Xinshun 1730

Chapter 1260: Voyages to the West after the Voyage ([-])

When the replenished fleet officially set sail and sailed into the Atlantic Ocean, the senior officers of the fleet naturally had a sense of mission and boundless pride.

Under the tone of chasing Tang Muhan, the times are changing. The Western Regions in the past are not the Western Regions now, and the Nanyang is the analogy system of the Western Regions in the Han and Tang Dynasties.

Therefore, after using the analogy of this way of thinking to the Western Seas under Lord Sambo, under the current conditions of navigation, navigation, and mathematics, are only the places west of Borneo still qualified to be called Western Seas?
At that time, it was naturally possible to call, but it is definitely not possible now.

According to the certain ideological education these new schools received, the common consciousness they were shaped, the evaluation of Yongle's voyage to the West is actually this: bad luck, if Nanyang does not produce spices, but India or Africa Spices and gold from the east coast would be nice.

Because the spices produced in Nanyang are too close to form an effective administrative monopoly.

Spices were the only valuable imported goods at that time, so it was theoretically feasible to use spices as anchors for banknotes when precious metals—including copper—were severely scarce at the time.It's just too close, and smuggling cannot be eliminated. With the addition of spices as a currency anchor, it is definitely not as good as cotton grain and oil and gas in later generations.

Of course, this kind of cognition may not be comprehensive, or even correct, but this is not important.

What is important is that Dashun has shaped the mainstream common consciousness of a new academic class in the fields of foreign affairs, trade and economy.

British mercantilism and free trade; French Colbertism and Physiocratism; Dashun’s Confucianism rather than Confucian economic understanding, and the new school’s rough understanding of capitalism... Every group needs an ideology to support.

It was originally religion, but the era of religion has passed, and now it depends on economics.

In terms of foreign trade, Dashun's new school and the emerging class all advocate the free trade theory of anthropomorphic countries.

And this kind of free trade theory with the country as the main body is very popular among the emerging classes in Dashun, and has become a prominent theory.

Although it sounds like a group of licensed and monopolized Oriental companies, Western trading companies, etc. support free trade, it seems quite nonsense.

But the characteristic free trade theory, which has become prominent in Dashun, has its particularity.

Because, if this system is deduced, a thing called "New Celestial Dynasty System" can be obtained.It refers to the economic division of labor in various countries in the world. For example, Dashun is responsible for the production of a complete set of light and heavy industries such as cotton cloth, silk, porcelain, machinery, iron, and coal.

North Korea can produce rice, paper, and coal mining; Japan can produce paper, rice, silver, copper, and gold; India can produce cotton and cotton yarn; Nanyang can produce rice, indigo, spices, etc.

Because Dashun is first of all a celestial dynasty, or the leader of an international order, and then a country.

The theory accepted by this group of people under the influence of the old era can and can only be a variant of the Celestial Dynasty system, and use this as their theoretical basis to fight against those old-fashioned factions.

Of course, what they are applying is the skin of the struggle between kingship and hegemony, and they are very convinced that what they are doing now is the sages of the Qin and Han Dynasties-even Zhuge Liang, who was after Guan Zhong and the Qin and Han Dynasties, also brought in, and used Wuhou to mix Shu brocade silk and silk with him. The binding of the currency of the Kingdom of Shu to maintain the stability of the currency of the Kingdom of Shu is an example-what the sages have done, it will naturally have two points of legitimacy in Dashun.

Dashun was not a Manchu dynasty with a small family facing a big country, so the elite class would choose to give priority to ensuring the existence of the concept of "Celestial Dynasty" instead of dismembering this concept during the transformation of Dashun.

The Celestial Dynasty, ritual law, is essentially an international order.

Since it is an international order, a theory that at least sounds universal is needed to establish this international order.

The key is that what they say is an "international order that everyone must accept", but inside they benefit themselves.

