Chapter 335 Trade the Princess for a Battleship!

The sultan gave the order, and the explanation was so clear that the Minister of State Affairs naturally dared not pass.

Stuffing the last bite of fish into his mouth, the minister of state took out a tissue and wiped his mouth.

"Da Ming is indeed the golden country in the legend. Look at the paper towels for dinner. They are the softest and best paper I have ever seen in my life. What a waste! Is Daming really that rich?"

Omurad also agreed very much, stretched out his hand and took out a few sheets, folded them and put them in his arms, ready to use them to wipe his buttocks in the toilet later.

"I heard that they still have a chamber of commerce. They should sell this kind of tissue in the chamber of commerce. You can discuss it with the duke later to see if their chamber of commerce can be invited to open a store with us."

"Oh, yes!"

"It doesn't matter whether the gun business can be negotiated. I must buy some of these tissues. I'm tired of wiping my ass with parchment paper and string."

"Ha ha!"

The Minister of State Affairs gave a big laugh of approval, adjusted his clothes, and walked towards Zheng He with an interpreter.

But before he took a few steps, the smile on his face gradually sank.

"Damn slave, you are one step ahead of me!"

Looking at the Mamluk representatives who were chatting and laughing with Zheng He, the Minister of State Affairs felt a little tired.

But thinking of his mission, although he didn't want to be with these dirty slaves in his heart, he had no choice but to bite the bullet.

"Haha, the friendship between our two countries will definitely last forever. Cheers to peace!"

A hearty laugh spread into the ears of the minister of state affairs. Seeing the two people chatting happily, he took a deep breath, with a smile on his face, greeted the guards protecting Zheng He, and handed over his companion Jian, with his permission, went to Zheng He.

"I heard the laughter of the two from a distance. It seems that the two gentlemen are communicating very well. I wonder if you can bring me along."

What is diplomacy?

Hypocrisy is diplomacy.

No matter how much you hate the other party, before you achieve your goal, even if you want to strangle the other party in your heart, you must remain polite on the surface and talk to the other party with a smile.

As the saying goes, smiling at people and forces you hate is the basic rule of diplomacy.

"It turned out to be Baron Oliver, long time no see."

Zheng He didn't know the identity of the other party, but as the Mamluk government minister of a hostile country, he knew this guy very well.

As the saying goes, it is not your relatives who know you best, but your enemies.

The backgrounds and hobbies of the two parties, even what underwear they wear every day, both parties have checked clearly.

"I haven't seen Mr. Luo Ke for a long time. The last time we met seemed to be the last time. At that time, I was still thinking that at the age of Mr., the last parting was probably a permanent farewell. I was very sad for a long time, but I didn't expect today What a pity to see you again, oh no, what a pleasure."

"Yeah, thinking that the last time we met was already the last time. It's been so long. I almost forgot your name just now. If I didn't remember the watchdog I raised at home, I almost called your name by mistake. "

The two sides met with smiles on their faces, and their words were indeed as sharp as knives.

One satirizes the other party at such an old age that he can't take care of the elderly at home, and wanders around, beware of sudden death.

The other was not to be outdone, and directly satirized the other party as a watchdog.

Although the two talked in Arabic, they spoke too fast. Zheng He, who was the second sword, couldn't understand what it meant for a while.

However, thinking about the relationship between the two countries, coupled with the political exchanges they have learned in the past, Zheng He guessed that neither of them had good things to say.

"You two also know that my Arabic is not good. It's hard for you to speak so fast."

Seeing the two parties clenched their fists while chatting, Zheng He was worried that the two would get angry and start fighting, which would disturb his lunch.He hurriedly stood between the two with a smile, and invited them to sit down with a smile.

Daming, the peacemaker, came out. Although the two ministers of state affairs sparked a spark in the cordial exchange, they could only smile and stare at each other after considering the matter explained by their boss, and sat down on the chair under the guidance of Zheng He. superior.

After the three sat down, Zheng He personally poured them a cup of milk tea.

"Thank you, Your Excellency the Duke!"

The two who had just sat down quickly got up to thank them.

The three of them exchanged simple politeness and chatted about the romance. After today's lunch, Baron Oliver, Minister of State of the Ottoman Empire, saw that the two of them hadn't talked to the point, so he stopped talking nonsense and brought up the old matter again.

"Your Excellency, I saw you two chatting happily just now. Is there something happy about it? Do I have the honor to know this happy thing?"

