Vientiane Throne of Civilization

Chapter 1599 We must develop a steam engine!
After the news of the steam engine transaction between Tonglu Fort and Da Zhou was leaked, Tonglu Fort immediately expressed its attitude to Da Zhou, stating that the news was definitely not leaked by them.

Zhou Xu was very calm about this.

If it was leaked, it was leaked. They just prohibited Copperforge from reselling their steam engines and providing them to other countries for research. As for whether the transaction itself was kept confidential, they didn't really care.

Take the Saint Laurent Empire for example, it has been a while since they have been planning to target their steam engines.

What's the use? They don't sell it.

At this stage, if you want their steam engine, mithril is not enough, unless Saint Laurent I hands over the epic enchanted equipment in his hand.

You know, even at the beginning, Saint Laurent I only promised to provide Zhou Xu with epic enchanted equipment in a pie-in-the-sky manner and let Zhou Xu study the enchantments on it.

Under this premise, asking Saint Laurent I to exchange an epic equipment for a steam engine would be more painful than killing him.

Zhou Xu was obviously aware of this, so when asked about steam engines from the Saint Laurent Empire, they simply rejected them and were too lazy to waste words with them.

He didn't believe that Saint Laurent I had no idea what was going on.

The other party must be aware that if they want to exchange for the steam engine from Da Zhou, they have to take out the epic equipment.

After receiving the polite refusal from the Great Zhou, Saint Laurent V remained calm compared to Saint Laurent I who had an unpleasant expression on his face. It was obvious that he was mentally prepared.

At this moment, Saint Laurent V was even more curious about what kind of bargaining chips Copperforge had offered to make Da Zhou willing to exchange a steam engine.

While Saint Laurent V was thinking about this, Saint Laurent I had already changed his face.

"No, we have to get the steam engine!"

The two countries are competing for development. Guns and artillery are important, and steam engines are undoubtedly important as well! Neither can be left behind!

Once they fall behind, they can't catch up.

And now that the Great Zhou Dynasty won't sell it to them, their research institute won't be able to produce results in a short period of time. Saint Laurent I thought about it...

"Got it. Let's go ask Copperforge! Didn't they get a steam engine?! We can find a way to get that steam engine here. If that doesn't work, we can ask them to lend us the steam engine for research!"

Apart from anything else, Saint Laurent I's proposal was indeed worth a try.

Since they couldn't find a breakthrough on the Da Zhou side, they could turn around and ask Tonglu Fort. Even if it failed in the end, they wouldn't lose a single piece of meat.

Thinking of this, things were arranged quickly.

Needless to say, Copperforge rejected the request very straightforwardly.

No matter what he said, it was useless, and Saint Laurent was so angry that he was jumping up and down.

Since this approach was not feasible, if Saint Laurent I did not want to bleed heavily, he could only hope that his own research institute could come up with a result, or that the steam engine would depreciate in a few years.

But what does the depreciation of the steam engine represent?
It means that Da Zhou has developed a better engine!

When he thought of this, Saint Laurent I suddenly felt worse.

Ever since the emergence of the Great Zhou, he felt that he had suffered all the setbacks in the past five hundred years!

This made it very difficult for him to hold back after having done whatever he wanted for so many years!

In this process, some extreme ideas arise spontaneously.

"Why not just send out troops and take over Copperforge Fort as quickly as possible!" "Anyway, part of our Saint Laurent Empire's territory is adjacent to Copperforge Fort. We can quietly gather troops there first. Copperforge Fort's territory is not large. At that time, at most I can lead the troops myself and attack it in a short time!"

"Then the steam engine will be ours, and the dwarven technology and craftsmen will also be ours!"

Looking at Saint Laurent I who had already started to get angry, Saint Laurent V, who was sitting at his desk, twitched his eyelids twice.

[This reckless man...]

The previous things were fine, but he had to speak out about the attack on Copperforge Castle...

“It’s not a good choice.”

Hearing this, a hint of displeasure flashed across Saint Laurent I's eyes, and he subconsciously wanted to scold him.

But when he thought about how he had been speechless and almost embarrassed by the other party, Saint Laurent I finally took a deep breath and swallowed the scolding that was about to come out of his mouth.

"What does the Fifth think?"

Obviously, he is not completely unwise.

Saint Laurent I's reaction made Saint Laurent V feel a little surprised.

As the strongest fighting force of their Saint Laurent Empire, it is undoubtedly a good thing that their ancestor is willing to listen and cooperate.

After all, as the current emperor, he fears the most that the other party is obviously brainless and won't listen to him.

Thinking of this, Saint Laurent V sorted out his thoughts and spoke in an orderly manner...

"From the perspective of the United Nations, Copperforge is currently in a neutral position. In addition, during the Greenskin War in the early years, Copperforge also sent troops to assist us. We have maintained good diplomatic relations with each other. It is morally unacceptable for us to suddenly turn against each other and annex us. Simply put, there is no legitimate reason for war."

Saint Laurent V may have embellished his words a bit, but to put it bluntly, this is too shameless and cannot be done normally!
In fact, Saint Laurent V had already realized long before that his ancestor's brain had long been unable to keep up with the era of international development.

He is a pure reckless man, whose thinking is still stuck in the ancient times when all he needed to do was fight and kill.

In fact, this is how the Saint Laurent Empire was established, but this approach no longer works now.

As the current emperor of the Saint Laurent Empire, Saint Laurent V has already felt the changes of the times.

Of course, as an emperor, he is not a moral role model. His moral standards can be flexibly adjusted as long as it can effectively achieve his goals.

But in his opinion, Saint Laurent I's proposal did not meet this standard.

"Once we do this, it will be equivalent to announcing our injustice to the world. We will lose all credibility and immediately become an international enemy. Other countries in the United Nations will turn around and form a coalition to conquer us."

"At this stage, we may not be able to defeat the Great Zhou alone. If we add other countries to form a coalition, we will almost certainly lose."

"Putting this question aside, assuming we succeed in capturing Copperforge, what are we to the dwarves of Copperforge?"

"We are shameless invaders, the enemies they hate to the core and want to destroy their country! Under such circumstances, will the dwarves of Copperforge be willing to accept our rule?"

"Those dwarves will become the biggest destabilizing factor within our empire! And they may explode at any time!"

"Look at the Smith Kingdom. What has it become because of the civil strife? The invincible fortress was destroyed from within. Sometimes the threat from within is far more terrifying than the threat from outside!"

(End of this chapter)