On September 1, the ninth year of Ankang in the Ming Dynasty, Xianbei City, the capital of the Principality of Xianbei.

On the Ming side, representatives of Honglu Temple and Zhu Jingyuan met with representatives of Lucia.

Before the two sides met, there was no clear official definition of what this meeting meant.

Therefore, the first meeting was not official, but in the form of a private banquet organized by the Xianbei State Princess.

Of course, the form of the banquet is Ming-style, and now the Xianbei Principality is completely clear from top to bottom.

Luo Yashan, the prince of Xianbei Kingdom, took his daughter Luo Feiya and niece Catherine to sit on the throne together.

Lin Zexu and other people from Daming sat on the left side, and Lucia people such as Wedemeyer sat on the right side.

The people of all parties greeted each other, sat down for a banquet, and after three rounds of wine, the singing and dancing were suspended, and the two sides began to ask each other about their attitudes.

Lucia's representative, Wademeyer, spoke first to dissect himself:

"His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Xianbei, His Royal Highnesses the two princesses, and friends of the Ming Dynasty.

"Since the end of the World War, the people of Lucia have regarded the Ming as a respected leader and friend.

"Lucia's development in the Volga region has absolutely no intention of targeting the Ming and Xianbei principalities.

"Simply because, at present, in the whole territory of Lucia, only definite recoverable oil deposits have been found here.

"We, Lucia, can give the most serious promises and guarantees to the royal family and the official court, guaranteeing that the development of the oil field will be carried out in a purely civilian form, and no official military personnel will be arranged to the local area.

"After the oil is extracted, it will also be transported directly to the inland refining, and no industrial production facilities will be built locally.

"We are also not going to build more large residential areas in the area than are needed to extract and transport the oil fields.

"There will be no local factories that can be used for the production of vehicles and weapons and ammunition.

"Both the Ming side and the Xianbei Principality side can arrange personnel to inspect and supervise the scene."

Wademeyer felt that what he said was very sincere, and he directly confessed it at the beginning.

Then Lin Zexu and the representative of Honglu Temple glanced at each other, and the representative of Honglu Temple smiled at Lin Zexu and nodded.

So Lin Zexu thought about it and spoke:

"Our Royal Highness Prince Daishi is also ready to explore and develop the resources and land of the Caspian coast and the Urals region in the form of private funds.

"We are ready to build high-standard railways and highways in the local area to connect important cities and fortresses in Xianbei, Kazakhstan, Khiva, Persia, the Western Regions and other places.

"We are ready to build large-scale residential areas in the area, and we will use the standards of military fortifications to protect the lives and property of our migrants.

"We are ready to build factories on the ground for the production of textiles, fuel, steel, machinery, vehicles, aircraft, and ensure that these factories are able to produce materials when necessary.

"And we won't allow Lucia to go to the area to inspect and supervise......

"Of course, the Ming official will not go against the agreement he signed, so before the war is about to break out, the Ming will not arrange official military combat personnel to the local area.

"The maintenance of the safety and order of the local residents will be maintained by the private bodyguard company in cooperation with the official brocade guards."

When Lin Zexu's words came out, all the Lucia representatives, including Wedemeyer, and the personnel of the Xianbei Kingdom led by Luo Yashan, all opened their mouths wide and were speechless.

High-grade railways and roads, fortified settlements to protect immigrants, plus factories that can be converted into military factories or produce military supplies, and finally no "official" military personnel will be placed until the outbreak of the war......

Can you be more blunt with this threat?

Lucia tried to negotiate and resolve the conflict, but Da Ming's side directly filled up the war preparation plan.

Soon, however, everyone realized that this threat was only a threat for the time being.

To say it so directly now means that there is a lot of room for manoeuvre, otherwise we wouldn't be here to discuss.

This is the threat of asking for a sky-high price, and it depends on how Lucia pays it back on the spot.

When Wademeyer came to his senses, he immediately said very exaggeratedly:

"Why this, why this! Our Lucia has absolutely no intention of being an enemy of Da Ming, and Da Ming does not need to be so nervous about guarding Lucia at all.

"We understand that the crux of the matter is that the field is located on the border between the two sides, and both sides are in the treaty-defined demilitarized zone.

"But the two sides can resolve and avoid unnecessary conflicts through friendly negotiations.

"Da Ming's current state, any suggestions, ideas and requirements can be directly put forward to us, and we Lucia will cooperate as much as possible."

Lin Zexu saw that the other party had talked about this, so he didn't sell it, and listed the prepared requirements:

"According to Daming's experience in oil development, the scope of the oil and gas field itself can be very large, and the scope of the oil and gas resource area with a large number of oil and gas fields is usually more extensive.

"The entire Persian Gulf, for example, is seen as a place where there are very likely to be exploitable oil and gas resources.

"Now it has been jointly explored and comprehensively developed by Daming Royal Petroleum Company and Dashiguo Petroleum Company.

