1855 United States Tycoon

"Welcome, my friend." In Berlin, Scrooge met the famous "Iron Prime Minister" Bismarck as he wished.

"Of course it is for our common interest." Scrooge replied. For a smart person like Bismarck who is second to none in German history and can even be called the number one, there is no need to say those messy and deceptive nonsense. Going straight to the subject may be the best approach.

"I know that your country is preparing for a war with France. I came for this." Scrooge sat down on the sofa next to Bismarck.

"How do you know that we are going to war with France?" Bismarck did not admit, of course, he did not deny either.

"Your political goal is to turn the Kingdom of Prussia into the German Empire, right." Scrooge laughed. "Unify the German states and build a unified German Empire. This is not only your goal, but also The whole Prussian goal. I think anyone who pays attention to the Prussian dynasty wars over the years can come to this conclusion."

"This is just your opinion." Bismarck said.

"France has many interests in the southern states of Germany. There is a traditional French market. Once they are incorporated into the future German Empire, the French will have to worry that they will lose the market there, not to mention the industrial development of Prussia. Going so fast also needs the market very much. Therefore, if I were Napoleon III, I would definitely not want to see the unity of Germany."

Scrooge glanced at Bismarck. He found that there was no expression on Bismarck’s face, so he continued: "In addition, although Europe is large, it cannot accommodate two powerful land powers. At the beginning, for the hegemony of Europe, Napoleon III's France You can go to Crimea to fight the Russians. Now, your country is next to France. How can the French watch your country grow up like this? His Majesty Napoleon III has proved that in order to ensure hegemony, He is willing to go to war. And your country has proved more than once that you are also willing to go to war in order to unify Germany. Therefore, I think the possibility of a war between you and France is very high. On the contrary, if there is no war, It's a miracle."

"But we are not interested in the so-called European hegemony." Bismarck said.

"The question is not whether you are interested, but whether you have such abilities. I think the German nation is a great nation. Once he is unified, whether he wants it or not, it will shake the world. Germany does not lack Such ability, and Emperor Napoleon III would believe that a country with such ability would not pursue such hegemony? Doesn't he want to eliminate the danger in the bud?"

"What's more, the pursuit of control of a larger market is almost the instinct of industrial countries, and this is the pursuit of hegemony." Scrooge thought in his heart, "This is like the rabbit country in later generations, although humans and animals are harmless and small. White rabbits wear rabbit skins every day, crying to keep a low profile and never dominate, but the rabbit threat theory is still super marketable, making rabbit skins almost impossible to wear. Why is this? The reason is who made the country of rabbits want to become There is no big industrial country that does not pursue hegemony. Don't think that you can fool anyone by wearing a rabbit skin."

"We have no ambition to dominate Europe, but since the German people want unification, we of course have to work hard for it." Bismarck said, "In order to deal with the problems that may arise during the unification process, we really need to make all kinds of preparations."

"This time I just brought something conducive to the unification of Germany." Scrooge said with a smile.

This time he came to Prussia, Scrooge mainly wanted to do several things like this. First, continue to deepen cooperation with Prussia in industrial technology. First of all, Scrooge intends to sell to the Prussians the technology related to the tube retreat and high-explosive shells that have never been used before. This way, on the one hand, it can add an income to the own wallet, on the other hand, it can also help the Prussians to be bold, so that they can launch a war against France more quickly, and have the courage to win the war against France. Get more. In the original history, after Germany won, it extorted 5 billion francs of indemnity from France, cut off Alsace and Lorraine, and they occupied the six northern provinces of France until France paid off the indemnity. It has also been a market for German industrial products for a long time. Scrooge knew that precisely because of the preparation for this war, Prussia might not be able to get enough cash. But it doesn't matter, I don't need any cash from him, I can lend them money, and then let them use the money borrowed from them to buy weapons and related technology. Anyway, after they win, they can naturally take out money from the French indemnity and pay it back to themselves. Well, considering that this is a futures and considering the risks, there should be more returns.

