The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 313 The King
British Prime Minister William Pitt thought the king was thinking too much, but since the king had already spoken, he had to at least ask.

If the king's idea can be realized, the difficulty of convincing the cabinet and parliament will be greatly reduced, and there will be no need to make a specific statement, maybe just a notification will be enough.

So William Pitt immediately rushed back to Antwerp and brought his cousin Grenville to visit Wang Tingzhen again.

After greeting each other, Pete quickly explained the purpose of his visit.

Wang Tingzhen was a little surprised:
"Your king wants to marry our emperor? I'm afraid..."

Wang Tingzhen subconsciously wanted to say no, because the Ming royal family never married outsiders, but he stopped the words when they came to his lips.

Emperor Chongzhen did take several concubines from foreign countries, but they were not European royal women.

The key point is that this kind of matter is not under my jurisdiction. It is either under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Clan Affairs, the Ministry of Rites, or the Honglu Temple. In any case, I have not been authorized.

Wang Tingzhen did not accept or refuse the offer rashly, for fear of accidentally exceeding his authority and being resentful and criticized by the corresponding department.

Pete thought Wang Tingzhen was going to say, "I'm afraid this can't be done..."

Peter himself guessed the same thing, but at this point, he still had to try his best:
"Thank you, Your Excellency, for conveying our king's sincere wishes to His Majesty. Our king is grateful."

Wang Tingzhen finally realized that this matter really had to be decided by the emperor himself, and the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Clan Affairs, and the Honglu Temple had no say in it.

Wang Tingzhen has been in Europe for several years and knows what the British royal family is like.

As long as a prince of the Ming Dynasty marries the eldest granddaughter of the King of England, he will be the de facto King of England in the future, and now he also has the opportunity to become the King of Hanover directly.

The key to inheriting the land and property of the British king is that you don’t have to change your name and you can also establish your own kingdom.

In the eyes of the Ming people, this kind of thing was definitely a big profit. Britain was also a relatively large country in Europe, but the king's authority was limited.

But that was because the British king was incompetent. If a general from the Ming Dynasty were to become king, he would definitely be able to take back power.

If this is accomplished, there will be no need for negotiations with the UK.

So Wang Tingzhen sighed and said:
"Very well, I will report your king's intention to His Majesty, and let His Majesty make the decision personally."

Peter quickly bowed again:

"Your Excellency, the Governor, I am very grateful."

After Pete finished his business, he went back to wait for news. Wang Tingzhen immediately wrote a report on the situation and sent it back to Shuntian Prefecture via telegram.

The Ming Emperor Zhu Jianxuan saw this urgent telegram from Europe on the morning of the next day.

Zhu Jianxuan read it twice, still finding it hard to believe:

"Is there such a good thing?"

Zhu Jianxuan did not reject this matter.

The Ming imperial family did not marry into the nobility in the past in order to avoid interference from external relatives in politics.

If you send your son to Europe to be the king, the king's child is not considered an in-law, but a vassal state overseas.

There are so many vassal states in the Ming Dynasty now, so it doesn’t matter if there is one more.

As a remote vassal state, Britain's power was far from enough to interfere in the political affairs of the Ming Dynasty.

The prince of the Ming Dynasty married a British princess and became the king of a foreign vassal state. He would definitely not have the chance to become the emperor of the Ming Dynasty in the future.
Thinking of this, Zhu Jianxuan took out Zhu Jingjian’s previous report.

Zhu Jianxuan was quite satisfied with the child's talent and knew that he had a relatively flexible mind.

He's just a rather reckless person, always wanting to start a massacre.

The key is that he is not satisfied with the competition route he has arranged, and now he still has a clear resistance.

So last time he asked to go to Europe to be the king. When he arrived in Europe, he still insisted on going out to be the king, and directly asked for the treasures that France had robbed in Europe.

In Zhu Jianxuan's opinion, a person who has little interest in supreme power and is even lazy by nature is indeed not suitable to be an heir.

He does not care about power, or he will lose it, nor will he uphold a system he does not like.

Zhu Jingjian’s talent is indeed not bad, but it is not the best either.

The key is that a person's character is formed at an early age. As the saying goes, a child's character can be seen at a young age.

This guy is already fifteen years old, and he still has the same personality as now. It will probably be difficult to change it in the future.

Zhu Jianxuan has too many children and does not have the energy to specifically train one child's character, so most of the growth of each child depends on himself.

However, precisely because there are so many children, some of them can be allowed to give up the "roll".

In addition to Zhu Jingjian's current performance, if he was still deliberately kept, it might make other children think that he favored him.

So this guy really should be out.

Zhu Jianxuan didn't think about it for too long before deciding to try to arrange a marriage with Zhu Jingjian.

However, Zhu Jianxuan would not force Zhu Jingjian.

If this guy has no interest in the granddaughter of the King of England and forces her to marry him but ends up not having children, then all the trouble now will be in vain.

Zhu Jianxuan now knows that the people of the Ming Dynasty do not like Europeans very much.

