At the time when the inspection team in San Diego was organizing a conversation, the Ming business delegation headed by Li Duoen, Xu Nanying, and Ma Jiayi was carrying out various diplomatic activities and business activities in the capital of the United States.

At the end of last year, Qian Shuiting had already discussed with the ministers of Britain, France, and the United States that Daming would send an economic and trade delegation to visit the three countries.

When the Keelung and Kaohsiung ships passed through the Kingdom of Hawaii. Li Duoen, Xu Nanying, and Ma Jiayi were authorized by the Executive Committee to discuss cooperation between the two countries with King Kamehameha IV of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

The Kingdom of Hawaii was formed in 1810 by a small independent tribe of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lanai, and Hawaii after a war.

In 1842, the United States first recognized the Kingdom of Hawaii. In 1850, France brought democracy to Hawaii, and the Kingdom of Hawaii began to have a parliamentary system.

As an archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii is strategically important. At that time, many American missionaries in Hawaii were pushing for land annexation in order to annex Hawaii to the United States.

In order to balance the foreign relations that had been manipulated by the United States in the past, King Kamehameha IV signed the Sino-Xia Treaty of Friendship and Commerce with Li Dorn.

According to the first clause of the treaty concession, Daming obtained the right to use the land of a natural harbor on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, where the Chinese will build ports, ship repair yards, fuel supply stations, trade markets, logistics service stations and other support facilities.

Lee Dorn named the port Pearl Harbor.

Li Dorn and his entourage were warmly welcomed by the political, business, and academic circles in the Washington~Shengton capital of the United States. The tea, porcelain, silk and other goods they brought were highly sought after. N many factories and mining enterprises contacted and negotiated with them, seeking to dig gold in the East.

During this period, the United States was still on the rise, and Americans were still relatively friendly to the Chinese, and in their minds, Chinese were industrious, thrifty, easy to get along with, and respected discipline and law.

Until the economic crisis broke out in the United States, a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises went bankrupt, and millions of white people could not find jobs. The Chinese Exclusion Act will then be promulgated~Taiwan.

At the hotel where the delegation was staying, Li Duoen, Xu Nanying, Ma Jiayi, and others had a friendly conversation with US Secretary of State William 61 Renid 61 Marcy.

Clever and thoughtful, Marcy is a rare negotiator. He spread his hands, "I'm sorry, because the Ming is still only a recognized rebel group, so we can only have friendly exchanges here, not negotiate at the U.S. State Department." ”

Marcy meant that the United States has not yet recognized the status of a sovereign state of the Ming Dynasty, and the delegation's visit can only be a simple business activity, and his visit is to meet each other.

"It's okay, Mr. Secretary." Li Dorn said with a smile, "The main purpose of our trip is to enhance the understanding between the Chinese people and the American people, and to increase economic and trade ties between China and the United States. ”

Li Duoen, Xu Nanying, Ma Jiayi and others were all calm and calm, and the delegation's visit was purely for business negotiations.

According to historical experience, the real masters of the United States are the giants, the conglomerates, and the 500 families that rule the United States...... As long as Sino-US economic and trade relations reach a certain level, the US president, a wage earner standing in the foreground, will never disobey the wishes of his master.

Marcy chuckled in his heart, "Are you going to leave the United States?" ”

"Yes! We will be sailing to Europe next week. Xu Nanying's tone was very affirmative.

"Don't you have any demands on our government during this trip?" With a hint of temptation, Marcy said, "You should trust the friendly sincerity of the U.S. government." ”

"We came with the friendship of the Chinese people and the friendship of the American people." Ma Jiayi smiled, "Both of us fully support the law of free trade, and we are very satisfied with this successful and friendly visit. ”

Matters such as recognizing the Ming Dynasty and signing a treaty of friendship were not at all the main tasks of the delegation's visit. As long as the Ming Dynasty shows that it has sufficient strength, Britain, France, the United States, and other countries will inevitably rush to be the first to offer great courtesy, and there is really no need to take pains to exchange conditions with the United States at this time.

