The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 84: Want to get a piece of land in Europe

The distribution of colonies in North America was completed, and the representatives on site subconsciously thought that the meeting was about to end.

There is basically no need to allocate colonies in other regions specifically; they can just be held according to the actual occupied areas.

Zhu Jianxuan then looked at the British audience:
"You should all be considered representatives of the Hanoverian royal family, right? I now have a proposal to exchange territory with the Hanoverian royal family."

Several representatives, led by the British Prime Minister, were visibly stunned:
"Exchange? With the Hanoverian royal family? What... do you want to exchange?"

The British royal family originated from the German region and was originally the Electors of Hanover in the Holy Roman Empire, so Britain is now called the House of Hanover.

Although the Hanoverian royal family came to Britain to become kings, their Hanoverian territory in Germany still existed.

The location is roughly in the eastern part of the modern Lower Saxony region of Germany, halfway between Bremen and Hamburg and the southern part of both.

Zhu Jianxuan then picked up the map of North America and placed it together with the map of Germany:
"Take out the part of Ming that belongs to the north of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers, including Quebec, Montreal, and the Hudson Bay region.

"In exchange for about 1,000 square kilometers of land in the northern part of the Hanover region of Germany, on the west bank of the Elbe estuary.

“I want to build a Ming-style port city here as a node for direct trade, communication and contact between Ming and European countries.

“We will build Ming-style buildings, Ming-style colleges, Ming-style hospitals, Ming-style shops, Ming-style restaurants and inns, and so on.

“This is good for the Hanoverian royal family. Merchants and nobles from various European countries heading to the Daming port have to pass through other areas of Hanover.

“Even if they simply build hotels and restaurants on the road, they will definitely make good money.

"The Hanoverian royal family is allowed to invest in the purchase of land and commercial buildings in Ming-style cities, but they must be designed and constructed in the style of the Ming Dynasty."

(The blue area in the middle of Germany on the European map is Hanover, and the red area in the northwest corner of Hanover is where the protagonist wants to go.)
Zhu Jianxuan took out the areas for exchange, minus the northern shore of the Great Lakes, the peninsula-like area inside the Great Lakes where Toronto is located, and the southern shore of the St. Lawrence River.

In fact, it was equivalent to expanding the Hudson Bay Colony to two strongholds, Quebec and Montreal. However, people at that time thought these two points were the most important, and Toronto had not yet been built.

The value of these lands in this era is very limited.

But compared with these specific lands, the Ming city envisioned by Zhu Jianxuan and the European distribution center for Ming goods both contain greater practical benefits.

Zhu Jianxuan wants to acquire a piece of land in Europe, and his purpose is certainly not just what he has said directly.

This land itself is located inside the European continent and will naturally become a base for direct intervention in European affairs.

At the same time, since it is the Ming City, it naturally does not abide by European laws.

Unless European countries want to have a direct armed conflict with the Ming Dynasty, they will not come to this European Ming city to arrest people.

It will naturally become a refuge for opposition parties in European countries and a gathering place for the new generation of European opinion leaders who resist mainstream ideas.

These gathered opposition parties and new generation opinion leaders will also become bridges and tools for them to intervene in European affairs.

Most of these people have followers to support them, and most of them are not short of money, so they will naturally maintain relatively high consumption here, which will in turn increase the local actual income.

After the British representatives understood Zhu Jianxuan's request, they began to whisper to each other.

This problem is a bit troublesome for them.

Britain and Hanover only have a co-sovereign relationship. Although the current monarch of the two countries is the same person, the two countries are still completely independent.

The two countries have different political systems and monarchical succession orders.

Britain is a constitutional monarchy. The industrial and commercial groups have a large say and the king's power is obviously limited.

Hanover is still a relatively feudal and traditional place, and the king is basically a monarch whose words are law.

The United Kingdom has a male-first inheritance system. If the king has no son, his daughter can also inherit. Hanover only recognizes male inheritance rights.

So in the original history, after Queen Victoria of England ascended the throne, Hanover was inherited by Victoria's uncle, and the two countries ended their co-sovereign relationship.

The transaction plan proposed by the Ming Dynasty is certainly beneficial to the Hanoverian royal family and can indeed earn money from European nobles and businessmen.

