Xinshun 1730

Chapter 371 Anti-General Army

"By the way, did you ask about the smuggling of cotton cloth?"

This is also something that Liu Yu is very concerned about.The British didn't know how to weave cotton at this time, and they had been specializing in wool weaving before.

Both good and bad.

The advantage is that cotton cloth is more popular than woolen cloth. If it can be smuggled or formally traded at this time, the profit will be huge.

The downside is that cotton spinning is a new industry in the UK, and there are not so many guild rules to constrain it. Just like Liu Yu's navy is so easy and Dashun's reform can only be piloted in Wendeng, it is better to start and develop from scratch than in the old quagmire. Reform is easy. If the British cotton textile industry is not suppressed, it will take off.

Tea, silk, and porcelain are considered luxury goods at this time, and they must be inferior to cotton cloth in terms of sales.

"I asked. The smugglers said that as long as it is not pure cotton, or a wool-cotton blend, or a silk-cotton blend, or a linen-cotton blend, they can find a way. There are loopholes in the law, and their relationship with the British Customs We can only play around the edges, the law stipulates that pure cotton is not allowed, and the British laws and regulations are quite rigid, and loopholes can be exploited.”

"Also, I also asked about the American cotton seeds that my husband asked me about. The smugglers said they could do it and bring them back next year. The money...is a little more expensive."

At this time, Dashun's cotton industry was still a legacy of the Ming Dynasty's forced promotion. The quality of cotton was not American cotton, and it was not suitable for initial industrial production in the initial stage.

Since the smugglers are collecting money, the matter is easy to handle.

"Money is not a problem. It is worth spending more on seeds. Cotton cloth, since smugglers dare to ask for goods, there is a way to go. Blended... Well, I made a note of it."

At this time, he didn't know the level of Dashun's blended fabrics, but as long as he could copy the technology, the smugglers would open up the market, and the promotion here would be quick.

Liu Yu is full of confidence in the cotton textile industry in the Songjiang area. The involution is so deep that in history, even after the industrial revolution, the two crows still have the power to fight.It was not until the opening of the Suez Canal that the freight rate plummeted, which gave the Songjiang cotton spinning industry the last blow.

It can be involved in the background of industrial generation gap and forced switch with almost no tariffs, and it can still fight for another 29 years until the opening of the canal.Now the whole world is being forced to roll together, to see who rolls whom.

After saying a few more confidential words, he asked someone to pack these boxes of newspapers and magazines and ship them to the ship.

Before leaving, I ordered the steamed buns again.

"It will take some time for me to return to Beijing this time. During this time, take out the voyage diary and give lessons to the military officers and students, and talk about the landmarks you have seen along the way, and the precautions for long-distance voyages. What is written on paper will eventually feel shallow, I know that this matter has to be practiced, and you have to go to these things yourself, so you can explain it clearly."

After finishing all the arrangements, it was a sunny day when it was time to set sail.

He boarded the battleship with Li Yan, took four cruisers, and set sail for Tianjin.

Before approaching Dagukou, they first asked the boat to go ashore with the letter, and after obtaining permission from the other side, they slowly approached Tianjin Port under the control of the Dagukou Fort.

The ships of the missions of various countries are all berthed here, and they are not warships. Even the United Kingdom cannot send super large warships to Asia at this time. If they send small warships, they may be underestimated.

Liu Yu's battleship is of little use in the Weihai Navy, but it is of great significance here.

The Dagukou Fort, which had only buildings but no new guns at the beginning, has deployed real cannons at this time. Within the control range of the fort, all Western ships are honest.

Even if the British ship and the French ship were leaning against each other, and the Dutch ship and the Portuguese ship were leaning against each other, there was no conflict.

With the prior notification, a line of officials on the shore is waiting.

It's not like in Weiwei Navy, everything is kept simple.Although Li Yan has not been crowned king, Liu Yu is a real earl, and the guard of honor has been lined up, and the cumbersome etiquette has come into play.

