Li Junwei immediately snatched back the watermelon peel from old William's hand and said with a smile: "Not to it, not to it, just kidding, how can you take it seriously?"

"You can't take this watermelon peel seriously, what about these two words?" Old William asked seriously, pointing out the words written in water on the table.

Li Junwei said: "Of course!"

The two words Li Junwei wrote on the table are - Land.

This is what Old William dreams of, because he knows that territory and population are the foundation of a country, and relatively speaking, the crown is a bit stupid. Moreover, the Principality of Prussia is not a strong country in Europe, and there are not many opportunities to expand its territory.

In 1415, the Hohenzollern family where the old William was located obtained the territory of Brandenburg by Emperor Shenluo. A hundred years later, the ancestors of William obtained a duke and two marquis lords in the lower Rhine through their in-laws, which were not bordered by the core territory. After another hundred years, the Hohenzollern family surrendered to the Polish king and obtained East Prussia. After Thirty Years' War, they obtained East Pomelaiya and several other small territories.

In the following decades, the territory of the Hohenzollern family had not changed, and the only way to obtain territory was to buy it except marriage, but the chance was almost zero.

If he chooses between territory and crown, Old William may hesitate, but in the end he will definitely choose territory.

The reason is very simple. Why is Prussia a chance to become a kingdom? It is because of the strength of the country, and territory means strength.

Old William asked: "How to do it exactly?"

Li Junwei smiled: "It's hard to say. This is a long-term plan and requires you to be patient. What I want to tell you is that the territory and the crown do not conflict. This time it is a win-win for you, twice!"

"But what I don't know is whether Prussia should join the anti-Swedish alliance or form an alliance with Sweden. Please give me some advice."

Li Junwei thought for a while and said, "Don't show your attitude too early is the most favorable attitude. As for the land I mentioned, I can tell you why the empire helped Prussia obtain land."

William Old Man understood some of these reasons, and Li Junwei also said that the empire was interested in Prussia's potential and hoped that a country could compete with France would appear in Central Europe. No country in Europe would support the rise of Prussia, only the empire would support it. In other words, during the rise of Prussia, both countries would maintain cooperation, which also provides a tool for the empire to influence the continent.

"It's like that. The empire does not want a hegemonic state in the Baltic Sea, nor does it want to see Russia rise. If the anti-Sweden alliance wins, I don't want to see Russia occupy too much land. If the empire does not participate in the war, I hope Prussia can seize some of the trophy of Tsarist Russia or calm it down.

If Sweden wins, it will inevitably seize more land on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, and this will not work. Prussia will also divide the part of it." Li Junwei explained briefly.

Old William smiled: "That is, as long as we are in line with your country, no matter who wins and who loses, Prussia will gain a portion of the land, right?"

"Yes, but the area will not be too much. Grand Duke, don't think about eating a big fat man in one bite."

Old William laughed: "Of course, my prince, this is not the East, nor in the colonies. In Europa, every territory belongs to a long time. I will not ask for too much, but I hope that His prince will guarantee that what I get can match the effort."

"This is of course." Li Junwei gave a positive answer.

Li Junwei had a great conversation with Old William, but after arranging Old William's residence, Li Junwei immediately returned to the study and wrote a letter, writing the information he got from Old William on the letter paper, and there was even a letter from Old William, Patkur, who was on behalf of Augustus, and all of these materials were sealed into diplomatic packages and sent to Stockholm, Sweden by a notification ship as fast as possible. The recipient was Jiang Xianyun, who had been promoted to Ambassador to Sweden.

The reason why Li Junwei did this was to dispel the doubts of Swedish King Carl XII, because there was a trend of thought in Sweden. They did not think there was an anti-Swedish alliance, nor did they think that Sweden would fall into a war.

This is mainly because several parties to the anti-Swedish alliance, Denmark, Poland and Tsarist Russia, all carried out diplomatic deceptions against Sweden.

