The north wind swept snowflakes and fell on the smooth concrete road of Qingzhou City. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

The gray ground was dyed a layer of white, and this meant that the end of the year was approaching by another day.

Since appreciating the underwear launched by Fei Yue'er, Princess Pingyang has been playing in Qingzhou, and she didn't choose to return to Chang'an until half a month later, after all, she was going to spend the New Year in Chang'an

Before leaving, Princess Pingyang told Xiao Ming not to forget the construction of the princess's mansion.

In this regard, Xiao Ming naturally agreed, and in a modern country, he still has to make good use of it by attracting rich people to settle down to stimulate economic development.

In the past half a month, Fei Yueer has been accompanying Princess Pingyang, and after becoming the princess, Fei Yueer gradually took on a responsibility that belongs to the princess, which is lady diplomacy.

And Xiao Ming is not idle, now that Qingzhou's finances are tight, he has to seize any way to increase the income of the government.

So he asked Luluo to make a large number of underwear, and asked Li Kaiyuan to take these underwear to Chang'an.

Princess Pingyang was eating, drinking and having fun in Qingzhou, and at the same time, she naturally promised to help herself sell this kind of intimate clothing in Chang'an, she is the fashion vane of Chang'an, as long as she uses it, this kind of thing will soon be popular in Chang'an City.

Pang Yukun was naturally happy to add another source of income to the government, and because the underwear production and textile workshop recruited 300 people, this made the lives of 300 homeless people settle, making money and developing the local economy.

Seeing off Princess Pingyang, Xiao Ming was ready to spend a year in Qingzhou with Fei Yue'er in peace, but he never thought that an uninvited guest would come to Qingzhou.

This person is none other than Rhodes, who met Xiao Ming in Dengzhou City, a guy who claims to be the ambassador of the Netherlands.

"Rhodes has seen His Royal Highness King Qi."

In the main hall, Rhodes bowed respectfully to Xiao Ming, and after receiving Claire's order, he entered the hinterland of the Great Yu Kingdom again.

In Dengzhou City, he expressed the idea of meeting the King of Qi, so Yang Chengye sent someone to inform Xiao Ming, and after getting Xiao Ming's consent, Yang Chengye sent someone to send Luo to Qingzhou.

"Excuse me, Ambassador Rhodes, since you have come to Qingzhou, I think you must have changed your original mind, this king also does not want to settle the Ryukyus by war, but sometimes the negotiations break down and we have to take action."

Rod's gaze was deep, he had been observing the city since he arrived in Qingzhou City, and he suddenly felt a sense of frustration after seeing the clean cement roads, neat underground pipes, and soldiers with flintlock pistols at the gate of Qingzhou City.

Because he didn't even know what this kind of paved road in Qingzhou was, although he learned from the mouths of the people of Qingzhou that it was cement, but there seemed to be no such thing as cement in Europe.

"Your Royal Highness, Count Claire also does not want to resolve the conflict between us through war, so this time I was sent to Qingzhou to discuss with His Highness about Ryukyu and shipping routes again."

Xiao Ming nodded, "Then how are your Earl Claires going to deal with this matter?" ”

As for him, if he could recover the Ryukyus peacefully, he naturally did not want to start a war, after all, every war cost him a lot.

"Count Claire is willing to give up the main island of the Ryukyus, but the Count hopes that His Highness can let us keep the city of Geranza in the Netherlands, which is the last dignity of our Netherlands." Rod bowed and said.

"The city of Geranza?" Xiao Ming frowned, this city of Geranza was built on the attached islands on the east side of the main island of the Ryukyus, and it was in this place that the port of the Dutch was built.

At the same time, there is a city on this small island, and Wang Xuan has already told him this information.

"That's right, it's the city of Geranza, we also have a fortress across the sea on the main island of the Ryukyus called Mingkes, and we are willing to hand over Mingkes and the main island of the Ryukyus to His Highness together."

Hearing this, Xiao Ming fell silent, the side of the couch could not allow others to sleep peacefully, the Dutch in the city of Geranza to maintain armed forces has always been an unstable factor, he said: "No, the city of Geranza must also be returned. ”

Rhodes's eyes flashed with anger faintly, but after understanding the strength of this King of Qi, he chose to suppress it, and he said in a deep voice: "His Royal Highness the King of Qi, this is our final bottom line, how can His Royal Highness the King of Qi not leave us Dutch with any dignity, then we can only see on the battlefield." ”

Frowning, Xiao Ming said: "The king's words are not finished yet, all the territories of Ryukyu belong to the king, and this article cannot be used for negotiation, but after you recognize that Ryukyu is the king, the king can transform the city of Geranza into a treaty port, and you Dutch merchants can do business as before, but there is one rule, your warships and garrisons must be withdrawn from the city of Geranza and replaced by the king's soldiers and fleet." ”

"Is this any different from returning the city of Geranza?" Rhodes' heart was cold.

"Of course there is a difference, so that at least you Dutch merchant ships can still travel to and from the Ryukyus, otherwise you will lose all this forever." Xiao Ming said unceremoniously: "Remember, you are the aggressors, and you should be glad that you can still participate in the trade of East Asia." ”

Regarding the Ryukyus, Xiao Ming did not plan to discuss too much with the Dutch, and he did not need to be peaceful in the face of the invaders.

Rhodes was silent, as he had guessed when he arrived, they had encountered a very powerful vassal king, and it had brought them to the brink of despair.

After a long time, he said, "I'm sorry His Royal Highness King Qi, I think this matter needs to be discussed with Count Claire for the last time, and then we will decide whether to finally agree to His Highness's conditions." ”

"Of course you can, but I'm afraid you don't have much time, I hope you can make this decision soon." According to the plan, the fleet will go south in March after the Chinese New Year.

Rod nodded, and he asked, "I take the liberty of asking Your Highness, what is this cement?" Your Highness, can you allow me to visit the factory in Qingzhou, so that we can get to know each other better, and maybe we can deepen cooperation in the future. ”

Hearing this, Xiao Ming smiled, the Dutch at this time still wanted to see their true strength.

He said: "Cement is an excellent building material, which is very common in Qingzhou, and since the ambassador is interested, this king will take the ambassador to visit." ”

In modern times, the first cement in Europe was produced in 1796, and Rhodes said that there was really no such thing as cement in Europe at some point in time.

After that, Xiao Ming asked people to prepare horses, and he took Rhodes to the streets of Qingzhou.

A red-haired, blue-eyed foreigner suddenly appeared on the street, and the people immediately fled in all directions, some even shouting "youkai", which made Rod depressed. (To be continued.) )