The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 104 "Anti-Ming Alliance"

The basic arrangements for the North American army and garrisons were determined.

Zhu Jianxuan once again accepted the greetings of senior Ming Dynasty military officers in North America, and then let them go about their own business.

Zhu Jianxuan himself just arrived in North America today and needs to take a short break to adjust his mental state.

Zhu Jianxuan did not go to the bedroom in the back, but stayed in the current Chengyun Hall and took a nap in the bedroom in the side hall.

When I woke up, it was already past three in the afternoon.

The servants who came with Zhu Jianxuan, with the help of the personal guards of the American Central Guard, have already arranged the layout of the hall.

The chairs were set out for traditional Shenzhou formal banquets.

There is a slightly longer table at the main seat in the main hall facing north and south, and two rows of small tables are placed on each side of the hall.

Generally, we set up as many tables as we want to invite more people.

Where the American representatives were resting, the officials from the Ministry of Rites who accompanied them were giving lectures, instructing these American fathers on how to attend the banquet.

How to talk, how to eat, how to toast, how to respond.

This group of American founding fathers studied very carefully.

Even Paine, who opposed the monarchy, did not make trouble or make faults at this time, but stood by with a stern face and learned along.

Paine felt that the Ming Dynasty's culture and etiquette were excellent and had nothing to do with the monarchy.

Zhu Jianxuan took another shower, dried his hair and changed his clothes. It was almost five o'clock in the afternoon.

Zhu Jianxuan came to the hall again and the guests were already there.

The military officers of the Ming Dynasty, the main officials of the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple who came to North America with Zhu Jianxuan, and the senior craftsmen headed by Song Wendao.

Then came Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Adams, George Clinton and other representatives from all over the United States.

Finally, there were several important British prisoners, including Henry Clinton, commander-in-chief of the British Army in North America, George Macartney, governor of the Caribbean, and explorer James Cook.

Cook was in a strange mood. He had already decided to become a minister of the King of Wu or even a baron of Wu, so he felt much less pressure than other people.

But he is still a prisoner in name, and the key point is that his public status in the UK is relatively low, which should not be enough to attend such a banquet.

In response to Henry Clinton and Macartney's inquiries, Cook could only give vague and selective answers, saying that His Majesty the King of Wu was very interested in his discovery.

In addition to embarrassment, Macartney and others also had other speculations and concerns.

The North American prisoners have lived here for two years, and they have discovered that the Ming army probably doesn't want to leave.

Especially after the two huge log palaces were built, neither the local leaders nor the people in New York expressed any objections.

Today, a large number of Ming Dynasty immigrants arrive and land directly around New York.

In a corner of the hall where the banquet was being prepared, several British prisoners gathered together.

Henry Clinton now had a very firm guess:

"The Ming Dynasty has a very deep connection with the rioters in the Thirteen Colonies."

Macartney made a similar judgment:
"The Thirteen Colonies may not become vassals of the Ming Dynasty, but they will most likely invite members of the Ming Dynasty's royal family to be kings. This palace may be prepared for the king."

Henry Clinton sighed and said:
"This Prince Wu is most likely the designated King of America, otherwise he wouldn't have come here at this time."

Macartney also sighed and said:
"Soon... there will be countless Ming immigrants pouring into North America.

"The colonies that Great Britain has developed and built for more than 200 years will become the living space for the people of the Ming Dynasty in the future."

Henry Clinton was somewhat sad and angry:

“But there was nothing we could do, we lost on the battlefield.

“Even if I guessed these things, there is no way to stop them.

"It would be useless even if we could tell the king right away."

Macartney had some additional ideas:
"Great Britain's defeat this time was a purely diplomatic failure. If it hadn't been for the constraints of other European countries, this war would not have been lost so badly.

"After returning to London, we should advise the king and parliamentarians to accumulate strength and find an opportunity to unite European countries to fight against the Ming Dynasty."

Henry Clinton was somewhat surprised:
"Unite with the Europeans? Fight against the Ming? Why should we do this?
"After this war, we no longer have any conflicts with the Ming Dynasty."

Macartney immediately said:

“Of course there are contradictions, and they are fundamental contradictions.

“Perhaps Ming and Great Britain have similar attitudes toward the European continent, but our goals are completely different.

“After all, the Ming Dynasty is a civilization and ethnic group from another world.

