The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 311 The British’s Helplessness
Most European countries... Actually there aren't many...

Apart from several Nordic countries, there are only Russia and Habsburg Austria left on the European continent. Including the United Kingdom, there are only three major countries left.

The Italian and German states, which had long been filling in the gaps, were almost completely wiped out by Napoleon and the Ming Dynasty.

Not only was the ruling system overthrown by Napoleon, but the main branches of the monarchs of many states were gone, leaving only some difficult-to-count branches on the run.

Such a monarch had no chance to come to Antwerp for negotiations, and the Ming Dynasty did not take the initiative to find and invite such a monarch's family.

The UK is closest to Antwerp, has the most convenient transportation, and now has the fastest response.

After receiving the invitation from the Ming Dynasty, British Prime Minister William Pitt immediately set off for Antwerp with British Foreign Secretary Grenville.

In the eyes of the British, this should be a meeting to sign an armistice agreement and determine the future situation in Europe.

The most important officials should have been directly involved in the discussions.

Moreover, Grenville, Britain's foreign secretary and cousin of William Pitt, was not very enthusiastic about serious affairs.

Growell himself could be considered a lazy guy, with no special hobbies other than making money.

He used his family connections and his cousin who became prime minister to get himself several part-time jobs in the British government that paid well but required little work.

Grenville's legal salary is now higher than that of his cousin, who is Prime Minister.

In the original history, after William Pitt's unexpected death, Grenville was the natural candidate to succeed him as prime minister because of his status and background.

However, after becoming prime minister, according to convention he cannot continue to hold certain part-time jobs, but this will result in a reduction in his direct income.

So Grenville directly rejected the nomination for prime minister because of his reduced legal income.

It was not until the cabinet negotiated and gave him a few extra part-time jobs that paid more but required less work to ensure that his income would not decrease that he reluctantly became prime minister.

The date agreed by Wang Tingzhen was February 1, the 15th year of Tiangong, but Pitt and Grenville arrived on January 21.

In order to confirm Daming's thoughts, of course he had to meet with Wang Tingzhen in advance to sound out the other party's attitude.

Wang Tingzhen did not refuse and met the two men at the provincial government office.

However, even though William Pitt was the so-called chief minister, Wang Tingzhen still sat down to receive the greetings and did not stand up to greet him.

The traditional literati of the Ming Dynasty originally had a strong attitude towards Europeans. Now with Zhu Jianxuan's compliance and even active guidance, coupled with the rapid development of the Ming Dynasty in recent years, they naturally looked down on Europeans even more.

Looking at these so-called European powers now, they are really beginning to have the same mentality as before when looking at the small countries around them.

The two cousins ​​William Pitt were a little embarrassed, but in the end they did not directly show resistance because it would be useless for them to act tough.

Both of them bowed, smiled, and took the initiative to greet Wang Tingzhen.

Wang Tingzhen then had someone bring chairs for the two men and asked them to sit beside him while he explained their purpose.

British Foreign Secretary Grenville spoke first at the suggestion of his cousin, the Prime Minister:
"May I ask, Your Excellency the Governor, how does the Supreme Emperor of the Ming Dynasty plan to build a post-war European order, and how should we, Britain, participate in it?"

Although Grenville was a lazy man, he still had basic administrative skills. Otherwise, even if he had enough background, it would have been difficult for him to become a minister or even prime minister.

Wang Tingzhen looked at the other party, then put on a more serious attitude and bowed his hands upwards:

"Your Majesty is not planning to establish any European order. What you are considering is the vassal order of the whole world, which has no direct relationship with you in the UK at present.

"Unless you, Britain, pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty and join the Ming Dynasty's vassal system, there is nothing to talk about between us."

Grenville was a little confused and subconsciously looked at his cousin, the Prime Minister.

Pete couldn't help but speak directly:

"We are very sorry, Your Excellency, we did not fully understand what you meant.

"The European order is directly related to the United Kingdom. Hanover in the German region is the territory of our King.

"Most of the areas are still under the control of the Ming Dynasty. Shouldn't the Ming Dynasty return these areas to our King?"

This is the bottom line goal of the British in this negotiation. Hanover should be taken back at all costs.

Wang Tingzhen asked casually:
“That’s the land the Ming seized from the French.

"Whether Britain has any agreement with the Ming Dynasty or not, the key is not that we are a vassal of the Ming Dynasty.

"Why did the Ming Dynasty return these lands to your king?"

Pete felt something was wrong.

Although Pete had already been mentally prepared, he might have to pay a certain price to take back the Hanover region occupied by the Ming Dynasty.

But now it seems that the price the Ming Dynasty demands is Britain's surrender.

This is not completely impossible, but direct negotiation and discussion like this would be timid and would obviously not convince the king, the nobles, and the bourgeoisie.

