Zhu Cixiang knew very well the purpose of the heads of state gathering in Beidu. On the surface, they wanted to seek common ground while reserving differences to participate in the summit. In fact, they wanted to seek elixirs and earn some tangible benefits.
For example, if you become a second-level dealer at the highest level, in order to earn hundreds of thousands or even millions of silver coins at a time, no one will care about their appearance.
In fact, even if they do not need to attend the summit, heads of state will frequently visit the Ming Empire at other times.
Especially Caiguo and Waguo, which are very close to each other. After the two heads of state acquired ironclad ships, they would come here every year.
Even Sultan Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire, who used to eat and sleep, has now become a wise king.
He comes to the Ming Empire once every two years. He takes the canal route on his way there and disembarks from Kuwait on his way back.
Stop by to inspect local oil fields and refinery operations before catching a direct train home to Istanbul.
King Carl XI of Sweden decided to visit the Ming Empire by land once a year after experiencing the benefits brought to him by the railway, especially the huge convenience in time.
It only takes a month to go back and forth, and it will not cause much difficulty in managing the country.
What's more, he can also discuss major and minor matters with the emperor of the Ming Empire. This move is definitely very valuable to him.
Sweden first cooperated and then formed an alliance with the Ming Empire, and successively defeated its old enemies Denmark and Poland.
Not only did they gain control of the entire Scandinavian Peninsula, they also gained control of most of the Baltic Sea.
Especially after the Swedish Navy was equipped with ironclad ships, the Baltic Sea almost became Sweden's inner lake.
Except for the ships of the Ming Empire Navy and its allies France, the Netherlands and other countries, other ships sailing in this sea area must be inspected by Swedish warships.
Karl XI did not want this great situation to turn into a flash in the pan, and had already tried every means to maintain it. The main method was to promote the industrialization of his country by forming an alliance with the Ming Empire.
According to the characteristics of the country, King Carl XI focused on supporting the four major industries of shipbuilding, papermaking, food, and mining.
In the previous sailing era, Sweden's shipbuilding capabilities reached world-class levels.
Created the famous and largest "battle submarine" - Vasa!
Now Karl XI also plans to upgrade his country's shipbuilding industry. In the past, he purchased ironclad ships from the Ming Empire.
Because the introduction of ironclad shipbuilding technology was costly, King Karl XI never made a decision.
Another main reason is that unlike France and the Netherlands, Sweden's development has always been based on its own territory.
He had no intention of going overseas to seize colonies. The kind of uncontrollable enclaves were looked down upon by successive monarchs.
Switzerland's population size is about the same as that of the Netherlands, just a little larger than the latter.
However, the gap in the number of merchant ships between the two countries is very large, and Sweden has no desire for overseas enclaves.
Due to different development ideas, King Carl XI did not focus on trafficking black people to boost financial income.
Compared to Sweden's population, Sweden's territory is already quite large.
Instead of trafficking black people, it is better to use precious labor to develop domestic industries.
Therefore, the only railway in Sweden does not connect major cities such as Stockholm, but is located in the northern region.
This railway serves not the nobility, but miners, and its starting point and end point are Narvik and Kiruna.
The latter is currently the second largest and highest quality iron ore in Europe, after the Kursk Iron Ore.
Charles XI quickly boosted the country's mining and metallurgical standards by using mechanized equipment to mine the mine.
The goal set by Emperor Louis XIV of Europe for France was to become the second most industrially powerful country in the world and the first industrially powerful country in Europe.
Karl XI did not have such big ambitions and did not value world rankings. He would be satisfied as long as he could become the second industrial power in Europe.
The Netherlands is the second commercial country in Europe. Due to the lack of local resources for industrial development, it can only develop shipbuilding, automobiles, and light industry.
There are not many industries that Sweden can compete with, but one thing is that it is backed by the Ming Empire.
Even if you use salmon or canned salmon, or even animal fur hats, you can exchange them for the products you need.
