"Rod, I didn't expect us to meet again."

At the gate of Qingzhou City, officials from the Foreign Affairs Office led by Tang Wenjie were waiting for a delegation from Europe.

According to the telegram sent from Canton, the European mission was unprecedentedly large, and five countries, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal, sent envoys at the same time.

Although I have been living in Qingzhou for a long time, I feel quite uncomfortable when I come to Rhodes again.

Their relationship with the Eastern Empire was once as close as lovers, and the trade between the two countries was enough to make the Dutch live a rich life.

But now all the Dutch colonies in Asia fell into the hands of this Eastern empire, trade was completely cut off, and relations were at a freezing point.

"Minister Tang won't make fun of me, I hope that after this war, our relationship can be restored to the way it used to be." Rod said bitterly.

Upon his return to the Netherlands, he was left out in the cold like never before, but he was reactivated after the defeat of the Coalition, as he was the most suitable person for his familiarity with the Eastern Empire.

Beside Rhodes stood Brooke and Henry, their expressions complicated, recalling the futility of their first visit, and they still felt a little haunted.

And thinking of the shrewd emperor of the Chinese Empire, the two added another layer of frustration.

In addition to the three familiar faces, Tang Wenjie also greeted the Spanish and Portuguese envoys, in which Portugal and Spain clearly played the role of supporting characters, and they were the least numerous.

"Please! The Emperor is already waiting for you in the Imperial Garden. Tang Wenjie said with a smile, with a proud smile on his face.

This is the self-confidence that comes with the strength of the country.

Rod looked at Qingzhou City with an expectant look, when he lived in Qingzhou, there were changes here almost every day, and he was a little itchy after such a long time.

Leading everyone into Qingzhou City, Rhodes saw a surprise without accident, at this time the cement road in Qingzhou was being renovated, the former cement road was pried open, and the construction workers were laying a black material.

The material resembles black rubber mixed with sand, and the heat and pungent smell can be felt even when standing far away.

The road is paved by two huge machines, one spewing black smoke, and in front, one of which flattens the material, and then the one that follows it crushes the material.

Just by looking at the huge metal wheels cast in front of this machine, they can imagine the weight of this machine.

The mission's itinerary stopped here, and everyone stared at the strange scene in front of them with wide eyes and long mouths.

In particular, the roaring machinery terrified them.

"Minister Tang, what is this?" Rod swallowed.

Tang Wenjie said casually: "This is an asphalt road being paved, the cement road is too ugly, and it is also easy to break, so the empire is ready to replace the main roads of the empire with asphalt roads." ”

"Asphalt? What is this thing?" The crowd was talking.

Tang Wenjie said bluntly, "This asphalt is a chemical material refined from petroleum. ”

Now that the scientific foundation of the empire has been solidified, there is no need to hide some superficial things, and it can have the effect of shocking the enemy when it is properly spoken.

After all, even if all the technology were given to Europe, it would take them a lot of time to catch up with the current empire.

Rod shook his head slightly, "If you don't come back from Qingzhou one day, you feel that you are outdated." ”

After a moment of amazement, the group continued to walk inside, bypassing the road that was under construction in front of them, and behind them was the road that had been repaired the previous day.

It was very impressive for everyone to walk on the flat asphalt road, which was very comfortable to walk on compared to the cement road.

Noticing the white and yellow straight lines on the road that split the road in half, Rod couldn't help but ask, "What is this?" “

"Road wires." Tang Wenjie once again threw out a word that was unfamiliar to Rod, and in his explanation, everyone gradually understood the role of this thing.

"That's amazing." Although hostile, Brooke and Henry still praised it.

The two looked at the bicycles on the road and said: "Last time we came here there were not a lot of bicycles, I didn't expect that now ordinary people in Qingzhou can afford bicycles, this road is specially prepared for bicycles, but why do they only ride outside the white line on both sides of the road?" “

Tang Wenjie laughed, he said: "You are wrong, this road is not built for bicycles, please see!" “

Anyway, he asked the members of the mission to stand on either side of the road, as a line of cars was approaching them.

The cars were all black, and a small golden dragon flag hung in front of the car, which was specially designed to pick up and drop off the mission.

The envoys could no longer describe their astonishment, and they watched the speeding car as if they were gods.

In Europe, the main means of transportation was still horse-drawn carriages, and one can imagine how surprised they were to see such a car that did not need a horse, but ran as fast as a steam locomotive.

The car quickly stopped in front of everyone, and Tang Wenjie said: "Everyone, there are still twenty miles to the palace, so let's take the car." ”

"Cars!" Rod really didn't want to ask, because that would only show his ignorance.

Brooke and Henry had the same expression, they used to think that the people of this Eastern Empire were dirt buns, but now they found out that they were earth buns.

Tang Wenjie was very satisfied with the reaction of these envoys, and it was necessary to destroy the opponent's psychological defense before the negotiation, so that they would easily get their hole cards after the negotiation.

Riding in the same car with Rod, Brooke, and Henry, Tang Wenjie opened the conversation, "Now Qingzhou City is developing too fast, sometimes I can't keep up, the Qingzhou city wall you see now is the only city wall that Qingzhou retains now, the other three city walls have been demolished, and now the population of Qingzhou exceeds three million, and the urban area needs to be expanded." “

Brooke and Henry almost wanted to kill themselves headlong when they heard this, but Qingzhou alone has a population of more than 3 million, which is almost equal to the population of the Netherlands combined.

And the cities they stopped at along the way from Guangzhou to Dengzhou were all densely populated, and this alone is enough to see the terrible strength of the Chinese Empire.

When Tang Wenjie was spitting and flying, the car turned around and headed towards the imperial city, and with the speeding of the car, the scenery of Qingzhou City flew by in front of everyone's eyes.

For them, Qingzhou is now completely free from the old appearance of the old people's squares, and the urbanization here has not only caught up with London, but also has the tendency to surpass, just look at the neat residential areas on both sides and the bustling business district in the center of the city.