Xinshun 1730

Chapter 257 Implying Sino-Dutch Contradiction
If Earl Morpa knew how to use idioms, he would have thought of the word "drive away tigers and devour wolves".But a more accurate term is to lure tigers to eat wolves.

Duplex's meaning is very clear. If the navy does not use it for defense, it will lose money, especially if there is no equivalent navy in the surrounding area.

The army can also suppress bandits and suppress rebellions.If the navy has no enemies, it is just a meaningless pile of garbage, and money has to be posted into it every year.

Since Dashun has built a navy, and judging from the speed of the salvo, it can be seen that the level of training is at least twice a week, which shows that this navy has invested a lot of money.

That being the case, Dashun's expansion direction is nothing more than Japan or Southeast Asia.

And if you go to Nanyang, you will definitely have conflicts with the Netherlands.

In the context of the Anglo-Dutch alliance, instigating Dashun to declare war on the Netherlands is in line with... maybe it is the interests of France, or maybe it is just the interests of the French East India Company.

Whoever wins the whole of Bangladesh in Britain and France is qualified to really get involved in Southeast Asia.

This will be a long process. At least at this moment, no one can imagine that India will be completely reduced to a colony within a few decades, and no one dares to think that India will be so fragile at this time.

Duplex's proposal always revolves around the clear goal of "France's overseas interests are taxation in India".

Count Morpa did not object immediately, nor did he express his support, he wanted to take another look.As a plenipotentiary envoy, he has certain decision-making power.

After the ship docked, the gypsy band on the shore played the tune of "God Save the King".It sounds very similar to the British song "God Save the Queen", and it is actually very similar, even the original version is a French song.

This is a standard anthem of the monarchy, similar to the Gagaku in the Book of Songs, and different from the war anthems of general republics, it sounds like mourning.

It's also a pretty standard "butt licking" song, and literally.This is the song presented by "Xingchen" in celebration of Louis XIV's anal fistula surgery, and it can be regarded as the national anthem of the French Bourbon dynasty at this time.

Count Morpa had never seen such a form of reception.

But he still stood aside, and after humming the carol, he met Liu Yu who came to greet him.

There is no national anthem in Dashun, even if there is gala music, Liu Yu is not qualified to play it.

When they arrived in the capital, they might play elegant music when the emperor received them, but it definitely didn't work here.

The two sides met each other according to the etiquette, Liu Yu arched his hands, and Count Morpa used the French etiquette.

Carefully selected grenadiers and tall marines served as guards of honor, and the height of the tall Shandong men still had an overwhelming advantage over these Frenchmen.

Concerning this legendary and misunderstood army that had fought against Russia and Junggar, Earl Morpa was convinced that Dashun had a very powerful army, and it was clearly different from European soldiers: the felt with red tassels on its head cap.

Except for the difference in military cap and uniform, the firearms are the same.

The flintlock gun is not some mysterious high-tech. If Dashun does not buy it from France, it can also buy it from the Netherlands, Britain or even Spain.

The reason why I bought French guns was mainly to shorten the relationship with France.It's just that Dashun bought two batches here, and then produced it by itself.

Liu Yu didn't expect this guard of honor to make the French exclaim that they were invincible. After exchanging pleasantries, Liu Yu got to the point first.

"His Majesty the Emperor hopes that you can go to the capital as soon as possible. Set sail from here and land in Tianjin. I am the deputy envoy of the reception group. May I ask, Mr. Earl, has the letter of credence been translated?"

Earl Morpa said that the credential has been translated, and he found a missionary who has been in China for many years to translate it. There is absolutely no disrespectful content, and the taboos that should be adopted have also been avoided.

There are a few missionaries who have been to the court, so there should be no problem with the translated credentials.

To be on the safe side, Liu Yu took the copy and read it again, and asked Kang Bushao to find some "taboo" professionals to study carefully, and after confirming that there was basically no problem, he was relieved.

There are already many people in the DPRK and China who are quite dissatisfied with Dashun's behavior of engaging in diplomacy regardless of decency. At this time, there must be no mistakes, so as not to be exploited.

Credentials are fine, but what to talk about becomes a problem.

France is not Russia, which has a long border issue with Dashun. This time the French mission came here, and both sides actually knew what they wanted to discuss.

Liu Yu wants to send people to France to learn shipbuilding, and to get the design drawings of new French battleships, and the King of France can send a few truly excellent shipbuilding technicians at the official level.

He wanted a warship, a very good French 74-gun battleship.

This intention has not been expressed once or twice, but France has always been in his hands, and Liu Yu is given outdated goods.

The new design drawings have long been available in France, but I don't want to build them yet because of lack of money.

Liu Yu revealed what he wanted prematurely, and the French must use it in exchange for what they want.

Liu Yu knew what France wanted.

Because France signed the Fontainebleau Pardon, many non-Catholic handicraftsmen ran away, and the handicraft industry fell into a slump.

In foreign trade, the Netherlands and the UK have imposed tariffs on each other, and exports are not good.For advantageous industries such as wine, the Dutch tariff on France has reached 90.00%.

