The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 117 "I've decided to take them all!"

After listening to Zhu Jianxuan's two proposals, the Spanish Foreign Minister instinctively preferred the option of exchanging Taranto.

Before the opening of the Suez Canal, Sicily's geographical advantages were not obvious, and Taranto's importance was naturally lower.

At this time, there were only more than 10,000 people in the port city, and including the surrounding rural areas, it was estimated that there were only about 100,000 people.

Although there are some hills around the city, they are not on the same level as the dangerous Gibraltar Peninsula.

On the Italian peninsula, which is full of mountains, this is a relatively flat place.

In other words, this land meets the vision of Carlos III.

A port with no obvious obstructions.

The Spanish Foreign Minister paused for a moment:

"If your majesty wants to exchange Taranto, you can't just use Jamaica to pay it back, you should also take Canada..."

Zhu Jianxuan couldn't help but remind him again:
“If Ming Dynasty builds a trading city in Taranto, the entire surrounding Naples and Sicily will benefit.

“Turning the surrounding land of little commercial value into the richest place in the Mediterranean.

“Jamaica also has a good plantation industry, which is ten times the size of the land I am asking for.

“Add to that the extra business profits, and it’s definitely enough to exchange for Taranto.

“You should know that Ming’s trading partner is not just Spain, the British representative is waiting in the city.

“I also arranged a special delegation to Europe to invite other countries to discuss this deal.

"If you can't decide, you can go back and ask your king."

The Spanish Foreign Minister thought about it for a few seconds, then reluctantly accepted this statement:

"Okay, Your Majesty, we accept your proposal to exchange Jamaica for one thousand square kilometers of land around Taranto. Now we can directly discuss how to trade."

This time Zhu Jianxuan was a little surprised.

After dealing with the fussy British people, I feel a little uncomfortable with the Spanish people's straightforwardness.

So much so that Zhu Jianxuan hesitated after seeing their reaction:

“We can trade like this, but I have to wait for the Ming Dynasty’s European envoys to return first.

“We have to wait for representatives from other kingdoms to come before we can decide whether to trade with Spain.

“This will take at least three months, and you can also take this time to go back to Europe.

"Have your king prepare the warrant and ratification of the agreement allowing the exchange of Taranto."

The Spanish Foreign Minister is really helpless this time:

"We understand. We will arrange for the fleet to return home immediately. Please ask His Majesty the King to prepare the letter of approval."

Zhu Jianxuan asked the Spanish representatives to rest and wait first, and then continue to care about and deal with domestic affairs in the United States.

There are two things happening in the United States right now. One is to continue distributing land to immigrants, and the other is to teach the aristocrats.

The Imperial College of America has officially opened.

Most of the founding fathers and nobles of the United States have their own things to do and it is impossible for them to attend classes here 24 hours a day.

We can only let them arrange their own time and study regularly for a period of time.

But their heirs have all been sent here. Those who have no sons can find brothers or nephews, or even an adopted son.

Attend classes and study around the clock with officials from the Ming Dynasty's Ministry of Rites.

Zhu Jianxuan often took them to classes, practiced Chinese calligraphy, practiced rifle and pistol shooting, and went on horseback or bicycle tours with them.

The first generation of founding fathers of the United States are already quite old and can no longer be directly influenced by themselves, but these second generations can.

Zhu Jianxuan handled his daily work while waiting for the European delegation and representatives from other countries.

This time the wait lasted more than three months.

Until August 1782, the 9th year of Xianning, September 16, in the Western calendar.

The French and Habsburg delegations finally arrived at the city of Meiping.

Zhu Jianxuan met them in Chengyun Hall and listened to their introduction of the Habsburg exchange plan.

Zhu Jianxuan couldn't help but frown after hearing this.

The Southern Netherlands, which was Belgium in the previous life, can indeed be considered a good place.

It is close to the English Channel, which makes it convenient to directly participate in the affairs of France, Britain and the Netherlands, and it is not far from the core area of ​​Germany.

But the Habsburg's territory exchange plan was puzzling.

Zhu Jianxuan finally realized how troublesome Shinra's internal affairs were at this time.

The Elector of the Palatinate, whose name was Charles Theodore, inherited Bavaria because of the extinction of his distant relatives.

Theodore had no legitimate children of his own.

The legitimate heir within the Holy Roman Empire was his cousin, Charles August Christian, Duke of Zweibrücken.

But Theodore had several mistresses and several illegitimate children.

He wanted to give some of the land he had now acquired to his illegitimate son, rather than letting his cousin August inherit it all after his death.

Of course August wouldn't allow his cousin to do that.

Augustus certainly wanted to inherit the entire Palatinate and all of Bavaria.

Prussia and Saxony supported Augustus.

According to the general understanding of Europeans, illegitimate children have no legal inheritance rights, and the plan of Elector Palatinate Theodore was not in accordance with the rules.

His cousin August and the Prussian and Saxon parties took the righteous position and gained widespread support.

Before distributing the territory to the illegitimate children, it is theoretically possible to exchange territories with others, but this must be done within the HRE system and must be approved by other major electors and states.

