Amidst the anxiety and anticipation, three days passed in the blink of an eye.
On the morning of September 23rd, the 34th year of Taiping, representatives from various countries in the League of Nations gathered at the Wenhua Hall of Huangzhuang in the Western Cape.
The seating arrangement has changed again this time.
Zhu Jingyuan sat in the middle position this time.
The Roman position was finally withdrawn.
There was a hint of sadness in the hearts of the royal families of various countries in Europe and the West, but it was quickly thrown aside.
There are more important things today.
This time it is not a peace talk, but a new internal meeting of the alliance.
Zhu Jingyuan, as the representative of the alliance leader Daming, naturally sat at the top.
Representatives of the four deputy alliance leaders, the Dashi Country, the New Tianfu Imperial Alliance, the United Kingdom, and Lucia, sat at the top of the left and right sides respectively.
Other representatives and countries are arranged one after the other.
On the big table among all the representatives, there was a rather huge map of Mozhou.
It fits today's theme very well, carving up... no, developing the Mozhou Continent.
Zhu Jingyuan remembered the comics he had read in his previous life, in which a group of people gathered around a table and drew lines on the map of Mozhou.
Regardless of whether it was divided up like this in history, Zhu Jingyuan borrowed this arrangement, but the layout is much more decent than in the comics.
On this map of Mozhou, the north bank, east bank, south bank, and many places on the west bank of Mozhou are accurately drawn according to longitude and latitude coordinates.
In other words, someone has carefully sailed around these places and recorded the coordinates of the coastline.
Only the central part of the west coast, and a few places, are added based on feel.
However, most of the interior areas of the continent are still filled with lakes, and most of the central areas in the west are blank.
In other words, the Ming Dynasty and other countries in the West are still not very clear about what is in the interior of Mozhou.
In later generations, many people did not understand the order of colonization of Mozhou and Yinzhou by the Westerners.
Mozhou is so close to the West, separated by a narrow Mediterranean Sea.
Even if you go south of the Sahara, it is much closer than going to Yinzhou, and you can sail along the coastline, which is safer.
However, it was not until the late nineteenth century that the Europeans began to carve up Mozhou on a large scale.
It was not until 1905 that the entire Mozhou was basically divided.
The distance to Beiyinzhou is even further, and you have to cross the Atlantic Ocean, and the distance to Nanyinzhou is several times farther.
By the 1700s, Nanyinzhou had been occupied by Spain and Portugal.
By the 1800s, the entire Yinzhou was basically divided up.
The reason is actually very simple. Early colonization of Mozhou is likely to result in losses.
In the early colonial era, Thailand's technological level and combat effectiveness basically had no advantages over other regions.
Spain and Portugal, the two earliest colonial countries, were exploring the world in the 1500s.
At that time, Thailand and the West were also in the agricultural era, and the two countries that were the first to develop overseas colonies were still not doing well in the West.
The technological level of Liangya and the combat effectiveness of its soldiers were not top-notch to begin with.
In the early days of colonization, the main focus was deception and abduction.
In the name of trade, simple handicrafts were exchanged for slaves from the Mo tribe.
It's not that they don't want to engage in business without capital or capture slaves themselves, but that there is a high probability that they don't have enough capital.
In the early days, they could not even defeat the Yin people.
The transportation capacity of the age of sail was limited, and a small number of colonial soldiers and rogue bachelors could not directly conquer large-scale indigenous governments.
The Aztecs once defeated the Spaniards and even dug out the Spaniards' hearts as sacrifices to their gods.
Then the Aztecs got smallpox.
The Yin people had lived alone in the isolated New World for tens of thousands of years. They had no resistance to the viruses in the Old World and immediately began to die on a large scale.
So the Taixi people found a good way to deal with the Yin people, selling blankets and other daily necessities used by smallpox patients to the Yin people.
Pretending to trade, deliberately poisoning, and cooperating with a small number of musketeers, they continued to destroy the Yin tribes and occupy their land.
They slowly occupied the entire Yinzhou Continent and ushered in the prosperous age of the Taixi people, so they have always been fond of this move.
But Mozhou people don’t accept this trick.
The Black Death and smallpox are native products of Mozhou, and Mozhou people have a certain degree of resistance.
Moreover, there are people everywhere in Mozhou. Unlike Yinzhou, which has a large number of truly uninhabited areas, it is impossible to easily enclose land for farming.
At the same time, the indigenous people of Mozhou did not have the production capacity of Nanyang and Nanyang, and they could not obtain benefits similar to those of Tianzhu and Nanyang by providing protection or forcibly conquering them.
