The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 386: If France won’t give it to me, I can only go to Britain

The imperial palace in Guangzhou was really too small because it was originally just the Guangzhou General's Mansion of the Qing Dynasty.

Of course, this small is relative to the imperial palace. If you regard it as an ordinary mansion, it is already quite large.

Mo Zibu was holding a farewell banquet here. Count Olivier, the admiral of the Xing Tang Army, had already received a notice from the French government.

He was about to return to France to assume the post of Vice Admiral and Commander of the North American Fleet, and forty French officers who had served in the Xingtang Navy were returning with him.

Count Olivier looked at Mo Zibu with an apologetic look on his face, "Your Majesty, thank you for your magnanimity. Please believe that after I return to Europe, I will send at least eighty naval trainee officers to the East as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, King XVI has already agreed in principle to your plan and has reached an agreement with His Majesty Joseph II.

As long as the situation in North America stabilizes, the influence of the United Provinces in the East will be immediately replaced."

Mo Zibu smiled faintly. Among these forty naval officers, the shortest one had served in the Xingtang Army for more than three years, and the longest one had served for more than six years.

Some of them were naval officers brought back by Mozibu from the French Indian colony, and some were brought back by the first French mission.

During the years of Xing Tang, Mo Zibu doubled their salaries, allowing them to become more familiar with naval warfare. Many of them grew from guards who could only take on part of the responsibilities to independent officers or even generals.

The eighty naval officers that Count Olivier promised to send were, in the verbal sense, trainee officers, who came directly from the naval academy and had only spent a few hundred hours on board a ship.

This is using the Xingtang Navy as a training base!
But Mo Zibu was not surprised at all. After all, they were colonizers, and they were old-fashioned colonizers in history. If they were not disgusting, they would not be them.

But Mozibu actually did not lose out, because taking advantage of Louis XVI and the French government's slight guilt, they basically agreed to Mozibu's request to seize Batavia within the next two years and completely take over the Dutch East India Company.

This is very important for Mozibu's global strategy.

Not economically, but in terms of future layout.

Because historically, in order to win the support of the United Provinces, France gave the Dutch a lot of benefits.

After receiving benefits from France, the Dutch, dissatisfied with Britain's dominance, actively participated in the North American War and actually played a significant role.

The anxious British could not wait to start the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War before the American Revolutionary War was over. Of course, this was also intended to take revenge on the Dutch.

It can be said that during the American War of Independence in history, if the Dutch had not used the Anglo-Dutch Treaty concluded between the two sides after William III became King of England, or even the Anglo-Dutch Alliance as a cover to secretly trip up Britain in North America, the British would not have suffered such a bad defeat in the American War of Independence.

At this time, Mo Zibu completely cut off the possibility of cooperation between France and the Netherlands. It can be imagined that the North American War of Independence would be more difficult.

The best scenario is that the thirteen North American states cannot easily gain independence, and neither Britain nor France can quickly extricate themselves from the mess in North America.

That would be great.

Therefore, Mo Zibu put aside his slight dissatisfaction and took the initiative to say to Count Olivier, "Louis, I understand the difficulties my brother King Louis is facing. The French navy is still recovering, and the war in North America cannot be dragged on any longer."

Count Olivier breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, which was considered a small explanation.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your generosity. France lost too many outstanding naval officers during the Seven Years' War and is now in urgent need of replacements."

"Well, I know. The Seven Years' War was a disaster. It led to the dominance of the British Kingdom. Even I, in the East, felt the intense pressure."

Mo Zibu nodded, pretending to empathize. "In that case, Count, I think you can take the newly launched third-class battleship from Qui Nhon Port. I will provide you with officers and sailors. You only need to install the guns on it in Marseille Port."

It was originally promised to be built and returned to France, but now it is changed to be one of the three third-level battleships that can be included in the Xing Tang Navy.