After Zhang Huangyan became the commander of the Western Expeditionary Army, when he was in Moscow, he frequently exchanged supplies from Sweden.
For things like paper to be transported from thousands of miles away to Moscow, the freight is much higher than the cost of paper production.
The western part of Westland is sparsely populated, and it is not cost-effective to open a paper mill.
It would be better to transport a cart of silk and get dozens of times the amount of paper.
From letter paper to toilet paper, much of the expeditionary force west of the Ural Mountains used paper made by Swedish companies.
After the Kursk iron ore was mined and the steel plants in the mining area were put into operation, the shortage of steel supplies for the garrison and immigrants in the area was greatly alleviated.
But this does not mean that the products of Swedish steel plants cannot be sold. On the contrary, with the rise of canned products, Swedish-made cans have become popular in Europe.
On the one hand, this is because the texture and taste of cold-water fish such as salmon, cod, and salmon are much better than herring. On the other hand, it is due to the war in Europe and the low-price competition strategy of Swedish products.
French companies are also leaders in the industry, but the cost of catching tuna is high, and sardines will fall into a price war. French canned tuna controls the high-end market in Europe.
The Swedish canning company knew that its products could not compete with France's high-end products, so it took the pro-Min route from the beginning. Based on the principle of small profits but quick turnover, the prices were low.
Central and Eastern Europe and the garrisons of the Ming Empire are the two largest customers of Swedish canning companies. The latter can even shorten the time for Sweden to obtain oriental specialties from the sea.
In the past, it took more than half a year to arrive by sea freight, but now it takes up to one month.
Due to the construction of thousands of miles of railways, wired telegraph cables were laid along the way.
As long as you can accept the logistics costs of railway express delivery, if it's fast, it can arrive in Sweden in more than half a month.
Nowadays, almost all the nobles and wealthy businessmen in Sweden have purchased real estate in Bologna for the purpose of receiving express delivery...
The reason seems ridiculous, but this is a real need.
Many nobles and wealthy businessmen have made money through trade with the Ming Empire, so they can not only make money but also satisfy their own consumption needs, so why not continue?
Since tens of thousands of Swedes have settled here, Swedish has become Boroborg's second language.
Fort Polo is no longer a military fortress, but has become a big city with many buildings.
"Big city" is only a relative term. Let alone Beidu, the scale of the city cannot even compare with that of Tianjin or even Baoding.
However, in the Nordic region, Boroburg, which is connected to trains, has power plants, ports and airports, is a city that can be desirable.
The city is a mini version of Beidu, with hospitals, shopping malls, cinemas, and entertainment venues all available, and the city's water supply and drainage are no problem at all.
If European countries want to imitate the cities of the Ming Empire in building cities, they don't have to go all the way to the East and just come to Boro Castle to visit and study.
Especially the heights near Boluobao Airport have almost become a gathering place for local residents and foreign tourists.
The purpose of everyone coming to a place like this is to watch planes take off and land.
Both adults and children exclaimed when they saw the airplane!
At Beidu Airport, similar situations were common.
Restaurants, teahouses, and inns that were originally opened around the airport suddenly became popular.
There is only one reason for people to stay in the hotel, and that is to come here specifically to watch the planes...
There is no charge to watch the plane, you can watch it as long as you want.
But if you try to enter the airport by illegal means, you will have to bear the consequences.
If a plane crash occurs and some idlers take away part of the plane wreckage, they will also be held accountable.
Even if the aircraft becomes a wreckage, it does not belong to an individual. It belongs to military equipment and belongs to the Air Force and the Ministry of War.
The situation of seeing airships back then has reappeared yesterday. Although airplanes are not as huge as airships, they are better at flying very fast.
There are only too many airships in the air at the same time, but it is different with airplanes. There may be more than a dozen taking off and landing at the same time.
