The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 76 Let the Americans Betray the Ming Dynasty
British Prime Minister, the Marquis of Rockingham, felt that he had made a calm assessment of the current situation.

But the Home Secretary, Earl Shelburne, had a different idea:

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister, do you think there is a possibility that we can try to make peace with France and Spain first?

"If France and Spain withdraw from the war, we can focus on dealing with the Ming expeditionary force.

"In a battle in the North Atlantic, the Ming Navy will not be our opponent."

This time, before the King and the Prime Minister responded, Foreign Secretary Fox jumped out and asked:
"So do you think that after France is willing to cease fire with us alone, when it finds out that our navy is going to North America to fight a decisive battle with the Ming Dynasty, will it try to attack our homeland again together with Spain?

"What's more, before our fleet is fully repaired, the number of battleships we can put into battle may not be as many as the Ming Dynasty North American Fleet. How can you be confident that you can defeat the Ming Dynasty North American Fleet?
"What's more, there are more intact fleets in the Ming mainland that can be dispatched. We are simply not capable of dealing with them."

Lord Shelburne felt uncomfortable when he saw Fox, and immediately stared at Fox and continued to spew his opinions:
“Even if we don’t fight a decisive battle with the Ming expeditionary force, we can try to reach a truce with the North American rebels first.

"Then we will cease fire with France and Spain in turn, and finally negotiate with Ming alone.

"If we follow this negotiation process, Ming will not be able to coerce all the allied countries and continue to put unilateral pressure on us.

"We have a chance to keep Montreal, Quebec, Hudson Bay, which are still in our hands."

In fact, in the original history, the British first negotiated with the United States alone and gave the United States very good conditions.

As the "eldest son" of Britain, the United States' moral standards are not necessarily much higher than those of Britain.

The Americans saw the benefits and decisively betrayed the French.

The mentality of British decision-makers at the time may have been this:
"It is better to give the undefendable lands in North America to the United States, a rebellious son of the same culture and race, than to let the old enemy France take them."

In this world, Earl Shelburne came up with a similar idea.

Prepare to try to give the United States the best possible armistice conditions, thereby driving the United States to sell out the interests of Ming Dynasty and France.

The Prime Minister understood Earl Shelburne's thoughts and even analyzed them more seriously:
“This is indeed a negotiating idea that has some feasibility, but the final benefits will probably not be too high.

“First, we should cease fire with the Thirteen Colonies in North America. After they withdraw from the war, the Ming Dynasty will no longer have any partners or foundation in North America.

"Then we can cease fire with France and Spain. There will be no power in Europe that can contain us, and our negotiating position with Ming will become equal.

"But it is still unrealistic to want to keep Quebec and Montreal in this way, as they were former colonies of France.

"If we want France to withdraw from the war alone, we can only give these places to France as a condition.

"So in the end, the only colonies we can keep in North America are the wastelands around Hudson Bay."

After listening to the two people's analysis, Foreign Minister Fox suddenly found it very incredible and difficult to understand, so he asked back:
"So, you're going to let France take back Quebec and Montreal just to keep those barren lands in Hudson Bay?

“Giving up the possibility of becoming an ally with Ming in the future and causing our relationship with Ming to deteriorate drastically?
"The point is, have you all forgotten that our North American Commander-in-Chief Sir Henry Clinton and all his officers, the Caribbean Governor Baron Macartney and all colonial officials, as well as a total of more than 30,000 or even 40,000 soldiers, are still held as prisoners in the hands of the Ming Expeditionary Force.

"If you let the Thirteen Colonies and France betray Ming, how will the Ming expeditionary force treat these prisoners when they withdraw?

"There are many records of killing prisoners in Shenzhou's history. It can happen when they are insulted and betrayed, or when there is a lack of military rations.

“So the negotiation conditions in the hands of the Ming Dynasty are not only the battle lines and international situation we have seen, but also tens of thousands of English hostages!

"Are the lives of tens of thousands of English officers and soldiers less valuable than the barren land of Hudson Bay?"

Home Secretary Lord Shelburne disagreed with both the Prime Minister and Fox:

"Don't exaggerate. The Ming expeditionary force should only have 30,000 people, and they must be the main combat force.

“The ones guarding the prisoners were definitely not the Ming expeditionary forces, but the militia from the thirteen colonies in North America.

