The news of the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Ming Dynasty, Lucia, Prussia, and France provoked a greater reaction in the Austrian royal family and court than in the British court.

Although the British felt the pressure and the possibility of being completely isolated, this was still a potential threat and there was no direct confirmation of the possibility of attack.

The Austrians, hearing the news of the signing of the Quartet led by the Ming Dynasty, directly felt a fatal direct threat.

When Emperor Franz II of Austria received the news, he immediately recruited his new prime minister and foreign minister, Metternich, and his own brother, the military commander of Austria, Archduke Karl.

After Franz II had made the news known to the two men, Metternich said without hesitation:

"Your Majesty, we in Austria must join this cooperation agreement, otherwise we will become the most passive country on the continent of Europa."

Archduke Karl gave an explanation at the military level:

"If Austria had not joined this cooperation, Prussia would have immediately begun preparations for war against Austria.

"Prussia will not hesitate, war may break out at any moment.

"They had a war plan against us, only to be delayed by the world war, which lasted for many years, and the post-war League of Nations relations, and the post-war technological revolution.

"The point is that there is a high probability that the Ming and France, who signed a contract with Prussia, will not intervene, and Lucia may even ally with Prussia and jointly send troops to participate in the dismemberment of Austria."

Franz II's expression was also very ugly:

"I understand, but does His Excellency have any concrete ideas for how to participate in this cooperation?"

Metternich simply flipped through the invitation document sent by the Ming side, and carefully looked at the main content of the cooperation agreement that had been determined:

"I think we can try to work with the Ottomans, with Italy, and ask for another trade route.

"Starting from the south of the Ming Dynasty, it connects the southern region of the Ming Dynasty, the Tianzhu region, and the Principality of Persia, enters the Ottomans, passes through the whole Ottoman territory to Austria, and from the south of Austria to Italy, all the way to France and Spain.

"In this way, leaving Lucia and Prussia aside, we can establish an alternative route that strengthens our position in cooperation.

"I don't think that with the status and needs of Daming, I shouldn't want to put all my eggs in one Lucia basket.

"The Ming Dynasty has chosen two routes on their own local trade routes.

"It's just...... It is likely that the construction of the southern route is too difficult, and at the same time too close to the sea, and the benefits are not high.

"But for us and for the Ottomans, the political and diplomatic significance of such a line outweighs the economic benefits.

"We should work hard to promote the selection and construction of this route.

"The next best thing to do is not to take the southern region of the Ming Dynasty and extend it south from the existing Kazakh principality route of the Ming Dynasty.

"Through the Principality of Persia, the Great Food Kingdom, the Ottomans, to Austria.

"Another option to bypass these options is the proposal to set up a small Western-Mediterranean Royal Trading Company.

"The Ming Dynasty, the Ottomans, Austrians, Italians, France, and the Spanish royal families were established as a joint venture to operate maritime trade from the small Western Ocean to the Mediterranean.

"It's a very promising trade route, and it's now the busiest trade route in the world.

"Daming's Xihai Canal has allowed more than 100,000 tons of cargo ships to pass directly.

"The corresponding free trade zone can directly choose all seaports, and it is no longer an inland city."

Franz II nodded approvingly:

"Okay, just do it, it's best to grasp both hands, both at the same time.

"Inland railway lines and maritime trading companies are to be built.

"Metternich went to contact the Ottomans and Italy as soon as possible, and also to the French and Spaniards.

"Then prepare well and prepare to leave for Daming as soon as possible."

The other countries of the Tessie Continent, the countries that received the notices and invitations from the Ming Dynasty, were more or less similar to the worries of the British and Austrians.

The Ottomans and Austrians had a very similar idea, that is, they wanted to leave aside the Lucians in the north and establish a cooperative system in the south and at sea alone.

Besides, whether the Ottoman was directly adjacent to the Ming Dynasty or the most special Great Food Country, the Ottoman did not need or want to take Lucia's route.

Although the relationship between the Ottomans and the Austrians was by no means good, they had a common language in the face of Lucia, and now they feel that the Austrians' advice is very reasonable.

Therefore, the Ottomans also directly accepted the invitation of the Ming Dynasty, and at the same time began to communicate with Austria to prepare follow-up cooperation proposals.

The Dutch (Dutch) people, hearing that Prussia and the French had signed a cooperation agreement, were a bolt from the blue.

