Iron Dynasty

Qingzhou.

Brandon is still making a last-ditch effort to buy a steam engine, and if it doesn't work out this time, he'll have to return to the Netherlands with regrets.

So after begging Pang Yukun for a whole time, he finally got the chance to be the emperor of the Great Yu Kingdom in front of the imperial study room.

Waking up this morning, Brandon put on his most luxurious silk dress, sprayed on perfume, and then went to the imperial study.

At this time, Xiao Ming was already waiting for Brandon in the imperial study. The persistence of the Dutch envoy really made him a little helpless.

Your Majesty, Brandon is here. Qian Dafu's voice sounded.

Xiao Ming was sketching on a piece of paper when he said, Let him in.

In response, Qian Dafu turned and left, and Brandon appeared in the imperial study not long after.

Glancing at Brandon, Xiao Ming said directly without waiting for him to speak: Brandon messenger, you are really obsessed with steam engines.

Your Majesty the Emperor, this steam engine is so charming, not only me, but every European will be crazy about it, Brandon said.

Today's Europe has set off a burst of technology fever, even kings and nobles are also very concerned about it, so any new technology will arouse their pursuit.

Xiao Ming raised his eyelids, But this is not the reason why I sold the steam engine to you.

Brandon fell into silence, hesitated for a long time, and said, Your Majesty the Emperor, we have something in Europe that you must be very interested in. Maybe we can exchange this kind of thing.

Oh? Xiao Ming raised his brows and said, I hope your words can change my mind.

Brandon said sternly: Rubber, this is a magical material discovered by Europe in South America, maybe His Majesty the Emperor will be interested.

Xiao Ming's hand holding the pen froze for a moment, Brandon observed this keenly, which gave him confidence, and then he continued; I wonder if His Majesty the Emperor knows that there is a magical continent in the far southern sea. It is called South America. The people of this place use rubber balls for games and sacrifices. When a European navigator arrived in America two hundred years ago, he saw the local indigenous people playing with a black ball that fell. It bounces very high on the ground, which is made of ** taken from trees. Since then, Spain and Portugal have brought rubber to Europe in the process of conquering Mexico and South America, and now rubber is in Europe A lot of amazing things have been made.

Rubber. I have to say that Xiao Ming was very moved. In fact, rubber played a very important role in the second industrial revolution.

Without rubber, there would be no tires, seals and other products.

In the history of human science and technology development, science and technology are constantly updated with the discovery of materials. Without coal, there would be no steam engine, and without oil, there would be no internal combustion engine.

Although Xiao Ming has mastered a lot of technology now, it has to be said that he is trapped on the isolated island of civilization. Without rubber, many things with mature technology cannot be realized.

Rubber is indeed a magical thing. Xiao Ming made no secret of his understanding of rubber, So, Earl Brandon can provide rubber for the Great Yu Kingdom?

In the process of trading with Blake, he had raised the question of rubber with Blake more than once, but Blake refused on the grounds that rubber was scarce and he could not provide it.

Now that Brandon has taken the initiative to bring this up, he naturally doesn't want to miss this opportunity, because Europe has blocked rubber for a long time.

This is also the reason why Europe can maintain its technological leadership in modern times. It controls an important part of the technology tree, and they can naturally do it well.

Yes. Brandon nodded. We Holland have our own colonies in South America and our own rubber plantations.

Xiao Ming nodded, thinking that rubber is more important than the steam engine now. With the technology spar, he can quickly improve the performance of the steam engine by another level.

But rubber is deadly because for a long time it was only available in South America.

So it's really not easy for Xiao Ming to get rubber.

Well, I have to say that I am very interested in this thing, but I not only want rubber, but also the seeds of rubber trees. Xiao Ming said.

I have to say that the Americas are far away. With the current technological level of the Great Yu Kingdom, it is very difficult to fight against the Western powers in the Americas, and the supply line will be too long.

So in order not to let the West block him with rubber, he felt it was necessary to get some rubber seeds to plant on Hainan Island.

Brandon suddenly laughed, Your Majesty the Emperor, this is really a wise decision, so the trade of steam engines and rubber is settled like this.

Of course, but only if I need to see these things before I can give you the steam engine. Xiao Ming said.

Even if the deal is reached this time, it will take Brandon more than half a year to go back and forth, which is enough time for him to update the steam engine.

And to him, a steam engine is nothing at all. After all, he knows everything about internal combustion engines, which is nothing compared to that.

Although Brandon wanted to bring the steam engine back now, it was obviously impossible to see the face of the Emperor of the Great Yu Kingdom.

So he said, Hopefully this trade will come true.

After negotiating this matter, Brandon's heart knot was finally lifted. Although rubber is precious in Europe, in his opinion, it cannot be compared with steam engines.

Each thought they took advantage of the other, Xiao Ming and Brandon were both happy in their hearts. After sending Brandon away, Xiao Ming could even imagine a series of modern industrial products such as bicycles, tricycles, and rickshaws.

After thinking about it in his heart, Xiao Ming gradually calmed down. At this time, he looked at what was written on the paper.

After the new year, the weather is gradually getting warmer, and in another month it will be spring ploughing.

Since the introduction of potatoes and sweet potatoes, Xiao Ming has used the tuber seedling technology to allow Kui Wu to build a large seedling base in the past two years.

Now the seedlings planted by the people every year are purchased from seedling bases, and with the successful promotion of potatoes and sweet potatoes in six states, the number of people who plant these two things is increasing every year.

But even so, the output of potatoes and sweet potatoes in each household is inconsistent because of the problem of fertile land.

So after the new year, Xiao Ming specifically read the knowledge in the technology library and found the manufacturing method of Tujia fertilizer and prepared to promote it.

After becoming the emperor, he paid more and more attention to the development of agriculture. After all, the problem of food and clothing in the Great Yu Kingdom has not been completely solved, and he has to pay attention to this problem.

People take food as their priority. This industry is important, and food is equally important. After all, transportation in this era is more troublesome, and it is not reliable to buy food from outside.