"In order to help your country maintain peace, I brought you something like this." Scrooge said as he took out some things and put them on the table.

"Ah, you always carry so many things with you." Bismarck smiled. "You know, I'm not an expert, and I don't know much about these things. If the crown prince is there, well, he might be interested in them. But for me, these things are too much, you should find the important ones and talk to me."

"Okay," Scrooge said. "Do you remember the grenade?"

"Yeah." Bismarck motioned for him to continue.

"Now, we have a kind of artillery. The shells fired by it can land and explode like a grenade, but its power is many times that of a grenade. Moreover, a young man, um, is like the big Chinese man with a height and waist circumference that I am carrying. He can throw a defensive grenade up to sixty meters away, which is not easy. But a cannon can easily launch a projectile that is much heavier than a grenade up to 8 kilometers away, and destroy the surrounding three with one cannonball. Everything at a distance of ten meters. Like my Hercules bodyguard, he can throw twenty grenades into a trench sixty meters away in one minute, but this cannon of mine is under the control of the best gunner But he can shoot thirty shells into the enemy's queue within a minute." Scrooge began to be a prince, boasting of own melon.

"Wait, how many shells do you say in a minute?" Bismarck interrupted Scrooge. This is actually not Bismarck's hearing loss, or distrust Scrooge thinks he is bragging. After all, Scrooge and Prussia have not cooperated once or twice, and his reputation is generally quite good. The Prussians who have talked with him on business know that Mr. MacDonald is a profiteer, but as long as he signs the contract, his reputation is really good.

"In the hands of the most elite artillery team, 30 rounds per minute, in the hands of the decent artillery team, you can easily shoot 20 rounds." Scrooge replied calmly.

"This is a revolutionary change for the artillery. This speed is even faster than firing a gun. Isn't such a gun capable of equivalent to fifty or sixty guns in the past? Well, you guy Not too bragging, I can believe it. Is this because this thing is expensive?"

"Where, my weapons have always been a model of cheap and good quality." Scrooge said, "you said, my gun can hold at least fifty ordinary artillery, but my cannon is comparable to fifty ordinary artillery. The artillery is cheap. In addition, you are our old friend and customer, we will give you a discount, and it will be calculated at half the price of fifty ordinary artillery. If you are not our old customer, ordinary people really can’t help it. I bought such a cheap rapid-fire cannon from us..."

"Well, it's a good thing to hear you say that, but the price is too expensive." Bismarck shook his head and said. "To be honest, we can't afford to equip it at this price."

"You can reduce the number of troops, anyway, one door can hold dozens of them." Scrooge said.

"We still have to see the samples before we can make a decision. In addition, Mr. MacDonald, as you know, we really don’t have that much money now. I wonder if you can provide us with some loans, um, like on Second time. Besides, can the technology of your artillery be transferred?" Bismarck asked.

"I have no problem. I have two sample cannons on board, and I can accept your inspection at any time. As before, as long as you and your country can continue to maintain good credit, I am of course willing to provide you with loan services. There is no businessman who will not make money without making money. Well, I think that in modern times, all major problems can actually be solved by certain economic means.” Scrooge replied.

"Maybe, um, I forgot, you admire Marx's political economy very much. From his point of view, politics is the continuation of economy, and war is the continuation of politics. You can say so. Prince Wang He will be back tomorrow. He is very interested in these technology things. Or we will arrange a time tomorrow afternoon to try your two guns." Bismarck said, "I heard that you just did it in the UK. A business deal is about technology exchange. I think we can also adopt this method of trading?"

"Surely, Honorable Prime Minister, I am also very interested in your country's electrical and smelting technology, especially heat treatment technology. In addition, I admire your country's mathematics achievements very much. I also hope Can promote the cooperation between the University of Göttingen and the University of Cleveland."

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