The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 600 Moore: I just want to go to Shandong to see how you divide Confucius’s family’s land?

When Wei Changhui said these unreasonable words, Styron, the Dutch Consul in Nagasaki who had been engaged in diplomacy for half his life, was at a loss for a moment.

He is a diplomat, not a priest. Now he meets a brother and sister who are practicing shamanism. The elder sister is Queen Victoria of the British Empire! When the Netherlands meets Britain, it means that a weak country has no diplomacy!

If Queen Victoria really supported her brother Judah on the Java issue, King William III of the Netherlands would have to give her a thumbs up and say, "The Queen is right! Java is the promised land of Judah!"

What else could Styron, a small consul, do? He turned his head and looked at Bonham eagerly: "Sir Bonham, you are the Queen's envoy. Tell me, is it Her Majesty's intention to hand over Java Island to Prince Wei?"

How would Wenxian answer this question? Queen Victoria had not explained this to him, so how could he make up nonsense now? What if Jesus really appeared in a dream and asked the Queen to grant Java Island to Wei Changhui? If he insisted now that there was no Jesus, it would be a small matter for the Queen to dismiss him, but it would be a big matter for him to go to hell after his death!

"I'm not sure what the Queen means," Wen Xian simply spread his hands, "How about this, I write a letter and send it back to London, asking Her Majesty the Queen to make a judgment. Mr. Consul, do you think this is okay?"

What a humiliation!
The former maritime hegemon, the Netherlands, now wants the Queen of England to decide the ownership of its most precious colony! And Styron doesn't dare to say "no"! Not only does he not dare, but his own Lord of the Netherlands doesn't dare either!
If the British Empire remained neutral, the Netherlands would still be confident that it could defeat the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom with its naval strength. But if Britain supported the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Netherlands would have no choice but to surrender.
"Well then!" Consul Styron had no choice but to make the next best option. "Since the ownership of Java Island is to be decided by the Queen of England, then before the Queen's ruling comes out, it would be okay to stop all hostile actions on Java Island, right?"

"Of course there is no problem!" Wei Changhui said with a smile, "But Batavia, Semarang and Surabaya must maintain the status quo, that is, they must be controlled by the True Contract Faction."

Currently, the number of Chinese on the island of Java actually only accounts for 6 to 7 percent of the total population. They are basically concentrated in Batavia, Semarang and Surabaya, which are the three largest cities on the island of Java. They control 70 to 80 percent of the island's imports and exports. Most of the sugar factories on the island of Java are also in these three places.

In other words, the only three big cities that the Chinese on the island of Java can control at present are these three big cities, while most of the remaining territories on the island of Java are controlled by the indigenous Javanese tribes who are dependent on the Dutch colonists, and a small part is still in the hands of the Dutch colonists.

The Chinese were also hostile to the Dutch colonists and the Javanese natives, so they could only take three cities. If they wanted to take over the whole of Java, without the support of the British Empire, they could only do it slowly.

"We must also stop the influx of immigrants, troops, and arms!" Styron added, "Neither side can send more troops to Java Island, and the delivery of arms and immigrants should remain the same."

"That won't do!" Wei Changhui's face darkened. "The overseas Chinese on Java Island are closely connected with overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, and there is a constant flow of business personnel. How can we cut off the flow of personnel? There are many pirates on the South China Sea, and unarmed merchant ships cannot pass safely. If you want to cut off the entry of arms and personnel into Java, you have to blockade Batavia, Semarang, and Surabaya! Do you want to trap the Chinese in these three cities to death?"

Styron didn't expect Wei Changhui to make such a big concession. He was just asking for a sky-high price and then asked Wenxian to help bargain. So he didn't reply at this moment, but looked at Wenxian.

Wen Xian smiled and said to Hong Rengan: "Your Highness, how about this? The British and Korean navies will be responsible for inspecting ships entering and leaving Java Island. We will not take care of the weapons carried on board for self-defense, but we must strictly control the number of large-scale land combat equipment, especially artillery and rifled guns. Each armed merchant ship can only carry a limited number of guns and cannons."

Hong Rengan realized at a glance that Wenxian had proposed a condition that he could not refuse - this was an opportunity for the Kingdom of Korea to develop its navy!

However, he still had to speak for Wei Changhui: "What about the personnel? Should there be any restrictions on the number of people on board armed merchant ships?"

"That's not necessary." Wen Xian shook his head and said, "As long as the arms can't get in, no matter how many immigrants come in, they can't be transformed into an army, so there's no need to control them."

Styron's eyebrows were twisted into a ball - he knew that the Chinese on Java Island had a certain military production capacity. The Chinese controlled the white sugar industry in Java, and white sugar could be used to prepare saltpeter gunpowder. It was not difficult to collect saltpeter in Java. The Chinese had been able to make saltpeter since ancient times, so it was not difficult for them to produce grenades on Java Island. As for guns and cannons, the Chinese who had captured the three fortresses and forts in Batavia, Semarang, and Surabaya actually had no shortage of guns and cannons and black powder. It was just that the "old guns" stored in the warehouse were all flintlock smoothbore guns, which were not as good as rifled guns with percussion caps.

