Li Xiao doesn't know much about airplanes, but he still knows a little about cars.

Walking into the workshop and seeing these cars up close are pristine.

A car geek once said, what is a car?

Just one engine, one steering wheel, and four wheels.

The cars manufactured here are very consistent with these points. But that’s all!

Without a gearbox, there is no such thing as a gear. It goes when you step on the accelerator, and stops when you put in the accelerator. But at least it has brakes!

There is no such thing as a dashboard. This makes the area around the steering wheel look very empty!

There is no battery, there are two huge dry batteries behind the two headlights. They need to be replaced after a period of time!

"What is this?" On the steering wheel, Li Xiao saw a lever leaning out.

"As far as I'm concerned, this thing can turn the wheels in reverse and reverse the car with just one turn." Xu Ermo, the chief designer of the automobile project, was quite proud.

Finally I know how to reverse the car!

Li Xiao shook his head helplessly, and could not blame them too much. After all, no one except himself knew what the car was like before!

We don’t know about shock absorption, we don’t know about batteries, and no one knows many things.

Now this thing is an engine driving two wheels, and then dragging the two wheels. Behind it is a huge fuel tank, which is enough for the engine to run for three hundred kilometers.

The payload capacity is five tons. Perhaps this is the only thing about this kind of car that makes Li Xiao stand out.

With this thing, the Ming army can be completely motorized. However, the production of ten vehicles a month and the equipment of a million Ming army will probably have to wait until the Year of the Monkey and the Horse.

"After you go back, you give this thing to Ai Husheng to make. Ask him to find a reliable factory director. While the quality is passed, I can also increase the production volume."

"No!" Xu Ermo's face was a little ugly. The thing he tinkered with was cheaper when he changed hands. Ai Husheng...

When Li Xiao was inspecting the Ming Dynasty's secret base, Israel, far away on the Crimean Peninsula, was undergoing tremendous changes.

At the beginning of the war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire relied on its huge numerical advantage to engage in crazy output against Israel.

Although his head was bruised and bloody, it also caused half of Israel's blood to be drained.

Israel can only rely on the secret support of France and Germany to support itself!

As the war progressed into winter, the weakness of the Austro-Hungarian Empire slowly became apparent.

Israel could receive support from all over Europe, while Austria-Hungary's support came from thousands of miles away.

The poor national power of the Austro-Hungarian Empire could not support them to fight for such a long time. Emperor Joseph of the Austro-Hungarian Empire never thought that the war could last for so long.

The biting cold wind was raging in Europe in January, and the Austro-Hungarian soldiers huddled in the trenches.

They wore thin cotton clothes and could only get a few pieces of bread every day. They couldn't drink a mouthful of hot soup for several days, and they didn't even have a few bullets in their bullet bags.

After a series of fierce battles, although the display was advanced for more than ten kilometers, the price paid was not unbearable!

Lacking clothes, ammunition and low morale, and facing bad weather, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had to stop its offensive. It used the fortifications left by the Hebrews to build a temporary front.

There are no secrets on the battlefield. When he learned that France and Prussia were supporting Israel behind the scenes, the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Joseph felt regretful and began to seek a political solution to the Crimean War.

After all, these are the two most powerful countries in Europe now.

With their support behind us, this battle cannot be won.

In fact, sometimes the mission is no different from the spy team. Even if Zheng Sen's sense of smell is not sensitive, he knows it now.

The Crimean War was supported by France and Prussia.

Moreover, merchants in the Ming Dynasty began to be boycotted by the business circles of various countries. In the past few months, several merchants have lost orders.

"Sir! We have lost another thousand pieces of cotton business. They gave the order to merchants in the North American Territory, and we were excluded."

A businessman dealing in cotton cloth stood in front of Zheng Sen and complained to Zheng Sen.

Another function of the envoys is to ensure smooth trade routes so that Ming merchants can make more money.

"Yes! Last month, our cooking oil business was also snatched away by North American businessmen."

"And for us, bicycle sales have been declining for several months."

"Sir, these foreigners are uniting to suppress us."

A group of people were talking at random in front of Zheng Sen. The noise made Zheng Sen's brain hurt.

"Quiet! Quiet!" Tagawa Nanzaemon slapped the table loudly, and the noisy businessmen in the room immediately fell silent.

"Hmph! They set the price so high one by one, and they dared to ask for fifty Ming silver coins for a piece of cloth.

You are trying to take advantage of the Europeans. If people don’t buy your products, it’s your own fault.”