Looking at those women with blonde hair, blue eyes and big noses, many Ming people did not think they were beautiful. Instead, they thought they were weird and like ghosts, so they called them foreign devils.

So Zhu Jianxuan made arrangements for Zhu Jingjian to visit London and meet the granddaughter of the British king, and let him decide for himself whether to marry this foreign woman.

It was too troublesome to send people from the clan court directly from the mainland, so Zhu Jianxuan gave the task to Wang Tingzhen and Shen Fu who were already in Europe.

Zhu Jianxuan personally wrote two replies, one to Zhu Jingjian himself and one to Shen Fu and Wang Tingzhen.

After receiving the reply, Wang Tingzhen and Shen Fu met immediately.

Both of them were quite surprised.

Shen Fu couldn't help but sigh:
"The emperor actually accepted this plan and let His Highness the Sixteenth Prince make his own decision..."

Wang Tingzhen thought for a moment and said:
"The emperor is different from the past. He has been different since he was young. You and I should not speculate on his intentions. We should just follow his orders."

Shen Fu reacted immediately:

"I understand."

Wang Tingzhen then arranged:
"Give His Majesty the Sixteenth Prince some time to think about it. Shall we go and pay our respects together tomorrow?"

Shen Fu agreed again.

Zhu Jingjian received the reply from his father and was quite happy after reading the beginning.

His father told him that he could now have a chance to be king in Europe, but there was a condition.

After reading it, Zhu Jingjian became confused again. This condition was really strange.

If you want to marry a foreign woman, you can't take a concubine.

If he had a choice, Zhu Jingjian would rather be the King of Hanover alone, so that he could do whatever he wanted in Hanover.

You can directly use Hadron's Daming City as the capital without building a separate city.

Although marrying this foreign woman would give him the opportunity to control Britain, Zhu Jingjian felt that it had no practical significance.

Zhu Jingjian hesitated for a long time, and finally thanked his father again for allowing him to go and see what the British princess looked like before making a decision.

Zhu Jingjian really wanted to visit the UK, as it was said that the UK was the most industrially developed place in Europe.

So what happened next was a natural progression.

The next morning, Shen Fu and Wang Tingzhen went to see Zhu Jingjian together and asked him what he thought.

Then Wang Tingzhen continued to handle government affairs, and Shen Fu made an appointment to meet with Pitt alone to explain the intentions of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and the Sixteenth Prince.

After hearing this, Peter was overjoyed. He didn't expect that the Ming Dynasty would really accept the marriage. The Ming Emperor had too many children. As long as the Ming Emperor could accept it, then the rest would be easy. If this prince didn't like it, then he could just try another one.

When European royal families marry, they usually let the parties involved meet each other first. If they really don't like the person, they can change the person.

They don't mind having women in the spotlight.

After the Ming prince married the British, he had to give up his right to inherit the Ming throne. This additional condition was within Pitt's expectations and he did not feel too regretful.

Pitt immediately sent someone back to London to inform the Emperor and the Prince of the Ming Dynasty of their intentions and began to prepare for the meeting.

There is no need to meet formally in the form of a blind date. It is only necessary to arrange for the prince of the Ming Dynasty to visit London, and then it is natural to hold a banquet in the palace.

Members of the British royal family will naturally attend, and then the two sides will be able to meet naturally.

Because the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty made arrangements and the King and Prime Minister of England also supported it, the whole process went quite smoothly.

On the third day of February in the fifteenth year of Tiangong, Zhu Jingjian officially arrived in London for a visit.

This was the first time that a member of the Ming Dynasty royal family entered Britain and London, so it caused a lot of discussion.

This Ming prince also received the warmest welcome.

The British Crown Prince, Prince of Wales, personally went to the dock to greet him, and together with Zhu Jingjian, they rode in the royal carriage through the city to live in Buckingham Palace.

The Prince of Wales knew that this Ming prince might be his future son-in-law, so he observed him for a while when they first met.

The Prince of Wales felt that he was worthy of being a prince of the Ming Dynasty, and his image and temperament were far superior to those of ordinary nobles.

He was tall and strong, with a clean and handsome face. He wore no makeup or perfume, but he looked like a perfect royalty.

The founding monarch and his wife of the Ming Dynasty had a very good image to begin with. The Ming royal family did not marry into the nobility, so their descendants basically only considered the appearance and upbringing when choosing concubines.

After more than a dozen generations of screening and optimization, most of the current members have no major problems with their appearance, and quite a few are exceptionally handsome and beautiful.

In addition, the Ming Dynasty is now extremely powerful, and its culture is also extremely strong, which adds an extra filter to the eyes of Europeans.

Therefore, when most Europeans look at the members of the Ming Dynasty royal family, they instinctively feel that their image is exceptionally outstanding.

The same is true for the Prince of Wales, who now feels very satisfied in his heart.

But Zhu Jingjian himself did not have a good impression of this possible future father-in-law, and thought he was just a funny middle-aged fat man.

Looking at the Prince of Wales, Zhu Jingjian couldn't help but start to worry about his daughter's image.

Zhu Jingjian had seen his daughter's portrait. Judging from the portrait alone, she was at least not ugly, but Zhu Jingjian was worried that the portrait might be overly beautified.