The reason can only be: I abide by this national order, and because I abide by this international order, I benefit from this international order.You are poor because you do not abide by or violate this international order, or the etiquette in the economic sense of the new era.

Moreover, Dashun itself has such an economic foundation.

For example, Dashun and Europe can definitely sign a bilateral, equal, [-]% tariff agreement.

If your textiles cannot be sold, and mine are sold to your home like crazy, that only proves that you are not suitable for the development of the textile industry. Why don’t you find out what is suitable for your country according to the theory of free trade, such as raising sheep?
From this point alone, Dashun is the only one in the world that is qualified to really hold up the banner of free trade.

In the Opium Wars in history, this flag was raised so that even our own people could not be fooled. Everyone knew that the cause was the trade deficit and the excess profits of contraband caused by the ban on opium.

Dashun is different.

At least, most of the European Enlightenmentists like Voltaire can be convinced: Dashun really came for the free trade of all mankind and the reasonable division of labor for all mankind.Because Dashun does not have a trade deficit, and it is not a war to reverse the trade deficit.

As a flag-bearer of free trade, Dashun would of course welcome the sale of British wool, French sugar, Russian timber, and Swedish iron to Dashun.

Tariffs are there, fair and transparent, both sides are the same, if it cannot be sold, it has nothing to do with Dashun.

As a European that did not reverse its trade deficit with the already colonized India until 1790 in history, and a China that was able to fight back against machine-woven cloth in 1893, Dashun's policymakers have absolute confidence in this, once Let go of the ginseng planting control in the Northeast, and even French ginseng cannot be sold, let alone woolen wool.

The important meaning of the new era scriptures, that is, economics, is to let oneself wear righteousness.

And this great righteousness must be something that seems fair and reasonable, common to both East and West, and universal.At least on the bright side, it cannot be because I am me and you are you, so I want to bully you; but on the bright side, you and I must abide by a "law of etiquette", and the law of etiquette is eternal justice. It just happens to be at the level of the beneficiaries of the etiquette order.

Just like feudal etiquette, I am not for my own interests, I am for the supreme etiquette, rules, and order, and I am maintaining order, international law, universal morality, and eternal justice.It's just that my father happened to be a nobleman, and your father happened to be a serf.

I am not protecting my own interests, I am maintaining order, but it just so happens that this order benefits me. In theory, if your father is an aristocrat, you can also benefit.And I have to tell you, if I were a serf, I would try my best to maintain this etiquette and hierarchy, but I am not, my father didn't give me a chance.

I suppressed you not because you harmed my personal interests, but because I was maintaining order, and you were suppressed not because you wanted to divide my land and burn my deed, but because you destroyed order and violated eternity justice.

Only by doing this can we really understand what is called "the Celestial Dynasty".

For example, when Zhou defeated Chu, it was "absolutely not" because the rise of Chu State might threaten the emperor, but because Chu State did not pay tribute to Baomao.

Therefore, the new school groups who have twisted into this common consciousness can naturally add justice to their understanding of this war.

The British East India Company harmed the interests of the British people. They used monopoly franchises, tea and silk to earn high profits from the British people.

The British cotton ban harmed the interests of the British people.Those woolen manufacturers, using their power and voice in the parliament, made the British people pay a high price to wear cheap, comfortable, beautiful and breathable cotton clothes.

The cotton weavers in Lancashire and Manchester, England, are cancers that hinder the development of the times, and useless people who repeatedly invent the wheel. They are the vested interests of the ban on cotton cloth. They use administrative tariff protection to hinder human progress. And human rights to wear cheaper cotton clothes.

Etc., etc.

There are too many reasons that can be deduced from this set of things.

The difference from the Opium War is that Dashun really didn’t come to sell opium to balance the trade deficit, because Dashun really didn’t have a deficit, and even inflowed so much silver that it had completed the conversion from copper currency to silver currency, and had to put A large amount of investment is invested in the Kanto Southeast Asia, otherwise the domestic currency exchange will explode.