"of course can!"

Zheng He didn't know whether he didn't understand the other party's destination, or he pretended not to understand, and replied with a smile: "Your Excellency Oliver must have watched the whole process of the trade fair at noon today."

Raising his hand to attract the Mamluk Minister of State Affairs Luo Ke who was sitting next to him and winking wildly, Zheng He seemed to be careless, and shook out all the deals they had just reached.

"Mamluks are very interested in this morning's weapons and equipment. Considering that the country's national defense is still insufficient, Mr. Luo Ke ordered some weapons and equipment from me, and intends to take them back to arm an army to attack the domestic Robbers and highwaymen."

"These equipment are 2000 sets of Mingguangkai, 1000 sets of infantry armor, and 2000 sets of Shanwen armor, as well as some weapons, and some bows and arrows!"

Luo Ke looked at Zheng He, who was introducing him in detail, with a look of bitterness on his face.

Didn't we agree to hide it for me?

Good guy, I haven't left yet, you've shaken me up completely, it's easy to have no friends if you do this.

Although the group was depressed, but now that Mamluk needed Daming's help, and his enemy was sitting next to him, even though Luo Ke was extremely depressed, he still had to put on a calm look on his face.

You can't lose face in front of this deadly enemy, and you have to bear it with gritted teeth.

After listening to Zheng He's detailed introduction, Oliver's eyelids twitched wildly, and he gave a fierce stare. Sitting opposite him was holding a teacup in his hand, and Roco, who was drinking milk tea, had wandering eyes.

Oliver: You bastard, did you Mamluks secretly buy these weapons to fight our Ottoman Empire?
Luo Ke: How is it possible? We Mamluks and you Ottomans are friendly neighbors. We bought these weapons for self-defense. You understand self-defense!
Oliver: Ha, you are still friendly to your neighbors, and you are still defending yourself. Do you believe this?
Luo Ke: Well... Believe it or not, I believe it anyway.

Oliver: "..."

"Oh, I see!"

After the two exchanged eye contact for a while, Oliver pretended to be suddenly enlightened, and then his expression changed, and he grabbed Zheng He's hand.

"Your Excellency, we Ottomans are suffering!"

"There are a lot of robbers and bandits in our country. The safety of our civilians is seriously threatened. In addition, our sultan is unwilling to exploit the people, which has caused financial difficulties for our Ottoman Empire. Many soldiers don't even talk about weapons and armor. They even have decent clothes. nothing."

"Even when some soldiers went to the battlefield, they were bare buttocks with wooden sticks."

"Although the enemies are bandits, they are rich, and they are all armed to the teeth. Our soldiers who don't have decent weapons and equipment are just like lambs sent to death, and they are beheaded by their brands."

"Your Excellency, for the sake of the friendship between our two countries, please help us and sell us some armor and weapons!"

Zheng He: When did we have friendship between the two countries?Didn't we just meet these two days?
Luo Ke: "Bah, shameless!"

Ten minutes later, Oliver, the Ottoman Minister of State, forced the Mamluk Minister of State, Rocco, to leave the place where Zheng He was dining.

Luo Ke: "You bastard, you can leave as soon as you go, why are you dragging me!"

Oliver: "I haven't seen you for a long time, and I want to have a cordial exchange with you."

Luo Ke: "Hehe, let's talk about it, do you believe what you say?"

Oliver: "Uh, haha, it doesn't matter if you believe it or not, that's what I think anyway!"

The two chattered and talked, and under Zheng He's strange eyes, they walked to the equipment venue, ready to have a friendly and cordial exchange.

Thinking of the verbal confrontation between the three of them just now, Zheng He dared to swear to the sky with his cut-off treasure and severed hand that after the military exhibition here is over, the two countries will definitely fight immediately, and it is still The very tragic kind.

After the two left, Zheng He asked someone to collect their teacups, set new ones and sat there, drinking tea while waiting for the next one to be taken advantage of, oh no, a customer came to the door.

Sure enough, within a few minutes of the two leaving, another power representative walked over with a warm smile and started a cordial exchange with Zheng He.

People come and go, it is very lively!
During the break at noon, Zheng He received representatives of more than a dozen forces.

"Your Highness is right, selling arms is really profitable!"

Holding the number of equipment counted by the guards around him and the estimated income in his hand, Zheng He looked at the large string of attractive numbers and couldn't help but let out a sigh of emotion.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the pleasant meal break is over, and we will start the afternoon fair!"

