"If I were asked to close my eyes, I would feel like I was talking to me at His Highness Yu." Old William accepted Dan Tai Yunfeng's explanation, and finally did not forget to joke with Dan Tai Yunfeng.

Tan Tai Yunfeng just smiled, ate all the roasted sweet potatoes in his hand, drank a glass of water to relieve his slightly sticky throat, and Old William asked: "Since the war between Sweden and Augustus is inevitable, will China stand on the same position as Prussia in this war?"

"In fact, I can't answer this question." Dan Tai Yunfeng said calmly.

This is an answer in itself, and Old William smiled: "I understand, it depends on whether the empire and Prussia have common interests."

Dan Tai Yunfeng nodded: "Yes, that's the answer."

"Can you tell me what interests China wants in this war?" Bohard asked instead.

"It's very simple. First, the broader market. Second, it limits the expansion and rise of Tsarist Russia. Third, it strengthens its political influence in various countries."

Old William nodded slightly, and he was not surprised by this, but said, "At least, there is no big conflict of interest between us."

"It's true." Dan Tai Yunfeng also gave a positive answer.

And Bohard said: "We will come to an end on the strategic discussion. Now let's discuss economic and technological cooperation."

This is what Old William valued. In the past few years, he not only sent his son to study in China, but also accompanied a delegation of more than 20 people. The delegation was on the surface of William's Servant Group, but in fact it was an inspection team, which was filled with the nobles carefully selected by William. Since the Battle of Vienna, Prussia has had the history of sending nobles to the Military Academy in Xijin. It can be said that in the German region, the force that most understood the empire was Prussia.

Old William and Prime Minister Bohard came to a common conclusion that industry is the backbone of a country. If Prussia wants to rise and realize the great ideal of unifying the German region, it is essential to develop industry.

Therefore, in the past two years, William Old has been raising this matter and constantly introducing technology from the empire. However, due to the empire's technological protection laws, Prussia has never obtained the most advanced technology. However, even the empire's backward technology is advanced enough for the German region. For example, in the second half of this year, Prussia will have the first steel mill in the German region. After it is put into production, it can produce more than 50,000 tons of steel and iron every year. The reason why it is so certain is that this steel mill is directly purchased from the Imperial Taipei, dismantled and transported by ship.

The introduction of these technologies and factories has brought great financial pressure to Prussia. In order to raise funds, it is inevitable to increase taxes for necessary loans. Fortunately, in the past few decades, William old has established a centralized system. His words are imperial edicts in Prussia, but even so, the pressure is also great, so William old has chosen to disarmament this year.

You should know that Prussia maintained a standing army of 30,000 people after the Battle of Vienna. This standing army was the first-class in Europe, but Prussia did not have enough money to support such a large-scale army. In the past, it was maintained by helping powerful countries fight to obtain assistance. France and Austria were once Prussia employers.

Prussia has begun to disarmament since last year, and it is expected that the number of Prussia's standing troops will drop to 18,000 by summer next year, which is one of the reasons why William Old is not able to compete for the Polish throne.

The pleasant talks lasted for two hours, and in the end, Dan Tai Yunfeng left a long list.

Old William was satisfied with this list. There were a large number of factories Prussia wanted, including shipyards, arsenals, and even some steam-powered machinery. Especially the shipyards, the Empire agreed to allow Prussia to have the ability to make steam-powered ships within ten years.

But the problem is that Prussia does not have enough capital and there are not enough technical personnel.

"I think the money problem is okay. After all, we spend money on factories. This is the chicken that lays eggs, but the funds return a little slower. Instead of spending it on the army, it will never bring benefits. But it is indeed a problem for technicians. China is very strict in this regard. All technicians who come to work in Germany must undergo an audit. Bohad, my old friend, do you have any solutions?" Old William poured Bohad a glass of red wine from Bordeaux for Bohad and asked.

Bohad said: "We can focus on the issue of funds. After the Thirty Years of War, the Jews continued to migrate to the German region. We also accepted some of them. It is better to relax and give them more authority. We should effectively protect the Jews.

Your Excellency, I have been to Xijin. In Xijin, China, Jews can only rent houses but not buy houses. Jewish banks must have more than 40% of the shares in China. They must cooperate with the Chinese when they start farms and factories. Moreover, Jews are not allowed to own a second church in Xijin and occupy one-fifth of the population of a community. But even with so many restrictions, Jews are still eager to go to Xijin.

It is because the empire had perfect laws to protect the Jews, and there were plenty of job opportunities there. This is what we need to do. Wherever there is profit, the Jews will appear, wherever money and life are protected, and the Jews will also appear."

"I agree. Not only Jews, but any foreign ethnic group should be protected by the law in Prussia. I cannot accept the second top hat incident. The Chinese mechanic was beaten up just because he did not take off his hat to the nobles. It is really hard to accept. As far as I know, there is no such regulation in China. Even when they see the emperor, they can wear hats. In the law, they must take off their hats only in national rituals, but that is a tribute to the country, not a tribute to someone." Old William said.

"Yes, we can spend several times the price to introduce Chinese technicians for technology and factories, but they are still unwilling to come because there is a lack of equality and freedom here." Bohad said helplessly, but as the prime minister of Old William and for more than ten years, Bohad relies on his ability to complain. Sometimes he annoys Old William because of complaints, but he not only complains, but he always puts forward insightful opinions after complaining.

