The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 110 The Darkest Year in British History

On April 1782, 4, the British delegation returned to London.

British Prime Minister the Marquis of Rockingham, British Home Secretary the Earl of Shelburne, and Foreign Secretary Fox walked into Buckingham Palace together to pay a visit to King George III of the United Kingdom.

George III was in a bad mood.

Although these three people went to Ming Dynasty and did not cause any trouble in front of him in the past year, there was no good news this year.

With a heavy heart, the Prime Minister took out the Latin and English translations of the Treaty of Yingtianfu and handed them to George III:
"Your Majesty, I am very sorry that we did not save our colonies in North America.

"The Ming even threatened to fight to the death and kill all British prisoners.

“If we don’t accept all their demands, they will kill us all.

"For the lives of tens of thousands of English people, we can only accept..."

George III didn't want to look at what was in front of him, but he had to open it to confirm the specific contents.

And quickly found the most critical clauses listed separately from the long paragraph of text.

George III had foreseen these things countless times in his mind.

But now that I actually see the official text, I still instinctively feel a blackout before my eyes:
"This has been the darkest year in British history, we have lost all our overseas territory."

At this time, the Prime Minister next to him was a little unsure, but he had to mention it:
“In fact, the content of the peace treaty is not the entire result of this negotiation.

“We have the opportunity to keep some of the land.

"The area north of the Ottawa River, including Montreal and Quebec..."

George III was obviously stunned, and asked subconsciously:

“According to the latest news, even Quebec and Montreal have been captured by the Ming expeditionary force.

"Did you manage to keep the two places during the peace talks in Ming Dynasty?
"The peace treaty doesn't allow us to keep it, does it?"

Fox did not wait for the Prime Minister to try to mislead him, but directly interrupted and explained the truth:

“Your Majesty, we did not retain any overseas colonies in the negotiations, nor are we likely to do so.

“It’s just that after the negotiations, His Royal Highness the King of Wu of the Ming Dynasty made an invitation for a territorial exchange.

"He wanted to make a deal with the Hanoverian crown, exchanging Quebec and the area north of Montreal for a piece of land on the Hanoverian coast."

When George III heard about Hanover, he almost jumped up on the spot:

"What are you talking about? Hanover? What are the Ming people going to do? Are they going to interfere in the affairs of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire?"

Germany and the Holy Roman Empire...

The Prime Minister immediately explained when he heard this question:
“Your Majesty, it is not about interfering with Germany and the Holy Roman Empire.

“Ming wanted a window to export Ming goods directly to Europe.

“In fact, it is the same as the UK exporting industrial products to Europe through Hanover.

"Actually, this is a deal that is beneficial to Hanover, Great Britain, and Ming.

“The Ming Dynasty traded directly with Europe in Hanover, selling all kinds of Ming specialties.

“These goods for sale and the European merchants going to the area all passed through other territories of Hanover.

"So Your Majesty can gain a lot of benefits from this.
"As for Britain, it can take back Canada and get the wood needed to repair the warships."

If Macartney had thought of the timber problem, so certainly had the Prime Minister during his months on the road.

George III could vaguely imagine that the Ming Dynasty's port in Hanover would be very developed and Hanover would benefit from it.

But he instinctively resisted ceding Hanoverian territory.

Zhu Jianxuan and the French knew that Canada was a bad place, and George III didn't think Canada was of any use.

The key point is, why should we exchange Hanover's land for British land?

George III waved his hands vigorously:
“No way, Canada is already a rotten land, how could I possibly exchange it for Hanover’s coastal land?
"Since it is a Hanoverian transaction, the land in exchange also belongs to Hanover, and Hanover does not have a navy to control Canada."

The Home Secretary, the Earl of Shelburne, reminded the King:
“This deal is now not just for the UK or Hanover, but for all of Europe.

"The Ming Dynasty only wants a trading port on the European continent. It doesn't matter who the land originally belonged to, as long as it's on the European continent.

“In addition, the Ming Dynasty will arrange for an envoy to discuss this transaction with the royal families of various European countries.

“If the Habsburgs complete the deal with Ming, Hanover and Great Britain will get nothing.

George III said directly:
"We won't gain anything, but we won't lose anything either!"

The Prime Minister went on to remind the King of what he had neglected:
"We need the timber to repair our warships and keep the British Isles safe.

“We also need to find a way to resettle immigrants in North America who are loyal to the king.”

King George III knocked on the table:
“The navy needs wood, so we can buy it from the Portuguese. Isn’t Brazil full of forests?
"And we can also go to Africa to occupy land and look for wood."

The Prime Minister was very frustrated:

“Your Majesty, it costs money to buy wood, and we have no money at all right now.

“To develop colonies in Africa, it takes not only money and people, but also time.

"By the time we build colonies in Africa, the warships waiting to be repaired will have long since rotted away."

George III asked directly:

"No money to buy wood? But money to repair the warship?"

The three ministers, led by the prime minister, all realized that the king was now a little too excited.

There was silence for a few seconds, and then the Home Secretary, Earl Shelburne, stepped forward and reminded the king of a fundamental problem:
“Your Majesty, should we give a little consideration to the reputation of the royal family?

“If this war ends in complete defeat, it will be detrimental to the royal family.

"The failure of the war might induce opposition to the royal family..."

This time George III finally fell silent and had to think about the problem calmly.

European monarchs were the masters of their country, and their default identity was usually military leaders, while religious leaders were others.

Military success or failure is the thing that most affects the king's prestige, and prestige can be considered the basis of power in some cases.

The power of the British king has always been fluctuating and has been declining overall.

This massive failure will surely accelerate that process.

There was another danger even, which the Earl of Shelburne did not fully state, but of which the king was aware.

Failure in war, financial crisis, crisis of confidence may lead to revolution.

