Daming Military Empire

Chapter 315 Trains and Companies

As soon as the land-for-warship contract was signed, Zhu Cijiong let out a sigh of relief. If nothing unexpected happens, the war in Europe will continue. His main purpose of coming to Europe has finally been achieved. Next, he can consider economic and cultural issues. problem.

It’s definitely not okay to directly mention it to Philip IV. What benefits can he get from opening a business and running a school here? It’s just letting you earn the wealth of Spain. Get someone to help, there are no doors!
What interests can impress Philip IV?Let him become a shareholder? Forget it. He spends a bucket of money. How much money he earns is not enough for him to spend. Don't lose all his old capital by then.

After Zhu Cijiong thought about it, only trains and telegrams could impress Philip IV, but the effect of telegrams was too terrifying. Zhu Cijiong didn't want the big powers to have this thing for the time being. The main function of trains is to promote economic development. The effect is not very big.

So, in an ordinary meeting, Zhu Cijiong "inadvertently" chatted with Philip IV about trains: "Your Majesty, have you heard of trains?"

Philip IV heard the words and said with great interest: "I heard that, the envoys who came back from your Ming Dynasty mentioned to me more than once the magical train, good stuff, comfortable carriage, running day and night, if There are trains like this in Spain too, and travel is not known to be much more convenient.”

Zhu Cijiong couldn't help but said with emotion: "Yes, I walked from Valencia to Madrid for ten days, and I was exhausted. If I were in Daming, I wouldn't need to travel for half a day, and I wouldn't be tired at all by train! I am considering whether to build a special train for the Queen, and the bedroom, kitchen, dining room, meeting room, study room, and toilet are all equipped. It will be more comfortable to go out by then, eat when you want, sleep when you want, and your daily life will be the same Yes, there is still a lot of hard work there!"

When Philip IV heard the words, his eyes lit up, and he asked in disbelief: "Can these really be loaded on the train?"

Zhu Cijiong said indifferently: "Of course, the train carriage is actually a simple room. It can be repaired a little bit, and it won't take much trouble."

Philip IV said enviously: "It's a pity, I asked all the court technicians, and no one can make a train."

Zhu Cijiong tempted: "Of course it can't be made with Ou Lu's current technology, but if His Majesty the King wants it, I can make it for you."

Hearing this, Philip IV excitedly said: "Yes, you can ask His Majesty the Emperor to send someone to build it!"

However, he immediately stared at Zhu Cijiong and said suddenly: "Your Majesty, do you want me to help you with something?"

Zhu Cijiong smiled embarrassingly, nodded and said: "It is indeed a small matter that I would like to ask His Majesty the King for help."

Philip IV showed such an expression as expected, and said lightly: "Tell me, what is it?"

Zhu Cijiong said shamelessly: "Actually, these are all for the convenience of making trains. I have several royal firms, all of which are closely related to making trains. We must establish a semicolon in Spain before the train can start, otherwise we can't do it at all. Yes, a school must be established to train basic operators, otherwise no one will drive the train after you have built it!"

To build a train, you need to open several businesses and run a school, so go ahead and lie, but the temptation of the train to him is too great, as long as it is not too much, he can only admit it through gritted teeth.

Therefore, Philip IV did not show any surprised expression, but asked lightly: "What kind of companies are they, and how big does the school need to be built?"

Zhu Cijiong said relaxedly: "It's just a few royal firms directly under me, not many, there are only four in total, one Daming Royal Western Trading, one Daming Royal Nikko Bank, one Daming Royal Xinglong Firm, one Daming Royal Machinery Group, as for the school , and it doesn’t need a big place, tens of thousands of feet is enough.”

Shooter, what does commerce and banking have to do with building trains? Except for the last Royal Machinery Group, the other three are all nonsense. Also, a school is tens of thousands of feet, and it is as big as a small city. not big!
Philip IV thought about it for a while, and admitted it. Anyway, there are only four companies and one school in total. He gritted his teeth and nodded, "Okay, I'll let you build them, but Madrid doesn't have so much open space. You can choose another city." Bar."

Zhu Cijiong thought for a while, and said directly: "Then Valencia, it happens to be a port, it is convenient to load and unload goods, and the land behind the port is big enough, or I just order people to build a Ming Dynasty trade city there, forget it, You need a place to build a train, too.”

What else could Philip IV say, he could only grit his teeth and say, "Okay, that's it, let's draw up a contract, but within a year you must at least help me repair the Valencia-Madrid railway."

Zhu Cijiong said straightforwardly: "No problem, I will send you a remodeled train at that time, with bedrooms, kitchens, dining rooms, conference rooms, study rooms, and toilets all in place. I guarantee you can sit comfortably on it, and travel just like in the palace. Just like the rest!"

The general framework has been finalized, but building trains, opening a business, and running schools are not easy tasks. Both sides sent relevant officials and discussed for several days before finalizing all the details. Finally, the "Daming Empire and Spain" was signed. The Kingdom Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation is as follows:
Article [-]. The Spanish Empire provided a piece of land next to Valencia Port for the Ming Empire to build the Daming Trade City, with an area of ​​[-] feet by [-] feet. One branch of Xing Bank, one branch of Daming Royal Xinglong Company, one branch of Daming Royal Machinery Group and one branch of Daming Chinese Academy;
Article 30.00: The Kingdom of Spain allows Daming Royal Company to do business in Spain, but must pay transaction tax, which is tentatively set at [-]% of the transaction amount;

Article [-]: The Ming Empire provides technicians to manufacture [-] trains for the Spanish Empire free of charge, and builds a railway from Valencia to Madrid for the Spanish Empire free of charge, ensuring that it will be completed and opened to traffic within one year;

Article [-]: The Spanish Empire is responsible for the construction of railways between other cities in the Spanish Empire, and the Ming Empire is only responsible for providing guidance;
Article 20: If the Spanish Empire needs more trains, they can purchase them from the Ming Empire at [-] taels of silver each.

In this way, Zhu Cijiong exchanged the train for the opportunity to do business with Spain. As for who will get more benefits, this is really hard to say. It mainly depends on the future development. If Spain builds railways like crazy and vigorously develops the economy, it will naturally gain benefits. More, in the short term, Zhu Cijiong will get more benefits, because he has a ship, a lot of ships, and can transport a lot of things to Europe, earning their wealth crazily.

Zhu Cijiong agreed to build this train for Spain, but he will not provide the core technology to Spain for free. After all, steam power is still a unique technology, and the necessary confidentiality work still needs to be done. The method Zhu Cijiong keeps secret is all steam pistons, bearings All the parts that need to be processed by machine tools are manufactured in Daming and then shipped to Spain. The Spanish Daming Royal Machinery Group branch only builds a proposed blast furnace, casting rails, bases and other simple castings.

Of course, nothing is difficult in the world, as long as there is a heart, steam power technology is not a very advanced technology. No matter how much Ming Dynasty blocks it, the European countries will figure it out sooner or later. Zhu Cijiong did not use steam power technology as Ming's last trump card. In the future, electromagnetic technology It is the core technology of the Ming Empire. However, these are things for later, so I will skip them here for the time being.

(End of this chapter)