The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 43 Free Trade Program with the Americans

France was a local power recognized by Emperor Chongzhen. The king of the other country sent a formal envoy, and the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty still wanted to meet him.

So the emperor took the throne in the Wuying Hall and accepted the homage of Charles Gravier and John Adams.

Gravier presented France's official credentials, a personal letter from King Louis XVI of France, and a list of gifts prepared by the King of France.

Adams submitted a letter from the Continental Congress of the United Colonies of North America, which included a response to the cooperation conditions proposed by the Ming Dynasty and a copy of the American Declaration of Independence.

This form of official formal meeting usually starts with a greeting and does not get straight to business.

The emperor collected the documents submitted by the two men, asked a little about the situation of the other country, and encouraged the two men with a few words.

Then each of them was given a gift package of Ming Dynasty specialties.

A bag of fresh tea, a simple set of ceramic tea sets, and a set of silk clothes.

Finally, he ordered the Honglu Temple to hold a banquet in his honor.

After giving his orders, the emperor left the hall directly and took a carriage back to the Qianqing Palace where he lived. He then asked the eunuch to call King Wu to see him.

While on the way, the emperor took a quick look at the documents submitted by the two countries.

Due to the huge influence of the Ming Dynasty in the world, there are people in Europe and America who are proficient in the Ming language.

The official documents submitted by France and the United States this time both provided two texts in Chinese characters and their own writing.

The purpose of actively submitting the Chinese version was to avoid translation errors and misunderstanding of their meaning by the Ming people.

After the French people's initial respectful titles and greetings, they immediately started to curse the British people for a long time. In short, the British people are really bad people.

The British's evil deeds are known to everyone from Ireland to the Japanese archipelago.

The French decided to punish the evil British on behalf of God.

When the Ming people received this letter, the brave and just French had already begun to beat the British ass.

France invited the Ming people to join this great and just war.

Finally, he stated his most ardent goal, hoping that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and the bank could lend some money to support France's righteous cause of punishing evil and promoting good.

After reading it, the emperor was speechless and felt that these Europeans were really barbarians.

Insulting people is too blunt.

Then he flipped through the letter from the Americans and looked at the conditions they proposed. The emperor couldn't help but frown slightly.

Not long after, the emperor returned to the Qianqing Palace, and Prince Wu Zhu Jianxuan also rushed over.

The emperor took Zhu Jianxuan back to his study, and then handed Zhu Jianxuan several official letters and correspondence in his hand:
“The French don’t care, they just habitually curse the British, you mainly look at the American letters.

"See if you can accept the conditions they proposed.

"I will summon the Americans separately later. You should think about how to respond to them in advance."

After hearing this, Zhu Jianxuan read the letter from the Americans first, skipping the lengthy greetings and greetings and going to look at the most core negotiation conditions.

Representatives of the Continental Congress of the United States and the thirteen colonies of the United States unanimously agreed after discussion:
Invite the Ming Emperor's sixth son, Prince of Wu, His Royal Highness Zhu Jianxuan, to become the King of America.

The Continental Congress accepted the compromise plan previously discussed with the Ming Dynasty.

But it demanded that the king's exercise of powers similar to those of the British king be limited to New York and New Jersey, rather than the entire American kingdom.

Other regions must have a high degree of autonomy and must maintain the existing basic power structure.

Local chief executives must be elected rather than appointed directly by the king, and laws must be reviewed and approved by local parliaments before they can be implemented.

If the Ming Dynasty was allowed unlimited immigration, then the proportion of Europeans among all subsequent court officials must not be less than half.

All written documents in the kingdom must have an official English version and have the same legal effect as the Ming Dynasty text.

Overall, the conditions that the Americans are willing to offer now are only slightly higher than the minimum conditions originally proposed by Zhu Jianxuan.

The king was not completely powerless, but he only had specific power in two places: New York and New Jersey.

It also required the Ming Dynasty to implement its promise of a compromise plan and to remove the promise of declaring war on Britain now.

