Zhu Jingyuan is thinking about who he is and who he should be.
When I was thinking about what I should do next and what I could do, the zoning adjustment in the Nanyang region also began.
The Nanyang region itself disappeared politically, leaving only a geographical concept.
Except for Luzon, Borneo, Old Port and surrounding islands, the Nanyang Islands merged with the Tiannan Continent further south to become the first real large domain of the Ming Dynasty, the Tiannan Territory.
Zhu Jingyuan's own position also changed accordingly, becoming the governor of military and political affairs in the Nanyang region and Tiannan region.
The Tiannan Region has not assigned Jiu Qing to be in charge of it for the time being, and now Zhu Jingyuan is directly in charge.
The official office of the Tiannan Region is temporarily located in the Lion City. After Zhu Jingyuan leaves, it will be transferred to Coconut City (Jakarta) on Java Island.
While various yamen were adapting to their new positions, Zhu Jingyuan received a letter from King William III of Prussia.
Zhu Jingyuan frowned after looking at it.
William III hoped to send one of his sons and one of his daughters to study with Zhu Jingyuan.
And he made it clear that he did not come to study in Daming, but to study and work next to Zhu Jingyuan personally.
The purpose is also very straightforward. I hope they can establish friendship with Zhu Jingyuan, thereby strengthening the relationship between the two royal families, and at the same time strengthening the relationship between the two countries.
I hope Prussia can maintain a long-term friendly cooperative relationship with Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Jingyuan looked at the names of the two children mentioned by the other party.
"William Friedrich Ludwig... is now fourteen years old. This child should be the historical German Emperor William I, with a bald head and a big beard..."
"Friedrich Louise Charlotte Wilhelmina, now thirteen years old, was originally supposed to be the queen of Tsar Nicholas I of Lucia."
Zhu Jingyuan didn't care much about these two little brats. Their identities could no longer be synchronized with history.
Today's Prussia has basically integrated the territory of the historical German Empire, but its name is still Prussia.
"Still called Prussia?"
When Zhu Jingyuan's thoughts came here, he obviously got stuck and paused.
Why was it changed to the German Empire in history?
Historically, Prussia did not directly annex other German states by force like Qin destroyed the six kingdoms.
The German Empire that was later established was still essentially a federation.
It's just that there is an exceptionally powerful state in the Federation, Prussia, which occupies an absolutely dominant position in the Federation.
Therefore, a very important reason for establishing the German Empire was to coordinate the relationships among the states within the empire.
On the basis of the nominal equality of the states, a higher level of institutions was established.
The King of Prussia also served as the German Emperor. The German Emperor could give orders to Bavaria and other states, but the Prussian Emperor could not.
Until World War I, the German Empire was actually a federal state.
The other states were not entirely obedient to the orders and will of the Prussian king who also served as emperor.
There are various contradictions between internal states and between states and empires.
These contradictions even accompanied Germany throughout its life.
In other words, the Prussian Empire never completed complete and all-round unification until its demise.
The imperial court of the German Empire was a coordination organization established by multiple states under the condition of "seeking common ground while reserving differences."
What's more, not only are they not unified internally, but there is still an Austria left outside, competing with Prussia for legitimacy.
On the other hand, if warlords were in a state of melee in the Ming Dynasty, if there was no force that could fully integrate the entire basic base of its own ethnic group, and the surrounding environment was extremely complex and harsh, it might be like Prussia, who would seek common ground while reserving differences. The more appropriate method is to form a higher-level "Chinese Federation".
But the current Ming Dynasty does not need it at all. The current Ming Dynasty is China, and China is the Ming Dynasty...
When his thoughts came to this point, Zhu Jingyuan's heart suddenly opened up.
The Ming Dynasty is not China, it is not a China that "seeks common ground while reserving differences," but it is a China that "retains common ground and discards differences."
The biggest difference between these two states is the handling of "difference".
One is to keep it without discussion, and the other is to completely eliminate it.
When the central dynasty was strong, China-related topics were not popular because there was no object for discussion.
There are no organizations qualified to participate in actual discussions.
Today's Prussia is following the method that Qin used to destroy the six kingdoms, and has actually integrated a large number of surrounding states.
There is currently no other state within Prussia that competes with the Prussian royal family for the right to represent Germany.
Therefore, there is no need to change the name of Prussia to Germany.
At the same time, Prussia is holding back its energy and wants to dismember Austria and integrate the other side's German regions.