The key is that the land in Mozhou is not as fertile as Yinzhou.
In addition to looking for precious metals such as gold and silver, early colonization was actually mainly agricultural colonization. Nanyinzhou has been dominated by plantation economy for a long time.
Therefore, the Taixi people have not been interested in the land of Mozhou for a long time.
It only occupies some coastal land as a supply base at key route nodes.
It was not until the late nineteenth century that the Industrial Revolution was fully completed.
The transportation capabilities of the Taixi people, as well as their combat effectiveness compared to the indigenous people, have increased exponentially, and they finally have an absolute advantage over other regions.
At the same time, after the productivity surged, they began to chase the product dumping ground. At the same time, Yinzhou had already finished carving up.
Therefore, at the end of the 19th century, the European and Western countries set off a frenzy to carve up Mozhou.
In this world, the industrial revolution came earlier, and coupled with the powerful disruption of the Ming Dynasty, Yinzhou had not yet finished carving up the country.
When the industrial revolution was fully completed, the anti-Ming world war broke out again, and all the countries in the world could not take care of Mozhou for the time being.
Therefore, the comprehensive exploration and carving up of Mozhou has been postponed until now.
Now, representatives from various countries in Europe and the West subconsciously looked at the map.
In addition to a large number of empty areas and the colonial strongholds of several countries along the coast, there is also a straight red line.
Starting from the west side of Port Saloum on the western border of Egypt, it extends southward to the middle border of the northern part of the South Mexico region.
In addition, the northwest corner of Mozhou, which is the Moroccan region, and the southwest corner of the western protruding area of Mozhou, which is later known as the Liberia region, are also circled in red.
However, within the circle of Morocco, there are several other small circles, which are marked with the same color as the Spanish mainland on the other side. They are several small-scale colonial settlements of Spain.
Basically, there is no need to explain it directly, all the Taisi representatives will understand it immediately.
To the east of that straight line and the area outlined by the red circle, except for the Spanish colonies, are the areas claimed by the Ming Dynasty.
These were more lands than the British had ever carved out from Mexico.
However, all the countries in Europe and the West felt inexplicably relieved and felt that Ming Dynasty was not particularly excessive.
Then there is a green line that circles the Congo rainforest area in central and southern Mexico.
Part of it intersects with the red line of Ming Dynasty, and that part of the red line becomes an intermittent dotted line.
Representatives from various countries in Thailand and Spain also understand that this is Zhu Jingyuan’s request. The Congo Rainforest Reserve is a reserved area that cannot be allocated.
As expected, Zhu Jingyuan said directly:
“Da Ming’s requirements in Mozhou are not many, and they have been directly marked out, two points in the east and west of Mozhou.
“The Ming Dynasty asked for two pieces of land in the west, not for large-scale colonization there, so the land area was not large.
"It will be our transit point on the route to Yinzhou and the reservation for the Mo slaves repatriated from Yinzhou."
Zhu Jingyuan's words confirmed the suspicions of representatives from various countries in Thailand and Spain.
Then continue to consider the impact of Ming's request on the situation in Mozhou, and more importantly, the impact on the countries in Thailand and the West.
The Spaniards were the first to react. Prime Minister Manuel said directly:
"Your Highness, with all due respect, Ming's request for Morocco will make the countries in southwestern Thailand deeply uneasy.
"I hope Ming Dynasty will not develop in these areas. If supplies are needed, our ports can provide them."
It was said very tactfully, but in fact it was quite firm.
Then the Portuguese, Italians, and French immediately expressed their support.
Seeing their reaction, Zhu Jingyuan asked casually:
"Then you mean that Morocco should be completely handed over to Spain?"
The Spanish Prime Minister nodded subconsciously:
"Morocco is the closest to Spain..."
But the Portuguese, Italians, and French immediately disagreed.
Morocco will be completely handed over to Spain, and its control over Gibraltar will increase again.
The French and Italians are even less free to enter and leave the Qinhai Sea.
French Foreign Minister Talleyrand said directly:
"Both sides of Gibraltar should not be completely handed over to the same country. We in France have the ability to bring prosperity and development to Morocco."
Portugal and Italy suddenly became a little entangled. They did not want Morocco to completely belong to Spain.
But at the same time, they don't want to hand over the south bank to France, but if they stand up to fight for it, neither of them has much confidence.
Just as the two were considering how to speak, British Prime Minister Peter, who seemed to be unwilling to do anything, intervened:
“Morocco’s location is too sensitive, not only for the Ming Dynasty and Thailand, but also for other countries in Thailand and Spain.
