Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 523 Deterrence and Peace! The Most Friendly Treaty!
"Our Emperor has always loved peace and does not wish to see the proliferation of new weapons cause conflict and war between countries around the world."

Huo Liancheng said solemnly, "In order to ensure this precious peace and prevent countries around the world from falling into endless wars because of such powerful new weapons, the Ming Dynasty has implemented the strictest, almost harsh, restrictions on the export of such weapons."

"Of course, it's not that there's absolutely no possibility of an exit!"

Huo Liancheng suddenly changed his tone and threw out a very tempting bait, which made Timur's eyes light up instantly.

"As far as I know, the Ming Dynasty attaches extremely strict conditions to the export of advanced weapons." Huo Liancheng said in a serious tone, and began to subtly "guide" the market. "First of all, your country must be the most loyal and reliable ally of the Ming Dynasty, and have a deep and unbreakable friendship with our Ming Dynasty before the court will seriously consider this matter."

"Otherwise, even if you possess mountains of gold and silver and spend all your wealth, you will never be able to purchase a single musket from my Great Ming, not even the most ordinary firearm."

Huo Liancheng, without any hesitation, began to "deceive" Timur with unwavering conviction, his words exuding an unquestionable authority.

In fact, although Zhu Yunwen had mentioned the issue of exporting muskets and cannons, there were several more crucial restrictions in addition to what Huo Liancheng had mentioned.

For example, the most advanced weapons of the Ming Dynasty must never be exported; only old equipment that has been phased out by the Ming Dynasty can be sold.

Secondly, exported weapons must be subject to extremely strict supervision to ensure that they are not misused or fall into the hands of unscrupulous individuals.

Secondly, before exporting weapons, the Ming Dynasty would first assess the scientific and technological level and production capacity of other countries.

The Ming Dynasty would only consider exporting firearms and cannons if they were able to develop them themselves.

The ultimate goal of this was to persuade these countries to abandon their costly independent research and development and production, and instead rely on and use the Ming Dynasty's weapon systems in the long term.

All of these things.

The Ming Dynasty imposed many meticulous and complex restrictions on the export of firearms.

Of course, these are all still in the consideration stage.

In the next few years, the Ming Dynasty will not export any firearms to any country.

These "export conditions" are currently only used as bait to engage in political and diplomatic negotiations and maneuvering with other countries.

Huo Liancheng's status and position did not qualify him to directly participate in the formulation of the court's major policies.

But it's not exactly a top secret.

He had heard some related rumors.

At this moment, he took the initiative to embellish the story, painting a tempting "pie in the sky" for Timur, showing him the infinite possibility of acquiring advanced firearms.

"Our Turan Empire will surely become the most loyal friend of the Ming Dynasty! Our alliance with the Ming Dynasty will be stronger than mountains and more unshakable than rocks! The Turan Empire will never be an enemy of the Ming Dynasty!"

Timur was thrilled and immediately pledged his loyalty.

His eyes gleamed with a longing for advanced firearms.

This weapon is too powerful!
He must get it!

Huo Liancheng laughed heartily and said, "Then, Your Majesty, now that the Chaotic Scales bandit gang has been completely wiped out, may you now proceed to sign the alliance treaty between our two countries?"

"Of course!" Timur answered without hesitation.

At this moment, his last remaining concern about the strength of the Ming Dynasty completely vanished.

Timur was extremely grateful that he had not chosen to be an enemy of the Ming Dynasty.

Even after the Later Yuan dynasty was driven out of the Central Plains, its remaining forces remained strong.

Otherwise, Wang Baobao of the Later Yuan Dynasty would not have been able to defeat the expeditionary army of Xu Da, a famous general of the Ming Dynasty.

However, times have changed, and the Later Yuan Dynasty has long since vanished into the dust of history.

Timur had also heard of the Ming Dynasty's campaign against the Later Yuan Dynasty, in which the Ming Dynasty defeated the Later Yuan's army of over 100,000 men with only two armies of 3,000 men each.

At first, he even thought that the Later Yuan dynasty was too incompetent and had disgraced the illustrious name of his ancestor Genghis Khan.

Only now has he truly realized that the Ming Dynasty has become so powerful.

Timur then realized the truth.

All seemingly ingenious schemes and plots must actually be built upon unparalleled strength.

Just like today's battle, on the surface it seems that the Ming Dynasty took a shortcut and used a sniper rifle to unexpectedly kill the bandit leader Kutruk, thus achieving this seemingly lucky victory.

