Chapter 387 Prelude

February 1843, the prelude to spring.

A sailing merchant ship loaded with boxes of smelly goods landed at the Port of London. The merchants waiting to order them could not help but curse, "Damn it! Who do you want me to sell these stinky things to?"

The captain wiped the saliva splashed on his face, took out a pipe and took a puff. The smoke rings he exhaled immediately choked the other party to cough repeatedly.

"That's none of my business. I transported these goods from the Americans to you not to listen to your complaints."

"What are you talking about!?" The merchant asked loudly.

"Listen, I have no interest or leisure to interfere in your private affairs, but the contract cannot be denied, and it is natural to pay according to the goods." The captain said solemnly word by word.

"Get out of here with your smelly things immediately! Don't even think about taking a penny! Otherwise, you will have a hard time!" The other party shouted.

"Do you want to default on your debt? Your contract is recognized by both the United States and the United Kingdom." The captain who is engaged in ocean trade and commodity transportation has been through many battles and has seen a lot.

Once these merchants cannot sell their goods, they deliberately find excuses to make things difficult, and try every means to deny or refuse to accept them, so that they can reduce their own losses.

But the captain has been in this business for many years and has seen all kinds of storms. After a wink behind him, several sailors quickly surrounded him and squeezed the merchant in the middle.

At this time, the latter also found that the situation was not right. He was afraid of the strong and shouted, "What do you want to do! The power behind me is something you can't afford to offend."

As soon as he finished speaking, the agile captain took out a spike and put it against his throat.

"I don't have time to talk nonsense with you. Listen carefully. There are only two choices. Either pay the money or let your friends collect the body."

"You win! You damn vampire!"

The merchant took out the check while trembling and cursing, while the captain who had just successfully intimidated the other party had a calm face.

"Bank of England and Rothschild Bank are both fine, but if it's a check, you may have to go with us."

Looking at the piles of stinking grains under the scorching sun, the merchant sitting on the dock was a little tearful.

Originally, he owned several factories, but when he heard that there might be a large-scale war on the European continent, hoarding food would definitely make money, so he hurriedly sold his property and even borrowed a lot of money from relatives and friends, and finally bought a large number of agricultural products from across the ocean.

However, the rumored total war did not come and the European continent was still welcoming a bumper harvest. He had to swallow the bitter fruit of his wrong judgment and deal with the hoarded goods at a low price.

After all, the date for repayment was getting closer and closer. If he failed to meet the deadline, the interest generated would weigh him down for the rest of his life.

But now, Europeans will not be interested in moldy and smelly grains, and the British are even less likely to buy them. It seems that they can only be sold to Ireland.

At that time, the Irish were not Europeans in the eyes of the Anglo-Saxons, and they were not even white people; they just looked similar to white people, just like the difference between Native Americans and Indians.

A businessman from England was trying every means to lower the purchase price of grain, while the American businessman on the other side tried every means to sell the inferior goods of the same kind that he had hoarded.

Finally, they reached a deal, the British got the price they wanted, and the Americans could clear the backlog of inventory.

A box of grain with deadly germs in Boston Harbor will be sent from here to Great Britain, and then sent to Ireland, and will cause a huge disaster that will kill millions of people in a few years.

Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna,

Tobacco has been introduced to Europe since the 16th century, but its original use was not for pleasure, but to treat headaches.

Later, people found that it can not only be used to treat headaches, but also to refresh and suppress other pain syndromes. British doctors regarded it as a panacea, just like laudanum hundreds of years later.

On this day in 1843, France brought paper cigarettes to the market, but this product did not cause a sensation. On the contrary, the company that had high hopes for it went bankrupt a few years later.

The original target users of this kind of cigarette were women, just like watches, because men at that time preferred pipes, which could show their identity and status.

But unfortunately, there were not many women who smoked at that time. In fact, not only women, but also men smoked at a low rate.

However, the former also used high-end pipes to show their charm, but in this era, just like high heels, they were usually only favored by prostitutes.

Franz ordered people to conduct an investigation. Due to a rumor, smoking was banned in public places in the capital of the empire. It seemed that only Bohemia and northern Italy had a large demand for tobacco, which should be related to the relatively wealthy life of the locals.

The prospects for tobacco consumption in the German region were not ideal. The market situation in France was good, but the threshold was too high and it might be difficult to enter.

In fact, Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal in Western Europe are all big tobacco consumers, but except for the Netherlands, the above countries are difficult for Austria to enter.

Mexico and the United States have high tobacco consumption, but both countries are raw material production areas and do not follow the rules of war.

Therefore, Franz's tobacco plan can only be postponed. The breakthrough point to change the situation has been grasped, but it is still lacking a good opportunity.

By the way, the military loves this kind of cigarette that is very easy to carry and use. After all, it is not convenient for ordinary soldiers to carry a big pipe when marching and fighting.

"Franz, what do you think of me training a group of seals?" Archduke Friedrich said.

"It depends on the intention. If it is to head the ball, it is definitely not appropriate." He thought of the Navy SEALs at first glance, but that does not refer to well-trained animals, but marines.

"Of course not, I plan to let them act as messengers. After all, communication at sea is too inconvenient. Especially between fleets"

"So the most taboo in naval warfare is to divide troops. And have you ever thought about it, even if the training is successful, what is the probability that they will catch the trace of the fleet in the vast ocean? What if they encounter sharks, killer whales and other beasts on the way?

Instead of training seals, you might as well train some dolphins, killer whales and the like. The IQ is not low, and they are close to people and easy to train."

Franz himself is not optimistic about this project. He knows that this problem can only be solved by radio in the end.

"Haha, don't underestimate this thing, it's also very fierce!" Friedrich was knocked to the ground by a seal weighing more than 80 kilograms, which rubbed against him and slapped him fiercely.

Friedrich was not very popular with animals, and this guy's body that had not yet fully grown was really powerless to fight against the "giant beast" of the sea, the seal.

Franz threw a fish to the seal, and the beast immediately turned into a cute beast and ran to the shade of a tree nearby to rest.

"I think it's better for you to continue studying your one-shot deal. Although I think battleships are the wrong direction for human naval research, there seems to be no better choice at this time. How about the rocket speedboat I proposed before?"

Friedrich said after wiping his face twice.

"How is it? Very good! If the Barbary pirates still exist, you will definitely become a great hero. But the protection of this small boat is too low, and the range of the rocket is not enough, so you need to shoot at close range.

The firepower is enough to easily sink the small boat, just like the Barbary pirates' characteristic of jumping on board and fighting. I guess you can blow people up every time.

But the battleship is completely different. The opponent only needs to fire grapeshot to wipe out the people on your ship. If the high-explosive bomb hits the hull or ammunition depot directly, you can watch the fireworks show.

And those rockets may have good lethality to infantry and small boats, but they are far less deterrent to battleships than you imagined."

Franz said after thinking for a moment.

"You mean, the lethality is insufficient and the tolerance rate is too low, right?"