Marcy couldn't help it, and he offered to ask for it, hoping that the Ming government would help bring in Chinese laborers.

The United States urgently needs a large number of laborers to develop the western region. At this time, California was in its prime, with a population density of less than four people per square mile. Due to its remote location, it is extremely difficult to immigrate here from Europe and the eastern United States. As a result, the U.S. government thought of China and the idea of bringing in a large number of laborers from China

Li Duoen, Xu Nanying, and Ma Jiayi exchanged glances with each other.

Li Dorn coughed and said, "The Ming government supports and protects all legal, orderly, and voluntary movement of people. ”

"But~" Xu Nanying continued, "the U.S. government must recognize the U.S. citizenship of Chinese laborers. ”

"Of course!"

Back at the White House, Marcy came to the office of President Franklin 61 Pearce. After reporting on the talks, Marcy said with certainty, "It seems that the Ming officials are as arrogant as the Tatars, and this visit is purely a commercial activity, and there are no diplomatic requests for our country that need to be recognized or assisted." ”

"That's it!" Pierce was a little unhappy, he had always had ambitions and wanted to get involved in the Far East, but the rise of this Ming Kingdom was too fast, and the strength didn't seem to be weak, "Forget it!" The Ming regime only controlled a corner of Taiwan, and China was still under the control of the Tatars, so let the affairs of the Far East be put aside for the first time. ”

In the end, in the name of the U.S. State Department, Marcy signed the "Marcy-Wei Cehua ~ Shengton Agreement" with Li Donn, the head of the Ming Kingdom Business Mission.

Both sides agree to abide by the laws of free trade; The parties agree to exchange business representatives; Citizens are protected from sectarian ~ religious persecution within the territory of the other side; The two sides expressed respect for the freedom of immigration, and Chinese naturalized in the United States are treated the same as Europeans; Citizens of both sides can attend each other's government public schools and enjoy most-favored-nation national status.

After signing the agreement, Wei Ce stayed in Hua~Shengton with two retinues and was responsible for the establishment of the Ming Dynasty's commercial and trade office in the United States.

Li Duoen, Xu Nanying, and Ma Jiayi took the trade group across the Atlantic Ocean on an ocean-going ship and came to Europe.

Europe is currently at war. Nearly two years after the outbreak of the Crimean War, Britain, France, Turkey and Russia fought in darkness, bloodshed and tragedy.

In the Crimean War, Britain and France spared no effort to support Turkey, the main reason for which was that Russia was not allowed to stretch its hand further and further, and second, because the Turkish market was fully opened to Britain and France, and Turkey imported more than 4 million British industrial products every year. For the UK, it is worth it for the sake of Turkey's huge market.

The Ming trade group also bought steel raw materials, machinery products, and other industrial products in Europe. The orders signed in Britain and France reached 10 million taels of silver, which made the British and French governments quite excited. At present, the Ming regime only occupies a corner of Taiwan, and if the Ming regime controls all of China, what level will the trade volume reach?

The British government and the French government took the initiative to propose aid to Ming, but the delegation politely declined. In the end, Britain and France also signed a friendly cooperation agreement with the Daming trade delegation, expressing respect for the principle of free trade and agreeing to send business representatives to each other.

The Ming trade group traveled around European cities, signed large business contracts along the way, and finally arrived in Frankfurt, the seat of the German Confederation.

The German Confederation was a loose organization founded in 1815. The Confederation had a parliament, chaired by a representative of the Austrian Empire. The confederation was loosely organized, and the states maintained full sovereignty. But Prussia and Austria often competed openly and covertly for the leadership of Germany.

In 1855, the Austrian Empire was a large empire spanning parts of Central, Southern and Eastern and Southeastern Europe. The territory included a vast area of present-day Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Northern Italy, Transylvania in Romania, and Galicia in Poland.

The Kingdom of Prussia was originally a small state, took the lead in forming the German Customs Union, took advantage of the Napoleonic Wars and the Crimean War, and kept up with the pace of the Industrial Revolution.

