Alric territory, William's Castle.
After a simple and warm welcome ceremony, William hosted Ouyang Shuo and his party in his Marquis Mansion, which was now known as William Castle, and did his best to play host.
William's Castle was built in the style of English castles. The castle was newly built, but one could still feel the weight of history. The entire castle was magnificent, and the interior was beautiful and rich.
The two lords were finally able to talk privately at three in the afternoon.
In reality, William was a member of the royal family, and he had the blood of a noble. Because of this, he had an extraordinary appeal in the English region of the game.
Although William was lazy, he was definitely a smart man. After listening to his sister Annie's experience at sea, William confirmed his previous speculation: Ouyang Shuo must have come with a request.
There was a big deal between the two territories.
What Shanhai City valued in Castle Alric was the steam engine that had just been developed this year. The English region was in the embryonic stage of the industrial revolution.
The powerful energy of the industrial revolution was about to be unleashed.
And the source of all this energy was the small steam engine. In order to develop the steam engine, Castle Avik had invested countless resources into it.
A conservative estimate would be no less than two million gold coins.
It had been developed by Gaia a year ago, and gold coins were still extremely precious at that time. Before the steam engine was developed, the entire Castle Alric had to tighten its belt.
It was only in the first half of this year that the clouds parted.
Therefore, William did not plan to keep the steam engine technology to himself. Instead, he wanted to sell the technology to recover a large amount of liquid funds, so as to speed up the construction of the territory and make up for the shortcomings of the previous construction.
After all, the game was different from reality. In the game, the English region was not the only region that could develop the steam engine. The entire European and American countries had no technological bottlenecks in the steam engine technology.
He believed that it wouldn't be long before the second and third countries achieved this success. It was no different from a fool's dream for the English region to monopolize the steam engine technology.
Since that was the case, it was better to take the opportunity to sell the technology for a good price.
In William's eyes, Shanhai City was undoubtedly a good buyer.
Putting aside the debt of saving Annie, Shanhai City was wealthy. Secondly, Shanhai City was far from England and would not pose a direct threat to England for a long time.
As for pulling up the technological tree of the eastern countries, it was not within William's consideration. Since the establishment of the Earth Alliance, the prejudice and hostility between the East and the West were no longer as serious as before.
What the players were competing for in the game was their own personal interests.
The so-called national interest itself was a false proposition.
Even if the UK did not sell this technology to China, William believed that the US would definitely sell this technology to their allies in Asia, Japan and Korea.
As such, William did not have any psychological burden.
Now, it all depended on what kind of price Shanhai City could offer.
…
In the reception room, Ouyang Shuo didn't beat around the bush and asked directly, "May I ask if you've already developed a steam engine?"
"That's right." William nodded. In fact, steam engines had already been fully promoted in the English region. With Shanhai City's powerful intelligence network, William wasn't surprised at all that they would be able to obtain this information.
"Are you selling it?" Ouyang Shuo went straight to the point.
"The price isn't cheap."
William's face showed an expression of wisdom, and it was obvious that he wouldn't be easily swayed.
Seeing this, Ouyang Shuo was delighted. As long as the other party was willing to sell it, he didn't lack money.
It could be said that the real purpose of Ouyang Shuo's voyage was to buy the technology to manufacture the steam engine. Opening up the Grand Line was just a matter of taking advantage of the situation. If it succeeded, it would be gratifying.
This was the only transaction that Ouyang Shuo couldn't afford to lose.
If Shanhai City wanted to truly establish its industrial system, it had to break the bottleneck of the China region's technological tree. Otherwise, the 7th Research Institute, with its powerful research team, would often feel powerless in the face of the low technological tree in China.
Ouyang Shuo believed that the scientist teams in Handan City and other territories would definitely have the same problem.
This was the weakness of the entire China region.
If Ouyang Shuo wanted to lead the China region and dominate the future wars, he had to make up for this shortcoming, and he had to do it as soon as possible. As someone who had been reborn, he knew all too well that in his previous life, Japan and Korea had obtained the authorization of the steam engine technology from the United States, which allowed them to rise so quickly. At one time, the powerful China region couldn't even breathe.
In this life, Ouyang Shuo wouldn't allow this kind of humiliation to happen again.
Therefore, no matter what price he had to pay, Ouyang Shuo was determined to get the steam engine technology. Before going out to sea, Ouyang Shuo had even prepared a backup plan to forcibly seize the technology through the war.
Of course, that was only a last resort.
From this, one could understand Ouyang Shuo's excitement when he found out that the fleet he saved was Annie's fleet.
Needless to say, if there wasn't such a factor, William wouldn't have so readily expressed his willingness to sell the technology. It was normal for it to drag on for a year and a half.
