March 23, the fourth year of the Archduke, in a manor outside Berlin.
Prince Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig of Germany met with a group of young officers and officials in civilian clothes.
A group of officers were carrying newspapers and various printed telegraph papers.
As soon as Prince William came out, a group of people immediately started talking:
"Your Highness, Ming Dynasty has publicly announced the conditions for surrender in the past two days. They are really extremely harsh conditions -"
"We absolutely cannot accept it, and no one can accept it!"
"Your Highness, we can support you to become king, and we can follow you to surrender to the Ming Dynasty, but this is not possible."
"Did the people of the Ming Dynasty make something wrong? The current situation is that Mars is all over the Western Europe. If the Ming Dynasty is at least a little more tolerant, it can easily take over most of the Western continent, but they have given such harsh conditions..."
"The conditions for voluntary surrender are basically the same as the treatment for defeat. It is even worse. The property will be confiscated and even exiled to Mozhou——"
"In this way, groups from all walks of life in the West will definitely fight against the Ming Dynasty to the end——
"Anyway, in the end it will just be confiscation of property and exile. There is no substantial difference from direct surrender now."
Prince Wilhelm Ludwig slammed the table next to him and shouted loudly in Ming Yayan:
"Shut up, everyone!
“I have reminded you more than once to learn more about Ming Dynasty’s history and performing arts, and to understand more about the thinking and habits of Ming Dynasty people.
"As a result, none of you have even a little bit of it in your head!
"What do you mean by the conditions of surrender? What do you mean by the conditions of surrender? What do you mean by the punishment that is basically the same as that of defeat?
"Why does the Ming Dynasty offer you conditions for surrender? What qualifications do you have now to discuss the conditions for surrender with the people of the Ming Dynasty?
"Have you ever gone to see what the Ming people said?
"What Ming Dynasty has disclosed is your atonement plan!
“If you refuse now, you are refusing to atone for your sins, you are refusing to admit your faults, you are unrepentant and stubborn!
“Guess how the Ming Dynasty’s literati and historians recorded these things?
“The barbarians in the West are stubborn and do not know how to repent even when they are certain to lose and when death is imminent.
“Since you refuse to repent, then Ming Dynasty will have no choice but to completely eliminate you!
“Chinese people, especially those in the orthodox dynasty, have always pursued a legitimate and upright position when doing things.
"Therefore, the atonement plan now disclosed is the last chance given to you before you are completely executed!
"If you still want to refuse, then just wait for death.
“No matter how Ming Dynasty deals with all the Taishi people in the future, there will never be any doubt about Ming Dynasty’s behavior in history.
"Killing your entire family from the Ming Dynasty onwards will be an attempt to cleanse away sin."
The scene suddenly fell silent.
Then, someone scratched his neck and said:
"If Ming Dynasty requires us to atone for our sins, and the punishment is confiscation of all property and exile to Mozhou, then we will have no choice but to refuse to repent!
"We can only remain stubborn and fight to the death with the Ming Dynasty!
"Because even if we personally are still willing to surrender, the nobles, businessmen, bankers, and manufacturers and owners who support us cannot accept it."
This person's words were immediately echoed by many people, and the scene once again became agitated.
The underlying reason for the anger has changed from surprise and anger to helplessness and anger.
Prince William Ludwig clenched his fists vigorously:
"This is a conspiracy. The class that controls social resources cannot accept this condition of atonement. Even if the upper class wants to surrender, it will be useless.
“Unless...unless the workers and farmers who truly have nothing stand up and first kill the class that controls the resources, and then surrender to the Ming Dynasty.
“They have nothing to begin with, so of course they don’t care about the punishment of asset confiscation, and it is impossible for the Ming Dynasty to exile all ordinary people.
“In the view of the Ming court, these ordinary people should be innocent and incapable of committing crimes.
“However, if officials and military officers with organizational skills do not participate, how can a disorganized group of workers and farmers organize themselves to decide the direction of the country?
“They can only wait for the imperial court to be completely defeated, for the Ming army to move in and directly begin to rule them…
"It really makes no difference to them whether they surrender or not."
The young officers and officials at the scene listened to the analysis of their prince.
