The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 67: Ming Dynasty has only one condition for a ceasefire

Zhu Jianxuan sent away Ji Yun and Fengshen Jilun and continued to receive the British envoys.

This time the officials of the Honglu Temple were responsible and specifically explained the matter to the British envoy, Baron Byron, and asked him to use the etiquette for an audience with the King of England.

That is to say, they had to kneel on one knee, take off their hats, touch their chests and bow their heads to greet each other. They were also not allowed to use the Ming Dynasty's bowing style.

Because they are still enemies of the Ming Dynasty and the two sides are still in a state of war.

Etiquette between friends cannot be used.

Byron had nothing to say, as long as he wasn't asked to get down on his knees.

It’s not that Europeans don’t know how to kneel on their knees, but they only do this during religious ceremonies when praying, or even prostrating themselves.

So their subjects would kneel on one knee to pay respect to the king.

But when the king is crowned, he himself will kneel on the ground, and the king is kneeling to God.

When European envoys meet the Emperor of Shenzhou, they are particularly reluctant to kneel on both knees, because this is a religious ritual for them.

They were unwilling to place the Emperor of Shenzhou in a position similar to that of a god or the Pope.

The main reason is that they are more deeply involved in the matter of faith, and kneeling on their knees to the Emperor of Shenzhou would make them feel like they are betraying their faith.

Byron, accompanied by two civil servants and an interpreter, followed the officials from the Honglu Temple into the Wuying Hall. They were all stunned when they saw Zhu Jianxuan sitting there.

Byron already knew that the person he was going to meet was the Ming Emperor's sixth and sixteenth son, the King of Wu.

But obviously no one expected that Zhu Jianxuan was only in his early teens.

When Byron saluted as reminded, he began to worry about the sincerity of Ming Dynasty's negotiations with Britain.

The Ming Dynasty might not want to end the war just like that, so they sent a child to perfunctorily deal with him, which made his mission difficult:

"Lord John Byron, the special envoy of the Kingdom of Great Britain, pays respect to His Royal Highness the King of Wu of the Ming Dynasty."

When Byron finished his greeting and stood up, Zhu Jianxuan, who was sitting, spoke directly:

"Baron Byron, right? Did you receive the news on your way to Ming that New York has been captured by our Ming expeditionary force?

"Our Ming Dynasty's North American fleet and expeditionary force have captured a total of 32,000 British troops.

"When will the King of England take these people back? They are now eating the military rations collected by the Ming Dynasty."

Byron and his companions were all shocked after hearing the translation.

When they subconsciously wanted to doubt whether the news was reliable, the guard beside Zhu Jianxuan took out a Western sword.

Byron recognized it immediately after taking a look:

"This is the sword of Sir Henry Clinton, the commander-in-chief of the British Army in North America—"

Everyone immediately realized that even if New York had not fallen, Clinton would have been captured and the situation would not have been much better.

After the negotiations are over, they will return to Britain and will be able to confirm the authenticity of the news. There is no point in Ming Dynasty deceiving now.

Originally, after Byron's North American fleet was defeated, the fall of New York was only a matter of time.

But more importantly, it usually takes half a year for North America to travel to the Ming Dynasty, which means that New York has fallen for more than half a year.

With the main forces of the North American Army and Navy completely defeated, Byron could no longer imagine how much results the Ming Dynasty's North American fleet and expeditionary force could achieve in half a year.

When things developed to this point, Byron looked at Zhu Jianxuan's appearance and temperament and realized that he was not an ordinary child.

He may be fifteen or sixteen years old, but because the people of the Ming Dynasty look younger than Europeans and he is shorter, he looks like he is in his early teens.

Then Byron answered the previous question honestly:
"The Ming Dynasty is requested to ensure the safety of the captives. The British Empire will redeem all the captives at a suitable price.

"Now I hope Ming can explain how we are going to end this war.

"These include the conditions for Ming to withdraw from the war alone, and the conditions for signing contracts with all countries at the same time."

Zhu Jianxuan said slowly:
"There is only one condition to end the war, that is, Britain gives up all its land outside of Europe, hands it over to Ming Dynasty for coordination with other belligerent countries, and recognizes its final ownership."

Byron was a little confused after hearing the translation.

Are you sure this is a condition?
This one condition is almost all the conditions!

But after a little consideration, Byron found that the conditions offered by the Ming Dynasty did not seem to be too high.

As a starting point for negotiations, this condition is not completely unacceptable.

The key lies in this “outside Europe”.

At this time, the center of the world was still the core area of ​​the old continent where Shenzhou and Europe were located.