That is to completely realize the ideal that Germany is Prussia and Prussia is Germany.
The current extremely powerful Ming Dynasty has fully realized this ideal state.
The people of Ming Dynasty, the court of Ming Dynasty, and the emperor of Ming Dynasty would not say that they are China, but they are essentially China.
So there is no need for your butt to "drift".
I am a Ming Dynasty person.
Zhu Jingyuan's mind gradually calmed down.
Then Zhu Jingyuan reviewed the Prussian King's request again.
It is understandable to maintain the relationship with the Ming Dynasty and maintain the relationship with the Ming Dynasty royal family.
Sending a son and a daughter over not only accepted the influence of Ming Dynasty and himself, but also obviously meant to be a protagonist.
Prussia is really worried about the breakdown of its relationship with Ming Dynasty.
In the past two years, I have been at war with Britain and France. The future queen of England has become my concubine, and the powerful crown prince of France also respects me very much.
A granddaughter of Emperor Lucia serves in his harem.
It would be strange if Prussia, caught in the middle, is not anxious.
The Prussians have no sense of security to begin with. If they don't win over them a little now, God knows what they will think.
At the same time, he wanted to send William. Although he was only the king's second son, his only brother not only had no descendants in the original history, but also did not live a particularly long life.
This William lived a relatively long life, living for more than ninety years in original history, more than twenty years longer than his brother.
In this era, medical technology is not particularly developed, and many diseases cannot be effectively treated. Whether nobles living in a good living environment can live long depends on their talent in most cases.
This William's talent is obviously very good, and he still has a chance to become the King of Prussia in the future.
I have been educated since childhood, and it should be of some use in the future.
Therefore, Zhu Jingyuan decided to accept William III's request after careful consideration.
Ask him to send his son and daughter over.
When William III and his wife received Zhu Jingyuan's response, they were completely relieved.
Zhu Jingyuan accepted this request, which at least showed his intention to continue to maintain cooperative relations with Prussia.
What it means further is that it is likely to maintain the balance of the western continent and is not prepared to break the current situation.
Although William III and his wife were a little reluctant to leave, they did not hesitate at all and immediately sent their two teenage children, William and Louise, on a passenger ship to the other side of the distant world.
However, the only daughter of the British Prince of Wales, Queen Charlotte of the United States, was one step ahead of the two of them. She visited Tianzhu in the second half of the fifth year of Ankang, and then slipped away to the Lion City during the Ming Dynasty New Year.
The Queen of America lived in London for less than three months and in the United States for less than three months last year, and spent the rest of the time running away.
In this situation, some people may make irresponsible remarks on the Ming side, but there is no big problem on the British side.
The Lion City is located in the tropics, and the temperature does not change much throughout the year. It is divided into dry season and rainy season based on rainfall.
Zhu Jingyuan wore casual clothes, went to pick up Charlotte at the pier, and returned directly to the palace where Zhu Jingyuan lived.
Zhu Jingyuan actually wanted to ask Charlotte something, but facing a woman he had not seen for a "long time", he had nothing to say on the first day.
They took a bath together and went to bed together. When they got up the next day, they talked about business after breakfast.
And it was Charlotte who brought it up on her own initiative:
"Dear, actually I came here with a mission.
"My father knew that I came to Tianzhu and would definitely come back to see you, so he asked me to check your story.
"If the British are willing to transfer Southern Tianzhu to Ming Dynasty, what conditions can Ming Dynasty offer?"
Zhu Jingyuan was stunned for a moment, then smiled and shook his head and said:
"There is nothing. Your father and your grandfather can give it to you if they want. It doesn't matter if you don't want to give it to Daming. Anyway, they won't pay any price to get Nantian Mansion..."
Charlotte was suddenly a little surprised:
"No price at all? I'm not kidding. I think my father is serious and really wants to discuss this deal with Daming...
"Let me tell you straight, my father and Prime Minister Pete actually just want money.
“They knew that Ming Dynasty could not give land, so they wanted to sell Nan Tianzhu.
"To offset the remaining compensation and the loans currently owed, we will need another sum of money."
Zhu Jianyan smiled and asked:
"I understand what they are thinking, but now it is impossible for me to take over Nan Tianzhu.
“It’s not like I don’t know what you British people have been doing over the years.
“I’m afraid all the young adults in Southern Tianzhu have been hollowed out.