After a brief moment of astonishment and daze, complaints, lamentations, and helpless curses at reality soon began.
In the midst of this chaos, Prince William's personal servant ran in:
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty has sent a palace secretary to attack you. Your Majesty has something to discuss with you."
Prince William Ludwig was silent for a few seconds. He did not reply to his servant immediately, but looked at the supporters in front of him again:
"If anyone is willing to give up everything here and follow me to live in Germany, you can go back and prepare.
"If you follow me to the Ming Dynasty alone, you may not need to be exiled to Mozhou.
"Of course, it's just a possibility. I have no way of determining how firm Ming is in dealing with us..."
After William Ludwig finished speaking, he followed his servant out of the venue, met up with the secretary of King William I, and took a car to see his father, the king.
In the office of the German King and the new Holy Roman Emperor William I, the King placed several newspapers and telegrams on the table.
Then he looked at his second son William Ludwig with a heavy expression:
"My child... you must have read the newspaper, and what is said in it is true, and our intelligence personnel have confirmed it in many ways.
"The so-called surrender conditions proposed by the Ming Dynasty are to force the monarchs of our countries to death.
"According to your understanding of the people of Ming Dynasty, are we at the end of our rope now?"
Prince Wilhelm Ludwig did not answer the question:
"Father, I want to go to Ming Dynasty."
King William I asked somewhat unexpectedly:
"Do you think... it's possible that if you go there in person, you might be able to negotiate better terms?"
Prince William Ludwig shook his head directly:
“I can try, but there is a high probability that I won’t be able to, so my actual idea is to go to the Ming Dynasty on behalf of the Hohenzollern family.
“At least it proves that the Hohenzollern family is willing to atone and accept any form of conditions.
"In case...the German and Hohenzollern families are gone, I still have a chance to leave a branch of the family in the Ming Dynasty...
"In the unlikely event that Ming Dynasty needs the name of the Hohenzollern family, I still have a chance to play a role.
"This will allow the family to gain status again, or possibly continue..."
King William I was silent for a few seconds, then shook his head helplessly and said:
"If that's the case, if your destination is Daming, you probably won't be able to leave...
"Your identity is too sensitive, and everyone is paying attention to your movements now.
"Even if you sign the surrender agreement, they can ask me to refuse to acknowledge it, but not talking about it directly is their best choice.
"I will arrange for you to be the governor of France. In name, you will be responsible for unified command of the local army and suppressing the rebellion of the local French.
"The Ming Navy has a garrison in the UK. You can find a way to sneak to the UK and have direct contact with the Ming Navy.
"You... can choose to openly betray Germany and the Hohenzollern family..."
Prince Wilhelm Ludwig soon understood his father's words.
The German nobility, bureaucrats, military officers, merchants, bankers, and manufacturers and owners were unable to accept the terms of atonement.
Then even if his father wanted to surrender, he was no longer able to do so.
If my father insists on surrendering, the people below may even kill the king and install another prince as king.
William Ludwig didn't know how to express his feelings, so in the end he just nodded silently.
Three days later, Prince Wilhelm Ludwig received his appointment as governor.
He immediately took a few of his followers and took a train to Paris, where the Governor's Palace is located.
After arriving in Paris, Prince William immediately decided to tour various places.
Inspect various cities and military camps, even inspect port cities with certain risks, and inspect the few remaining small warships.
After coming back, he went to the air force base and let a bomber take him into the air to experience flying.
As a result, the plane took off and after leaving the airport, the prince's followers took control of the plane and flew the bomber directly to Britain across the strait.
Most people didn't realize that Ludwig, the prince, wanted to escape.
When the people at the air force base realized that something was wrong, the plane had already arrived over the strait and contacted the Daming Air Force on the opposite side.
Prince William was sitting on the plane, looking at the clouds outside through the window, looking back in the direction of his country, feeling extremely heavy.
Prince William remembered his father's words that he could openly betray Germany and the Hohenzollern family.
So, is he really betraying you, or is he a false betrayal?
Will there be nobles, bureaucrats, and businessmen who really betray their families... or even the group?
Prince William felt a little confused.
