Chapter 1112

“What on earth are these things?”

In the morning, Hanks bought a copy of The Times as usual. The first thing he saw when he opened the newspaper was “Brooke’s Diary,” which took up the entire page and detailed Brooke’s observations during his trip to the Eastern Empire.

“It’s incredible, isn’t it?”

As Hanks was reading the newspaper intently, someone patted him on the shoulder.

“Jesse, did you read the newspaper too?”

Hanks asked. He and Jesse were both merchants who had been trading in Asia for many years, but since the war began, they had been warned not to travel to India again.

“Of course. It’s a truly magical country, isn’t it? If we could transport a ship full of goods from the Eastern Empire, we would surely become rich.” Jesse said with great excitement. “Look at the last page of the newspaper. We have now reached a reconciliation with the Eastern Empire, and the war is over. The Eastern Empire has allowed us to go to Asia to do business. This is an excellent opportunity, don’t miss it. Remember, in business, the first person gets the meat, the second person gets the soup, and the third person can only get the dirt.”

Hanks’s heart was stirred. A merchant’s keen sense of smell made him feel that this was a business opportunity. Any industrial product from the Eastern Empire that was sold here would cause a sensation.

“It seems we need to organize a large fleet of ships,” Hanks said, winking at Jesse. They exchanged a knowing smile.

In a tavern beside them, many people were also reading the newspaper. A young man in a black tailcoat and a top hat seemed to be deep in thought.

A young man beside him said, “Mr. Edward, you are truly a genius. If you give your patent to the government, you will surely become rich, won’t you? Tell those fools that we have already developed a car.”

Compared to the young man’s excitement, Edward looked dejected. He said, “You’re getting happy too soon. Although the car described in this newspaper is somewhat similar to our four-wheeled vehicle with a steam engine, the gap between them is simply too big. And the power of a steam engine is too weak. Such a thing is no better than a horse-drawn carriage.”

“Are you just going to give up after so many years of research?” The young man was a little unwilling. He was the young man’s servant.

The young man, Edward, said, “The technology for cars is in the East. Perhaps we should go to this ancient empire and learn with humility.”

The young man’s eyes were filled with a look of disbelief. After all, this country was once despised by them, but now Edward, who was so great in his eyes, wanted to go to this country to learn.

“But, Mr. Edward, you have already spent all your money on researching the steam-powered four-wheeled vehicle. We don’t have the money to go to the Eastern Empire.” The young man’s eyes were filled with pessimism.

“So I am going to use your method. Taking advantage of this opportunity, I will sell the steam-powered four-wheeled vehicle to the British government. Perhaps the officials who have been scared out of their wits by the Eastern Empire will lose their minds.”

With that, he and the young man laughed with malicious intent.

Matilda Hotel.

Kang Ming was reading The Times to Hu Chuan. They were about to go to have an audience with the Queen.

“The British newspaper agency is quite efficient. It can be compared to our Qingzhou.” Hu Chuan said while tidying his clothes.

Kang Ming finished reading the content and said with great concern, “Brooke’s diary has exposed a lot of the Empire’s secrets. This makes me very uneasy. Perhaps the Emperor should not have let these envoys know about this.”

“Your concern is a little unnecessary. The Emperor allowed them to visit out of confidence in the Empire’s industry. Even if we were to give them all our technology, it would still take Britain more than a decade to digest it. The technological gap is not that easy to make up for.” Hu Chuan was very confident.

His younger brother worked in a research institute, so he had some common sense about how to apply knowledge.

Even if a research institute were to get their hands on existing technical documents, they would still have to purchase different parts from different factories and conduct repeated experiments to make a product that was up to standard.

It often took several months to produce a single complex mechanical product.

“It’s still not a good thing.” Kang Ming still grumbled. Then he changed the topic. “After this is published, I’m afraid many British people will flock to the Empire. It seems the work of the embassy will be very serious from now on.”

This was indeed a problem for Hu Chuan. One of their duties for coming to Britain was to issue visas to British people who wanted to travel to the Empire.

British people without a visa would not be allowed to set foot on the Empire’s land. This policy would completely end the era of free immigration.

Besides Britain, the ambassadors who came to Europe this time also had this responsibility.

While the two were talking, Brooke knocked on the door and said humbly, “Two envoys, our carriage is already waiting outside. Her Majesty the Queen is very much looking forward to seeing you.”

“Thank you.”

Hu Chuan, who had adapted to the local customs, and Kang Ming got into the carriage with Brooke and headed for the Tulip Palace.

Upon arriving at their destination, the two were a little surprised to find that the green lawn of the Tulip Palace was already filled with British nobles in exquisite clothes and with elegant manners.

When they got out of the carriage, the nobles who were talking and laughing all stopped and focused their attention on them.

But after a brief stare, these nobles all took off their hats and bowed to them.

In the center of these nobles was a beautiful golden-haired, blue-eyed woman in a gorgeous dress. The unique qualities she exuded made Hu Chuan believe at a glance that she was Queen Victoria of Britain.

This was because he had also seen a similar kingly demeanor in their Emperor, Xiao Ming.

“This is the jewel of our Britain, the beautiful Queen Victoria.” Brooke introduced the two.

Hu Chuan and Kang Ming exchanged glances. In their eyes, the Westerners’ appearance was still a bit strange, so they could not appreciate the so-called beauty of the British.

But as diplomats, they had received relevant training. The two of them walked forward and bowed to Victoria in a gesture of politeness.

“Welcome to Britain, two envoys. I believe our nobles and parliamentarians will be happy to hear the magical stories about the Eastern Empire from you. At the same time, we also need you two to explain the contents of the agreement to us in detail,” Victoria said.

After a night of thinking, Victoria had decided to adopt a low-key posture in dealing with the envoys from the Eastern Empire. Britain now needed to accumulate its strength to regain everything it had lost.

“That is natural.” Hu Chuan showed a standard smile. The two of them and Victoria went to one side of the banquet, and he began to explain the specific terms of the agreement to Victoria.

At the same time, the parliamentarians and nobles present were becoming more and more impatient. Although the defeat made them feel humiliated, what they now cared about more were trade and technology.

This was the basis for Britain to at least maintain its lead in Europe.