When I got closer, I found that most of the people who came to greet me were acquaintances, and many of them followed Qi Guogong to Europe.When he left back then, Liu Yu was still like them, even if he wasn't a classmate, he was also a dude in the circle, but now his status has already widened the gap.

The establishment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requires talents who can understand foreign languages. After Dashun banned religion, missionaries must not be trusted. They can only be selected from these young people who followed Qi Guogong to visit Europe.

Although the languages ​​of different countries are different, there is still the "elegant sound" of Latin after all. No matter how bad they are, they have been to Paris to learn some French, so communication is enough.

After each greeted each other, someone said: "The Duke of Qi is also in Tianjin now, and now the envoys from Western countries have arrived. The Duke of Qi came from Beijing but has not left. I think he must be waiting for Ying Sabo to come back."

With a guard of honor along the way, the future embassy districts of various countries are not far from the seaside, and they have not been established in Tianjin City.

According to the special national conditions of Dashun, the houses in the embassy area can be built in Western style, but it must be paid by Dashun, and the houses can be regarded as rented to the diplomatic missions of various countries, just like the customs in the south.

It is absolutely impossible to enter Beijing, not because they are afraid that foreigners will be surprised by their strange appearance. Since the previous dynasty, there have been a lot of churches, and the people of Beijing have long been used to it.

In fact, because of the identity dispute between the "Celestial Dynasty" and "China", we can only choose such a compromise method: ask Korea, Ryukyu and other countries to pretend that Dashun is the Celestial Dynasty; and let Western countries understand that Dashun is China.

The embassy area is in the capital, and when the North Korean tribute came, he must have murmured in his heart, is it ashamed to call it the king's land under the whole world?

Confucianism in North Korea was so prosperous that it distorted the two classes of castes. Historically, after the Manchus entered the customs, they really preferred to eat orthodox grass rather than barbarian food.Seeing the equal diplomacy between Dashun and barbarians, one must exclaim that there will be no China after Taixing.

Isolating Westerners in Tianjin, maintaining diplomatic relations with the embassy, ​​but not being allowed to enter Beijing without an edict, is also the best solution under compromise.

When I arrived at the yamen of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here, for Li Yan's sake, Qi Guogong came out to greet him.With a little politeness, he led Liu Yu into the main hall, and then started talking about business.

"Shouchang, you can be considered to be back. The capital received the news of the messenger who came back first, so I hurried to Tianjin."

"The most important thing His Majesty ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to do is to let the Western countries know where the border of the Celestial Dynasty is, and that the vassals are the subjects of the Son of Heaven. I guess the wind season is over, if it hasn't come yet, it won't come this year. "

"Now there are envoys from the Netherlands, Britain, France, Portugal, and Switzerland. As far as I know, including the Raksha Kingdom that must come, basically all the major Western countries have also come."

"Your Majesty has ordered the King of the Ryukyu to enter the capital, and the time is almost there. We will enter the capital together when you come back."

Liu Yu said with a smile: "If you want to come to the court, you are all ready. It is nothing more than to show that the vassals have taken the initiative to come to the emperor to ask for sins in front of the eyes of the Western countries, and to show their power. They don't understand benevolence, righteousness, etiquette. This is the same as when they tell us about their inheritance law, we find it strange. Have their national books been turned over?"

The Duke of Qi knew what Liu Yu cared about, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, you didn't deceive your ears. If it is a tribute, it is a tribute, and if it is diplomacy, it is diplomacy. The letters of credence are all written in Latin, and the translators are all familiar with the officialdom. No mistake. It’s just that the British insisted on adding a King of France to their titles, and the French envoys were quite dissatisfied with this, and I hope we don’t read that title when we read it in the hall.”

This case is really a problem. Li Yan also knew about this case. He rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "It's also simple. Anyway, if you want to read in Chinese, you just need to translate the French in the British national book into French." That’s it? Then each mission will distribute a volume of Yazheng’s map of the world, which is the translated name of each country. I only know France, but I don’t know France, and if I want to come to England, I just talk about it.”