At least it can make many Enlightenmentists believe that Dashun really built the "Tower of Babel" for the benefit of all mankind.

It is to make mankind realize that each country should find its place in the new world order according to its own advantages.

Those who are suitable for raising sheep should not be weaving cloth; those who are suitable for slave planting sugar cane should not be human beings; those who are suitable for selling wine should not be raising silkworms, reeling and spinning silk.

Because the temple has reached this point, there is no suspense about the outcome of the war itself. Unless there is a natural disaster like the Spanish kamikaze, the bottom line of the political purpose of this war can be achieved no matter what.

As for how much you can get in addition to the bottom line experience benefits, you need to rely on some soft knives.

It's just that, although such righteousness can be added to the body, in fact... whether these officers in Dashun believe in this set of righteousness is a question.

Facing the magnificence of the Western Ocean, the first thing they thought of was the Three Treasures' voyage to the Western Ocean 300 years ago.

However, Dashun's nearly one million students, chanting scriptures are useless. Of course, the Enlightenment School can be counted on to help Dashun recite and debate scriptures, but these officers will inevitably have to undertake some work of chanting scriptures.

Therefore, Dashun carried a large number of economics pamphlets on board this time.

Some things, different people say it, have different meanings.

For example, if you have a trade deficit and smuggle opium, if you say that you are doing it for free trade, then people in your own country may not believe it.

But Dashun itself has a huge trade surplus, and along with China's fever, it has always been a country where "rationality, law and morality dominate; the emperor will visit every household to let the people reflect their opinions; it has really To overthrow religious stupidity and the absence of church interference in politics”—the Utopia shaped by many Enlightenmentists.

Although when shaping it, it was all for the purpose of using the past to satirize the present, borrowing the outside to satirize the inside, and pointing fingers and scolding Huai, but I can't help but say too much, and many people really believe it.Even though Voltaire himself knew that in England [there is no freedom at all on the land, and powerful speculators and swindlers rule], this did not prevent him from creating a desirable, free, and free society. England ruled by speculators and charlatans.

Because, as Rousseau criticized, many Enlightenmenters tried to shape what they recognized as a new mainstream consciousness through drama and lies.

They feel that lies and illusions are not wrong in themselves, they are just a means to accelerate enlightenment, and they are inherently good.

This is probably the reason why Rousseau opposed Enlightenment drama.

Rousseau probably felt that Enlightenment dramas only replaced the church.The church is shaping a group of good believers, while the Enlightenment drama is shaping a group of people they hope to create according to the consciousness of the enlightenment scholars. It’s just a different kind of education, but it’s still the same as the church’s education in essence, and he is more enthusiastic about it. Saints are immortal and thieves are endless, returning to nature and Taoism following nature.

But Rousseau was not mainstream during his lifetime.With this kind of thinking, he can only be canonized after death, and it is definitely not possible to live.

Therefore, this war of Dashun, from the perspective of the enlightenment movement, is also a strong medicine, and it is also the biggest achievement that Dashun can achieve beyond the bottom line benefits.

In particular, this incident happened before the Lisbon earthquake, when Liu Yu slammed the church in front of the diplomatic missions from various countries; and under the name that science belongs to all mankind, so that mankind can unite and know their place in the universe and how far they are from the sun. After these two things, crazy spy surveying and mapping all over the world, illegal mapping of colonies.

Its significance is to let those who are sitting in the salon discussing the world abandon those utopian fantasies such as "eternal justice" earlier, and come to the real cruel material world.

To understand why Defoe rejoiced at the cotton ban and lamented that it saved the British textile industry.

Why is Hume, who is regarded as a supporter of free trade, so worried [If China is by our side, such as Spain and France, then everything we use will be Chinese].

