Nanjing, at the northern foot of the Purple Mountain, Fort Maria.

Weng Tongyi knocked on the door of Zhu Jishi's office gently, and heard Zhu Jishi say: "Come in!" He pushed the door and went in, and saw Zhu Jishi still sitting neatly dressed behind the desk, which was full of official documents, and he was rubbing his wrist with a calm face. Weng Tongyi said in a low voice: "Zuo Xiang and Wu Shangshu have arrived, and they are waiting outside the corridor now." ”

Zhu Jishi sighed and said with a smile: "Please let them in." By the way, I'm going to call Maria again, I need her as an expert on international issues for today's conversation. ”

Wu Shangshu is Wu Chunqiu, the ambassador of the Ming Empire to the Mexican Empire and the Confederate States of America, and the title of Shangshu of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He had returned from Mexico a few days earlier on the fastest steamer, and had brought with him a copy of the draft Mexico-Confederate States of America Treaty.

Since the Ming Empire did not officially declare war on the United States of America, but sent troops in the name of the Mexican Regiment, which were nominally hired by the Empress of Mexico to fight for Mexico! In this way, the Ming Empire and the United States of America were avoided from going to war directly, and thus the U.S. Navy was also prevented from launching a diplomatic war against the Ming Dynasty at sea. Of course, as far as the North of the United States is concerned, they do not want the two behemoths of the Ming and France to openly participate in the war now.

However, while the Ming Dynasty avoided the trouble of direct war with the United States, in terms of diplomacy, of course, the Ming Dynasty could not directly conclude an alliance with the Confederate States of America. However, before Mathilde I formally signed the alliance with the Confederate States of America, he still asked Wu Chunqiu to bring the draft text back to the Ming Dynasty.

"Your Majesty, the concubine has arrived." Weng Tongyi has not left the office yet...... Then I saw Maria, Zuo Zongtang and Wu Chunqiu, who were wearing Western-style court dresses, walking in together.

"No need to be polite. Sit down. Zhu Jishi seems to be in a good mood. With a wave of his hand, the three of them sat down on the three high-backed armchairs placed across from him. He turned to Weng Tongyong and said, "Go and show Maria a copy of the Mexico-Confederate States of America Treaty." ”

, first swept the ten lines at a glance, then frowned and looked at it carefully, and only after reading it did he return it to Weng Tongyi with both hands. And the translation of this copy, Zuo Zongtang had already read it in advance, and he didn't recognize English and Spanish, so Zhu Jishi didn't let him look at the original directly.

"How? Let's talk about it, right? Emperor Zhu looked at the three of them lightly, and there was not the slightest joy or anger on his face.

"Your Majesty. We're at a loss...... Nominally, I won't say anything about what I didn't catch. Moreover, the territory of the Kingdom of California has to be shared with blacks, which is not very cost-effective. Zuo Zongtang shook his head, his face was a little unpleasant.

Wu Chunqiu nodded and agreed: "Your Majesty, the minister also thinks so. Blacks in the Texas Free Zone, after all, are a nuisance! ”

"What do you think, Maria?" Zhu Jishi looked at Maria again, this woman didn't have much racial discrimination, otherwise she wouldn't have followed Emperor Zhu.

"It's nothing, there's nothing wrong with it." Maria smiled, "We can sign a treaty with Mathilde. Determine the choice of king of the Kingdom of California and the immigration and land rights of the Chinese - in fact, there is still a lot of arable land in the Rocky Mountains, and California has the Central Valley Floor. The Ampqua and Willamette River basins in Oregon have flat terrain. The rainfall is abundant and the forests are dense, a bit like the Northeast Plain of the Ming Dynasty, which is very valuable. The Washington area has the Columbia Basin, where agriculture can also be developed. In fact, there is no shortage of water throughout the northern Rocky Mountains, where most of the rivers in the United States originate. There are many plateaus and valleys suitable for reclamation. And it is very rich in mineral resources, and it is a very good treasure land. If you can immigrate 3ooo million to 4ooo million in 2o years, the Kingdom of California should be able to become an overseas power for the Chinese. ”

Zuo Zongtang's brows wrinkled again, "the overseas power of the Chinese" did not say that it was a "subject country of the Ming Dynasty". These days, he has found a lot of information on the mountainous plateaus of the western United States, and he also knows that it is quite a good place - in the words of the Chinese, it is really the home of the emperor, the foundation of the king's hegemony! Oh, the whole of America is the home of the emperor, the foundation of the king! How did the Europeans get such a good territory? If it falls into the hands of the Chinese ancestors, where will there be two tragedies that will destroy the world? However, such a good place in the western mountains of the United States is not exclusive to the Chinese...... Europeans don't care, there are so many good places they can go to, and no one will go to the western United States. But there are still 4oo Africans in Texas!

"Your Majesty, the future Kingdom of California will not all belong to us Chinese." Zuo Zongtang reminded in a low voice.

Zhu Jishi nodded, "There are also Indians, it is inevitable to fight with them, but they can't beat us." ”

This is inevitable! Zhu Jishi had no interest in liberating the Indians.

"Your Majesty, there are still ...... Blacks! Wu Chunqiu frowned and reminded, "There are not many Indians in the western United States now, probably only a few hundred thousand." They are just fish hunters, they can't graze or farm, and they can't feed too many people. The real trouble is still the black people, they have nearly 4oo thousand! According to the agreement reached between the Mexican empress and the Americans, these 4oo people will also be arranged by Mexico. ”

"Arrangement by Mexico is not the same as arrangement to the Kingdom of California." "There is no such thing on the copy of the treaty, and I think these Africans will have a better place to go." ”

"Maria, you haven't been to the Texas Free Zone, it's really a mess, these blacks can't get anywhere, it's a big burden!" Wu Chunqiu shook his head again and again.

Maria glanced at Wu Chunqiu, "I've seen black people!" There were black servants in the Bourbon court, and there were several black servants when I was in France, and they were all quite capable. ”

Yes, there were black servants in the courts of many European countries at that time, and the most common were of course in the courts of the Turkish Empire, where the eunuchs were all black.

Zhu Jishi took over the topic and said lightly: "There is nothing bad about black people, the problem in the Texas Free Zone is not black people, but the democratic system of the United States, and the liberal democracy imposed on black people by Americans!" ”

This is probably the old problem of the Americans, who like to export freedom and democracy to other countries, regardless of national conditions, as if democracy is omnipotent. The most typical is Liberia, the first free and democratic republic in Africa, which was democratic and free in 1840. The Americans also aided and supported the formation for more than 100 years, and as a result, a black squad leader with a dozen soldiers was overthrown in a military coup.

Zhu Jishi smiled coldly and said: "Americans now think that 4oo black people is a burden, I don't think so, these black people have seen the world compared to those black people in Africa, if you send them back to Africa, you may not be able to fight a black empire!" ”

Wu Chunqiu shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, the cost of sending blacks back to Africa is not low, and the Americans think it will cost 2o billion dollars!" ”

Zhu Jishi sneered, "Nonsense! We have sent tens of millions of dollars abroad over the years, how much did it cost? ”

"How can those blacks compare to us Chinese?" Wu Chunqiu said with a disdainful face, "All of them are lazy and stupid, if there is no white overseer with a whip, nothing can be done well......"

Zhu Jishi said with a smile: "So even if the Americans spend $200 million to send them back to Africa, it will be in vain, and when these dollars are spent, Liberia will still be a mess." But I really help the blacks, and I know that it is better to give them to the fish than to give them to the fish, so I will not give the black people dollars. ”

"Then what is the emperor going to give to these black people?" Wu Chunqiu asked puzzled. (To be continued......)

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