(The wordless new book "Back to the Ming Dynasty to Open a Factory" has been released, giving you a different wonderful story, ask for support, ask for recommendation!) )

Just get used to it!

Not to mention that Turks and Europeans are not used to it, and even for His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty himself, Zhu Mingzhong is also a little unaccustomed to it.

When he received the recital from the UK, Zhu Mingzhong simply couldn't believe his eyes.

The war has broken out!

In order to protect the diaspora, the Western Fleet launched an attack on the British!

When the news came, the conflict that took place in England caused a debate inside and outside the imperial court, what was the nature of the war?

Is it the Western Fleet that is good at challenging things and expanding events?

Or did the British provoke ahead?

In fact, all this is not important to Zhu Mingzhong and Fang, there is only one word left in his mind - opium!

This is an "Opium War"!

It's just that this opium war was instigated by the Ming Dynasty, and to some extent, Britain seems to be the "victim", but, hey, it should be regarded as paying off debts......

History always has a striking similarity, when the government and the opposition were in dispute, Zhu Mingzhong made the final decision - to support the war behavior of the minister to Britain and the Western Fleet, and instructed the cabinet to formulate the corresponding armistice conditions. In other words, the legitimacy of the war was confirmed.

With the emperor's will, everything was easy, but in just a few days, the conditions for an armistice had already been set.

“…… XVIII. Britain ceded the Isle of Wight to the Ming Dynasty.

19. Britain compensated the Ming merchants and civilians for losses and military expenses totaling 12 million taels of silver. ”

When Zhou Chang of the court read out the terms of the peace talks formulated from the content in a subdued tone, the expressions of the cabinet assistants present looked a little weird, everyone knew that this war was to some extent, the first battle of the Ming Dynasty in the West, but this war was not ordered by the imperial court, but the ministers and generals "planned" together, before that, the imperial court did not even know anything, and because of this, almost everyone did not have the slightest smile on their faces. Some are just worried about the future.

Is it commendable or reprimanded for the actions of the fleet and diplomats who are not controlled by the Cabinet to provoke war and invade a country without the control of the Cabinet?

The cabinet had the answer in his heart, but the emperor also had his answer.

"Your Majesty, the above terms are the result of our formulation, please Your Majesty Holy Judgment."

After finishing speaking, Zhou Chang respectfully handed the fold in his hand to Zhu Mingzhong on the dragon chair.

"12 million taels is too much, and Britain will definitely not be able to afford ......"

Zhu Mingzhong, who is well aware that Britain's annual fiscal revenue is only a few million taels, certainly knows that the reason why the cabinet has drawn up an indemnity of 12 million yuan is not because of so much expenditure, but because they need to make it impossible for the negotiations to continue.

In the eyes of the Cabinet, the unauthorized actions of the Minister and the Fleet without the permission of the Imperial Court were the words of the Imperial Court, and if the military was allowed to act on its own from now on, the Cabinet would completely lose its restraint on the military.

So, they issued an astronomical reparation, for what purpose?

Is it to block negotiations?

No, they were to make this victory a joke.

For Britain, whose fiscal revenue is only more than 300 yuan, it is absolutely impossible to pay 12 million taels of reparations, and the negotiations will not only break down, but the war will continue.

"Your Majesty."

Zhou Chang bowed slightly, and then said:

"This is only a preliminary condition, and the minister in Britain can negotiate with the British, and then agree on terms within the limits acceptable to both sides, and then sign an armistice treaty."

Zhou Chang's answer seems to be very fair, but it is certain that the two sides may reach an agreement anyway, and even if it does, the compensation may only be a few million taels, and then the envoy to Britain will become a joke.

Politics......

Zhou Gefu was surprised, if the price is so high, even if it is negotiated, what results can be negotiated? 5 million? 6 million, even if you ask for so much compensation, what will be the result? In the eyes of the outside world, the gap between 12 million is so far that the people will definitely be dissatisfied. ”

Perhaps the Navy's actions were not known to the Governor's Office of the Five Armed Forces, but the Governor's Office of the Five Armed Forces still decided to support it, and as the Secretary of the Military Department, he was the representative of the military in the DPRK, and of course he had to maintain the interests of the military. So he followed.