Immediately worried about whether they would cooperate, from the northeast and southwest, directly carved up the existing Netherlands.

At this time, the Netherlands included later Belgium.

The region has its own Dutch language, but there are also many people who speak French and German directly.

Even the difference between Dutch itself and Low German is not much, and it may not be as different as the southern dialect of the Ming Dynasty and the official dialect.

The text of both sides can also be transcribed according to certain rules, and then you can basically understand it.

According to the standards of the Ming Dynasty, these places can have the opportunity to be directly annexed to the mainland.

At this time, the Dutch people were constantly worried about this.

So after receiving the invitation of the Ming Dynasty, it was more neat than what Britain and Austria had promised.

When the Italians heard that both the Prussians and the French had joined, and had received proposals and invitations for cooperation from the Austrians, there was no room for consideration, otherwise they would later be completely blocked by their three countries from the land.

The most marginal Spaniards and Portuguese hesitated slightly, but did not hesitate for long.

It's because it's too marginal, so I don't want to become more marginal in the future.

In the end, in the next month or so, representatives of various countries in Taixi rushed to Xianbei City one after another.

All the delegates arrived, and at the banquet before the official start of the meeting, Lin Zexu, the representative of the Ming Dynasty, made a statement:

"This time, the vast majority of powerful countries in the world gathered together to discuss cooperation plans and programs on the economy, transportation, and trade, which is an unprecedented feat.

"Our Royal Highness Prince Daishi, after you have officially decided to participate in the agreement, once again put forward an idea:

"Since all the participating countries, all of them are members of the League of Nations, we can establish an international free trade organization within the institutions of the League of Nations.

"After all States have signed an agreement to join the organization, issues that may arise are discussed and coordinated directly under the meeting of the League of Nations.

"If you don't have any opinions, then this meeting can also be called a meeting of the parties to the International Trade Organization."

The economic cooperation of a few countries has been elevated to the level of "the world".

However, this proposal is indeed more realistic.

For the countries directly involved, this is a mere change of name and does not affect the actual content of the subsequent treaty.

And this was proposed by Prince Dashi, so the representatives on the scene expressed their approval.

After the banquet, the delegates had their own day off.

Two days later, negotiations on the conclusion of the WTO were officially opened.

As the representative of the initiator and alliance leader, Lin Zexu once again made a simple opening speech.

After the normal discussion began, Austrian Prime Minister Metternich first asked to speak.

The urgency of the Austrians was seen by most countries, and was directly understood by most countries.

Probably the most stressful of the major Tessie countries right now is Austria.

After the gesture of Lin Zexu, who served as the host, Metternich immediately explained his suggestion.

Proposals for the establishment of a maritime trading company, as well as for the southern route of the Continental Bridge Railway.

The Ottomans, Italy, and Spain already had communication, so they immediately stood up and said that they were ready.

Although Austria's proposal was somewhat unexpected, the diplomats and politicians present fully understood the intentions and ideas of the Austrian four countries after a little consideration and analysis.

That is, within this system dominated by the Ming Dynasty, another branch line of relations was built outside of Lucia and Prussia.

When the Ming Dynasty and other representatives of other countries were analyzing and considering, the new British Foreign Secretary, Robert Banks Jenkinson, suddenly spoke to everyone's surprise:

"We, the United Kingdom, support Austria's proposal to set up a maritime joint trading company.

"At the same time, the United Kingdom could open the Port of Bombay in South Tianzhu, the Port of New York in New England in Southwest Mexico, the Port of Charleston in the United States, and the Port of Southampton in the United Kingdom.

"The railways and roads in southwest Mozhou can be connected with the Northern Tianzhu of the Ming Dynasty to the mainland and Persia, Dashi, and Ottoman railways.

"At the same time, the British side hopes that Daming can open a free trade port in the new Tianfu area."

The British proposal was brought out, which directly triggered an irrepressible whispered discussion at the scene.

Austria, the Ottomans, Italy, Spain simply wanted to establish a maritime trade route in the south of the Old Continent.

The British, however, made a direct detour to the New World.

Not to mention that there are no people in Mumbai, the opening of Southwest Mexico, the United States, and the United Kingdom is real.

There was a commotion at the scene, and politicians gradually understood the intentions of the British.

If cooperating on the traditional Old Continent, the British, who are island nations on their mainland, are in any case a frontier country.