Why Adam Smith could not justify himself in the face of Sino-British trade issues in history, he could only give [Countries like China should invest all their money in industry and agriculture.The shipping industry, banking industry, export industry, and financial industry should be handed over to the United Kingdom.India has proven that it can prosper even if most of its exports are controlled by foreigners] Such an absolutely clumsy, self-contradictory theory - I have fucking money in infrastructure and industry and agriculture, why not invest in In the financial industry, export industry, and shipping industry with higher profit margins?Is this consistent with capital flows by the invisible hand?And when I said this, there was a great famine in Bengal. Where is India thriving?

The world is material, and people are perceptual and short-lived most of the time, so if material reality is needed to help them deepen their understanding.

On Dashun’s own side, there is no need to worry that the so-called eternal justice will become Dashun’s mainstream theory. After all, Dashun’s land annexation and peasant landlord issues in the transition period will eventually negate the so-called inviolability of land deeds and loan contracts. justice.

And Europe has been living a good life by colonizing and plundering these years, so that they start to sit in the salon and fantasize about eternal justice and abstract human nature. It is time to pour some cold water on them and make them sober.

Therefore, the fleet, shouldering the national pride of sailing to the West again, and the mission of human thought to wake up those who lie in the salon and talk about eternal justice, quickly crossed the sea outside West Africa. After replenishing some bananas in Senegal Then he went north and encountered Dashun's main fleet.

After rendezvous, the support fleet moored at Mahon, Menorca, and the soldiers on the transport ship once again enjoyed a short vacation.

Supplies here are plentiful.

With the silver, the Jews and Moors here, for the sake of the silver, quickly bought the supplies needed by the engineers and soldiers.

The joint headquarters of the Chinese and French armies was established at Fort Saint-Philippe, the former stronghold of the British on the island. The French side held a relatively grand welcome ceremony, which actually acquiesced that the command of the Toulon Squadron was actually based on Dashun is the main one.

Because both countries are traditional absolute monarchy countries, the acting commander of the Toulon Fleet in France is only a lieutenant general.

Calculated according to the original bureaucratic system in Dashun, the rank of lieutenant general is equivalent to that of a servant among civil servants.

Compared with the people in the real inner circle, the level is definitely not enough.

And the one from Dashun is a prince, and he is a prince who has been named a prince.

The servant and the prince, are they familiar?

Although the official positions of the two sides are not common, they are actually different, and France did not intend to let Vice Admiral de la Crewe be the commander of the Toulon Squadron at the beginning, but there is really no one on the navy side. , There is no way to catch the ducks on the shelves.

Gary Saunier, who had won a big victory in Menorca before, is the right candidate for France to cooperate with Dashun.

In terms of military achievements, the battle of Menorca, which made Louis XV feel safe after the war, directly led to the downfall of the cabinet of the Duke of Newcastle in the United Kingdom, and the execution of Admiral John Bean as a scapegoat. The Admiralty of the Navy, George Anson, who had been to Canton on the Cape Captain, resigned.

It greatly inspired France's passion for war, boosted the purchase of national debt, lowered the interest on national debt, and was also appointed as the French admiral.

In terms of connections, Gary Solnier is not a pure soldier, and his relationship with Dashun is closer, because he has supported several scientific expeditions, and has also cooperated with Dashun's surveying and mapping people.

Among them, maps of Newfoundland, Arcadia, Portugal, Spain, and the coast of West Africa were organized by him to draw detailed latitude and longitude, and he shared some charts with Dashun.In addition, the star table in the southern hemisphere, which is very important in navigation, was also drawn by the scientific group funded by him, which greatly helped Dashun finally adopt the lunar distance angle method for navigation.He has regular correspondence with people from the French Academy of Sciences and the Dashun Academy of Sciences.

In terms of ability, this man is a handsome talent, not a general.

Because what he is good at is administration, diplomacy, and trade, and he is from the North American colony, so it is very effective to win over the Indians in the North American colony.

