In the deepest part of Shangchun Garden in Nanjing, in an elegant small hall, three girls were eating and drinking together, very intimately. Outside the small hall, inside and outside the entire garden, a dozen plainclothes agents were scattered around, pretending to be
Chatting, waiting for someone...
"...None of what you are talking about is funny, let me tell you something," Zheng Yucong held shrimps in one hand and held a wine glass in the other. He smiled and said dazedly, "It is said that a guy went to a banquet and then came back to complain to his friends.
, said: Alas, those people at the banquet were so careless. A large piece of meat that I had been staring at for a long time was picked up by someone first. Then they asked him: Why didn't you pick it up first? The guy said
:You don’t know, I have a piece on my chopsticks. The person asked again: Why don’t you put the stuff on the chopsticks into your mouth? The guy then said: Hey, you don’t know, I’m still chewing a piece in my mouth.
What!...Hahahahaha..."
The three girls all started laughing. Zheng Yucong said it herself, she laughed the hardest and fell forward and backward; Shirige Gege couldn't hold back her laughter; Xiuxiu was the quietest one and covered her mouth and kept laughing.
But after they finished laughing, the three girls looked at each other and suddenly lowered their heads with guilt. The dining table was completely silent. Zheng Yuqing was drunk and continued to eat the jade shrimps with a red face; Fourteen Gege lowered his head and played with it.
The wine glass was occupied with thoughts; Xiuxiu glanced at the two of them quietly.
They were all thinking silently, who is the meat in the mouth, who is the meat on the chopsticks, who is the meat on the plate...and who is "that guy" who eats meat.
"By the way," Zheng Yucong suddenly suggested, "after dinner, let's go to the palace to play together! You haven't been there for a long time! Go see my cousin... My cousin has been very pitiful these days..."
Shi Shi Ge Ge and Xiu Xiu looked at each other. Shi Shi Ge Ge hesitated and said to Xiu Xiu: "Xiu Xiu, what do you think?"
Xiuxiu hesitated and said:
"Could it be that...could it be that I went there too often? It is the palace after all, so I'm afraid it won't be good..."
"Not diligent!" Zheng Yucong hurriedly laughed and said, "You haven't been there for five or six days! Shen Rongxuan and his gang have been running to the palace these days. My cousin has a soft ear, and Shen Rongxuan is always taking advantage of the national interests.
They gave her medicine based on national interests and the like, but my cousin was the most receptive to this trick... I can't be reasonable, so I can't even try to persuade my cousin... You think, as long as my cousin goes to Siam, the second one will have to take her turn.
Mr. Xiang..."
As a result, the three girls quickly reached an agreement to destroy Zhu Yourong's political marriage at all costs.
…
A military airport in the Brandenburg region in the outer suburbs of Berlin.
Several black cars were parked there, with two groups of SS troops neatly lined up around them. Several prominent figures stood beside the cars, looking up at the sky. These people were either wearing military coats and big-brimmed hats, or wearing black
Wearing woolen coats and top hats, they all shrank in the harsh spring cold of April in Europe.
A black spot faintly appeared in the gray sky, and soon grew bigger and bigger, turning into an airplane in an instant. At the same time, the roar of the motor was mixed with some kind of sharp whistling sound.
Almost in an instant, the plane swooped down, accompanied by a sharp scream, similar to an air defense siren, that resounded throughout the earth. You could clearly see the two huge landing gears under the wings, as well as the one in the middle.
bomb.
The legendary Stuka!
The plane was almost vertical and about to fall to the ground. Suddenly it rose 180 degrees and roared up. At the same time, the bomb between the landing gears swayed and fell straight to the ground.
Although several people beside the car were mentally prepared, two or three of them still involuntarily made evasive movements and bent down to hide behind the car. They felt that the plane was coming directly over their heads.
However, the black "bomb" was still several hundred meters away from where it landed. It hit the grass hard and did not explode. It just kicked up a large cloud of dust, jumped twice more, and lay in the dirt.
There was a circle of small flags placed around it, forming a circle with a diameter of 50 meters, and the training bomb accurately landed within this range.
The two or three people squatting next to the car in the distance slowly stood up, looked at each other, and laughed. Then they jumped on the car and drove towards the impact point a few hundred meters away.
go.
The car stopped outside the shooting area. Several big shots got out of the car, walked to the middle of the small flags, and stared at the "bomb" lying in the green grass and soil. The appearance and weight of this bomb were no different from ordinary bombs.