George III quickly calmed down and began to seriously consider the current situation of Britain.

But Foreign Secretary Fox suddenly interrupted and pointed out the king's pain point very bluntly:

“Your Majesty, if we had given the colonial people autonomy, perhaps none of this would have happened.

"If we had directly allowed the colonial people to gain independence, we would have only lost that one colony.

“Of course, there’s no point discussing these things now, we’ve lost everything.

“Moreover, the issue of territorial transactions is not part of the peace treaty and does not require an immediate decision.

"If there are no problems with the treaty itself, please approve it as soon as possible, Your Majesty.

"We need to hand over the letter of approval to the Ming Dynasty as soon as possible in exchange for all the prisoners. "End the state of war as soon as possible and restore commercial order as soon as possible."

Fox actually doesn't really want the Kings to accept the trade.

Fox really had no interest in Canada, and didn't think much about issues like the king's reputation.

Hanover was indeed an independent kingdom, but because of its common sovereignty with Britain, British goods could be imported into the German region through Hanover.

Fox would be more willing to give up Canada directly and prevent Ming Dynasty's goods from directly infiltrating the German region.

Now the Prime Minister, the Marquis of Rockingham, and the Home Secretary, the Earl of Shelburne, both appealed to King George III's emotions and reason.

George III had almost been persuaded, but he suddenly jumped out to provoke George III.

George III already disliked Fox, and when he heard that Fox was rubbing salt into his wounds, his anger got out of control.

To the point that I suddenly felt particularly disgusted with the British political system.

If he were a monarch whose words were law, Fox would not dare to be so arrogant.

Then, King George III suddenly talked about what his great-grandfather George I often did:
“I’m going back to Hanover for a while.

“First, take a close look at the agreement and keep these painful memories in mind.

“Second, we should seriously consider the Ming’s proposal for territorial exchange and discuss the matter with the local subjects of Hanover.

"As for the affairs of the United Kingdom, I will leave them to you to handle for the time being..."

Fox's eyes suddenly widened as he realized that the king was really angry.

The king ran straight back to Hanover and obviously refused to approve the agreement.

Deliberately let Britain drag on the state of war with the Ming Dynasty.

Deliberately not exchanging British prisoners.

This will be very uncomfortable for the whole of Britain.

If it is peacetime, when there are not a lot of external troubles.

The ruling group would rather the king fool around outside, and they discuss and decide all daily affairs among themselves.

But it doesn’t work when the country is in trouble.

At that time in Europe, there was no general understanding that sovereignty lies with the people, and the king was the rightful master of the country.

This is recognized and accepted by both ordinary people and officials.

The key is that other countries also accept it.

Important state affairs, such as the announcement of laws and declarations of war and armistices, all require the king's signature.

Without the king's signature, neither the country's own people nor foreign monarchs will recognize it.

These things cannot be done when the king is on the run.

If a European king was captured, they could not choose to establish a new one, but instead spend money to redeem the king.

On the contrary, the foundation of the people-oriented thought has long existed in the history of Shenzhou.

That is to say: the people are more important than the king, and the country is second.

The emperor of Shenzhou had actually long been the emperor of all the citizens, not just the owner of all the country's land.

It was not until Napoleon that Europe created an emperor for the French people.

At this time, European countries did not give up the political basis for establishing another king.

What's more, George III was going to visit his hometown of Hanover. He was not captured or defected. At most, he was on an inspection tour.

The ministers were not yet able to object directly.

However, it is still the monarchical age, but it is also the age of enlightenment.

Fox certainly would not accept the king's threat:

“Your Majesty, at this critical moment, if you insist on going to Hanover to rest.

"Then please approve my resignation as Foreign Minister before you go to Hanover."

Fox also posed.

You are the only king who would run away? I would run away too.

Fox is a representative of the radical faction, and his resignation is not just his own resignation.

It will definitely draw the radicals into a state of watching the show and causing trouble.

Now that Britain has suffered a total defeat in the war, it is a time when the Conservatives are in the most difficult situation and when they need to compromise.

The current British cabinet was formed based on this logic through compromise between the two sides.

Now that your king has run away, not only the radicals will feel bad, the conservatives who support the king will feel even worse.

I'll see how they clean up this mess.

Maybe there will be another revolution.

What is radical?
Keeping the king is just a makeshift arrangement. If you don’t want to make do with it, then let’s have a republic!
Even if it is not a republic, we must continue to limit the king’s power!

We must not allow the king to act arbitrarily!
Seeing the conflict between the King and Fox break out, Prime Minister Marquis Rockingham also has a tendency to go berserk:

“Your Majesty, you cannot leave London at this time.

“Mr. Fox, you can’t just resign now.

"Great Britain needs stability now, stability is paramount.

“It would do no one any good if civil unrest broke out in Great Britain.

"The future of Great Britain, at least in the short term, is to maintain good relations with Ming.

“Avoid being jointly targeted by European countries again.

“Then we will look for suitable targets, explore and build new colonies, and transfer the troublemakers in the country.

“I reiterate now that the deal between Hanover and Ming is beneficial to all three parties.

“Great Britain is short of money right now. If Your Majesty can raise money through Hanover, he will naturally be more popular with the people.

"I hope Your Majesty can calmly and seriously consider this matter."

Among the kings of the Hanoverian dynasty, George III was still capable, and now he really listened.

After a few seconds of silence, George III waved his hand and said:

"You all go out first, let me think about it carefully..."

George III was more calm or trying to adjust his mood than considering.

Fox opened his mouth to say something else.

But the Prime Minister glared at him fiercely:
"If you can't accept my arrangement, then I will resign now and you can find someone else to be the prime minister!"

Fox also shut up.

The three ministers left the king's room together.

(End of this chapter)