I want to ruin the country

Li Hongzhang also said,

"Your Highness, don't hesitate. The longer the night, the more dreams you will have!"

In fact, Prince Gong was not concerned about the life and death of these hundreds of people, he was concerned about whether the secret could be kept!

Finally, he waved his hand.

"Nothing is perfect. General Dou, do everything you can to erase all traces and issue a gag order to everyone. If anyone leaks a single word, I will exterminate their entire clan!"

Dou Zhenbiao obeyed the order and disposed of the captives, whose bodies would soon be eaten by fish and shrimp.

All the unsunk warships were sunk, and there was nothing they could do about the floating objects on the sea.

But those iron sheets, iron plates, wooden boards with paint and English letters, and wooden blocks will slowly drift around the world with the ocean currents.

There is no way around this. We can’t just pick all of this up!

Based on the confessions of the prisoners, they found the cargo ship hijacked by the British army.

There were fifty British soldiers guarding the cargo ship. They were all killed and their bodies thrown into the sea.

Then the entire fleet continued on its way.

At that time, the Suez Canal had not yet been opened, so if you wanted to go to Europe, you could only go through the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa.

They encountered some pirate attacks along the way, but they were all safe and sound.

Two months later, the fleet docked at the Royal Docks in London, England.

Before approaching the British border, Dou Zhenbiao ordered the soldiers to lower the military flag on the ship and change into civilian clothes.

If the military enters another country, it will be very troublesome. Entering as a civilian can reduce unnecessary trouble.

The arrival of such a large and fully loaded fleet immediately became big news.

Many merchants were very interested when they heard that the ship was full of tea, porcelain and silk, and came to buy them.

Start selling it at double the price of Prince Gong!

After Li Hongzhang and Lu Yaxuan discussed it, they decided to conduct some market research first.

After investigation, the results surprised them. Is this price real?

in the country, the price of a pound of ordinary tea is four to twelve copper coins.

The London market price is equivalent to nearly two taels of domestic silver.

My God, this is such a huge profit.

The key point is that there is no new tea yet, only last year's old tea, which can be burned as firewood in China.

What Prince Gong and his companions brought was the pre-rain tea of ​​that year.

For example, a Canton porcelain bottle costs 40 to 50 copper coins in China, but the market price here is three taels of silver each.

My god, it’s really a huge profit!

Finally, they decided to sell it to middlemen at half the market price here, which would still yield a profit of ten to twenty times.

The middlemen are also very happy because they can make considerable profits and there is no risk at all.

That's how it was. These tea, porcelain and silk soon attracted a crazy rush from merchants from all over the world.

Europe is currently experiencing a booming market, and ordinary people have a lot of money in their pockets. They are flocking to these things from the great Eastern countries.

The news that the prince of Daqing Kingdom came in person to trade soon reached the ears of British Prime Minister John Russell.

The Russell family was also a large conglomerate, and they also purchased porcelain and silk worth 30 million silver from the Daqing fleet.

Prime Minister John has been extremely worried these days because news came back from the East India Company a while ago that their entire ironclad fleet had disappeared.

When Prime Minister John first heard the news, he didn't believe it at all, but in the end it was confirmed that the news was indeed true!

The entire fleet disappeared without a trace, as if it had never existed. It was so strange.

In the absence of any other clues, one cannot help but suspect that the disappearance of the fleet was related to the bad weather of those two days.

It is not surprising that one or several ships were swallowed by the sea, but it is not reasonable to say that the entire fleet was swallowed by the storm.

Dozens of ironclad ships were destroyed, and not a single one survived!

There is also news that during that period, a fleet from the Daqing Kingdom passed by there.

They also made this assumption, could it be that they were destroyed by the Daqing Fleet, but in the end they ruled it out!

The reason is simple. Daqing is a merchant fleet and has no reason to cause trouble. Besides, their destination is London!

If you destroy someone's fleet and then go to their home, what's the difference between that and seeking death?

And more importantly, their fleet is the most powerful fleet in the world and no one can destroy them.

Even if there are, they are definitely not those backward sailing ships of the Daqing Kingdom. They all firmly believe in this!

Prime Minister John wondered if these Chinese could provide any valuable information.

He decided to visit Prince Daqing in person.

In fact, Prime Minister John was very puzzled. Prince Daqing was not an ordinary businessman. Why did he come to the capital of the British Empire and neither pay a visit to the Prime Minister nor ask to see the King?

This is a bit brain-wracking!

Prime Minister John met Prince Gong at the hotel where Prince Gong was staying.

John saw that Prince Gong was of medium height and handsome, worthy of being a Chinese figure.

John checked the information and found out that Prince Gong was only eighteen years old. It was not easy for such a young prince to travel across the ocean to trade.

It makes me feel relieved when I think about it. Wasn’t my queen also eighteen years old when she ascended the throne?

He looked at the braid on the back of Prince Gong's head and wondered what was the point of keeping it.

Prince Gong was secretly delighted when he saw Prime Minister John. How could this Prime Minister be so short? His scalp just reached his chin.

John is indeed not tall, only five feet (1.52 meters).

Many people laughed at his height and his rather odd personality.

No one wants to make friends with such an eccentric short guy. He is not popular and he is still single!

After the two men exchanged polite greetings, John got straight to the point and asked,

"Dear Prince, are you coming to Great Britain just for trade, or do you have other purposes?"

Prince Gong said,

"I came here this time to purchase ironclad warships at the order of the Emperor of Daqing. Trade is just a side activity!"

John was a little happy when he heard that they were here to spend money. Although these young people were very poor and could not bring much wealth to the British Empire, every little bit of money is still meat!

John asked,

"What kind of ironclad ships should be purchased, and how many should be purchased?"

Prince Gong pointed at Li Hongzhang and said,

"you say!"

Li Hongzhang said,

"Dear Prime Minister John, our emperor intends to purchase the most advanced ironclad ships, with no limit on the quantity!"

When John heard this, he was a little shocked and a little unbelieving. "Unlimited quantity"? What a boast! Do you have that much money?

He asked,

"Ironclad ships are expensive to build. I wonder if Daqing Nation can afford them?"