However, it was not filled with explosives, but a mixed powder of sawdust, lime, and sand.
"Mr. Count," a fat man in a white uniform said happily, patting his thigh with his gloves, pointing at the crater and laughing, "see, the error is no more than twenty meters! Can you find a bomber that is more accurate than this?"
"
Xiang Xiaoqiang patted Golin's arm affectionately and said with a smile:
"Mr. Minister, of course I can find it! Not long ago, I personally directed and used it!"
The smile on Fatty Goering's face froze, and he immediately laughed again, patting Xiang Xiaoqiang's arm. He just remembered how the Ming Navy's "Osprey" dive bombers showed their talents during the Ming and Qing wars not long ago. That brief scene
The war also showed the world how great the impact of dive bombers participating in ground operations was. However, this "demonstration" was one-sided, and only a few interested countries captured it. Germany was the most intentional one.
Just after the battle on the other side of the world ended, those in the German Air Force who strongly opposed dive bombers, those "low-altitude weapon threat theorists", all shut up for a moment. The development and improvement of the JU-87 dive bomber was proposed.
It has reached the top priority position. In the next few months, the originally slow progress of the improvement work suddenly accelerated several times, and the V-4 prototype came out ahead of schedule. This is the one we are looking at now.
"Mr. Minister," Wang Hexiang held the test data of the Ju-87a No. 4 aircraft in his hand and frowned as he watched the Stuka landing and taxiing on the runway in the distance, "I would venture to say that your Stuka
From the data point of view, the card does not feel stronger than our Osprey. In terms of speed, our Osprey has a maximum speed of 315 kilometers per hour, while yours only has 310 kilometers. Also, our bomb load is 450 kilograms, and yours
It only weighs 250 kilograms...I don't see the advantage. To be honest, I'm a little disappointed."
Xiang Xiaoqiang kept nodding beside him and said his most proficient German sentence:
"ja...ja..."
After the translator spoke to the others in German, the chief designer of the Junkers company next to Göring couldn't help but said:
"Sir, but our overall design is better and our performance is better. Our Stuka's bomb load is only 250 kilograms, but if one crew member is subtracted, the bomb load can reach 500 kilograms! And according to me
As we know, the maximum bomb load of your Osprey, even minus one person, is almost the same. And, I wonder if you have noticed, our Stuka is more accurate than your Osprey in dropping bombs, or in other words, it is much more accurate.
"Your Osprey dives too fast, and the time from the start of the dive to the release of the bomb is too short. The bombardier does not have much time to aim. Your wing design is not good enough, the area is too small, the shape is poor, and the overall
The shape of the fuselage makes it difficult to control the speed during the dive... Sir, we are talking about bombers, not fighters. The first priority is not the speed, but the bombing effect. Even if the maximum speed is faster than 5 kilometers per hour, it will still escape.
We are not immune to the pursuit of fighter jets. But if the accuracy is doubled, the results will be doubled, or in other words, the number of sorties that need to be dispatched will be reduced by half."
Goering looked at the chief designer with a very satisfied expression. He looked at Wang Hexiang and Xiang Xiaoqiang again, feeling extremely proud.
Wang Hexiang smiled leisurely and said:
"The performance data of our Osprey are all summarized after long-term training and actual combat, and are very reliable. As for your Stuka, after all, there are only a few prototypes now, and various data are too random. How can the performance exceed
We are irresponsible. Moreover, the people operating this aircraft are all top test pilots, and the data they come up with, such as bomb drop data, must be the best. If it were replaced by ordinary test pilots of our Army Aviation
It's hard to say whether a pilot can be more accurate than an Osprey..."
Although the professionals on both sides were going back and forth with each other, and there was even a bit of acrimony, Xiang Xiaoqiang and Golin both smiled and did not take it seriously at all. They all knew that "praise and criticism are buyers, and applause is idlers." Only the real
Only buyers who want to find faults will try their best to find faults. This is true at all times and in all countries.
…
In the afternoon, they came to the station of a regiment in Brandenburg. On the shooting range, Xiang Xiaoqiang lay down behind several mg34s and fired hundreds of bullets with his own hands. Then, the designer of Mauser Company demonstrated to him the operation of the entire gun.
After disassembly and assembly, the structure and performance were explained. This time, without Wang Hexiang's intervention, Xiang Xiaoqiang himself pointed out several serious shortcomings: the cost is too high, the structure is too complex, the production speed is too slow, and the reliability in harsh environments
Not strong.