Due to its proximity to the Academy of Sciences, Beidu Suburban Airport is also the largest pilot training base in Ming Dynasty.
Once an aircraft encounters a technical problem, it can be quickly sent to the Academy of Sciences for research and improvement.
The scale and frequency of the resulting flights were also the highest in the entire Ming Dynasty, and it was natural that the audience would be large.
The air force is in charge inside the airport, while factory guards patrol and monitor outside the airport.
The job of the factory guards is very simple. In addition to the routine patrols with wolves and dogs, the rest are plainclothes placed in various places and outdoors.
I rarely take notes with my pen. Most of the time I just blend in with the crowd and act as an audience to see what everyone is talking about while watching the plane.
There were not only spies and gangsters in the crowd, but also aviation enthusiasts.
Some people came from Jiangnan just to see the aircraft.
After a while of asking around, I finally got to the factory guard.
After interrogation, the factory guards were dumbfounded. They found that many of the suspects planned to build their own airplanes...
Is it illegal to build an airplane?
Not illegal!
But obviously this kind of high-tech aircraft cannot be built by ordinary people. Even if you graduate from college, you may not be able to build a similar aircraft.
Of course, someone has taken out their own car engine and installed it on a model airplane they built themselves.
Then the expected result did not occur. Instead, the body that had been worked so hard to build was deflected, and then crashed into a pile of boards...
Despite the extremely simple structure of the "Albatross" fighter jet, this thing has been tested by aviation professionals and actual combat.
If this thing can fly into the sky, there must be something reasonable about it.
To be honest, basically the entire body is reasonable.
Apart from improving the original landing gear to make it more stable during landing, Zhu Cixiang did not make much improvement in other aspects.
The airframes created by many aviation enthusiasts look very beautiful and spectacular, but in fact they do not comply with aerodynamics and fluid mechanics.
Either it's top-heavy, or the splicing is not strong, or you haven't thought about how to land at all...
So much so that some started kowtowing while gliding, some fell apart after flying, and some crashed their own chicken coops!
There are also fierce people who start researching the two-haired little monsters from the beginning!
When Zhu Cixiang saw the factory guard's report, he couldn't help but admire it. It was indeed a master in Minjian!
Those guys who were trying to smash the pot were still unconvinced, thinking that the failure was not a problem of their own design, but that the emperor had magical powers!
As long as you have the power of immortality, your plane will definitely be able to soar in the blue sky!
How to have immortal power?
That is to sneak into the airport and touch the plane carrying Xianli!
This reason made both the factory guard and Zhu Cixi stunned and amazed...
Does science plus metaphysics equal take-off? ? ?
If we really play like this, if we step on the left foot with the right foot and start over and over again, we can directly land on the moon!
Zhu Cixiang did not allow ordinary people to develop aircraft, but he definitely did not allow the achievements of the Academy of Sciences to be easily stolen or even leaked.
Once Minjian possesses aircraft manufacturing technology, the military does not purchase it.
In order to fill the huge hole in early R&D expenses, it can only be sold externally.
This move was something Zhu Cixi could not tolerate. It meant that while Ming Dynasty was losing money, it allowed other countries to rapidly improve their aviation technology.
Countries such as France and the Netherlands have paid a huge price to introduce aircraft manufacturing technology, allowing them to obtain a cheap channel for technology introduction. In the future, cooperation with Daming will be very interesting...
In order to avoid embarrassment for both parties, Zhu Cixiang did not bring low-level players into the field to play.
The aviation industry is a high-end game, and the threshold will become higher and higher. In the end, only Daming will be the only player left!
Will I take you to the moon together?
Definitely not!
At most, just let a few of your astronauts go for a spin in space!
In the future, space shuttles, space stations, and even the entire moon will belong to the Ming Dynasty!
If you play with artificial satellites, it will be worthy of your efforts!
Zhu Cixiang not only wants to plant a flag on the moon, but also on Mars!