"Since the place where Lucia has discovered oil and gas resources is located in the border area, it is likely that the area that belongs to the Ming side will also have rich oil resources.

"So His Royal Highness Prince Daishi means that the resources here can be jointly developed by both of us.

"At the same time, in order to deepen the cooperation between Daming and Lucia, we can use the demilitarized zone on the border to build a large-scale border free trade zone.

"Allow businessmen from both sides, official and private, to invest in the development of agricultural and industrial resources on the banks of the Ural River.

"And locally produced goods can enter either Lucia and Daming as domestic goods.

"In order to achieve and strengthen this cooperation, and at the same time further strengthen the ties between the Ming and the Taixi countries, His Royal Highness Prince Dashi proposed to connect the rail and road networks of the two sides in the Urals.

"At the same time, the railway will be further extended to Berlin, Vienna, Amsterdam and Paris.

"The royal families of the participating parties jointly funded the establishment of a cross-border trading company, allowing the company's vehicles to carry out road, rail, air transport and trade freely throughout the continent of Shenou.

"There is no need to go through complicated border control procedures at the time of transit, as if it were transported and operated within the country.

"As this type of cooperation continues to increase, our parties are becoming more and more economically connected.

"And then we have political and military conflicts, and other aspects of society, and then we go down and down.

"The point is that it can be more easily solved by economic means.

"Because the Ming has no intention of fighting a meaningless war with Lucia and other Tessie countries again."

Luo Yashan already has an understanding of Daming's thoughts, and now he listens to it relatively calmly.

Wademeyer was a little stunned after hearing this, although he had expected before he came that Daming might come up with a request for "cooperation" again, but now this trick is really a bit too big.

Connecting the road network is not a big problem, the big problem is the elimination of border checkpoints, the big problem is transnational free trade.

For a moment, Wademeyer couldn't fully understand the benefits and risks.

The point is, this kind of question must be decided by Emperor Lucia, and no one else can make up their minds.

Lin Zexu also knew this, so after finishing speaking, he saw that Wademeyer was stunned, so he directly added and reminded:

"Of course, these issues cannot be decided all at once, the ambassador can think about it after he goes back, and wait for the next meeting to have a formal discussion, it is better to concentrate on the banquet now."

Wademeyer nodded without hesitation:

"We do need to think about it, thank you for your understanding......"

The next banquet is really a banquet, but many people have too many minds to really concentrate on pleasure.

So the banquet didn't last long, and it ended at ten o'clock in the evening.

After returning to his residence, he immediately sent the Ming Emperor's request to Emperor Nicholas of Lucia in Moscow.

However, time is urgent, there is no additional explanation, this is only a situation report.

Just to note, there will be an analysis report ahead tomorrow.

After Nikolai saw the news, he was also stunned and silent for a long time.

In Nikolai's view, these cooperation plans proposed by Da Ming are too entangled.

None of them were justified in Nikolai's outright refusal.

Because the Lucian nation, as well as the Lucian royal family, can benefit from this cooperation.

The establishment of a cross-border trading company with the Ming royal family is equivalent to using Daming's technology to operate and dividends.

And Lucia's goods were allowed to enter the Ming Dynasty, Prussia, and France directly......

With the Ming royal family taking the lead, the Taixi monarchs who participated in the operation of themselves, although they certainly can't be big owners, they must also get relatively stable profits.

But it's just as hard to accept it directly.

Since it is a cross-border free trade, it is necessary to allow the influx of foreign goods while exporting to the outside world.

Lucia's market was also completely open to the Ming Dynasty, Prussia, and France.

Da Ming's strategy of getting everyone to hug each other really made Monarch Taixi very entangled.

In fact, it is also because this world is still dominated by monarchy.

The monarch considers not only the interests of the state, but also the interests of the family as well as the interests of the individual.

This is not to say that the leaders of the republic will not consider this, but it will not be so straightforward and public, and it can only be done in private, let alone directly in official treaties.

Cooperation between monarchs in trade is in most cases a bad thing for their own capital, but often the benefits outweigh the disadvantages for the monarchs themselves.

The old ruling classes of the world have joined forces for profit, and they will inevitably increase their ability to rule at the same time.

Of course, it will be more difficult for civil forces to gain power and status.

Under Zhu Jingyuan's various world views in his previous life, this can basically be regarded as a situation in which reactionary forces are bursting.

But what the ruling class has come together to do is free trade.

It's just that it's not the free trade of private capital, but the free trade of the monarchs and royal families of various countries.

But if you look at it from another angle, it's actually all about free trade for the ruling class.

Real civilians can only participate in the form of producers.

Nikolai looked at the requests for most of the night, and Wademeyer studied them for most of the night.

In the end, the two came up with a very similar idea, of course.

Cooperation can be done, but there must be a limit to the scope.