Although Denmark sent troops to occupy part of the Swedish territory, Holstein, it expressed its willingness to accept mediation, but it made the simple matter of retreating and demanded a friendly and mutual assistance treaty with Sweden. Denmark showed great sincerity.

The same is true for Tsarist Russia. Karl XII sent a mission of more than 100 people to Moscow, and was cordially received by Tsar Peter. Both sides confirmed that the Treaty of Cadiz signed thirty-seven years ago was still valid.

The Swedish mission brought Peter precious gifts, including gold and silver vessels and portraits of Karl XII, and Peter also used animal fur as a return gift. When he left, they received a royal certificate issued by Peter, which read: According to the eternal agreement in Kadiz, the friendly and affectionate determination of the Baltic Sea coast and Moscow, we welcome you and His Majesty the King.

However, what the Swedish mission did not know was that when they left, Peter had signed an anti-Swedish military cooperation agreement with Augustus.

Augustus also participated in diplomatic deception against Sweden. He accepted the request of Karl XII and was willing to serve as the guarantor of the Principality of Holstein as the Elector of Saxony.

It can be said that the young Carl XII was fooled by this group of old fried dough sticks. If there had been no news from Prussia, he might have followed the advice of some of his subordinates and gave up the military response to aggression.

Of course, Li Junwei did not only provide intelligence. The Swedish king's attitude changed, but was also related to the outbreak of famine in Sweden. Before the arrival of old William, Li Junwei had already sent people to Stockholm and promised to provide food loans for him to deal with the famine. He even gave him 4,000 tons of wheat as humanitarian relief supplies.

Atlantic City, North America.

The guy at the Liufu Restaurant saw a carriage coming from outside the door. Four or five men came down. He immediately lifted the curtain and shouted to the boss smoking behind him: "Boss, Mr. Luo is here."

The boss walked out with a smile and smiled at a young man among the men who came in and said, "General Luo is here."

The young man smiled and said, "Boss Qi, if you joke with me, I won't help you transport goods."

"Just kidding. Manager Luo, don't take it seriously. I've got people ready for the dishes. I'll eat here at noon today. I'll treat you. Don't say that, I'm really lucky. The oxtails I bought from the Navy Ranch are stewed. You like this one the most." Boss Qi greeted the group and sat down.

Luo Fei smiled and said, "If you can eat it now, you can bring it to us. We can't wait. We will drive the ship at 10 o'clock in the morning. There is still an hour and a half, so we can't wait for noon. Your goods will be shipped to the dock soon, so don't delay it."

"Okay, I'll arrange for the chef to bring the food first. Since I'm going to drive the boat, I'll drink less wine. Don't worry, all the food and food on the road are ready." Boss Qi said.

Luo Fei was born in the navy and is now the manager of the Atlantic Travel and Shipping Club. Almost all the shareholders of the ship club are the navy, many of whom are school-level officers, but they chose Luo Fei as the manager. So someone joked that Luo Fei became a general.

The reason why those colonels and lieutenant colonels trust Luo Fei so much is because Luo Fei was born. He was a servant of King Yu in his early years. Later, he served as an adjutant to Zhao Longcheng, the commander of the Atlantic Fleet. However, he retired due to injuries. Although he could not tell, his eyes were actually glass.

This is also the current situation of Atlantic City's economy. Almost all industries are related to the navy. Even the owner of this restaurant is the in-laws of a certain naval captain.

"Erfei, is it you?" Luo Fei and his party who were about to enter the single room were stopped.

Luo Fei was also shocked because except for Commander Zhao Longcheng, the only people from Prince Yu's mansion who called him Erfei were left.

When he looked back, he saw a tall young man. Luo Fei rushed over and hugged him. As he thought, the young man who called him was Duan Yi, the senior of the servant at that time.

After a long greeting, Luo Fei called Duan Yi and his two subordinates to his private room.

"Brother Duan, have you come out of the attendant too?" Luo Fei asked.

