New Shun 1730

To pretend that diplomacy is useful is to pretend that the Celestial Empire has become an important part of China.

To pretend that diplomacy is useful, you have to get certain authority.

And things like boundary survey are not authority, but just work.

"Duke, this diplomacy of the Kingdom is difficult and easy. It is difficult because the Kingdom is not like Europe. It needs to form alliances and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has no place to display its skills; it is easy because the Kingdom is tens of thousands of miles away from European countries, but the sea and white sails connect them together."

"If you want to engage in diplomacy, you must get tariffs. In this way, you can have diplomacy with those non-tributary countries. Only tariffs can allow European countries to deal with our dynasty at this time."

"So... Duke, why don't you submit a petition to ask for the right to tariffs from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?"

Duke Qi really didn't expect to seize power from this direction.

At first glance, it seems to be irrelevant.

But thinking about it again, it suddenly dawned on me that the authority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not about tariffs at this time?

Moreover, part of the Western tariffs did not go through the national treasury, but was also in the emperor's treasury. The key is that this amount of money is not much at this time, only tens of thousands of taels of silver. Although the various customs offices have a lot of money, there is not much resistance to taking over from above.

Duke Qi has been to Europe and knows that tariffs mean war and peace in Europe and are an extremely important negotiation tool.

For example, Britain and Spain, France and the Netherlands, and the Netherlands and Britain have fought several times over tariffs, smuggling and other issues.

Dashun has such a unique ability, but it has almost never used it.

Either it is a one-size-fits-all approach to close the customs to prevent harassment by Westerners; or, as it is now, the customs are collected like a fool, and the door is wide open. From Songjiang to Guangdong, Western trading houses can rent here.

When Liu Yu talked about the Ministry of Foreign Affairs seizing the power of tariffs, Duke Qi's eyes suddenly lit up, thinking that this is a good way.

Coincidentally, the emperor asked him to cooperate with Liu Yu to deal with the Swedish matter.

He also knew that his family had invested a sum of money in the trading company, but most of it was invested by Tian Ping. He was away at the time, and the head of the family did not have such courage, so he missed a good opportunity, but he also invested some money.

If the last reception of the Russian delegation was regarded as the starting point of Dashun's diplomacy; then this time, solving the Swedish trade problem was the first thing done by Dashun's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After obtaining the authority of tariffs, if you want the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to have weight in the court, you have to hand in a weighty answer sheet to the court.

This weight is gold and silver.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in charge of tariffs? Well... That's not impossible. I can report this to Your Majesty. Your negotiations with the Swedes just need the cooperation of tariffs. How sure are you about this matter?"

The demarcation of boundaries can be done step by step. The court has a bottom line and basically knows where the border can be drawn.

The Swedish matter is the first shot of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This shot should be fired loudly.

"Duke, in fact, there are only two ways to deal with Sweden. One is Russia. The war between Russia and Sweden is inevitable. The French have also said that in order to contain Russia, they will also instigate the Swedes and Russia to fight. The two sides have fought for decades, and the hatred is there."

"In this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can use the power of pacifying the Western Regions. It may not intimidate Russia, but it can guarantee that if Sweden and Russia go to war, it will mediate. The Swedes are very confident, but after all, a small country with a population of hundreds of thousands cannot beat Russia even if it is one against ten. At that time, if they can come forward to mediate, it can also be regarded as a guarantee."

"But this alone cannot convince the Swedes to make concessions."

This time, Liu Yu sent a merchant ship to Sweden to wait for the opportunity of a major war in Europe. At this time, there was no international law. Privateers were running around, from India to America and then to Europe. European merchant ship trade would inevitably be affected.

Once affected, there would be a supply vacuum. And this supply vacuum is Liu Yu's opportunity to let Dashun set foot in the West at sea.

As long as the amount of smuggling is large enough, either Britain will reduce the tea tax, so that foreign exports will soar, and Dashun will increase tariffs; or European countries will have to watch smugglers run around and take away all the profits of various East India companies.