Of course, Augustus, Prussia, Saxony and others would not agree.

Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II and the Elector Palatinate were eventually forced to back down.

"If the righteous cause is not complete, then we must use force to support it."

Zhu Jianxuan made a judgment and looked at the Habsburg Deputy Chief Minister, the Minister of State of the Elector Palatinate:

"Your plan does not have completely legal procedures. The concubines of the Ming Dynasty have the right of inheritance, but illegitimate children do not.

“But it’s not that there is no way to sort out legal methods of operation.

“The Elector Palatinate chooses a child and makes sure it is the child of his own heir.

"I will give him the title of the Great Ming Wu Kingdom. I can directly authorize the title, and the highest title can be a duke.

“Or I can ask my father to give him a Ming title, but it may take a few more years to complete, and the title may only be given to him as an earl.

“Then the Habsburgs gave me the Southern Netherlands first, and I kept a piece of coastal land to build a trading port.

"Most of the remaining land was given to this child.

“This child will be a vassal of the Ming Wu Kingdom, and the Elector Palatinate will continue to be the Elector of the Holy Roman Empire.

“This way we can avoid the trouble of having one servant serving two masters.

“At the same time, the Elector Palatinate controlled Bavaria himself and cooperated with the Habsburg takeover to hand over Bavaria.

“In the future, let his cousin only inherit the land of his hometown.

"The biggest problem is to withstand the opposition and interference from the German states led by Prussia.

“It takes a lot of force to fight it.”

Zhu Jianxuan said this and looked at French Foreign Minister Gravier.

The French should not have supported this exchange.

Because the increase in the Habsburgs' core strength meant a weakening of France's position in Europe.

If the Ming Dynasty directly intervenes in European affairs, it will also affect France's status.

But the Ming Dynasty can now give Canada to the Habsburgs, and the Habsburgs can use Canada to bribe France.

At the same time, French King Louis XVI had a good relationship with the Habsburg monarch Joseph II.

Now the King of France also has a good impression of the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty also brought very good commercial profits to the French royal family and court.

France's position on the European continent is just a nominal position; the directly visible interests and land are real.

Although French politicians are indeed far-sighted, they cannot resolutely give up their immediate real interests for invisible fame.

So now is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Based on this analysis, Zhu Jianxuan proposed a new solution:

"Britain is now eager to acquire Canada and at the same time hopes to establish a defensive alliance with Ming.

“So Canada was given to the Hanoverian royal family in Britain, in order to win over Hanover and Britain to support the exchange, and in turn to check and confront Prussia.

“The Ming Dynasty gave several sugar islands in Central America to France as compensation and conditions in exchange for Canada.

"Spain now also wants to make a deal with Ming and hopes to sign a non-aggression alliance treaty.

“Ming can make not objecting to this exchange a condition for signing the contract with Spain.

"At the same time, do the Habsburgs have an alliance with Russia now? Are they preparing to find the right time to jointly attack the Ottoman Empire?
“Can we now persuade Catherine II not to oppose this territorial exchange?
"If Ming, Habsburg, France, Britain, and Hanover all support the exchange, Spain and Russia will not oppose it.

"Then the remaining states such as Prussia and Saxony probably can't do anything."

The terms of the deal between Britain, Spain and the Habsburgs were all announced.

The demands of these three countries are completely different, and it seems that the Ming Dynasty has the opportunity to satisfy them all.

Spain is a relatively pure exchange, and at the same time it wants a place that is convenient for trade with the Ming Dynasty, so it is not very important whether or not to have Canada.

Britain's need for Canada is urgent, and at the same time it wants to gain the support of the Ming Dynasty and obtain a safe and stable diplomatic environment.

The Habsburgs wanted to complete a territorial exchange with the Palatinate and had no interest in Canada itself, but only intended to use it as a condition to win over France.

Other European countries might be interested in trading with the Ming, but none of them had land that was very suitable for exchange.

Zhu Jianxuan doesn't want to build a port in the Baltic Sea.

After Zhu Jianxuan analyzed the conditions of the Three Kingdoms together, a bold idea emerged in his mind.

Can I have them all?

France does not necessarily have to use Canada, it can exchange it with other valuable islands.

At the same time, exchanging land in the German region with the British Hanoverian royal family should also be subject to interference from German states such as Prussia.

Since the Habsburgs' transactions with Britain both require opposing Prussia, and the two countries have different demands, they might as well just bring them together and solve them.

Getting the UK to cooperate with most countries on the European continent can also help it escape its current situation of complete isolation, and the British top leaders should not refuse.

Ming Dynasty, Britain, Habsburg and France directly took action to suppress Prussia, and Ming Dynasty and Habsburg excluded external interference from Spain and Russia.

Afterwards, the Ming Dynasty obtained the Belgian area bordering the English Channel as the current and future European trade center.

Obtain the Bremen region of Germany as a base for future interference in German affairs.

Obtain the Taranto region on the Italian peninsula in the middle of the Mediterranean as a naval base for future security and control of the Mediterranean shipping routes.

The ideal is already very full, and the next step is how to actually realize it.

(End of this chapter)