Iron Dynasty Chapter 1104

“Rhodes, I never thought we would meet again.”

At the gate of Qingzhou City, Tang Wenjie, leading the officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was waiting for the delegation from Europe.

According to a telegram from Guangzhou, the scale of this European delegation was unprecedentedly large. Five countries—Britain, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal—had sent envoys at the same time.

Although he had lived in Qingzhou for a long time, Rhodes felt a bit bitter coming back.

Their relationship with this Eastern Empire was once as intimate as lovers. The trade between the two countries was enough to give the Dutch a prosperous life.

But now, all of the Netherlands’ colonies in Asia had fallen into the hands of this Eastern Empire. Trade had been completely halted, and their relationship had plummeted to rock bottom.

“Minister Tang, please don’t mock me. I hope that after this war, our relationship can be restored to what it once was,” Rhodes said with a bitter tone.

After returning to the Netherlands, he was met with unprecedented coldness. But after the allied forces’ defeat, he was reinstated, as he was very familiar with this Eastern Empire and was the most suitable candidate.

Standing beside Rhodes were Brooke and Henry, both with complex expressions. Remembering their first fruitless visit, they were still a bit resentful.

Besides the three familiar faces, Tang Wenjie also greeted the envoys from Spain and Portugal. In this delegation, Portugal and Spain clearly played supporting roles, with the fewest people.

“Please! His Majesty is waiting for you all in the Imperial Garden,” Tang Wenjie said with a proud smile on his face.

This was the confidence that came from a powerful country.

Rhodes looked into Qingzhou City with a look of anticipation. When he lived in Qingzhou, the city changed almost every day. After being away for so long, he was a little eager to see it.

Leading everyone into Qingzhou City, Rhodes was not surprised to be met with a surprise. At this time, the concrete roads of Qingzhou were being repaired. The former concrete road surface was being pried open, and construction workers were laying a black material.

This material resembled black rubber mixed with sand. Even from a distance, one could feel its scorching temperature and pungent smell.

Two huge machines were laying this road. One machine in the front leveled the material, and the machine that followed compressed it firmly.

Just by looking at the huge cast-iron rollers on the front of these machines, they could imagine the weight of the machines.

The delegation’s journey stopped here. Everyone’s eyes widened, and their mouths hung open as they looked at the strange scene in front of them.

The roaring of the huge machines, in particular, made them feel a sense of dread.

“Minister Tang, what is this?” Rhodes swallowed.

Tang Wenjie said casually, “This is an asphalt road that is being laid. Concrete roads are too ugly and also prone to damage, so the Empire is preparing to replace the Empire’s main roads with asphalt roads.”

“Asphalt? What is that?” everyone discussed.

Tang Wenjie said bluntly, “This asphalt is a chemical material refined from petroleum.”

Now that the Empire’s scientific foundation was solid, there was no need to hide certain superficial things. Stating them appropriately could serve to intimidate the enemy.

After all, even if they were to give all their technology to Europe, it would still take a lot of time for them to catch up to the current Empire.

Rhodes gently shook his head. “I feel as if I’ve become outdated after just one day of not being in Qingzhou.”

After marveling for a while, everyone continued to walk further in. They bypassed the road that was under construction, and behind it was a road that had been repaired a few days ago.

Everyone was shocked as they walked on the smooth asphalt road. Compared to concrete roads, these asphalt roads were very comfortable to walk on.

Rhodes noticed the white and yellow lines on the road. These lines divided the road into two halves. He could not help but ask, “What is this?”

“Road guides.” Tang Wenjie once again used a term that was unfamiliar to Rhodes. With his explanation, everyone gradually understood the function of this thing.

“This is truly impressive.” Although they were on opposite sides, Brooke and Henry still praised it.

The two of them then looked at the constant stream of bicycles on the road and said, “There were not many bicycles when we came here last time. I never expected that ordinary people in Qingzhou can now afford bicycles. This road was specially built for bicycles. But why do they only ride outside of the white lines on both sides of the road?”

Tang Wenjie laughed. He said, “You are wrong. This road was not built for bicycles. Look!”

With that, he had the people in the delegation stand on both sides of the road, because a line of cars was now coming towards them.

These cars were all black and had a small golden dragon flag hanging in front of them. They were specially for picking up and dropping off the delegation.

The envoys could no longer be described as just surprised at this point. They were looking at the fast-approaching cars as if they had seen a god.

In Europe, the main mode of transportation was still horse-drawn carriages. One could imagine how shocked they were to see a vehicle that did not require a horse but was as fast as a steam locomotive.

The cars quickly stopped in front of everyone. Tang Wenjie said, “Gentlemen, there are still twenty to the Imperial Palace. Let’s take the cars.”

“Car!” Rhodes really did not want to ask any more questions, because it would only show his ignorance.

Brooke and Henry had the same expression. They used to think that the people of this Eastern Empire were country bumpkins, but now they realized that they were the country bumpkins.

Tang Wenjie was very satisfied with the envoys’ reactions. It was very necessary to destroy the opponent’s psychological defense before a negotiation. In this way, they would easily give up their cards after the negotiation.

Tang Wenjie got into the same car as Rhodes, Brooke, and Henry and started chatting. “Qingzhou City’s development is too fast now. Sometimes I can’t even keep up. This wall of Qingzhou City that you are seeing now is the only one that remains. The walls on the other three sides have all been torn down. The population of Qingzhou now exceeds three million, so the city needs to be expanded.”

Brooke and Henry almost wanted to smash their heads into something when they heard this. The population of just one Qingzhou was more than three million, which was almost the total population of the Netherlands.

And the cities they passed through on their way from Guangzhou to Dengzhou were all densely populated. This alone was enough to show the terrifying power of the Chinese Empire.

While Tang Wenjie was talking nonstop, the car turned around and headed for the Imperial City. As the car sped up, the scenery of Qingzhou City passed by them in a blur.

To them, the current Qingzhou had completely shed its former appearance of commoner residential blocks. The urbanization here had not only caught up to London, but it was also showing signs of surpassing it. One only needed to look at the neat residential areas on both sides and the bustling commercial district in the center of the city to understand.