were too many places to spend money.
Emperor Haojing also agreed to Fang Yizhi's proposal, so the meeting finalized countermeasures.
The next day, the chief assistant of the Ming Dynasty met with Kolbe first and informed the other party of his counter-offer.
After Colbert submitted the reply from the Ming Emperor to Louis XIV, the king was delighted at first, and then became anxious.
Because there are three options, Venice content is also added.
Venice is easy to say. Although Louis XIV wanted to annex the country, he was wary of the aggressive Ottoman Empire.
Regarding Venice, Louis XIV was willing to see the country become a second Switzerland, but he required written guarantees from both the Ming Emperor and the Ottoman Sultan.
With the Ming Emperor as a witness, the Ottoman Sultan promised not to annex Venice, and France agreed not to annex the country. Such an agreement was the safest.
Venice is almost the richest place in Europe, and both France and the Ottomans have had ideas.
Louis XIV had previously worried that France would send troops to Venice, which would encounter strong opposition from the Ottomans and send troops to intervene.
Considering the Ming Empire behind Ottoman, this move will make France feel extremely passive.
Now it can be solved in a bloodless way, and our own side can benefit a lot, which is completely acceptable to Louis XIV.
Considering the conditions of the Ming Empire, this was tantamount to ensuring the safety of Venice in exchange for the construction technology of level five ironclads.
It was definitely an unexpected surprise, and Colbert and Tourville were also quite happy, seeing it as a huge diplomatic victory.
Yi Wen Yi Wu is more inclined to restore the first item in the condition, that is, the number of physical objects obtained is cut in half, and the delivery period is twenty years.
If we can further negotiate and shorten the time to about fifteen years, that would be perfect.
Without challenging the dominance of the Ming Empire, our own side does not need to obtain so many advanced weapons in full.
If we can obtain fifty aircraft, five hundred machine guns, and fifty thousand magazine-type rifles, it will be enough to arm ten elite infantry brigades.
Paired with a steam tank, it can be completely invincible in Europe.
As the Ming Empire was the world hegemon, France could definitely become the hegemon of Europe.
"Your Majesty, do you think we can add another condition?"
"Oh? What's your opinion, Aiqing?"
"There is only one emperor in Europe now, and that is Leopold of the Holy Roman Empire. His throne originated from the previous Roman Empire. However, France has become the overlord of Europe, and you are more qualified to be the emperor. We do not need to ask Leopold Germany abdicates, but you are also eligible for the same status, as was the case with the two emperors of Eastern Rome and Western Rome. We already control half of the Apennine Peninsula, the entire Iberian Peninsula, half of England, and half of the Netherlands, so You are the deserving Emperor of Europe."
Regarding this matter, Kolbe had only had a flash of inspiration before and didn't take it to heart.
If His Majesty puts the focus of France's future development on Europe, then this matter can be put on the agenda.
"……Um!"
Louis XIV was not in a hurry to confirm, but he thought that what Colbert said was very reasonable, especially in line with his own feelings.
"If we hold similar conferences in Europe in the future, our national power is much stronger than the Holy Roman Empire, but you are not the emperor. This is not consistent with France's strength and world status."
"...Then what are you going to do?"
Louis XIV was already moved at this time. Although Tourville did not express his position, he also recognized the proposal. With the emperor's prestige, the French armed forces would be more famous.
"I think we must first obtain the consent of the Emperor of the Ming Empire, and then the heads of the ten countries will sign a document to recognize you as the emperor. I believe that as long as the Emperor of the Ming Empire nods, the heads of the other eight countries will not refuse. When we return to Europe, Let the Pope issue a statement with the same content, and the matter will probably be successful."
Exchanging North America for a bunch of advanced weapons and the title of emperor is a great value for France.
"...Let me think about it!"
Louis XIV generally agreed with this process, but he had to think carefully to avoid any omissions.
He also thought so in his heart, Leopold was the false Emperor of Europe, but he was the real Emperor of Europe!
What kind of empire is it if it can't even defeat the Ottoman army? What kind of emperor is he? How ridiculous!
Not letting Leopold abdicate directly to make way for someone more worthy was enough to save him enough face.
To take a step back, if it really doesn’t work, you can still crown yourself!
"Your Majesty, this is France's reply!"
"...Haha! These guys really dare to think!"
Fang Yizhi did not open the letter first, and Yang Jinchao opened the reply letter. For fear of being poisonous, he directly clamped it on the blackboard for everyone to read together.
The letter was in both English and French. It could be seen that the other party was worried that the important content would be incomprehensible to Daming, so he specially translated it.
Emperor Haojing didn't know who came up with this idea, but it would definitely be Louis XIV who would ascend the throne in the future.
France chose the first option, accepting half the quantity, but shortening the delivery period and technology transfer time to ten years.
For Venice, the Ming Dynasty must also be used as a guarantee, and Osman must be brought in, and all the contents must be written down.
The matter of elixirs is also involved, and twenty tubes of elixirs are required every year.
Emperor Haojing can provide up to ten tubes to the Frenchman, so he only needs to reply to five tubes first.
As for who will drink these elixirs, even if someone kills Louis XIV and drinks the medicine, Emperor Haojing has nothing to do with it.
The price of the elixir is 10 million silver coins per tube, which can be calculated based on the trade volume of France's exports to the Ming Dynasty, including the export of slaves.
If it reaches 50 million silver coins, Louis XIV can get five tubes, and the upper limit is ten tubes. It's up to you.
If this guy knows that the Zheng family gets twenty tubes of elixir every year, he will probably be so angry that he vomits blood...
Regarding the matter of Emperor Ou, Emperor Haojing thought it was okay to bring a group of friends to coax Louis XIV to play.
As for the Pope, he can handle it himself, and it may not even have anything to do with Ming Dynasty's half a copper coin.