Domestic demand, France is even more hip.The Mississippi bubble has cut off French leeks, export sales are not good, domestic demand is even worse, and the trade deficit with Dashun explodes every year.

The French are very confident, and Dashun is too far away after all. It is estimated that although France is interested in Dashun as an ally, they are more interested in money.

Silk, porcelain, tea, the oldest three items, Liu Yu estimated that France wanted to exchange battleship blueprints.

It certainly cannot be changed.

It's not that it can't be sold.

Porcelain, it won't be long before some low-end European local porcelain will be crowded out.

At this time, it can definitely be sold at a high price, but the problem is that it is not very cost-effective to exchange for the blueprint of the battleship.

At least it will take decades for European porcelain to catch up. During this period, there will be a silver surplus of tens of millions of taels.

But there is nothing else to replace it.

It is impossible for the French navy to beat the United Kingdom. The distance is so far, and it is more about using each other to contain the common enemy. It is temporarily impossible to expect to cooperate in combat.

The new things in Liu Yu's hands, flat glass, the French are not interested in, because flat glass is originally a French technology that is more advanced, and the British have to steal it.

Cigarettes don't make much sense, but matches can be sold. Anyway, such flammable matches cannot be shipped to Europe for sale.But the French will definitely not agree to change the matchmaking technology to the blueprint.

Fortunately, in terms of arms, Liu Yu still has a few cards for the bottom of the box in his hand, and he wants to give it a try.

It is not impossible to figure out a new type of battleship by starting with a cruiser.It's just that it takes too long.

Time was exactly what he lacked.

Today's allies may be tomorrow's enemies, and India, a place that can provide cotton for Dashun's industrial revolution, must be contested. Relying on these broken cruisers and old-fashioned 64-gun battleships that can't keep up no.

As for the prestige and first-class name that the emperor wanted, Liu Yu actually didn't care too much about it.

Thinking of this, Liu Yu pretended to ask unintentionally: "Is there a gunner on the mast of the French navy? Are the muskets they use still rifled?"

Rifling appeared earlier than flintlock guns.The accuracy is much higher, but if you want to spin the buckshot, the bullet must be thicker than the muzzle.This makes it very troublesome to load. It needs to be hammered into it with a hammer. At this time, there is no tolerance for standard parts. From time to time, the lead bullets will not fly out after two hammers are dropped, and the inside will explode.

Earl Morpa said: "They all use smoothbore guns. Although the rifled ones are more accurate, they are too troublesome to load."

"Your gunners are reloading very quickly. It seems that your country's navy is well-trained. But a navy with only cruisers cannot be called a powerful navy."

Although France now has seven or eight battleships that can leave the port at any time, the foundation is there. As long as you charge money and donate money with patriotism, you can quickly create a fleet.Earl Morpa is still qualified to express a little pride for Weihai's fleet.

"Yeah, our navy has just started. But China must have a strong navy to protect the interests of our diaspora."

"In Batavia, there are tens of thousands of Chinese people. They have been discriminated against in their lives there. Many of them are descendants of labor slaves captured by the Dutch and British from Zhoushan, Penghu and other places decades ago. This cannot be allowed."

"Moreover, Spain also massacred the people of the Celestial Dynasty in Luzon."

"Without a powerful fleet, their interests cannot be guaranteed. The law is only within the range of naval guns."

"It's a pity that your country does not provide us with the latest design drawings of battleships. We just need to step up training and use various methods to increase firepower."

"Our cannons can fire faster; on our masts, there are riflemen who can shoot farther. Moreover, a new technology can make the loading of rifled guns easier, just like smoothbore guns."

Before throwing out the temptation, it also implicitly indicated to France that Dashun's interests were in Nanyang, and the first target was Batavia in the Netherlands.

Anyway, France's hand has not been stretched so far yet, and there are no Chinese in the places they control.

The Dutch East India Company is the economic pillar of the Netherlands. If a conflict breaks out in Southeast Asia, it will almost immediately make the Dutch capital unable to function.

This is extremely beneficial to France at this time, and the Anglo-Dutch alliance is aimed at France.

Count Morpa was very curious about the artillery innovation Liu Yu was talking about, but he didn't pay much attention to the new rifled gun loading technology.

Because I didn't see it with my own eyes.

But I saw with my own eyes the speed of the naval gun salvo, it was indeed very fast, and it was a bit ridiculously fast.Although there is a bonus of rigorous training, it is also a bit too fast.

Hearing Liu Yu say that there is a new technology in naval guns, Earl Morpa, as the Minister of the Navy, immediately became very interested.

However, Liu Yu didn't let him visit, and he didn't focus on the flintlock on the naval gun. That thing was not technically difficult, but just a matter of thinking.

"Mr. Earl, you can watch the practice of our new rifled flintlocks, which I think your country needs urgently. Although you are the Minister of the Navy, although the navy needs cannons, the situation facing France is not as good as Da Shun. It is the same: to maintain both a strong army and a strong navy, and the total military expenditure is limited."

"Perhaps, this new rifled gun loading technology can improve the level of the French army, thereby saving money and investing it in the navy."

(End of this chapter)