But on the other hand, the fact that the Ming Dynasty was able to produce such unheard-of divine weapons and make them play such a decisive role is surely the most powerful manifestation of its formidable strength.
The same principle applies to conquering Beshbaliq.

Without advanced firearms and artillery as support, all the strategies and plans of Chen Cheng, Huo Liancheng, and others would be castles in the air, completely out of the question.

I had underestimated the Ming Dynasty before!
Times have indeed changed completely.

At the very least, before the Turan Empire also mastered the corresponding firearms technology, it must not become an enemy of the Ming Dynasty.

This is the only wise choice.

As a brilliant and ambitious leader, Timur quickly recovered from his shock and began a profound reflection and self-analysis.

He then respectfully followed Huo Liancheng to the Ming army camp to pay homage to Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Temur, the Great Khan of the Turan Empire, pays homage to the Supreme Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!"

Upon entering the tent, Timur immediately performed the most solemn salute to Old Zhu, kneeling on the ground, placing his hand on his chest, and bowing respectfully.

This move took everyone by surprise, leaving the Ming officials present astonished and incredulous.

"The Turan Empire is sincerely convinced and willing to submit to the Ming Dynasty, pay tribute for generations to come, and forge an eternal alliance with the Ming Dynasty. It will never betray the Ming Dynasty and will never be its enemy!" Timur's voice was loud and firm.

This decision was a momentous choice made by Timur after much deliberation and careful consideration on his way to the military camp.

Rather than simply forming a basic alliance with the Ming Dynasty, he believed it would be better to be more straightforward and directly choose to become a vassal state.

In any case, this is merely a formality and will not actually harm his actual rule over the Turan Empire.

However, Timur also knew that the people of the Central Plains valued this "suzerain state-vassal state" relationship highly, and that the benefits they could gain from submitting to the Ming Dynasty would certainly be considerable.

Everything unfolded exactly as Timur had predicted. Zhu Yuanzhang was overjoyed by Timur's submission and was delighted, saying with a smile, "You have submitted to the Ming Dynasty and formed an alliance with it, which means you have abandoned darkness and embraced light."

"The Ming Dynasty will not disappoint you and will reward you handsomely."

He then gestured for Timur to rise, and the two began to discuss the terms of the alliance.

The main terms of the covenant are as follows.

First and foremost, the most crucial point was that the Ming Dynasty was allowed to establish a military base within the Turan Empire and that Ming troops be stationed there.

Secondly, a road was to be built connecting the heartland of the Ming Dynasty, traversing the entire territory of the Turan Empire, and reaching the western countries, to greatly facilitate the mobilization and deployment of the Ming army, as well as the travel and trade of Ming merchants.

It is worth mentioning that Timur, contrary to his previous hardline stance that the road must be a thousand miles away from Barakh, the capital of the Turan Empire, took the initiative to propose that the road be built closer.

This transformation was a profound change in his thinking.

Timur had now come to a profound realization of the enormous gap between the Turan Empire and the Ming Dynasty in terms of technological strength and military weaponry.

He knew full well that the Turan Empire could never confront the Ming Dynasty head-on.

The so-called construction of roads a thousand miles away from Barihei could not bring real security to the Turan Empire.

On the contrary, the only way to solve the future development dilemma of the Turan Empire is to gain the absolute trust of the Ming Dynasty and actively introduce its advanced technology and weaponry.

It must be said that as an outstanding figure of his generation, Timur's strategic vision and determination to reform and advance were far beyond those of ordinary monarchs, demonstrating extraordinary courage.

According to the treaty, in order to ensure the safe and smooth passage of this strategic road, the land within one li on each side of the road was leased to the Ming Empire for use and to be managed by the Ming Empire.

The lease term is tentatively set at ninety-nine years, which is sufficient to guarantee the Ming Dynasty's long-term control over the passage, so that the Ming Dynasty can invest and construct without any worries.

In addition, the alliance is committed to promoting trade and commerce between the two countries and further deepening their economic ties.

The Ming Bank was permitted to open branches within the Turan Empire to facilitate trade between the two countries.

The Ming Dynasty's official banknotes were allowed to circulate freely within the Turan Empire, facilitating trade settlements.

The Ming Dynasty allowed the Da Ming Daily and a number of official Ming Dynasty publishing houses to publish newspapers and books in the Turan Empire, with the aim of helping the people of the Turan Empire improve their cultural knowledge and promoting intellectual and cultural exchanges between the two sides.