"Your Majesty, the reason why the Western Fleet launched its operation is entirely to protect the diaspora, not because of anything else, since the cause is because of special events, in the opinion of the minister, the truce should be handed over to the front to decide on its own, and the minister believes that Wan Zheng will never sacrifice the interests of the Ming Dynasty, nor will it be too harsh, resulting in the impossibility of negotiations."

However, hearing Yu Shujie say this, Zhu Mingzhong frowned slightly, there are some words that can be seen through but cannot be said, these words said by Yu Shujie are obviously not appropriate.

"Yu Qing, the cabinet is also based on state affairs, and there is no idea of heroes becoming criminals, just to maximize interests......"

While taking the initiative to exonerate the cabinet, Zhu Mingzhong said again.

"However, an excessively harsh basis of negotiation would impose restrictions on those at front, and my proposal is to adhere to the following principles: first, the right of free trade, second, the privilege of tariffs, third, a commitment to protect the people, fourth, extraterritoriality, fifth, the cession of the Isle of Wight, sixth, the recognition of all treaties between us and James, and seventh, a certain degree of reparations. Give them a framework and let them play freely, don't limit their play! ”

Although deep down, Zhu Mingzhong also longed for a huge war reparation, but reason told him that what Daming needed now was not a huge amount of reparations, but what he needed was to further divide Britain and create the fact that there were two Britain, not to weaken the other side.

"As for the future of England, I believe that it is in our interest to maintain two Britains and that too much weakening will only give James a chance, which is not in our interest, which is a divided British ......"

In fact, perhaps a united Britain is more beneficial to the Ming Dynasty, after all, a divided Britain cannot contain France, but on the other hand, the Gallic chicken has never been a threat.

Compared with the Gallic chickens, the threat posed by Britain in the future is real, and a divided Britain can ensure that Britain cannot become a threat to Ming interests in Europe before reunification, which is why Zhu Mingzhong is unwilling to weaken London too much.

"Back to Your Majesty, the Cabinet hopes to be able to maintain our future interests in Europe through such a peace treaty." Zhou Chang once again opened his mouth to emphasize the cabinet's thoughts.

"The indemnity of 12 million taels is not just a military indemnity, but in view of the distance between us and Europe, we cannot quickly obtain the report of the foreign envoys, so the cabinet hopes to be able to build a telegraph line through Europe after the end of the war, and the estimated expenditure will be no less than 7 million taels, so the cabinet believes that this money should be borne by the British, after all, the actions of the British exposed this problem, and they are responsible for this expenditure......"

Now, of course, the officials of the Ming Dynasty would not do loss-making business in order to show the people of the world and the vassal states that the Celestial Empire was magnanimous, and the reason they put forward seemed so reasonable.

However, Zhu Mingzhong, who was sitting opposite, was obviously not interested in all this, at least not much in the construction of the telegraph line financed by the British. It was not that he did not know the necessity of building a telegraph line, but that he saw that there was some kind of transformation going on in the civil service, and that they were dealing with themselves in the way they liked.

What the British exposed the problems of the Celestial Empire, so they should pay for the silver.

Such strong words without the slightest great power bearing, in the past, civil officials could not say anything, why do they say it now? Isn't it just to make yourself happy?

Thinking of this, Zhu Mingzhong immediately asked with a serious expression.

"So Britain is really to blame for this?"

"This ......" Zhou Chang was stunned for a moment when he asked His Majesty, but when he understood what His Majesty meant, he immediately did not dare to conceal it and told him honestly.

"Indeed, Your Majesty."

"Your Majesty, it's not actually that Britain is to blame, but because the British incident has exposed the weakness of our communication with Europe, so it is natural that they have the responsibility to pay for us to build a telegraph line!"

As soon as he saw that Zhou Chang was going to do something bad, Fang Yizhi, who had been silent, immediately took the initiative to say.

