New Ming Empire mixed in America

"Long live my lord, the Chilean envoy has sent us the latest updates on the British navy."

That day, Li Mingqi was sorting out useful information on his laptop, and Liu Erhe came over to report the latest situation.

"Inform him to come to the study to see me." Li Mingqi finished typing the last few words and ordered Liu Erhe.

Because he found out about the Peruvian assassin some time ago, Liu Erhe recently worked as a guard for Li Mingqi, and even delegated the training of the Imperial Guard to his subordinates.

Moreover, the 'Ouchi Guards' responsible for protecting Li Mingqi have begun to equip submachine guns, and have also transferred some manpower from the Imperial Guard to increase the number to 500.

When Li Mingqi saw the Chilean envoy, he cried directly:

"Dear His Majesty the Emperor, we in Chile have no choice but to lead the British fleet to blockade the port of Lima, asking us to return the capital of Peru..."

Li Mingqi had learned this news from Jin Yiwei a long time ago, and it was only half a month ago.

It takes at least twenty days to travel from Peru to San Francisco, and in addition to the inconvenience caused by the British blockade of the port, the news provided by this messenger is out of date nearly a month ago.

Moreover, Li Mingqi also knew that Daiying not only blocked the port of Lima, the original capital of Peru, but also blocked Guano Island in an attempt to control it in his own hands.

Now all personnel of the Xinming Empire in Peru have withdrawn into the concession area belonging to the Xinming Empire in Lima.

"I already know all this information. Does your country have any countermeasures?"

Li Mingqi interrupted the Chilean envoy's cry and asked about Chile's attitude.

Although the other party sent an envoy, Li Mingqi did not believe that the other party could hold its neck stiff under the gunfire of the British expedition fleet.

"Our government has agreed to withdraw from Lima in exchange for concessions from the British in the Atacama region."

The messenger honestly stated Chile's response measures.

After hearing this, Li Mingqi didn't mean to blame Chile for being weak. After all, not kneeling down in the face of the world's hegemon was considered to have some backbone.

Now Chile still owes Dai Ying money. If it hadn't been for earning some crown coins from selling various minerals to the Xinming Empire, Chile might have just let Dai Ying be exploited by now.

Moreover, Li Mingqi's last expedition also caused a large number of Daiying's merchants and estate owners in Peru to flee to Chile, which further intensified Daiying's voice in Chile.

Now even when he heard the news that Chile sent troops to help lead the British, Li Mingqi was not surprised.

If the Chilean envoys came to complain and explain, then the next few waves of merchant ships brought back completely bad news.

Because after hearing that the British Expeditionary Fleet appeared in Chile, various countries along the American coast directly tore up the contracts signed with the Xinming Empire.

Items such as rubber, wood, various minerals and petroleum, and grain are all prohibited from being transported to the New Ming Empire.

Moreover, some people began to clamor for the demolition of the Jingguan building originally established by the Xinming Empire.

Li Mingqi was not surprised at all by the news, and had already prepared countermeasures in advance.

Those who should be stocked up in advance should be stocked up in large quantities, and those who should be put on the list have been recorded, waiting to be found after the naval battle with Dai Ying is over to settle accounts one by one.

But something that Li Mingqi didn't expect was yet to come, and this incident was likely to shake the foundation of the Xinming Empire.

"Long live my lord, Jin Yiwei's intelligence agency came back from London with news that someone has discovered a method for large-scale aluminum production!"

Liu Erhe had cold sweat on his head. Now the Xinming Empire's foreign trade relies entirely on aluminum crown coins. If aluminum can be produced on a large scale, the Xinming Empire's aluminum crown coins will definitely be impacted. Gu

"Do you know what the method is?" Li Mingqi was no longer calm. He originally thought that sending all the scientists who studied electrolytic aluminum to meet God would delay the industrialization of aluminum indefinitely. Unexpectedly, something unexpected happened now.

"Someone discovered in the laboratory how to use electricity to make aluminum, long live it!"

Liu Erhe's voice was filled with anxiety, and this news was like a bolt from the blue.

"Has any specific information been sent back?" Li Mingqi also frowned. If someone really figured out a way to manufacture electrolytic aluminum on a large scale, then the New Ming Empire...

From now on, you can only rely on counterfeit currency to trade in the world, and the difficulty of operation has suddenly increased a lot.

"The news came back, and this matter was promoted by the British government. There was no news before, but this month there was suddenly a large-scale report in newspapers about the manufacturing method of electrolytic aluminum!"

After Liu Erhe handed the paper with the information written on it to Li Mingqi, he walked around the room anxiously.

After a quick glance, Li Mingqi's brows gradually dispersed, and a sneer appeared on his face.

Aluminum was discovered and manufactured by scientists in 1824. It was first produced by reduction of potassium amalgam, but the quantity was very small and the quality was impure.

In 1854, David switched to using cheaper sodium as the reducing agent, thus producing slightly more aluminum with higher purity.

Nathan was very interested in this at the time and established an aluminum smelting factory with his support. He also specially asked craftsmen to make an aluminum helmet and a set of aluminum tableware to show his nobility and luxury.

In 1854, David of France and Bunsen of Prussia both studied the method of producing aluminum by molten salt electrolysis in the laboratory.

But it is a pity that they were not successful because electrolysis of metallic aluminum from bauxite requires very high temperatures.

In addition, bauxite is a refractory material. To make aluminum, it must reach a high temperature of about two thousand degrees, and a stable current is also required.

But there is no stable generator in the world yet. Although hand-cranked generators have appeared, everyone knows their efficiency.

It was not until the Prussian Siemens company invented the self-excited DC generator in 1866 that electricity would truly enter people's horizons (cheap electricity was only available at this time)

But now the two founders of Siemens: Werner von Siemens and engineer Johann Georg Halske are still responsible for the maintenance of hydroelectric generators within the chain-link fence of San Francisco.

And the most important point is that electrolytic aluminum requires cryolite. Without cryolite, anyone who wants to produce electrolytic aluminum on a large scale is wishful thinking.

Don't say that the protagonist's aluminum cannot maintain its value. Without cryolite, no one can produce large-scale electrolytic aluminum.

In 1889, Mendeleev also received a vase and cup made of aluminum alloy as a gift from the London Chemical Society to represent his glory.

Moreover, cryolite is a rare mineral. The largest source of cryolite mine in the world is only the Ivitut region of Greenland!

Greenland is located across the sea from Canada. The island is actually larger than the combined area of ​​Western Europe and Central Europe.

And during World War II, when aluminum was used to make fighter jets, Greenland became the most important military target in the world.

By the way, it was discovered in 1886 that cryolite could be used to produce electrolytic aluminum.

So when Li Mingqi saw that the London newspaper did not mention the difficulty of manufacturing electrolytic aluminum and only reported that aluminum could be electrolytically decomposed, he knew that this was a way to lead the British against the New Ming Empire.

But Li Mingqi felt that there was no need for him to take action now, as Nai San would soon hit Dai Ying in the face.

Because Nasan is the one who admires aluminum the most and regards aluminum as a metal more precious than gold.

Now Daiying is linking electrolytic aluminum with crown coins all over the world in order to cause trouble for the Xinming Empire. In fact, they are already slapping Nasan in the face. After all, his crowns are all made of aluminum.