For people who have lived in the north for a long time, the ocean gives them basically the impression of "this": cold, roaring, with waves mixed with ice particles slamming over, as if the entire ship is about to be swept away.
Like smashing it into pieces. otbnkotgt Therefore, the men at sea are very strong, very powerful, very capable of fighting, and very tough.
These men in the north, active in the North Sea, Polotsk Sea, and the North Atlantic, each have muscles comparable to those of a bodybuilding champion, and each of them has a healthy and dark complexion.
Each one has a weather-beaten, sharp-edged face exposed by the strong wind on the sea.
From the Middle Ages, pirates rode in dragon-headed warships, wore chainmail, nose helmets, and held battle axes and bucklers.
Until now, there are whale fishermen who drive all kinds of boats, wear upper body clothes, and hold harpoons.
Almost everyone has the same impression of William.
For northerners, the ocean symbolizes struggle, the struggle against survival, against enemies, against wealth, and against adventure.
The black, dark blue, and dark green water, the seaside rocks, and the leaden sky all together constitute the entire northern ocean environment.
Before that, William von Hereford thought the same way.
This country was born in a world of ice and snow, and its natural environment and climate are very harsh.
Of course, it is precisely because of such a harsh natural environment that the most resilient, orderly and powerful nation and country in the world has been created.
Therefore, in many cases, a difficult and simple environment can indeed sharpen people's will, and there will be no doubt about this.
For the same reason, after seeing the ocean in the south, William suddenly felt uncomfortable.
Moreover, it is quite unaccustomed.
The ocean in the south is completely different from that in the north.
The water is blue and rippling, and the sandy beaches are as golden as gold, dotted with a large number of palm trees and Mediterranean shrubs.
The voyagers here did include fishermen and navies.
But most of them are businessmen.
Merchants who drove merchant ships to the south and north, using the ocean as their transportation channel.
These people wore gorgeous silk robes and had philistine smiles on their faces.
The habit is to measure everything in terms of goods, money, luxury goods, land and trade routes.
Love labeling everything.
Like to measure everything in monetary terms.
In the eyes of these guys, there is no such thing as moral integrity in their hearts.
These guys are just such nasty guys.
That's it, the sea in the south and the sea in the north are two completely different things.
And people from the south and people from the north are completely different things.
Faced with these Lombard city-state businessmen who were accustomed to being second-rate dealers and unscrupulous profiteers in the Middle Ages, if William could choose, William would like to kill them all.
It's just a pity that William can't do this.
And more importantly, these scum are still useful to William.
And it has a very huge effect.
The beaches of Lombardy, the shores of the Adriatic, an area with which Wilhelm von Hereford was about to form an alliance.
Ferrara, Mantua, Modena, Tuscany, Sardinia, Venice and Genoa.
Several small Lombard states were delighted with William's arrival, and some even suggested that this was a major opportunity for the declining Lombard states to rise again.
During his stay in northern Lombardy, William did make some speeches, reach some consensus, and even said that some agreements had been reached.
These agreements all demonstrated the Russian Gothic Empire's willingness to cooperate with the Lombards.
Even the open market item that the Lombards most hope for, William is "considering" or even unacceptable.
They are very nervous with these Lombards, or they think highly of themselves.
As long as the empire opens its market, this country with millions of square kilometers of land and a population of 13 million will have a large influx of refugees, as well as the registration of grassland nomads. , become Cossacks, and have natural growth, they can become a dumping market for Lombard goods.
With the support of such a large, emerging market with rich resources and relatively good purchasing power, Lombardy's manufacturing industry will surely usher in spring.
Regarding the wishful thinking of these guys, William didn't want to express any other opinions except hehe.
They may still be living in the Middle Ages, and they still think that the largest manufacturing base in the world is in Lombardy, and they are still living in a dream.
As long as these bastards pay a little attention and care about the changes in the outside world.
Go to any of the Hereford factories, take a look, and turn around, and you will understand that the decline of the Lombards is destined and irreversible.
Free novels bring you joy and joy ---> storyskyline.net
Among all the heavy industrial production, the Lombards had almost no heavy industrial products that they could provide to the Hereford family.
This is true whether it is crude steel, iron, rails, locomotives, wagons, steam engines, lathes, mechanical equipment or mechanical parts.
As for light industry, Lombard products were not competitive with imperial products.
After the empire's vigorous reorganization, Shilonsk has become the largest cotton textile industry center in the human world, and the second largest wool textile industry center in the world, second only to Briton itself.
The textiles, woolen fabrics, woolen fabrics, and cotton textiles it produces are among the best in the world in terms of quantity, quality, colors, and dyeing.
Of particular note is the empire's dye industry.
In addition to using traditional plant dyes and mineral dyes, the progress of the empire's chemical industry also led to the emergence of several artificial dyes, which became very popular.
The emergence of jacquard looms that could weave various designs and colors, as well as the renovation of various patterns, also showed that the innovation ability of the imperial textile industry was improving.
