France, Versailles, Petit Trianon.
"Mr. Canning, George Elliot has left Japan with three East India Company galleons. The other seven galleons and most of the British Royal Navy ships visiting Japan have also left... We left without any obstruction, and now only the injured Revenge is left! Would you like me to arrange for someone from Jiangnan Heavy Industries to help repair it?"
The person who happened to have good intentions and arranged for someone to help the British Royal Navy repair the battleship was Zhuge Weijiu, who was presiding over a series of diplomatic negotiations in France!
The people who heard him say this were British Prime Minister George Canning and British Cabinet Secretary Harker who came from afar, and Zhuge Weijiu's words were translated into English word for word by Harker.
"No, no need," George Canning shook his head like a rattle, "Our shipbuilding experts feel that the 13.5-inch main gun of the Sovereign class is too big and is not conducive to maintaining the balance of maritime power... Your Ming Navy now only has a 305mm main gun. The 13.5 inches we use are equivalent to 343mm. It is too big. It needs to be changed to a smaller size and to 305mm. This will show the determination of the British Empire to maintain world peace. !”
Zhuge Weijiu nodded repeatedly, "Oh, oh, oh...you mean, the Revenge will not be repaired?"
Huck continued to act as translator, turning the words into English again.
"No more repairs. When we return to India, we will go directly to the factory for upgrades!" George Canning replied.
"India?" Zhuge Weijiu was stunned. "India now also has the ability to upgrade its battleships?"
George Canning said seriously: "Your Highness, don't look down on India... India was as great a country as the Ming Dynasty during the era of King Zhuge Wuzhong, and Emperor Aurangzeb was still King Wuzhong. My good friend!"
The emperor of Hindustan who was contemporary with King Zhuge Wuzhong was Aurangzeb of the Mughal Dynasty. It was also the heyday of the Mughal Dynasty at that time. Western colonists could only operate around Aurangzeb's ruling area. Rao was The British East India Company was defeated in the war with Aurangzeb, and finally had to pay compensation - Britain really had to pay compensation to India!
But that was also India's highlight moment. After Aurangzeb's death, the Hindustan Empire soon fell apart and was eventually eaten piece by piece by the East India Company.
During his lifetime, King Zhuge Wuzhong wrote more than once to remind the Emperor of Hindustan that he must beware of the threat of Western colonialism, especially British imperialism... He even kindly expressed his willingness to send military advisers Offer him help.
However, Aurangzeb had no interest in the anti-imperialist cause and only thought about completing the great cause of unifying India. However, he was still very grateful for the kindness of King Zhuge Wuzhong. Although he did not accept the Ming Dynasty's military advisors, he still purchased a large number of Ming Dynasty weapons. In the early years, Jiangnan Heavy Industry relied on Indian arms orders to develop - Indian arms orders ah! Moreover, at that time, India was still the most prosperous country in the world, with a population of more than 100 million (the Ming Dynasty only had more than 50 million people at the time), and its GDP was higher than that of the Ming Dynasty, making it the richest country in the world! You can imagine how profitable this business will be.
Unfortunately, the Ming Dynasty's advanced arms only helped Aurangzeb fulfill his long-cherished wish to unify India, but they failed to prevent his empire from falling apart after his death... The arms that the Ming Dynasty sold to India eventually became A weapon that ended the civil war in the Mughal Dynasty!
And when the Mughal Empire collapsed in the civil war and imperialism took advantage of the situation, King Zhuge Wuzhong, who was bent on anti-imperialism and anti-colonialism, was long gone...and the descendants of King Zhuge Wuzhong... Consider India as a potential competitor of Ming Dynasty. Well, India has such a large population, such fertile land, and is located in the middle of the east-west trade line. The conditions for development are very good!
Therefore, the Zhuge family's India policy has always been to ignore the situation and sell arms... While "not saving", it has also been paying attention to India. Therefore, Zhuge Weijiu was very surprised that India came to upgrade the Revenge.