However, the Netherlands is now a weak country and cannot say "no" to the British master.

"Okay," Stillon nodded, "I agree!"

Wen Xian looked at Wei Changhui again, and this "Judas" also nodded with a smile: "Okay, then let's sign a ceasefire agreement!"

He still believed that Yang Xiuqing would let him go. Publicly, he was the Patriarch of the True Covenant Sect. Privately, he was Yang Xiuqing's "Judas brother". Could the Korean Heavenly Kingdom's navy intercept the smuggling ship he sent? There was no time to cover it up!
When the hands of Wenxian's silver pocket watch pointed to 5 pm, the Java Armistice Draft Treaty was finally signed by the parties involved - the True Treaty Patriarch Wei Changhui and the Dutch Consul Styron and the supervisors - the British Consul in Nagasaki Sir Sutton and the representative of the Korean Heavenly Kingdom, the King of Gan, Hong Rengan.

根据这份条约，荷属东印度群岛（主要是爪哇岛）的冲突，将会在1857年的11月1日正式中止，双方的停火线则以10月1日的实控线为准。停火时间暂定为一年，也就是到1858年的11月1日。

Britain and the Kingdom of Korea will send land supervision teams and naval vessels to Java Island, the Java Sea and other places to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire.

"If Mr. Moore wants to see the land reform, why not go to Tianjin first?" After closing the "Armistice Draft Agreement" that had just been signed, Zuo Zongtang smiled and went to visit Tianjin under his rule. "Tianjin is now full of factories and businesses, most of which are privately run, but there are also public ones such as the Tianjin Railway Bureau, the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company, and the Tianjin Weaving Bureau. The Railway Bureau and the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company were both established by the Shengku, and the Weaving Bureau was a public property of Zhili."

"Can local governments also start industries?" Moore asked in stiff Chinese. "Will such public property incur losses during operation?"

Zuo Zongtang frowned slightly when Moore mentioned "operating losses". When he insisted on opening the weaving factory, Luo Yaoguo wrote to warn him that the textile industry had a low threshold and fierce competition, and was not suitable for public operation, so he should think twice. However, after thinking twice, Zuo Zongtang still allocated a sum of money from the confiscated Qing imperial property and the Eight Banners official property, and invited Lin Zexu's son-in-law Shen Baozhen to preside over the establishment of Tianjin Weaving Factory. Now the weaving factory has just started trial production, using cotton from Zhili and Shandong to spin and weave cloth. The product quality is not very good, the cost is also high, and the difficulties are really not small!

Zuo Zongtang wanted to invite "Karl Celestial Master" to visit, in fact, he wanted to ask for advice - Celestial Master must know how to run a weaving factory, right? Could he help me see how to make a profit? Don't let it go bankrupt.

"Governor, I heard that Shandong is distributing land." Moore suddenly changed the subject. He paused and switched to English. "I want to see how the land fell from the hands of the nobles for thousands of years to the hands of poor farmers. Whether the Tianjin Weaving Factory can make a profit depends largely on what kind of cotton it can get at what price?" He pointed to Friedrich who was taking notes. "His family runs a textile factory in the UK, so he knows the reason best."

Friedrich's pen had just written on his notebook: "When public and private industries coexist, public industries are in competition. And industries in competition are bound to face the risk of losses and bankruptcy."

Hearing Moore's question, Friedrich put away his notebook and said with a smile: "If Tianjin Weaving Factory wants to use cotton as raw material for spinning and weaving, it would be best to introduce Sea Island cotton, Egyptian cotton or American Pima cotton with extremely long fiber length. If the plains of Shandong and Zhili are full of high-quality cotton, Tianjin will definitely become the world's textile center with China's industrial costs. In order to introduce and promote high-quality cotton varieties, it is necessary to effectively control the countryside and help farmers. From this perspective, agriculture and rural areas are the foundation of industrialization. China has the largest agricultural production and farmer group in the world, which is a huge advantage!"

Bai Siwen finished translating what Moore and Friedrich said, and then quietly interjected: "I can't see where this is an advantage, but it is actually a big problem. There is too little land and too many people. We can't even get enough food, so where can we get the land to grow cotton?"

Friedrich smiled and said, "The key should be equal distribution of land. If China's rural areas can provide both cheap labor and cheap raw materials for industry after equal distribution of land, then food shortage will not be a problem. In this world, industrial countries can be free from hunger!"

Zuo Zongtang stroked his beard and said, "Since equal distribution of land is so important, let's go straight to Tianjin Dagukou tomorrow. There is a steam gunboat of the Beiyang Fleet parked at Dagukou. Let's take the gunboat to Shandong and see how Ma Baocai distributes land equally. By the way, Master Karl, this Ma Baocai is the favorite student of King Luo Wu. King Luo Wu is your student, and Ma Baocai is your disciple!"

(End of this chapter)