Beijing, Forbidden City, Huangjimen.
On the platform in front of the Huangji Gate, Zhu Xijin, the Taiping Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and Zheng Yuhuan, the Empress Dowager, were all dressed in costumes and looking solemn!
On Chang'an Street outside the Forbidden City, tens of thousands of Ming people held flags and chanted slogans to declare war and punish the British and Indian authorities.
In the square in front of the Huangji Gate, there were hundreds of courtiers and political officials standing in darkness. In addition, there were many people who were allowed to come to record this imperial political meeting that was related to the national destiny of the Ming Dynasty.
Although Lin Zexu rejected the Indian Empire's ultimatum yesterday afternoon and declared a state of war with the Indian Empire. But that was not the result of imperial discussions, but a decision based on the Ming Dynasty's "Guiding Principles of Diplomacy."
Of course, the Ming Dynasty cannot accept foreign ultimatums and must reject them face to face. This is stipulated in the "Guiding Principles of Diplomacy" formulated by King Zhuge Wuzhong. It is impossible for the Chinese nation to consider the ultimatum for 72 hours after receiving the ultimatum from the enemy. That would be too shameful. Therefore, ministers who meet with the enemy must refuse in person and declare a state of war!
The reason for doing this is of course to increase one's prestige - according to international practice, if an ultimatum is rejected, the next step must be a declaration of war. There is no such thing as an ultimatum that is simply rejected. And by handing in an ultimatum and letting the other side take the lead, then the other side can no longer let the other side declare war. Ming must declare war before the other side declares war.
To ensure that war is declared first, naturally one should declare war immediately when the ultimatum is rejected!
However, this was not a formal declaration of war because it had not yet been approved by the Council and the Ming Emperor. Of course, the declaration of war after rejecting the ultimatum was inevitable, so the subsequent imperial meeting was just a formality.
But the necessary cutscenes cannot be omitted!
Moreover, the Ming Dynasty's cabinet also needs to take advantage of this opportunity to discuss and pass a declaration of war resolution at the Imperial Council to let all citizens know why Ming Dynasty wants to go to war with India? At the same time, everyone must know that the culprit hiding behind the Indian Empire and manipulating India to go to the battlefield is the British Empire!
In fact, since the Battle of Kii Waterway, the Zhuge family and the Zheng family have begun to join forces to manipulate public opinion in the country and carry out anti-British propaganda. In fact, the conflict between the Ming Dynasty and Great Britain has been long-standing. This is the largest industrial strength. The hatred between "Chi Guo Guo" and the second industrial power!
Moreover, Great Britain, the second largest country in industry, has long controlled the trade routes between the East and the West, holds a large number of resource-rich colonies, and controls India, a seemingly promising market.
Although the UK has always dared not completely exclude Ming Dynasty products from the market they can control, how could the capitalists think the market is too big?
The market is money, and of course the more money, the better.
In the age of sails and sails, there was no guarantee that the navy could win. But since the navy entered the era of steam ironclads, the hatred of "Chi Guoguo" has become deeper and deeper. Of course, the existence of hatred of "Chi Guoguo" does not mean that there will definitely be a war. After all, the Ming Dynasty has been at peace for too long, and no one is sure of winning.
However, the Battle of Daoguang Printing and the subsequent Battle of Kii Waterway and the Battle off Goa all made the wise people of the Ming Dynasty see that Great Britain was nothing more than this!
Since Daying is nothing more than that, what is needed now is a fuse.
And this trigger is now there!
"This is a copy of the ultimatum submitted by the British Pu Dingcha on behalf of Tianzhu to our Great Ming Dynasty!"
With a face full of indignation, Lin Zexu held up a copy of the Indian Empire's ultimatum (the original was returned, but the copy must be discarded), stood on the white marble platform where the emperor and the queen mother were, and spoke to a floor-standing loudspeaker, gritting his teeth and saying: "The British are taking advantage of their despicable With barbaric means, they conquered the wealthy and gentle Tianzhu, took millions of square kilometers of vast land and a large market of hundreds of millions of people as their own, and exploited Tianzhu like it was breaking its bones and sucking its marrow. It is really hateful and abhorrent!"