Bohad said: "I think there are more means to introduce and digest technology. For example, we can also let our merchants go to China, especially in the Xijin area to set up factories, and then produce things and sell them to Prussia, giving certain tax incentives. This is what China is willing to see. These merchants will always bring some Germans to China, so they can learn technology and management experience.

At the same time, we can also directly organize knowledgeable young people, including but not limited to aristocrats. Official investment or partial funding is provided to let them learn technology in China. They can even run schools and let them learn some basic knowledge in China. For Chinese people who have come to Prussia, we must also make good use of them. They are just sent to provide technical services. I have seen several contracts for maintenance workers and talked with managers. These workers are from Xijin or Nanyang, and China officially passed the labor law five years ago.

The labor of these workers in our place is also protected by Chinese laws. They only work nine hours a day, and overtime has to be paid for additional work. What I want to say is that since they are willing to work more for overtime pay, why can't they spend money to teach our workers? In most factories, these people are professors who are masters and masters, and one person is two or three, because they are not able to speak, and the effect is very poor.

For example, in a textile factory, the original plan of technical workers only staying in Germany for four months, but now it’s seven months still not leaving. It’s better to organize the apprenticeship, open a school directly, and arrange translation to help technicians participate in teaching, which will improve the efficiency a lot."

"Obviously, this is a complicated matter." Old William said, touching his forehead.

Bohard nodded: "The rise of a country is of course complicated."

Bohard suddenly remembered something and asked, "Duke, do we want to tell the Chinese side about the matter in the UK?"

"No, the words of that Duke Churchill are not so trustworthy, and he can't do anything now," said Old William.

At this time at the end of the 33rd year of the Empire, the British civil war had come to a temporary end. King James II increased religious tolerance, reopened parliament, and temporarily restored British order. Especially after selling North American colonies to the Empire to obtain a large amount of funds, the British royal army expanded its strength, which made many resisters hide.

However, this also caused another unstable factor, that is, the relationship between the Scottish Governor Duke Churchill and the Irish Governor Fitz James and the King began to deteriorate. Taking advantage of the civil war, the two of them actually dominated one side. Now the situation is stable, and King James II has begun to deal with these two unstable factors.

Churchill and Fitz James immediately chose to join forces. The two of them had some actions in private. Fitz James naturally contacted the Empire and hoped to get support. The Empire and Portugal did give Fitz James a lot of support. Churchill went further in private. He had confirmed that in the current British order, he himself had no future. After all, it was he who handled the incident that betrayed James II.

So Churchill began to contact Protestant forces, including British exiles who were exiled throughout Europe, the bourgeoisie who was dissatisfied with the king at home, and Protestant countries such as Denmark and Prussia. Churchill hoped to unite both inside and outside to restore the old British order.

However, considering the factors of France, no positive response has been given. Among Churchill's contacts, Denmark and Prussia are the most important, because both countries have the heirs of the British king, William the oldest daughter of James II, and Princess Anne is the wife of Prince George of Denmark, who is taking refuge in Denmark at this time.

In fact, the whole of Europe does not want to fight now. The Grand Alliance War consumes too much wealth from various countries. The major countries are digesting the national debts left by the war and are unable to organize large-scale wars. Emerging forces such as Prussia are also enriching the country and strengthening the army. From the standpoint of the Grand Duke of Prussia, he also hopes that Europe will calm down for a while.

Both Bohard and William Old knew that China and Britain now had a deep conflict. Britain mortgaged the North American colony to China. After receiving the remittance, the terms agreed to be repeated, causing great trouble to the officials and the army who went to take over the colony, and many of the actions were intentional.

When the Empire joined forces with France to support James II in restoring the country, James II also agreed to open the domestic market to the Empire, but problems also arose. The British were very active in the UK for food, cotton and other raw materials that were urgently needed in the UK. However, for steel, textiles and other commodities that compete with Britain, the UK raised import tariffs. The Empire used a lot of coal produced in Britain in the Atlantic Ocean, and British coal was also the best coal, but Britain also greatly increased tariffs. King James II's rebellious behavior was disgusting.

Tan Tai Yunfeng has been busy with this matter in Europe, hoping to unite several important countries to carry out concerted actions against Britain and use military and diplomatic means to put pressure on it, but he has received few reactions. Now, the issue of inheritance of the Polish throne has become the main task of European diplomacy.

"Dagong, one of the things we have to do now is to send a delegation of high enough to China immediately," Bohard said.

Old William smiled and said, "We have a consulate in Xijin. If you think the ambassador's status is not high, I can send mine..."

"No, Grand Duke, I mean, send a delegation to Shenjing. Now Prussia's work is on track, but we are facing many challenges at the same time. I think that all Prussia's diplomacy must serve the interests of Prussia, but now, Prussia's interests are highly consistent with China, and it is time to deepen friendship." Bohad said sincerely.

Old William nodded, and Bohard said: "As for the candidate issue, I have always had some doubts. Our nobles are too conservative."

"Haha, you don't have to worry about this. I have the most suitable candidate." Old William said.

"Who?" asked Bohard, who was worried that the Grand Duke would choose another relative of his own, but Old William said: "Of course it's my dear Leibniz."

"Yes, why did I forget this person?" Bohard slapped his head
Chapter completed!