But it will do no good to Britain and may even do some harm.

If the transaction is completed, most of the Ming Dynasty's goods will be transferred in the Americas, and then shipped directly to Hanover for sale, and directly sold to local European merchants and nobles.

So what do I, a British businessman engaged in maritime transit trade, eat?

So after a brief discussion, the British Prime Minister stood up and refused:

"I'm very sorry, the land in Europe cannot be compared with North America..."

Zhu Jianxuan interrupted the other party directly:

"Don't just reject it. Take my suggestion back and tell your king.

“I know that as British ministers, you have no power to decide Hanoverian affairs.

“This matter can only be decided by your king.

"If the king feels that this deal is not good enough, we can exchange it for the islands in Central America. All of this can be discussed.

“I’ll wait for your king to give me the specific answer.

“After the meeting, I will go to North America, take over the land that belongs to me, and establish a kingdom in North America.

“Your king’s reply can be sent directly to New York or Montreal.

"It would be best to arrange for Hanover's envoy to go to North America directly and let Hanover's ministers discuss and decide this matter directly with me."

The British Prime Minister waited for Zhu Jianxuan to finish speaking, and then carefully explained his "ability":
“Your Highness, as British ministers, we really have no way to directly decide on Hanover matters.

“But we can ask our king to seriously consider his own private affairs on the grounds that they affect British interests.

"So, we can also indirectly influence Hanover's affairs."

Zhu Jianxuan said without any surprise:
“I understand that you have this ability, but whether the King of Hanover accepts your influence is ultimately up to the King himself.

"So you just take the message back now. I will wait for your king's reply, not yours."

The British Prime Minister said helplessly:

"Well, I will convey your message to our King."

Zhu Jianxuan nodded slightly and turned to other countries present:
“My deal is not just for Britain and Hanover.

"If Spain can offer coastal land in the Mediterranean or Italy.

“Or the Habsburgs could take Italy or the coastal areas of northern Germany.

"Or France could give up land along the coast of continental Europe.

“Or any other European country that is interested, even the UK, can come and trade with me.

"If we trade with the UK, it can only be the land close to the European continent, not the land facing the Atlantic coast, unless it is the entire island of Ireland." Please ask the representatives of France, Spain and the UK to convey my invitation to European countries.

“After the talks, we will also arrange for a delegation to visit Germany and Italy to discuss relevant matters with the Habsburg and other royal families.

"Because I just want a window to trade directly with European countries."

After the translators from various countries on the scene conveyed Zhu Jianxuan's words, the representatives of various countries could no longer hold their breath.

The originally quiet scene became a bit noisy.

Both Britain and France have achieved centralization. Both governments have strong control over their own territories and find it difficult to tolerate the existence of other countries' influence in their own countries.

Spain has the experience of Gibraltar as a precedent.

Therefore, it is basically impossible for the three countries of Britain, France and Spain present to use their local areas for trading.

However, in the relatively conservative areas of inland Europe, there are still many traditional feudal monarchies.

Traditional monarchs certainly attach great importance to their territories, but if there is enough benefit to be exchanged, they are not impossible to make a deal.

For example, in the entire Italian region at that time, only the Kingdom of Sardinia was independent, and most of the others were territories of external monarchies.

The German region is also full of states of all sizes, which have extremely complex relationships with each other.

The Habsburg family's lands spread across Germany and Italy.

Zhu Jianxuan offered Montreal and Quebec, plus a large amount of surrounding land, or the Central American islands in exchange.

The key is that the exchanged land is right at their doorstep and will become the European distribution center for Ming Dynasty goods, which contains huge practical benefits.

All of your other territories will benefit from this.

So it is very likely that there will be monarchs of other countries who are willing to accept this territorial exchange plan.

The Spanish representative was clearly interested.

If the Ming Dynasty sent goods directly to Europe, then Spain would not have to send gold and silver to the Ming Dynasty, but could just bring them directly to Europe.

It directly shortened the transportation distance and put most of the risks of transporting gold, silver and commodities on the Ming Dynasty.

It is equivalent to the Ming Dynasty delivering goods directly to Spain, and paying on delivery.

