Holding Li Hu's letter, Li Xiao shook his head and put the letter aside.

The old fox Sun Chengzong is right. There are so many officials in the world that even one person with eight heads cannot handle it. During the Chongzhen period, the Ming Dynasty had 1,230 counties. After these years of development,

With the expansion of territory, the Ming Dynasty already had 2,821 counties.

In other words, there must be 2,821 county magistrates alone. Not to mention county magistrates, chief registrars, academic administrators and other subordinates. Added together, Li Xiao doesn't even know how many people there are. Since scholars

If you want to control local political power, let them control it first. Anyway, you don’t have that many people among you.

Kill a group of those who have caused anger and resentment, not only killing the political opponents but also venting the anger of the people. Why not!

Li Xiao's eyes are now on Wu Sangui, a famous traitor in history who finally made India his territory and became a serious problem for Li Xiao. The latest information presented by Li Yongfang, a group of scientists led by Newton

He even started researching power generation equipment.

In Mumbai, factories with assembly lines appeared. Workers divided labor and cooperated, and labor efficiency was greatly improved. Indian soldiers have been fully weaponized. According to the Aka rifle left by Li Hu in Egypt, those top students from Oxford and Cambridge are risking their lives.

Reverse imitation. It is estimated that it will appear in the hands of Indian soldiers before long.

In future wars, large-scale trench warfare is inevitable. The place where the two armies faced each other was densely covered with barbed wire, shooting bunkers, and artillery support behind it. It was the real Flesh Mill, Verdun, the Somme and other famous chokepoints.

The meat machine battlefield appears during this period.

That's not a casualty of one or two thousand people. Think of the Battle of the Somme, where the British army lost 60,000 people on the first day. The average survival time of an ordinary soldier was only nine seconds! After a war, Britain and France had 20 million more widows.

Twenty million people! The pile is as high as a mountain. The population of Ming Dynasty is just over 200 million. We can’t afford to die! We really can’t afford to die!

What Li Hu is doing now is just a test field. Li Xiao is considering the mercenary system. Expanding overseas does not necessarily require the sacrifice of the blood of Ming people. If sacrifices must be made, Li Xiao thinks the blood of Japanese people is good.

.Of course, you can also add Mongolians, Koreans, and Cochins.

Anyway, as long as the people of the Ming Dynasty are not sacrificed, it doesn't matter how many people Li Xiao dies. Of course, it would be better if the enemy is in great turmoil before the war begins.

Today Li Xiao wants to meet someone, which is related to another important overseas colony of the British Empire.

There had just been a light rain, and the buds that had just sprouted on the branches were emerald green, which made people like it no matter how they looked at it. The air was moist, and taking a breath filled the lungs with a refreshing feeling, which was indescribably refreshing.

The stone road leads to a quiet place, and after passing through a corridor is Li Xiao's villa.

"Nice to see you again, Your Excellency the Grand Marshal." John took off his hat and saluted Li Xiao. Behind John, followed Augustine.

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Washington." Li Xiao smiled and shook hands with John and Augustine.

These two guys had been to Ming Dynasty once before and followed Ai Husheng's path. When they came again this year, Li Xiao felt that the seeds planted the year before had begun to take root and sprout. But Li Xiao did not expect that it would happen so quickly. According to Ai Husheng's

In other words, these two guys are planning to do what their son and grandson did now.

"This is a gift for you, Your Majesty the Grand Marshal." After the greetings, before taking a seat, two guards came in carrying a huge gold nugget.

"This is...!" Li Xiao likes gold very much, but as the commander-in-chief of a country, he naturally has to pretend that he doesn't like it. Pretending to be deep is the basic skill of a great leader, but Li Xiao has not mastered it well. When he saw Dajin

The two eyes are shining brightly!

"This is a pure natural gold nugget produced in Denver. In order to show our respect for the Generalissimo, we come here to present it to you." Augustine said very respectfully. After two years of not seeing each other, this guy actually learned to speak Ming Dynasty Mandarin.

Although it is similar to that of later foreign countries, with a straight tongue, at least I can understand it.

"You're so polite! Sit down! Come here, serve tea." Li Xiao was very happy when he saw the gold, and immediately asked the two of them to sit down.