More than a decade ago, Britain, the Netherlands, France and other countries had just dismembered the Ostend Company. If they wanted to gain a foothold in Europe, they had to take advantage of the Anglo-French contradictions and ensure that they would intervene when the contradictions were the deepest and stay.

The awkward thing is that Dashun cannot turn against Britain and expel the British trading house. Britain will have no worries anyway and can rob Dashun's merchant ships in the Atlantic Ocean. In order to prevent Britain from robbing Dashun's merchant ships, they have to smile at Britain and let it continue to trade here, so as to negotiate with Britain to guarantee the safety of Dashun's merchant ships.

If you dare to rob the ship, I will dismantle the trading house. We can only talk about it if we have mutual collateral.

With the Netherlands, this is not easy to deal with. Liu Yu wants not only the little trade with the Netherlands, but also to uproot the Netherlands' business in Southeast Asia.

This requires a neutral white glove.

After choosing and choosing, Sweden is the most suitable.

Russia's most common potential enemy, this is a direction that can be negotiated.

Of course, the Swedes are definitely unwilling to let Chinese merchants get involved in Gothenburg's smuggling business, which requires Dashun's diplomatic department to make a fuss about the tariff issue: if Dashun is not allowed to participate in the Swedish East India Company's business with China, then the Swedish East India Company will be subject to additional tariffs.

No private person can go to Guangdong to trade.

Because every country in Europe has a monopoly of the East India Company, private trade is not only illegal, but will also be captured and divided by the East India Company. So much monopoly power is bought every year with real money, not in vain.

Even if you have a background, is your background better than the directors of the East India Company?

Liu Yu carefully analyzed with Qi Guogong the reasons why tariffs could be used to force Sweden to agree.

"The Swedes are not the Dutch and do not have Batavia. They do not have any foothold in Southeast Asia. Therefore, once trade is cut off, they will not even be able to rely on the opportunity of smuggling from China and North Korea to get goods."

"To put it bluntly, Weihai's navy can't deal with the Dutch at this time, can't it also deal with the Swedes?"

"Smuggling is not possible, and competition in Europe is fierce. This means that they must either give up business with China, or cut off their flesh and blood and give us part of it."

"Suicide, or cutting off your fingers, normal people will make the 'right' choice. That is to say, before the bullying, I kept switching trade on and off, thinking that there really was such a paradise of true free trade."

"Furthermore, Sweden is weak and has no money for shipbuilding, so they are reluctant to build merchant ships that are too big. They are all small merchant ships, and their capital stock is far from that of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands."

"The United Kingdom can still sell some Indian goods, and the Netherlands can also sell spices, but they can only buy them with silver. Insufficient share capital also restricts their trade quota. Our participation in the shares is a win-win situation."

"I estimate that the Swedes will agree. This time I have asked Mi Ziming to bring a message, hoping that Sweden will send the founder of the East India Company to come. He came to Guangdong a few years ago and is familiar with the road."

"If you can open up trade to the West, you will have money. If you have money, you will stand firm and speak loudly in the court."

Duke Guo of Qi thought about what Liu Yu said, and he was very happy and asked: "What do you want to do?"

"Simple, the Swedish East India Company will divest its business with China. For the business with China, we will provide part of the share capital, and the Swedish royal family and those major shareholders will provide part of it. Since we have contributed the share capital, we are all one family, and we can give priority to ensuring our own goods. , and can also cut off trade with Britain and the Netherlands when necessary.”

Duke Guo of Qi asked again: "If they don't agree, will it really cut off trade?"

"Yes, we are not threatening them. After all, we have alternatives."

"Alternative? Who?"

"The Portuguese. If they don't agree with us using their shell to trade in Europe and gain a foothold, then take back Macau and tell them to get out. Of course, this is just to scare the Swedes. When we explore Southeast Asia in the future, Macau will definitely be It's useless to take it back. Keeping it will only breed missionaries. I personally don't want to have too much to do with the Portuguese, so as not to turn against the rat in the future."

This alternative was beyond Qi Guogong's expectation.

