New Shun 1730

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

This is also something Liu Yu is very concerned about. The British did not know how to weave cotton at this time, and they had always specialized in wool weaving.

This is both a good thing and a bad thing.

The advantage is that cotton is more popular than wool. If you can smuggle or trade formally at this time, the profits will be huge.

The disadvantage is that cotton spinning is an emerging industry in the UK and there are not so many guild rules and regulations. Just like how Liu Yu managed the navy so easily while the Dashun reform could only be piloted in Wendeng, it is better to create and develop from scratch than to stay in the old quagmire. Reform is easy, and the British cotton textile industry will take off if it is not suppressed.

Tea, silk, and porcelain are considered luxury goods after all at this time, and their sales volume will definitely be lower than that of cotton.

"Asked. The smugglers said that as long as it is not pure cotton, or a blend of wool and cotton, or a blend of silk and cotton, or a blend of linen and cotton, they can find a way. There are loopholes in the law, and their relationship with British Customs It can only be done on the sidelines. According to legal regulations, pure cotton is not acceptable. British laws are quite rigid and can be exploited. "

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

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

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

"Money is not an issue. It's worth spending more to buy seeds. As for cotton, since smugglers dare to ask for goods, there is a way to do it. Blended... Well, I've noted it down."

At this time, he didn't know the level of Dashun's blended fabrics, but as long as he could copy the technology and open up sales from smugglers, it would be faster to promote it here.

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, it still has the power to fight. It was not until the opening of the Suez Canal that freight rates dropped sharply that the Songjiang cotton textile industry received the final blow.

In a context where there is an industrial generation gap and forced switches have almost no tariffs, we can still fight for another 29 years until the canal is opened. Nowadays, the whole world is forced to roll it together to see who can roll whom.

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

Before leaving, I asked for steamed buns again.

"It will take some time for me to return to Beijing this time. During this time, you can take out your voyage diary and teach the officers and cadets about the landmarks you saw along the way, as well as the precautions for the voyage. After reading it on paper, it will feel shallow. I know that this matter needs to be practiced carefully. Only you who have been there personally can explain it clearly."

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

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

Before approaching the entrance of Dagu, they first asked the boat to carry the letter ashore. After obtaining permission from the other side, they slowly approached the Tianjin Port under the control of the Dagu entrance fort.

The ships of the diplomatic missions from various countries are berthed here, and they are not warships. Even the United Kingdom cannot send super large warships to Asia at this time. If it sends small warships, it will be looked down upon, so they are simply large merchant ships.

Liu Yu's battleships were of little use in the Wei Navy, but they were of great significance here.

The Dagukou Fort, which had only buildings but no new cannons, had now deployed real cannons. Within the control range of the fort, all Western ships were operating honestly.

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

Given the previous advance notification, a line of officials on shore were waiting.

This place is no different from the powerful navy, everything is kept simple. Although Li Han has not been crowned king, Liu Yu, the count, is a real person, and he has arranged the ceremonial guards and complicated etiquette.

As I got closer, I realized that most of the people who came to greet me were acquaintances, many of whom had followed Qi Guogong to Europe. When they left, Liu Yu was still just like them. Even if he wasn't a classmate, he was still a playboy in the circle. But at this time, the identity gap had already widened.

The establishment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requires talents who can understand foreign languages. After the ban on Christianity in Dashun, missionaries must not be trusted and can only be selected from these young people who followed Qi Guogong on his visit to Europe.

Although there are language barriers in different countries, after all, there is still the "elegant sound" of Latin. Even if it is not good, they have been to Paris and learned some French, so communication is still enough.

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

There was a guard of honor along the way, and the future embassy area of ​​various countries was not far from the seaside. It was not established in Tianjin city. At this time, it was only a rough construction, and the houses were still under construction.

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 for by Dashun. The houses can also be rented to diplomatic missions from various countries, just like the customs offices in the south.

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

In fact, due to the identity struggle between "Celestial Dynasty" and "China", we can only choose this compromise method: let Korea, Ryukyu and other countries pretend that Dashun is the Chinese Dynasty; and let the Western countries understand that Dashun is China.

The embassy district is in the capital. When the North Korean tribute envoys came, they must have thought in their hearts, is it so embarrassing to call the whole world the king's land?

Confucianism in Korea flourished to the point where two classes of castes were distorted. Historically, after the Manchus entered the country, they would rather eat orthodox food than barbarian food. Seeing the equal diplomacy between Dashun and the barbarians, one must exclaim that there will be no China after Taixing.

Isolating Westerners in Tianjin and maintaining diplomatic relations with the embassy, ​​but not being allowed to enter Beijing without an edict, can be regarded as the best solution under compromise.

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

"Shou Chang, you are finally back. I received news from the capital that the messenger had returned first, so I came to Tianjin as soon as possible."

