The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 21 Who is your king?
John Adams, the first vice president and second president of the United States in history, is 41 years old this year.

Adams and other local American representatives boarded the Spanish sailing ships, crossed the Pacific Ocean and came to the Ming Dynasty.

The saying "America" ​​was coined by the people of the Ming Dynasty, which originated from the Kunyu Geography by Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty.

It was originally a transliteration of the full name of America, similar to "America", but now it specifically refers to the central Great Plains and southeastern regions of North America.

This is what Emperor Chongzhen called the "Central Plains" and "Jiangnan" in North America.

The local Europeans still called it the Thirteen Colonies of North America.

The Ming Dynasty seized all of Spain's colonies in Southeast Asia, but the Spanish galleon routes were still operating.

Now they have direct access to Ming's ports.

Anyway, the things they needed to purchase before were originally provided by the Ming Dynasty itself.

Although they no longer have autonomy by trading directly with Daming, it is more convenient than before and does not affect their ability to make money and buy goods.

The main purpose of Adams and others' trip was two-fold:
One is to gain recognition from the Ming Dynasty and then trade directly with the Ming Dynasty, including tea, silk, porcelain, spices, etc.

The second is to hope to gain the support of the Ming Dynasty, hoping that the Ming Dynasty could lend some money, or even some weapons and equipment, or even some officers and artillery.

Even if it is impossible to get the support of the Ming Dynasty court, being able to establish connections with private merchants in the Ming Dynasty and even build smuggling channels can be considered a success.

The Ming Dynasty in this world has closer ties with Europe, people-to-people exchanges are more frequent, and there are many Ming Dynasty merchants doing business overseas.

Most Europeans knew that the Ming Dynasty was very rich, and Ming Dynasty merchants were almost synonymous with wealthy.

Adams himself had no illusions about being received by the Ming Emperor.

The Europeans in this world have a deeper understanding of Shenzhou and know that the emperor of Shenzhou has a much higher status in his own country than any European monarch.

He is a ruler who combines the European monarch, the Pope and the military commander in one.

They would not easily receive civilians who did not have sufficient status, especially foreigners like themselves who were regarded as barbarians.

Adams's mission was mainly to explore the attitude of the Ming court.

Next he will go north to Qing Kingdom to investigate, and finally he will go to Shun Kingdom to test the waters.

Of course, the main target is Ming Dynasty, which is the richest among the three kingdoms of Shenzhou and, more importantly, has the strongest navy.

In the eyes of Europeans, the Ming Dynasty was the Eastern Roman Empire of Shenzhou, the Shun Kingdom was the Holy Roman Empire of Shenzhou, and the Qing Dynasty was the Ottoman Empire of Shenzhou.

If Adams had come to Ming Dynasty a few years ago, he would not have had the opportunity to meet the Ming Emperor directly.

Before Zhu Jianxuan was born and learned to speak, the Ming Emperor Zhu Zhonglin didn't care too much about news from the North American colonies.

Most of the time, the officials of the Honglu Temple could just deal with it casually.

After all, the other side cannot even be considered a country now, but just a group of barbarians who have just started a rebellion.

Zhu Zhonglin would definitely feel that the other party was not qualified to see him.

However, two years ago, Zhu Jianxuan made a simulation of the American war, and what is happening now is highly consistent with Zhu Jianxuan's prediction at the time.

This group of rioters really rebelled and actually won several battles.

This has already attracted Zhu Zhonglin's attention.

Zhu Zhonglin began to worry whether Zhu Jianxuan's subsequent deductions would also come true.

After the American rioters demonstrate their strength, France and Spain may step in to provoke the British.

With the support of France and Spain, the American War of Independence might be successful. In addition, Zhu Zhonglin still did not want his son to go to Australia, a barren land, to establish a country, so he began to eagerly want to obtain the fertile land in North and South America.

Referring to his son's deduction of the situation in America and combining it with the actual changes in the situation, Zhu Zhonglin saw an opportunity to profit from the chaos.

So after a little consideration, Zhu Zhonglin decided to meet these so-called representatives in person.

Zhu Zhonglin planned to trick these barbarians.

The audience with the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was definitely a pleasant surprise for John Adams.

So on the second day of April in the 30th year of Xianning, Adams came to the Wenhua Hall in the Forbidden City to pay homage to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Adams was uneasy. Although he knew that Shenzhou had a tradition of not killing envoys, that only applied to countries of similar status.

If the power gap between the two sides is too large, the stronger party may insult the other side's envoys at will.

If one side is prepared to fight to the death, it is also possible to do the opposite and express its determination not to negotiate by killing the envoys as a sacrifice to the gods.

The main reason is that they do not have enough support behind them, and the group they represent cannot even be considered a country.

Adams tried his best to imitate the etiquette of the Ming people, bowing and greeting as respectfully as possible:

"John Adams, representative of the thirteen colonies of North America, pays homage to His Majesty the Supreme Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and wishes His Majesty good health and longevity."

The interpreter from the Honglu Temple stood below the emperor's seat and translated Adams' words to the emperor.

After listening to this, Emperor Zhu Zhonglin responded calmly:

"No need to be polite. Is the person who signed this letter, Hancock, the Speaker of the Continental Congress, your future king?"

After the interpreter translated the emperor's question, he reminded him that he could stand up straight and speak.

Adams explained with a somewhat surprised expression:
"Mr. Hancock is our Speaker and will not become king in the future."

Zhu Zhonglin immediately asked:
"Who is your king then? Why isn't your future king's signature on the diplomatic letter to me, Ming?"

Adams continued to explain with some entanglement:

“Your Majesty, we may not have a king. We don’t have a suitable candidate for the king at the moment, so there is no king’s signature on the letter.

"We may form a republic in the future, similar to the United Provinces of the Netherlands. Your Majesty, do you know the Netherlands?"

Emperor Zhu Zhonglin asked again:

"I know the Netherlands, but the Netherlands also has a hereditary ruling prince. Does your so-called united colony have one?
“Who can approach other monarchs on your behalf, who can sign valid agreements on your behalf?

“Who will represent your group and take on the corresponding responsibilities that a monarch has?”

Adams is a lawyer. After being asked twice in a row, he had already sensed some additional meaning:

"May I ask, Your Majesty, do you mean that once we have our own king, the Ming Dynasty will provide us with support?"

Zhu Zhonglin tapped the table with his fingers and said coldly:
"Only after you have a king will the Ming Dynasty 'consider' whether to provide you with support.

"How can you fight the British court if you don't have a unified court, a monarch who can gather all the power?

"How does the Ming Dynasty judge whether you have sufficient capabilities and are worthy of the Ming Dynasty's necessary support or investment?
"You don't think that you can easily defeat the British army just by shouting about rebellion like this?
"I don't think so either. It's hard for the Ming Dynasty to believe that you can win.

"Any support that the Ming Dynasty provides to you now may be wasted due to your failure."

(End of this chapter)