"And the telegraph line is also what the Ming needs. Your Majesty, I beg your Majesty to agree to the construction of this telegraph line, so that whatever happens in Europe in the future, we will not be able to hide it, and it will only take a few minutes for us to know anything that is happening in Europe! ”

Facing Fang Yizhi's request, Zhu Mingzhong just smiled slightly, and then, his brows furrowed again.

Indeed, the construction of telegraph lines is in the interests of the Ming Dynasty, with the telegraph line to Europe, since then, the world is in the Ming Dynasty, and the reason why the cabinet asked to build the telegraph line is more because of another reason - the British problem has exposed the weakness of the cabinet's grasp of foreign forces, as long as the generals and ministers in the front are willing, they may find a reason to start a war at any time, and the reason for all this is "autonomy", this autonomy is because they are too far from the homeland, Unable to act according to the will of the natives.

It is precisely because of this that the hundred officials of the Central Plains, who have always paid attention to face, changed the previous years and did not want compensation, no trade, no treaties, as long as the tradition of face, put forward such a condition, for them, face is important, but the reality is more important, the reality is that they cannot accept that no one will act without authorization, so they need a telegraph, they need to build a telegraph to Europe, so as to achieve control there.

But where did the money come from to fix the telegram?

If the money were to be paid by the Cabinet, it would have to be discussed, but if Britain was asked to pay for the war reparations, there would be no problem.

Zhu Mingzhong, who understood everyone's thoughts, just smiled indifferently and shook his head.

"The telegram must be repaired, after all, this incident tells us that our diaspora overseas may face all kinds of harm, if the minister abroad can not make a decisive choice, maybe the interests of our diaspora will be harmed, therefore, maintaining rapid contact with the outside world is to protect the Ming diaspora overseas, ensure the smooth trade of the empire, and maintain the interests of the Ming Dynasty, not only to Europe, including the North American colonies, but also to repair the telegraph."

"Your Majesty."

After hearing this, Fang Yizhi and the others hurriedly took the lead in shouting.

In their opinion, it seems that this seems to indicate that His Majesty has agreed to their proposal, and their purpose has been achieved - such a high indemnity will only lead to two possibilities, one is the breakdown of negotiations, and the Ming beat Britain to the point that they will hand over the money, and the other is that the negotiations have broken down, and the Ming will occupy LinkedIn country...... A poor, ignorant island country where millions of hungry people live, such a place is just a burden to the Ming Dynasty.

"Telegraph lines need to be repaired,"

Facing the compliments of the ministers, Zhu Mingzhong said with a smile:

"However, the money for the repair of the telegraph line does not have to be paid for by the British, so do we have to wait until after the negotiations? This money is still from the imperial court, and it can be included in next year's plan now, and as for the conditions for negotiation, let them make their own decisions according to the conditions I set before. ”

Seeing His Majesty's speeches one after another, everyone naturally couldn't hold on any longer. After the ministers listened to the decree and discussed some other issues, when leaving the palace, walking in the garden, Zhu Mingzhong's expression changed from time to time, his eyes occasionally turned into the distance, and his brows were sometimes locked.

The events that happened in Britain were beyond his expectations, but more of them reminded him that history had changed fundamentally, and in the face of such changes, for some reason, he suddenly seemed a little less confident.

This lack of confidence does not mean that there is no confidence in the future. It's a lack of confidence in certain things, such as what happened in the UK. If you dig deeper, it's those people who do it themselves. Now I have acquiesced to all this. What kind of ripple effects will it cause?

In Zhu Mingzhong's mind, he couldn't help but think of the neighbor's house in another time and space that often happened in those years.

"Perhaps, I did go too far in this matter."

While talking to himself, Zhu Mingzhong sighed again. Perhaps, certain rights should indeed be restricted.

"Looks like this telegram has to be repaired abroad."

I want to take back some of the rights of the envoys stationed abroad. It is necessary to solve the problem of communication. That's all there is to it. They were able to report directly to the court after certain events had occurred and act in accordance with the instructions of the court.

"Forget it, let's wait until the matter in Britain is over."

Britain, thinking that the Opium War actually broke out in Britain in this era, Zhu Mingzhong couldn't help but smile. Perhaps this is some kind of historical coincidence. ……

Book Reading House