The East India Company had a large number of people coming to China this time, several times more than the last time Genk had brought them, and there were more than a dozen large sea vessels alone.

The people who came in the team leader also had more status.

An admiral named Thomas Best.

After the Battle of Kinmen, Zheng Zhilong briefly repelled the Dutch, ensured the smooth passage of the Taiwan Strait, and allowed Best and his party to go down to Tianjin very smoothly, shortening the time to enter Beijing and meet Zhu Youzhen.

If it drags on for more than two months, then all the precious time that the Ming Dynasty needs most now will be wasted.

"It is a great honor to meet you, Your Majesty the Emperor of China."

Best is in his fifties and speaks English full of Indian curry, which is not even as authentic as Zhu Youzhen's pronunciation.

Probably because I've been in India for too long.

Zhu Youzhen raised his hand: "I'm also very happy to see you, General Best from afar, please take a seat." ”

Best thanked him and sat on a cushioned Taishi chair that Wang Chengen had brought for him, and a table about a zhang long was separated from Zhu Youzhen.

The two sat across from each other.

"Your Majesty, your terms have been relayed to me by Mr. Henk, and I don't think it's cost-effective for our East India Company."

Zhu Youzhen narrowed his eyes slightly, and smiled: "General Best, I think that this condition is good enough, of course, if General Best has other requirements, you can also put it forward, we can discuss." ”

"We, the East India Company, want Macau."

"What did you say?" Zhu Youzhen was stunned.

Best accentuated his tone, as if emphasizing, and repeated: "We want Macao, and your country will hand over Macao to our East India Company to manage, so that the ties between your country and our East India Company will be deepened, and with Macao, you will have a more convenient port for the grain you need." ”

Zhu Youzhen laughed, and couldn't tell whether it was a mockery or a sneer.

He thought of the history of the East India Company in India.

From the very beginning of the business and trade licenses, to the demand for port ships, factory land, to the occupation of towns by force, the East India Company has gradually turned India into British India, and Norda into its own colony!

And all this just started with an insignificant port.

Zhu Youzhen thought of the Wanqing government and the Jiangning Treaty.

Would the Manchu government have thought that simply carving out one Hong Kong island would make the whole country a colony of Westerners?

Best looked at Zhu Youzhen directly, this is an extremely impolite behavior, of course, the former will not have this kind of awareness.

Zhu Youzhen was silent for half a cup of tea before speaking.

"I can't agree to this condition."

Receiving a rejection reply, Best was equally stunned.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, I don't think you have any reason to refuse."

"I don't need too many reasons, but one is enough!"

Zhu Youzhen's voice unconsciously raised: "I will not cede a single cent or inch of my Chinese land, don't even think about it!" ”

Best frowned, with confusion and confusion on his face: "Your Majesty the Emperor, as far as I know, the current Macau, including Taiwan, is not under the rule of your government, but in the hands of the Portuguese and the Dutch, since you can give it to the Dutch, why can't you give it to the British?" ”

"That's not giving!" Zhu Youzhen corrected: "That is the land occupied by the Dutch invasion, but that is only temporary, when my country overcomes the immediate difficulties, it will definitely drive the Dutch away and recover our own land." ”

"However, it is clear that the difficulties facing your country are not enough for you to accomplish this undertaking." Best shrugged his shoulders: "Drought is a terrible natural disaster, and not having food is a very desperate thing.

And people can do anything in times of despair, for example, riots, large-scale riots, and I don't think any ruler of a dynasty would want to see a riot that shake his rule. ”

Zhu Youzhen raised his hand and stretched out a finger to point at Best: "Back then, did you also use this method and this kind of language to claim land from the Mughal rulers?" ”

"If you think that I will be the same, then you are wrong, for the Mughal ruling class, India is just the land they invaded, they are the aggressors, India is not their homeland and not their homeland, so they don't care about ceding land in exchange for the stability of their rule.

But here, it is the root of our Chinese!

You want our land, impossible, even if Shu's country dies, Shu can give this country to another person, as long as he is Chinese, even if he cuts off Shu's head!

I will never give the land to you English, nor will I give it to the Dutch, nor to the Japanese, nor to the Houjin people who are eyeing Liaodong at this moment. ”

After saying this, Zhu Youzhen got up and left, ignoring Best's shouting behind him.

Without the East India Company's 30 million tons of grain, Zhu Youzhen's only hope was prayer.

What to pray for?

Pray that the time of the Xiaoice period will be shortened.

But that seemed to be a little hopeful.

The peak population of the Ming Dynasty was around the 30th year of Wanli, and the population should be in the range of 150 million to 160 million, and then it was gradually affected by the Xiaoice River, and the number of natural disasters began to increase year by year.

From the 30th year of Wanli to the last years of Chongzhen, the population plummeted to about 100 million, and the death toll was 50 million.

Then the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs, and from the first year of Shunzhi to the first year of Kangxi, the Chinese population plummeted to 17 million to 23 million, and the death toll was more than 80 million.

In addition to the horrific massacres, the Manchu government's deliberate population reduction was also related to the natural disasters of the Xiaoice River period.

The larger the population, the more unable to feed them, and if they can't support them, they will rebel and shake the foundation of their rule.

Just like what Zhu Youzhen said to Best before, for the Manchu government, China is only a country invaded by them, not their roots.

Therefore, the Manchu government does not care about ceding Chinese land, and it does not care how many Chinese die.

Like the East India Company in India.

Like the Great Indian Famine of 1769.

"After pacifying Zhang Xianzhong, he spent five years to accumulate national strength, poured the power of the country out of the customs to conquer Huang Taiji, fought a war, and destroyed the country of Houjin!"

Zhu Youzhen returned to the Qianqing Palace, and after a few months, he picked up the pen again and began to practice calligraphy, and the pen was extremely heavy.

He had decided that he could not put all his hopes in prayer.

It's a big deal to break the net with Huang Taiji, so what Li Zicheng and Zhang Zicheng will come to sit on this country.

In fact, until now, Zhu Youzhen still has a way to save it.

That is.

Cut off!

We will control the population to about 50 million, rely on the stable grain productivity of Nanzhili and Zhejiang, and then develop fisheries in Fujian, Guangdong, Shandong, Taiwan, and other coastal provinces, so that it will be enough to feed the population of 50 or 60 million.

The only end is nothing more than that.

Sichuan, Henan, Shaanxi, Shaanxi, Guizhou and other inland provinces are ten rooms and nine empty!

Tens of millions of people will die, and tens of millions of people will live.

Cannibalism will continue to play out on the land of China.

Rebellions and riots abounded.

The knife of the imperial court will continue to cut off the heads of one compatriot after another.

Zhu Youzhen couldn't do this, let alone dare to do it.

Even if he knew that in the process of changing the dynasty, there would be so many people, and even more people would die because of his own policy of reducing the number of people, but Zhu Youzhen still couldn't do it.

There are some things that God can do, and the rebellious Zhang Xianzhong and his ilk can do it, but the emperor of his country can't do it.

His conscience can't get over it, and he can't carry the verbal criticism of future generations!

"The British don't let Lao Tzu have a good time, and Lao Tzu won't let them have a good time."

Zhu Youzhen's eyes showed a fierce look: "Let the people from the Ministry of Rites tell Best, I can't only cooperate with their family." ”

Could it be that there was only one British East India Company in India?

Diplomatic negotiations have never been a cluster of flowers and gentle and elegant, and the kind of harmony that appears in the public eye is a group photo after the negotiation is completed.

Real negotiation is a shrewd and vigilant attempt to test the bottom line, greedy and endless demands, and coercion and coercion.