Chapter 677-Steam Engine
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
Avic territory, William Castle.
After a simple but warm welcoming ceremony, William held a grand reception for Ouyang Shuo in his manor, which was the current William Castle.
William Castle followed the olden English castle style. Although it was newly built, one could feel the strong historical past. The castle brimmed with life, and the sights inside were beautiful and filled with substance.
At 3 PM, the two Lords finally had time to talk alone.
In reality, William was a member of the royal family; pure and legit royal family bloodline flowed in his veins. As a result, he had an unusual amount of prestige in the England region.
Although he was a lazy person, but he was definitely intelligent. After he heard what his sister described, William confirmed his suspicions: Ouyang Shuo came over for a reason.
Between the two territories, there was definitely going to be a huge deal.
Shanhai City had definitely paid attention to Avic Fort because of the steam engine they had researched. At the current age, England was right when the industrial revolution was sprouting.
The strength and energy of the industrial revolution was about to spurt out.
And the root of all of this came from the small steam engine. To research and develop it, Avic Fort had thrown in endless amounts of resources.
Conservatively speaking, it would not be any less than two million gold.
One must know that they had started developing the steam engine during the 1st year of Gaia. At that time, before they had developed it, the entire Avic Fort was living on a really tight purse string.
They finally saw results during the 1st half of this year.
Hence, William was not ready to hide this technique because of how rare it was. Instead, he wanted to sell the technique to earn back a large sum of funds, which would allow him to speed up the construction of his territory to catch up with the others.
After all, the game was different from reality. England was not the only region that could develop the steam engine. The entire Europe did not lack technological tree bottlenecks with regards to the steam engine.
A second, third country could soon succeed. For the England region to take sole possession of the steam engine technology was a pipe dream.
Since that was the case, William might as well take this chance to sell the technique for a good price.
In his eyes, Shanhai City was undoubtedly a good buyer.
Without mentioning the gratitude for saving Annie, first, Shanhai City was rich; secondly, Shanhai City was really far away from Avic Fort and would not pose a direct threat in a long period of time.
He did not even consider pulling up the technological levels of the eastern countries as a result of this. Since the global federation was established, the animosity between the east and the west was not as serious as before.
In the game, players chased for personal interests.
The so-called country’s interest was just a lie.
And even if England did not sell the technology to China, William believed that America would sell similar technologies over to their allies in Asia, Tokyo and Korea.
With that, William did not have any psychological burden.
Now, he just had to see what kind of good price Shanhai City could give.
……
In the meeting room, Ouyang Shuo did not beat around the bush and asked directly, “May I ask boldly, you have invented the steam engine, right?”
“Not bad.” William nodded. In truth, the steam engine was being pushed out throughout the English region. With the strong intel ability of Shanhai City, Ouyang Shuo finding out this news was not something surprising to William.
“Are you selling it?” Ouyang Shuo was simple and directly breached the topic.
“The price isn’t cheap though.”
William’s face gave out a ‘treasure in his hand’ expression. Obviously, he would not be easily convinced.
When Ouyang Shuo saw this reaction, he was delighted. As long as he was willing to sell, it would be possible; after all, Ouyang Shuo did not lack money.
One could say that purchasing the steam engine crafting technique was the true goal of this voyage. Opening the trade routes was just something that he did along the way.
However, Ouyang Shuo had to make this deal succeed.
Shanhai City’s industrial system needed to break out of the bottleneck of the Chinese technology tree if they wanted to develop. If not, even with the strong research organization at the No.7 Research Institute, they would be restricted by the technology tree.
Ouyang Shuo believed that Handan City’s group of scientists also faced similar problems.
This was the weakness of the entire China region.
Ouyang Shuo wanted to lead the China region in future country wars, so he had to solve this disadvantage. As ap erson in his second life, in the last life, Japan and Korea had obtained the steam engine from America which helped them rise up, suppressing China.
In this life, Ouyang Shuo definitely would not allow such a humiliation to take place once more.
Hence, no matter what price he needed to pay, Ouyang Shuo needed to acquire the steam engine. Before leaving for the ocean, Ouyang Shuo even planned to forcefully snatch the technique through a country war if necessary.
Of course, that was the worst scenario.