When the time came to an end, Sa Xuer, who had a beautiful lunch and took a nap, stood on the new stage refreshed.

The stage is no longer the stage at noon.

The next demonstration is an extremely powerful firearm with an extremely long range.

The distance from the stage at noon was too far to use, so it was necessary to change to a larger exhibition location.

"With the development of the times and the advancement of science and technology, we believe that invincible armor and extremely sharp weapons will gradually be eliminated by history and withdraw from the battlefield of defending our homeland."

"Our Yanhuang nation in Ming Dynasty is a great nation, a race whose wisdom surpasses everything."

"In thousands of years, countless great inventors have been born, and countless items that benefit the country and the people have been researched."

"I won't list other inventions and innovations one by one. Today I will mainly mention the four major inventions."

"Papermaking, printing, compass, and gunpowder, which were only celebrated for festivals at the beginning, but were later drawn into the battlefield!"

Saxuer stretched out 4 fingers enthusiastically, retracting a finger every time she said a word.

When this guy talked about the four great inventions, his face was full of pride. If he didn't look at his appearance and skin, and only listened to his passionate words, he would have thought that this guy was a purebred Yanhuang.

"Yanhuang is a peace-loving race. We don't like war, and we don't want to cause war, let alone war."

"There is an old saying in Yanhuang, people are good at being bullied, horses are good at being ridden."

"Yanhuang's hospitality and unwillingness to start a war have turned into cowardice and cowardice in the eyes of the enemy."

"In order to protect their own race and resist those greedy enemies, the Yanhuang people sharpened the ceremonial vessels originally used for sacrifices and the agricultural tools used for farming to resist the invading enemies and protect their hometown."

"In order to defeat those greedy enemies and protect their homeland and relatives, the Yanhuang people put the gunpowder, which is used to celebrate festivals and make fireworks, onto the battlefield and become an artifact to protect the country!"

"But there will be a day when the war will end, and the day will be when the enemy will fail."

"With the arrival of peace and the defeat of the enemy, these invincible weapons to defend the homeland can only end up lonely and go into the warehouse to eat ashes."

"Looking at these former heroes, now they can only recall the glory of the past in the warehouse. Our Majesty the Ming Emperor is also very sorry."

"For a soldier, dying in battle is the highest honor."

"And for a weapon, breaking it on the battlefield is the greatest respect and recognition for it!"

"But our Ming Dynasty has no wars anymore. These weapons can no longer shine on the battlefield, and we don't need them to protect this kind and hospitable race. These heroes who have made great contributions to protecting the country can only be stored in the warehouse. Looking at the lights of thousands of houses, listening to the laughter and laughter of the people, weeping secretly, recalling the past!"

"Just a few years ago, our Lord Zheng He, Duke Zheng He, returned from the West and reported to His Majesty the Emperor the sufferings that your Western countries have suffered."

"Your Majesty is Merciful, Your Majesty is Great."

"After he learned what happened to you, he thought of putting it in the warehouse to protect our race's sharp weapon."

"Thinking that your people are living in dire straits, His Majesty couldn't bear it, so he decided to let His Excellency, Duke Zheng He, bring these weapons to Aden for an exhibition. I want to see how these sharp weapons that once protected the Yanhuang race can Can it bring you a sliver of security, can these country-protecting weapons protect your country and race just like protecting the Yanhuang race?"

Saxuer's voice is full of emotion, telling stories that even he himself doesn't believe.

Everyone knew that this was a lie, but everyone who wanted to buy weapons could only hold back their disgust, pretended to be moved, and applauded fiercely.

Receiving the echo from the audience, Sa Xuer's eyes flashed with pride, and she pressed her hand towards the bottom of the stage.

"Next, we will invite our brave warriors from the Ming Dynasty to demonstrate to you the best and most powerful flintlock guns in the world!"

"Crash..."

The representatives of various countries who had been waiting for this moment clapped their hands and stretched their necks, looking at a group of soldiers from the Ming army walking towards the side of the stage with their guns on their backs.

The demonstration stage in the afternoon is very large, enough to hold hundreds of people.

Walking up was a team of one hundred people. They marched neatly and uniformly, with high spirits and high morale.

Those who saw this team were envious in their hearts, and sighed in their mouths.

"What an elite unit!"

"One-two...one-two...stand still!"

