The sun never sets in America

Chapter 148 Secret Agreement between Chinese and English
"Read the newspaper, read the newspaper..."

"The Foreign Minister of Han arrived at the House of Lords yesterday to deliver a speech..."

"The Foreign Minister of Han expressed his support and respect for the British Empire..."

"London Exchange, Han cotton futures rose 15.00%..."

On the streets of London, early in the morning, there were seven or eight young boys shouting while holding newspapers that still smelled of new ink.

Many people on the street were a little confused when they heard the vocabulary of Han. What is Han and what country is Han? ?

Where is Han? Is it a European country? ?

It can be said that there may not be more than [-] people in the entire UK who know about Han, and most of them are traders and bankers who have business contacts with Han. Then there are those traders in the London Stock Exchange who deal with Han futures and stocks every day. members and financial speculators.

Most Londoners, and even the entire UK, don't know much about the country Han at all. Those who don't know it think it is some small European country, maybe in the Balkans.

"Here's a newspaper..." A man wearing a coat and a beard stopped a newspaper boy on the street.

"Here, sir..." the newsboy handed one of the newspapers to the bearded man.

"Can you tell me, what is Han??" The bearded man looked at the news about Han's visit to the House of Lords in the newspaper and asked the newsboy with some confusion. He really didn't know what Han was.

Is there a country like Han in this world? ?
"I'm sorry, sir, actually I don't know either." After hearing this, the newspaper boy replied helplessly. In fact, except for the name of the country Han in the newspaper and the pronunciation taught to him by the newspaper owner, he didn't know anything else. .

"But I have seen the Han national flag, it seems to be on that street..." The newsboy thought for a while, then pointed to the northeast and replied to the bearded man.

"What the hell..." The bearded man opened the newspaper about the Han Dynasty. He couldn't understand any of these contents, especially the word Wan. He didn't know whether his pronunciation was correct.

"Your..." The bearded man took out a few pennies and threw them to the newsboy. "The extra is your tip." The bearded man warned the newsboy before leaving.

The newsboy behind him happily took the money and continued selling newspapers.

Scenes like this are very common in London, and many people have become interested in a strange country like Han.

Of course, the reason for their interest was not the visit of Han people to the House of Lords, but the business opportunities brought by Han. A sharp rise in Han cotton futures made many British people who did not know Han know about Han.

It can be said that sometimes the impact of the economy is much greater than other things.

…………

"Minister Wan, this is our company's latest iron-making furnace..."

In a steel factory in Sheffield, the owner of the factory, Roberto Brausa, was enthusiastically introducing his newly developed iron-making furnace and other ancillary production lines to Wan Fang.

(Sheffield is the largest steel base in the UK)

"This latest iron-making furnace, both in terms of smelting speed and iron ore refining, speed and quality, is far higher than the previous generation of iron-making furnaces..." Brausa gushed to Wan Fang on the side. Jue introduced the performance of the iron-making furnace in front of him, "And we have also remodeled the production line, so that the production speed has been greatly improved compared to the original." Shriek pointed to the production line that was still running aside, proudly ’s continued introduction.

Wan Fang, who was on the side, was observing the operation of the iron-making furnace in front of him. Otherwise, the iron-making furnace would be too hot and he might lie down to watch carefully.

"How much does ironmaking equipment like this increase steel production capacity?" Wan Fang asked while looking at it.

"It's about a 20.00% increase from the original." Blasa quickly replied, "Now all the steel plants in the UK are replacing old equipment and using new equipment." Blasa then added to Wan Fang, the implication of which was to tell Wan Fang , now this kind of iron-making furnace is the general trend. If you don't buy it, it will be too late.

Wan Fang did not immediately answer what Shrike said. In fact, he knew very well that this new type of iron-making furnace and other production lines would be introduced to the Han Dynasty sooner or later. However, you should not be in a hurry. If you are too hasty, you will miss the opportunity and let the British Caught the flaw.

"Mr. Shrike, the iron-making furnace is very good, but unfortunately, it does not meet the requirements of our Han country." After reading it, Wan Fang shook his head at Shrike, who was full of expectations, and said with some regret.

"Why, Minister Wan, is this the most advanced steel smelting equipment??" When Brausa heard this, he immediately became anxious. He was originally prepared to wait for a price to sell it, so as to give these Han people a lot of money, but now When Wan Fang said he didn't meet the requirements, he was immediately thrown off guard and asked quickly.

"This machine has no other faults. The main reason is that it is too advanced..." Wan Fang looked at Shrike with some embarrassment and replied.

"Too advanced??" Shrike was dumbfounded when he heard Wan Fang's words. Why was it still a sin to be so advanced? He really couldn't figure it out and could only look at Wan Fang stupidly.

"Mr. Shrike, think about it, if the steel production has increased, will the price drop? And do we in Han need so much steel..." Wan Fang pretended to have a very understanding expression and explained to Shrike, There was also an expression of pity on his face, as if it was a pity that such a good thing could not be introduced.