Zheng Sen angrily looked at these profit-seeking people in front of him, and looked down on him.

But in front of those European distributors, they are very angry. They threaten to raise prices at every turn, which makes the European distributors complain.

If it weren't for the large number of Ming Dynasty products and no substitute products in the world, they would have replaced them long ago.

Half of the reasons for this trend against Ming merchants were actually caused by them themselves.

"Sir! You have wronged us.

Take the cloth managed by villains as an example. When you pick up the goods in the Daming factory, you have to give benefits to the steward of the cotton factory.

Otherwise, you won't be able to get the best quality cloth.

Regardless of whether these cloths are shipped in Liaodong, Shandong, or Tianjin, ships must be hired to transport them across the South China Sea and be unloaded directly in Singapore.

Unloading the goods in Singapore, renting a warehouse, and hiring manpower are another expense.

The Marshal recently issued an expulsion order, and all foreigners in Ming Dynasty must leave Ming Dynasty within a month.

Most of these people came to Singapore. Land prices in Singapore have risen again, and the price of renting a warehouse has been rising every few days.

Cargo ships from the North American territory take the Atlantic route from the Americas. They can reach the coast of England or France in just a few days. If it is the coast of Spain or Portugal, the time can be shortened by a day or two.

Not to mention, they don’t have to pay the exorbitant tolls of the Suez Canal.

These costs are dead, and the prices are still rising. Tell me, if we don’t raise the prices, how will we do this business?”

"Yes, sir, the accounts cannot be settled."

A group of people started crying loudly again, and the office became noisy.

"Quiet! Quiet!" Zheng Sen frowned again.

What the businessman said is true. Due to the national policy of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty's goods were indeed transshipped too much, which directly caused the increase in the cost of goods.

As for the Suez Canal, it is Ai Husheng's money pot. There are so many large-scale projects in the Ming Dynasty, and the money spent is huge.

The Ming Dynasty did not increase taxes on the people. This important source of money was the Suez Canal tolls.

There are Ming Marine Corps guards on both sides, and there are forts on both sides of the canal. Except for the Ming Navy, no one dares to cross the river without paying tolls.

Even the Zheng family's ship was unkind. Ai Husheng specially sent people to keep an eye on it, and Li Xiu also kept an eye on it.

Because the Suez Canal also guaranteed the shipbuilding funds of the Ming Dynasty Navy.

In fact, Zheng Sen is not too worried about what these businessmen are talking about. What he is most worried about is tobacco and alcohol!

Due to the worship of the strong, the sales volume of Daming Maotai-flavor liquor in Europe has been on the rise.

But now, it has encountered strong challenges from American breweries. Both tequila and gin are more suitable for European tastes.

Daming liquor began to be unsaleable in Europe.

What worries Zheng Sen even more is that Daming Cigarettes are also facing strong competition from American Tobacco.

Tobacco is native to the American continent, especially Havana cigars. Even Li Xiao sent people to buy them.

The environment, sunshine conditions, and air humidity in America are very suitable for tobacco leaf production. And most importantly, the cigarettes produced in America are pure tobacco leaves.

Unlike the cigarettes produced by Daming, which add various additives to reduce costs.

This kind of cigarette tastes good when you first start smoking it, but it will make you feel sick when you finally smoke it.

Now, even Zheng Sen and Tagawa Shichizaemon don’t smoke cigarettes made in Ming Dynasty.

Not to mention, several brands of Daming cigarettes are extremely expensive in Europe.

Europeans are also smart, but they taste bad and are expensive, so only fools would choose them.

At first, only the workers at the bottom chose American tobacco. Now, even the nobles who always admired the Ming Dynasty began to choose American tobacco more and more.

The combined profits from tobacco and alcohol can feed the entire Ming Dynasty’s army. Now, more and more of the Ming Dynasty’s tobacco and alcohol are facing unsalable sales.

In order to maintain its brand image, Daming Tobacco and Liquor insists on not cutting prices.

Among the commodities exported by the Ming Dynasty to Europe, these two items have always been extremely profitable. But now, these two commodities have been cut off.

This is equivalent to indirectly destroying Ming’s trade advantage!

After sending away the businessmen, the two brothers fell into silence in the office. Zheng Sen smoked one cigarette after another, and Tagawa Nanaemon kept pacing.

"Shall I go talk to Napoleon and Frederick?" Tagawa Nanzaemon saw Zheng Sen's sad face, stood up and was about to walk out.

"What are you talking about?" Zheng Sen asked lightly.
To be continued...