“So I propose that Morocco remain independent under the protection of the alliance.
“Neither within the alliance nor other countries are allowed to engage in war in Morocco.
"Morocco maintains an equal open policy to all countries in the alliance, and all countries in the alliance can supply and do business within its territory."
The British suggestion seems to make sense.
But Morocco was not originally the British sphere of influence.
If all countries in the alliance agree to the British proposal, then the British will be eligible to go to Morocco.
This routine is the same as the Americans in Zhu Jingyuan's previous life. In name, it is equal opportunity, but in fact it is to give themselves opportunities.
Because according to the original rules, they had no chance to participate.
Zhu Jingyuan frowned and replied without hesitation:
"Gibraltar has nothing to do with non-Greater Qinhai countries, and the British should stop meddling everywhere.
"Morocco can be protected by multiple countries, but only in the Great Qinhai countries."
Pete, who had his idea exposed, didn't take it seriously at all and directly raised another topic:
"Does Lucia count as a Great Qinhai Country?"
Representative Lucia also got excited. If her ship wants to go from the Black Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, it must pass through the Great Qin Sea and go to Gibraltar.
The issue seemed likely to spark a dispute, a tactic the British were as adept as ever.
But Zhu Jingyuan, who represented the Ming Dynasty, gave the final word and put an end to all disputes:
“The Black Sea is also part of the Great Qinhai, and Lucia is of course considered a country in the Great Qinhai.
"The seven countries of the Great Qin Sea include the Ming Dynasty, the Ottoman Empire, Austria, Italy, France, Spain, and Lucia.
“The parts of Morocco that originally belonged to Spain are still owned by Spain.
“Other areas are jointly protected by the seven countries of the Great Qinhai Sea to jointly ensure the peace, stability and prosperity of Morocco.
“All seven countries can build ports and terminals and open commercial banks on their local coasts.
“After the meeting, the seven relevant countries jointly arranged a delegation to go to Morocco to persuade the Alawi dynasty to accept our protection.
“So much for Morocco’s problems.”
Several other countries were stunned for a moment, and then went back to express their agreement one after another.
The Spaniards felt that this distribution was okay. While preserving the existing land, they could also participate in the distribution of other lands.
Although the French want to monopolize Morocco, they also know that is unrealistic. It is not a loss to be able to control the local area with the support of the Ming Dynasty.
Lucia, Italy, Austria, and the Ottomans were all surprises.
Italy had no idea that Ming Dynasty would be so generous and loyal.
Osman never expected that he would be eligible to participate in the carving up of Mo Continent.
Austria didn't even say anything before, he just got the right to participate and didn't react at all.
Lucia was even more moved. Ming had promised to let Lucia go to the Atlantic Ocean, and now it has come true.
The international strait provisions in the Alliance Convention, coupled with the current agreement to jointly protect Morocco, directly ensure Lucia's Atlantic route!
Is this what it feels like to be the maintainer of order in the Ming Dynasty?
Of course, some people were unhappy. None of the four countries, the British, Prussian, Dutch, and Portuguese, received any benefits at all.
But they are indeed not within the Great Qin Sea and do not need to enter the Atlantic Ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar.
The key is that he does not actually occupy the nearby land, and he has no qualifications to intervene.
Moreover, the distribution of Mozhou has just begun, and there is still a lot of land in the south, so we have no choice but to accept the reality.
The one who may really be in unbearable pain is, of course, Morocco himself.
Morocco's Alawi dynasty began to rule Morocco in the 1660s and continued until Zhu Jingyuan passed through.
Before World War I and World War II, it was divided between France and Spain, but it was still in a vassal-like manner, and the ruling family was not cut off.
Now, Morocco has gone from being divided between Spain and France to having the seven countries of the Great Qinhai coming together to deal with it.
The only thing that might make them feel so lucky is that Ming Dynasty adopted the method proposed by the British and chose "joint protection" instead of separate annexation.
So the Alawi dynasty in this world can still continue to exist.
If Zhu Jingyuan had not intervened, they would probably have been even worse than in history, and they might have been directly annexed by Spain and France, who had lost a lot of land in Yinzhou.
However, there was no Moroccan representative present, and they had no idea of the fate they were about to face.
Zhu Jingyuan's strategy in Mozhou was very simple. He took benefits that did not belong to Ming Dynasty and directly shared them with relevant countries.
Let them gradually trust and accept the order led by Ming Dynasty.
At the same time, let the countries in Europe and the West make great efforts to develop Mozhou, using greater efforts than in history.
It would be best to fight another world war in Mozhou...
