Fan Diemen's face darkened after listening to Ji Kun's suggestion.
What does it mean for the four parties to jointly ensure stability and free trade in Nanyang?
Where is Sifang? Obviously there are only three parties: the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain!
Although your Ming Dynasty captured the two vassal states of Annan and Siam, Chenla probably did not escape. But strictly speaking, it is not Nanyang, there is no ocean there, it is a continent. Although the Ming Dynasty traveled by sea, they only sailed along the coastline. There were not many ships that could go to the ocean.
Now the Zheng family in Dongning can send a small number of sailing ships to sail to Batavia and Malacca, but they have no strength at all in Malacca, the East Indies, and the Philippine Islands.
As for England...that is a serious problem for the Netherlands. Do you still want them to enter Nanyang? What do you want to do?
Also, what about Spain? Where has Spain gone? Is this ruled out? Although the Netherlands and Spain have been fighting for 80 years, they have now made peace. Their interests in the Philippine Islands are also recognized by the Netherlands. They cannot be excluded just as they say!
"Mr. Dimen," Ji Kun said with a smile, "Spain's trade route does not pass through Malacca. Apart from being a transit point for Pacific trade, this Philippine Islands has no other benefits. Therefore, it is okay to not take Spain with the four sides of Southeast Asia. .....As for England, it is a powerful maritime country! In the past, because of the troubles at home, it did not have many activities in Southeast Asia.
Now that their own troubles are over, it is only a matter of time before they can trade with China through Nanyang. In fact, there are some English ships operating along the coast of Daming! Shouldn't we bring England together to discuss how to ensure peace in Nanyang? "
Ji Kun pulled Britain into the situation on his own initiative, while Zhu Cixiang's maritime policy was "pro-Dutch and anti-British."
But these days there are no telegraphs or the Internet. Ji Kun, the "Plenipotentiary Imperial Envoy", really has great power. Zhu Cixiang also knows that these days are really an era when diplomats can do their best, so he will not limit the diplomatic missions visiting Europe. rise up, but gave them enough authority.
However, Ji Kun felt that the waters in Nanyang should be muddied, and Britain should be involved in the situation, so that the British and the Dutch could fight each other. If the Ming Dynasty stirs up discord, maybe Batavia and Malacca can be captured... ..After taking over Malacca and Batavia, Ming Dynasty was complete in the direction of Nanyang.
That was the territory of the Xuanwei Division of Old Port in the early years. Such an important place was a good place to build a few forts, mount a few cannons, and arrange a few warships to block roads and collect tolls. How could it be lost?
...
Republic of England, City of London, Houses of State.
The Republic of England does not yet have a Lord Protector or Lord Protector, although many people privately call Oliver Cromwell that way. But his current official official position is Chairman of the State Council, and Chairman Ke is also!
However, he is not satisfied with this job and is still actively seeking improvement. It is so touching and inspiring that a person who has become the President of the State Council is still working so hard!
The people who blocked his progress as chairman were actually the same people who opposed King Charles I of England ten years ago. Now those people must be thinking about the foolish king Charles I, because Chairman Ke is much more cruel than the foolish king.
Before becoming President of the Council of State, Cromwell had "purged" Parliament three times, the first time expelling the leaders of the Presbyterian faction in Parliament who tried to reconcile with the king.
The second time, Cromwell's confidant Thomas Pride led his troops to surround the Parliament and screen the members of the House of Commons. Among the total 489 members of the House of Commons, 71 good people were screened out, and 83 others were After correcting his mistakes, he returned to the ranks of parliamentarians. The lower house of parliament with only 154 people left is therefore called the "remnant parliament".
The third time was after the execution of Charles I, the House of Commons controlled by Cromwell declared itself to be the representative of the people and the source of the highest power in England. The House of Commons then declared the House of Lords abolished and the monarchy abolished, establishing the Republic of England.
However, Cromwell was still very dissatisfied with the performance of the remaining members of Parliament!
These damn MPs are so reactionary and stubborn... The king has been dead for more than a year, and they still miss the Stuart dynasty!
Until now, no member of Parliament has jointly requested him, the President of the State Council, to become the king of England as soon as possible!
What are these people waiting for? Don’t you want to replace the reactionary Stuart dynasty with a progressive Cromwellian dynasty?
When a person was sulking alone in the office, the secretary's voice came from outside the door: "Mr. Chairman, it's me."
"Come in."
A handsome, tall young man pushed open the door and came in, bowing to Cromwell: "Mr. Chairman, Lord Gray, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, would like to see you."
"What is it?" Cromwell asked in a rather dignified voice.
"The Chinese Ambassador would like to meet with Lord Grey."
Cromwell was stunned: "What? Porcelain ambassador? Porcelain seller?"
"It's not porcelain, it's the ambassador of the great Eastern Empire that produces porcelain who wants to see Lord Gray."
"What?" Cromwell was stunned for a moment, "Chinese Ambassador? Please ask Lord Gray to come in."
"As you command, sir." The young man bowed, turned and walked out the door.
After a while, I saw a graceful elderly nobleman walking into Cromwell's office and bowing respectfully to the Chairman of the Republic of England.
"Sit down, Mr. Grey," said Cromwell, smiling.
Lord Gray sat down on a chair opposite Cromwell, then took out two letters rolled into long strips and placed them on his desk.
Cromwell unfolded one of the letters, and there were a bunch of ink square words on it, none of which he recognized.
"Mr. Chairman, this is the translation." Lord Gray handed another letter to Cromwell.
"Is this...French?" Cromwell looked at it and asked, "What kind of pen is this written with? It looks really strange."
This is a French letter written with a Huizhou wolf-hair brush. The handwriting is thin and hard, the brushwork is exposed, and the technique of thin gold style is used.
Of course this was Cromwell's first time seeing French with a thin gold body... To be honest, he couldn't quite understand it.
Cromwell knew French, but these thin gold-style French words were written confusingly, without any regard for grammar. Although Cromwell knew most of the words, he really couldn't understand the combinations.
"What do you mean?" Cromwell had no choice but to admit that he was not knowledgeable enough and did not know French.
"Mr. Chairman," Lord Gray said, "This is a personal letter from the Chinese Ambassador, Mr. Ji. He would like to ask you to send a representative to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to discuss the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Britain, and the joint protection of Malacca and the East Indies by China, the Netherlands, Portugal and Britain. Issues such as Belt and Road security and free trade.”
Cromwell did not expect Lord Gray to be so knowledgeable, "Lord, can you really understand?"
"I don't understand," Lord Gray replied. "I only found out what was going on by asking the Dutch diplomat who sent the letter."
"Then should we send people there?" Cromwell had doubts about communicating with the Netherlands.
On the one hand, this is because the Netherlands is England's powerful maritime enemy, and on the other hand, Mary Henrietta, the daughter of Charles I who was beheaded by Cromwell, is in the Netherlands and is the mother of William III, the leader of the Orange family. That is, the regent of the House of Orange-Nassau.
Although the Orange-Nassau family was suppressed by the Dutch Parliament, their strength is still there, so they have a lot of old retainers, which can be said to be a serious problem for the "Cromwell Dynasty"!
"We should send people there," Lord Gray said. "Trade with the East is very good for revitalizing the British economy. In recent years, China has ended its isolation and started to trade with foreign countries with a positive attitude. We should seize this opportunity.
In addition, we just took the opportunity to discuss with the Witte family how to attack the Orange family..."