After reading it, Zhu Jianxuan said directly:

“The Americans have won a victory, but the key is that the French have officially decided to join, so they are getting arrogant.

“Their conditions are nice, but why should we agree to them?

"Let's just choose the lowest option." I don't need any king's power, as long as it allows us to continue to immigrate.

"The Ming Dynasty certainly did not directly participate in their war.

"When the battle is basically over over there, we will send a few more troops over and just take a walk around the battlefield.

"It would be the easiest for me to be a king in name only."

Zhu Jianxuan originally supported the minimum plan. As long as he could use Ming Dynasty immigrants to continue to seize the United States, other powers did not matter.

At the same time, Zhu Jianxuan did not want the Ming Dynasty to be too deeply involved in the war with America.

The emperor said:

"The Americans are obviously asking for an exorbitant price. Just think about how to pay it back on the spot. Tell me when you've made up your mind."

Zhu Jianxuan was a little reluctant to do it, but seeing his father's determined expression, he finally agreed.

Zhu Jianxuan returned to his laboratory with the letter from the Americans.

Recalling the memories of my past life, I remember the political situation in the United States during this era, as well as the cultural characteristics of Americans now and in the future.

Americans have a strong pursuit of individual freedom in theory, but they also have serious isolationist tendencies and an absolute preference for local power.

They also have a very pure capitalist cultural customs, so they are open to all forms of transactions.

Transactions are acceptable in judicial and trial terms, and can also be made public in administration and legislation.

The judge may make a deal directly with the criminal, requiring him to plead guilty to certain charges and promise not to pursue other charges.

You can formulate a plan based on these two characteristics of Americans.

It makes it relatively easy for Americans to accept, but it is still relatively beneficial to the Ming Dynasty and themselves.

First, give them enough, almost unlimited freedom.

As king, he guaranteed that he would not take the initiative to ask for any power over the existing eleven colonies other than New York and New Jersey.

All eleven colonies were established as highly independent "free states".

The free state decides on its own entire legal system and establishes its own government, courts, parliament and other institutions.

They collect and use all their own taxes, enforce public security, and form their own army.

The King and his government acquiesced to not exercising any direct administration over it.

Then comes the deal. Since they are given such a high degree of freedom, the king must also get corresponding power.

The two colonies of New York and New Jersey, as well as other new areas subsequently developed inland, were all established as provinces of the kingdom.

It is governed by the king and the royal government, stationed and garrisoned by the army commanded by the king, and maintained by the police appointed by the king to maintain public order.

The King and the Royal Government have the right to levy appropriate taxes to maintain the administrative, legal and security expenses of the Kingdom.

Including building and maintaining all infrastructure, and dealing with other matters that should be handled by the Royal Government.

Finally, the king invested in the land himself, made all the laws himself, and appointed the officials himself.

On this basis, if the Free State wants the King or the Royal Government to provide certain services and assume certain responsibilities.

That requires negotiations with the king and the royal government to sign legal provisions that are acceptable to both parties.

The Free State gave up its autonomy in providing the corresponding services and paid taxes that enabled the King and the Royal Government to provide the corresponding services and assume the corresponding responsibilities.

And provide at least 20 percent margin to allow the King and the Royal Government to deal with unexpected situations and calculation errors.

At the same time, it is the reasonable profit or income that the king and the royal government should enjoy.

For example, if a free state asked the king to ennoble certain people, it would need to sign corresponding laws with the king and pay corresponding taxes.

The amount of tax to be paid is determined by the size of the land owned by the noble and the level of title he wants to obtain.

To put it bluntly, the king and the royal government tacitly agreed to completely ignore anything happening in the Free State. If they wanted the king and the royal government to do anything for them, they had to sign a separate treaty and pay money to achieve it.

It is up to them to decide what they want and what they don't want, but there is a price to pay for any service.

Powers, responsibilities and obligations are consistent with each other, with taxes serving as the link to ensure their implementation.

Americans should be happy to accept this approach.

(End of this chapter)