Although Shekov's words are not a wake-up call, they hit Hong Jinglai directly. After all, people around Hong Jinglai were either talking about the 12th year of Jiaqing or the year of Dingmao. Of course, some people were talking about the year of Chongzhen or the year of Yongli.

But no one told him that this year was the middle of 1807.

This is the time of the Napoleonic Wars!

The current year of 1807 is the climax of the Fourth Anti-French Alliance. Not only did Britain take over the Dutch East Indies, it even tried to take over Macau. The colonies of these countries controlled by Napoleon are now on the table of the "British Empire"

A dish of food. In the name of anti-France, the British sent troops everywhere on the earth.

The French colonies in the Indian Ocean and in the Indian region were completely occupied by the British. Of course, some of them would be spit out after the war, but this could not change the fact that the British power in the Far East was growing day by day, and it had almost reached the point where it became a dominant force.

Even if we establish certain trade relations with the Dutch East Indies, we are actually in contact with the British. It can even be said that we are establishing diplomatic relations with the British!

Don't look at Napoleon's punches and kicks in Europe, and he doesn't take it lightly with an army of 501,000, but overseas colonies, even small countries like Haiti, have become de facto independent. In terms of overseas strength, they are really strong.

, Britain is really the best for a while. Britain spends money, and European countries contribute their efforts. Sooner or later, Napoleon will be completely dragged to death. By then, this earth will be dominated by their empire on which the sun never sets.

"Napoleon is difficult to deal with." Hong Jinglai turned to Shekov.

"When I came here, I heard that His Majesty led troops south to attack Napoleon. I wonder what the specific situation is?" What Shekov knows now is old news from last year, and his old news came from St. Petersburg the year before last.

.

"So you still don't know about your country's disastrous defeat in Austerlitz, Austria?" Hong Jinglai asked.

"What?" Shekov obviously didn't know.

"In mid-December of the previous year, your army failed in the battle with Napoleon. The Guards were almost completely wiped out, and your monarch only escaped with his life." Of course Hong Jing came because he knew this.

But in fact, there are already records about the Battle of Austerlitz in the Dutch legends that were copied. After all, in these days, the water route was much faster than the land route. Hong Jinglai could learn about this from Nagasaki.

But Kokov could only listen to second-hand news that took more than a year to travel to St. Petersburg.

This is one of the reasons why Hong Jinglai did not go further even though he had an enthusiastic relationship with Shekov. Before the Trans-Siberian Railway was built, it was a hard and long journey to cross the vast Siberia to the Far East.

"..."

Shekov couldn't digest the news of the defeat of his "father" for a while, but he knew that Hong Jinglai had no need to lie to him, so the conversation that was originally full of interest suddenly died down.

This kind of thing must have hit him hard. Tsarist Russia's confidence in war was established after defeating the "Nordic Army" Sweden. Although it is not an invincible army that will win every battle, it is not so miserable that it will defeat the Guards.

Almost the entire army was destroyed, and the Tsar barely escaped with his life.

But that’s the truth!

All the way to Incheon, someone notified Li Xizhu and Lin Shangwo that Hong Jinglai and his party settled in the original local government office. Since it was just a small bank office that had previously collected taxes in the town, the place was small. After Li Xizhu came, they started

A large-scale expansion was required to accommodate Lin Sang-wo's Incheon government office and Li Xi's own naval government office. Now Hong Jinglai and dozens of followers have been squeezed in, and they can still barely fit in.

The most anxious person was of course Shekov. He immediately went to find Li Xizhu. He had already learned that this was a battle report from the Dutch from Europe, so he wanted to see the battle report immediately. Li Xizhu pointed at a sailor. , took him to the official office where official documents were collected and stored for review. Compared with the war, Li Xizhu was more concerned about the content related to shipping and trade, and he didn't care much about it.

Hong Jinglai briefly asked about the construction situation in Incheon. Both of them were his little brothers and would definitely not hide anything or deceive. Hong Jinglai did not have to visit each site to observe on the spot. He learned that there was no progress in the construction. After asking the question, I felt relieved.

All that remains is to talk about what Schekov just said about the British takeover of the Dutch East Indies.

"The British took over Lanling East India (as the Japanese called it)?" Li Xi also learned this.

"Yes, this is what the person just told me." Hong Jinglai pointed to the official room outside, and he was naturally referring to Shekov.

"Is this the British country that once paid tribute to the Qing Dynasty?" Lin Shangwo visited Yanjing many times and knew what the so-called British country was.

In nine years' time, as soon as the Napoleonic Wars are over, Britain will send Amherst to Yanjing again to meet with Emperor Jiaqing. It will try to expand trade with China, establish formal diplomatic relations, and even ask the Qing Dynasty to cede territory and give it to Britain for trade in China. privilege.

"That's the country of England."

"How does the country of England compare to the country of the Netherlands?" This is the common question of Li Xizhu and Lin Shangwo. It is already good for them to know the UK. They don't know much about the strength of these countries in Europe. .

"Two hundred years ago, the Netherlands was on par with England, or even better. As for now, the Netherlands has reached the point where it depends on England for its existence." Hong Jinglai said with a slight sigh.

After all, the "Sea Coachman" also had a glorious life. New York was not called New Amsterdam before, but it was called New York after it fell into the hands of the British. As for the Nanyang transportation thoroughfare Ma Liujiao, in a few years, it will also be taken over by the British. He took it from the hands of the Dutch and turned it into a colony.

"Then it's not a bad thing to have direct contact with England..." Li Xizhu was talking about business. If it was purely about trade, then of course it would be safer to trade with a country with strong maritime power.

"When it comes to warships and cannons on the water, England is number one in the world now!" Hong Jinglai told the truth. After the Battle of Trafalgar, France had actually lost the ability to challenge the British navy.

"Since it is such a powerful country, when our country interacts with it, it will inevitably be suspected of seeking the skin of a tiger." Ding Ruoyong, who had been silent until now, finally spoke.
Chapter completed!