ity, the residence of the Foot Basin Representative.
Ribbentrop rubbed his knees a little uncomfortably. For him, who was over 1.85 meters tall, it was really a torture to kneel down for a long time like the short Foot Basin Man!
However, the Foot Basin Man did not seem to notice this. They were used to kneeling, so they did not feel anything.
However, the careful Foot Basin Man soon discovered the embarrassment of Foreign Minister Hans, so he quickly brought him a chair. Ribbentrop was finally relieved when he saw the chair!
"Thank you, Consul Muto!"
Ribbentrop was not polite. He took the chair, thanked him and sat down.
Kneeling was not suitable for him. If he hadn't just wanted to taste the tea ceremony of the foot basin man, he would have quit long ago!
"You're welcome, Foreign Minister Ribbentrop!"
Muto Yu is the ambassador of the foot basin to the British Empire. Because the foot basin is too far away from Europe, they did not send a special negotiator to attend the meeting in the foggy city. They directly appointed their ambassador to the British Empire as a negotiator and asked him to participate in the talks.
Ribbentrop is Hans's foreign minister, and the position of foreign minister is one level higher than that of ambassador. This level difference is very obvious in the foot basin where the concept of seniority and superiority is very clear, so Muto Yu is very polite to Ribbentrop.
"I wonder why Foreign Minister Ribin came to visit this time?"
Muto Yu is not stupid, on the contrary, he is very smart. He knows that the other party came to visit in person to ask him something or to ask the foot basin behind him for help.
Muto Yu is very interested in this. He wants to know what the Hans people want?
If the foot basin can help with what the Hans people want, and Hans is willing to provide some benefits, then they don't mind helping!
Hans' industrial strength is the second largest in the world, and precision machinery such as lathes and milling machines for processing various materials, machine tools for manufacturing machinery, etc., these things are made by Hans the best in the world!
Although the industrial strength of the Eagle Sauce is the best in the world, the strength of the Eagle Sauce lies in their industrial scale. In terms of industrial sophistication, the Eagle Sauce has no advantage.
These days, the products of the Eagle Sauce are famous for being counterfeit and shoddy and knockoffs. Once any new products appear in Europe, If so, the factories of the Eagle Sauce will certainly imitate and copycat the products immediately, and then defeat the original manufacturers with lower prices and seize the market!
This kind of behavior is very offensive in Europe. After all, Europe's industrial development started earlier, and the protection of various patents is also in place. At this time, the Eagle Sauce did not have too strict management, and the technical level of the Eagle Sauce was far behind that of Europe, so their products have always had a bad reputation in Europe!
During the First World War, a large number of Eagle Sauce products entered the European market. As a result, these products were complained by European countries because of quality issues. After the war, when factories in European countries resumed production, Eagle Sauce's products were immediately squeezed out of the market. Even if their prices were cheaper than those in European countries, they still did not sell well in the market!
This is also the Eagle Sauce. The reason why Britain is eager to overthrow the world colonial system dominated by the British and the Gauls is that in those poor and backward countries, there are a large number of people without factories and their purchasing power is relatively low. They cannot afford the expensive products in Europe, but Britain's low-priced products are very suitable for these.
What's more, this market is so huge that it covers hundreds of millions of people. Once it is opened, Britain will no longer have to worry about not being able to sell its domestically manufactured products!
Although the Meiji Restoration had been going on for 50 years at this time, and a certain industry had been established in the country, their industry was still relatively backward.
In 1920, Han's steel production had reached 21 million tons, while Jiaoben's steel production had just reached 500,000 tons, not even a fraction of Hans.
The amount of steel production directly represents the strength of a country's industrial strength, and also represents the strength of a country.
The strength of the army.
Why didn't the Japanese army equip themselves with tanks like Hans, Mao Xiong and the United States during World War II? They couldn't even afford submachine guns and semi-automatic rifles!
It was because the pitiful steel production was all used to build ships for the navy, and the army could only be allocated a small quota. It was a joke to let them produce tanks with such a small quota!
The people of Jiaoben knew their own weaknesses very well.
Although they looked strong, their real strength was actually far less than what they looked like.
However, the people of Jiaoben had better luck.
They won the previous bets on national destiny.
When all countries were not optimistic, they defeated the Qing Dynasty, which looked very powerful but was corrupt inside.
Then, they unexpectedly defeated Mao Xiong, the quality inspector of the great powers, and shocked all countries.
Only then were they accepted and valued by all countries, and they became a great power by chance!
In fact, at this time, Jiaoben, if we really talk about national strength, may not even be as good as Italy. At least Italy's steel production at this time has exceeded 1 million tons, which is twice that of Jiaoben!
The foot basin is willing to help Hans because they want to obtain Hans' advanced industrial technology. If these things fall into their hands, the foot basin people believe that their industrial strength can be greatly improved, and they will truly become a great power with strength and status.
At that time, with the support of a stronger national strength, it will be much easier for the foot basin people to expand externally.
However, Ribbentrop had long been told by Mainz that he could provide products to the foot basin, but he could not provide them with technology. Although the craftsmanship of the foot basin people was ridiculed as the spirit of bowing craftsmen in later generations, they liked to bow and apologize when something happened to calm things down.
But it is undeniable that the foot basin people are probably the most obedient and obedient nation in the world. The obedience of their people exceeds that of any country in the world. In this case, it is possible for this country to make high-tech products, which will be more obvious a hundred years later. A hundred years later, in addition to Hans, another country that has mastered the precision machining industry is the foot basin!
Although he cannot provide technology to the foot basin, Hans can provide intelligence to the foot basin!
"We have received a piece of news, and I think your country should be quite interested in it!"
Ribbentrop said halfway, keeping it a secret, waiting for the foot basin man to ask.
Muto Yu was fooled, and he was really curious about what news the Hans people wanted to sell to the foot basin.
Judging from the Hans people's appearance, this news seemed very important?
"Oh? What information?"
"The British Empire recently sent two expedition teams from their homeland to Oceania and the Maple Leaf Country in North America to explore the local iron ore distribution. It is said that both expedition teams made huge discoveries!"
After Ribbentrop finished speaking, he stared at Muto Yu with a smile, wanting to see how the other party would react after hearing the news.
Muto Yu's performance did not disappoint him. He was indeed very concerned after hearing the news. Although he tried his best to cover it up, Ribbentrop could still see that the other party's hands pressed on his knees were trembling slightly.
The general was right. Iron ore is indeed the lifeblood of the people of Jiaoben!
In this era, oil is not as important as it will be in twenty years. Most of the warships of various countries still use coal, so the demand for oil is not high.
As for coal, Jiaoben is not short of it. Their North Sea Island area has a large amount of coal reserves, so there is no need to worry about energy issues.
At this time, the most important thing for the people of Jiaoben is iron ore. There are not many iron ore reserves in Jiaoben at all. Their iron ore is basically imported from Eagle Sauce and South American countries.
Therefore, for the people of Jiaoben, their top priority is to find a huge iron mine of their own so that they can increase steel production as soon as possible. Only after the steel production is rapidly increased can the military industry of Jiaoben develop rapidly!
"You just said that the British sent an expedition to Australia, but we don't know where in Australia it is?"