The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 128 The Final Fate of the Netherlands
On May 1, the 37th year of Xianning, the Dutch delegation arrived in Meiping Prefecture.

Zhu Jianxuan did not meet the envoy in person, but asked Liu Quanzhi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs who had visited the Netherlands, to receive him in a side hall of Chengyun Hall.

Liu Quanzhi sat there and after listening to the envoy's complaints, he waved his hand to interrupt him:
"It's meaningless for you to complain about these things now, and you don't recognize your current reality.

"If the Netherlands wants lasting peace and stability in the future and wants to avoid being invaded and controlled by other European countries, it can only follow a country that can protect you.

"Compared to France and Britain, the biggest advantage of the Ming Dynasty is that its homeland is not in Europe.

“If you invite His Royal Highness the King of Wu to be your king, then His Royal Highness will not normally go to Europe, nor will he directly interfere in your domestic affairs.

“Your domestic institutions and power structures can remain completely unchanged.

"The requests of Daming and His Royal Highness Prince Wu are just these two simple ones.

“First, all overseas colonies, including Ceylon, Cape Town, and Suriname, are completely open to Ming official and private ships and merchants.

"The Ming imperial family and private merchants are allowed to trade freely, invest freely and operate any industry.

"Second, the area south of The Hague, including the port of Rotterdam, on both sides of the Rhine estuary leading to Germany, and on both sides of the Scheldt estuary leading to Antwerp, each with an area of ​​1,000 square kilometers, will be directly governed by the king.

“Your Majesty will not interfere with the lives of the residents of the two places, as long as the Ming royal family and merchants can operate freely in the two places.

“It is even possible to allow the original officials to continue to serve, and only require slight adjustments to the administrative divisions.

“His Majesty of course allowed Dutch merchants to continue to operate locally.

“The locals will all benefit from Ming’s trade.

“The entire Netherlands region will prosper again because of this.

“If you can accept such conditions, then let Regent William come to Meiping Mansion in person to attend the coronation ceremony of His Royal Highness King Wu.

“The ruling minister and his children, as well as other noble children in the Netherlands, must take the initiative to learn about the culture and system of the Ming Dynasty in the future, so as to facilitate future exchanges with the Ming Dynasty and the king.

“His Royal Highness the King of Wu’s latest inventions of medicines and preventive methods can protect them and their children from the threat of tuberculosis and smallpox for life.

"Your Highness has abandoned the dangerous smallpox vaccine and created a safer alternative."

In fact, in the original history, the East Indies occupied by the Netherlands had begun to open up to Britain and France in this era.

The Dutch colonies gradually became public colonies of European maritime powers, but the ruling rights belonged to the Netherlands.

This is why the Netherlands was able to retain these colonies even after its overall decline.

After completing the Industrial Revolution and completely defeating the Netherlands, Britain began to ensure the independence of the Netherlands and prohibited France and Germany from annexing the Netherlands.

Because Britain wanted to transport British goods to inland Europe via the Rhine.

Later, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, and the three Low Countries became a buffer zone between Britain, France and Germany, and survived until the 21st century.

Now the Ming Dynasty is asking the Netherlands to share its remaining colonies with the Ming Dynasty, which can be regarded as a kind of convergent choice.

Zhu Jianxuan planned to make the lowland area the future trade center of northwestern Europe.

There are huge benefits for the Dutch too.

You may still have an instinctive resistance now, but once you accept it, you can’t get rid of it.

Zhu Jianxuan did not give the Netherlands any chance to bargain, so after Liu Quanzhi stated Zhu Jianxuan's conditions, he directly sent the envoy back to inform William V.

When the Dutch envoys returned to The Hague, it was already July 1783, 7 in the Gregorian calendar.

The Confederation of German States has accepted reality, but the federation they formed will continue to exist and the army they formed has not been disbanded.

Although the monarchs and ministers of the relevant countries already knew that war was unlikely to break out.

But the atmosphere throughout Europe was still shrouded in the shadow of war.

The dust and gas emitted by the Icelandic volcano have begun to spread across the European continent.

The sky over many cities has turned abnormal colors.

The air became hotter and hotter, and large numbers of people with fragile bodies began to suffer from allergies, fell ill for unknown reasons, and then died.

This makes the atmosphere in Europe even more depressing.

When the Dutch King William V heard the envoy's report, he coughed, shook his head and sighed:
"The Netherlands has no choice but to accept the reality.

“The alliance of German princes headed by Prussia and Saxony…can only barely protect themselves.

"What can our little Netherlands do?"

William V's wife, Wilhelmine, was the cousin of King Frederick II of Prussia.

Frederick II has no children yet, and the current heir is his cousin, Wilhelmine's brother.

But faced with the current situation, they can't do anything either.

William V's chamberlain also said:
"The conditions offered by His Royal Highness the King of Ming are indeed good. He will be the king but live in North America instead of Europe.