"The most important thing that your Majesty has asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to do is to let the Western countries know where the border of the Celestial Empire is and that the vassals are ministers of the Emperor. I estimate that the windy season has passed, and those who have not come now will not come this year. "

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

"His Majesty has ordered the King of Ryukyu to enter the capital. Calculating the time, it's almost time. I just wait for you to come back and we will enter the capital together."

Liu Yu smiled and said: "I think the court and the central government are all ready. It's just to show in front of the Western countries that the vassals took the initiative to come to the emperor to plead guilty and show it with power. The barbarians are afraid of power and have no morals. You tell them They don’t understand benevolence, righteousness, and etiquette. It’s just like when they tell us about their inheritance laws, we think they have already translated their national documents.”

Duke Guo of Qi knew what Liu Yu was concerned about and said with a smile: "Don't worry, there is no deception. If it is tribute, it is tribute, and if it is diplomacy, it is diplomacy. The credentials are all written in Latin, and the translators are all our own people who are familiar with officialdom. , It’s not wrong. It’s just that the British insist on adding the name King of France to their title. The French envoy is very dissatisfied with this and hopes that we will not pronounce that title when we read it in the hall.”

This public case is really a problem. Li Han also knew about this public case. He rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "It's easy. Anyway, if you want to read the Chinese pronunciation, you only need to translate the word "France" in the British Credentials into "France". That’s it? Each mission will be given a copy of the world map with the translated names of each country. We only know France, but we don’t know France, and the British are just talking about it.”

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

The British wanted warships to resupply in Guangdong, and hoped that Dashun would allow British warships to enter the port, and then the flags could be lowered and the gun doors could be closed.

The Swedes are interested in trade first and secondly in order to see if Dashun has the attitude to send troops to conquer Russia.

After the Portuguese knew that Dashun had defeated Russia first and was evenly matched, and received the envoys from the country, they lowered their profile and came as a tribute, hoping that the emperor would give them a favor and retain Macau.

France has sent an official permanent ambassador, and it is hoped that Dashun can send an official permanent ambassador to Paris.

Only the Netherlands was not an official member of the Seven Provinces Republic, but a member of the East India Company. Of course, the news of the war with Japan could not be told to the Netherlands at this time. Instead, in the name of "hearing about the plight of the Chinese in Batavia and the Dutch's intention to drive them away," they asked the East India Company to send people to Tianjin to talk and properly resolve it.

However, once it comes, we will not only talk about this matter, but also the attitude of the Netherlands when the war against Japan started.

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

But we can talk about this later.

In terms of long-term trade benefits, Sweden is the most important. This is related to whether Dashun's maritime merchants can reach Europe where tariffs are extremely protective.

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

"Shou Chang, the Dutch have noticed that we are going to attack Japan, but they just expressed their shock and asked whether their future trade with Japan would be affected."

"But regarding the remnants of the Celestial Empire in Batavia, they turned an army around and signaled that many Chinese there did not have entry permits. They were willing to maintain relations with the Celestial Empire, so they wanted to send those people back to Fujian. You know, this I can’t agree to this thing no matter what.”

Li Huan was still young and didn't understand. He said curiously: "The Duke of the Kingdom, Ying Suobo, and the people of Batavia are also the sons of our dynasty. If they are in trouble there, why not take them back by boat?"

Duke Guo of Qi glanced at Li Huan and felt that he was indeed young.

Liu Yu couldn't bear to break the beautiful fantasy in Li Huan's heart, and shook his head and said: "Seventh prince, most of the properties in Bacheng come from the hands of the people of the Celestial Dynasty. When people come back, the properties stay there? How does this make sense? It's okay to just come back. , 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 there without a residence permit? "

The Duke of Qi heard Liu Yu telling Li Huan some nonsense as if coaxing a child. He looked at Liu Yu and saw Liu Yu shaking his head slightly. He signaled not to tell the child the cruel truth about the world and to leave a few more years of innocence and romance, so he smiled slightly and did not tell the truth.

Although this explanation for Li Han was naive, it fit Li Han's thoughts. When he thought about it, he felt that he was simplistic. Why did he drive people back?

Although the reason is not this, it does not affect the fact that the Dutch rebelled against the general.

"In my opinion, this matter has its own merits."

"The Dutch are not allowed to interfere in the affairs of the Japanese country. They should be discussed through trade."

"The Batavia issue is about warships as collateral, and has nothing to do with trade. It only says that if the industry is not prosperous, the Dutch can be allowed to move it to Ceylon, Banda and other places."

"Since he is the general, we will go back and say that the Chinese in Batavia are all Chinese people of the Celestial Empire and must obey the Celestial Empire officials. We can send people to Batavia to comfort them. The Dutch will definitely not agree, so this may be a compromise. He does not talk about sending them back to Fujian, and I do not talk about sending warships to comfort them, but the compromise of moving them to Ceylon and Banda is adopted."