The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 45 Mingmei cooperation plan finalized
John Adams hesitated for a few seconds and did not directly make any requests on these plans. Instead, he asked for some other details:
“May I ask His Majesty the Emperor and His Royal Highness the King of Wu about the plan for immigration management, including racial restrictions on officials and staff of the royal court.

"Your Majesty and Your Highness, can you fully accept our plan? That is, the number of Europeans must not be less than half?"

The emperor said straight away with a straight face:

"Of course it's impossible!"

Then the emperor signaled Zhu Jianxuan to speak.

Zhu Jianxuan also shook his head and said:

"The corresponding condition for your condition is that the number of people from the Ming Dynasty cannot be less than half.

"The final result was that all officials and clerks were composed of half Ming people and half Europeans.

"This will obviously cause great waste, cost a lot of extra tax money, and may even reduce the efficiency of actual work.

"Take Massachusetts as an example. If there are no Ming people in the area, half of the officials and clerks must be Ming people.

"These Ming people may not be able to do anything and can only be used to recruit Ming immigrants.

“The same is true in reverse. If a province opened up by the Ming people has only a very small number of Europeans, it would be meaningless to assign half of the officials to it to be European.

"The number of officers and clerks should be determined according to the population of the Free States and provinces.

“My plan is that when the population of a free state or province and its subordinate counties is less than one-tenth, the population of Ming people or Europeans will be less than one-tenth.

"Then a Ming or European department will be set up in the corresponding level of government, and all its members will be Ming people or Europeans.

“This department is responsible for coordinating with other regular departments to handle matters involving their own ethnic group.

“If the population of an administrative region is more than one-tenth, but less than three-tenths, of the population of Ming people or Europeans.

"In all departments of the government, a Ming or European department will be set up, and all members will be Ming or European.

“They are responsible for coordinating with other agencies in the department to handle matters involving their ethnic group.

“If the number of Ming people or Europeans in an administrative region exceeds three-tenths and is less than seven-tenths.

"There will no longer be a special coordination agency, but the number of local officials and councillors will be allocated in proportion to the population of both sides.

“If 40% of a county’s population is from the Ming Dynasty, then the officials and councillors must also be from the Ming Dynasty.

“At the same time, all department heads must have two people, one Ming and one European, and both sides have equal status.

“Both sides need to negotiate amicably to deal with matters involving different races.”

After listening to it, Adams felt it was fair and there seemed to be nothing to complain about.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu of the Ming Dynasty, his future King, seems to be not only a great inventor, but also has the potential to become a politician.

And it really is... Not only does he understand the characteristics of Americans very well and know what Americans care about, but he is also really fair enough.

If a country's monarch could be like Your Majesty, even if he implemented a dictatorship, it might be beneficial to the entire country.

However, no one can guarantee that the monarch will be wise from generation to generation, so the enlightened and authoritarian philosopher king is not sustainable.

Specifically speaking of the current negotiations, it seems that there is nothing left to talk about.

Except for the status of New York and New Jersey.

If all thirteen colonies gave equal power to the king at the same time, then New York and New Jersey would have nothing to say.

Now that the other colonies had become free states, New York and New Jersey would become provinces of the kingdom.

This imposes greater restrictions on the two places than the original compromise plan.

It seems like New York and New Jersey are also being used as bargaining chips.

He needed to fight for some benefits for New York and New Jersey, otherwise it would be difficult to convince the representatives of these two colonies when he returned.

So Adams thought for a few seconds and carefully sorted out the gentlest language possible:

“Your Majesty, Your Highness, thank you for the real sincerity you showed, I should have just accepted your proposal.

"But if we accept the proposal, it could lead the New York and New Jersey representatives to think they are being traded.

“In order to convince the representatives of these two colonies, I hope to adjust the status of New York and New Jersey.

"To give it a power intermediate between that of a province of the kingdom and that of a free state.

"My idea is to make these two colonies into dominions, allowing them to retain their own parliaments and make their own laws and elect their own executive heads.

“But laws need the king’s approval before they can take effect, and the head of the executive needs the king’s appointment before he can take office.