Maybe even less than Spain and Italy.

If the scope of cooperation is extended to the whole world, then the British will have a relatively fair status and value.

At the same time, the West Sea Canal has been continuously expanded for nine years and now supports all direct shipping of cargo ships around the world.

Even the second all-access double line is about to be completed.

In the future, the navigation efficiency will be higher, probably higher than the Strait of Malacca.

The water in the Strait of Malacca is not particularly deep, in many places the depth is between 20 and 30 meters.

Since 2010, the water depth of the Suez Canal has reached 24 meters.

In addition to being relatively wider, Malacca seafood is similar to the Suez Canal in terms of navigability for large ships.

The world's mega-freighters of more than 100,000 tons are still being designed and prepared.

That is to say, all merchant ships from Daming to Taixi can take the Xihai Canal in Daming.

There is no need to take a detour to the Western Cape.

This, of course, affected the interests of the Ming Dynasty in the Western Cape, but the benefits of the Xihai Canal were higher.

The Western Cape is a natural waterway, and although the local area belongs to the westerly wind belt, it is difficult to see when the wind is calm, but the people who come here are all big ships, and the key is that it is free.

The income that can be obtained by the Daming Emperor Zhuang at the Western Cape is pure commercial profits, even if it is a ship supply transaction, there is also a New England port in the southwest of the United Kingdom in the southwest of the United Kingdom to compete with it.

But you have to pay to go through the Xihai Canal, and there are no competitors at all, an absolute monopoly.

As for the merchant ships that want to go from the West Ocean to Xintianfu, whether there is a West Sea Canal or not, they have to go to the Western Ocean Cape, and it will not affect it at all.

Therefore, these Ming Dynasty have always let go of the widening and deepening of the Xihai Canal.

Correspondingly, the British in New England in Southwestern Mexico were also directly affected by the canal's expansion.

The British wanted to raise their hands in the colony of Southwest Mexican.

This is the focus of the development and construction of the United Kingdom in recent years, and the young and middle-aged people of the entire South Tianzhu have been pulled here.

A New England was built here, mainly composed of Tianzhu people......

At the same time, it is hoped that the Ming Dynasty will open up the trade of Xintianfu.

In the end, according to the British proposal, they are really only going to open a city on their own soil.

In this era, the colony was basically an exclusive dumping ground for the Tessy people.

The local market is more advanced and owned.

The intensity of free trade in the open colonies is, of course, low in the openness of the mainland, but it can also be regarded as a large degree of openness.

Southampton, the British mainland, plus the two important ports of the overseas colonies of New York in southwest Mexico and Charleston in the United States, the overall degree of openness can also be similar to the opening of two domestic ports.

So it can't be regarded as completely insincere.

It's just that the British, following the rhythm of Austria and Spain, have further thought about trade cooperation on land and pulled it to the sea.

There was a commotion at the scene, and the representatives of various countries each evaluated the proposal of the British, and considered their own interests and gains and losses from the same angle.

Lin Zexu thought about it for a while and then said directly:

"Regarding cooperation outside the mainland, especially the opening of the new Tianfu, I have not been authorized by the Ming court.

"So I need to communicate with the rear party about related issues before I can respond and request accordingly.

"If other delegates have similar ideas, they can discuss them within their respective countries first and then come back to the next meeting.

"If there are other types of suggestions and ideas, they can be brought up now and continue the discussion.

"Otherwise, that's the end of today's meeting."

After Lin Zexu finished speaking, the Spaniards followed suit and said that they also needed to re-communicate with the royal family on the issue of opening the port.

Portugal and other major maritime nations are not far behind.

The aim was obvious: to consider whether to open up the colonial port.

Pure increase in the opening of ports is certainly impossible.

But it is definitely necessary to consider whether to replace and offset the open cities of the mainland with overseas colonial ports.

At present, only the Ming Dynasty and Britain and France have colonies in Yinzhou.

But all countries have colonies in Mozhou, and they are all connected, and they need to be considered in this regard.

Daming also needs internal communication, to consider whether to allow Britain to use overseas ports to make up the numbers, and whether to open the new Tianfu.

Therefore, Lin Zexu directly announced the suspension of the meeting and asked all parties to return to their residences to discuss and communicate.

The Austrians and the British did not communicate beforehand, but at the beginning of the meeting, they worked together on a problem that deviated from the direction.

(End of chapter)