Wilmington Landing, New Castle County, Delaware.
Delaware Governor Nathaniel Mitchell is panicking now:
"How did the news leak out? Why did the contents of the agreement spread everywhere before we even met with representatives from Daming?
"How come everyone knows that the Ming Dynasty is going to build the first Thai-Western vassal state here?
“Britain, France, and the United States all agreed to transfer the Chesapeake Peninsula and Long Island to the Ming Dynasty.
“And the gentlemen of Wilmington decide to leave Wilmington alone in the United States?
"This is really abominable, how could it be such nonsense!"
Maryland Governor Robert Bowin had mixed feelings:
"Obviously someone is deliberately spreading the news, and it is obviously 'exaggerated', and can even be said to be misinterpreted.
"The conditions of Ming's response did not mention the Western vassal state, nor did they grant the locals vassal citizenship.
"The Taixi people who stay here will still be the second-class people of Dongyi Kingdom, and the fourth- or even fifth-class people in the Ming Dynasty.
"They still cannot go to other vassal states of the Ming Dynasty in the future, nor can they engage in finance, education, or art-related industries."
The representative sent by Napoleon, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, had an ugly expression:
“This must have been done by people from the West Factory, and the purpose should be to put pressure on the gentlemen of Wilmington through public opinion.
"So now it depends on Mr. Mitchell whether you are willing to become a Ming Dynasty person."
After hearing this, Mitchell gritted his teeth and said:
"If we can become people of the Ming Dynasty and become officials of the Ming Dynasty, of course we are willing.
“But if there are just countless people from low-level vassal states under the Ming Dynasty, it would be difficult to accept it.
“The key is that if you are not a citizen of the vassal country, the assets you can hold and the industries you can engage in are restricted.
"If I join the Dongyi Kingdom, I wonder how much of my assets, my manor, and my stocks can be retained?
"So what do I do now? What should we do next?"
Listening to Mitchell's complaint, Bao Yin subconsciously asked:
"Your Excellency Mitchell has a very deep understanding of the rights of citizens and nationals of Ming Dynasty's dependent countries."
Mitchell rolled his eyes as he listened. Of course, it was impossible to tell the other party that he had specifically inquired about it.
Among the lively crowds around, Standong stood inside the guardrail on the shore, looking at the water in the distance.
Looking at the Ming Dynasty fleet getting closer and closer, my heart is full of longing. It is the most powerful fleet in the world.
From now on, in a sense, this fleet is also a force that protects one's own safety.
Standong felt that his mission this time was really worth it.
I can use this opportunity to directly obtain the status of a citizen of Dongyi Kingdom, and I will have the opportunity to directly become a citizen of Dongyi in the future.
After joining Xichang, I realized that only Xichang holds the path to becoming a true Ming Dynasty person.
But those standards are still too high.
I am not a formal employee trained by Xichang since childhood, I am just a peripheral employee who joined later.
It is extremely difficult to become a citizen of the Ming Dynasty, let alone a Ming citizen.
Well, now, the higher-ups have issued a notice that the requirements for people from the peripheral areas of Xichang to obtain the citizenship of Dongyi Kingdom have been reduced to the level of obtaining the citizenship of other vassal states.
None of Delaware's governors may have this opportunity.
With this in mind, Standong looked not far away at the senior officials of Delaware and Maryland.
My own identity is equal to or even superior to theirs.
Listening to the chatter around him, the corners of Stendong's mouth turned up slightly.
The news spread by himself and his companions was certainly not false news.
In the Ming Dynasty's civil rights system, the nature of citizens is to be prepared citizens.
Before a citizen is a minor, his rights are only at the national level, and he becomes a citizen after he reaches adulthood.
Citizens of a vassal state are reserve citizens of the vassal state. Citizens of a vassal state are equivalent to local citizens of the Ming Dynasty. Local citizens are reserve citizens of the mainland of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, becoming a citizen of a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty is equivalent to becoming a reserve citizen of the Ming Dynasty.
Broadly speaking, everyone in this system is a "Ming Dynasty person."
The Ming Dynasty asked Britain, France and Canada for the Chesapeake Peninsula and Long Island, which were used to resettle the Taixi people in the Ming Dynasty's territory. There is no problem in saying that the Dongyi Kingdom is a vassal state of the Taixi.
Even if the relevant secret agreement is made public in the future, there is no way for the relevant information to be determined to be false.
In a lively and complicated atmosphere, the boat Ruan Yuan and Mu Yongfu were on docked at the dock.
The accompanying West Factory personnel have completed the most detailed information exchange with the West Factory personnel on shore.
The personnel of the West Factory reported the relevant information to Mu Yongfu and the others.
Both men now knew that West Factory's civic activities in Wilmington were very successful.
That's why the dock had such a lively scene before.
The vast majority of ordinary citizens and workers, as well as the vast majority of farm families, wanted to join the Ming vassal state.
