The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 98 No One Understands Freedom Better Than Me

After Zhu Jianxuan got off the boat, the surrounding entourage also got off one after another.

John Adams immediately looked around the crowd and found Hancock and his cousin Samuel.

Then Adams and Hancock began to introduce Zhu Jianxuan to North American celebrities.

Not to mention Washington, Jefferson and the first governors of each state, they are the real power figures in the local areas today.

Most people were quite excited about Zhu Jianxuan, and at the same time, they were very respectful and imitated the etiquette of the Ming people, bowing and saluting to Zhu Jianxuan seriously.

As a superior, Zhu Jianxuan did not need to bow to return the gift, he could just clasp his hands.

Due to the important position of the United States in later generations, many of these people have been highly praised by later generations.

Zhu Jianxuan couldn't help but smile when he saw how humble and reserved they were in front of him.

Zhu Jianxuan could actually hold it back, but he felt it would be better to just smile at this time.

Can appear more approachable.

Zhu Jianxuan indeed saw that these people became even more excited when they saw his smile.

But when Adams introduced a man named "Thomas Paine", Zhu Jianxuan saw an obviously unhappy expression on the other person's face.

Paine did not bow to Zhu Jianxuan, but just stood there with his hands slightly folded, and said loudly with a stern face:

"I know, Your Highness, that you will become the King of America.

“For this free country that has just broken free from the British shackles, put on new and gorgeous shackles from the divine continent.

“Your Highness’s shackles may be a little looser than those made by the British.

“But shackles are shackles.

"The American people are about to lose their most precious freedoms, which they have just gained."

Paine spoke in English, and Zhu Jianxuan could understand most of it. At the same time, he also saw directly that many people around him were glaring at Paine.

Adams even directly confronted him:

"Your Majesty the King of Wu is the most distinguished guest of the United States. Mr. Paine, please do not be disrespectful to His Majesty, and do not talk nonsense on such an occasion."

Adams started the discussion, and the others couldn't help but start criticizing as well. There was already a chorus of accusations all around.

But Paine was completely unmoved and just looked at Zhu Jianxuan quietly.

This guy is so unsociable, but he can still stand in such an occasion, which shows how huge his influence is.

Zhu Jianxuan had learned about the history of American independence and the history of the French Revolution, so he had some impression of Paine.

The sentence that impressed Zhu Jianxuan the most was:
"George III is the beast of the British royal family and the source of all the misery in North America."

Before the American Revolutionary War, Paine published a series of articles expressing extremely radical views and opposing reconciliation between the colonies and Britain.

He directly pushed the American Founding Fathers to ultimately declare independence, and many of his views were included in the Declaration of Independence.

He continued to publish articles during the war to encourage Americans whose morale was low due to the difficult situation.

His later work "On the Rights of Man" was widely circulated during the French Revolution, and he directly participated in the drafting of the "Declaration of the Rights of Man".

During the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolution, he enjoyed great popularity among the people of both countries.

Napoleon once said that he kept Paine's book under his pillow and read it at any time.

But this guy's political views are really radical.

He called himself a citizen of the world, opposed reconciliation with Britain, opposed monarchy, opposed slavery, opposed aristocracy, opposed the church, opposed the Bible, opposed vendettas, opposed the death penalty, and opposed private property...

In this era, those who claim that "private property is sacred and inviolable" are radicals who are half a step ahead, and it has not yet become a universal value.

This guy skipped this step and started directly opposing private ownership. He was an absolute radical who was two steps ahead of his time.

When the American independence had not yet been achieved and the French Revolution was still brewing, he was the most powerful standard-bearer.

But independence had already succeeded, and when he established his regime after the revolution, he became unpopular because he was too radical and out of touch with reality.

He opposed private ownership in the United States, which was considered unreasonable by the founding fathers of the United States. He opposed the execution of Louis XVI and was thrown into a French prison by Robespierre.

Paine had a huge influence during the revolutionary period, but by the time of his death, no one cared about him at all.

No one of importance from either France or the United States attended his funeral.

Zhu Jianxuan saw Paine's reaction, heard the sarcasm in his tone towards the king, and the incitement to the people around him in his words, but he was not angry at all.

It is useless for him to mock the king now. The current actual situation in the United States determines that it is impossible to build the country according to his ideas.

In American history, it was already extremely radical to establish a purely civilian republic. To go any further would be sheer madness.

The current American founding fathers have already begun to dislike his radicalism.

The founding fathers from the old world were anxious to obtain the title of nobility from him, and Paine's opposition to him was against the vast majority of people.

He will soon be kicked out of America's upper circles, just as others have done in history.

However, Zhu Jianxuan was still prepared to try to guide Paine's thoughts, and even considered accepting him into the future court of the American Kingdom.

True radicals like Paine are most likely good people with pure natures.

He should sincerely hope that the country and all mankind can be better.

However, these people are usually very idealistic. Most of them cannot come up with practical plans for governing the country, and they cannot accept compromise solutions.

You can try to use him as a troll, specifically to deal with the rulers of the Free State in the future.

However, Zhu Jianxuan didn’t know how to recruit such people, and as a king, it was impossible for him to reform himself.

What the United States should do now is not to consider whether or not to have a king, but to concentrate on reclaiming land and increasing population.

However, he would definitely be excluded from all free states, and if he still wanted to stay in the United States, he would have to work for the royal government.

Express some progressive views now and see if you can attract him so that he can come to you for help when he has no other options.

Of course, it doesn’t matter if we can’t recruit him. This kind of person is of little use except as a troll.

At the same time, Zhu Jianxuan also felt that he should clearly express his views and demands when he first came into contact with native American people and local leaders.

Put forward some basic requirements that the free states should also abide by.

Zhu Jianxuan thought about it for a while and decided to start with a conversation with Paine and give a simple public speech:

“No one understands freedom better than me, and freedom is a relative concept.

“As for how to understand this so-called relative concept, we can explain it through several questions.

“Since Mr. Paine pursues freedom, can he accept that two people with conflicts can freely duel and kill each other?
"After the duel is over, can you accept that the relatives of the killed party will freely seek out the murderer to duel and kill the person who once freely killed others?"

Paine immediately objected loudly and decisively:
"Of course I won't accept it. I personally don't support duels and vendettas, nor do I support taking other people's lives in any form."

Zhu Jianxuan continued with Paine’s words:

“It shows that you agree with me that the concept of freedom is relative.

“Whether a country has a king or not, no matter how its government is organized, it cannot allow absolute freedom.

“Absolute freedom is absolute violence, which means that anyone can kill and be killed freely.

“Then those with absolute power will rule everything, and the weak will have no choice but to give up their freedom in order to survive.

“So absolute freedom is absolute unfreedom.

“So there is no direct relationship between whether there is a king or not and whether the people are free.

"We are against violence, against people killing each other, and the corresponding pursuit of this opposition is not to reject a king who represents the country.

"We want to live in a good moral order with mutual respect, mutual recognition and non-interference.

“That’s what we should all be striving for, and that’s true freedom.

"I will bring this true freedom to North America."

(End of this chapter)