Syracuse.

Zhu Sansi let out an exclamation as he looked at the empire's steam merchant ship, which was one hundred and eight meters long and twenty meters wide, and its hull was covered with iron armor like a steel battleship.

A year ago, this kind of steel-hulled merchant ship was very rare, but now the merchant ships that go to Syracuse are basically these cargo ships.

Moreover, the volume of merchant ships is getting bigger and bigger, and each time the cargo brought is very considerable.

"Brother, how's it going? I'm okay with this boat. Zhu Wuliu pointed to the giant in the sea, with a slight pride in his tone.

Zhu Sansi's gaze did not leave the merchant ship, and asked, "How much gold did you spend on this ship?" “

"It's not much, 200,000 golden dragons." Zhu Wuliu said casually.

"Two hundred thousand golden dragons are not much!" Zhu San and Si angrily wanted to beat Zhu Wuliu, according to the current exchange ratio of the empire, a golden dragon is equivalent to two taels of silver, and the 200,000 gold dragons are equivalent to 400,000 taels of silver.

That's the price of a sail warship back then.

Zhu Wuliu didn't care, and looked like he was wealthy, "Brother, now these 200,000 golden dragons are nothing to our old Zhu family, and we still have six merchant ships like this, and now that the empire and Europe have signed an armistice, ocean trade will inevitably prevail in the world in the future, and when will it be better to establish a shipping company if you don't seize the opportunity at this time?" “

Zhu Sansi looked at Zhu Wuliu with a warm eyes, he had to admit that he was not worthy of lifting shoes for his younger brother in business, and according to Zhu Wuliu, he also obtained a business school diploma issued by Qingzhou University.

However, thinking of the Cao family's father and son who were executed, he still couldn't help but remind: "Five or six, you must not forget your brother's warning, no matter how big the business is, no matter how much money you make, but don't get involved in the government and politics, and don't have close friends with any officials, this bloody lesson is right in front of you." ”

Zhu Wuliu personally experienced the horror of the time in Qingzhou, and he still has a little chill behind him when he thinks of him, he said: "Brother, you are now giving me a hundred guts, and I don't dare to follow the old path of the Cao family's father and son, now that the empire is prosperous, it is cost-effective to earn some money and live a rich life without lifting your head." “

"You're not confused." Zhu Sansi was relieved, and he then asked, "By the way, why did you come to Snow City in person this time?" ”

"One is to see my brother, and the other is to see the Alaskan fur trade and king crab business, now that the people of the empire are rich, this food business is booming, especially the king crab in Alaska is very popular, it can be said to be a great profit."

Zhu Sansi understood when he heard this.

After the establishment of Syracuse, all the Russian caravans in Alaska were driven out by them, and now Alaska is under the control of the Empire.

At the beginning, Tsarist Russia did not find gold or minerals in Alaska, and the reason for leaving here is fur.

Not only Tsarist Russia, but also the French and British in Alaska at that time were active, and they cooperated with the local natives, trafficking furs.

Because the ancient forests of Alaska are rich and diverse in fur animals, such as beavers, muskrats, raccoons, wolves, foxes, lynxes, etc.

Among them, beavers are the most abundant and have the best quality fur, because beaver fur is extremely lightweight, soft and fine, comfortable and warm, and dry when it comes out of the water, making it an ideal wool for decorating hats or coats.

As a result, beaver fur became a favorite of European ladies and celebrities.

"In that case, my brother has a suggestion for you, the fur of beavers is the most popular in Europe." Zhu Sansi said.

Zhu Wuliu understood, he squeezed his eyes, "Brother, can't it be convenient to let the foolish brother monopolize the fur of Alaska?" ”

Zhu Sansi suddenly frowned, "How many times have I told you, the private use of public weapons is a taboo in the army, if you talk nonsense again, be careful that I will arrest you and starve you for a few days." “

"Joke, joke." Zhu Wuliu, who touched a gray nose, laughed.

Snorting lightly, Zhu Sansi said: "From now on, we will only talk about private matters between brothers, not on official matters, let's go, since we have come to Syracuse, I have to invite you to a good meal for my brother." “

Zhu Wuliu breathed a sigh of relief, he didn't dare to mention the business matter anymore, and followed Zhu Sansi to the front.

In front, a white city bathed in golden sunlight shone brightly, and merchants sat on sleighs pulled by dogs on snowy roads that had been flattened by caravanserais.

Soldiers in thick white uniforms on the city wall watched the flow of people vigilantly with Han-style rifles on their backs, and six long flat machine guns in the center of the city gate looked down on the outside of the city, ready to tear apart the enemy who dared to attack.

"Commander Zhu!"

As soon as the two arrived at the city gate, Zhu Sansi's personal guards delivered an encrypted secret letter to Zhu Sansi.

Tearing up the letter, Zhu Sansi asked Zhu Wuliu to stand a little farther away, looked at it carefully, and gradually showed a smile on his face.

He didn't care about Zhu Wuliu, and directly dropped a sentence, "Wuliu, my brother can't accompany you if he has something important, you can do it yourself in the city." “

After that, he took his personal guards to the military region station, leaving only Zhu Wuliu with a complaining face.

When he came to the station, Zhu Sansi immediately summoned his generals, and this time the secret letter sent from the empire asked him to launch an attack on the North American colonies, a colony of France, which was something he had long been looking forward to.

After a long period of research in North America, this is truly a treasure land, this continent that has not yet been completely conquered by civilization is full of primeval forests, rich in wildlife, and very suitable for habitation in terms of climate.

In his opinion, there is no colony in the empire that can compete with the whole of North America, except for Australia.

It would be a pity that these places were ruled by Europeans.

"Soldiers, the emperor's order has arrived, and from now on we must prepare for the attack on New France."

"It's finally time to fight!" Gao Yingfeng jumped three feet high excitedly, smiling so much that he couldn't see his teeth.

Zhu Sansi stood in front of the map of North America, he glared at Gao Yingfeng, and then pointed to the North American continent that is now known as New France and said, "At present, New France includes the coastal area of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Newfoundland, Arcadia, the Great Lakes region, and parts west of the Appalachian Mountains. “

Gao Yingfeng said with some puzzlement when he heard this: "No, it seems that there are more colonies in France, and Louis is there?" “

"The French have already sold this region to the Americans, and it is said that they sold it for sixty million francs." Zhu Sansi said: "This is what the emperor revealed in his letter, and he asked us to solve Canada first." ”

The generals nodded when they heard this, they didn't care about this, because in their opinion, the whole of North America would be imperial sooner or later.