“As long as the colonies can accept our plan, there is no need to worry about the safety of our officers and soldiers.

"To get France to withdraw from the war, it is not necessary to give up all of Canada. France is actually willing to cease fire now.

"We should just have to come up with a few conditions, like Newfoundland."

The Prime Minister seemed persuaded by Shelburne:
"It seems to make sense. We really don't need to return all of Canada to France..."

Fox felt that these people were completely unreasonable:
"Do you think that all the people in the colonies are fools like you?
“They are fighting against the Ming for our sake, which means they are continuing to fight the Ming expeditionary force after the war with us is over.

"We, France, and Spain are all exhausted. Who can continue to support them in their fight against the Ming Dynasty?"

Lord Shelburne immediately retorted:
“Only fools would think that without the support of the North American colonial rioters, the Ming expeditionary army would still have any fighting power in North America.

“The Ming Dynasty has no colonies in the entire Atlantic Ocean and cannot maintain a supply line from Shenzhou to North America.

"As long as we cut off their supplies, the Ming expeditionary army will have no choice but to surrender."

Fox immediately roared back, "Why should the people of the colonies trust you executioners instead of the Ming expeditionary army that helped them gain independence?"

King George III trusted Earl Shelburne more, and the key was that he really felt that his plan was still feasible.

So at this time the king finally interrupted the discussion of the ministers:

"The Ming Dynasty is on the other side of the world. We have reached an armistice with the colonial rebels, France, and Spain, but they won't know about it until half a year later.

“So at least we should try and arrange for someone to contact the people in the colony first. I can give them the best conditions.

“For example, all the land south of the Great Lakes and east of the Mississippi River could be granted to them.

“The condition is to abandon the alliance with Ming and ensure the safety of our prisoners from Ming.

"The colony should have a representative in France. Go and contact him directly."

Fox instinctively wanted to refute, but the king shut him up in advance:

“If the colonists will not, or cannot, betray the Ming Expeditionary Force, their representatives will not accept our proposal.

“If they accept it, then it means they can do it.

“So who is right and who is wrong between you two can only be known after we ask the representatives of the colony.

"There's no point in continuing to quarrel here now."

Fox suddenly smiled in relief, stopped shouting, and looked at Earl Shelburne with a gloating look:
"I won't go. Send someone to make the contact yourself. I'll wait for the news of your failure."

Earl Shelburne instinctively wanted to argue with Fox, but the Prime Minister reached out to stop his two ministers:

"Let me arrange it, you go back and wait for news."

The British king's royal conference room is temporarily over.

The Prime Minister arranged for intelligence personnel to go to Paris secretly and meet with American representative Benjamin Franklin.

The two sides had met many times before and exchanged attitudes more than once.

This kind of private meeting could not last too long, so the British intelligence officer stated his purpose as soon as he entered the room.

Franklin wanted to laugh after hearing Britain's conditions.

Are all the kings and ministers of Britain now fools?

The conditions offered by the British now seem to be the same as the basic conditions offered by His Royal Highness Prince Wu of the Ming Dynasty.

They are all areas east of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes.

But in reality they are not the same.

If America accepts Britain's conditions now, then America will eventually only get as much land as Britain has given it now.

The land north of the now agreed border will remain British in the future.

But the Ming expeditionary force had already seized a large amount of land north of the Great Lakes, controlling most of Florida and several Central American islands.

These lands are most likely the fiefs of His Royal Highness the King of Wu, and will form a co-lordship relationship with the Kingdom of America in the future.

It is even very likely to become a province of the American Kingdom directly.

If His Majesty the King continues to expand his territory in the future, there will even be a chance to incorporate the entire Americas into the kingdom.

Even if Britain ceded all of its North American colonies to America, the benefits America would ultimately gain would not exceed continuing to follow the Ming Dynasty.

Because His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu can also bring in profits from the European re-export trade of Ming Dynasty goods, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu also has potential profits from many invention patents.

The more critical issue is that if the United States and Britain make a separate peace, it would mean a very blatant betrayal of the Ming Dynasty.

Next, the Americans will most likely have to fight against the Ming expeditionary force alone.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty had already given a warning.

Now the Ming Expeditionary Force has actually controlled the major cities in North America and has actually gained command of the North American Continental Army and militia.

Therefore, the option of a separate peace with Britain is simply not feasible.

(End of this chapter)