More importantly, the establishment of the Light Industry Bureau under the Imperial Ministry of Industry improved and implemented various rules and regulations for textiles, standardized the market, and eliminated vicious internal competition.
Manipulation methods such as price marking also make the empire's textiles extremely competitive.
Whether in the local market or overseas markets, in the Gothic and Gothic countries, in Lombardy, Asturias, and even in the Ottomans and Britons in the south, the empire's textile sales were excellent.
William had the textile industry, the chicken that lays golden eggs, firmly in his hands.
And it is not lagging behind at all in other aspects.
To this day, the Empire is still the only country in the entire human world that can produce its own porcelain without having to import it from the Far East.
At the same time, the glassware, gold and silverware produced by the empire are processed using industrial processes, and are by no means inferior to anyone in terms of material and artistry.
The large-scale smelting of metals and the manufacture of steel gave the empire the ability to sell metal utensils on a large scale.
Agricultural Tools Empire can produce all kinds of pots and pans for daily use, as well as tableware and other utensils.
Originally, the empire was at a disadvantage in terms of wood processing, furniture, carriages, and shipbuilding.
However, after conquering the entire Wende Kingdom, these disadvantages began to be gradually eliminated.
Then, the empire conquered the entire large border area, making the empire possess the richest forest resources in the world.
Polotsk's manufacturing workers, coupled with Livonia's shipbuilding industry, and the Slavian world's forest resources, allowed the empire to quickly catch up in wood processing, furniture, carriages, shipbuilding, etc.
Filled a weak program in a very short period of time.
That's it, whether the empire is heavy industry or light industry.
All can be self-sufficient.
Go up to ironclad ships, trains, high-power steam engines and large differential engines, and go down to ear scoops.
The empire's industry satisfies everything.
In this case, if the empire and the Lombard states open their markets to each other, grant most-favored-nation treatment, and reduce tariffs, the final result will never be that the Lombards and Lombard goods occupy the imperial market, but on the contrary, the imperial goods will Obtain a dumping market with a population of nearly 10 million.
Of course, William would never tell these dukes and consuls about this.
Of course, William felt that even if he said it, these guys wouldn't believe it.
These Lombards don't know why, but they just have a kind of mysterious self-confidence and feel that they are very amazing.
William himself didn't know what the reason was.
But of course, one thing must be made clear here, that is, the reason why William traveled thousands of miles to come to Lombardy and talk to these small Lombard states about this and that was not because he liked them much, let alone because How important they are that William can take time out of his busy schedule to take care of these guys.
As for signing a trade agreement with the Lombards, this can only be regarded as hunting rabbits and doing it by the way.
Otherwise, if we really want to talk about this kind of thing, it would be more appropriate for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce to do it.
The main reason why William came here was to resolve one thing, and that was the peace agreement.
Certainly not a peace agreement with the Lombards.
The two sides still maintain a quasi-ally relationship.
No matter what, it is impossible for a war to break out.
What William really had to deal with was the British agreement.
In West, a province located in the south of the Kingdom of Frisia and within the Kingdom of Lotharnia, as the victors of the sectarian war, the Britons are preparing to gather together here to discuss a new post-war order. .
Among the people he invited, William and several heads of small Lombard states were prominently listed.
In addition, the Parliament of the Kingdom of Carpathia will also send members to attend the meeting.
At the same time, some nobles within the empire also sent representatives.
Of course, most of these "representatives" were just puppets of the Britons.
The only ones who have a little bit of autonomy are the Grand Duke of Jutland and the Duke of Bern, who is valued for some unknown reason.
Free novels bring you joy and joy ---> storyskyline.net
One thing that is a bit surprising, or actually quite normal, is that two countries that were not participants in the war, the Kingdom of Visigoth and the Kingdom of Asturias, were also invited.
In the words of the Britons, although these two countries are not warring countries, they are countries with interests, so it is normal to invite them to participate in negotiations.
It was under this circumstance that William arrived in Lombardy.
He could feel the confusion and uneasiness of Lombardy in this meeting.
The Empire, the side supported by the traditional sect and also the Lombards, was defeated.
Protestantism has occupied almost the entire empire, and the empire has now entered a stage of occupation and rule by the Britons.
Under such circumstances, it would be a joke to say that the Lombard people could participate in the peace conference calmly.
All the Lombards were afraid that the Britons would make any excessive demands at the peace conference, or ask them to elect Queen Briton as emperor.
Or what if we force several small states to convert to Protestantism?
Under such circumstances, the small states of Lombardy naturally want to get together and hug each other for warmth, but even this is of no use.
Although the words may not sound nice, no matter how much rubbish there is, it is just rubbish.
Several small states formed a new Lombard Alliance on their own to fight against the enemies coming from the mainland.
Thinking about it, they felt something was wrong.
It was at this time that a lifeline came, as Wilhelm von Hereford brought the goodwill of the Russian Gothic Empire. 160420oshow7: