Dominate the Country

At the end of April, the British envoy Watson and his party arrived at the Shanghai dock. Robert, the British Consul General in Shanghai, prepared a grand welcome dinner for the envoy and his party. There were also senior Chinese officials present. After the ceremonial meeting at the port dock, they expressed their sincere blessings to the envoy and his wife for their next trip to China.

Many people should have expected that when Watson and his party landed in Shanghai, several members of the Chinese delegation who returned from Europe with them had reported a lot of intelligence that the Chinese government had not been able to grasp before to Nanjing.

"Your Majesty, the current situation in Britain is very bad. Their contradictions with France and Spain are very sharp, and the Nordic and Eastern European countries have also clearly expressed their opposition to their maritime hegemony."

"Russia, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands are likely to stand opposite the British in the upcoming war."

A new round of struggle is now erupting in Europe, and it only takes a spark. The center of this struggle is still the British and the French. The two powers of Prussia and Austria remained neutral because their interests were on land, not on the sea. Italy was not valued at all.

Chen Ming was a little disappointed because he did not hear the news of the Saratoga victory from the members of the delegation who returned with the ship. This turning point of the North American War in his memory, he was not sure whether it had actually happened. Was it that this time and space was touched by his wings, and the long river of history flowed into another different fork at a certain node, or the Saratoga victory still happened, but it has not yet spread to Europe? ?

These people also reported to Chen Ming the process of the delegation going west, Indians, Ottomans, Dutch, Portuguese, French and British.

The Prussians were a little lukewarm about the Chinese delegation, not as hot as Vienna, and St. Petersburg was still refusing to meet with the delegation when these people left Europe with the ship.

Although China is powerful, it is an intruder in the Western world with a knife in one hand and an olive branch in the other. The purpose is to share the European cake.

The Western world is not only wary of maritime powers, but also some land powers.

"Let's talk about the French. Franklin arrived in Paris in the second year of Chengtian. He wouldn't be idle in the past one or two years, right?" Chen Ming pinched his eyebrows with a headache. He had this feeling when Gao Yanming set off from China with the fleet. Now it is true.

The beautiful hope is shattered!

Although China is strong, the current technology is too far away from half a world. This greatly reduces the deterrent power of the knife in China's hand. And most importantly, the white people who have been shaking on their own one acre and three thirds of land for two or three hundred years obviously don't want to see a sudden China jump over their heads.

Most of the world has been "discovered" by them. They have captured countless wealth and interests in America. Although China is strong, the Far East is only a corner of the world, which is much smaller than the white world. How can it be possible to bow down like this?

White supremacy, heaven, the country above...

This kind of "arrogance" from the depths of people's hearts is the biggest obstacle to future exchanges between the East and the West.

Although France is the country with the most friendly and enthusiastic attitude towards Chinese culture in the court and the people, from the perspective of national interests and high-level political thinking, they are far less in line with China's interests than London at this time.

This is the exchange between countries.

"Franklin has a very high reputation in the European continent, a good personal image and a high collar at the age of seventy. He still crossed the Atlantic Ocean to France despite being seriously ill. This is in line with the French definition of a hero. He is very popular in France among all walks of life. Some wealthy French families even like to decorate galleries with his portraits.

Whether in Marseille or Paris, Franklin carefully raised funds, arranged ships for loading and unloading weapons, and cleverly handled cargo ships seized by French armed civilian ships.

He is a good friend of many democratic thinkers in France. He opposes the monarchy and the nobility, but does not exclude French nobles and royal family members who may help North America's independence..."

"Franklin's appearance is like a combination of fish and water for the rising reaction in France."

"France may have announced its recognition of the United States..."

"As for when they will join the war, my personal opinion is that it will not exceed this year."

After several people went down, Chen Ming sighed with a sigh. The timing was not well managed. When the British set out from Europe, they did not even get the information about the war in North America in the autumn. Now Chen Ming did not know whether the "Great Victory of Saratoga" still existed, which would have a great impact on the negotiations between China and Britain. The British who "did not suffer a heavy blow" became more confident, and China's confidence became unstoppable.

Is it all because of this butterfly flapping its wings?

Three days later, Chen Ming received the visiting Watson and his party in the palace.

According to Chinese etiquette, the special envoy came to see Chen Ming, and the lady went to the inner palace to see the queen. The former cabinet ministers were all present, and the latter the queen's concubines and the wives of several noble ministers were all shocked by the pair of magnificent weapons and the large white face on Mrs. Watson's chest.

They were completely shocked, and the whole palace was speechless.

For the Chinese of this era, this was too bold.

But compared with Chen Ming's meeting with Watson, this little color in the inner palace was just a trivial fun thing. The Qianqing Palace is the real home court.

According to the previous rules for Western envoys to pay homage to Chen Ming, they knelt down on one knee. This was also the etiquette for British people to pay homage to the King of England.

Although many ministers said that this was unworthy of the dignity of the Celestial Empire, kneeling down on both knees for three times and nine times was indeed an insult to the self-esteem of Europeans. In the final analysis, there is still no real battle between the two sides. If there is no winner in the war, then don't expect one big country to bow its head to another big country.

So, this is a face-saving move for both sides.

Watson submitted the British memorandum of agreement to Chen Ming, agreeing in principle with China's proposal to purchase the British New South Wales colony.

The people present were all important Chinese cabinet ministers. After the documents passed through each other's hands, everyone's smile towards Watson became even more sincere.

The British did not ask for random prices. The memorandum did not even have specific requirements for the land transaction amount in New South Wales. Moreover, the British also promised to cut off all ties with Myanmar. What they asked for, to sum up, is very ordinary. 's three requirements: first, the trade relationship between China and Britain should be stable and close; second, China must ensure that British rights and interests in Bangladesh are not infringed; third, China must not recognize any independent regime in North America.

To simplify these three points, they are all very easy for China. At least as far as Chen Ming is concerned, he has not yet thought about touching the British cheese of 'Bengal', which is exactly the same as the British in India. The UK is now China's largest trading partner, and bilateral trade between China and the UK will naturally be normalized and stabilized. As for the recognition of Lao America, China is so far away from them, so there is no need for China to be the first to try.

However, this also indirectly proves the words of the members of the Chinese mission who returned with Watson: "France is very likely to have announced its recognition of the United States..."

It's time for the British to come under pressure.

They did not let China shout and kill France and Spain, nor did they clamor for China to cut off trade with France and Spain. It's just that the current request can be easily reached.

"The Kingdom of Great Britain is China's largest foreign trading partner. Any behavior that harms trade and commercial exchanges between China and the UK is a great provocation to China and a great threat to the vital interests of China and the Kingdom of Great Britain."

Watson may not even know that China’s determination to maintain trade between China and Britain at this stage is far greater than the British imagined. Due to the development in recent years, foreign trade has become a powerful part of China's economic development, and the UK is the largest customer at this stage. Chen Ming was absolutely unwilling to break up with the British at this time.

Before the markets of Japan and India are developed and matured, and before the Great Southern Ocean Strategy is achieved, damn it, China will break up with the British.

In China, a huge country, the weight of foreign trade groups in the economy is gradually increasing, but the foreign trade market has not changed qualitatively.

It is still Korea, Japan, Nanyang and Europe.

The dying North Korea, which has been devastated by the war, has nothing in all four major things and needs everything, but its consumption capacity is limited;

Japan itself is a poor country;

The market in Nanyang is much larger than that of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties. At least Siam has been fully opened to China, but the current foreign trade economy is also much larger than the original foreign trade economy;

Finally, there is Europe. 'Traders', mainly Britain, France, Spain, the Netherlands, and Portugal, occupy an increasingly higher position in China's foreign trade system.

China's time to go global is too short. In India and Tianfang World, the two largest markets outside China and Europe, it has just begun to "reclaim", and the transaction amount still makes Chen Ming feel extremely painful.

When the negotiations between the two parties first started, the focus was no longer on New South Wales. Compared with Watson, who had huge power, a mere piece of New South Wales was not as good as the full set of technologies of the clipper bow sailboat, and even more so. It is incomparable to something like the 'Fire Dragon Bullet'.

"The Kingdom of Great Britain is in great need of clipper bow warships." When Watson said this, he secretly scolded Robert and Bronte for being useless, even though the latter's position as Earl of Norwich was higher than his family inheritance. The title is even older, but these two people have been in China for such a long time. They have neither negotiated a complete set of technology transactions openly nor obtained a complete set of design drawings secretly. This is their failure.

Can't you see the dilemma the Royal Navy is in now?

The Royal Navy, which lacks combat ships, is not only threatened by its control of the sea, but more importantly, it cannot block the coastlines of the thirteen North American states.

Franklin raised shiploads of supplies and funds from France and sent them back to North America. The continuous blood transfusion brought the British offensive in North America to a stalemate, which was a very bad signal.

"With this kind of high-speed sailing ship, the interception capabilities of the Royal Navy will take a leap forward. Not to mention that it will prevent any damn smuggling ship from approaching the North American continent, but it will definitely make it easier for the rebels and the people behind them. Supporting paying a much heavier price..."

The corners of Chen Ming's lips curled up into a smile. It was easy to do the flying shear. As far as the British shipbuilding capabilities are concerned, there is not much of a problem. China transfers all its technology to the UK, which can only shorten the manufacturing time in the UK.

"Of course China can transfer the full set of technology to Britain, but I can tell you from the bottom of my heart that the clipper is not suitable for pure warships." If it weren't for the rockets, Chen Ming would have used this thing as a warship.

Although the speed is high, the load capacity is low, the stability is very poor, the safety is relatively poor, and it is not suitable for periods of variable wind direction, nor is it suitable for carrying too many cannons.

"But the fire dragon bomb is absolutely not possible." This thing is a bug that suppresses China's luck. If you can hold it in your hands and keep it for many years, you must keep it for many years.

Chen Ming knows why the British are anxious. Since the outbreak of the North American War, the British have played a maritime blockade policy in the Western world. Not only did they attack the ships needed by the Thirteen States, they also often robbed and searched for ships from neutral countries, which violated the interests of neutral countries such as Russia. Therefore, the Russian Empress Catherine II issued the "Declaration of Armed Neutrality" last year.

The basic content is: first, neutral ships can trade freely with belligerent countries; second, enemy goods under the flag of neutral countries should be released and not violated; third, only weapons, munitions and other items directly used for war purposes are recognized as wartime contraband; fourth, in order to ensure the implementation of these regulations, Russia will send a strong navy to escort. After that, Russia signed other related treaties with some countries such as the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark on the basis of the armed neutrality declaration, thus the armed neutrality alliance emerged.

This put a lot of pressure on the British.

Chen Ming, who was not good at world history, had no idea that his appearance had triggered considerable changes in Europe. At least this "Armed Neutrality Declaration", which was famous in history, was pushed out by the equally stressed Russians one year in advance.

The British were now slapped in the face and prepared for a "long war", so they began to seek the full set of technology for clipper ships. This thing was sent back to Europe before, even including some compositions, but those were the most external intuitive pictures, and for a sea ship, the reference significance was quite limited.

And the most troublesome thing was that the cycle of traffic between the East and the West in this era was too long. It was just two information exchanges between the two sides, and three or four years had passed.

Even the current transaction was added by Watson himself.

A trace of regret flashed across his fair face. If the Chinese were willing to sell the technology of the Fire Dragon Bomb to Britain, he would dare to hand over New South Wales to the Chinese for free.

But the Chinese emperor ruthlessly rejected this "transaction".

"Don't feel discouraged. This is a taboo topic that does not need to be discussed. But in order to express China's friendship and support for the Kingdom of Great Britain, all Chinese shipyards will surely be very happy to receive orders from the other side of the continent."

Selling arms. Is there any more violent business in the world than selling arms?

Compared with the broken guns and cannons that were secretly sold to the Indians, selling warships to the British was the real big business.

With the current strength of the British, Chen Ming believed that they would not lack guns and cannons, but what about warships? The warship manufacturing of this era took longer than the ironclad warship era more than a hundred years later.