Zhu Jingjian was not in a good mood, so he stayed at Buckingham Palace first and attended a banquet hosted by the Prince of Wales at noon the next day.

The Prince of Wales first introduced Zhu Jingjian to the nobles attending the banquet, and then took Zhu Jingjian to meet the British King and Queen and Princess Charlotte alone.

The King of England was already seventy years old, which was an absolute old man according to the traditions of the Ming Dynasty. However, Zhu Jingjian maintained basic respect for them.

He bowed and greeted the king and queen seriously, then looked at Charlotte, their only legitimate granddaughter.

Zhu Jingjian felt that he could give it a try because as long as he married this little girl, he would be free.

Charlotte is now just twelve years old. Europeans look more alert when they are young, and the apocrine sweat glands that produce body odor have not yet taken effect.

After a few years, when he grows to be seventeen or eighteen years old, his body will be fully stretched out, which will be even more inconsistent with the aesthetic standards of the Ming people.

They have large body proportions, small head proportions, are prone to obesity, have curly hair, and most of them have body odor.

As for Charlotte, she knew that this meeting was similar to a blind date. She was a little shy and took a few glances, but she was very satisfied with Zhu Jingjian's image.

Charlotte's biological parents have been separated for a long time, and both of them have some personality problems. Only her grandparents care about her.

Charlotte could feel that Zhu Jingjian was looking at her with a scrutinizing gaze, and she immediately began to worry whether the other party would like her.

People around them could also see that the first meeting between the two was quite harmonious and neither of them showed any disgust.

The King of England was quite happy, so he took the Queen and the Crown Prince away and let the two talk alone.

"Can you speak Ming Mandarin?"

"I have learned a little, but I am not proficient in it. Can you teach me?"

"I can try..."

This was the first time the two met, and their understanding of each other was limited to the official introduction. All they could do now was start with the language.

The two chatted for about an hour until the party ended.

The Prince of Wales sent Zhu Jingjian back to rest, and Charlotte went back to report to her grandparents.

The King of England asked his granddaughter what she thought of the prince of the Ming Dynasty.

Charlotte excitedly introduced:
"He has a very profound knowledge of astronomy, geography, biology, technology, military affairs, business, and almost everything I can think of, he seems to understand.

"He said he could also fly an airplane, a giant flying metal bird, a machine invented by the Ming emperor.

"He and his brothers started going to school at the age of four, and their daily schedule was packed with classes, leaving them with little time for rest and entertainment.

"But if I could come to Europe and become a king, I could get rid of this kind of study life..."

Charlotte talked a lot, and although she did not mention whether she was satisfied with the prince of the Ming Dynasty, the emotions she expressed while speaking were already clear.

The King of England looked at his wife:
"Now we can only hope that the prince of the Ming Dynasty will accept our Charlotte..."

The Queen of England is also named Charlotte, which is where her granddaughter's name comes from:
"Since the prince did not leave little Charlotte alone and did not go to the banquet to drink and have fun, he should at least not refuse this marriage."

The King of England also nodded slightly:
"That's right. When George first met his future wife, he immediately expressed that he was very uncomfortable and got drunk on the spot. Their marriage was a tragedy."

The Queen sighed and said:

"Fortunately, they gave birth to Charlotte, our only legitimate granddaughter, and Britain finally has an heir."

The British king and queen took Charlotte back to their room to rest. Along the way, the little girl was still telling her grandparents what the Ming prince had said to her.

In fact, the British King and Queen still don’t have enough understanding of the Ming Dynasty culture.

Although Zhu Jingjian did not leave Charlotte aside on the spot, and although he did not hate the little girl, he definitely did not care about her that much.

Chatting with her until the end of the party was more out of politeness.

After returning to his residence, Zhu Jingjian wrote a letter to his father, expressing that he could barely accept the granddaughter of the King of England.

But if he had a choice, he would rather choose a piece of land in the German region and become a separate vassal king of the Ming Dynasty rather than marry the British.

The message was sent to Antwerp via radio, and then from Antwerp to Shuntian Prefecture of the Ming Dynasty.

After reading it, Zhu Jianxuan replied:

If Zhu Jingjian wanted to be a separate inner vassal king of the Ming Dynasty, he had to continue to participate in the training of princes and princes.

It will take about three to five years to complete the remaining courses for the prince.

Then he would go out for an internship, starting as a grassroots official and training himself for ten to fifteen years in the Ming Dynasty territories around the world.

At the earliest when he reaches the age of thirty, he can return to his European fiefdom and become king.

If he doesn't want to be a king at that time, he can return to Shuntian Prefecture and become a rich and idle king.

Zhu Jingjian closed his eyes as soon as he saw the reply.

Compared to continuing to study and train for more than ten years, marrying a foreign woman does not seem unacceptable.

If he married Charlotte, he could be crowned King of Hanover and take his wife to Hadron's Daming City to be king.

Zhu Jingjian considered it for three days in Buckingham Palace and finally decided to settle down first.

(End of this chapter)