Shunzi was also a guy who looked down on others. When he saw the gold, he immediately ordered his servants to soak it in Longjing and bring it to him.

"I heard that your North American territory is very prosperous now. Now even the British mainland has to rely on your Boston to build ships." After sitting down, Li Xiao started chatting about useless things. Anyway, they were the ones asking him to do things, so he was not in a hurry.

, they will be in a hurry. As long as they are in a hurry, this condition is easy to say.

"Hey...! That was all in the past. Now if you want to build a big ship, you have to go to Bombay. They can build steam engines, and they can be very big. Although they are also made of wood, they run faster than sailboats.

It’s much faster, and you don’t have to consider the wind direction.

Now in Boston, we can only pick up some unwanted orders. Shipbuilders are having a hard time, but their taxes have not been reduced. Moreover, the Stamp Duty Act has been introduced recently, and everyone's life is getting more and more difficult." Speaking of North American territories, Washington

He kept sighing.

"How could this be? The products from your North American territory are very good. Wheat, corn, and soybeans are all of good quality. Daming is very interested in the rice, tobacco and cotton produced in the southern plantations. Especially what you sent last time

"Havana cigars, I like them very much." Li Xiao tried his best to change the topic, since I just don't talk about the topic.

"Dear Generalissimo, the reason we come to see you this time is to gain your support, Generalissimo. We want to resist the British Empire, and the North American territories want to seek independence." After all, he was young, and Augustine eagerly stated his purpose.

.

"This is not good, after all, you are also a territory of the British Empire. If we, the Ming Dynasty, intervene, it will cause international disputes. Besides, Ming soldiers will cross the ocean to go to your North American territory... I'm afraid...!" Li Xiao started to speak in an official tone,

This is all mentioned in a book called "The Art of Negotiation". Now it is used to deceive Mr. Washington, which can be regarded as karma.

"We don't need your army, we will organize our own manpower. However, we don't have decent weapons in our hands. This time, we want you to support us with weapons." Augustine saw Li Xiao's hesitation and stood up quickly.

.

John wanted to stop his son, stretched out his hand and then took it back. Since he had already spread his hand, he simply spread it and said it. He knew very well that a country like Ming Dynasty had a strong ability to play football.

If we fall into Ming's trap, we may not be able to get a definite answer for another year.

"Weapons...! Weapons can be given to you, but those things are produced in factories and have costs. If I give them to you, your friend Ai Husheng will not be able to get through first. There is nothing you can do about it.

I can't give away anything from the imperial court as a favor to the commander-in-chief!" Li Xiao looked embarrassed and kept tapping his fingers on the coffee table.

"Your Majesty, Generalissimo, we really need...!" Augustine became anxious upon hearing this, and when he was about to say more, John pulled his son back.

"Your Excellency, Generalissimo, of course we can't ask for Ming Dynasty's things for free. Ming Dynasty's weapons are well-made and are in demand everywhere. We are willing to pay a corresponding price to buy them!" As an old fox who has become a master in the North American territory, John has keen perception.

Understand the meaning of the word cost.

If there is a cost, you can’t give it away for free, which means it’s okay to buy it.

Sure enough, Li Xiao's hand left the coffee table.

"We are all old friends. I can still handle this matter. I can also give you some discounts on the price." John was very sensible, and Li Xiao agreed very happily. In business, the important thing is to be neat and tidy.

"It's just...! It's just that we don't have money right now."

John's words made Li Xiao's hands tremble and the cigarette ashes fell on his pants.

If you don't have money, why are you talking about business with me? Are you trying to fool me? I have millions of Liao soldiers under my command, but how dare you fucking fool me.

"We just have no money temporarily, we can use future earnings as collateral." Seeing Li Xiao's eyes widen, John quickly added.

"Do you want credit?" Li Xiao's eyes widened even more. This was the first time he heard someone talk about credit with such financial philosophy!

"Theoretically, yes, but our North American territory will not cause Ming Dynasty to suffer losses. The total payment can be increased by 20%." When John saw Li Xiao's appearance, he immediately offered generous terms.

"Twenty percent...!" Li Xiao nodded, prepared it again, and waited for John's further explanation.