"This..." Until now, Shrike couldn't figure out what Wan Fang was worried about.

"Let's do this. For the sake of Mr. Shrike being so polite just now, I will buy it as long as the original price is reduced by [-]%." Wan Fang waited until Shrike doubted himself, and suddenly started to bargain. After that, There was a look of embarrassment on his face, as if he would lose money if he bought it.

"What, [-]%??" When Berusa heard this, he stood up directly and said to Wan Fang incredulously, "Mr. Minister, this is impossible. Our profits are not that much. If the price is reduced by [-]%, we will The company will have to lose money, and the maximum reduction will be [-]%." After explaining, Brausa gritted his teeth and continued to Wan Fang.

In Berusa's view, the reduction of Chengdu by [-]% was due to the large number of purchases by the Han people. If it was any less, he would not reduce the price by a penny.

"No, no..." After hearing this, Wan Fang shook his head and refused, "Mr. Shrike, you must know that I can't risk losing my position as minister to purchase an unstable iron-making equipment." Wan Fang directly said to Shrike The iron-making furnace that looked much more advanced than before turned out to be an unstable piece of equipment.

"Minister Wan, this is the most advanced iron-making equipment in the world. How could it be unstable?" When Brausa heard that Wan Fang belittled the equipment that their factory had worked so hard to develop, he directly retorted. As a customer, he probably already has a lot of words starting with F in his mouth.

"Yes, as you said, he is the most advanced in the world." Wan Fang readily acknowledged what Shrike had just said, but before he could react, he continued: "But the most advanced is not necessarily the most advanced in the world." It's the best, don't you think so, Mr. Shrike?" Wan Fang looked at Shrike with a look that seemed to be sarcastic.

"Okay, you win." When Shrirotha heard this, he felt like a deflated rubber ball. "The maximum reduction is 20.00%, otherwise, you won't be able to buy better equipment than this." Shrirotha's eyes were firm. He looked at Wan Fang and said, as if as long as Wan Fang didn't agree with this, he really wouldn't sell it.

"Deal..." Wan Fang looked at Shrike, smiled and stretched out his right hand.

"Damn it..." At this time, Brousa finally realized that he had been tricked, but due to his business credit, he could only agree and chose to shake hands with Wan Fang, but he obviously used too much force when shaking hands. But he found that he couldn't hold Wan Fang. He raised his head and met Wan Fang's playful eyes, and then threw his hand away in shame and anger.

It's just that his mood is much better than before. After all, people always have a special sense of admiration for people who are stronger than themselves, even if that person has just played tricks on themselves. This is how Shrike Sa feels now.

While expressing anger at Wan Fang's behavior, he also admired Wan Fang's strength. After all, wisdom is also a kind of power.

And power is what makes people worship! !

After Wan Fang left, he inspected many British companies and actually signed procurement and cooperation contracts with several British companies.Among them, it signed a contract with Portsmouth Shipyard to introduce the latest slipway manufacturing technology and order twelve [-]-ton immigration ships for Far East immigration.

The main reason for purchasing large-tonnage immigration ships is actually because the Han Immigration Department found that ships with larger tonnage on the sea are worse than those with less than [-] tons in terms of seaworthiness and resistance to sudden extreme weather. A ton immigration ship is better.

Of course, this is not the main reason. The main reason is that a ship full of [-] immigrants sank on the Pacific route last month, and no one survived.

This incident shocked the Han Immigration Department indescribably. Since then, within the Immigration Department, there have been calls to eliminate small boats and replace them with larger ones. However, due to local shipbuilding technology, this has never been completed.

To this day, Wan Fang has taken advantage of the opportunity of coming to the UK to purchase twelve large immigration ships.

But in fact, these twelve ships were far from enough for the increasingly prosperous immigrants in Han Dynasty.

But fortunately, Wanfang also signed a decision with Portsmouth Shipyard to introduce shipbuilders and technicians. Although the British shipbuilding talents introduced in the early days of Han Dynasty are still in use today, due to the early introduction of British shipbuilding talents, Among the talents, there is no experience in building large ships. To this day, Han's shipbuilding industry has been stuck at the level of [-] tons, making it difficult to survive.

Although the Han government plans to solve the current technical problems through large-scale investment in the shipbuilding industry, this will definitely take time.
Therefore, the fastest shortcut is to introduce existing technology from outside.

But this also has a drawback, that is, it can easily lead to technological dependence and weaken Han's own research and development capabilities.

And the British are not stupid. They cannot give you all the technologies. At most, they can let you learn some technologies that are already backward.

But for the Han Dynasty, what can be learned is the best. What cannot be learned, no matter how advanced, cannot be used, otherwise it will only be controlled by others.

It's like a Santana and a BMW. Everyone knows that BMW is better than Santana, but if Santana's manufacturing technology is given to a weak country with a backward automobile manufacturing industry, or if BMW's technology is given to a weak country, which one is easier to use? ?
In addition to the ship matter, Wanfang has also completed procurement and cooperation agreements with a number of British companies including steel, textiles, machinery processing, etc.