The most important thing was the battle of Menorca. He showed great political sense and wrote the battle report immediately. Instead of sending it to Paris immediately, he sent it to London first.

The opposition in London immediately launched a conspiracy against the Duke of Newcastle.And as Gary Solnier expected, the Duke of Newcastle and George Anson, in order to quell anger and cover up responsibility, tampered with John Bean's battle report, deleted the part of the heroic battle, and incited public opinion to say that John Bean's flagship Unscathed, it can be seen that John Bean was timid to fight...

In the end, John Bean was forced to death by powerful public opinion and was sentenced to be shot on his flagship.

And then led to the party of the Little Patriots to fight for power-this is what Gary Solnier did not expect. He knocked down George Anson, who partnered with the Navy Department to purchase "scurvy magic medicine" to make money Finally, replace them with a group of players who can really fight.

Undoubtedly, in the eyes of the French, if Gary Saunier takes over the Marshal Staff, he is undoubtedly the best candidate to cooperate with Dashun.

But... Gary Solnier died of illness before he took over the marshal's staff.

The navy is not good enough, and after looking for it, they can only find the chief of staff de la Crewe, the chief of staff during the Battle of Menorca, as the acting commander of the Toulon fleet.

And the reason why La Crewe was promoted so quickly was not because of his great ability.

It was that when he was an attendant knight since he was a child, he served as an attendant to the Duke of Toulouse.The Duke of Toulouse is the illegitimate son of Louis XIV, and is the official prince whose blood has been confirmed.

The Duke of Toulouse, is his godfather.On Dashun's side, the relationship can be regarded as godson and godfather.

And La Cru's family can be regarded as a typical example of this era: the combination of the new aristocracy and the old aristocracy, the combination of bourgeois money and the blood of the old aristocrats.

His father is a big bourgeoisie in France, so of course he can step into the new aristocratic class.

His mother's family has a long history, and two of the family's grandparents were recognized by the Holy See and added "saint" in front, but they were famous but had no money.

It is no secret that La Crue's rapid rise in the navy is known to be mainly based on connections.

But France is like this now, and the navy is really out of touch.The few who can fight are either getting old or dying of illness after a big victory.

The French battleships on the Toulon side can really move, of course not counting those messy cruisers, frigates, transport ships, etc., a total of 8 ships can be made up.

The flagship is a battleship with 80 cannons. If the name is translated freely, it is probably the No. [-] Ocean, No. [-], or No. [-] Ocean, which is almost the same.

The remaining 6 ships are standard 74-gun Tier [-] battleships born from the same parent as Dashun's battleship.

There is also one ship, which is an old-designed 1-gun battleship.Of the remaining 64-gun battleships, the younger ones were built during the War of Austrian Succession in 74.

France also has no choice, [-]% of its military expenditure has to go to the army, and the navy has the best ship designers in Europe, but it has no money to build them.

This embarrassing situation, coupled with the fact that Dashun's command light is too high in terms of feudal blood.

And, the dispute between Dashun and France, that is, the dispute with the Duke of Choiseul on strategic issues, Dashun's attitude, support, follow-up distribution of spoils, interests and other issues, made France simply not to find others.

Let the lieutenant general of the Toulon Fleet serve as the supreme commander of the direct cooperation between France and Dashun, that is, Dashun, who brought dozens of ships by default and just repelled the British fleet and killed the British admiral, As the commander of cooperation between the two sides.

Anyway... What Dashun means is, if you don't listen to me, you can do it yourself. Anyway, I won't follow your steps.

With 8 battleships, nothing can be done, so that's the only way to go.

This can also be regarded as the helpless choice of the Duke of Choiseul, but this helpless choice of grasping at straws also eased the issue of the command authority of the joint combat command.

Dashun commanded the French fleet without hesitation.

After all, the first batch of instructors in Weihai were all found from France. Even the blueprints of the battleships were from France.

(End of this chapter)