The staff of Mauser Company were very angry: What Daming did was too unethical. Without the permission of Mauser Company, without paying a penny to Mauser Company, and without the permission of the German government, it was allowed to operate in China.
Having copied their masterpieces on a large scale, of course you know the advantages and disadvantages of our machine guns!
But they have been warned: Cooperation with the Ming Dynasty is the most important thing now, and any topics that may cause unpleasantness must not be brought up. The matter of the Ming army counterfeiting mg34 must be forgotten...
Therefore, the people from Mauser Company still have to smile on the surface and patiently explain: Although this machine gun has some minor shortcomings, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages...
Finally, Xiang Xiaoqiang said angrily:
"Well, your gun has great advantages, but its shortcomings cannot be ignored. The design is good, but it is not conducive to mass production. This is also an old problem of you Germans. Remember, what we want is a weapon of war.
It is not a work of art. If we really introduce mg34, I hope to get follow-up research and development and upgrade services from your company. It is best to come up with an upgraded version as soon as possible, a version that can overcome these shortcomings. I suggest you not to
If you think about using cutting parts, you can try to use stamping parts.”
...Well, if only because this little butterfly flapped its wings, mg42 could have come out a few years earlier...
…
On the morning of April 7, the Xiang Xiaoqiang delegation took a train and headed westward. In the evening, they arrived in western Germany, the city of Essen in the Ruhr District, where the headquarters of the Krupp Empire was located.
There, they received warm hospitality from the Krupps and their sons. Little Krupp's father, Gustav Krupp, the current head of Krupp, said that he was proud that his son could behave like a general.
Proud to be a friend.
The next day, April 8, Xiang Xiaoqiang and his party visited several Krupp factories. Although they only had a quick tour, Xiang Xiaoqiang was still shocked by the momentum of the legendary Ruhr Industrial Zone.
There are many chimneys and blast furnaces, and the tangled railways like spider webs extend widely into the factory area, extending in all directions. Trains are spraying steam, pulling carts of coal, and there are flatbed cars with various large castings strapped on them.
…
Various cranes and tower cranes rotate with the roar of motors, carrying unknown large metal parts...
Drilling machines, sawing machines, planers, boring machines, and milling machines are processing precision parts. The cutting heads are rotating rapidly, emitting dazzling sparks and steel chips...
Xiang Xiaoqiang saw with his own eyes how the barrel of the legendary 88 gun was bored out on the boring machine.
In the next three days, the delegation extensively inspected various factories in the Ruhr area. According to the "menu" listed in the country, they roughly inspected more than a dozen advanced lathes and dozens of production lines. These were all
It is the essence of the German arms industry and other heavy industries, which Ming Dynasty is relatively weak and Germany is relatively strong. If the cooperation can be successful, Ming Dynasty will definitely send a large number of technical personnel from the country to select and screen in more detail.
Over the past few days, not only did Xiang Xiaoqiang learn a lesson, but even military industry expert Wang Hexiang was deeply moved.
"Germany has two things that are unique in the world," Wang Hexiang sighed, "one is music and the other is industry."
Xiang Xiaoqiang was equally impressed, and he added:
"The first one should be industry. As for music, at least Austria can surpass it. Its industry is the best thing in the world."
On the evening of April 11th, Xiang Xiaoqiang and his party left the Ruhr area by train, and returned to Berlin the next day on April 12th. Next, they had to negotiate talent cooperation with Hitler. The most ideal result in Xiang Xiaoqiang's mind was
We can bring back a group of professional officers led by Guderian.
Xiang Xiaoqiang felt an unprecedented urgency. He knew that he must handle the general negotiations as soon as possible, and then let Ming Dynasty send experts and representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to finalize the details and finally sign the treaty. He must return to Ming Dynasty as soon as possible to stop Zhu Yourong
Marrying far away from Siam. Whether you like Zhu Yourong or not is another question. If Zhu Yourong really leaves the Ming Dynasty, he will be immediately exposed without protection. The People's Guard will definitely not be able to protect him. In the end, he will be driven out to become an idle count.
, it’s already a very good ending.
…
Qiu Qiu found that Xiang Xiaoqiang, who had been running around non-stop these days, seemed to have returned to the Xiang Xiaoqiang he was before. His Majesty's incident did not seem to have affected him at all.
