Daming 1805

Chapter 151 How to Divide Voting Weights

The relevant meetings of the League of Nations Convention are mainly discussions on the details of various regulations.

Let the representatives of various countries argue with each other, compromise with each other, and finally come up with a standard that everyone accepts.

However, these discussions focus on relatively fair places such as international straits, standard territorial sea width, jurisdiction and rights of passage.

Because these relatively fair places are formulated for other ordinary countries, and they will often be governed by relevant regulations in the future.

There are some places that are obviously unfair, but no one mentions them.

For example, in the Convention on Territorial Sea, there is a special chapter on the ownership of sea areas:
If it belongs to a country's land and islands, it completely surrounds a piece of sea area.

There is no other country's territory in this sea area, and there is no other country's territory within [-] nautical miles of all the land and islands surrounding it.

At the same time, outside this sea area, there are still high seas areas that can be used by more distant countries to travel to other overseas territories.

The distance between these lands and the islands only needs to be no more than two hundred nautical miles.

This surrounded sea area is the inland sea belonging to the corresponding country.

In other places, other countries have to use the standard of six nautical miles to calculate their territorial waters, but here it has actually become the standard of two hundred nautical miles.

This seems obviously unfair, and it is obviously a special clause for Daming.

It is to include the sea areas around the territory of Ming Dynasty, all the sea areas near the land and the archipelago, into the scope of the inland sea of ​​Ming Dynasty.

Including the northern islands of Northern Yinzhou, the Aleutian Islands, the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Japanese Islands, the Ryukyu Islands, the Indochina Peninsula, the entire Nanyang Islands, the Andaman Islands, and the Tiannan Continent, the sea areas surrounded by these areas.

But this has nothing to do with the Thai and Western countries, and it will not affect their direct interests at all.

Those places were originally the sea areas that Daming completely controlled, and there were no other countries in the surrounding hundreds or even thousands of nautical miles.

If Daming openly draws the Daming Ocean into the inland sea, it may appear a little too much.

After all, there is a Spanish colony to the east of the Daming Ocean.

It is normal and reasonable for Daming to draw these coastal areas into its own inland sea.

This is just to clarify the actual control and let other countries all recognize it.

Fleets from other countries would not be able to go to those places.

If merchant ships from other countries are going to trade with Ming Dynasty, they have to accept the management of Ming Dynasty and sail according to the requirements of Ming Dynasty.

That way it doesn't get any more troublesome.

It is definitely a good thing for ordinary legal traders to be clearly managed and protected by Daming earlier.

Moreover, the text of this agreement did not clearly state that these clauses were specially formulated for Ming Dynasty.

Other countries also apply these terms.

It's just that it is basically impossible for other countries to realize the condition of "completely encircling a sea area, and there are no other countries within [-] nautical miles around it".

Therefore, simply looking at the terms of the agreement will not make people feel aggrieved.

On the first day of the meeting, in addition to the topic of protecting mountains, forests and water bodies, the discussion was basically around the principles related to territory and territorial waters.

This is the most important carrier of a country, and it is also what all representatives care about most.

After the day's meeting ended, the representatives of various countries went back to continue studying the terms of the convention, discussing internally and brewing more ideas.

Discussions related to the framework of the coalition itself began as soon as the second day's meeting began.

This time it was British Prime Minister Peter Pitt who first made the request:

"Since Ming has requested in the convention, it must give seats and voting rights to the alliance of major vassal states of Ming.

"Then our American region in the UK, as well as the Tianzhu region, should also have the right to vote."

Spain then followed, demanding voting rights for its own Mexican colony.

France asked for voting rights for the Canadian colony in Northern Yinzhou, and Portugal asked for voting rights for its Angola colony in Mexico.

The few countries in Thailand and the West that have no colonies find that others are asking for additional voting rights, so they can't do anything about it.

Voting rights actually symbolize the status in the alliance, the higher the voting rights, the higher the status.

Although I don't have overseas colonies, my country is also composed of several parts.

In the past, the titles of the monarchs of various countries had a long list, and it was only after learning from the Ming Dynasty for nearly 100 years that they gradually became less long.

So the Austrian Empire asked for voting rights to the subordinate Kingdom of Hungary, and Prussia asked for voting rights to the annexed Kingdom of Bavaria.

Sardinia asked for voting rights for the annexed Kingdom of Sicily, and Ottomans asked for voting rights for long-ruled Greece and Bulgaria.

Lucia asked for voting rights for Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania.

Only the Netherlands did not intervene.

The representatives of Daming all had such expressions as expected, obviously they had expected this scene long ago.

