The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 119 Colonial Strategies of Maritime Powers

More than ten days after Zhu Jianxuan's talks with the Habsburgs and France ended, the British representatives returned to America from Europe.

On August 1782, the 10th year of Xianning (October 2, in the Western calendar), Zhu Jianxuan met with British representatives again.

Prince Frederick of England, Minister of Hanover, looked on.

As a representative, the British Home Secretary, Earl Shelburne, expressed King George III's attitude with some melancholy.

It was impossible for George III to trade the entire Duchy of Bremen-Verden. The most he could do was to give the Bremen region to the Ming Dynasty.

All other original conditions remain unchanged.

Zhu Jianxuan could see that the British had really reached their limit.

The entire Duchy of Bremen-Verden appears to be formed by combining two names, but the Bremen region accounts for the vast majority of the Duchy.

Verden probably covers only about a quarter of the entire duchy.

The British took away Fielden, which was basically their last struggle, and it felt like they had to cut off some of it.

Zhu Jianxuan is basically satisfied with this result.

They were even prepared to relax a little on the British.

For a maritime power, there are many considerations on how to establish colonies in other mature countries.

A positive example is Britain.

They occupy relatively important ports and islands at key locations in various regions of the world, serving as key nodes and trade centers for controlling sea power.

Strictly curb the desire to directly interfere in local inland affairs and try to maintain good relations with inland rulers as much as possible.

Make the inland rulers feel that their presence is beneficial to them.

A negative example is Japan.

They were originally following British strategy, but after occupying key positions, they could not resist the temptation to move inland on a large scale.

They could not resist annexing the vast land and population of the interior, which led to full hostility with the population of the interior.

The final result is death from overeating and exhaustion.

The Ming Dynasty is certainly different from Britain and Japan.

The population of the Ming Dynasty was several times larger than that of the United Kingdom, and the population it could export was also several times larger than that of the United Kingdom. Naturally, the areas it could control were also much larger than that of the United Kingdom.

But it still makes no sense for the Ming Dynasty to swallow up the land of continental Europe now.

Simply occupying the land and continuing to retain the local population would be a loss-making exercise for the Ming Dynasty, because the last thing the Ming Dynasty lacked was population.

The Ming Dynasty did not go to Europe to alleviate poverty, but to export industrial products to make money.

If you want to completely get rid of European residents and then send them to immigration areas to completely replace them, it would be a very uneconomical behavior. It would be better to immigrate directly to North America.

The key is that it will provoke widespread hostility and resistance from Europeans.

The Ming Dynasty should draw on and learn from Britain’s strategies, and on this basis, give full play to Ming Dynasty’s strengths and do “better” than the British.

The native population of the UK is too small.

The key shipping routes they control cannot allow immigrants to become the majority of the population, unless they are very small, like Gibraltar.

The British had to integrate into the local society and were not allowed to use the locals to manage them.

When the national liberation movement arises or foreign forces intervene, they will be forced to give up these places.

However, the Ming Dynasty could export enough immigrants to form a society dominated by Ming people in various ports, and allow the remaining local residents to integrate into Ming society in turn.

We can then achieve the situation like Gibraltar, where even if a referendum is held locally, most people will be willing to stay in the Ming Dynasty.

Today on the European continent, except for the more famous commercial cities, most ordinary cities have only tens of thousands of people, and many ports have only ten or twenty thousand people.

The Ming Dynasty only needed one or two large-scale immigrations to make the Ming people the absolute majority ethnic group in local cities.

However, it is still impossible to change the absolute majority ethnic group of the entire country where the local area is located, so it is still impossible to become an enemy of the local inland rulers and main residents.

Therefore, when Zhu Jianxuan discussed transactions with European countries, he always emphasized that such transactions were also beneficial to them.

Ming Dynasty's commodity trade can create profits for them, and local people are welcome to participate in the business according to Ming Dynasty's rules.

We must also try our best to curb the desire to continue to swallow up the inland.

Therefore, after Zhu Jianxuan pushed Britain to the extreme, he had to take the initiative to relax the restrictions a little.

Give the British a little surprise and reduce the hostility between the British and Hanover.

It also happens to be a condition for getting Britain to participate in the Habsburg deal:
"If Britain and Hanover can assist Ming and participate in a paramilitary operation on the European continent.

"Then this condition can be slightly relaxed." "We can follow the negotiation we proposed the first time and only exchange Hadron and the three surrounding plots of land."

"The total area should be around 2,000 square kilometers, right?"