But her intuition tells her that this is definitely not the case. After Xiaoqiang falls in love with someone, he will never forget it so easily. Xiaoqiang is not such a callous and heartless person. Qiu Qiu clearly feels that Xiang Xiaoqiang is trying his best to work hard.
Forget Your Majesty.
On the morning of April 13, Xiang Xiaoqiang was eating breakfast in his room while reading the outline of the negotiation. Qiu Qiu glanced at him secretly, sat beside him gently, and then said softly:
"Xiaoqiang..."
"Well."
"Today... today is your birthday, please remember it."
"Well."
Not knowing whether Xiang Xiaoqiang was real or pretending, Qiu Qiu glanced at Xiang Xiaoqiang who was humming and hahaing resentfully, and said softly again:
"Xiaoqiang, today, April 13th, is yours..."
"Well."
Qiu Qiu was about to get angry. Just as she was about to have an attack, the light on the radio station suddenly turned on. A telegram came over.
Qiu Qiu quickly sat down, put on his headphones, took a pen and started recording the message. Then he took out the code book and started translating.
After the translation, there was only one sentence on the message:
Come on, happy birthday.
――Friend-Rong
Qiu Qiu felt sour in her heart. She had already guessed five or six points, but she still didn't understand. She gently put the telegram in front of Xiang Xiaoqiang's eyes.
"Uh...huh?!"
Xiang Xiaoqiang widened his eyes and picked up the telegraph newspaper. Qiu Qiu watched his reaction with cold eyes and asked with a choked voice:
"Xiaoqiang...who is Tingzhi? Who is Yourong?"
"Well... uh..." Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at Qiu Qiu guiltily, and said with a heartbeat, "It's quite... it's me, You Rong is His Majesty's self-proclaimed name. In fact, he is... a good friend... Zhu Yourong's
mean……"
Qiu Qiu was dumbfounded. She couldn't believe that the relationship between Xiaoqiang and His Majesty had reached such a close level... She bit her lips, tears fell down, and she asked with sobs:
"Your Majesty... why are you asked to support me?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at her and murmured:
"Yes...it's the letter given to me by His Majesty..."
Qiu Qiu wiped away her tears and sobbed:
"When did it happen...I...I don't know why?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang is about to collapse:
"It's just...it's...oh, damn, it was just a few days before our wedding!"
Qiu Qiu couldn't bear it anymore and ran back to the bedroom with a "Wow" sound, threw herself on the bed and cried loudly.
…
In Nanjing, in the imperial study room of the Forbidden City, Zhu Yourong sat numbly on the sofa, listening to the fierce debate between the two groups.
One group is the foreign minister: Shen Rongxuan, and several cabinet ministers; the other group is the foreign relatives: Mrs. Li, Zheng Gongyin and Zheng Yucong.
During this period, the relationship between the father and daughter of the Zheng family was very tense, but now they are on the same side because of their common interests. On the contrary, Shen Rongxuan and Zheng Gongyin, two old friends, are on opposite sides because of their respective fundamental interests.
Both sides.
Shen Rongxuan was talking about the necessity of Zhu Yourong marrying the prince of Siam, and refuting Zheng Gongyin's views. Zheng Gongyin went up and down the line as soon as he came up, and married the queen to the prince of the vassal king to the point of losing national dignity and seriously damaging the national self-esteem.
And Shen Rongxuan has argued from the beginning that this is a normal royal marriage, and there is no concept of who is superior and who is inferior. Even if His Majesty does not marry a prince of a vassal king, if he chooses a husband from the country, his status will only be lower.
, it would tarnish His Majesty's identity even more. Moreover, it has been common in Europe for a female monarch to marry a foreign monarch or the monarch's heir. No country feels that it will lose its national dignity, and no country's citizens feel that their self-esteem is seriously affected.
blow.
On the contrary, the actual benefits that such a marriage will bring to the country and its citizens will be immeasurable.
"We are no longer the Ming Dynasty three hundred years ago," Shen Rongxuan said. "We cannot be like before, willing to give up huge practical benefits and cling to a little face... What's more, this is not what it was in the first place. Something that is disgraceful."
Zheng Yuqing quietly recalled the outline compiled by Shi Shigege and felt that Shen Rongxuan could not be refuted ethically at this time, and she should try to refute it from the feasibility. She looked at Shen Rongxuan and said with a smile:
"Uncle Shen, what you said sounds good, but why do I always feel that things are not so cheap?