Duan Yi shook his head, lifted a corner of his shirt, and there was a sign hanging on his belt, saying, "No, it was Prince Yu who asked me to come to Atlantic City to see it. You also know that the prince promised the emperor that he would not set foot on the land of North America in this life."

"Oh, I have official duties, then I can't delay you." Luo Fei said.

Duan Yi laughed: "It's not a matter of delay. There's nothing serious about it. The prince just asked me to see how it is here. I came here, just take a look and saw that there was no one on the official side. It was said to be a official business, but it was also a private dispatch. If you say it was a fief of our prince, it was not."

After hearing this, Luo Fei felt relieved and said, "Then let's eat together. I'll tell you about Atlantic City."

Atlantic City was originally called Boston, and it was the first colony of the Empire on the East Coast of North America. During the British rule, it was already the largest city and economy on the East Coast, with a population of more than 6,000.

Today, seven years after the empire obtained this city, Boston is already a city with 21,000 people. If it were two towns, twelve villages, two ranches and four farms within the Atlantic City, the population size would reach 35,000 people.

In the early days of Atlantic City, the first immigrants were exiled prisoners or poor landless farmers, but soon, a wealthy and civilized immigrant group emerged here - the Navy's family.

The Atlantic Fleet is the latest fleet of the Empire and the farthest from the local area, so it is treated the best. Unlike domestic fleets, naval officers who come here to serve at least six years, and soldiers have four years, which is much longer than other fleets.

In order to make up for the long-term overseas service, the Imperial Navy strongly supported the Navy's family to accompany him in Atlantic City. It would be better if they settled.

As early as the 29th year of the Empire, a battalion of engineers arrived in Atlantic City. They formed a construction team and built civil buildings in the best location in Atlantic City. They included both naval dormitories for naval soldiers, naval courtyards and naval single-family courtyards.

The single-family courtyard was built for the families of naval officers. At first it was a single-family two-story building and garden. Later, considering that most naval officers who were willing to serve in Atlantic City were of low origins, the family members might not have the leisure to grow flowers, so they became a two-story building and vegetable garden.

Any naval officer and a third-level or above non-commissioned officer whose family members arrive in Atlantic City can choose a small courtyard as residence. If they are willing to settle here, they will have ownership of the small courtyard. Ordinary non-commissioned officers and naval soldiers live in naval dormitories. If they get married or their wife arrives, they can get a single dormitory, and if they have children or other family members, they can live in the Siheyuan.

In addition to houses, there are special naval schools, from kindergarten to high school, and allocated. Those who are willing to go to college can also go to Jinzhou or Xijin on the West Coast to study. As for land, not to mention naval families, any imperial citizen can reclaim the land without any restrictions when he comes here.

The latest benefit is the royal yacht called the "Flying Henan" that sent Li Junwei to Europe. After sending Little William to Cornisburg, this yacht came to Atlantic City to serve. Its mission is to travel between Atlantic City, Lisbon and Amsterdam every two months to provide the naval family members, especially the officers and wives, with free access to the big cities, and people outside the navy can also be used for a fee.

The navy's family was the first batch of high-quality immigrants. After her husband Bai Jingyu became the governor of North America, economic development brought about a new batch of immigrants. These immigrants were practitioners in the fishing and shipping industries.

You should know that not far from Boston is one of the four largest fishing grounds in the world. Among them, cod is an important source of protein for Europeans. In the past, this fishing ground was monopolized by Britain, the Netherlands and France. In the last war, the empire and France divided the sphere of influence, and the French fishing industry was originally weak and did not constitute competition at all. Britain was directly excluded, and Dutch fishing boats must also purchase fishing licenses, salt and other necessities from the Governor's Office.

Li Mingxun directly invested in building a ship repair yard in Atlantic City, giving the local area the ability to repair machine sailboats and provide services to a large number of imperial fishermen.
Chapter completed!