Chapter 452 The conspiracy is in progress

July 1876, 7, Hailing.

While Europe was a sea of blood and flames, Hailing was a place of peace and prosperity with singing and dancing.

The wide and straight green avenue is 25 meters wide, with rows of tall evergreen camphor trees on both sides of the road.

Under the trees were students walking in groups of three or four. The male students were mostly wearing white shirts and blue trousers, while the female students were wearing "Ronghui style" student uniforms.

There were also many foreign students wearing various ethnic costumes.

There are parks, green spaces and fountains not far from the street, and subway stations can be seen under the shade of trees.

The subway runs around the city, and there are also light rails leading to the East Suburb Airport, Hailing New Town, West Suburb Hailing Port, and North Suburb Railway Station.

The old town is full of traditional Thai houses with carved beams and painted buildings, black tiles and white walls. This side is the commercial and cultural area.

Outside the subway ring line, there are tall buildings everywhere, stretching all the way to Jiangyan in the east and to the Yangtze River in the south. Both sides of the river have become prosperous urban areas.

The shops on the street are all decorated in traditional styles, but the huge three-story Wen's Department Store has a compressed steam refrigeration central air-conditioning system designed by Alfred Wolff, an American HVAC engineer from New Jersey, and a steam-powered passenger elevator imported from Otis Company in New York - an elevator that does not require electricity.

In the broad daylight, there are still many customers shopping in the mall, and the streets are crowded with people. The main reason is that most of the factories in the suburbs work in 24-hour shifts...

So it is also bustling here at night. Workers on the day shift bring their families here to go shopping. Hailing has now become a city that never sleeps.

This metropolis, with a population of over two million, has always been well-ordered because its design and planning were based on the renovated Paris. But today, congestion has occurred.

The steam buses were stuck on the road, honking their shrill steam horns. Then—the drivers stopped.

He saw the cause of the congestion: a middle-aged lady sitting on a three-wheeled bicycle-like vehicle with a steering wheel in her hands. The tricycle moved forward by itself, without any horse pulling it and without any black smoke from a steam engine.

Behind them, two handsome white young men followed on bicycles, and a group of children ran behind them, smelling the aroma of burning gasoline.

Ahem, this thing is called "aromatic hydrocarbons" and smelling it is bad for your health. Of course, no one knew this at the time.

The congestion soon passed because the lady drove the three-wheeled vehicle straight to Jiangyan.

In the evening, the lady drove back to Hailing. Her two sons who were riding bicycles to protect her were exhausted and even helped to refill the gas tank along the way.

The tricycle drove all the way to Qiao Garden, where Shao Quanzhong, accompanied by Mr. Benz, saw the first car.

"I say, Lao Ben, you have a great wife. Once this trip starts, your wife and children will definitely be on the news. You won't even need to advertise."

"But this is not a car, it's a tricycle. This won't work. Let me tell you, a car needs four wheels and a cover to protect it from raining. Your wheels are too small."

"Well, your idea is similar to that of the Maybach engineer, but that will greatly increase the cost."

Shao Quanzhong pointed to the street proudly and said, "Do you see anyone from Hailing who looks like they are short of money? I tell you, within 300 yuan, every family in Hailing can afford a car."

"Look at the scientists in Xiaoxiang Cliff and the senior technicians in the factory. They can afford them even if the price quadruples. Just build as many as you want and make as many as you want."

Alas, even though the car group received the worst treatment, the car was still the first to come out. Although it was a simple three-wheeled car, it was definitely a groundbreaking new gadget.

Someone had wanted to build this thing a long time ago, but a gas car had to tow a big tank, which was too heavy. It would be better to use a steam tractor, which would not be favored by the rich. After presenting the treasure to Shao Quanzhong, the Benz family went back to study the four-stroke internal combustion engine four-wheeled covered car - this simple three-wheeled car was a two-stroke to save money, which underestimated the market demand in Daxia.

The car came out, and Shao Quanzhong went to see the research and development progress of the diesel engine with great interest. As soon as he entered the Hailing Arsenal, he heard a loud "bang".

The guards quickly surrounded the Marshal in the center. Diesel ran out and waved his hands repeatedly, "It's okay, it's just that the diesel engine cylinder exploded."

It exploded, is that okay?

"I was testing the pressure limit of the diesel engine cylinder to determine its power. I kept increasing the pressure until it reached 80 atmospheres and finally exploded."

"This is a good thing. The strength level of our alloy has exceeded my expectations. The diesel engine will be available soon."

Oh, it’s testing the ultimate strength. That means the diesel engine will be ready soon too.

The progress of the aircraft seemed to be slow. With the financial support of the glider, it had been tested thousands of times before. The biplane it had made was basically based on the box-type biplane kite, and it was almost the same as the aircraft Shao Quanzhong remembered.

But it couldn't fly very far or high, and fell to the ground after 200 meters. It's not as good as a glider when there is wind.

Hargrave looked worried. "Marshal, the newly built four-stroke gasoline engine has only 20 horsepower. It is too small and cannot power the plane."

"Stupid! If one can't carry it, can't you just install a few more? Look, there are sixteen engines on the airship."

The words woke people up, and on the third day, the first four-engine biplane took off.

Shao Quanzhong did not see the biplane's first test flight. He took a special train to Zhanjiang to attend the launching ceremony of four new Saxony-class battleships.

…………

Rothschild Bank, Frankfurt.

Frankfurt was also bombed with napalm by the British airship fleet, but the Rothschild Bank was safe and sound, and the surrounding area was also safe.

Now, brothers Alfonso and Gustave are sitting safely in a spacious office.

Gustav was on the phone, "Your Majesty, are you sure you don't need our help? If you agree to let us issue the ruble, we will give you a loan of 25 billion rubles."

"With this money, you can equip 150 divisions to go into battle. You can buy countless Krupp cannons from Good Fruit Company. The defeat of the Russian army in Warsaw will soon be reversed."

"No, no, no. Although I am a German citizen, capital belongs to the world. We have no psychological barriers to helping Lucia. Throw yourself into the embrace of the European financial environment, and you will win the war."

"Ah? That's a pity. I hope we can have a chance to cooperate next time we contact each other."

Gustav put down the phone and pointed his middle finger towards the east viciously, "This old stubborn man has too deep a prejudice against us. Let the German army kill them!"

"Our banks can follow the footsteps of the German army and open banks in every major city in Russia. What a great blue ocean market."

Alfonso smiled, "They have been stubborn for more than a year or two. They have a wide strategic space. Even Napoleon was defeated. Marshal Moltke alone may not be able to deal with them."

"Gustav, activate your backup plan. This old guy has become an obstacle to our capital expansion."

(End of this chapter)

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