"Excuse me, when will we return to your country?"
Fermat also asked with concern after reading the calculus content given to him by Huang Binqing.
"Go to the Netherlands first! Our general has just signed supplementary terms with the Kingdom of Spain. The Netherlands has been assigned to our Ming Empire by the Kingdom of Spain as the ruling area of our Ming Empire! And Zhang Gong, the young minister of Lifan Temple, will serve as the first Dutch Governor.”
Huang Binqing replied.
"Holland! Are you going to take Descartes away too?"
Fermat couldn't help but ask after hearing this.
Huang Binqing laughed after hearing this: "You are very smart!"
The Netherlands has been under Spanish rule since the early 16th century. Although the Netherlands has achieved de facto independence, the Kingdom of Spain has not yet officially recognized the independence of the Netherlands.
Just after Shen Shouao and Zhu Yujian learned that the Netherlands was seeking to have Spain recognize its independence, they made Spain and Ming Dynasty sign supplementary terms on the condition that they would continue to allow Spain to trade with the empire and allow them to open new colonies in South America, officially Acknowledging the cession of the Netherlands to the Ming Empire.
It is worth mentioning that the Netherlands at this time refers to the entire Netherlands.
Including the later Netherlands, later countries such as Belgium and Luxembourg, and parts of northern France.
Because Spain knew that it was no longer able to rule the Netherlands and prevent the independence of the Netherlands, it simply ceded the Netherlands to the Ming Dynasty.
Various cities in the Netherlands soon learned that they had been ceded to the Ming Empire by Spain.
The upper-class nobles of the Netherlands were naturally very angry about this. They were angry that Spain had made decisions for them without authorization.
However, the middle and lower class people in the Netherlands are somewhat hopeful about this.
Because the image of China in Europe in this era is that of strength and prosperity, there are even many literati and poets in Europe who are dissatisfied with reality and take the initiative to make China into an ideal country.
Therefore, many middle- and lower-class people affected by this are looking forward to becoming citizens of the Ming Empire, thinking that they can enjoy more freedom and live a better life.
Therefore, when the Holy Emperor's fleet arrived in the Netherlands, the middle and lower class people in the Netherlands became spectators, curiously watching the arrival of the Ming Holy Emperor's fleet.
However, the fleet controlled by the upper-class nobles of the Netherlands fought a battle with the Ming Dynasty's Holy Emperor Fleet.
But there is no doubt about the result. The Dutch fleet suffered a disastrous defeat.
Their wooden sailing ships were no longer a match for the Ming Dynasty steamships.
After just one day of fierce fighting, the entire area around The Hague was filled with broken boards, which made the Dutch coalition forces fearful.
Moreover, after the Ming Dynasty's navy landed and wiped out the Dutch Province's infantry outside The Hague, the Netherlands Province had to take the initiative to send envoys to negotiate with the Ming Dynasty.
"May I ask, General, how do you plan to rule us if we allow you to rule us?"
After meeting Zhang Huangyan, the temporary Dutch governor who was ordered to rule the Netherlands, Freeland, the great nobleman of the Netherlands Province, asked.
Zhang Huangyan replied: "Don't worry, we will not prevent you from believing in Protestantism like Spain, nor will we prevent your merchants from going to Barcelona and Gibraltar to trade, and we will lower your wool purchase taxes in Barcelona and Gibraltar, even higher than those in Spain." The pre-imposition tax will also be reduced by half, so that you can reduce costs when exporting to China! In addition, your parliament will continue to exist. If there is a need to adjust the tax policy, we will make adjustments only after your parliament agrees."
Before Shen Shouao, Zhu Yujian and other Ming officials left Beijing, Zhu Youxiao told them that they could adopt a flexible approach to the political system, economy and culture, and try to do it step by step, so as not to provoke large-scale resistance in Western European countries. In this way, we can use the strategy of combining vertically and horizontally, and encroaching step by step, to achieve civilized assimilation, restore the market size of Europe before the Thirty Years War, and even expand the global scale.
Therefore, after having a detailed understanding of the Netherlands, Shen Shouyao, Zhu Yujian, Zhang Huangyan and others decided not to forcefully destroy local cultural beliefs for the time being, but to implant Han culture into the Netherlands under the banner of allowing the free development of various cultural beliefs. On this land, we should slowly adjust policies after we have sufficient control over the local area.
Therefore, Zhang Huangyan is now saying that he will not prevent these Dutch people from embracing Protestantism.
The original reason why the Dutch rejected Spanish rule and sought independence was because of Spain's opposition and suppression of Protestantism, which curbed the development of Dutch capitalism.
After Zhang Huangyan said this now, he was in line with the political demands of the Dutch nobles.
After hearing this, Freeland felt relieved and said, "If we had known this, we shouldn't have sent troops to stop your arrival!"
"Our Holy Emperor is the god of the entire human race. Anyone who accepts his rule will bask in his favor. He allows us to come here to benefit you. You should not resist. Of course, your resistance is in vain. You have never fought with Gods versus successful people.”
Zhang Huangyan replied in Dutch.
After hearing this, Freeland did not completely believe Zhang Huangyan's remarks, but he did not question it on the spot. Instead, he expressed his willingness to surrender on the spot, as long as the Ming Dynasty protected their private property and allowed them to trade freely.
Zhang Huangyan agreed to them all.
And for this reason, next, the nobles of the Netherlands Province volunteered the city of The Hague.
The Ming army successfully entered The Hague City.
After negotiation, the Dutch Provincial Council took the initiative to donate the palace in The Hague as the residence of the Dutch Governor-General of the Ming Dynasty, and the Dutch Provincial Council moved to Amsterdam.
After settling in The Hague, Zhang Huangyan sent a note to the Dutch Provincial Council, asking them to immediately send representatives to contact other provinces in the Netherlands (Netherlands) and persuade them to actively accept the rule of the Ming Dynasty instead of waiting for the Ming Empire to use force to declare Their rule affected the commerce of the entire Netherlands.
The Dutch Provincial Council did not refuse, as they were mostly composed of merchants.
Businessmen do not like war as long as it is not profitable.
Therefore, after the Dutch Provincial Council sent representatives to other provinces to preach the Ming Dynasty's policy of ruling the region and the Ming Empire's powerful force, the nobles in other provinces also gave up the idea of independence and began to declare their acceptance of the Ming Empire's rule.
Zhang Huangyan immediately issued a batch of appointment letters and sent a group of Confucian scholars to serve as governors in these places.
The Ming Dynasty already had one governor-general in charge of several provinces. This was mainly because some provinces had vast territories but small populations, so it was suitable for several provinces to be combined and governed by one governor-general.
The Netherlands does not occupy a large area, but what is special about it is that it is actually divided into provinces, and the provinces cannot be merged.
Therefore, Zhang Huangyan appointed many governors.
Of course, these appointments are temporary appointments, and they need to be approved by His Majesty the Ming Emperor after returning to China in the future before they can be regarded as real imperial officials.
At this point, the Netherlands officially became the ruling area of the Ming Dynasty.
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