But the difficulty of this mission lies in the officials and factory owners of Wilmington itself, as well as the new nobles who have obtained titles in the Kingdom of America.
Their appeal is to maintain existing interests, otherwise they will definitely refuse to become citizens of the Ming Dynasty vassal state.
After Ruan Yuan and Mu Yongfu knew what was going on, they got off the boat leisurely under the escort of the accompanying soldiers.
Although the local officials and nobles headed by Mitchell were in very complicated moods, they all had to smile and came forward to welcome him very warmly.
Mitchell originally wanted to imitate the Ming Dynasty's reception style as much as possible, and first welcome the Ming Dynasty's representatives to the resting room.
Then hold a banquet and meet in private during the meal to explore each other's thoughts and bottom lines.
After basically reaching an agreement, we can sign an official statement together and hold a formal handover ceremony.
But just on the dock, under the Ming Dynasty's battleship, after the two sides introduced their identities to each other, Mu Yongfu said directly:
"We have important tasks ahead of us, so don't waste time with being polite. Let's start the handover now."
Following Mu Yongfu's words, the Ming and Yin soldiers lined up around them immediately dispersed, took down the rifles on their shoulders, and surrounded the core group of bureaucrats on the dock.
After other ships docked not far away, groups of soldiers disembarked.
Bernadotte was startled and almost drew his gun.
But looking at the muzzles of the Ming soldiers around him, he finally forcibly resisted any hostile movements.
Just ask in very serious language:
"Representatives of Ming Dynasty, what do you mean? What are you doing?"
The officials headed by Mitchell were even more panicked.
Aren’t they here to negotiate? Aren’t they to discuss how to deal with the ownership of the two counties that do not belong to the peninsula, as well as the conditions and treatment of the corresponding personnel?
Why did you just grab the gun?
Mu Yongfu smiled and said:
"We are carrying out our mission and starting to take over this town that already belongs to the Ming Dynasty,
"If you are willing to sign a declaration, then sign it. If you don't want to sign it, just leave the country."
Mitchell suddenly became a little confused, suspecting that he did not understand the other party's meaning, and immediately sought an explanation:
"What's going on? Ming officials and generals, shouldn't we start negotiating? I have prepared a banquet. We can eat and talk at the same time..."
Ruan Yuan seemed very surprised and asked:
"What negotiation? What negotiation? What negotiation? What do we have to talk about?
"This city will belong to Ming Dynasty from now on. You will definitely not be able to accept Ming Dynasty's conditions, so I can only send you away.
“In accordance with the requirements of the British and French courts, in order to prevent your funds from having an impact on other regions.
“When you travel to the United States or other parts of Canada, you cannot bring more than enough belongings to sustain basic living.
“We have set a basic standard for this, which is a total value of one thousand Ming Dynasty silver notes.
“This amount is enough for you to maintain a decent life anywhere in the world.
"Including cash, stocks, bonds, antiques, and works of art, anything with a total value of more than one thousand silver coins must be kept."
The local Delaware officials, businessmen, and new nobles headed by Mitchell were stunned when they heard this ultimatum-like announcement.
This is a typical Ming style negotiation.
It is completely consistent with the previous popular legends and completely unreasonable.
They simply don't discuss the details of the problem with themselves in detail.
Those areas located outside the peninsula in Newcastle County were directly forcibly identified as belonging to the Ming Dynasty.
Then we have to implement the "place but not people" strategy here.
But this time it's not for everyone, but for those who can't accept Ming's conditions.
The focus is on the original wealthy class, including myself.
Of course, a Delaware state with a total of more than 100,000 people is almost the size of a county in the Ming Dynasty.
The wealthiest classes are not much richer.
The richest small factory owners in Delaware may not all have a net worth of one hundred thousand silver dollars.
But there are still a group of people whose net worth far exceeds one thousand silver coins.
Doctors, lawyers, civil servants, farmers, factory owners, and businessmen may all have this net worth.
Some people can even earn a thousand silver coins a year, but most of them will be spent, and the accumulated wealth is not much.
But it is definitely many times more than a thousand silver coins.
The standard of leaving with only one thousand silver notes is no different from leaving home cleanly.
Mitchell and the other officials, businessmen, and new nobles around him are now very upset.
I really thought too much when I came here.
The news published in the newspapers last year about the negotiation process of Prince Dashi must have been deliberately fabricated.
It must be all fake news, neither I nor my companions were deceived.
Those damn reporters with no ethics allowed themselves to misjudge the situation of the negotiations.
The Ming officials and soldiers in front of him now are normal and typical Ming people.
It is really a complete and pure delusion to imagine that in the future all Ming people will be able to communicate with the Taixi people in an orderly, rational and relatively equal manner like the Prince of Dashi described in the newspaper.
People like me always have to face traditional Ming-style negotiations.