"Yes! It's so hateful and abominable!"
"The British are so bad!"
Immediately some political officials agreed.
Most of the government officials, courtiers, and reporters present nodded their heads, seeming to agree very much with what Lin Zexu said - the British are so hateful! A market as big as India should be exclusive to Ming Dynasty!
Ming Dynasty is a friendly neighbor of India. Why does Britain, a small country on the Atlantic Ocean, occupy it by force?
Lin Zexu clenched his fists and his beard was blowing - he was so angry! I'm almost furious!
He clenched his fists and said loudly: "What's even more hateful is that the British wanted to block the Strait of Malacca in the name of the so-called Indian Empire, and forced me to withdraw from the Persian Gulf, give up the newly established Gulf Kingdom, and never enter Malacca. and west of Burma, otherwise, the British barbarians will control India and consume me with the flesh and blood of the Indians! The vicious ones since ancient times are none other than the British barbarians! How should we, the heaven, deal with these barbarian evil thieves?"
"Declare war!"
As soon as Lin Zexu finished speaking, the 20-year-old Ming Emperor Zhu Xijin jumped up and waved his fists and shouted loudly.
When the political officials below saw the emperor shouting to declare war, they all shouted together.
"Declaration of war! Declaration of war! Declaration of war."'
Seeing that the atmosphere was almost tense, Lin Zexu winked at Left Prime Minister Zheng Guozhong and Right Prime Minister Yu, who were sitting still on both sides.
Now it's time for both of them to perform.
This war must be declared!
The question is how to declare it and to whom?
Mr. Yu Quanyu had already stood up. He strode out and reached the white marble platform. He first bowed to the young emperor and the Queen Mother Zheng, then stood up straight and said loudly: "Long live your Majesty, Queen Mother." Madam, I feel that our Ming Dynasty’s enemy this time is not India but the British colonial authorities who conquered and enslaved various Indian countries!”
"All countries in India?" Queen Mother Zheng asked knowingly, "India is not just one country, how can there be various countries?"
"The Queen Mother does not know something," Mr. Yu said, "India is actually a geographical term, not the name of a country. It was the East India Company, the colonial tool of the British Empire, that used all kinds of despicable means to conquer India after it arrived there. Countries were conquered one by one. And in order to facilitate colonial rule, they twisted these countries together to form what is now called the Indian Empire."
"So that's it," Queen Mother Zheng asked again, "So how many countries are there in India?"
Mr. Yu said: "There are always more than a thousand countries, big or small. Even today, there are still as many as five or six hundred states under the so-called Indian Empire."
"So many?" The young emperor Zhu Xijin was surprised, "We all want that country."
"We must liberate them from British colonial rule!" Zheng Guozhong, the Prime Minister of the Left, stood up at this time and took over the little emperor's words, "Long live the Lord, we cannot imitate the British and blindly engage in colonial expansion. We have nothing to do with India. The land should be used to build up and destroy the country, continue the peerless world, and raise the people. Only in this way can the people of India return to their hearts!"
"Will a thousand kingdoms be restored?" The little emperor was shocked, "Isn't this seal broken into pieces?"
"It's not that broken," Zheng Guozhong said with a smile. "Among these thousand countries, there are still many countries like China. They are small countries relying on big countries, and son countries relying on Laozi's country. They cannot be considered independent countries. If we only count There are probably no more than 100 independent countries.”
"That's a lot," the little emperor asked, "Do you want to recover?"
"Strive to restore everything!" Zheng Guozhong said.
"Can everything really be restored?" The little emperor still didn't believe it.
"It all depends on people!" Zheng Guozhong said.
"Yes, yes," Yu Quan said, "We should try our best. Even if we can't find the original royal family, we can still choose other talents."
"That makes sense." The little emperor turned back and glanced at the Queen Mother. He was not yet in charge and had to listen to his mother. "Mother, do you think this is okay?"
"That's it!" Empress Dowager Zheng nodded, "Then draw up an edict and announce that the purpose of this war against the British and Indian authorities is to liberate the Indian countries!"
(End of chapter)