The categories of commodities in joint free trade should be restricted, and free trade cannot be completely and completely opened.

For the sake of fairness, all participating countries should come up with their own advantageous products, as well as those that are in short supply, and include them in the scope of free-trade commodities in a form that complements each other as much as possible.

The same criterion applies to the unilateral cooperation between the Ming and Lucia, that is, the comprehensive development of the Urals.

You can engage in any free trade zone, but the goods that are free trade must also have category restrictions.

Finally, it is about the development of local oil and gas resources, and it is better not to cooperate.

Daming is rich in oil elsewhere, and Lucia's current discovery of a worthwhile oil field is the only one here.

So even Nikolai, as a traditional monarch, wanted to keep this oil field completely in his hands.

Instead of taking it out and sharing it with the Ming people, you Daming don't lack this......

Finally, Wademeyer, as a political figure as a commissioner, also thought of some new supplementary options.

In the afternoon of the next day, Wademeyer and Nikolai contacted again to exchange and confirm their views.

Three days later, the second meeting between Da Ming and Lucia in the Principality of Xianbei began.

With the requirements and consideration process at the first banquet, the meeting was semi-formal.

So it took place in a conference room in the palace of the Principality of Xianbei.

It was Wademeyer who spoke first, explaining the basic attitude of Lucia's side.

Willing to cooperate, but cooperation is conditional and limited.

In addition to the aspects that Emperor Nicolas of Lucia took into account, Wedemeyer came up with his own idea:

"The idea is that free trade in the Urals should be limited to the local Urals.

"In a free trade zone, merchants from both sides can trade freely and neither is required to pay customs duties.

"However, when leaving the boundaries of the free trade zone, a uniform free trade tax should be paid to both countries.

"The amount of this tax is up to both of us to decide, and we don't interfere with each other......"

Lin Zexu frowned immediately after hearing this.

Zhu Jingyuan's initial request was for a free trade zone that was completely fundamental.

If the things of the two countries pass through this place, they belong to both countries at the same time, and they can be sold to either country without restrictions.

The amendments proposed by Wedemeyer are similar to the free trade zones of later generations.

Only free trade in the trade zone, you still have to pay taxes when you leave the trade zone.

The difference between the two is, of course, very significant......

But radical fundamentalism, free trade is also an ideal.

Unless Lucia became a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, it would have been difficult to achieve that level of free trade.

Zhu Jingyuan also had some preparation for this, and also gave Lin Zexu an explanation.

Although Lin Zexu didn't know about the free trade zone in later generations, he already understood the twists and turns.

Lin Zexu has room for concessions in negotiations, and the conditions of Wademeyer, which are similar to those of the later free trade zone, are actually within the acceptable range of Zhu Jingyuan.

But Lin Zexu couldn't just accept it, so he deliberately said with some anger:

"You still have to pay taxes when you leave the area, what kind of free trade is this?

"You're just shifting the time to pay the tariff from the point where you cross the border to the point where you leave the free trade zone.

"Rather than this, what kind of free trade zone is there to toss? I don't want to cooperate at all, let's do it separately. ”

Wedemeyer immediately explained:

"It's different, it's different, there is no tax in the free trade zone, and there is no tax when you enter the trade zone, and you only collect it when you leave.

"So merchants can build factories and trading houses in the trade zone and import raw materials duty-free from both countries.

"This eliminates the need for VAT between raw materials and goods, as well as import fees and formalities for imported materials.

"The actual cost of production can be reduced by a large margin, so businessmen must be willing to build factories and trading houses in the local area.

"If you add to that the free trade railway, you can even import raw materials from the entire continent and produce products here.

"If individual buyers are exempted from visas, it will also attract tourists and residents from both countries and even the entire continent......"

Lin Zexu nodded in his heart after hearing this, these ideas were all explained by Zhu Jingyuan, but he still couldn't just agree.

However, Lin Zexu also took a small step back:

"Even so, the proportion of taxes on leaving the free trade zone should be controlled within a certain range.

"And it cannot be unilaterally set by each party, it should be determined and adjusted by both parties through consultation."

As a negotiator, Lin Zexu only said the requirements for negotiation, and did not directly say how much it was restricted, which was a matter for special tax and accounting personnel.

This demand was further limited on the basis of accepting Wademeyer's conditions, and Wademeyer did not hesitate too much after achieving the basic goal, and directly expressed his acceptance:

"Negotiable...... However, we should also determine the specific scope of the free trade zone while negotiating the tax rate. ”

Lin Zexu nodded when he heard this.

In this way, the intention and general direction of cooperation between the two sides in free trade will be basically determined.

The back is the details, and the details are not the task of the two.

The two will next discuss cooperation in the development of the oil-based Urals, as well as on the road network connection between the Ming Dynasty and the Taixi countries, and the cooperation of the royal joint venture trading company.

(End of chapter)