Daming 1805

Chapter 98 The right attitude to face Xiyi

The passenger ship Zhoushan Island officially set sail for the port and joined the escort fleet waiting at sea.

The soldiers of Guan Tianpei's department and the security personnel of the passenger ship once again inspected the passenger ship as a whole.

Confirm once again that there is no abnormal situation, there are no people not on the list, and the basic safety of the passenger ship itself is confirmed.

Zhu Jingyuan took two staff, accompanied by Guan Tianpei's soldiers, to visit the cabins in various aspects.

Go to say hello to the negotiating delegation represented by Honglu Temple Shaoqing Shen Fu, and greet the craftsmen headed by Wang Lai, the director of the Ship Department of the Ministry of Industry.

Ask people with severe seasickness, reassure them to be patient and see if they have improved after two days.

If you really can't get used to it, you can disembark at the next few ports.

Zhu Jingyuan felt that this was what he should do, but the officials and craftsmen complimented each other.

After turning around on the boat, Zhu Jingyuan returned to the door of his living area and glanced at the door opposite.

After hesitating for a few seconds, he cautiously avoided the area in front of the door and asked Guan Tianpei to arrange for a soldier to knock on the door.

"May I ask who is outside?"

The servant inside looked through the cat's eye and only saw a soldier outside, so he asked aloud.

After the soldier here reported the food king, the opposite side said "please wait a moment".

After a while, the door of the room was opened, and Zhu Jianfeng, wearing a nightgown, appeared at the door:
"What's the matter with your nephew looking for your uncle?"

There was no expression on Zhu Jingyuan's face:
"I went to visit on the boat, and finally came to Ninth Uncle's place, so I came over to say hello."

Zhu Jianfeng showed no expression:
"Oh, uncle is fine here, nephew, please come back..."

Zhu Jingyuan looked at Zhu Jianfeng who was about to close the door, and quickly reached out to stop it:
"Wait, why did Ninth Uncle intend to participate in this negotiation?"

Zhu Jianfeng said indifferently:
"My father asked me to come here, and I came here, and those Westerners disgusted me and I don't want them to get any advantage in the negotiation."

Having said this, Zhu Jianfeng looked behind him again, seeing that there was no one around, he grinned and said:
"The two of us can be in this state now, everyone knows that the relationship between the two of us is very bad, and Xiyi will know when the time comes.

"I can take it for granted to be a big villain, and my nephew can take it for granted that I will be a little bit more tender.

"Okay, the wicked are going to drink and have fun. If my nephew is not interested in joining, don't come over and disturb..."

After Zhu Jianfeng finished speaking, he closed the door directly, not giving Zhu Jingyuan a chance to continue speaking.

Zhu Jingyuan stretched out his right hand, opened his mouth, and a sentence was held in his throat:
What does a relationship look bad for?Did our uncle and nephew have a good relationship?
Zhu Jingyuan was very speechless to Jiu Shu's explanation. Guan Tianpei looked at it in a daze, but the two aides saw the way.

Niu Jian whispered to Zhu Jingyuan:
"His Royal Highness, the students believe that what the Ninth Highness said is good, and the two His Royal Highnesses can cooperate."

Zhu Jingyuan was noncommittal, frowned and returned to the room, sitting on the soft couch thinking.

Could it be that his ninth uncle, he really doesn't have any special ideas?

Being driven out by the old emperor to negotiate, he accepted it for granted?

Zhu Jingyuan knew that simply thinking like this would lead to no results, so he could only continue to observe.

Anyway, there was more than a month on the road, and he had ten times as many escorts on the boat as him.

And what he said is indeed true. The relationship between the two people does seem to be very bad. This does not need to be played at all, it is very real.

Zhu Jingyuan felt that he should not go and greet this ninth uncle.

Shaking his head, he left his business behind and continued chatting with his staff.

From the afternoon to the evening, the passenger ship Zhoushan Island maintained a speed of ten knots, and left the Bohai Sea at [-]:[-] am the next day and entered the Yellow Sea.

Then the passenger ship and the escorting fleet communicated to confirm that the speed was increased to twenty knots simultaneously.

At this time, Zhu Jingyuan and the two staff members came to his balcony to look at the sea in the distance and the accompanying warships in the distance.

The main force of the fleet escorted by Zhoushan is four Changjiang-type armored cruisers.

满载排水量15000吨，主武器4门240毫米主炮，以及12门160毫米速射炮，最大航速23节。

Then there are eight Huangpu River-type protected cruisers.

满载排水量6000吨，主武器4门200毫米主炮，6门160毫米速射炮，最大航速23节。

Only twelve cruisers of two types were accompanied, and no main battleships joined.

Because Zhoushan is a high-speed passenger ship, the maximum speed reaches 23 knots, and it can cruise at 20 knots at ordinary times. The main ship simply cannot keep up.

Of course, the more important reason is that now the Zhoushan is sailing in the "inland sea" of Daming.

Ice Sea (Okhotsk Sea), Whale Sea (Sea of ​​Japan), Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea, Gulf of Siam, Java Sea, Sulu Sea, Banda Sea, Timor Sea and other Shenzhou, Nanyang, and Tiannan regions The borders and coastal areas are the inland seas of the Ming Dynasty.

Damingyang and Xiaoxiyang are the main spheres of influence of Daming, and in fact they cannot be completely controlled.

And these border inland seas are the absolute defense areas of the Daming Navy's actual control, and enemy fleets can't enter these places, let alone fighting.