“The cultural systems of our European countries are fundamentally inherited from the Roman Empire, while the Ming Dynasty is a completely different inheritance from the Han Empire.

“The key is that the population of Ming Dynasty is too large, and under the current war mode, their potential is unlimited.

“If European countries cannot unite as soon as possible, they will be crushed one by one by the Ming Dynasty and all their overseas lands will be taken away.

“It is also because the population of the Ming Dynasty is too large, and the greed for land must be endless.

"The land that the Ming people can directly occupy through immigration is endless.

"The whole world is their target, even... Europe..."

Henry Clinton seemed to understand:
"Once all the unowned lands overseas are occupied by the Ming Dynasty, their target may be our European mainland, in addition to the Tatars to the north."

Macartney immediately continued his analysis:

“So we in Great Britain should not cooperate with the Ming Dynasty in the future, but cooperate with the Europeans to fight against the Ming Dynasty.

"The reason why Great Britain failed this time was that France, Spain, Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty formed an alliance against us, Great Britain.

"We should instead try to form an alliance against Ming."

Henry Clinton basically accepted Macartney's idea, and then found that James Cook next to him had been silent:

"Mr. Cook, what are you thinking about? Can you understand our concerns?"

What Captain Cook was thinking about just now was to remember the conversation between Macartney and Henry Clinton and find an opportunity to remind His Royal Highness the King of Wu later.

When faced with Henry Clinton's question, Cook suddenly became flustered and quickly organized his words:

“I don’t really understand… The world is obviously very big, like the southern continent and North America, most of which are wasteland and virgin forest.

"It would take at least a hundred years for the Ming Dynasty to develop these lands.

"In the past, the Ming Dynasty also continued to develop and build around their homeland for more than a hundred years before they began to take an interest in the more distant Australia.

"Even if it's more than a hundred years later, the Ming Dynasty should consider South America first, right?

“Moreover, the Ming Dynasty’s consistent strategy has always been to prioritize occupying uninhabited areas, and they are not interested in densely populated areas.

“Like the Qing Dynasty to their north, and India and Japan to their side.

"According to their habits, they will not be interested in other populous places until they have filled America and Australia with people.

“But filling America would probably take hundreds or even thousands of years.

"Then they should also follow the principle of making friends with distant countries and attacking nearby ones, first conquering Japan, Qing, and Shun, and then consider European affairs.

"So we are worrying about things that will happen thousands of years later. To use an idiom from the Ming Dynasty, it is 'worrying about the sky falling like a pie in the sky'.

"It's like being worried that the sky is going to fall and being unable to sleep because of worry."

Henry Clinton nodded slightly after hearing this:
“What Captain Cook said seems to make sense, and Lord Macartney seems to be overly worried.

"Perhaps we should consider how to compete with the Ming Dynasty in a few hundred years, but now the enemy in Europe is right in front of us. "We should consider how to weaken France to prevent it from becoming stronger after this victory, and start to set our future goals on the British mainland again."

Macartney opened his mouth:

“The fundamental conflict between Great Britain and the Ming Dynasty may not erupt immediately, but it is definitely not something that will happen hundreds of years later.

"Besides, there is a huge problem right now: we need wood to build and repair warships.

"We should at least find a way to get the Canadian area back, or we have to find suitable forests in Africa."

Henry Clinton was an army general, but he also had a basic understanding of the navy:
“Wood is a real problem…”

When the three wanted to continue the discussion, Zhu Jianxuan walked into the banquet hall.

The guards at the four corners of the hall immediately announced loudly:
"His Royal Highness the King of Wu of the Ming Dynasty has arrived!"

All the guests immediately stopped talking, turned around and bowed upwards:

"See His Highness King Wu."

Zhu Jianxuan came to the main seat and bowed in return with a smile:

"Everyone, please take a seat. This banquet is crudely prepared and can only be considered a greeting.

“Once I have settled down here, I will formally invite you all to join me for a feast.

"It's a family banquet, so there's no need to be too restrained."

Although Zhu Jianxuan told everyone to do whatever they wanted, the generals and officials of the Ming Dynasty and the American representatives all agreed very seriously:

"As ordered."

Only the British prisoners led by Macartney seemed to be forcing a smile.

Several people moved their lips but made no obvious sound. They also bowed slightly and sat down rather disappointedly.

The banquet then officially began.

The servants began to serve the food and the musicians began to play.

The opening song was "Serve the Country with Loyalty" composed by Emperor Chongzhen.

