Of course Huang Zhisheng was deceiving Song Xiance and Wu Ruen. He was a loyal businessman of the Ming Dynasty, and he was also an evil capitalist. Of course he was not willing to obey the Ming Dynasty. He learned the skills of foreigners here and returned to Myanmar to become bigger and stronger.
So he made a half-truth and half-false lie about the Westernization line of "it is better to build than to buy, and it is better to rob than to buy" and taught it to Song Xiance and Wu Ru'en.
Wu Ruen is easy to deceive, but Song Xiance is not easy to fool. He will not believe Huang Zhisheng's words. And the approach of “it’s better to build than to buy, and to buy is better to rob” doesn’t sound right! Shouldn't we build guns and cannons first, and then recruit and train soldiers to go out and grab things? You can't even make guns and cannons, how can you rob them when you are controlled by others? If someone cuts off your supply of guns, can you still get good stuff?
So after settling in the Huang family garden, Song Xiance asked Huang Zhisheng to take his post to invite Nicolas Fouquet, the French envoy to Dashun, and Bruce van Diemen, the Dutch envoy to Dashun, to come to Huang's house. Eat in the garden.
The dining place is in a Chinese-style octagonal pavilion. When you look up, you can see the most beautiful scenery in Paris - the Bastille!
After three rounds of wine, five flavors of food. After the polite and reserved nonsense on both sides, Song Xiance changed the topic and mentioned the "truth of foreign affairs" that Huang Zhisheng taught him.
"Ambassador Fu, Ambassador Fan," Song Xiance gently twirled his wine glass, "I heard that there is a saying in Europe about making a country rich and strengthening its military. It is said that it is better to build than to buy, and to buy is better to rob...that is, It is said that if you work hard to make guns, cannons and ships, it is better to spend money to buy ready-made ones, and then use the bought things to rob. Is this statement correct? "
After hearing this, Huang Zhisheng, who was accompanying him at the scene, trembled with fright. But he didn't dare to translate it truthfully, because Bruce knew Chinese! Moreover, Fouquet also brought a translator from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who would not tolerate his nonsense.
After hesitantly translating Song Xiance's words into French, he suddenly found that both Fouquet and Bruce were deep in thought.
Because both of them feel that "it is better to build than to buy, and to buy is better to rob", which seems to be the truth!
Now here in Europe, when it comes to making things, the Netherlands is definitely the first, the United Kingdom is second, the Rhineland of the HRE is third, the northern Italian states are fourth, and Sweden is fifth.
None of France, Spain, Austria (the HRE cannot be considered a real country), and Ottoman, which dominate the world, is a manufacturing power.
Among them, France's manufacturing industry is a bit stronger, especially after taking over the Spanish Netherlands and Lorraine, it can already compare with the Rhineland and northern Italian states. But it is still incomparable with the Netherlands and the United Kingdom... If you consider that Sweden’s metallurgical industry is actually supported by Dutch and British capital (Sweden has high-quality and cheap wood and iron ore), then France and the United Kingdom and the Netherlands The gap is even greater.
But France is still the overlord of Europe, and Louis XIV is still the Sun King!
Spain, the recently overlord, is a country that cannot do anything except robbery. When Columbus discovered the New World, he was still an Italian. Columbus's ships were also bought with money, and the sailors were hired... In comparison, Portugal had some real skills, but in the end they were robbed by Spain. Got clean.
And Austria does not rely on robbery. The Habsburg family is the European hegemon formed through marriage... Therefore, the Austrian hegemon has always been lacking in quality and has always been bullied.
As for the Ottoman Empire that made European Christian countries tremble...that was a robber state!
What could the Ottomans build? Their own guns and cannons were all built with the help of the Greeks! The Urban cannon that destroyed the walls of Constantinople in history was also built with the help of a bribed Hungarian engineer.
If the Ottomans had not just bought some weapons and then robbed them, but had honestly developed the manufacturing industry, they would probably still be working on blacksmithing in the ravines of Asia Minor!