The ship that has completed basic sea trials in Qui Nhon Port is the first true three-level sailing battleship built by Dayu in the entire East under the guidance of French engineers and craftsmen.

However, only the basic outfitting was completed because its most important weapon, the 36-pound naval gun, was not yet produced by Dayu.

France still had a few tricks up its sleeve for Mozibu, the most important of which was the casting process for the 36-pound naval gun.

The hydraulic barrel boring machine originally provided support had insufficient kinetic energy and accuracy, and could only manufacture cannons under twelve pounds.

Count Olivier looked at Mo Zibu in shock, because this topic was beyond his imagination.

Moreover, he has been in the East for almost a year and understands the status of a third-level sailing battleship in the East.

But before he could say anything, Mo Zibu continued, “I plan to name this ship the Friendship, symbolizing the eternal and close friendship between the Seris Chinese Empire and the Kingdom of France.

The salaries and pensions of all officers and soldiers will be borne by the Chinese Empire itself."

Count Olivier's expression became even more complicated, and he hesitated to speak. Mo Zibu raised his glass to gesture towards him, and gently sipped the fine rum in the glass.

Count Olivier felt a little relieved. After taking a big sip of rum, he gasped and said:
“Your Majesty, I believe that your goal is not only to allow the officers and soldiers of the Xingtang Navy to adapt to ocean voyages, but also to participate in real naval battles between great powers to gain experience.

You must have another purpose, I wonder if I can learn about it?"

Mo Zibu patted Count Olivier on the shoulder, and the two of them found a relatively quiet place and asked the guards to separate them from other outsiders.

"I received a message that John Wilkinson, the iron madman, has created a cylinder boring machine with greater kinetic energy and greater precision.

I think France will do everything possible to get it, and will be happy to share this technology with the Chinese Empire.

I also hope to get at least twenty engineers who are proficient in steam engines."

My King Mo has a huge appetite. In fact, even if France gives him the best hydraulic boring machine, he will not be satisfied.

Because two years before, in 1775, John Wilkinson, nicknamed the Iron Madman, had invented a more powerful and more accurate hydraulic boring machine.

This thing is so powerful that it is known in history as the first true boring machine, and was immediately used to process the cylinders of Watt's steam engine. Then, in 1776, he immediately used Watt's improved steam engine to feed back his invention and successfully built the first cylinder boring machine.

Then, the high-horsepower steam engine manufactured using the cylinder boring machine was used to create a more perfect barrel boring machine that was independent of water power.

The birth of this thing completely changed the course of European artillery, allowing the emergence of naval cannons such as the Pessac cannon that could be loaded with explosive shells and a series of land combat breech-loading guns and rifled guns.

In short, this is a revolutionary piece of manufacturing equipment.

Of course, before Mo Zibu traveled through time, he didn't know who the Iron Madman John Wilkinson was, nor did he know what cylinder boring machines, steam-powered boring machines, etc. were, but he knew about Watt and his improved steam engine!
So, when his third brother Mo Zirong went to Europe last time, he specifically asked Mo Zirong to pay attention to Watt and his improved steam engine.

Mo Zirong has great respect for Mo Zibu. As long as Mo Zibu asks him to do something, he always completes it as soon as possible.

So as soon as he finished dealing with the matter in France, he immediately started to inquire.

As it happened, the British still wanted to win over Mo Zibu, so Mo Zirong soon received an invitation from King George III of England to visit London.

Then he got this explosive news, and through the land express station he established, he traveled overland through the Ottoman territory to the Middle East, and then used a fast ship to pass the news to Portuguese Goa.

It was then delivered to Hoi An by the head of the Dayu Security Department in Goa.

After Mo Zibu received the news, he immediately realized the value of this thing.

But unfortunately, although Mo Zirong could obtain intelligence for Mo Zibu, he himself was not a good spy. The newly established Chinese Empire did not have the ability to carry out strict espionage activities in Europe.