Earl Shelburne and other British representatives were visibly stunned.

They all suspected that they had heard it wrong. How could the Ming Dynasty take the initiative to make concessions?
What kind of paramilitary operation? Is there something fishy going on here?
Lord Shelburne asked very cautiously
"Your Majesty, what are you talking about? What kind of military action is that? Britain is in a very poor financial situation right now and is not capable of participating in a large-scale war again."

Zhu Jianxuan briefly introduced his cooperation plan with the Habsburgs:

“If the Ming Dynasty wants to trade the land of Hanover with you, it must eliminate the influence of Prussia and Habsburg.

"The Habsburgs proposed another cooperation plan that could support the deal between Ming and Hanover, but would exclude interference from Prussia and other states in the Habsburgs.

“So now Ming is preparing to establish a simple alliance with the Habsburgs, France, and Britain to complete two territorial exchanges.

"There is a high probability that an armed confrontation will occur, but it is unlikely to trigger an all-out war."

The British representatives headed by Earl Shelburne were stunned after hearing this.

It feels like a blessing from heaven.

Now Britain is eager to break free from its isolation and seek allies to gain a sense of security.

In the original history, after Britain was completely isolated from Europe during the American War of Independence, it even wanted to seek the Qing Dynasty as an ally.

Now that the Ming Dynasty has brought Britain and major European countries to form an alliance, they are of course overjoyed.

There is no need to ask the king for permission, he will definitely accept this.

Although there are obviously some problems with the direction of cooperation of this alliance, none of this matters now.

The British, of course, had similar concerns as the French, and felt that the territorial exchange supported by the Ming Dynasty would make the Habsburgs even more powerful.

But before you can restrict the Habsburgs, you must first get yourself back to normal.

Although there were historical conflicts between Britain and France, they were temporarily resolved after the signing of the Treaty of Yingtianfu, and there is no direct conflict between the two sides now.

As for Prussia, the target of the alliance, it was Britain's ally in the Seven Years' War and the British king was from Germany, but it was no big deal.

During the Seven Years' War, after Britain seized France's North American colonies, it threatened to cut off its support and demanded that Prussia compromise and surrender.

So the British had actually sold out Prussia once.

Britain is different from Russia. The power of Parliament and the Prime Minister is growing, and the King's background cannot influence the decisions of the entire British top leadership.

Moreover, George II grew up in Hanover during the Seven Years' War, but now George III grew up in England and has become completely British.

It was precisely because George III came to the throne at the end of the Seven Years' War that he began to reduce his support for Prussia and demanded that Prussia negotiate peace at a disadvantage.

Earl Shelburne was actually very excited now, but he was an old politician after all, so he tried very hard to hold back his emotions and finally tried to bargain:
“If Ming asks Britain to assist in this exchange, Hanover will have to give up Hadron and the surrounding 1,000 square kilometers of land.

"After all, it is not easy to fight against Prussia, and Britain is not suitable for participating in a large-scale war now.

"Ming should assist Britain by transporting some of the North American army back to Europe to participate in this operation."

The difference between one thousand and two thousand square kilometers is the difference between a small county and a medium-sized county. It doesn’t matter to Zhu Jianxuan.

But Zhu Jianxuan knew what the British wanted. He could not give in at this time, nor could he continue to give them this face:
"You originally wanted to simply form an alliance with Ming, but now I have brought you a group of allies.

"How dare you take this opportunity to continue reducing the scope of the transaction?
“I said two thousand, so it’s two thousand.

"You British people, don't be ungrateful! I can kick you out at any time!"

Earl Shelburne was a politician indeed. After realizing that bargaining was meaningless, he immediately apologized with a smile:

"I am sorry for the impoliteness. Everything will be done in accordance with your great will, respected King Wu of the Ming Dynasty and His Majesty the King of America."

The smile on Lord Shelburne's face could be described as flattering.

Zhu Jianxuan waved his hands speechlessly:

"Then this matter is settled. I will confirm with the Spanish and French people, and then start discussing specific actions."

This time Lord Shelburne put on a serious expression:

"Please inform us of the results of your wishes and we will fully cooperate."

After the direction was determined, Count Shelburne finally gave a warning to the Habsburgs before leaving.

Zhu Jianxuan directly repeated the same rhetoric he used to convince the French to the British.

Earl Shelburne was a conservative and did not quite understand this logic, but Zhu Jianxuan's attitude was firm, so he could only accept the fact temporarily.

In any case, let Britain get out of the most unfavorable situation first.

(End of this chapter)