“The men were sent to Mozhou and Yinzhou as indentured slaves.
“Part of the women were sold to the vassal states and overseas provinces of the Ming Dynasty, and some were also sent to Mozhou and Yinzhou.
"A lot of them should have been transferred to the mainland of Thailand, but that doesn't matter.
"The important thing is, what's left in Nan Tianzhu now? You just came from there, you should have seen it all.
"Can your father let you tell me the truth?"
Since the peace talks of the World War ended, the British opened up the slave trade in Tianzhu.
British slave traders swarmed in and began transporting young adults from southern India as slaves, indentured slaves, and indentured workers.
We are now in the industrial age, and the second industrial revolution has entered its peak stage.
Slave labor transport ships did not consider the comfort of passengers at all, and a transport ship of 10,000 tons could possibly hold tens of thousands of people inside.
From Tianzhu to Southwest Mozhou, it only takes more than twenty days, even with a boat that can only travel ten knots.
It takes less than fifty days to go back and forth, and you can travel seven times a year.
If it is a 15-knot boat, it can make one trip in more than a month.
In other words, a 10,000-ton passenger ship can transport more than 70,000 people a year.
How many passenger ships are doing this business?
If there are one hundred ships, more than seven million people can be transported in a year.
This trade has been going on for more than five years.
In the southern Tianzhu area controlled by the British, at the end of the World War, the total population of all ethnic groups including Taixi, mixed descendants of Taixi and Tianzhu, and pure-blood Tianzhu people was only about 70 million.
People in Xichang have been paying attention to Tianzhu's situation.
Now Nan Tianzhu's prime life has really been basically exhausted.
The rest are old, weak, sick and disabled.
Nan Tianzhu is really completely disabled now.
The consequences are more serious than the worst wars.
Charlotte, who had just come from Tianzhu, suddenly became a little embarrassed:
"Even though... there are not many local people left, but the local land and resources...
“My father also said that the Ming Dynasty’s colonization was colonization in the true sense, and they preferred acquiring land rather than acquiring population.
“Isn’t Tianzhu, a place with fertile land and abundant rain and heat, the favorite colony of the Ming Dynasty people?
"In fact, when there are no people in the place, it is more popular with Ming people than when there are people."
After hearing this, Zhu Jingyuan shook his head again:
"What your father said is right, but is there really no one in Nan Tianzhu now?
“I’m afraid there are still a lot of old, weak, sick and disabled people.
"Da Ming is going over now to pick up this completely disabled Nan Tianzhu.
"When there are only birds and animals left in Nan Tianzhu, the people of Ming Dynasty will discuss with you the business of buying Nan Tianzhu."
This time Charlotte turned gloomy:
"But...those slave traders will not transport the old, weak, sick and disabled to Mozhou and Yinzhou...
"So what you're saying is that Ming will never accept Nan Tianzhu's deal?"
Zhu Jingyuan reminded with some helplessness:
"My little queen, not only can people leave, but they can also die.
“Besides, the remaining ones are the old, weak, sick and disabled, and their ability to survive is already very weak.
"Perhaps by the time you become Queen of England, only birds and beasts will be left there.
“Even if it’s not just birds and beasts, the real old, weak, sick and disabled should be gone.
“Only a handful of the new generation of children they produced are left.
“That’s when we can discuss the deal directly.”
Charlotte suddenly realized:
"I understand, then I will reply to my father and tell him that we will discuss this deal directly after I become the queen."
Zhu Jingyuan immediately waved his hand:
"Don't say that. It's easy to cause misunderstanding. Just tell your father what I said."
Charlotte nodded again very obediently:
"Okay, okay, I'll convey your exact words."
At noon that day, Charlotte made time to have her entourage send a telegram to London.
The next morning, the British Regent, the Prince of Wales, received his daughter's telegram and invited Prime Minister William Pitt to discuss it:
“This is from Charlotte, please note that these are the original words of Prince Dashi.
"This deal can no longer be done. We still have to continue to repay the loan and compensation."
Peter looked at Zhu Jingyuan's words and said thoughtfully:
"When there are only birds and beasts left in Southern Tianzhu, when the old, weak, sick and disabled are all gone, maybe we don't have to wait too long..."
The Prince of Wales asked with some confusion:
"What's the meaning?"
Pete said meaningfully:
"What if a large-scale plague breaks out in Southern Tianzhu..."
The Prince of Wales was silent.