So they had no choice but to ask France for help, because Mo Zibu knew that France must have a way to get this thing, otherwise their artillery casting would definitely be left behind by Britain. Obviously, this has not happened in history.

Count Olivier still didn't quite understand, because he was not as sensitive to new technologies as Mo Zibu.

Mo Zibu's sensitivity actually comes from the tragic experience of the Chinese nation in the original world line due to its technological backwardness.

But seeing that Mo Zibu took it seriously, Count Olivier repeated it several times and successfully wrote down Mo Zibu's request.

"Your Majesty, I cannot guarantee that King Rama XVI will agree, but I promise to report your request to His Majesty and explain its importance."

"Thank you, Count." Mozibu nodded, "I believe my brother Louis will agree, but it is possible that some French ministers will not be so willing.

So you have to tell them that if I have paid so much and my request for technology sharing is not met, then I can only ask King George III of Britain for help."

This wasn't a threat, but a real option. Of course, Mozibu knew he wouldn't choose Britain, but France wasn't so sure.

Count Olivier couldn't help but show a nervous expression on his face. He suddenly realized that France needed China far more than China needed France.

. . . .

After the banquet, in the imperial study of the palace, six young men in their teens and twenties stood in front of Mo Zibu.

Chen Tianbao, Mai Youjin, Mok Guanfu, Liang Wengeng, Fan Wencai, and Zheng Yi.

Of these six men, the oldest, Chen Tianbao, was only 21 years old, and the youngest, Mai Youjin, was only 13. They were all famous South China Sea pirates in history.

Chen Tianbao served as the naval commander of Nguyen Van Hue and a marquis of the Tây Sơn dynasty.

Mo Guanfu was even named King of Donghai by Nguyen Hue, and at one time controlled half of the pirates in the South China Sea.

Mai Youjin, Liang Wengeng and Fan Wencai all received titles from the Tây Sơn Dynasty and were important leaders of the Five-Colored Flag pirates in the South China Sea.

Zheng Yi was the husband of the famous pirate queen Zheng Yi Sao. He also had a boy catamite, the even more famous Zhang Baozai.

Mo Zibu looked at them. Mo Guanfu was his relative, Chen Tianbao, Mai Youjin and Fan Wencai were his fellow villagers from western Guangdong, Liang Wengeng had scooped water from the Pearl River for him, and Zheng Yi was a name Mo Zibu had heard of.

They and 28 other people were selected from Mo Zibu's newly built naval academy to go to Europe and even North America. In the future, they will become one of the foundations of the Xingtang Navy.

Mo Zibu filled their glasses with wine one by one and said, "I know you may get hurt on this trip, but I also know that after this training, you will become true heroes and my trusted generals.

Let us cherish this opportunity to train ourselves and open up a new path for our nation, so that we can inherit the glory of the Sanbao eunuchs.

I believe that your names will be admired by thousands of people in the future, and I am proud of you!

Now, for the Han, for China, for the country and the nation, please drink this bowl of wine!"

Emperor Mo's ability to incite is getting stronger and stronger, and nationalism is indeed useful.

For something like this, where you risk your life and death and follow the French to North America to fight against the world's most powerful navy, without the support of nationalist sentiment, how much would you have to pay and how much money would it cost for someone to be willing to do so?

No one is willing to do it no matter how much money you offer.

"I will be loyal to Your Majesty and for the sake of China, even if I die nine times, I will never regret it!" As expected, Mo Zibu finished speaking with tears in his eyes and raised his wine bowl.

The six people in front of him knelt down suddenly, tears already streaming down their faces.

When they thought about the fact that they were going there to create the world, that they would be comparable to national heroes in the future, that they would make great contributions to the entire ethnic group, and that they would be remembered by future generations, they were extremely excited.

Now even if a steel knife is placed on their necks, it cannot shake their will.

The six people knelt in front of Mo Zibu and drank the bowl of farewell wine. A new future for a nation began.

(End of this chapter)