Under such circumstances, arranging for a fleet escort of this size is already beyond specification.

After leaving the inland sea area, the fleet will slow down, and the main battleship will join at that time.

Zhu Jingyuan and his two staff were enjoying the scenery of the sea for a while, and Shen Fu, the Shaoqing of Honglu Temple, received an invitation and rushed over.

The two sides said a few simple polite words, and after greeting, they sat down in the living room, and Shen Fu officially began to teach Zhu Jingyuan a lesson.

Lin Zexu and Niu Jian were given permission to follow Zhu Jingyuan to observe.

Starting from the most basic, Shen Fu introduced to Zhu Jingyuan the working mode of Honglu Temple and the details that need special attention:

"Foreign affairs were originally led by the Ministry of Rites, and the focus of these affairs was also etiquette.

"It doesn't mean that when Ming courtiers face foreign envoys and kings, what method should they use to salute, that's not the most important thing.

"Or, that's not the essence of etiquette.

"The essence of Daming's external etiquette is to give different countries and people the treatment appropriate to their actual status.

"For example, among the western countries of Thailand, those with the largest territory and the strongest national strength, Lucia, England, and France, can be regarded as prince-level vassal states.

"Secondly, the four countries of Prussia, Austria, Spain, and the Ottomans can be regarded as princely and vassal states, and the Netherlands, Sardinia, Portugal and other countries can be regarded as principalities.

"When facing the monarchs of Lu, England, and France, you should show respect to the Prince of Ming Dynasty, and try not to take the initiative to belittle them.

"Although, in most cases, even if the envoy of the Ming Dynasty treats his monarch slowly, the other party will usually not behave well, but it may cause twists and turns in the work of Honglu Temple..."

Niu Jian and Lin Zexu nodded slightly.

Zhu Jingyuan, who has memories of two lifetimes, has a sense of time and space confusion now.

The meaning contained in Shen Fu's words, to give the monarchs of Lu, England, and France a respect similar to that of the Prince of the Ming Dynasty, has already raised the standard.

Remind not to deliberately demean slow-waiting, because people often do this in the past, right?
As much as possible, it means that derogation is not a big problem, right?

The point is, the purpose of raising the standard is to facilitate the work of Honglu Temple and avoid unnecessary troubles, not to truly recognize the status of the other party...

The ordinary people and officials in Daming still don't take Xiyi as a human being. It's no wonder that they sold teammates continuously.

And up to now, it is also clear that the Xiyi countries are graded.

Britain, France, and Lu are the highest in the three countries, and they are only prince-level.

Prussia is only treated as a county king, and Portugal is only treated as a prince.

As for other countries, the status is obviously worse than this.

This explicit grading of countries is very different from the modern concept of diplomacy.

Although modern countries are actually different in size, but nominally all countries are equal, and politicians have to "pretend" to some extent in public.

In the current era, it is not pretending to pretend, in fact, it is not just like Daming, but other countries are also similar.

Zhu Jingyuan sighed in his heart. While sorting out his thoughts, Niu Jian asked a question:

"Dare to ask Shen Shaoqing, students remember that Portugal has a territory in Southern Yinzhou called Brazil, which is quite large. Why do we only need to treat each other as princes now?"

Zhu Jingyuan thought that Shen Fu would explain the issue of actual national strength.

As a result, Shen Fu explained directly from another angle:
"Because the official attitude of our Ming Dynasty is not to recognize Portugal's occupation of the so-called Brazil area.

"We Daming believe that on both sides of the Yajiang (Amazon River), the jungle is dense, humid and hot, and there are only a few savages.

"Portugal simply did not fully explore and occupy the area, neither nationalizing these wildlings nor building extensive and stable settlements within.

"That's why Daming does not recognize the borders of power that Portugal and Spain demarcated in Southern Yinzhou.

"Da Ming's attitude is that the two banks of the Yajiang River are no-man's land. To put it a step back, it is the place where the natives live and does not belong to Portugal."

Having said that, Shen Fu looked specifically at Zhu Jingyuan:

"His Royal Highness, when Xiyi is talking, he should take these areas as his territory for granted.

"Similarly, there are the attitudes of Britain and France to the land on the west bank of the Mi River (Mississippi River) in North Yinzhou.

"In this case, you need to pay attention to the details. As the representative of Daming's peace talks, you must pay attention to distinguish the words of the other party."

When Shen Fu said this, Zhu Jingyuan immediately understood that this was the official gesture of non-recognition.

Modern non-recognition is more of a pure attitude, but in the current world situation, there is reality under the attitude.

The Amazon rainforest on both sides of the Asian River, as well as the middle of the Great Plains of North America, are indeed uninhabited places.

So Zhu Jingyuan smiled and nodded and said:
"I understand this, and my attitude is the same. These areas should be no-man's land, and whoever develops them should own them.

"I have to say that it should also belong to the local natives, and we Daming regard the natives as savages, but at least they are humans.

"The savages can be educated, and then join us in Daming, and the corresponding land will belong to Daming."

Shen Fu listened to Zhu Jingyuan's understanding, and nodded lightly, but continued to remind:
"However, Your Highness should also pay attention not to reveal our bottom line easily.

"On the land we just discussed, admitting that it belongs to the natives and admitting that it is a no-man's land is actually the bottom line.

"Our Daming's attitude directly displayed in these places should be that these areas belong to our Daming."

Zhu Jingyuan nodded decisively:
"understood."

(End of this chapter)