So several representatives were discussing and asking the king to persuade his relatives in Naples and Sicily to make this deal with the Ming Dynasty.

The British representatives were the most uncomfortable.

If Hanover trades with the Ming Dynasty, Britain can also gain some benefits in this trade process through the king's relationship.

At the same time, there is also an opportunity to actually occupy places such as Montreal and Quebec that were exchanged back.

If the Ming Dynasty traded with other German or Italian states, Britain would not only gain nothing but would also suffer trade losses.

The British can also imagine the logic that the Spanish are interested in, so it is even more uncomfortable.

The manufacturer has agreed with the user that all goods will be delivered to the user's door and payment will be made directly upon delivery. What should we, the middle channel dealers, do?
The British Prime Minister frowned and muttered:

"Do we really have to convince the King to accept the Hanover deal?"

Zhu Jianxuan did not wait for the representatives to reply and directly announced a temporary adjournment:
"Well, the important things have almost been decided, and it's almost noon, so we can start preparing for the banquet."

The traditional Ming-style banquet is a separate dining model from the classical era of the Central Plains dynasty. Each person attending the banquet has a small table, and everyone eats and drinks at their own table.

In addition, representatives from various countries had their own thoughts, so this banquet was just a simple meal.

The meeting continued after lunch. The Ming Dynasty worked with France and Shun State to finalize the border of India. In any case, whoever occupies it will own it.

The main combat force in India was the Shun Kingdom, and the Ming Dynasty had no ability to interfere with the Shun Kingdom's occupied areas in India.

But the most important force in the Indian peninsula is still the indigenous people, such as the Mysore Kingdom, which fought the British three times in history.

For a long time in the future, there will be no direct conflicts between the Ming Dynasty, France and Shun State in India.

The three parties' short-term development targets will be the local princely states in India.

St. Louis in western Africa, which originally belonged to Britain, was also explicitly handed over to France.

Finally, Britain returned the Mediterranean island of Menorca to Spain as promised.

In this way, all issues concerning land distribution are resolved.

The main representatives of various countries temporarily went into a rest state and asked the accompanying officials to cooperate with the Honglu Temple of the Ming Dynasty to draft a formal peace treaty document.

All the final contract details are determined, and the actual terms written on paper are determined, and then the text is handed over to representatives from various countries for repeated review.

The formal treaty has two versions, in Chinese and Latin, which have equal legal effect.

France, Spain and the United Kingdom will translate the text into their own languages ​​based on the formal treaty.

However, the translation is only used to facilitate reading and understanding and is not a legal basis.

During this period, many European countries could only sign agreements in Latin, and formal communications could only be conducted in Latin, while informal communications might use French.

English had no international status in this era, and it was difficult to find high-quality English translators in other European countries.

In Zhu Jianxuan's previous life, there were frequent missionary activities in the Ming and Qing courts, so the translation of Latin was very mature.

When Macartney visited, the Qing Dynasty's Honglu Temple's Siyi Pavilion had books in the "elegant language" of many European countries, which were also reference books for translation of the "Mandarin".

There was Latin, French, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, and even Prussian.

But there are no English translation tools and translators.

The British themselves were also very isolated and suffered great losses in the American War of Independence, so they established a foreign secretary in 1782.

Before that there were no professional diplomatic institutions and diplomatic personnel.

Macartney, who visited the Qing Dynasty, was not a professional diplomat. He was originally a colonial governor.

In other words, the Ming Emperor Chongzhen in this world attached great importance to Britain and once specifically asked the Honglu Temple of the Ming Dynasty to prepare an interpreter who was familiar with English.

In addition, as communication between the East and the West became more extensive, European countries had translators who understood the Ming Dynasty's elegant language (Mandarin).

That is why we can find professionals in this world to translate between English and Chinese.

The last chapter today is 4,000 words. Counting the two chapters in the early morning and the morning, which are 6,000 words, today's update has exceeded 10,000 words. There is no update in the early morning today. I can't write anymore. Let's go to bed early. The next chapter should be tomorrow at noon.

Thanks for the rewards: Xifa Fengdu, Youkekecong, Book Friend 20180421145059845, Weiweiyishaohenqingcheng, Book Friend 20230421131943957 and other readers.

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(End of this chapter)