No dancers came in to dance, but several soldiers in armor walked into the hall, dancing with swords and singing to the rhythm of the music.

"The smoke of war is rising...Looking north to the country..."

Zhu Jianxuan sat on the stage, listening to the familiar tune and lyrics, and suddenly sighed softly with emotion.

Then I couldn't help but speculate about Emperor Chongzhen's mentality.

Under what circumstances and conditions did they take out this song and have it recorded and sung?

The melody of the song itself is passionate, and the soldiers sang it vigorously and powerfully.

But the song itself carries a sad and angry mood.

If we look at this in conjunction with Chongzhen's life experiences, one will feel a strong sense of helplessness and unwillingness.

The lyrics are actually about Yue Fei, and Chongzhen may have wanted to have a Yue Fei.

But after he arrived in the south, he did not find any useful generals, and the Northern Expedition was delayed for various reasons.

Year after year, until he was very old, he had accomplished nothing.

"The remaining people shed their tears in the dust of the barbarians, and look south to the king's army for another year..."

Zhu Jianxuan inexplicably thought of this poem.

Then a certain idea in my mind became clearer and stronger:
"Hongli must not be allowed to die of old age!"

"We must kill him while he is still conscious!"

With this thought in mind, Zhu Jianxuan suddenly opened his mouth on the stage and sang along with the sword-dancing soldiers:
"The horses are heading south and the people are looking north..."

Hearing Zhu Jianxuan's voice, the Ming generals and officials, representatives from the United States and Britain, and the prisoners were all stunned.

The officers of the Ming Dynasty were stunned and very happy, and they immediately started to sing along:
"I wish to defend the land and expand the frontier..."

After the Chongzhen period, this song almost became a military song, and most officers and soldiers could sing it.

Moreover, in recent years, more and more people have been singing this song at various folk banquets.

Officials from the Ming Dynasty's Ministry of Rites, officials from the Honglu Temple, and craftsmen also sang:

"The great China wants all the people to come and congratulate us..."

The American representatives and British prisoners at the scene, regardless of whether they understood the lyrics or not, were a little stunned.

I always feel that the atmosphere is not right.

You don't need to understand the lyrics of this type of music to roughly understand the emotions behind it.

These Ming people held their breath.

They seemed very angry, and they all seemed to want to do something big.

If all the people in the Ming Dynasty had such emotions, then this thing should be able to be accomplished.

The Ming Dynasty had plenty of resources and population, but lacked sufficient cohesion.

Macartney and Henry Clinton looked at each other, and both showed deep worry on their faces.

The two of them thought of the same question at the same time:
"The Ming Dynasty just gained North America, but the King Wu of the Ming Dynasty and the North American military officers are still holding on to their hatred. What are they trying to do?"

Most Europeans and Americans have no concept of great unification, and the existence of neighboring countries is normal.

The Qing Dynasty is now also one of the most powerful countries in the world. Although the Ming Dynasty is definitely much stronger than the Qing Dynasty, it will definitely cost enough to kill it by force.

Ordinary Europeans and Americans do not realize that the Ming Dynasty's Northern Expedition to destroy the Qing Dynasty was the main mission.

Only when to do it, and if you can do it.

There is never any talk of giving up.

Other things are side quests, and whether to do them depends entirely on whether the benefits and timing are right.

Macartney and Henry Clinton did not realize that the Ming people were holding back their efforts only against the Qing Dynasty and the feudal lords, and they did not need to hold back their efforts in other places.

Macartney and Henry Clinton could only judge that after the Ming Dynasty acquired large colonies in North America, it saw the benefits of overseas expansion.

So now there are new goals, such as unifying the entire North America or even the entire America.

Macartney might not agree with Cook's ease, but he also believed that the Ming Dynasty's next target would not be immediately aimed at mainland Europe.

The biggest powers in North America now are Ming Dynasty and Spain.

The Ming Dynasty might have been preparing to fight a war directly with Spain, to directly take over the entire North American Great Plains, and even to completely control North America.

Both Macartney and Henry Clinton felt that the Spanish were in trouble.

If Britain really wants to continue to be hostile to the Ming Dynasty, cooperation with Spain may be a good opportunity.

The American representatives felt that the Ming Dynasty's target was Spain, but the Americans were not worried but excited.

Several American representatives couldn't help but hum along with the music.

Although most of them don't understand the lyrics.

(End of this chapter)