On the outskirts of Frankfurt, the banks of the Main River are littered with withered reeds.

Lidorn rode his horse with a shotgun on his shoulder, and six wild ducks were strung behind the saddle with ropes, all of which were the fruits of his hunting.

Hunting with Lidonn was Bismarck, the ambassador of the Kingdom of Prussia to the Confederation in Frankfurt. Bismarck also had five mallards behind his saddle.

Mr. Bismarck's bodyguard, Thomas. Werner rode his horse and followed closely behind the two.

Thomas was the son of old Hans. After arriving in Frankfurt, Lidorn was introduced by Thomas on a hunting trip with Bismarck.

"Bang~" A gunshot rang out, and a wild duck fell into the bushes.

"Good marksmanship!" Li Dorn praised.

Bismarck put away his gun and whistled.

A group of hounds immediately ran towards the place where the ducks had fallen. After a while, one of the hounds ran back with a wild duck in his mouth.

Bismarck's mount had an additional mallard strung with a rope behind the saddle.

Bismarck felt that he had gained a lot today, "Take a break!" ”

Thomas chose a clearing on the dry field next to the river beach, spread it with tarpaulins and felt blankets, and sat down with Lidon and Bismarck.

After a few casual conversations, Bismarck couldn't help but ask a question, "Recently, I read a few notebooks written by missionaries in the late Ming Dynasty. I'm a little puzzled as to why there is a change of dynasty in China every two or three hundred years. Have China's politicians not found a way to make the country stable in the long run? ”

Bismarck had been thinking about Prussia's path to strength for several years. He was well-read and wanted to learn from it.

"The country is stable, and it is necessary to deal with and regulate the interests of the three aspects. One is the royal power, the other is the aristocratic landlord class, and the other is the commoners. ”

"Sadly, either the royal power is too greedy, or the landlord class can't control its greed." ”

Li Duoen enumerated the facts of the Chongzhen period, "The landlords were unwilling to pay taxes, the commoners had no money to pay taxes, and the royal power had no money to raise soldiers, so they could only watch the Tatars prosper." ”

Bismarck nodded thoughtfully, "How are you going to solve this problem now?" ”

Li Dorn was unequivocal, "Customize the constitution and divide their respective interests with law, and render to God what is God's, and Caesar's to Caesar's." ”

Bismarck's unique cold face of the Germanic people was slightly moved, "Yes, if the empire wants to last, it must do a good job of dividing power and profit!" ”

Bismarck was a conservative, staunch defender of authoritarianism, and had always held a firm repression of the revolutionary movement in Europe. But Li Dorn's words made him deeply feel that if Prussia wants to be strong and unify Germany, it must also do a good job of dividing power and profits, and bridging the differences between various classes.

Bismarck asked Lidorn many questions and learned in detail about the situation in the Far East. Through the conversation, he once again established that the Ming Empire was far more vigorous than the decaying Manchu regime, and that its rise in the Far East should be unstoppable.

Since last year, a Chinese in the UK (Shenchen) has taken the lead in establishing Huafu Trust and Investment Company in Europe. After the establishment of Huafu Trust, it immediately invested heavily in Prussia, involving many fields such as finance, smelting, and minerals, which effectively promoted Prussia's industrial development.

Now that the envoys of the Ming Dynasty have taken advantage of their connections to take the initiative to contact themselves, Bismarck certainly does not feel that he and his country have the air of hegemony.

Britain is a global hegemon and does not need the Allies at all, only the little brothers. The French are naturally free and romantic; the corruption and incompetence of serfdom Russia; The people~ethnic contradictions within the Austrian Empire were extremely acute, and these were not enough to serve as potential allies of the Ming regime in Europe.

Making a friend in the Far East should be of great benefit to Prussia's future.

There is no such thing as a free lunch. Bismarck knew that if the Kingdom of Prussia could not become strong and he lost his political future, the Ming envoys should not hesitate to turn away.