Chapter 722

The novel has already been fully translated up to the final chapter. You can access it on my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/caleredhair

Outside the window, the marketplace was bustling with people.

Branden then refuted himself, “That’s not possible. The secret society’s members are mainly active in Britain and France. How could they travel thousands of miles to the Great Yu Empire? Moreover, it doesn’t align with their interests. These madmen want to unify the world; cultivating a powerful opponent for themselves is not their style.”

“Secret society? That society established in Britain?” a member said. He had only heard rumors about it. This secret society was very mysterious and only recruited influential individuals from various countries as members.

Only people like Branden would have contact with them.

Branden seemed not to shy away from mentioning this. He said, “That’s right, it’s them. Now, it’s said that a large number of scientists, businessmen, and political elites have joined them. They invited me before, but I refused. Their idea of controlling the world is too absurd.”

The members looked at each other. Branden spoke lightly, but his words made them feel a chill.

Branden spoke casually, then looked through the window at the bustling marketplace. “Whatever it is that is causing this Great Yu Empire to move closer to Europe, it is not a good idea for Europe.”

After a pause, he turned to the thirteen accompanying members and said, “This permanent negotiation team will be stationed in Qingzhou Province. You may live here for a long time in the future. Besides handling trade disputes, you must also pay attention to the development of Qingzhou Province.”

“Yes, My Lord Earl,” the members said.

Branden nodded. He was only leading the group this time and would return to Zeelandia in a couple of days.

However, before that, he wanted to take a closer look at this Qingzhou Province. So, after eating at the restaurant, he and his members walked into the streets of Qingzhou Province to understand the situation there.

In the imperial study, Xiao Ming was reviewing memorials after returning from the council hall. At this moment, Li San suddenly appeared outside the door.

“Your Majesty, the Dutch delegation has left Qingzhou City and is heading towards the industrial zone. Should we stop them?” Li San’s expression was serious.

“No need,” Xiao Ming said without raising his head. Things like steam engines had already spread throughout the Great Yu Empire, so there was no need to hide them from the Dutch delegation.

On the contrary, letting these Europeans understand his strength could also help avoid their strategic misjudgments.

War was always the last resort. There was no need to resort to guns and cannons for things that could be obtained by simply demonstrating strength.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Li San scratched his head. After a moment of hesitation, he said, “Your Majesty, we have been keeping an eye on Cao Zhengyang recently and found that he often goes to Dengzhou and frequently meets with three merchants from Britain.”

“British merchants?” Xiao Ming frowned. “Do you know what they are planning?”

“That we don’t know. They are very cautious, and all their conversations take place on the British merchant ship; our people cannot get close.”

After a pause, Li San continued, “However, our people in Dengzhou have been keeping an eye on these merchants and found that they are very active in Dengzhou and specifically seek contact with some major merchants, and even have dealings with former powerful families.”

Li San’s words put Xiao Ming on alert. Historically, Britain did not always conquer a country by force. In places not easily noticed, they also played a disgraceful role.

Historical records indicate that in the early days of the French Revolution, the Englishman Arthur Young personally attended the early National Assembly of the French Revolution.

One could say that the outbreak of the French Revolution was not unrelated to Britain.

In modern terms, during the process of conquering the world with hard power, the British also used their soft power to establish a world that conformed to British values.

“Focus on monitoring these Western merchants and missionaries. If they do anything detrimental to the Great Yu Empire, immediately notify the local security bureau for their arrest,” Xiao Ming ordered.

Li San nodded, “Then what about Cao Zhengyang?”

“Let him continue to jump around. As the saying goes, ‘to take something, you must first give something.’ I want to see what kind of waves this Cao family wants to make in the Great Yu Empire.” Xiao Ming’s eyes narrowed.

Li San’s body shivered. He sensed a hint of danger from Xiao Ming’s expression. This time, the Cao family was truly seeking its own demise.

While the two were speaking, Branden and his delegation had already arrived at the industrial zone. When they saw steam engines driving metal machinery turning in the industrial zone, Branden’s eyeballs almost popped out.

Rhodes was the same. Qingzhou Province was a strange yet familiar place to him. He used to visit Qingzhou City frequently, but rarely left the city.

He hadn’t expected to see such a sight this time with Branden.

“What is this?” Rhodes exclaimed in surprise. This steam engine driving machinery looked completely like a monster.

“This is a steam engine.” The Dutch had now introduced steam engines from Britain, so he had also seen what a steam engine looked like.

Although the steam engine in Qingzhou Province was somewhat different, it was largely consistent, and this machine also used coal as fuel.

“This is too astonishing. What we are doing, this Great Yu Empire is also doing.” Branden’s gaze seemed to be fixated on the spinning textile machine.

While the group was momentarily stunned, a person walked out from the textile workshop. It was none other than Zhu Wuliu.

During winter, all the villagers had helped build the workshop’s buildings. After the New Year, people from the steam engine workshop brought the steam engine and textile machines to install a production line for them. Now, they had started mass production of cotton cloth.

Seeing these fair-haired, blue-eyed people, Zhu Wuliu was not nervous; instead, he showed a hint of a smile. He thought these people were here to do business.

After all, with the expansion of maritime trade, such Western merchants frequently appeared in Qingzhou City, so he was not surprised.

“Are you here to buy cloth?” Zhu Wuliu asked with a slight expectation.

Ever since the workshop’s steam engine started running, batches of cloth had been coming off the textile machines. In just half a month, he had already produced a thousand bolts of cloth.

Currently, some of this cloth had been bought by merchants, but four hundred bolts were still in the warehouse, and he was worried about how to sell them.

Rhodes, seeing this, actively said, “We are not here to buy cloth, but where did your steam engine come from?”

Zhu Wuliu immediately became alert. He showed a defensive expression, “If you’re not buying anything, what are you doing here? Are you spies, trying to steal our craftsmanship?”

With that, he suddenly let out a shout, and immediately a dozen people covered in cotton ran out of the workshop. These were all villagers from Zhu Family Village.

“What’s wrong, Wuliu?” the group asked.

“They’ve been sneaking around here for a long time! They must be spies! Grab them all and send them to the prefectural office!”

Upon hearing that Branden and his group were spies, the young men of Zhu Family Village howled and lunged forward. They didn’t care if these people were Westerners or not.