Opening game, American Tycoon

It was raining heavily outside the window, and in the somewhat dim consulate office, a young official was reviewing official documents.

After third-class counselor Lin Xuemin walked into the office, he bowed his head slightly, and then reported.

"Commander, the contract between the Admiralty and Taichang has been signed!"

"Um,"

Tan Sitong, who was flipping through the official documents, first gave a light reply, and then asked again.

"Taichang agreed?"

"Yes, they agreed to send technicians to guide the construction of the No. [-] ship. The technicians of the Admiralty believe that after the No. [-] ship is completed, they can use some imperial components to build the No. [-] ship, so as to fully control the construction of the aircraft carrier. Technology."

Listening to Lin Xuemin's report, Tan Sitong, the Tang Consul General in Linhai, nodded slightly.

"I hope so, and don't worry about it for a while. It takes time to digest and absorb. If we want to develop, we must import technology from Daming. We must learn from here. With a little bit, we can always realize the real industrialization of the country. !"

True industrialization!

This is exactly what many reformers, including Tan Sitong, desire.Most of the reformers had the experience of studying in the Ming Dynasty. Tan Sitong also studied at Bingzhou University in the Ming Dynasty. It is also the experience of studying abroad that tells that the future of the Tang Dynasty lies in industrialization. Only through industrialization can the country be truly prosperous.

Although on the surface, through the 30-year Westernization Movement, the industrial scale of the Tang Empire has even surpassed that of Italy, and it has become second only to the Ming Empire, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Roman Empire. The eighth industrial power, but Datang's industrial foundation is still relatively weak. Compared with Italy, which can use some imported parts to build capital ships, Datang has not built capital ships until now.At most, two dreadnoughts were built using components and raw materials imported from Ming Dynasty.

Insufficient experience has led Datang to be relatively conservative in mechanical construction. They can design warships and locomotives, but they often entrust factories in the empire to manufacture them. Of course, OEMs are not bad for Datang, just like the three Years ago, in order to meet the rugged and complex terrain of the Zhushao section of the Guangdong-Han Railway, the Ministry of Railways of Datang designed its own KF steam locomotive, which was built by Changde Locomotive Company in Taiyuan. After completing the construction of the first batch of 21 locomotives , under the guidance of Changde Locomotive Company, Datang’s Haizhou Locomotive Factory used some imported parts to assemble and produce hundreds of KF locomotives. locomotive.Last year, KF steam locomotive has become the most famous domestic locomotive in Datang, and Haizhou Locomotive Factory has also obtained the ability to manufacture advanced steam locomotives in this process, becoming the most advanced locomotive factory in Asia.

"What the commander-in-chief said is true. The absorption of technology cannot be rushed. However, Chen Jizheng of the Ministry of the Navy is full of confidence. They believe that domestic shipyards can meet the needs of building aircraft carriers in terms of design and workers' skills. It's just a lack of experience. As long as you get technical guidance, there will definitely be no problems."

Nodding slightly, Tan Sitong said.

"Technically, I am a layman, but things are definitely not that simple. Among other things, armor steel, steam turbines, etc. need us to learn a little bit. By the way, there are also airplanes..."

After a pause, Tan Sitong looked out the window. There were naval aviation training in Linhai Bay every day, and sometimes the roar of aircraft engines could be heard in the consulate.

"We still need to learn how to make airplanes, and even design airplanes. We have to learn these little by little. The only good thing is that we and Daming are both Chinese, so they are willing to teach us, otherwise... that would be so easy to learn." !"

When mentioning the empire’s generosity to Datang, Tan Sitong’s heart was full of gratitude. The empire’s help to Datang over the years is well known, from encouraging private investment in Datang to providing huge loans to support Datang’s construction of railways and ports. As for the transfer of technology, it can be said that Datang's industrialization in these years has completely benefited from the help of the empire.

The "eighth industrial power in the world" that made the court princes complacent, made such progress because of the help of the empire.And this year, thanks to the empire's investment, Datang's industrial output value may even surpass Rome, becoming "the seventh industrial power in the world."

What is the result of such generosity?
Thinking of Xuzhou's ambiguous attitude in this war, Tan Sitong frowned.

Isn't it time to fight with the empire?

For Datang, isn't Britain one of the biggest external threats?
Only when the British rule in Southeast Asia is disintegrated can Datang obtain real security in the Southwest.

But what is the attitude of the princes in the court?

Sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight...

Talking about the court's attitude, Tan Sitong couldn't help talking to himself.

"It's really a group of guys who eat vegetarian food."

Although the Consul General just said it casually, Lin Xuemin also knew who the guys he was talking about, so he continued to speak.

"General, the pressure from the imperial court is increasing, and the military is becoming more and more dissatisfied with the neutral attitude of the imperial court. I heard that the head of the naval inspection team, Zheng Zheng, directly expressed his disapproval at the Ministry of the Navy in Zhongdu. The dissatisfaction of the imperial court, it is said..."

Lin Xuemin said in a low voice.

"At the reception banquet, in addition to promising that the Navy will continue to increase its strength to cruise the Pacific, they felt that the empire should consider putting pressure on Datang..."

"This kind of thing is just heard, don't talk nonsense in the future, you know?"

Tan Sitong said directly.

He is not worried that Lin Xuemin will say these things that should not be said, because he is also a member of the Commonwealth, what is the meaning of the Commonwealth?
It is to rescue Datang from the hands of "corrupt officials".

In fact, they had a chance last year, and he also participated in that plan, but the plan was shelved indefinitely - the empire did not want to see civil strife in Datang.Although he was a little disappointed by this, Tan Sitong also knew that for now, perhaps this was the best choice.

"For Datang, the most important thing now is development and learning. Only in this way can we get a better future..."

After finishing speaking, Tan Sitong stood up, walked to the window, looked at the heavy rain outside the window, and then said to himself.

"Now, what is the greatest pressure for the country? It is the victory of the Empire in North America! As long as the Empire wins a decisive victory in North America, no matter how much the DPRK and China do not want to offend the United Kingdom, they will join the war. After all, everyone always It is their habit to stand with the victor, whether they are willing or not, they will choose to stand with the victor, and the victor must be... Daming!"

In fact, there is no other choice for Datang. If Daming fails, how can Datang be alone?
This war itself is a war of civilizations, a war of races.It's a pity that those in high positions in Xuzhou can't understand this at all, and their eyes are still stuck in hundreds of years ago.

But those people are destined to be eliminated, sooner or later.

For that day, Tan Sitong was full of expectations and longed for that day to come.

This war will ultimately bring about all of this.