Hence, one could imagine how emotional he felt when he knew the squadron he had saved belonged to Annie.
Needless to mention, without such a spark, William would not be so willing to sell it. Dragging matters for another half a year was a pretty normal thing.
At that time, Japan and Korea would have probably gotten the rights to the technique. The changes in the game were so swift; half a year was enough time to open up a huge gap.
One could say that Ouyang Shuo’s luck stat was slowly starting to work.
……
“Three million gold!” Ouyang Shuo made his first offer.
Ouyang Shuo was not petty and did not raise little by a little. Three million gold was the result of his calculations and balancing; it was basically the limit to the worth of such a technique.
In the last life, the forums revealed that Japan region Lord Honda Keisuke had obtained the steam engine crafting technique from the Americans for three million.
Of course, that was already the 1st half of the 4th year.
In comparison, Ouyang Shuo’s bid was already sincere.
“Brother Wuyi is truly quick!” William was surprised; this bid was really close to what he had hoped for.
In the end, William was a lazy and relaxed person and did not like bargaining.
Three million gold could be said to have reached his lowest valuation, but there was still room to rise.
After all, to a Lord like William, although gold was important, it was not the most important. Although three million was a sky-high amount, it was not enough.
“Not enough!” William resolutely shook his head.
“Add in one thousand underwater breathing devices.” Ouyang Shuo was not flustered.
Ouyang Shuo understood and did not increase the gold as three million was basically the limit. William said it was not enough because he wanted him to use other items.
Sales was just a demand and supply relationship.
As long as one had something the other needed, one had all the talking rights.
The underwater breathing device was undoubtedly such a god weapon. Any navy would desire such an item. Especially after Shanhai City successfully used the frogmen, it pushed the demand for underwater breathing devices to the peak.
Whether or not one had a frogmen force would become one of the markers to whether one was a strong navy.
Speaking of whichh, England was a true navy superpower.
Without a doubt, Avic Fort was also known for its navy, so it had a huge need for the underwater breathing device.
Ouyang Shuo offering one thousand right away was truly a magnanimous act.
One had to say, William was tempted.
However, the steam engine was not a joke, and it was the core of the 1st industrial revolution. Selling the technology at such a time was a huge risk to Avic Fort.
“Not enough.” William hesitated once more.
Ouyang Shuo’s eyes froze; William’s greed had exceeded his expectations. Seems like when discussing business, William had tossed aside the matter of him saving Annie.
When he became rational, he was truly a scary person.
“Then what about adding this?”
Ouyang Shuo took out another card, a dragon crystal.
When William saw the crystal, his breathing sped up as William was a magician.
“This is my limit.” Ouyang Shuo had to remind him.
William nodded; he was not too greedy. However, there was a tinge of disatisfaction in his eyes, and he asked, “You should have another one in your hands right, say your terms.”
“Throw in the sewing machine technology,” Ouyang Shuo smiled and said.
“No.” William did not even think about it and directly rejected him.
One must know that the sewing machine was one of the symbols of the 1st industrial revolution, and it was enough to bring huge changes to the entire sewing industry.
Although it could not compare to the steam machine, it was still a treasure.
How would William be willing to sell such an item at such a low price?
Ouyang Shuo did not expect William to directly agree, and he continued, “If I add in one million and 20 three-bow arcuballistas?”
One million was to make up for the price difference while the three-bow arcuballistas was a special need.
When William heard Ouyang Shuo’s words, his eyes lit up, “The one you mentioned, is it the secret weapon you used to kill the giant dragon?” He had obtained news about the entire process through Annie’s mouth.
“That’s right!” Ouyang Shuo did not hide anything.
“Deal!”
This time, William answered without any hesitation.
“Deal!”
Ouyang Shuo took the initiative to reach out and shake hands with William; the joy in his heart was tough to hide.
Shanhai City, even the entire China region’s foundation, was basically set for the next three to four years. They would not fall behind and be humiliated due to their technology.
Of course, a gap still existed.
Buying the steam engine and sewing machine technology only helped to make up for a portion of the technological system. In terms of firearms, the western countries still held a huge advantage.
Such technology, America was the most advanced.
Who knows, at a certain time in the future, Ouyang Shuo might need to make a trip to America.