By that time, Japan and Korea would have already obtained the authorization of the technology. The changes in the game were so rapid that half a year was enough to open up an order of magnitude of difference.
It could only be said that Ouyang Shuo's [Source of Fortune] was really starting to make a comeback.
…
"3 million gold coins!" Ouyang Shuo started the first round of bidding.
Ouyang Shuo wasn't stingy and increased the price bit by bit. The price of 3 million was the result of his repeated considerations. It was basically close to the upper limit of this type of technology authorization.
In his previous life, according to the information revealed on the forum, the first lord of the Japan region, Keisuke Honda, had also spent 3 million gold coins to obtain the steam engine manufacturing technology from the Americans.
Of course, that was in the first half of the fourth year of Gaia.
In comparison, Ouyang Shuo's price was already very sincere.
"Brother Wuyi is indeed generous!" William was indeed quite surprised. This price was already very close to his expectations. William was also very satisfied with Ouyang Shuo's straightforwardness.
At the end of the day, William was a lazy person and didn't like to haggle back and forth.
However, he still had to fight for what he had to fight for.
3 million gold coins could only be said to have reached his lowest expectations. There was still room for more.
After all, to a great lord like William, although money was important, it wasn't the most important. Although 3 million gold coins was already an astronomical figure, it wasn't enough to completely move William.
"Not enough!" William shook his head firmly.
"Add another 1000 underwater breathing apparatus." Ouyang Shuo was still unhurried.
Ouyang Shuo was very tactful and didn't continue to make a fuss about the amount of gold coins. 3 million gold coins was basically a limit. William's so-called 'not enough' naturally meant that he needed other items to make up for it.
After all, a transaction was nothing more than a supply and demand relationship.
As long as the other party's needs were grasped, there was no need to worry that the other party wouldn't fall for it.
The underwater breathing apparatus was undoubtedly such a magical equipment. As long as it was a navy, there was no one who wouldn't covet it. In particular, Shanhai City's successful use of frogman tactics had pushed the underwater breathing apparatus's usefulness to the peak.
Whether or not there was a team of frogmen would become one of the standards to measure a navy's rating.
Speaking of which, England was the true power in the sea.
There was no doubt that Castle Avic was also famous for its navy, so the underwater breathing apparatus was very important.
Ouyang Shuo's offer of 1000 in one go could be said to be extravagant.
It had to be said that William was moved.
But the steam engine wasn't a joke. It was a core invention of the first industrial revolution. Especially at this time, selling this technology was also risky for Castle Avic.
"It's still not enough." William hesitated again and again, but still reluctantly refused.
Ouyang Shuo's eyes narrowed. William's greed was somewhat unexpected. It seemed that when they were discussing business, William had already thrown the matter of Shanhai City saving Annie to the back of his mind.
This person was a little scary when he was rational.
"Then, what if I add this?"
Ouyang Shuo once again took out a trump card and took out a dragon crystal.
Seeing this, William's breathing quickened. There was no other reason than that William was a mage.
"This is my limit." Ouyang Shuo had to remind William.
William nodded. He wasn't really greedy. But there was still a trace of unwillingness in his eyes. He asked, "You should have another dragon crystal, right? Tell me your conditions."
"Plus the weaving machine manufacturing technology." Ouyang Shuo said with a smile.
"No." William didn't even think about it and directly refused.
One had to know that the loom was another iconic invention of the first industrial revolution. It was enough to revolutionize the entire textile industry and bring about earth-shattering changes.
Although the loom wasn't as revolutionary as the steam engine, it was still a treasure.
How could William sell such an item at a low price?!
Ouyang Shuo didn't expect William to agree immediately. He continued, "What if I add another million gold coins and 20 Three Bow Eight Bull Bed Crossbows?"
One million gold coins was the price difference for repairing the loom. The Three Bow Eight Bull Bed Crossbows were naturally a special requirement.
Hearing this, William's eyes instantly lit up. "Are you talking about the mysterious weapon that you used to kill the Giant Dragon?" He had heard about the process of the Giant Dragon being killed by the fleet from Annie.
"That's right!" Ouyang Shuo didn't hide it.
"Deal!"
This time, William's answer was straightforward.
"Deal!"
Ouyang Shuo took the initiative to reach out and shook William's hand tightly. He couldn't hide the excitement in his heart.
The foundation of Shanhai City and the entire China region had been completely established for the next three to four years. The China region would no longer suffer the humiliation of being greatly behind in technology.
Of course, there was still a gap.
Purchasing the steam engine and weaving machine manufacturing technology was only a part of the technological system. In terms of firearms, the western countries still had a huge technological advantage, waiting for Shanhai City to overcome it.
This kind of technology was the most advanced in the United States.
Perhaps, Ouyang Shuo would have to make a trip to America at some point in the future.
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