Inexplicably, I thought of Zhu Yuanzhang, the great ancestor of the Ming Dynasty.
Prince William has specifically studied the history of the Ming Dynasty and has a relatively clear understanding of the experience of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
Taizu of the Ming Dynasty was originally a farmer and participated in the riots with farmers as the main body.
But the organizers of the riots were not all farmers.
There were some Buddhists, as well as squire scholars who were landlords themselves.
The longer the peasant uprising lasts, the fewer the number of pure peasants will be among the middle and upper classes of the entire group.
When Taizu of the Ming Dynasty had enough actual control, more and more landlords began to participate in the peasant uprisings.
These people are obviously opportunists within the landowning group.
At the same time, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, who was a leader of peasant uprisings, also began to declare that he would protect the property of landlords.
These scholars who were landowners were asked to help them manage the territories they acquired.
This is a response to opportunists.
The two sides hit it off immediately, started to get what they needed, and continued to cooperate.
After Ming Taizu became emperor, he continued to rely on landlords and scholars to help him rule the entire Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Emperor and his family soon became the largest land lords in China.
Now it is the largest in the world.
At first glance, the landlord scholars who initially participated in this peasant uprising seemed to have betrayed their families and even their groups.
However, the final result was that Ming Taizu betrayed the farmers and joined the landlord group.
Then compare the process of other large-scale peasant riots in China's history.
Prince William soon discovered that only Ming Taizu, who betrayed the peasants, succeeded.
The pure peasant uprising was just for resistance and did not have the idea or goal of building a new national system.
Most real farmers in the classical era did not have relevant knowledge and understanding.
The leaders of the peasant uprisings who achieved initial success could only rely on the traditional landowners, gentry and scholars who came to manage their territories.
Now, the "landlords" of the European and Western countries, that is, the nobles, bureaucrats, businessmen, and bosses, have also begun to actively try to speculate in the Ming Dynasty.
But Ming Dynasty refused forcefully...
Because the current Ming Dynasty is not the Kingdom of Wu that has just gained a little territory, but a world empire that is rich in half the world and one billion subjects.
Ming Dynasty does not need them, and of course it will not give any rights in exchange for their obedience and cooperation.
This will of course force them to organize their own forces to resist to the death.
But it may also lead to some thoughtful members actually betraying their own social group.
Especially those who have become members of a branch of the upper class of society three generations later.
They have not actually experienced the harshness of life at the bottom, nor have they experienced the hardship and pain of the era of entrepreneurial competition. They have basic sympathy for the poor people at the bottom.
They have a relatively high level of education, but in the traditional family system, it is difficult to get actual say and realize their ambitions.
These people often have their own ideas and know how to build and manage a country.
Modern "peasants", that is, workers in cities, all know some writing to some extent. The key is that they are all concentrated together.
Their power...should be easier to mobilize than the peasants of classical times.
You can organize a group of such people, and then try to mobilize the power of ordinary workers in the city...
Wilhelm Ludwig felt that he had grasped something. He seemed to have glimpsed another brand-new political line across the board.
However, I don’t have the time or ability to try.
It only takes two years at most, and maybe one year at the fastest, for Ming Dynasty to completely assess the entire western continent...
After the war, the Ming Dynasty took most of the resources seized from the ruling class of Europe and the West for itself, and rewarded a small amount to the local workers and farmers at the bottom.
In this way, the lives of local workers and farmers at the bottom will be improved compared to before.
Social conflicts can be alleviated...
The demands of ordinary workers and farmers are very simple. As long as they can live a normal and relatively stable life and exchange for sufficient necessities of life through labor.
They have no interest in participating in risky political activities.
Unless they have a high enough cultural level and have various ideas that come with that cultural level...
However, Ming Dynasty did not engage in compulsory education at all, not even the most basic primary school compulsory education, even though the expensive primary schools only learned the most basic social common sense.
You won't know some knowledge about politics, law, and science until at least the senior year of high school.
But the schools for the aristocratic elite are indeed extremely hard.
The academic arrangements for members of the royal family of the Ming Dynasty are even more comprehensive. The highest standard is to graduate from college at the age of fifteen.
History, law, economics, politics, driving, guns...