"The king has the power to dissolve the parliaments of both places and expel the heads of administration of both places.

"But the new parliament and executive head still need to be elected, and the king cannot appoint anyone on his own." The dominions cannot form local armies and police. The royal army will be stationed and garrisoned, and the royal police will be responsible for maintaining public order.

"Of course, the two dominions will also need to pay the corresponding taxes, which is equivalent to the free states that have tacitly signed these agreements."

Zhu Jianxuan thought about it and did not directly refuse, but instead suggested his new request:
"Long Island, and all unowned lands in the two Colonies, to be declared the Crown's private property.

"The western boundary of all free states shall be the boundary of 1763, when the prohibition of western expansion was declared.

"If the colonists have a problem with that statement, then use the Appalachian Mountains as the border."

Zhu Jianxuan's request would mean that New York and all free states would not be adjacent to the Great Lakes.

Coal mines in the United States are mainly concentrated on the west side of the Appalachian Mountains, and iron mines are mainly concentrated in the Great Lakes region.

Most of these most important resources for launching the Industrial Revolution will be distributed within the provinces of the future kingdom, and there will be basically none within the Free State.

But at that time, the inland United States, the entire area west of the Appalachian Mountains, had not yet been deeply developed.

During the Seven Years' War, Britain had just seized the land west of the mountains from France.

The local British colonists in North America were killed by the British king just as they were about to cross the mountains and explore the west.

Because the area west of the mountains is inland, it cannot be directly controlled by the navy.

Including the Great Lakes region, the current North American Great Plains is basically an uninhabited wilderness with very few indigenous people and major mineral resources have not been discovered.

So Adams certainly could not imagine how big an ambush was hidden in Zhu Jianxuan's seemingly simple request.

As for Long Island, Zhu Jianxuan clearly asked for this land during the last negotiation, and New Yorkers were mentally prepared.

Undeveloped wasteland belongs to the king or lord. This is a European tradition and there is nothing much to say about it.

Adams thought that Zhu Jianxuan only proposed these two insignificant supplementary clauses in order to match the rights he had demanded from New York and New Jersey.

So Adams just thought about it for a few seconds and decided to accept it directly.

There is no need to discuss the cooperation plan itself in detail. The more important task is to urge the Ming Dynasty to send troops as soon as possible.

So John Adams stood up and bowed to Zhu Jianxuan very seriously:
"Your Majesty, I, John Adams, represent the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies of North America in accepting your proposal.

“If you have no other requirements, we can directly sign the formal legal documents according to your plan.

"This document will serve, along with our Declaration of Independence, as the founding act of our American kingdom."

Adams has already regarded Zhu Jianxuan as his king.

Zhu Jianxuan did not respond directly, but turned to look at his father.

The Ming Emperor Zhu Zhonglin stared at Adams for a few seconds, making Adams feel a little inexplicably flustered.

I was very worried that the emperor would make any additional special requests.

Adams actually guessed right.

After a few seconds of hesitation, the emperor finally made a request:
"No party in our alliance shall negotiate or make peace with Great Britain alone.

"Our armistice with Great Britain must include the lands west of the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River.

“During the war, we tried to seize the entire Great Lakes region and implement it in the armistice agreement.

"If you can accept this, this will be the final solution."

Seizing the land south of the Great Lakes and east of the Mississippi River was originally an ideal goal for the Americans.

Now turning an ideal goal into a goal that must be achieved only adds a little more difficulty to the War of Independence.

With the financial and human resources of Ming, France, and Spain, the probability of success is already very high, so there is no need to worry about it:
"I accept your Majesty's request on behalf of the Thirteen Colonies of North America."

The emperor said calmly:

"Okay, then this matter is settled, let the clerk start drafting the formal treaty.

"Let's continue discussing how to deal with the French now and how to deal with the British during the negotiations.

“Before the armistice agreement with Britain is signed, the true cooperation plan between the two sides cannot be disclosed to any third country.

"If the French know that you have invited the prince of the Ming Dynasty to be king, they may not be willing to give their all."

Adams nodded quickly and agreed:

"Thank you for your reminder, Your Majesty. I understand this principle."

(End of this chapter)