"This will indeed allow the Netherlands to continue to maintain its de facto independence, and the ruling lord and the parliamentarians will not be affected. "The future Ming Dynasty's European trade will be centered in Rotterdam and Antwerp, which will indeed benefit our Dutch merchants."

William V's wife, Wilhelmine, was more concerned with other things:
"It seems that the French said that His Royal Highness the King of Wu has medicine to prevent tuberculosis? Is this true?
"Now they say they have a new smallpox vaccine. Is it much safer than the previous one?"

The method of vaccinating against smallpox was already being used in Europe at that time.

However, this prevention method has certain risks, and it is even possible to develop the disease and die directly after vaccination.

Octavius, the thirteenth child and eighth son of King George III of the United Kingdom, died on May 1783, 5, from the use of variolation vaccine to prevent smallpox.

This made European royal families even more worried about the dangers of smallpox.

At the same time, the news that Ming Dynasty possessed drugs to control tuberculosis had spread in Europe through the French royal family and the Habsburg royal family.

During the process of confirming the cooperation plan with France, Britain and the Habsburgs, Zhu Jianxuan also accepted the advice of the Queen of France.

It was decided to open a hospital in the future European trade center, build high-end manors and hotels for European royal families and nobles to live in, and provide tuberculosis prevention and treatment drugs here.

This also reduced the resistance of many European nobles to the Ming Dynasty's construction of trade ports on the European continent.

The threat of tuberculosis is still too great.

William V said:
“The Ming Dynasty and France conducted an experiment in Paris. His Royal Highness Prince Wu’s magic medicine can indeed control tuberculosis and prevent it from happening again. It can also prevent tuberculosis infection in advance.

“Regarding the issue of smallpox vaccine, we have not yet verified it, but perhaps we will become the subject of verification.

"It doesn't really matter, we have no choice now,"

William V's discussion with his retainers and family ended.

The parliament was then convened, and the Dutch parliamentarians were quickly persuaded to accept the cooperation plan of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu of the Ming Dynasty.

On July 1783, 7, the official Dutch mission set out for North America.

The Dutch King William V served as a representative and was escorted by the Dutch navy to North America in person.

At this time, the American Kingdom was preparing for a grand event.

The coronation of His Majesty the King, the official enthronement ceremony for all American nobles.

At this time, the official notice from the Alliance of German Princes was sent to North America at the end of July.

Zhu Jianxuan, who was preparing for the ceremony, was a little surprised after reading the content of the notice.

If we translate this "League of German Princes" in another way, wouldn't it be the "German Confederation"?

As long as Bavaria did not become independent, they would not disband and would even set up a coalition army.

The depth of this union is already very high.

Higher than the German Confederation formed after the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

Was this because his interference in German affairs had accelerated the unification of northern Germany?
If these princes remain united, and if the French Revolution breaks out again and strikes another blow to the German region...

They won’t create a unified German state ahead of time, right?
The threat I had made about Prussia to France and Britain wouldn't become a reality so soon, right?
However, after careful consideration, Zhu Jianxuan felt that if North Germany could really be unified ahead of time, it might not be without benefits to the Ming Dynasty.

At least there is a country on the European continent that can check and balance France and Britain.

Zhu Jianxuan really had no confidence in the Habsburgs.

However, this North German country has been hostile to the Ming Dynasty since its birth.

So Zhu Jianxuan even thought about whether he should write a reply to them to express that the Ming Dynasty would no longer interfere in German affairs?
But if they don't believe it, it will be useless, and if they believe it, it will reduce their tendency to unite.

In addition, the country they should hate is not just the Ming Dynasty. France, Britain and the Habsburgs can all be considered their enemies.

If we really want to hate these countries, we should first hate the Habsburgs.

In the end, Zhu Jianxuan decided to let things take their course.

Zhu Jianxuan himself began to wonder what the future situation of Germany and Europe would eventually look like.

As I get directly involved in more and more things, future history has become increasingly difficult to predict.

There may still be a great possibility that the French Revolution will break out, but the time and manner of its outbreak are no longer predictable.

On October 1783, 10, in the last few days before Zhu Jianxuan's coronation ceremony, the Dutch ruler and his entourage arrived in New York County, Meiping Prefecture.

Foreign Minister Liu Quanzhi first received William V and confirmed that the other party had decided to accept the conditions of His Royal Highness the King of Wu.

Zhu Jianxuan met with them on October 10 and signed a simple agreement on the spot to finalize the terms previously agreed upon by both parties.

Zhu Jianxuan conferred on William V the title of Duke of the County of Holland on the spot and conferred on his son William Frederick the title of Count of The Hague.

Zhu Jianxuan finally gave William V a set of clothes so that they could attend his coronation ceremony.

At the same time, he added "King of the Netherlands" to the title he was about to be crowned.

(End of this chapter)