Pete chose his words carefully and tried to find out more:
"Your Excellency, the Governor, although the Ming Dynasty and Britain did not sign a treaty, we were de facto allies when facing Napoleon's France.

"No matter who took back the land that originally belonged to our allies, it should eventually be returned to its original owner."

Wang Tingzhen wanted to laugh when he heard such words, and he felt disgusted with the British for their lack of self-awareness.

When the Song Dynasty allied with the Jin Dynasty to attack the Liao Dynasty, and even when the Mongols conquered the Jin Dynasty, they ultimately gained nothing, simply because the Song Dynasty itself did not play a role on the battlefield.

Instead, it made the cooperative opponents see the weakness of the Song Dynasty, and after defeating the opponents, they began to attack their allies.

So when a multinational war ends, the most important factor in what a participating country will ultimately gain is not what the country paid in the war, nor what they lost in the war.

But when the war is over, what will they still have and how much power they still have.

In this European war, Ming officials and generals once again confirmed that Ming could defeat Napoleon relatively easily, and Napoleon could suppress all other European countries alone relatively stably.

So Ming Dynasty should now be able to directly suppress the remaining countries in the world.

In the eyes of many Ming officials, the Ming Dynasty has now reached the stage of unifying the world. This world is not the former Shenzhou, but the entire earth.

After solving the problem of France, the next thing to do is to deal with Russia, Britain, Shunzhi, the Ottoman Empire, and Austria.

At this point, how is it possible to transfer land to Britain on a large scale?

Unless Britain directly pays tribute to the Ming Dynasty.

However, the instructions that Wang Tingzhen received from the emperor stated that even if Britain did not pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty this time, most of the Hanoverian land should be returned to them.

Although Wang Tingzhen could imagine that Hanover would be surrounded by vassal states of the Ming Dynasty in the future, Hanover in Britain would become Britain's weak point.

However, officials such as Wang Tingzhen still felt that the current emperor was still too cautious and probably wanted to recuperate for a few years after the wars in America and Europe.

Therefore, there was no plan to immediately start conquering the remaining European countries after resolving the Napoleonic Wars.

However, the already inflated Wang Tingzhen felt that, let alone a tiny country like Britain, even the remaining Russia and the Ottoman Empire combined were no match for the Ming Dynasty.

Wang Tingzhen felt that there was no need to argue with them.

Although he had no choice but to do as the emperor requested, Wang Tingzhen would not agree to it right away:

"Now Napoleon has paid tribute to His Majesty and accepted the title of King of Poland.

“So now Poland is an official vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, but Britain has no direct barbarian relationship with the Ming Dynasty.

"If Britain wants to take back Hanover, it should offer a sufficient price in exchange. What can you offer?
“Canada in North America, or the new colonies you have developed in Africa in recent years?

"Your Majesty still hopes that you Europeans will stay in Europe and stop running around the world." Although Wang Tingzhen did not ask Britain to pay tribute, Pitt and Grenville did not relax at all, and the sorrow in their hearts did not disappear.

Napoleon led Poland to submit to the Ming Dynasty, and the Bourbon royal family submitted to the Ming Dynasty in mainland France.

The Ming Dynasty still directly occupies most of the land in Germany and Italy, and it is absolutely impossible to easily return it to the original feudal monarchs.

What's more, many monarchs and their immediate family members are gone, or they have nothing to exchange.

The only way to restore its original status is to become a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.

The new European order framework constructed by the Ming Dynasty has been determined, and in the future the entire central region of the European continent will belong to the Ming Dynasty.

The remaining major countries, Britain, Russia and Austria were isolated in three directions.

Even if the three countries wanted to cooperate, accept British technology and requirements, start industrialization and fight against the Ming Dynasty, it had become unfeasible.

What is the future of the British and European people? This question now seems meaningless.

As for the situation at hand...it is also very troublesome.

In the North American War against the Ming Dynasty and France and Spain, Britain lost all its overseas colonies except Canada.

After the end of the North American War, Britain once again attempted overseas expansion.

The Ming Dynasty originally planned to seize Cape Town in Africa from the Netherlands, but the Ming Dynasty got there first and turned the Netherlands into a vassal state.

Then they could only explore on their own along the west coast of Africa.

The population of the British mainland is not large, and the national power cannot be concentrated, so small-scale exploration and development actions are slow.

The several colonies in Africa consisted of only a few coastal outposts.

After the Ming Dynasty launched its African operations, these coastal outposts were quickly surrounded by the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty lost the opportunity to continue expanding.

But these outposts belong to Britain after all.

After the North American War, Britain never fought with the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty did not take the initiative to seize it.

During the wars with Portugal, Spain and France, the Ming Dynasty took over their colonies in Africa.

Now on the entire African continent, the only lands that do not belong to the Ming Dynasty are those few British strongholds.

The value of these outposts is limited and cannot be compared with Hanover. Even Canada cannot be compared with the entire Hanover.