Both North America and South America were marginal areas of the world at that time, and the land value of the New World was completely incomparable to that of the Old World.

Prussia's occupation of Silesia and the division of Poland between Russia, Prussia and Austria far outweighed Britain's seizure of France's North American colonies. In the eyes of the French king, most of Canada was not as valuable as a few small islands in Central America that could produce sugar.

Because sugar directly affects the king's income, and Canada is of no use except to exile criminals.

Now the Ming Dynasty has not put forward any conditions on the European mainland.

The key point is that the Ming Dynasty did not ask for Jersey from France, nor did it ask for Gibraltar from Spain, which means that the Ming Dynasty allowed Britain to retain these two places.

Of course, the premise is that Britain can defend itself...

In this way, the purpose of Ming Dynasty's participation in the war became very clear.

The Ming Dynasty only wanted colonies in India, Central America, and North America, and had no intention of interfering in European affairs.

And...even...judging from Jersey and Gibraltar, the Ming might even encourage Britain to continue to occupy land in other European countries.

Byron suddenly reacted and realized that Ming Dynasty’s attitude towards Europe might be the same as Britain’s attitude towards Europe.

The Ming Dynasty probably did not want Europe to unite unless it joined the European alliance.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty will not weaken Britain on its own European mainland!

The Ming Dynasty might even become a future ally of Britain, jointly containing the allies of other European countries.

This time, the Ming Dynasty stood on the side of France, which was purely a diplomatic failure for Britain.

Britain was too arrogant at the time, thinking it could dominate the entire North Atlantic and that even if the navies of other European countries were combined, they could not defeat it.

So much so that they did not look for allies outside of Europe early on.

Instead, it was France and Spain, realizing that it would be difficult for them to defeat Britain, that took the initiative to seek allies outside of Europe.

After Byron understood this, he felt that his trip to the East was not a complete failure.

Although he failed to convince the Qing Dynasty to form an alliance with Britain, he discovered that the Ming Dynasty was actually a potential ally of Britain.

As for "all lands" outside of Europe, this condition certainly sounds exaggerated, but in fact there are not many places involved.

Britain had no colonies in South America.

Britain no longer had any colonies in the Eastern Continent.

The only British colony in Africa was a tiny spot called St. Louis, which had been occupied by France.

The British colonies in India were not the whole of India, but two areas in the southern part of Bengal and the southeastern part of the Indian peninsula.

It has now been completely occupied by the Ming, Shun and French countries, and it is basically impossible to take it back at the negotiation table.

Britain owns some small islands in Central America, such as Jamaica and the Bahamas.

Although it is impossible to confirm the exact information now, without the support of the navy, the island can easily be besieged and captured by the Ming Dynasty.

Britain has the most extensive colonies on the North American continent.

But the most important thing is the thirteen eastern colonies. With the support of the Ming, France, Spain and Qing countries, their independence has become a foregone conclusion.

Then there was the area west of the Appalachian Mountains and east of the Mississippi River, the land behind the Thirteen Colonies.

These places were originally captured from France during the Seven Years' War, and Britain never attempted to develop them in depth.

The original purpose of seizing this land from France was mainly relying on the militia forces of the thirteen colonies.

Mainly because it is deep inland and the British Navy cannot provide support. The local residents are mainly indigenous people and they certainly cannot resist the encroachment of the United States.

Next is Florida, which is too close to the coast and Spanish colonies. It may be attacked from three sides by the Ming Navy, North American militia, and Spanish colonial army. There is basically no chance of defending it.

The areas that have a chance to be preserved in the end should be the areas on both sides of the St. Lawrence River and north of it, including Quebec, Montreal, and around Hudson Bay.

There are a large number of royalists in the area, and the key point is that they have already repelled an attack from the Thirteen Colonies.

At most, add the area north of the Great Lakes.

The Great Lakes are a natural geographical boundary. If the Ming Dynasty and the United States expand their territories to the north of the Great Lakes, it will increase the difficulty of defense.

So looking at it the other way around, what the Ming Dynasty demanded out of thin air were the three areas north of the Great Lakes, on both sides of the St. Lawrence River, and around the Hudson Bay.

These places are roughly the same as Canada.

There is certainly no way to deal with the places that have already been occupied, but since there is a chance to keep these places, it is impossible to hand them over out of thin air.

For other places that are uncertain whether they have been lost, I cannot agree to them all at once.

Byron's spirits rose again.

Thanks to the book friend 20230706230215252 for the reward

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(End of this chapter)