The Ming Emperor also prepared various means to try to keep the income and status of ordinary workers from being too different from those of scholars?
The design deliberately combines ordinary laborers who work purely on strength with traditional craftsmen who have a little bit of skill.
Researchers who have participated in professional studies and obtained craftsman certificates, and even enjoy the treatment of top officials, are all managed in the same system.
Call them all the most basic craftsmen...
Ordinary people at the bottom of the Ming Dynasty can live very comfortably without using their brains to study hard.
Earn enough wages to live and have fun.
More comfortable and relaxed than most of the elite in Thailand.
In fact, as long as they work hard, they can be promoted through the craftsman system.
But the vast majority of ordinary workers don't need to work hard, and they don't have much motivation to work hard and improve.
When his thoughts slowly came here, William Ludwig suddenly widened his eyes:
"The Emperor of Ming Dynasty...has he been guiding in this direction from the beginning?
“Many social customs and laws of the Ming Dynasty seem to be designed to prevent the power of the people at the bottom from being mobilized by those who are interested!
"The Ming Emperor has already considered this possibility?
"It is indeed possible, because there have been too many peasant uprisings in China's history. How could we not take precautions against them?"
Soon after the plane of Prince William Ludwig of Germany entered the English Channel, the Ming Air Force came to greet and control it.
Then he was escorted by the Ming Dynasty Air Force and landed at an airport on the outskirts of London, England.
Members of the Ming Dynasty military and the British court went to the airport to greet and control William Ludwig and his party.
After Ming Dynasty military personnel confirmed William's identity, they took William to see Guan Tianpei, the naval commander stationed in the UK.
After all, William was a German prince. In the Ming Dynasty, he could be regarded as a duke's son.
Of course, the more important thing is that he was once a member of the guard of the current Emperor Ming, which is a more special status.
Guan Tianpei is the guard captain of the Ming Emperor, and William can be regarded as Guan Tianpei's former subordinate. It is most appropriate to hand William over to Guan Tianpei.
Although Guan Tianpei was a little curious and surprised when he saw William, he was generally relatively relaxed and cordial.
Guan Tianpei patted William directly on the shoulder and asked about his situation.
William said directly and heartbroken:
"I sincerely hope that Germany can bravely admit its mistakes and accept the teachings and jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty.
“But most of the bureaucrats, military officers, and nobles who control the domestic situation are a group of stubborn and die-hard elements.
"I know that such a German court has no future at all.
"So I took advantage of the opportunity to serve in France and defected directly to the Ming Dynasty.
“I hope to be able to express to the public my decision to break with the existing German Kingdom and the Hohenzollern through the Ming and British broadcasting systems.
“Then the German people can be called upon to abandon the present stubborn German court.
"Come to Ming Dynasty to confront and punish them..."
What William said was half true and half false.
If possible, William certainly hopes that Germany can succeed and become the de facto overlord of the western continent.
He even looked forward to defeating the Ming Dynasty and reaching the top of the world in the name of Rome.
But William knew that was completely impossible.
Under the current situation, the only choice I can make is this...
I hope to gain the trust of Ming Dynasty...
After hearing this, Guan Tianpei nodded slightly and did not consider whether what William said was true. Anyway, he was not going to arrange it according to his ideas:
"I understand your difficulties. Your Majesty probably has a good impression of you, and he probably won't embarrass you now.
"So you don't have to pretend to break with your country and family. What will happen when you are asked to inherit Hohenzollern again?
"It's not appropriate for you to stay here. If you are asked to fight the Germans, you will really be no longer human inside and out.
“So go to the Great Food Country and become a junior officer in Napoleon’s army.
"Follow Napoleon to suppress bandits in the Ottoman Empire."
William was a little surprised. This arrangement was not what he expected, but it seemed very suitable.
If possible, William certainly did not want to break with his family, nor did he want to fight head-on with other Germans.
Going to the Great Food Country was not considered an exile, and he could still serve as a grassroots officer. The enemy was still the Ottoman infidels.
There is absolutely no psychological pressure and no difficulty.
William was silent for a while, and then he honestly agreed:
"Thank you General for your strength..."
(End of chapter)