Under the command of the team leader, the hundred-member team came to the other side of the stage with neat steps.

A hundred meters away from them, there are clay pots and human-shaped wooden targets hanging.

"Load!"

After the team lined up, under the expectant eyes of everyone in the audience, under the command of the squad leader, a hundred soldiers began to load ammunition.

This centurion used to be the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion. Although they have been equipped with new weapons now, they are still very familiar with the flintlock guns that have been used for several years.

In addition, I have rehearsed and rehearsed in the past two days, and the speed of loading in my hands is not at all unfamiliar, it is still neat and fast.

"It turns out that it is like this. It seems that we are poor at school."

When the musketeer came out, Omurad focused all his attention on the soldier, and after seeing the steps of the musketeer's reloading, he showed a suddenly enlightened expression.

In addition to their own groping, most of the Western Musketeers learned to load ammunition from the Portuguese country, and the Portuguese country learned from the captives of Zheng He's fleet.

The filling steps are all in bulk, and it is better in normal times, and the dosage can be estimated well when the mentality is stable.

But in the complex environment of the battlefield, it is impossible for soldiers to accurately estimate the dosage of medicine.

The result is that there is either too much installed or too little installed, and problems of one kind or another often appear.

But after seeing how the Ming army used muskets today, Omurad officially understood.

It is because they are poor in their studies, or it may be that the captives captured by the Portuguese country did not hand over their true skills.

In fact, Omurad was misunderstood.

When Zheng He left Daming, Zhu Zhangui had just taken over the Shenji Battalion, and the soldiers couldn't even reach a man with a single shot, let alone various training methods.

In addition, Zhu Zhangui was a little busy at the time and neglected to pack the medicine, which caused Zheng He's fleet to use the most basic bulk method when using muskets.

The soldiers on the stage moved very skillfully, and took out a fixed paper bag from the satchel on their waist.

Under the watchful eyes of the representatives of various countries, he bit open the paper bag, poured part of the gunpowder into the primer pool, then closed the mouth of the crane, straightened the gun and poured the remaining gunpowder into the gun.

After pouring out the gunpowder, he directly stuffed the bullet with the paper bag into the gun, and finally compacted the bullet with the pressure lever.

The representatives of various countries with muskets took this scene deeply into their minds, and planned to teach this method to the army immediately after returning home.

Don't underestimate this small change, just this small change can bring great optimization to the war.

For soldiers in combat, let alone a few seconds or minutes, even if it is only a second faster, they may be able to save their lives.

"aim!"

After the bullets were loaded, the squad leader gave an order, and the soldiers raised their flintlock guns in unison and aimed at the target in the distance.

"First row fire!"

With an order, the soldiers in front pulled the trigger without hesitation.

"Bang bang bang..."

A puff of gunpowder smoke drifted over with the sound of gunfire. The soldiers in the first row who had finished shooting immediately took a step back. At the same time, they took out a new pack of ammunition from their pockets and loaded the next round with the fastest speed. shooting ammunition.

While the soldiers in the first row retreated, the soldiers in the second row took a step forward, and under the order of the squad leader, they raised their guns and pulled the trigger in their hands.

One round, two rounds, three rounds...

After the 10th round of shooting, the soldiers lined up under the order of the squad leader, saluted the audience, turned and left!

"Crash..."

It was the first time for representatives from various countries to see a full set of musket shooting tactics. While desperately writing down the content just now, they applauded the soldiers performing.

"The wonderful shooting demonstration is over. Come on, everyone, follow me a few steps to see how the shooting works."

This time, it was not Sa Xuer who was part-time master of ceremonies who spoke, but Zheng He who accompanied the representatives of various countries to watch.

If you want to sell weapons at a high price, how can you prevent customers from seeing their power.

A group of people came to the side of the target talking and laughing, waiting to see the cracked clay pots and the human-shaped wooden boards full of bullet holes. Everyone had different expressions, and the only unified thing was the shock of the powerful power of Daming weapons.

"Your Excellency, how do you sell this?"

Before turning around the target, Luo Ke, the Mamluk minister of state affairs, found Zheng He impatiently, pointed to the guns carried behind the soldiers lined up next to him after the demonstration, and began to inquire about the price.

"this…"

Glancing around, Zheng He narrowed his eyes and stretched out his hand to scratch his scalp in embarrassment to the representatives of various countries who pricked up their ears even though their eyes were looking at the target and exclaiming in admiration.