Several people looked at each other and smiled, and they all thought this idea was good. Duke Qi also briefly explained the reasons why the envoys from various countries came here.

Britain wants warships to replenish in Guangdong, and hopes that Dashun can allow British warships to enter the port, and then lower the flag and close the gun ports.

The Swedes are for trade on the one hand, and Russia on the other, to see if Dashun has the attitude of sending troops to conquer Russia.

The Portuguese knew that Dashun was the first to defeat Russia and then leveled off, and after receiving the foreign missions, they lowered their stance and came as a tribute, hoping for the gift of the emperor to keep Macau.

France sent an official resident ambassador, and at the same time hoped that Dashun could send an official resident ambassador to Paris.

Only the Netherlands is not an official member of the Republic of Seven Provinces, but a member of the East India Company.Of course, the news of the war against Japan could not be told to the Netherlands at this time. Instead, they asked the East India Company to send someone to Tianjin to discuss a proper solution under the pretext of "hearing that the Chinese in Batavia are suffering and the Dutch intend to drive them away".

However, once it comes, it will not only talk about this matter, but also talk about the attitude of the Netherlands when it went to war with Japan.

In terms of national sovereignty, the most important thing is Portugal.Occupying Macau involves sovereignty issues, and at this time, there is no need for Macau to be a window, and it must be taken back.

But this can be discussed later.

In terms of long-term trade interests, Sweden is the most important.This is related to whether Dashun's maritime merchants can go to Europe with extreme tariff protection.

As for the most important thing at the moment, it is the Netherlands.

"Be as usual, the Dutch have already noticed that we are going to attack the Wa country, but they just expressed their shock at this incident, and asked whether their trade in the Wa country will be affected in the future."

"But regarding the survivors of the Celestial Dynasty in Batavia, they turned an army. They indicated that many Chinese there did not have entry permits. They were willing to maintain their relationship with the Celestial Dynasty, so they should be sent back to Fujian. You know, this It cannot be agreed to in any case.”

Li Yan was still young, so he didn't understand. He wondered: "The Duke of the Kingdom, Ying Suo Bo, the people of Batavia are also my sons. If there is hardship there, why not take them back by boat?"

Qi Guogong glanced at Li Yan, thinking that he was really young.

Liu Yu couldn't bear to break the beautiful fantasy in Li Yan's heart, so he shook his head and said, "Seventh prince, most of the property in Bacheng comes from the people of the Celestial Dynasty. When the people come back, the property stays there? How does this make sense? It's okay to come back if you want , the Dutch must convert the property into money and return it together. Besides, Batavia belongs to Java and has been paying tribute since the Yongle period of the previous dynasty. Why do the Dutch say that they are not allowed to live without a residence permit?"

The Duke of Qi heard that Liu Yu was telling Li Yan some nonsense like coaxing a child, looked at Liu Yu, and saw Liu Yu shaking his head slightly.He signaled not to tell the cruel truth of the world to the children, and to stay innocent and romantic for a few more years, so he smiled slightly and did not tell the truth.

Although this explanation to Li Yan is naive, it fits Li Yan's mind. After thinking about it, I feel that my thinking is simple. Why should I drive people back?
Although the reason is not this reason, it does not affect the fact that the Dutch turned against the general.

"I think it's a matter of one size fits all."

"The Dutch are not allowed to intervene in the affairs of the Japanese country, and discuss it through trade."

"The thing about Batavia is that the warship is insured and has nothing to do with trade. It is only said that if the industry is not prosperous, the Dutch can be allowed to move it to Ceylon, Banda and other places."

"Since he is a general, we will go back and say that the Chinese in Bacheng are all citizens of the Celestial Dynasty, and they must submit to the officials of the Celestial Dynasty. They can send people to Bacheng to express comfort. The Dutch will definitely not agree, so it may be a compromise. He does not agree. Talking about repatriation to Fujian, I don't talk about sending warships to spread comfort, but take the middle way of relocating to Ceylon and Banda."

(End of this chapter)