The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 334: The Name and Instrument of the World Ruler

After thinking about it for a long time, Li Celing finally came to a conclusion that he should have known long ago.

Becoming a true vassal state of the Ming Dynasty means putting your destiny in the hands of others.

The future destiny of oneself and one's descendants is placed on the political credibility of the Ming Emperor and future emperors.

The current Ming Emperor has a good political reputation, but the future is unpredictable.

If Li Celing was the monarch of a small country, if he was an ordinary monarch who was content with reality, he might be able to accept this fate.

But Li Celing could be considered an outstanding leader. The key point was that he had been in power in Shun State for decades and was accustomed to a life where he controlled his own destiny and decided the fate of others.

Now that I am in my sixties, it is really hard to accept that I can come back at this old age to submit to the Emperor of Ming and let the Emperor of Ming arrange my destiny.

Just like it is difficult for a boss who has started his own business and achieved success to go back to working for someone else.

Although Li Celing was hesitating and considering in his mind, when Wabaczyn brought back the alliance with Russia and the Ottoman Empire, Li Celing signed it without much hesitation.

Li Celing began to cooperate with Russia and the Ottoman Empire and made every effort to prepare for war.

At the same time, the three countries continued to send envoys to lobby other neighboring countries, including Poland and Austria, which had already surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, as well as Sweden, Spain and other countries.

Finding one more ally is a blessing.

During the two years Napoleon was in Poland, he was busy with grassroots reforms.

He combined the experience of the French Revolution and his own experience in land reform in Germany with the experience provided by the Ming Dynasty to rebuild Poland's grassroots order.

The political system that was finally constructed was still very close to the Ming Dynasty model.

The serfdom system was completely and universally abolished, and most of the rural land was distributed to the liberated people, and a small part was distributed to officers to help them maintain their rule.

The urban autonomous institutions were abolished, and the cities were directly governed by officials selected through the imperial examination system, with the urban core governing the surrounding rural areas.

The royal government directly organized large industrial and commercial companies to concentrate its efforts on industrial development and construction, while also allowing private businessmen to operate freely.

Reform is bound to affect the interests of vested interests, which will lead to confrontation and conflict at the very least and civil war at the worst.

Napoleon's reform methods were considered extremely radical by the old European aristocracy, and implementing the reform policies in every place almost required a small-scale civil war.

But Napoleon controlled the strongest army in Europe and also had the means to mobilize and organize peasant soldiers.

The result of the old nobility's disobedience was death without a burial place.

Napoleon's reform work in Poland was quite smooth. Although he encountered many twists and turns, big and small, he suppressed them all by force.

When Napoleon first came to Poland, he hesitated whether to implement this system in his future country.

Napoleon had previously carried out similar reforms in Germany.

A country transformed in this way had no ability to resist the attack from the Ming Dynasty, which used the same system.

As long as the Ming Dynasty declares to maintain the status quo at the grassroots level and guarantees the protection of the land distributed to the peasants, and at the same time defeats the country's main force, it can directly conquer this country.

But Napoleon quickly realized that if he did not make such changes, the Ming Dynasty could also make the same changes.

The old aristocratic feudal monarchy was even less capable of resisting the attack of the Ming Dynasty.

The greatest function of the Shenzhou-style centralized system is to mobilize the power of the entire country as much as possible, and then launch a large-scale war across the entire country.

This type of country can win relatively easily if it attacks an old aristocratic country of similar size.

France, which had completed its basic revolution at that time, used similar advantages to relatively easily defeat the traditional European powers.

When such a country faces an invasion from an old aristocratic country, its resistance will directly increase by an order of magnitude.

All ordinary citizens could be conscripted to fight, and they were all willing to defend their acquired freedom and property to prevent their wealth and freedom from being taken away by the old aristocratic rulers.

By transforming one's own country into a Shenzhou-style centralized monarchy, one would be able to gain more power and have more choices in the future.

If we continue to return to the traditional feudal system, even if there is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in the future, we may not have time to seize it.

Because if such a country wants to fight a big war, it must spend time coordinating the power of the nobles and persuading them to join the war.

When Napoleon's reforms were almost completed, he first received a notice from the Honglu Temple of the Ming Dynasty, asking him to rush to Shuntian Prefecture before the end of the 16th year of Tiangong to celebrate the birthday of the Ming Emperor.

Napoleon hesitated for only a moment, and soon decided to go to Shuntian Prefecture to celebrate Zhu Jianxuan's birthday as required after finishing the reform work this year.

