Qingzhou. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Brandon is still making a last-ditch effort to buy a steam engine, and if this time it doesn't work out, he will have to return to the Netherlands with regrets.

So after begging Pang Yukun for a whole day, he finally got the opportunity to be in front of the emperor of the imperial study.

Rising that morning, Brandon put on his most luxurious silk gown, sprayed on perfume, and headed for the Imperial Study.

At this time, Xiao Ming was already waiting for Brandon in the imperial study, and the persistence of the Dutch envoy really made him a little helpless.

"Your Majesty, Brandon has arrived." , Qian Dafu's voice sounded.

Xiao Ming was sketching on a piece of paper, and then said, "Let him in." ”

In response, Qian Dafu turned around and left, and Brandon appeared in the imperial study not long after.

Glancing at Brandon, Xiao Ming said directly without waiting for him to speak: "Brandon envoy, you are really persistent in the steam engine. ”

"Your Majesty the Emperor, this steam engine is so fascinating that not only me, but every European will go crazy about it." Brandon said.

Today's Europe has a technological craze, and even kings and nobles are very interested in it, so any new technology will be sought after.

Xiao Ming's eyelids lifted, "But that's not the reason why I sold the steam engine to you. ”

Brandon fell silent, hesitated for a long time, and then said, "Your Majesty, there is something that you must be very interested in in our Europe, and maybe we can exchange this kind of thing. ”

"Oh?" Xiao Ming raised his eyebrows, and he said, "I hope your words can change my mind."

Brandon said: "Rubber, this is a magical material discovered in South America by Europe, maybe His Majesty the Emperor will be interested." ”

Xiao Ming's hand holding the pen froze for a moment, Brandon keenly observed this, which gave him confidence, and then he continued; "I don't know if His Majesty the Emperor knows that there is a magical continent called South America in the far south sea, the people of this place use rubber balls to make games and sacrifices, two hundred years ago when a European navigator arrived in the Americas, he saw the local natives holding a black ball playing with a kind of ball, which fell to the ground and bounced very high, which was made of ** taken out of the tree. Since then, Spain and Portugal have brought rubber to Europe in the process of conquering Black Silgo and South America, and now rubber is made into many amazing items in Europe. ”

"Rubber." I have to say that Xiao Ming is very excited, in fact, rubber played a very important role in the second industrial revolution.

Without rubber, there would be no tires, seals and a series of products.

In the history of human scientific and technological development, science and technology are constantly updated with the discovery of materials, if there is no coal, there would be no steam engine, and without oil, there would be no internal combustion engine.

Although Xiao Ming has mastered a lot of science and technology now, it has to be said that he is trapped on the island of civilization, and many things with mature technology cannot be realized without rubber.

"Rubber is a magical thing." Xiao Ming made no secret of his understanding of rubber, "So Count Brandon can provide rubber for the Great Yu Kingdom?" ”

In the course of his trade with Blake, he had raised the issue of rubber with Blake more than once, but Blake refused on the grounds that rubber was scarce and he could not provide it.

Now that Brandon has taken the initiative to bring up the matter, he naturally does not want to miss this opportunity, because for a long time Europe has been blockaded on rubber.

This is also the reason why Europe has been able to maintain its technological leadership in modern times, controlling an important part of the technology tree, and they can naturally play it with ease.

"Yes." Brandon nodded, "We in the Netherlands have our own colonies in South America, as well as our own rubber plantations. ”

Xiao Ming nodded, thinking that compared to the steam engine, now it is obvious that rubber is more important, and there is a technology spar in which he can quickly improve the performance of the steam engine.

But rubber is deadly, because for a long time rubber was only found in South America.

So it's really not easy for Xiao Ming to get rubber.

"Well, I have to say I'm interested in this thing, but I want not only rubber, but also the seeds of the rubber tree." Xiao Ming said.

I have to say that the Americas are very far away, and with the current level of science and technology of the Great Chongqing Kingdom, it is very difficult to fight against the Western powers in the Americas, and the supply line will be too long.

So in order to prevent the West from subjecting him to a rubber blockade, he felt the need to get some rubber seeds to plant on Hainan Island.

Brandon suddenly laughed, "Your Majesty the Emperor, this is really a wise choice, so the trade between steam engines and rubber is decided. ”

"Of course, but only if I need to see these things before I give you the steam engine." Xiao Ming said.

Even if a deal is made this time, Brandon will have to go back and forth for more than half a year, which is enough time for him to replace the steam engine.

And for him, the steam engine is nothing at all, after all, he knows everything about the internal combustion engine, which is really a small thing in comparison.

Although Brandon wanted to bring the steam engine back now, it was obviously impossible to look at the face of the emperor of the Great Yu Kingdom.

So he said, "Hopefully this trade will come true." ”

After agreeing on this, Brandon's knot was finally revealed, and although rubber was precious in Europe, it was not comparable to the steam engine in his opinion.

They each thought they had taken advantage of each other, Xiao Ming and Brandon were both happy in their hearts, and after sending Brandon away, Xiao Ming could even imagine a series of modern industrial products such as bicycles, tricycles, and rickshaws.

After thinking about it in his heart, Xiao Ming gradually calmed down, and at this time he looked at what was written on the paper.

After the New Year, the weather gradually warms up, and in another month it will be spring ploughing.

Since the introduction of potatoes and sweet potatoes, Xiao Ming has used tuber seedling technology to allow Kuiwu to build a large-scale seedling base in the past two years.

Now the seedlings planted by the people every year are purchased from the seedling base, and with the successful promotion of potatoes and sweet potatoes in the six states, the number of people who grow these two things every year is increasing.

However, despite this, the yield of potatoes and sweet potatoes in each people's family is not the same because of the fertile land.

So after the New Year, Xiao Ming specially flipped through the knowledge in the science and technology library and found the manufacturing method of Tujia fertilizer to prepare for promotion.

After becoming the emperor, he paid more and more attention to the development of agriculture, after all, the problem of food and clothing in Dayu has not been completely solved, and he has to pay attention to this problem.

The people take food as the sky, this industry is important, and food is equally important, after all, transportation is more troublesome in this era, and it is unreliable to buy food from outside.