The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 68 What is a tough diplomatic strategy?
After a brief discussion between British representative Byron and the accompanying officials, the team's official translator made an official response:

“Your Highness, King Wu, we don’t know what the current situation in North America is, so we can’t make a rash decision.

“However, we can establish a principle that all overseas lands that Ming Dynasty has actually occupied can be transferred to Ming Dynasty by Britain.

"But Britain should naturally continue to retain the land that the Ming Dynasty did not occupy, rather than handing it over to the Ming Dynasty as a whole."

Zhu Jianxuan listened to the British translator's explanation and pointed out the problem expressionlessly:
“Using the actual armed occupation line as the border seems to be the most appropriate and fair option, but in fact it is not.

“You should be very clear that you, Britain, are now alone against the entire alliance including Ming, Qing, Shun, France, Spain, and the United States.

"You are at an absolute disadvantage in the overall situation, while our allies are now at an absolute advantage.

"As the disadvantaged party, you should offer additional conditions to bridge the gap in strength between us, so as to end this conflict.

“To put it bluntly, we can continue to occupy more land instead of actively keeping the battle line at its current position.

"If you want us to stop advancing, you have to give us back the land we haven't occupied as compensation.

"Then we will give up attacking you to avoid casualties.

"Ultimately, it's you who want the war to end as quickly as possible, not us who want the war to end immediately.

"Why should we sign a relatively 'fair' treaty with you?"

Zhu Jianxuan's meaning was very clear. Fair? Damn fair. I, the Ming Dynasty, am trying to blackmail you, Britain. What can you do about it?
Zhu Jianxuan sometimes often wants to complain about something.

In the past, when people were discussing politics on the Internet, they often regarded "not giving up an inch of land captured on the battlefield" as a strong diplomatic strategy.

However, this is not only not strong in diplomacy, but rather a typical manifestation of strategic guilt.

The opponent will immediately realize that you are already very satisfied with the current occupied area and will no longer ask for other conditions.

For a true example of strong diplomatic practices, one can refer to the several border treaties signed between Tsarist Russia and the Qing Dynasty.

Tsarist Russia did not directly launch a war at that time, but simply seized more than one million square kilometers of land on the Qing border through intimidation and coercion.

Anyway, your situation is bad now, and there are several powerful enemies around you. If you don’t give me some benefits now, I will go up and fight you together.

Even if you don't fight with others, because my territory is adjacent to yours, but I am much stronger than you, I will just demand the border land.

This is what happened to Germany and Czechoslovakia before World War II: I found a reason to demand your territory, and since you can't afford to offend me, you had to give in and cede your land.

To put it bluntly, these operations are "taking advantage of the fire" and "extortion", and to put it nicely, it is "taking advantage of the situation to make profits."

“Not giving up an inch of the land captured on the battlefield” is more like a cat or dog guarding its food.

When cats and dogs are chewing the food in front of them, they cannot see other food placed elsewhere.

A roar with bared teeth does not necessarily mean that the animal is ferocious by nature, it may just be that roaring is the only thing it can do.

The party that truly controls the situation will calmly analyze how bad the opponent's situation is and tell the opponent that his situation will continue to deteriorate if he does not pay a higher price.

Zhu Jianxuan’s current attitude towards Britain is the latter.

The American Revolutionary War was the most isolated time for Britain diplomatically, and also the best time to blackmail it.

In the original history, without the participation of the Ming Dynasty, Britain was not particularly weak compared to France and Spain, so it was able to preserve many things.

It is different now. Zhu Jianxuan no longer thinks that Britain is qualified to retain its overseas colonies.

At most, it was to create another threat to the United States, leaving Quebec and Montreal to Britain and concentrating the royalists and loyalists in North America there.

But that was the final gift given to it by the Ming Dynasty, not what it deserves based on the current situation.

Byron was briefly speechless after listening to Zhu Jianxuan's analysis. Although the threat from the Ming Dynasty was not particularly direct, it was already very uncomfortable.

The key is that what the other party said seems to be true.

It was Britain that was eager to end the war and make the Ming Dynasty withdraw from it. If Britain did not put forward any conditions, why should the Ming Dynasty reach a truce with Britain alone?
Byron subconsciously wanted to say that the Ming Dynasty should not be so overbearing.

But Byron soon realized that such words were meaningless and that sharp or not the language could not change the actual situation.

It can only be exchanged for actual benefits.

That is to say, give some more land outside the Ming-occupied area.

At this time, Byron no longer looked down on the young prince in front of him. Instead, he felt a huge threat.

If he is so domineering and cruel at this age, what will happen to him when he grows up?
The current negotiations obviously cannot continue.

Byron took a deep breath:

“Your Highness, it is difficult for me to accept your request, and I cannot give you any guarantees.

"But I will be brought back to London by the Ming dynasty, and the gentlemen in London should consider it."

Zhu Jianxuan said without any objection:

“It doesn’t matter whether you accept it or not. These are the conditions that Ming Dynasty gave to Britain. You can take them back and discuss them in the House of Representatives.

“You can remind your congressmen to wait for more news from North America before making a decision.

"Perhaps the Ming expeditionary army suffered a great defeat, but you won a few great victories in North America?

"Then we will be able to use the actual occupied area as the standard and our battle line as the future boundary between the two sides."

Byron didn't know what was sarcastic, but he felt uncomfortable after hearing this translation.

Zhu Jianxuan was talking about a situation in which he would definitely be happy, but at the same time he knew it was impossible to happen.

Byron felt upset but helpless, so he could only bow and say goodbye again.

The preliminary negotiations ended and the Ming Dynasty's ceasefire conditions were obtained.

The conditions themselves are not extremely bad, but they are certainly not very good either.

Ming Dynasty showed his nobility and arrogance at the same time.

He seemed to be the master of the whole world and could do whatever he wanted to Britain on the other side of the earth.

Britain did not want to accept it, but it could only make a choice within the scope specified by it.

Byron now realized that the Ming Dynasty could not achieve all of this relying solely on its own national strength.

This is a diplomatic victory achieved through international relations and with the help of the forces of multiple countries.

Byron continued to carry out his final mission with a heart full of emotion and worry.

Observe the ideological tendencies of the people of the Ming Dynasty, evaluate the market economic conditions of the Ming Dynasty, and judge whether the Ming Dynasty can continue to fight.

If there is a clear anti-war trend among the people in the Ming Dynasty, and if the economic conditions of the Ming Dynasty market begin to decline continuously.

Then Britain can hold out on the battlefield and at the negotiating table to get better terms.

If the situation were the opposite, Britain would have to make up its mind to cut its own flesh and end the war as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)