New Ming Empire mixed in America

"Let's see, one and a half million pounds, this is my minimum price. If it's more, I'll buy skilled workers separately."

Li Mingqi pretended to be heroic and shifted the topic to the workers again.

He wanted to find out how many workers Tsarist Russia could send over, which was related to the speed at which the New Ming Empire could build warships.

Now the Royal Battleship Design Bureau, which was split from the Royal Academy, has come up with the latest design plan.

They have perfected the structural design of the warship within the cement hull, and also installed a steam turbine for a trial voyage for a short distance.

In 1884, Charles Parsons invented the first steam turbine. In 1897, the steam turbine was installed on the "Turbinnia" and even participated in the ship viewing ceremony with Queen Victoria. (Don't keep it.

Damn me, this is not the kind of steam turbine on the Liaoning...)

So what the Xin Ming Empire needs now is a large number of skilled shipbuilders, who will produce a brand new... armored battleship imitated from the "Zhiyuan" for the Xin Ming Empire.

Li Mingqi's quotation caused a quarrel among the diplomat team. Finally, the leading diplomat raised his head and asked Li Mingqi:

"Can you add a £50,000 fee?"

After seeing Li Mingqi nod, the diplomats sat down in their seats with satisfaction and resumed their former calmness.

After Li Ming used the jade seal to stamp the printed contract, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Tsarist Russian diplomats came and left very quickly. They wanted to report this happy event to the Tsar as soon as possible.

Let Tsar Alexander II, who was so ambitious and ready to do something big as soon as he came to the throne, have a good time.

After seeing off the diplomats from Tsarist Russia, Li Mingqi turned his attention away from Southern California.

Because all the opponent's trump cards are useless, they just need to wait for the National Defense Force to move in.

As for Lin's threat of war... Li Mingqi said he didn't care.

Now the other party is probably negotiating with Dai Ying, preparing to exchange food for Dai Ying's hand. Na San, who also helped the Southern Confederacy, has also relaxed his support for the Southern Confederacy because he has taken a fancy to Mexico.

At this time, Nasan's army had already landed on Mexican soil, so the opportunity for the Xinming Empire to expand again came.

Taking out the map, Li Mingqi's finger first clicked on Baja California in Mexico, and then moved to the New Mexico area adjacent to Texas.

Since the soldiers of the First Brigade of the National Defense Force have begun to deploy defenses towards the Texas border, the land within the defense zone should be the inherent territory of the Xinming Empire.

So in just a few dozen seconds, the territory of the Xinming Empire expanded dozens of times on the map.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Li Mingqi shook the hand that drew lines on the map and hung the map on the wall.

The future strategic goals have been determined, but the biggest shortcoming of the Xinming Empire has still not been solved, and that is the population problem.

So Li Mingqi started searching on the map again, and finally stopped on a certain island in the Pacific.

"Hawaii..." After Li Mingqi muttered a few words, his eyes narrowed.

If he remembers correctly, Hawaii is currently under the reign of Kamehameha IV.

Although Hawaii is an independent country, its internal economy is almost monopolized by the United States.

As early as 1842, U.S. Secretary of State Webster said:

"The United States is very concerned about the fate of the Kingdom of Hawaii. The United States should pay attention to the interests of the Kingdom of Hawaii and protect the Kingdom of Hawaii."

This has clearly stated that Hawaii is the sphere of influence of the United States.

Unfortunately, the west coast is now the territory of the Xinming Empire, so the American declaration will not work here.

But there is a prerequisite for an expedition to Hawaii, and that is the need for faster warships and merchant ships. Of course, a complete supply port is also very important.

The straight-line distance from the West Coast to Hawaii is about 3850 kilometers, which is about 2079 nautical miles.

Based on the current ship speed of the Xinming Empire, the theoretical time to reach Hawaii would require seven days of non-stop sailing.

But on the vast sea, the supply of battleships became a problem. Moreover, the armored battleships modified from Spanish battleships had insufficient endurance.

There are ports for supplies along the way from San Francisco to Peru, so it is easy to reach.

But it’s a bit difficult to get to Hawaii. Unless you rely on sailing, you won’t be able to get there in a month.

After scratching his head, Li Mingqi felt that the most important thing now was shipbuilding!

Just when Li Mingqi was almost stationed at the Royal Battleship Design Bureau for the next month.

Sun Laifu has ordered the National Defense Forces to begin a rapid advance towards the capital of Southern California.

"Damn Tsarist Russian liar!" In the hotel in Santa Barbara, Tuxedo slammed the coffee cup in his hand to the ground.

He had just received news that Tsarist Russian diplomats had reached an agreement with the Orientals to sell Alaska, which made the Northern Federation's plan to use Tsarist Russia to contain Innocent three come to nothing.

"Any more bad news for me?"

Tuxedo tugged on his tie irritably and asked the entourage who just sent the telegram.

"The Easterners declared war on the Union, and they were still conducting arms trade with the Confederacy."

The entourage did not disappoint him and found a telegram from the briefcase and handed it to Tuxedo.

Looking at the statement on the telegram from the Northern Federation condemning the West Coast Orientals for interfering in the internal affairs of the United States, Tuxedo couldn't believe his eyes.

"Have those Easterners already gained international recognition?"

After listening, the entourage shrugged and said: "Those Easterners were prepared to spend a lot of money to buy land from Tsarist Russia, so the Tsar publicly acknowledged the fact that the New Ming Empire established by the Easterners was a new country!"

The entourage's words made Tuxedo even more miserable. It can be said that this consequence was caused by him.

It is estimated that discussions about his arrangements have already begun within the federation.

Tsarist Russia recognized the fact that the Orientals occupied the West Coast, then California would never come back unless those Orientals were defeated.

Originally, they could still rely on the fact that the Xinming Empire had no international support to refuse to recognize the fact that the other party was a country, but now the relationship with Tsarist Russia has caused this plan to go bankrupt.

Rubbing his temples, Tuxedo sat down on the chair dejectedly.

Those diplomats from Tsarist Russia are simply unreasonable. They are all arrogant here, but why do they suddenly become easy to talk to when they come to Easterners?

If the Tsar knew about Tuxedo's complaints, he might say the reason: "I can't help it, the Orientals give too much!"

That's right, after signing the contract, the money to buy Alaska has started to be paid one after another.

As for why not just pay it all in one lump sum... wouldn't it take time to imitate and print the pound?