Chapter 1122 Roman Empire (Second update, please subscribe)
Constantinople.
The capital of the Roman Empire.
In 1878, before the smoke of war had cleared from the city, the Russians excitedly announced to the world that the Roman Empire had been resurrected. A few months later, Tsar Alexander II was crowned as the Tsar of the Roman Empire in St. Sophia Cathedral.
From then on, no matter how much Europeans felt that Russia was just a group of Eastern European barbarians, Mongols in white skin, at the official level, they could only call it the "Roman Empire."
The Roman Empire, the father of European civilization, fell into the hands of the Russians. When Western European countries were in various mixed situations, the Russians proudly regarded themselves as the orthodox Roman Empire.
Constantinople.
This is from Rome!
Russia is Rome.
Although Western European countries were unwilling to recognize the Russian country's Rome, their embassies were still set up in Constantinople.
There is no way, we can't just cut off diplomatic relations just because they changed their name! But in private, everyone still calls them Russia.
As for the so-called Roman Empire, it was only mentioned in official documents.
The Ming Empire's embassy in Rome is a magnificent building. This Renaissance building was built by a French designer in the 1850s and faces the Bosphorus Strait. During the Turkish rule, the building once belonged to a Turkish merchant of yak. Turkey has always been the world's largest exporter of yak, with a long history dating back to the 17th century. One of Napoleon's missions in his expedition to Egypt was to reopen the yak trade route. Even now, European and American countries have a rigid demand for it.
After all, for those European and American workers who toiled in sweatshops, painkillers were indispensable, and even the only thing that could comfort their painful souls and bodies. Now the secret of extracting painkillers from that thing has been cracked, and it is no longer a proprietary product of a certain Imperial Pharmaceutical Company.
However, after the Ottoman Empire was destroyed, the Turkish merchant died in the war. It is unknown whether he died on the battlefield or died in the Russian army. Anyway, no one in his family survived. As for the woman, only God knows where she was sold. It is very likely that she was sold to the African colonies. After all, Turkish women are very popular in those places.
War will always expose the darkest side of humanity and hide many unknown crimes.
But one thing is certain: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Ming Empire quickly occupied it, or more precisely, bought it. Not only is the scenery here beautiful, but the area is also large. From then on, the once luxurious building became the embassy of the Ming Empire. Every day, when a ship passes through the Bosphorus Strait, you can always see the flag of the Ming Empire fluttering in the breeze of the strait.
The Embassy's Commercial Department has three first-class secretaries, and Luo Degui is one of them. This morning, he sat at his desk as usual, looking through the latest business information, and of course, business intelligence.
Today's work seemed to be no different from usual. It was to find valuable business information among various information, compile it into a book, and then report it to the Imperial Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce.
However, a piece of news in the newspaper soon attracted his attention.
"Germany's passage of the Grain Tariff Act will benefit the Roman Empire's wheat exports to Germany."
Although this piece of news seems very insignificant, it still caught Luo Degui's attention. Intelligence analysis is to find relevant intelligence from these details.
"Wheat, wheat..."
Staring at the Russian words on the newspaper, Luo Degui muttered to himself.
"The Empire's wheat exports to Germany are 870,000 tons. Will this have an impact on the Empire's wheat exports?"
The Ming Dynasty was not only an industrial power, but also an agricultural power. The fertile Pampas grasslands not only created a developed livestock industry, but also created large areas of wheat cultivation. The empire exported millions of tons of wheat, corn, soybeans and other crops to Europe every year.
Thinking about this, Luo Degui picked up the phone on the table and called the business office of Nanhua Company. Nanhua Company's business office in Constantinople is less than one kilometer away from the embassy. It is the earliest business organization to enter Russia.
Half an hour later, in an open-air cafe near the Business Office, Luo Degui met Tian Xiangming, the head of the General Section of the Business Office. The General Section is also responsible for the collection and analysis of intelligence in the Business Office. The "Royal Consortium" represented by Nanhua Company has established more than 710 branches in 93 cities around the world, with more than 10,000 employees. While doing business, they also collect and analyze intelligence information in various aspects of politics, economy, industry, etc.
Its intelligence capabilities are not inferior to those of the Imperial Investigation Department. In fact, the Imperial Investigation Department was originally the Company Investigation Department. After the founding of the empire, the Imperial Investigation Department was divided into two parts, and the company established a Strategic Research Department. Its main responsibilities are to collect and analyze political, economic, industrial, technological and other intelligence from countries around the world. It has an Industrial Intelligence Department, a Technical Intelligence Department and an International Intelligence Department.
Over the years, their outstanding intelligence collection and analysis capabilities have always been valued by the authorities, and the cooperation between the embassies abroad and them is also very close. Now when encountering questions, Luo Degui naturally thought of them.
After ordering a cup of coffee, Tian Xiangming asked directly.
"Secretary Luo, is there something wrong?"
"Have you read the newspaper?"
Pushing the newspaper to Tian Xiangming, Luo Degui said.
"Germany passed the Corn Laws which reduced tariffs by a third."
"Oh, the Corn Bills..."
After taking a look at the newspaper, Tian Xiangming said directly.
"When the Germans first submitted the bill, our colleagues in Germany analyzed it and found that it would lead to a surge in Germany's wheat imports. This is why it was opposed by many people in Congress. After all, many members of the German Congress are Junker landlords. If the wheat tariff is reduced, the import volume will increase, which will definitely bring them an economic impact. However, Bismarck still succeeded in convincing them."
The colleagues mentioned by Tian Xiangming were not necessarily the expatriates of Nanhua Company. The largest enterprise engaged in grain trade in Daming was Gufeng Company, which monopolized 70% of Daming's grain exports. Gufeng Company was separated from Nanhua Company. However, this did not hinder the communication of intelligence between them.
Looking at the embassy secretary in front of him, Tian Xiangming said with a smile.
"However, I think Secretary Luo is concerned about more than just this issue. After all, on the surface, this bill will not only have no impact on our exports, but will also be beneficial to wheat exports. But the question is, why would the Germans, or Bismarck, sacrifice the interests of the Junker landlords and lower tariffs? Without tariff protection, the price of wheat in the German market will be about 10% lower than it is now. How can the Junker landlords accept such a loss?"
Tian Xiangming's words made Luo Degui frown.
"So, this matter is not that simple?"
"Hey, Secretary Luo, you are also an old diplomat. Is there anything simple in this world?"
I have set up a book club: 335260551. Everyone is welcome to join and discuss and deduce the plot together.
(End of this chapter)
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