Napoleon had already surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, and the territory with the Ming Dynasty had been negotiated and determined, and there were no more conflicts between the two sides.

Napoleon believed in Zhu Jianxuan's political credibility and believed that Zhu Jianxuan would not use conspiracy against him.

The Ming army could defeat any armed force in the world head-on, and there was no need to resort to conspiracy to undermine the authority and reputation of the Ming emperor.

It is better to take from the straight than to seek from the crooked.

After Napoleon made up his mind, he immediately wrote a personal reply letter to the Honglu Temple of the Ming Dynasty.

He first explained the troubles in Poland and briefly told about his own difficulties, and then said that he would definitely rush to Shuntian Prefecture before the New Year.

Not long after Napoleon made his decision, he received news that envoys from Shunde, Russia and the Ottoman Empire were visiting.

After listening to his Foreign Minister Talleyrand's explanation of the general situation, Napoleon smiled bitterly and said:
"These three countries should be the last enemies of the Ming Dynasty. They come to us at this time, most likely to instigate Poland to rebel, right?"

Talleyrand also laughed dryly and said:
"Your Majesty is right. These people want us to join Austria in rebelling and form an alliance with them to fight against the Ming Dynasty."

Napoleon knew what was going on, but he did not make a direct decision. He asked Talleyrand:
"What do you think?"

Talleyrand laughed dryly and shook his head:

"It's a good idea, but it's too late. When the Ming Dynasty seized the Spanish colonies, it was the best time to form an anti-Ming alliance."

Napoleon said:
“It was actually useless at that time. You were sensitive enough to diplomatic matters, but you were not familiar with military affairs.

"You don't know how big the gap is between the Ming army and the armies of other countries.

“The two sides are not from the same world at all, the gap is at least an order of magnitude.

"Shun Kingdom, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire have not fought against the Ming army in the past twenty years, and they also don't know how powerful the Ming army is.

“That’s why we are trying to resist Ming’s conquest of the entire world at this time.

"Let their envoys go back. We will not meet them in person. As a vassal state of Ming, we should not participate in diplomatic activities alone.

"Unless Shunguo comes to discuss with us alone and is prepared to cooperate with us in dismembering and dividing Russia, then I can meet with them."

Talleyrand trusted Napoleon's military acumen:

"Since Your Majesty has made up his mind, I will reject them according to your wishes.

“However, would you like to inform the three countries of your judgment and your proposal as well?

"Inviting Shunguo to carve up Russia might be a good way to sow discord between Shunguo and Russia."

Napoleon thought about it for a moment:
"There's no need to talk too much to them. Just don't have too much contact with them. There's nothing much to say to a dying person."

Napoleon was a tyrant. Although he knew it was unlikely, he actually hoped that Shun, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire could really do something. The three countries could consume as much power as possible from the Ming Dynasty, which would also be beneficial to the freedom of the vassal monarchs of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, Napoleon did not intend to deliberately provoke relations between Shunguo and Russia. Instead, he hoped that they could exert their maximum strength as much as possible.

Talleyrand was also a shrewd man and immediately understood Napoleon's thoughts, but of course he would not say such words out loud.

Talleyrand simply bowed his hands and agreed very honestly:

"I understand."

Talleyrand left Napoleon's residence and went back to reject the envoys from Shunde, Russia and the Ottoman Empire.

Joseph II of Vienna was not as sensitive as Napoleon in military judgment, but he was more sober in politics.

After receiving the notice from the Honglu Temple of the Ming Dynasty, Joseph said to his successor Franz with emotion:
"Our Great Ming Emperor has begun to reshape his supreme title.

“The title of the Great Ming Emperor was transformed from the ruler of Shenzhou and the people of Shenzhou to the ruler of the entire world.

"The Ming Emperor originally had a similar status in the Divine Continent. The situation of all nations coming to pay tribute to him that he had created from ancient times to the present is exactly the same thing.

“But the emperors of Shenzhou in the past basically did not have the ability to truly rule the world, so they only created a false reputation.

"The current Ming emperor has the ability to do this, and is gradually completing the feat of ruling the world while also gradually implementing the title of world ruler.

“In the future, all the vassal monarchs of the Ming Dynasty may have to follow certain rules and go to Shuntian Prefecture regularly to pay homage to the Ming Emperor.

"The original loyal vassal states of the Ming Dynasty and the newly established vassal states that are absolutely loyal to the emperor will definitely take the initiative to publicize this matter on a large scale.

“And ordinary European nobles like to join in the fun and participate in this kind of gatherings.