"200 taels for a gun, the price is still fair, we Mamluks want 5000!"

Seeing Zheng He's two fingers scratching his scalp, Luo Ke waved his hand very grandly, as if he was not short of money, and set a deal of 5000 on the spot.

Zheng He:"……"

He wanted to tell the other party that he scratched his head just now to let the other party talk in private, after all, so many people were watching.

The pricing of each faction is different, and after this is said, there is no way to increase the price.

And stretching out two fingers to scratch his head is his habit, definitely not telling the other party the price.

But then seeing the other party's arrogant appearance, Zheng He thought about doubling the price, and felt that it might be the best choice for him to keep silent.

"Your Excellency the Duke, we have relatively little silver over there, do you think it's okay to settle with gold?"

Just when Zheng He felt that his heart was too dark, Luo Ke, who was so proud just now, rubbed his hands in embarrassment.

Zheng He: Nima, your Highness is indeed right, these guys are really rich.

"also!"

Smiling awkwardly, Zheng He quickly replied, and then greeted some of the various forces nearby who were eager to try and plan to buy some.

"It's time for the trade show. Let's watch the demo first. Let's talk about what's going on, and we'll talk later!"

The other representatives who were about to spend money to buy weapons looked at Zheng He who left first, and retracted their words regretfully.

The next demonstration is various types of artillery, as well as a very light tiger squat gun.

The roaring artillery showed great power.

The target walls that had been built side by side were shattered by the artillery bombardment.

The representatives of various countries who witnessed the powerful power of the artillery all the way were scratching their heads in a hurry, wishing to pay directly to bring these powerful big guys back home.

"Boom!"

Accompanied by the violent roar of a super artillery, the exhibition ended satisfactorily in Sasher's nonsense.

"Your Excellency, can you really be more flexible? 100 cannons are too few, and there are too many bandits in our Ottoman border. We need more cannons!"

Oliver, Minister of State of the Ottoman Empire, tugged on Zheng He's sleeve and begged bitterly.

"Baron Oliver, this is really gone. If you want more, you have to wait for us. Our reserves are almost sold out. When the next batch is produced, I will definitely sell you more."

Zheng He, who also had a distressed expression on his face, tried to pull back his sleeve while explaining to the other party.

The main reason for Zheng He's discomfort is not being entangled by the other party, but the pain of having money but not being able to earn it.

Artillery is a weapon of war. Although the most primitive artillery is sold, the power of this article should not be underestimated.

If you sell a little bit, Da Ming can still accept it. If you sell too much, not only will it not be good for Da Ming, but it may even face these weapons when Da Ming attacks in the future.

Selling hundreds of artillery pieces to these countries is still within the tolerance of Ming Dynasty. If they sell more, it will affect Ming Dynasty's future conquest plan.

"Is it really gone?"

Oliver asked again without giving up.

Zheng He spread his hands, "It's really gone!"

Oliver sighed and shook his head in disappointment, but when his eyes inadvertently swept across the sunset sea in the distance, his eyes suddenly lit up and pointed to the two ironclad ships parked on the sea.

"How much is that? We bought it from the Ottoman Empire."

Zheng He:"……"

"Sorry, that's not for sale!"

"Your Excellency the Duke, let me accommodate you. Our Ottoman Empire is willing to pay a price that is [-]% higher than your price, and all of them are settled in silver."

"We are not like the Mamluks, who cannot give you the money you need. What we pay is white money."

"This is really not good!" Zheng He shook his head again.

Are you kidding me, selling a wooden boat can still be considered, if you want to buy my ironclad ship, go ahead and dream.

"Your Excellency, the Duke, is accommodating. I heard that His Royal Highness the crown prince of your country is about 20 years old, and there is a princess in our country who has just reached the age to be married. You see, don't you Han people like to get married? How about a marriage between our two countries?" , we will give you as much dowry as you want, and we don’t need a single dowry.”

When Zheng He heard this, the corners of his mouth twitched wildly, "No, no, no, really!"

"Alas, Your Excellency the Duke, please don't leave, and discuss it again, one princess can't do it, can 10 be okay!"

"Hey, hey, why are you running? As long as your country sells these two warships, 100 is not out of the question!"

Zheng He, who was walking quickly, staggered, he really wanted to turn around and ask a question.

"What kind of breed is the king of your country, and the ability to give birth to cubs is so strong!"

(End of this chapter)

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