When George Canning saw the other party's surprised expression, he felt a little proud in his heart - he had already passed it. As long as India could stay stunned, Daying would be able to suppress Daming!
Because compared to the Ming Dynasty, Great Britain has superior resources - the empire on which the sun never sets! The territory is still huge. Science and technology are a little worse, but they are not significantly behind. What is really worse is the population!
The Ming Dynasty has a population of 360 million, while the British population is less than 30 million. This gap is too big.
Therefore, no matter how hard Great Britain worked, and even integrated most of Europe and America into its own industrial chain to a certain extent, it was still far behind Ming in terms of industrial strength. The only way to catch up is to release the "sleeping elephant" of India... After all, before the advent of the industrialization era, India and China were both the world's major exporters of handicraft products.
Now that China has exploded with huge productivity after completing industrialization, if India can develop industry under the leadership of the British, won't the strength of the British Empire be able to catch up?
George Canning smiled again and said to Zhuge Weijiu: "We have made an agreement with the Dutch to exchange two colonies on the coast of Africa for Batan Island and Bintan Island...these two islands and their affiliated The islands will be handed over to Ming Dynasty soon.
However, our British Empire also requires a new condition. Your Ming Empire must guarantee not to interfere in Indian affairs. "
"What?" Zhuge Weijiu was stunned, "Interfering in India? India is already your colony, what else do you want to do?"
George Canning did not hide anything from Zhuge Weijiu and said straightforwardly: "Barak II of India very much hopes to abdicate his throne... to our country's Prince William!"
He said the word "abdication" in Chinese, which directly amused Zhuge Weijiu.
"Hahaha, give in... OK, if he wants to give in, then give in!" Zhuge Weijiu said, "But for the sake of fairness, we also have to add a condition... You can't give in anymore. Interfering in Japanese affairs!”
Huck translated the words again.
George Canning frowned: "What? The Emperor of Japan also plans to abdicate the throne to your Ming Dynasty prince?"
"No, no," Zhuge Weijiu waved his hand, "We will not do such a thing... Our Ming Dynasty does not make concessions."
Having said this, Zhuge Weijiu actually felt a little regretful in his heart. At that time, many people wrote memorials saying that the Ming Dynasty had exhausted its power and that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty should give the throne to King Zhuge Wuzhong.
Even the two generals Guo and Yu had prepared yellow robes... But when the yellow robes were put on, King Zhuge Wuzhong suddenly woke up. Not only did he refuse to become the emperor, he also scolded the two generals and ordered them to be killed. He was pulled out and beaten with a military stick.
If our ancestors had slept a little longer, Zhuge Weijiu would be the emperor now!
"Then you want to turn Japan into your colony?" George Canning asked again.
"No, no, Ming Dynasty does not establish colonies." Zhuge Weijiu waved his hand again.
Seeing him waving his hand, Canning asked again: "Is it a vassal state?"
"This is even more impossible," Zhuge Weijiu said with a smile, "Japan does not meet the conditions for becoming a vassal of the Ming Dynasty... Japan is too poor, and the lower class people in Japan also lack basic rights, which does not meet the conditions of the Ming Dynasty. The principle of 'people first'."
Becoming a vassal of the Ming Dynasty...is almost the same as joining the European Union in later generations! Today's Japan does not meet the conditions.
George Canning also knew that something was not that good, "Then what do you want to do with Japan?"
"We just want to help Japan get rid of the bad guys!" Zhuge Weijiu said no longer. "We have investigated clearly that the responsibility for the battle of Jiyin Waterway lies entirely with certain bad guys in Japan! They are the culprits who must be held responsible... ..You must cut off all assistance to them and declare them to be enemies of Britain. Only in this way can we both sides reach a preliminary understanding. This is very important for the next stage of arms negotiations and the formation of an alliance to attack the Turkish Empire. "