The total value of these contracts is as high as 150 million pounds, totaling 900 million Chinese yuan, and will be executed in three years.

In this era, this was definitely a large purchase order. As soon as the news came out, the stocks of the companies that cooperated with Han Guo on the London Stock Exchange rose in response.

Even the stock futures related to Han Dynasty rose again.

So much so that The Times jokingly called this a money offensive by the Han against the British. British gentlemen must stick to their bottom line and not let the Han succeed! !

.............................................

Buckingham Palace, the residence of the British royal family.

In this vast European-style palace, there lives the most powerful woman in Europe and even the world, the 22-year-old Queen Victoria, who is also the European grandmother of later generations.

And last year, when she was only 21 years old, the queen launched the Opium War, which affected China and even the history of the entire world. It can be said that without the Opium War, our Qing Dynasty might not have existed for long! !
(Qing Dynasty: It’s all the British foreigners’ fault)

"Dear, what are you thinking about??" Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria, looked at his somewhat absent-minded wife and asked with concern.

"Albert, what's the difference between those Han people and Qing people?" Queen Victoria raised her head and looked at her handsome husband, Prince Albert, and asked.

"Han people??" Albert was a little confused when he heard his wife mention Han people.

"I mean, don't you think they are very different from those Qing people last year?" Queen Victoria looked at Prince Albert and continued to ask.

"It's different... I think they are all the same. They have similar faces. It's just that one has braids and the other doesn't." Prince Albert did not see the difference between the Han and the Qing.

"No... Albert, you are wrong." Queen Victoria shook her head and retorted, "These Han people are more ambitious than the Qing people, and they know better how to use international relations to benefit themselves." Queen Victoria said at a glance We can see Han's intention this time.

"They wanted to get Oregon, so they came." Queen Victoria walked to the curtain and looked at the city of London not far away, "But they are smart, they know that we will allow them to get Oregon, because they know that we will If you do this, you will think so..." Queen Victoria looked at the smoky city of London, with a trace of disgust in her eyes. She hated this feeling. She didn't know when London started to look like this.

So much so that they, the nobles, had to flee to live in country villas and manors far away from London.

"Why don't we prevent them from getting Oregon? For us, there will be no loss of security." Prince Albert suggested to Queen Victoria with some confusion. In his opinion, as long as they don't sell it, that's fine. Why? To make things so complicated.

"My dear, you don't understand, we have to sell to them." When Queen Victoria heard this, she suddenly turned back to Prince Albert and replied, "If we don't sell to them, they can enjoy the benefits of our alliance. The advantage is that I can sit back and watch the situation in America..." Queen Victoria understood the current situation very well, that is, Han and the United States were not bordering each other.

This is not allowed in Britain's American balance strategy, because as long as Han and the United States cannot fight, all the British's efforts will be in vain, and they can only watch the United States grow stronger step by step until it threatens Britain. Hegemony, this is something that Queen Victoria, and even all British people, cannot allow.

Therefore, Han and the United States must fight. This is their fate and the long-cherished wish of the British! !
"But we can't give it all to them. We must keep a little bit. Even if it's just a little bit, we must be by their side to declare the existence of the British Empire!!" Queen Victoria looked at a painting hanging on the wall in Buckingham Palace with cold eyes. , which is a portrait of his father, Prince Edward, when he was young.

"Declare the British Empire??" Prince Albert looked at Queen Victoria and asked doubtfully.

"Yes, it is a declaration to let the Han people know that the British Empire is by their side. Even if there is only one soldier there, it can make the young and somewhat excessive King of Han understand...whose era is it now!!"

Queen Victoria replied with a sneer.

"Inform Cesking to come over. I have something to discuss with him." Queen Victoria ordered the maid outside the door.

...............

A few days later, a Sino-British land treaty was signed in Westminster Abbey, London.

This treaty was also known as the Church Treaty in later generations! !

The treaty stipulates that the 49th parallel of north latitude in the Oregon region is bounded by the United Kingdom to the north and the Han Dynasty to the south, but this area does not include the Vancouver area. (This area is what Victoria calls the deterrent zone close to the Han Dynasty. Its symbolic significance is greater than its actual significance)

The area obtained by the Han State covers 74 square kilometers, which is almost the same as the last Han-Mexican treaty. This is extremely rare in the entire history of human territorial changes. Such a huge territorial change did not occur. War and conflict can only be compared to Americans who are equally lucky! !

Han also paid 200 million pounds and 200 million Chinese yuan for this, paid in four-year installments.

But at the same time, this treaty also has another requirement, that is, the date for the treaty to be announced is three years later. You can imagine the tricks in this.

The main reason is that the Han Dynasty hopes to have more time to develop and not to overly stimulate the Americans.

In fact, Han's initial request was for five years, but the British did not agree and could only change it to three years.

Three years later, this treaty will also accept the test of history! !
　Please give me a reward and make a full order.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)