“The entire pilgrimage in the future should become a world-famous event.

"From now on, the monarchs of all the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty will show off and display their wealth and status to each other on their way to Shuntian Prefecture to pay homage, when they live and gather in Shuntian Prefecture.

"All these things will continue to strengthen the perception that the Ming emperor is the ruler of the world and make it a fact recognized by the whole world."

Franz continued uncertainly:
"Uncle, what you mean is that what the Ming Emperor wants to do now is to bind the world ruler to the title of Ming Emperor?

"So that in the future, when nobles all over the world mention the world ruler, they will naturally think of the Ming Emperor?
"Does such a title and reputation have any practical effect on the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty?"

Joseph II immediately said with great certainty:

“Of course it does, and it’s a very big effect.

“The general and shared understanding of the entire society will affect the rules by which society operates.

“According to the French experience, if all ordinary farmers believe that they are the masters of the country, then they really are the masters of the country.

“They can decide the affairs of the country themselves, and any government that does not allow them to participate in the decision-making will be rejected and overthrown.

“If all citizens believe that sovereignty lies with the people, then the king is not really the master of the country.

“If the people generally believe that nobles and officials should be honest, then officials who are not honest will be punished.

“The same is true in reverse.

“If all common people feel that national affairs have nothing to do with them and that they are the business of the king and the nobles, then the king and the nobles can really continue to rule the country.

"If ordinary people think that nobles and officials are corrupt and decadent, then they will continue to be corrupt and decadent.

“If all the nobles, intellectuals, and even the vast majority of civilians in the world believe that the Ming Emperor can rule the world, then the Ming Emperor is truly the ruler of the world.

"Because the general understanding of ordinary people will in turn strengthen the ability to rule the world, making this matter more clear and truly unquestionable."

Franz basically understood what his uncle meant:
"Then...what should we do? Should we try to sabotage the Ming Emperor's plan? Uncle, are you still going to Shuntian Prefecture as planned?"

Joseph II's expression was as gloomy as his mood:
"Emperor Ming is doing this, we really have no other way out in the future.

"Of course I can only cooperate obediently and go to Shuntian Prefecture to pay my respects to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty on his birthday."

Franz said with a little concern:
"What if the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty detained you? What if your safety is endangered?"

This time, Joseph II waved his hand and said:
"What the Ming Emperor is pursuing now is the 'name' and 'power' of a world ruler, which is a higher goal.

“Instead of wanting to kill somebody, that’s just really low level.

“So during the period when vassal states from all over the world came to pay homage to the Ming Emperor, Shuntian Prefecture should have been the safest place in the world.

“The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty would not harm me. Instead, he would worry that I would get into an accident or die in Shuntian Prefecture.

“If I really died in Shuntian Prefecture, the Ming Emperor might give us some extra things to compensate the Habsburg family.

“And immediately arrange for you, as the recognized legal heir, to directly succeed to the throne.

"This proves that the Ming Emperor has no intention of breaking his promise and has no intention of actively harming me."

Franz barely understood the logic:

"I think I understand... But uncle, you still have to be careful. It's more than 10,000 kilometers to Shuntian Prefecture in the Ming Dynasty..."

Joseph II smiled and said:
"Don't worry, I will take the newest and largest passenger ship of the Ming Dynasty and sail directly to Shuntian Prefecture at a fixed route and speed.

"It's just like living in a different place for a few months, which will not affect your normal life.

"It is you who has to maintain the local situation after I leave."

Franz quickly agreed:

"I understand."

After Joseph and Franz discussed the direction, they continued to discuss some subsequent details.

Joseph continued to instruct Franz on what to do, reminding him what he should and should not do.

At the same time, he arranged for people to prepare servants and daily necessities for Joseph's trip, and to book the Ming Dynasty's passenger ship in advance.

Not long after Austria was busy, representatives from Shunde, Russia and the Ottoman Empire arrived.

Joseph's choice was the same as Napoleon's, he simply didn't meet them.

In the eyes of Joseph II, the Ming Empire under the rule of the current Ming Emperor is invincible on the political level.

Flirting with these three countries at this time would only cause trouble for the Habsburgs.

The best outcome is to let the three countries make things worse...

Napoleon and Joseph II, the two most sensitive vassal monarchs, decided to go to Zhu Jianxuan's birthday celebrations as usual.

The other vassal states of the Ming Dynasty had no room for hesitation or consideration on this issue. After receiving the notice, they began planning and preparing in advance.

Just as Joseph II had expected, this would become an event of world proportions.

(End of this chapter)