Even the sun...
Many people who have never been to the Academy of Sciences or went to school think that landing on the sun at night is a very good strategy!
Wait for the sun to go out first, and then Master Wang will go up!
Anyone who knows the basics of astronomy will laugh and shake their heads at this.
If you argue with the other party and push it to the end, you will only be asking for trouble.
Building an airship is the first step, building an airplane is the second step.
Next, is the most critical thing of making rockets.
"Rocket" does not refer to "Sky Monkey"!
When aircraft manufacturing technology gradually matures, it will not be too late to build rockets again.
However, the quality of this kind of aircraft is still not up to standard, and there are a lot of people asking to fly.
Putting the eight-engine monster into Min Aviation is inevitable, but it will take some time.
Obviously some people couldn't wait any longer and had predicted a certain emperor's prediction!
They had even prepared the money to buy air tickets, but it seemed they couldn't hold on any longer...
In this regard, Zhu Cixi still would not let go.
Because the military version of the "Hercules" transport aircraft is full of minor problems, pilots, gunners, and bombardiers must be prepared to parachute at any time.
The first two hundred mass-produced models were sent to the North American battlefield. As a result, not including takeoff and landing accidents, more than twenty were lost in one year.
If this thing is used to pull passengers, each passenger must be mentally prepared for the possibility of parachuting, which is obviously unrealistic.
Many people are not afraid of heights when flying, but try it after opening the cabin door!
You can get an idea of the situation by watching the paratrooper recruit training. Some guys would rather die than jump!
It's okay to fly on land, but if you get into trouble at sea, all the passengers on the plane will be fed to fish...
The "Hercules" transport aircraft still has a metal frame, skin shell, wooden wings and nose.
The Academy of Sciences is developing a prototype with an all-metal casing, using lighter aluminum alloy.
It is estimated that it will be put into production in about ten years.
Zhu Cixiang could wait, but some people were impatient.
Maybe some people will be on the verge of death, but this is better than being dropped by a plane and leaving no bones left, right?
If that happens, the factory guard can only hold a box containing something black and give it to the relatives of the victims.
And here is a message - these are the remains of your father!
God knows what's inside!
There can't be a small piece of plane wreckage buried in your ancestral grave, right? ? ?
This will drive the tomb robber crazy...
After digging the graves of hundreds of victims, and finally collecting the results, they found the tail of the "Hercules"!
If you have to eat the crab first, it’s not impossible, then spend money to receive skydiving training!
Training also requires payment, and the price is as high as one thousand silver coins!
Zhu Cixiang’s intention was to persuade everyone to quit, but he didn’t expect that the number of applicants exceeded 1,000 within a week!
Looking back, this was a pretty stupid decision!
The names of some of the emperor's grandsons and grandsons appeared on the list, and Zhu Cixiang had to order that these hot-headed little guys should not be considered for the time being.
Let the daughters and daughters-in-law take their beloved children back, so as not to break their arms and legs during skydiving training and blame themselves later.
A more important reason is that the parachutes equipped by the Ming Dynasty Air Force cannot open smoothly 100% of the time.
Those who use the mechanism hook to open the parachute are fine, but those who jump out of the cabin and open the parachute by themselves are basically gambling with their lives.
The people in the Air Force have gone through long-term military training and will not go crazy if any situation arises.
If you were an ordinary person, you would be in the minority who would remain calm in that situation.
In order to deal with the unconvinced grandchildren at home, Zhu Cixiang specially chose the windiest day to let them go to the pilot training ground to play.
The flight simulator is a Hercules transport aircraft, but it is installed on the roof of a simple five-story building. The body is in a quasi-suspended state, with only a steel frame for support.
"Simple five-story building" means no brick walls, only iron frames.
When the wind is strong, trainees can experience a feeling similar to high-altitude turbulence.
When the cabin door was opened, a certain emperor's grandson just glanced down, then turned back to the instructor with a look of fear: Is this necessary for us?