"To be specific, we can mortgage several proven mineral mining rights to Daming. As long as we seize the North American territory, these minerals will be developed by Daming for twenty years."

Li Xiao looked at John. The old guy's blue eyes were chattering around when he spoke. Li Xiao knew that this old bastard was cheating. The mining rights of the minerals will have to wait until you seize the North American territory. Then damn it.

How long will it take?

Besides, is it possible that I still need to find people to mine in North America? The land of Ming Dynasty still has enough population, so how can I still have the energy to go to North America?

"I'm afraid this won't work. Although there is a 20% profit, the cost is too high, and we can't send manpower to mine in North America. How about this, you can exchange gold or silver.

I know that there are many gold mines in North America. The gold mines in Denver are very famous!" Li Xiao pointed at the huge gold nugget on the ground. It looked like it must weigh ten kilograms. There can be such a large natural gold nugget.

, which is enough to illustrate the richness of gold reserves.

"Gold...!" John swallowed hard.

"If you haven't thought about it yet, wait until you do. You just said that Ming's weapons are very popular. It's difficult for you to sell on credit. If you don't have gold, you can get silver. As long as you have real gold and silver,

You will get the weapons you want soon." Li Xiao stood up and gave the order to expel the guests.

"Please wait, Your Majesty the Grand Marshal!" John was anxious. It was not easy to meet Li Xiao once. If he missed this village, he might not have this shop.

"Hmm! What?"

"It's just that pirates are rampant in the Caribbean. If our ships carry gold, I'm afraid...!" John was very helpless.

Only then did Li Xiao understand that in these years, the British North American Territory had only developed one side along the Atlantic Ocean. As for the side facing the Pacific Ocean, it was still barren. Moreover, the Panama Canal had not been opened. Ships from the North American Territory wanted to come.

To reach Daming, you need to cross the Atlantic Ocean, go around the Cape of Good Hope, and then take the Strait of Malacca.

According to the speed of sailing ships in these days, the journey would take almost a year.

Calculating this, Mr. Washington did not stay in North America for long before he came to Ming Dynasty. There should be some things that they did not know, otherwise they would never have returned to Ming Dynasty in such a hurry to win Ming Dynasty's support.

Today's Ming Dynasty seems as far away as another planet to North America.

"You mean you have gold, but you just can't transport it here?" Li Xiao scratched his head. Taking the Atlantic route was too far, and it also had to go through the crisis-ridden Caribbean Sea. If he strayed into the legendary Bermuda Triangle, there might be more

Strange things happen...

Taking the Pacific route, there are no ports on the entire west coast. In addition, it is also difficult to transport the gold from the east coast. Seeing that he cannot get a large amount of gold, Li Xiao is a little unwilling. After all, North America's gold reserves are still extremely rich.

.

"Yes! We have gold, but it's all in Boston. If we want to transport it to Ming Dynasty, we don't have the ability."

"Okay! Ming Dynasty can send warships to take over this batch of gold, but you need to pay the freight." Li Xiao had actually wanted to go on a long voyage.

It is actually not easy to train qualified naval officers. Not only do you need to learn to read nautical charts, but you also need to rely on star charts and nautical charts to determine the direction. Once you get lost in the vast sea, you may end up with a shipwreck and death.

The Ming Dynasty's navy was created from scratch, and most of it was running in the inland sea. At most, it was running in the South China Sea!

On the other hand, the Netherlands and Britain in this era had already relied on their navy to conquer the world. If they wanted to build a first-class navy, they had to have first-class sailing talents. And first-class sailing talents could definitely not be trained in the Bohai Bay.

It is necessary to let the young men from the Qinhuangdao Naval School go to sea for some experience. After a two-year round-trip voyage, they will train two ships of naval talents. With these talents who have been sailing at sea for two years, the strength of the Ming Dynasty Navy will improve by leaps and bounds.

.

Li Xiao had this idea because of Li Xiu's complaints. Last month, Li Xiu came to see Li Xiao. It has been almost four months since the navy's new warships were completed. Everyone is waiting for these ships to go to sea quickly.

Show off your power in the South China Sea.

But after the trial voyage, there was no movement. The reason is very simple. There is a modern ship, but there is no comparable captain or highly skilled sailors.
Chapter completed!