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Chapter 1024: Diverting Trouble to the West
"Twenty thousand pounds...an interest-free loan...Your Majesty, do you really think that Parliament should be dissolved and the King should be given greater power?"

Villiers' life was not bad these days. After seeing that the Ming Empire Navy did not kill prisoners and actively treated the wounded, he knew that he had met civilized people, so his life would not be lost. As long as the news of his capture could be passed back to London, Charles I would definitely raise the ransom to save him as soon as possible.

When he first met the Emperor of the Ming Empire, he was still thinking about how to highlight his status and position so that he would not look down on him, so as to get better treatment and get out of the sea of ​​suffering earlier. But he started with a long sermon in Latin, which made his mind confused.

It is obvious that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was very familiar with the situation in Europe and Britain. If he did not have a unique Asian face, one would have thought he was from a European court.

But the most exciting thing is the number, 5 pounds! You have to know that the Admiralty's annual shipbuilding budget is only pounds, and the richest Duke of Norfolk earns less than pounds a year. If the king can really get pounds, even without the consent of Parliament, he can still gather an army and first suppress the rebellion in Scotland.

"Of course, Governor Cohen can attest to this. I am the one who has the final say in the empire. Without a parliament, without members of parliament, and without a constitutional government, I can still run the country prosperously.

If you don't mind delaying your return home, you can ask Governor Cohen for help and go north from Batavia to visit the cities and capitals of the empire, and dispel all doubts with your own eyes."

Seeing Villiers's eyes, Hong Tao knew that his words had worked. But the more credulous people are, the more confident they are. If you want to turn credulity into conviction, no words are as effective as seeing it with your own eyes. Just watch, remember, and learn anything you want. If you can learn anything, you will take his last name.

The system of the Ming Empire is not something that can be learned by just looking at it. If you don't master its core secrets, it will be bad. By then, Charles I will stand on the opposite side of Parliament. One wants centralization and the other wants constitutionalism. There is no solution!
"Governor, are you willing to provide some convenience?" Villiers was really tempted and wanted to visit the legendary Eastern country very much, even if it delayed his return home.

If he could learn a little trick to consolidate the royal power and return home with 20,000 pounds, the defeat in the naval battle would be a minor matter. But whether the trip could be made did not seem to depend on the emperor, but on the Dutchman beside him.

"…Your Excellency the Duke, I am willing to serve you!"

Cohen had been present when the emperor and the Duke of Buckingham met, and had heard all the conversations. Now facing the question, looking at the emperor's eyes, even if he was not happy in his heart, he could only express that he was very honored.

He himself could not explain why he was not happy, but he always felt that the emperor was like a sailor on the dock, holding candy to trick local children into running errands. The Duke of Buckingham was like a child who was not very sensible in front of the emperor. He had no initiative and was always led by the nose.

"The twenty thousand pounds I lent to Charles will also be paid by Governor Cohen, but I need to make sure that your king uses the money to maintain the royal power. This work will be fully supervised by the Imperial Envoy in London, and he will take the initiative to visit you when the time comes."

Seeing that Cohen was hesitant and unwilling to help, Hong Tao put another rope around him. What was he thinking? It was too late to get out now. Whether he was willing or not, and whether he saw the big pit in front of him or not, he had to become an accomplice.

"Your Majesty's generosity and integrity make me admire you very much. Please rest assured that I will do my best to persuade His Majesty and take your advice as the best advice!" In fact, what Villiers was most concerned about was whether the 20,000 pounds would be paid. After all, the other party was the emperor. Who could ask for the debt if he forgot it? Now he finally felt at ease. The emperor could forget, but the Dutch could not. This was promised in person. For 20,000 pounds, Charles I really dared to take action against the East India Company.

"In fact, your king shouldn't have fallen out with the parliamentarians right away. I have seen similar situations during my reign, and I naturally won in the end. Do you want to hear how I won?"

At this point, the conversation that should have ended was opened up by Hong Tao. There was no other way. It would be difficult to see the Duke again after this separation, and there was no time to take it slow. He could only cram in the information.

"If possible, I would very much like to listen to the wise tactics of His Majesty the Emperor!" Villiers was a little flattered, and quickly stood up and saluted with his hand on his chest, making a gesture of accepting instruction.

"Find a point of interest that both sides cannot ignore, temporarily put aside the dispute, and get the interest first. During this period of time, you can use the distribution of interests to divide the members of Congress. Their interests are definitely different. As long as you can win over some of them and let them conflict with each other, the situation will be much easier to handle.

I know you will ask what interests most of the senators are concerned about. In fact, it is very simple, the New World. There are not only silver mines, timber and fur, but also large tracts of fertile land for growing sugar cane, cotton, wheat and tobacco.

These were all in high demand when shipped back to Europe, and then one could make another fortune by purchasing ironware, horses, beef, pork, butter, cheese, flour, and peas from Europe and shipping them back to the New World, where they could be sold to local farmers.

All goods going back and forth have to pay taxes, and production and processing also have to pay taxes. You don't need to calculate it clearly, but you should be able to understand the benefits just by imagination. If your king can talk to the parliamentarians in detail about this, the tension between the two sides should be eased. "

In fact, Hong Tao did not know the specific conflicts between Charles I and Parliament, but the problems of the ruling class were nothing more than two: power and interests. Sometimes power dominated interests, and sometimes interests in turn influenced power. The specific decision of who was dominant and who was subordinate depended on the magnitude.

At present, the interests of Europe have been almost divided up among the Habsburg family, France, Sweden and the Netherlands. As a latecomer, the British can hardly get involved, so they turned their attention to Asia.

Now if I want them to give up their covetousness for Asia, I must find a substitute of similar quality, otherwise they will not give in no matter how much I say.

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So, in the 17th century, apart from Asia, where else was suitable for plunder and colonization? The obvious answer was the New World.

Unfortunately, the British were still at a disadvantage in their fight for the New World. Not only did they lag far behind the two forerunners, Spain and Portugal, they also had no advantage over the Netherlands and France.

(End of this chapter)