According to the draft framework of the alliance drafted by Ming Dynasty, since there are not many small countries in the alliance as spectators, there is no difference between the council and the assembly.

The permanent discussion organization of the alliance is directly called the "International League Meeting".

There is no permanent member of the council, and Ming directly serves as the fixed "leader of the alliance" and has a veto power over any affairs.

There are four deputy lord states, the vassal states of Ming Dynasty share two places, and the Thai and Western countries and their main vassal states share two places.

The leader of the alliance is fixed to Ming and does not change, and the deputy leader of the alliance is changed every two years. There is no election and all countries take turns.

All countries have only one vote, whether for or against, on matters discussed at a coalition meeting.

In addition to Daming being able to use one veto, if the ordinary veto reaches more than one-third, related matters will also be vetoed.

For any matter to be passed, more than two-thirds of the votes in favor must be obtained, so that one-third of the opposition cannot be achieved.

This rule seems very conservative, relatively easy to oppose and difficult to pass.

However, Daming additionally requested that vassal states with a certain size on their side should also get voting rights.

In the contract drafted by Ming Dynasty, nineteen voting rights were generally requested, but it did not specify which vassal state it would be distributed to.

The number of nineteen was obviously selected specially, plus Daming's default vote, a total of twenty votes.

It is exactly twice as many as the ten Western countries, directly accounting for two-thirds of the total votes.

In the future, if one of the Thai and Western countries voted for anything proposed by Ming Dynasty, it could be passed directly.

Not asking for 21 votes directly is the sincerity shown by Daming himself, and it is also because it is impossible for the Thai and Western countries to accept it.

Even if it is twenty tickets, the European and American countries dare not accept it. It is too easy to find a ticket among the European and American countries.

Whether it is Lucia, Ottoman or Prussia, it is very likely that they will be won over by Ming.

After their internal discussion yesterday afternoon, they immediately came out to make a request today.

Instead of directly asking Ming to reduce voting rights, but to increase voting rights for himself, while reducing Ming's voting rights, he will fight for status for his own country.

The reason seems to be very good, Ming's vassal state has the right to vote, and our colonies and other territories also have the right to vote.

If all these countries ask for voting rights and give them all, the total number of votes for Tesi will reach 23.

Three more than Daming's.

If Ming wanted to promote the adoption of the alliance resolution, he had to win nine votes from the Thai and Western countries. This difficulty can be said to have risen directly.

Even if the three countries of Lucia, Ottoman, and Prussia, plus the votes they want to get, are all in favor, it is not enough.

Zhu Jingyuan was prepared for this, and listened to their request in a leisurely manner.

Then he was rather disgusted, and said a little funny:
"The vassal state of Ming Dynasty only needs [-] votes, which is really very restrained.

"Many of our vassal states, both in terms of area and population, exceed most of your Western countries.

"It's fine for you to ask for voting rights for places like Mexico and Tianzhu, but how can you ask for voting rights for places like Angola?
"If it is given to Angola, will other countries have the right to vote when they open up colonies in Mexico in the future?

"How can local regions like Bavaria, Hungary, and Ukraine get extra voting rights?

"According to your standards, Ming also allocated voting rights to all provinces and all feudal states?

"Think about it for yourself, can this work?"

What Zhu Jingyuan said was very direct and heart-wrenching, and the atmosphere at the scene was a little awkward for a while.

Several colonial countries also felt that it was a bit too much for a landlocked country to come out with an administrative region to ask for votes.

It is [-]% impossible for the total number of votes from all countries in Thailand and the West to surpass that of Ming Dynasty.

So Talleyrand of France stood up and said:
"We should formulate a standard to judge what kind of vassal states and territories are eligible to get the right to vote in the alliance."

Zhu Jingyuan directly waved his hand and said:
"It is of course a good thing to have standards and implement them according to the standards, but if the standards are too complicated, it will be difficult to implement them.

"Implementation also requires cost, and the implementation process is also a wrangling process.

"I don't hide it, this voting right is said to be given to the vassal states, but it is actually controlled by our countries themselves.

"Our alliance's voting rights rules should be relatively simple and crude, and easy to understand.

"I now have two options for you to choose from.

"First of all, on the basis of the existing plan, give voting rights to British Tianzhu, the United States, French Canada, and Spanish Mexico.

"At the same time, the number of votes for the Daming Kingdom will increase to 21 votes."

All the representatives immediately counted. With Zhu Jingyuan's arrangement, Daming had to win two votes from the Thai and Western countries in order to get more than two-thirds of the votes.

It is a step back from the original request, but it only takes two countries, or even one country, to push a bill through, which still worries the Thai and Western countries.