Of course, Bruce and Fouquet could not have known that Britain in history relied on its solid manufacturing industry to develop step by step, and finally launched the Industrial Revolution, and relied on the material foundation provided by the Industrial Revolution to transform the European continent. Emperor Napoleon, the most capable emperor in the world, was exhausted to death... But not everyone who can make things can develop to this stage. Didn't the Netherlands not develop?
Moreover, the British are not only good at making things, they are also first-rate at robbing them. Before they developed into a manufacturing powerhouse, they began to rob Spanish gold ships, and later robbed India's wealth!
Without these two successful robberies, it is hard to say whether the British could have sustained the Industrial Revolution by relying solely on developing manufacturing.
Song Xiance looked at the uncertain expressions on the faces of the two foreign Japanese ambassadors, and he already had some idea in his mind.
"It is better to build than to buy, and to buy is worse than to rob" should be the truth... The great military strategist's profession is fortune-telling. He is the best at observing words and expressions. How can he see through the minds of two foreign devils?
At this time, Nicolas Fouquet had already nodded, "Master, it's better to build than to buy, and to buy is better to rob! Of course, there are more than one development routes, but the most suitable one for you Dashun is probably to build rather than buy, and to buy is better. Robbed."
Bruce Van Diemen also agreed with Fouquet's view. He said: "If Sichuan was still there, maybe you could make something good. But now...there is no need to compare it with the Ming Dynasty. Even India's handicraft industry The foundation is much stronger than the upper and lower Myanmar you control."
If Dashun loses Yunnan in the future and retreats to Myanmar. Then there will be at most 3 million Han people left on hand, and at most there will be a similar number of various indigenous people. If this population were placed in Western Europe, manufacturing might be able to develop. Although Western Europe is full of small countries, the entire area is not large. The economic ties between a bunch of small countries are very close, and trade exchanges are close. To a certain extent, In terms of division of labor and cooperation, it is also possible to treat these small countries as one economy.
The area of Burma, Arakan, and Chittagong controlled by Dashun is actually quite large, and the population of six million is very sparse there. Moreover, there are two world-class manufacturing centers on both sides of Myanmar - Ming Dynasty and India!
No matter how Myanmar's manufacturing industry develops, it will never be a rival to the Ming Dynasty and India. If it is not a rival, it will certainly suffer losses...
Bruce Van Diemen continued: "It seems that His Majesty the Emperor of Dashun is wise! Robbery is the most suitable development path for Dashun!
Archmage, I think you can buy guns and ships on credit from the Netherlands, hire French officers to help train the army, and then invade the wealthy Bengal region of India... If you can conquer the entire country while your military power is still at its peak, Or part of Bangladesh, you don’t have to worry about it in the future. "
Song Xiance laughed: "Okay! Let's do it! When I met with King Lu Da (Niandai) of France and the leader of the Netherlands, I asked for the loan of weapons... The three of us went together. Rob, whatever you grab, the three families will share it equally!"
...
When Song Xiance found the true meaning of foreign affairs on French soil, the envoy sent by Zhu Cihong, Luo Zhichen, who held the title of Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had just arrived at the Port of Surat in western India on a merchant ship of the East India Company - this is also the The largest port under the Timurid Empire in India.
He came to give gifts to Aurangzeb, the emperor of the Timurid Empire of India, and also brought a treaty of equality to the Indian emperor. The Timurid Empire of India used Tianfang religion as its state religion, so of course it was impossible. He became a vassal of the Ming Dynasty, so he could only make an equal treaty with the Ming Dynasty.
What Luo Zhichen brought to Aurangzeb was a covenant. When Louis XIV was looking for friends all over the world to deal with the Ming Empire, of course Zhu Cihong also had to find a few allies, and everyone formed an alliance to deal with France.
India under the rule of the Timurid Dynasty was the friend Zhu Cixiang hoped for most!
After Aurangzeb, who was in Delhi, received the report from his men, he immediately sent his son **** to Surat to meet the Ming Emperor's special envoy.
At the same time, Shasta Khan, the Governor of Bengal from the Timur Empire, was also coming to Delhi. He brought Aurangzeb an envoy from the Dashun Empire and a blackmail letter!
