Chapter 932

“Your Majesty is truly learned! Just as Your Majesty said, our country is located on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea.”

Schroeder cautiously glanced at the Emperor of the Great Yu Empire, who was clad in a dragon robe. He had come bearing a heavy responsibility and wished to make no mistakes.

Xiao Ming, sitting in the pavilion, nodded slightly. The European intelligence obtained by the secret guards from merchants was limited. After all, communication was poor in this era, and even within his own country, he sometimes could not ascertain the truth of certain matters. Moreover, he always remained suspicious of the information provided by the Dutch, never trusting these former colonizers one hundred percent.

“The envoy’s country is truly distant from the Great Yu Empire. Rather than speaking, perhaps the envoy could mark the situation in Europe on this map.”

Xiao Ming gestured to Qian Dafu, who placed a world map before Schroeder.

Looking at the detailed world map, which spanned two meters when unfolded before him, Schroeder was instantly stunned. The Prussian royal palace also possessed a world map.

However, compared to the precision of this map, their map appeared very outdated.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Schroeder did not refuse. In fact, before he came, he had never paid attention to this Great Yu Empire. In his opinion, this Great Yu Empire naturally would not know about Prussia.

If it had been much earlier, he would not even have been able to reach the Great Yu Empire. It was only because Europeans now extended their reach here that they were able to successfully find this place.

Picking up a pen, Schroeder meticulously marked the approximate area of Prussia on the map. Soon after, he presented the map to Xiao Ming.

Taking the map, Xiao Ming glanced at it and instantly had a plan in mind. The Dutch had not lied to him about Prussia.

Overall, the current land hegemon in Europe was France, and the maritime hegemon was Britain. Besides these, there were also Portugal, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Switzerland, Finland, Prussia, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as well as an as-yet-ununified Italy.

Prussia during this period was still a very small country, not possessing the territory of contemporary Germany, because the entire Germanic people were still in a state of division.

Only when all these Germanic states scattered across Central Europe were unified could they become the future German Empire.

“So Prussia’s territory is only this large? But I heard that this entire large area consists of Germanic states, is that right?” Xiao Ming asked.

Schroeder’s expression changed. This question touched upon his inner thoughts. In fact, the unification of the German Confederation was a dream in every Prussian’s heart.

However, the French, for their own interests, would not allow them to unify these Germanic states. Precisely because of this, their relationship with France had always been extremely poor.

“Your Majesty is right. This has always been a regret in the hearts of us Prussians,” Schroeder said with shame. He then continued, “Therefore, this time, the King dispatched me to the Great Yu Empire, precisely to establish good relations with the Great Yu Empire and obtain the strength to unify the German Confederation.”

Xiao Ming smiled. “The actions of the British and French make it impossible for us to trust you Europeans. Do you expect me to believe you just because of a few words?”

“Your Majesty, we understand the principles of diplomacy. Without interests, two countries will not cooperate. The British and French are Your Majesty’s enemies, and they are Prussia’s enemies. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. With us Prussians tying down the French, British, and even Russians in Europe, I believe your esteemed country will save a lot of effort in seizing colonies,” Schroeder’s words were incisive.

Prussia’s colonies were negligible. So, in his view, they and the Great Yu Empire had no fundamental conflict, while the British and French possessed vast colonies around the Great Yu Empire.

Xiao Ming chuckled. He said, “It seems you are a clever man. If that’s the case, I won’t beat around the bush with you. Like the Dutch, the Great Yu Empire can also establish trade relations with you. The British and French are cancerous tumors of Europe. With them, Europe will not know peace, nor will the world. However, there is a condition for establishing trade: it must be settled using Great Yu Empire currency.”

When he learned of the Prussians’ arrival, he immediately thought of helping Prussia, because Prussia and France were natural enemies.

As long as Prussia grew strong, the muddy waters of Europe could be stirred up. If Europe fell into internal strife, he could, firstly, sell large quantities of arms, and secondly, seize colonies and resources around the world while Europe was preoccupied with its internal conflicts.

“Great Yu Empire currency settlement?” Schroeder’s eyes flickered. Previously, Europe had to use silver to purchase goods from the Great Yu Empire, so Europe extensively mined silver in the Americas, precisely to buy various goods from the Great Yu Empire. This, in essence, was settling with the Great Yu Empire’s currency.

However, now that the Great Yu Empire Emperor spoke of this, it was clear that the previous crude method of transaction could no longer be used. Instead, they would have to use the Great Yu Empire’s actual currency to purchase goods.

But they had no Great Yu Empire currency at all. So, after a moment of hesitation, he said, “But we don’t have Great Yu Empire currency. How should we settle this?”

“That is not my concern. Perhaps you can transport gold or silver to the Great Yu Empire to exchange for Great Yu Empire Dragon Coins,” Xiao Ming said, a smile on his face.

Now, whether it was Goryeo or Japan, he had extended his financial tentacles. Now, if Goryeo and Japan wanted to purchase Great Yu Empire goods, they had to settle using Dragon Coins.

He had the same requirement in his dealings with the Dutch. Now it was the Prussians who presented themselves.

His reason for doing this was simple and sinister: to make the Great Yu Empire’s Dragon Coin an international currency.

And the significance of an international currency was immense. It would mean that the Great Yu Empire’s currency would become hard currency internationally, similar to gold and silver.

Once he achieved this goal, the Great Yu Empire would be like contemporary America. A simple interest rate hike could make the entire world nervous.

After all, with the contemporary US dollar as a world currency, for the US, currency could serve its economy. It could not only become the largest debtor nation but also issue bonds to serve the economy. In every economic crisis, the US issued bonds, and other countries had to pay for them!

In short, a nation’s currency being an international currency was entirely beneficial to that nation.

Since making the Great Yu Empire currency an international currency was so important, he naturally had to start planning now. Otherwise, once Westerners continued to develop financially, they would realize this problem.

At that time, they would probably try to undermine the Great Yu Empire.

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