The point is that not all countries in Europe and America accept the state status symbolized by the number of voting rights.

It is difficult for Prussia to accept Spain standing on top of itself, let alone Lucia.

The point is, the combined British colonies are not as large as Lucia itself. Why do you have three tickets and I, Lucia, only have one?
This is absolutely impossible to accept.

So Lucia, Ottoman, and Prussia immediately expressed their opposition clearly.

Zhu Jingyuan spread his hands and said:

"Then there is only another solution. Instead of giving the vassal states voting rights, they directly give each country a different number of votes.

"Lucia and Britain have three tickets each.

"Two tickets each for France, Prussia, Spain, Austria, Ottomans.

"One ticket each for Sardinia, Italy, Portugal, and the Netherlands.

"Our Daming wants 28."

This plan was proposed, and the scene was quiet for a few seconds again.

Daming's number of votes differs greatly from other countries, this is really a helpless fact.

Several representatives were stunned for a moment, and then immediately calculated various situations in this state.

The total number of votes is 47. To pass a vote, more than two-thirds of this number, that is, 32 votes, is required.

Daming himself has 28 cards. If he can win over Lucia, then he can find another country.

It is a little more difficult than the previous plan, and it is necessary to win over two countries.

For the European and American countries, it is relatively balanced.

Lucia and the United Kingdom were given a neck-and-neck position, and Lucia's Prince Nicholas and Wedemeyer were quite satisfied.

The four countries of Prussia, Ottomans, Austria, and Spain are also able to accept the status of two votes.

Although the Netherlands and Italy are not convinced, but looking at those two-ticket countries, they really can't beat them, so they can only bear it.

Portugal is also a bit difficult to accept, but this time the object of comparison is not Ming, but other Western countries.

The comparison between Thai and Western countries basically depends on the local status. Portugal is indeed a head shorter than those two-vote countries.

At the same time, considering the difficulty of winning two tickets, Portugal finally held back.

At the same time, prepare silently, fully develop the colony of Mozhou, and then find a way to improve the status in the future.

Pete thought in his heart that Lucia might vote for Daming, so he subconsciously wanted to make an opinion and couldn't give Lucia three votes.

But he immediately realized that under the current circumstances, the UK cannot do that.

That would surely make Lucia angry and harbor a grudge against Britain.

Daming is willing to give Lucia three tickets, but you, the British, are not willing to give it. Who are you?

The point is, this is to push Lucia towards Daming!

After thinking about these things in Pete's mind, he suddenly realized a problem:
Daming may have used this voting power to divide the Western countries and create conflicts among them.

The point is that such a simple method can actually work.

As long as everyone has different voting rights, there will definitely be conflicts and status differences.

The way to avoid this situation is the original plan of Ming Dynasty, all countries in Thailand and the West have one country, one vote.

In the first place, he should not have increased his own votes, but instead suppressed Daming's votes.

However, there is no going back now.

Countries like Lucia and Prussia already have a mentality that their status is higher than that of several other countries.

Now going back to one person one vote, they can't accept it.

The focus of many people's thinking now may not be that Ming needs to win over several countries to push the resolution through.

It's about what status you should get.

Pete thought about these things in his heart, and his expression was distorted with sadness.

Europa is really a fucking mess!

While Pete was wailing in his heart, Talleyrand of France spoke:

"His Royal Highness, I think we in France should also have three tickets."

Zhu Jingyuan directly raised his hand to stop it and said:

"I don't agree. You, France, evaluate it yourself. Is your colonial development ability stronger than that of the United Kingdom, or is your local strength better than Lucia?
"But you don't need to be discouraged. I don't think this voting right should be fixed. It should be adjusted according to the development of the country.

"I recommend a reassessment and adjustment every five years in the future."

Talleyrand was obviously taken aback, and then the Portuguese spoke directly:

"We think we can."

Prussia followed suit, and Prussia was fighting for change.

Several other countries were also noncommittal, and none of them objected in the end.

Pete closed his eyes in pain:

This kind of operation will only increase the contradictions between countries!

It is better to explain the interests to other countries after the meeting is over.

Then Pete spoke:

"I would like the meeting to be suspended, we need time to discuss internally, we need to communicate with the country."

Zhu Jingyuan was quite helpless towards Peter, and he was also quite helpless towards the King of England.

My ninth uncle has been flattering him for such a long time.

The British kingdom is not coming to change its generals either.

I can really hold my breath.

There was no way to refuse Pete's reasonable request, Zhu Jingyuan nodded noncommittally:

"Okay, that's all for today's meeting..."

(End of this chapter)