After thinking about it silently for a while, I felt that this possibility was still very high. As long as we controlled the direction, the negotiation could be successful.

The key is that the Swedes are not Dutch and have no foothold in Southeast Asia.

Therefore, either get out and give up business with China completely; or get a share of the pie and China and Switzerland work together to develop the smuggling business to the extreme, allowing Britain, the Netherlands and the Americas to use smuggled goods.

There was no option to smuggle Chinese merchants to Nanyang, so the Swedes had no choice but to accept it.

Anyway, its share capital is not strong. It is indeed feasible for Dashun to ship ships without damaging the profits of the original major shareholders.

Duke Guo of Qi thought for a while and said with a smile: "That's right. The Dutch and the British are both powerful countries and have influence in Southeast Asia and India. Cooperating with them would be seeking the skin of a tiger, which is extremely unwise."

"Only the small country of Sweden, which has no power in Southeast Asia and India and is neutral in Europe, is the only enemy of the Rakshasa. The Rakshasa cannot rob the Swedish ship."

Liu Yu said: "That's right. The biggest difficulty for our country in trading in Europe is that the East India Company in various European countries has monopoly rights. Even if the ship sails there, it won't be able to sell goods; and if it really sails, it will be lost halfway. Hijacked by an East India Company ship."

"The Swedes are the largest smugglers in Europe at this time, and the future of Dashun Sea Trade can only rely on smugglers. This is exactly what happened."

Seeing what Liu Yu said, it was obvious that he had thought deeply about it, and he might have told the emperor a long time ago.

Duke Qi thought for a moment and understood the checks and balances.

Liu Yu could have handled this matter himself, but the emperor did not want Liu Yu to take the lead in the negotiations with the West, even if such leadership had to be reported to the emperor.

As for negotiations with Russia and border demarcation, it makes little difference whether there is a Ministry of Foreign Affairs or not. In the previous border demarcation, there was no Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the eastern section of the border was also demarcated and completed.

It seems that the emperor wanted to set up the Ministry of Foreign Affairs because he wanted to take away the power of foreign negotiation from Liu Yu. It can also be regarded as nip in the bud, because they are worried that Liu Yu will have too deep negotiations with Westerners, or they are worried that China will rely on Liu Yu for its foreign negotiations in the future.

After figuring this section out, Qi Guogong also understood what to do.

The purpose of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to put up a front so that the emperor can see that it is actually doing something.

What the emperor wants to see and want is this kind of administrative bureaucracy that takes off his pants and farts, making it impossible for Liu Yu to do things on his own and must rely on the cooperation of more departments.

Even if everything Liu Yu has done so far has been approved by the emperor, this power must be divided.

The Duke of Qi thought to himself: Your Majesty knows the strategy for Sweden and has asked me to do it, so this is what he meant. And since Your Majesty is so concerned about this matter, I am afraid that the treasury also has a lot of shares in the trade. It's just that he is unwilling to say it clearly, so as not to be criticized for competing with the people for profit.

Thinking about His Majesty's thoughts, he should also give Liu Yu some advice, so he said: "Shou Chang, after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is established, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will handle foreign affairs in the future. If you can get the tariff rights, you don't have to interfere in the future. If there is anything, let those merchants respond, follow the normal procedures, and then the tariff will be handed over to me."

"In the court, you are Ying Suo Bo, the Navy Supervisor, and the Jiedu Whale Sea. You are in charge of what you should be in charge of; if it is not your responsibility... If His Majesty is difficult to grasp, he will summon you, or summon you to participate in the court meeting."

After admonishing Liu Yu, the Duke of Qi knew what he was doing.

He thought that if he was in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he would only be in charge of the South Seas at most.

When you need to work together to make progress, Your Majesty will naturally use good coordination between the upper and lower levels; if you don't need to make progress, you must first think about how to balance the constraints.

He thought, Nanyang must be taken, and I have to hand over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Knowing this, I still have to do it well, otherwise it will seem that I have resentment. If I don't do it well, can't set up a frame, and can't do one or two things that can be used as examples for future generations, Your Majesty may use this as an excuse to make trouble.