Moreover, the strongholds in Africa and Canada are all under the nose of the Ming Dynasty.

As long as the Ming Dynasty wanted, it could take it away at any time, and it would be impossible for Britain to defend it.

Now, according to what Wang Tingzhen said, the Ming Dynasty wants strongholds in Canada and Africa, and does not want Europeans to go out to sea again.

Pete hesitated for several seconds, then said:
"We are willing to give up our stronghold in Africa in exchange for the Ming Dynasty returning the land of Hanover."

The resources and slaves in inland Africa have been controlled by the Ming Dynasty, and those strongholds on the African coast are now of no use.

Unless Britain wants to oppose the Ming Dynasty, it can use these strongholds as nails.

Wang Tingzhen answered casually:
"Those strongholds in Africa can be exchanged for the Verden area."

The territory of Hanover can be roughly divided into two parts, the duchies of Bremen and Verden.

Bremen is obviously larger, next to the Elbe River and has a coastline, while Verden is a smaller, purely landlocked territory.

Pete opened his mouth and was stunned for half a second before saying:

"There is no coastline in Velden..."

Pete was a little unable to continue. He... Facing the Ming Dynasty Empire, it seemed that the only thing Britain could do now was to beg.

It seems that if I don't continue to resist, I will feel more comfortable if I surrender directly...

According to the standards of the Netherlands and Portugal, after paying tribute to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, their original colonies would not be taken away but would only be shared with the Ming Dynasty.

The key is that the huge market and sophisticated technology of the Ming Dynasty will also be opened up to a large part of the vassal states...

Grenville, the Foreign Minister, spoke up at this time:

"Does the Governor mean to say that Britain will exchange all its overseas colonies for the entire territory of Hanover?"

Wang Tingzhen replied as a matter of course:
"Yes."

Grenville said without any expression:
“We need to consider it seriously and we need time to liaise and confirm with His Majesty the King.

“But please also consider the impact of Ming’s current attitude towards European countries.

“Whether the Ming Dynasty admits it or not, the Ming Dynasty and European countries were allies when fighting against France controlled by Napoleon.

"Now the Ming Dynasty has made a separate peace with Napoleon and has sole control over the lands of France, Poland, Germany, and Italy.

"According to the Ming Dynasty, this is morally flawed and will be remembered by European countries."

Wang Tingzhen glanced at Grenville:
"Oh? You mean allies? Then what did you barbarians do when the Ming Dynasty was fighting against Napoleon?
"Are you showing off your presence in a threatening manner?

"When Napoleon asked the emperor for a title and was willing to accept the teachings of the Celestial Empire, what were you doing?
"Are you discussing how to fight against the Ming Dynasty soldiers?
"You resisted the emperor and refused to obey his will. His Majesty has done his utmost by not sending the heavenly soldiers to kill you all.

"You actually want to talk to me about morality now?

"It seems that I must make a suggestion to His Majesty, asking His Majesty to send a million troops to land on the three British Isles and wipe out all of you barbarians."

Grenville was stunned for a moment, but Pitt was shocked.

According to Pete's current understanding of Ming culture, the moral system of the Celestial Empire is a very serious matter, with rules similar to religious laws.

Accusing a Ming Dynasty person of having no morals is a very serious slander and attack, more serious than using foul language to insult.

The key point is that the morality understood and imagined by Europeans and the morality that the Ming people were accustomed to were sometimes completely different things.

For example, the Emperor of Shenzhou is the only one by default and is the monarch of all people in the world by default.

Anyone who refuses to submit to the emperor can be regarded as a traitor and his entire family can be killed for a serious crime.

The key point is that the scope of this world has no clear boundaries. In fact, wherever the people of the Ming Dynasty go can be regarded as the scope of the world.

After the Ming Dynasty made demands for Britain to surrender, if Britain refused to become a vassal, if the Ming emperor wanted to be serious, he could directly declare war on Britain.

The cultural system of a single nation developed within the isolated geographical unit of Shenzhou is completely different from that of Europe, where countries and nations are fragmented.

The Shenzhou people's perception that "if you don't obey me, I can destroy you" is a matter of course, and I don't know whether it is a good thing or a bad thing.

It is very dangerous that my cousin thought of moral issues, but he accused the Ming Dynasty from a relatively equal position.

Peter quickly grabbed his cousin and bowed to Wang Tingzhen to apologize:
"Your Excellency, the Governor, please don't be angry. This fool of mine has no sense of etiquette and has no idea what morality is. Please don't take it to heart.

"We have absolutely no intention of disrespecting His Majesty, and we do not think that there is anything wrong with His Majesty's actions. We will seriously consider your suggestions."

Wang Tingzhen's anger subsided a little. He resisted the urge to ask someone to beat them up and waved at the two men in front of him with a stern face.

Pitt quickly pulled Grenville out of the meeting room.

(End of this chapter)