The skydivers who come here for training are all equipped with multi-strand safety ropes, and there have never been any accidents.
However, it is not scary if the rope breaks. What is scary is being scared to urinate in front of other people!
This is the intention of Emperor Haojing. If you are timid even in this way, let alone the more difficult skydiving.
Every qualified paratrooper has three characteristics, that is, being bold, calm, and able to solve problems by himself.
If you don’t even have the guts, you might as well join the army!
Don’t go into the navy and be scared to death by sharks in the sea!
After that day, most of the unconvinced turtles and grandsons were in despair.
The remaining few took their time and seemed to have the potential to become paratroopers.
Zhu Cixiang asked them to be stricter than ordinary people, because he did not want news about the royal family falling to death due to parachuting.
At this stage, only by meeting the standards of paratroopers can these turtles and grandchildren have a greater chance of survival.
Members of the royal family can also join the three services, but most of them are the navy and the army.
It's gold-plated anyway, so there's no need to be a pilot in the sky. At best, you can work on the ground.
If you really like weapons, you can go to a military academy to learn them. There are all kinds of weapons there.
Ordinary people must undergo three years of training. Only when the number of trainings reaches the standard and all assessments are passed, will they be eligible to board the plane.
What pilots learn, passengers must learn!
This is the standard set by Emperor Haojing. If you can't accept it, you can leave.
Sure enough, as the first batch of people obtained this qualification, they immediately became the benchmark for the entire Ming Dynasty to show off!
Zhu Cixiang is not a black-hearted businessman. Once a trainee obtains boarding qualification, it will be permanently valid.
The final right of interpretation lies with Zhu Cixiang. Of course, the emperor has the final say on when he can board the plane.
The commercial version of "Hercules" will also take the high-end route, because passengers are those who are not short of money.
Try to drag as few people as possible, so that fewer people will die!
No more than ten passengers will be carried on each flight, in addition to crew members.
The heads of state participating in the summit actually wanted to try it out, but considering the almost demanding boarding requirements, they had no choice but to give up.
The "Hercules" transport/bomber will be exported as early as 1700, but it has already received a steady stream of overseas orders.
After watching the performance of the Ming Dynasty Air Force, Ibrahim I even thought of forming a team of thousands of aircraft to carpet bomb enemy targets!
The new Inca Emperor Polo also had this idea. It seems that a fleet of aircraft flying high in the sky is more spectacular than an armored ship at sea.
Using this thing to fight is secondary, the main thing is to boost the morale of your troops, and it can also be used to show off your power...
Every time these two wealthy people come to Ming Dynasty, they seem to come to stock goods, even in terms of military procurement!
No way, the performance of the Ming Air Force was a little too much, especially the effect of carpet bombing was demonstrated in public!
Louis XIV and a group of marshals under his command were dumbfounded, and their understanding of the new type of warfare was refreshed.
Everyone thought that after these years of hard work, the gap with the Ming Empire in the military field could finally be narrowed.
Unexpectedly, not only did it not shrink, but it tended to be further enlarged.
Our own air force has fighter/attack aircraft, which look pretty good.
But the opponent's air force not only has fighter/attack aircraft, but also transport/bombers.
Once this kind of aircraft appears in the sky over the battlefield, will the side without air supremacy end well?
Which army can withstand this attack mode called "carpet bombing"?
After hundreds of bombers dropped their bombs, the battlefield turned into a scorched earth.
This is different from artillery fire, which is almost impossible to avoid on the plains.
Once the ground troops enter the sight of the bomber group, their fate is almost certain.
If someone is faster than you and has better vision than you, you can't hit them and you can only get hit, so it's completely impossible to win.
Breaking it into parts is a good way to deal with it, but this loses the advantage of the overall attack.
An army of 100,000 people turned into dozens of troops. It didn't make much difference if this one was scattered.