Other terms include allowing various companies from the Ming Dynasty to conduct business and invest in the Turan Empire, aiming to comprehensively deepen cooperation and exchanges between the two countries in various fields such as economy and culture.

In addition to the above, the two parties also signed a brand new mineral resources agreement.

This was outside the scope of the original negotiations.

It was signed at Timur's request.

According to this agreement, the Ming Dynasty will provide the Turan Empire with a huge amount of funds free of charge and will use its advanced technology to fully assist the Turan Empire in the exploration and mining of mineral resources.

In return, the Turan Empire solemnly promised that the Ming Dynasty would own 50 percent of all mineral resources within its territory and have exclusive mining rights.

This means that the Ming Empire could share half of the profits obtained by the Turan Empire from mining mineral resources.

It also clearly stipulates that all mineral resources of the Turan Empire must be jointly mined by both parties, and the Turan Empire shall not conduct mining activities on its own without authorization.

Furthermore, after the mineral resources are extracted, in addition to meeting the Turan Empire's own necessary needs, the remaining portion should be exported to the Ming Dynasty as a priority.

Thus, the Turan Empire obtained the financial support it had longed for, as well as the steadfast friendship of the Ming Dynasty.

This would undoubtedly greatly promote the development of its domestic resources and initiate the scientific development process that Timur desired.

As a result, the Ming Dynasty gained access to the Turan Empire's mineral resources and vast market, as well as crucial roads necessary for Emperor Zhu's western tour and solid security guarantees.

Both parties got what they wanted, and everyone was happy – a perfect win-win agreement!
To ensure the thorough implementation of the alliance, in accordance with the explicit requirements of the Ming Dynasty, a portion of the alliance's contents will be published in the Turan Daily, a newspaper distributed by the branch of the Ming Daily.

So that all officials and people of the Turan Empire would know and comply with this!

Of course, sensitive clauses that require strict confidentiality are excluded from this limit.

They will not be made public.

The purpose of this was to demonstrate to the officials and people of the Turan Empire that this was not a predatory and unequal treaty, but an equal contract based on friendship and mutual assistance, and that it was the Ming Dynasty's generous and selfless aid and support to the Turan Empire!
This symbolizes the Ming Dynasty's most sincere friendship towards its friends, and is absolutely not any form of aggression or oppression!
According to the detailed provisions of the alliance, the Turan Empire was obligated to educate every official and citizen to love the Ming Dynasty, consciously maintain the deep friendship between the two countries, and regard it as the cornerstone of national development.

Any words or actions that dare to damage the relations and friendship between the two countries, or maliciously slander the Ming Dynasty, will be considered the most serious crimes.

Those with minor offenses will be sentenced to imprisonment, while those with serious crimes will face severe punishments such as beheading and confiscation of property, as a warning to others!

Furthermore, the covenant explicitly stipulates that if the Ming Dynasty discovers through monitoring that there is widespread hatred towards the Ming Dynasty among the people of the Turan Empire, or that there is a prevailing atmosphere of considering signing a covenant with the Ming Dynasty as a disgrace, it will be regarded as the result of the Turan Empire's official deliberate indulgence or even covert promotion.

Such behavior will be deemed a blatant violation of the friendship between the two countries and an unwarranted infringement on the sovereignty of the Ming Dynasty!

This is directly regarded as a serious violation of the alliance between the two parties!

The Turan Empire will then be given the most severe punishment.

Timur also expressed his complete agreement with this.

In particular, when he returned to the Ming army camp, he personally learned about the detailed data of various Ming weapons and tested their accuracy and power.

This completely won Timur over.

Watching the earth shake after a cannon firing from a distance is far less impressive than experiencing the shock of it firsthand!
He solemnly promised the Ming Dynasty that he would never allow such a situation to occur and would do his utmost to ensure that all subjects of the Turan Empire would be friendly and respectful to the Ming Dynasty.

After the alliance took effect, the Ming Dynasty acted swiftly.

First, the Ming Dynasty immediately dispatched an exploration team to conduct a detailed survey of the roadside, and then officially launched the road construction project.

Before the road construction began, the Ming Dynasty craftsmen laid cables to connect the telegraph network, laying the foundation for subsequent communication.

At the same time, cartloads of Ming Dynasty banknotes were continuously transported to the Turan Empire.

……

(End of this chapter)