Xinshun 1730

Chapter 376 The Last Diplomacy
Liu Yu's "performance" gave Phillips an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

The Netherlands 25 years ago was also "young". At that time, Phillips was also a young man.

A small country the size of a palm wants to be the hegemon of the world.

The fanaticism of patriotism made the Netherlands mobilize all its strength.

The result is... During the War of Spanish Succession, the blood was drained by France.

14 Dutch soldiers, armed with fanaticism and armed with silver coins, went to fight against a France whose manpower seemed inexhaustible compared with the Netherlands.

The family behind them bears the highest tax in Europe; the merchant ships of the Netherlands are sunk one by one by France;

The patriotic enthusiasm that was cultivated from the 70-year War of Independence and lasted for more than a hundred years completely faded after this war.

Go f*cking interprovincial consul!Go to a fucking world power!Fuck the sea coachman!Go to a first-class military power!Go to the fucking international conference for the right to speak!Go to the f*cking Union of Seven Provinces!Go to the fucking glory of the sea!

At this time, the Netherlands doesn’t even want a consul or the people. The seven provinces are doing their own thing well. Why do they have to have a consul who unites the seven provinces to build a navy and an army?Why do you have to become a world power and participate in world disputes?

Twenty-five years ago, "very energetic" young men like this Chinese earl at this moment were everywhere in Amsterdam, Zeeland, and Rotterdam.

It is precisely because of this patriotic enthusiasm that the palm-sized Netherlands has fought against Spain for 80 years for independence; in order to obtain the monopoly of maritime trade, it has donated money to build ships and fought against the United Kingdom for 23 years, and the fleet was completely destroyed and rebuilt; Letting France get Belgium is also for the strategic buffer of the Netherlands, and it has been fighting with France for 20 years.

But now, at this moment, there are not many "very energetic" young men like the Earl of China in the seven provinces.

What the big bourgeoisie in the provinces want is "true freedom". They don't want to take money for shipbuilding or fund military expansion. What they want is a progressive tax rebate policy and the independence of the provinces.

The East India Company, which was once a newborn calf, gave up pioneering and turned to the financial industry where it is easier to make money.Invest domestic capital in England, Sweden, Austria and Russia and collect interest.

A "South China Sea Bubble" harvested leeks, and the drummers who played the drums and passed on the flowers made a lot of money.As for ordinary people, the blood has dried up and their patriotic enthusiasm has faded.

Many years later, the France at that moment must be the "confidant" who understands the Netherlands best at this moment.

Now that Liu Yu uttered wild words, Phillips didn't think it was too ridiculous.

China is too big. It doesn’t need everyone’s fanaticism like the Dutch’s patriotic era. Even if only one percent of the population can achieve the patriotic fanaticism of the Dutch 25 years ago, this is a huge road that can swallow the whole world. dragon.

Decades ago, the Netherlands fought alone against the British and French allied forces, almost against the world's largest navy and the world's largest army. At this time, it is not ridiculous for the huge Chinese Empire to say such a few words.

The only thing that was ridiculous was that the young earl was so aggressive that he almost directly stated Dashun's strategic intentions.

And Ming's strategic intention made Phillips secretly proud: this confirmed his judgment that Dashun's previous actions were for Russia, while Japan was an accident caused by the Ryukyu incident.

The Duke of Qi at the side immediately understood that Liu Yu was taking the opportunity to deceive, and the deterrence had already been imposed.

Sure enough, the furious Liu Yu added another sentence.

"Duke Qi is so polite to the Dutch, could it be that he has accepted the benefits of the Dutch? This is a matter of the dignity of the country!"

Qi Guogong said angrily: "What nonsense are you talking about? This is a diplomatic matter. The emperor asked me to take charge of foreign affairs. You are young, what do you know about long-term planning for the country? Please leave!"

The two pretended to look at each other for a while, and the Seventh Prince came out to smooth things over, and "forced" Liu Yu to leave.

As soon as he left, Qi Guogong immediately returned the gift list to Phillips, and said seriously: "I have always done business, so don't do such things in the future."

It was a completely different person from the standard expression of extorting bribes a few days ago.

Phillips hesitated for a moment, then suddenly understood, thinking that the Duke didn't like bribes, but because the young earl thought he had taken bribes, so he absolutely couldn't take bribes.

But if this is the case, won't the Qi National Guild show a tough attitude to prove that he is not a person who accepts bribes?

When he was worried, he heard Qi Guogong sneer again: "I won't do favoritism just for a mirror or a few pieces of glass. Are you joking with me when you take these mere one hundred taels of things as gifts? I might as well teach you today, If you enter the capital, if you really want to give a gift, such a gift will be regarded as an insult."

Phillips still doesn’t know the changes in Dashun these years, and his mind is still stuck in a few years ago. The “smart story” of the captain of the Foldin is very famous in Amsterdam. Is the mirror so worthless now?

Could it be...the French are going to make big moves against Austria and Russia, so that even glass and mirror technology are used as diplomatic conditions?
He didn't know that Qi Guogong was taking this opportunity to clarify in order to prevent the embassy from getting suspicious when they arrived in the capital and saw many glass windows and glass mirrors, so as to avoid mistakes in the future.

Phillips' face was a bit ugly. Judging from his attitude a few days ago, the foreign minister of Dashun liked to bribe.But his own ignorance caused this to be a failed bribe.

Fortunately, there was that young earl who disrupted the situation, otherwise he thought he had given a very expensive gift and misjudged the situation, which would be very detrimental to the negotiations.

It's a little embarrassing now.

If you can use gold and silver, you can smooth things over at this time, saying that these gifts are only carried with the ship, and the real gift will be delivered quietly in the future.

But now he can't even make a round of circles, because he can't say that there will be gifts in the future, and he can't guarantee whether the 17-member committee will reply to allow him to give gifts after two years.If you say that you don't give a gift, you're going to have a big deal.

In a moment of embarrassment, Duke Qi took the initiative to break the embarrassment, and did not mention the gift-giving anymore, but talked about foreign affairs.

"Liu Yu is still too young to understand the interests of the country at all. This is why His Majesty likes him very much. He also follows the 'Jesuit China Vice President Dai Jinxian' to study Western countries, but he cannot be allowed to take charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The reason. Young people are always too aggressive and don’t know where the interests of the country are.”

These words resonated with Phillips a little. In his opinion, the fanatics in his country were the same.And their fanaticism drained the blood of Holland.

Thinking about what Qi Guogong said just now that the earl had studied with the vice president of the Jesuits in China, Phillips felt as if he understood something.

In addition, the young earl has been saying that France can completely undertake export trade, and it seems that this person has a high opinion of France... Could it be that this is a hidden Catholic?

Dashun banned religion, so the young earl pretended to convert and regretted it every day?The count was actually a fanatical crusader?
The Dutch still believe that the biggest reason why the Ming Dynasty failed to conduct official trade with China was that the missionaries of the Society of Jesus slandered the Protestant Netherlands in the Ming Empire, and many Catholic officials in the Ming Dynasty criticized the Protestant countries. There is a natural antipathy.

They called it slander when the Portuguese said in Japan that "the Dutch are a bunch of pirates".

Thinking about it this way, everything formed a logical and self-consistent circle in Phillips' mind.

I thought to myself that it is no wonder that this vigorous young count is hostile to Orthodox Russia, Protestant Japan, and Protestant Holland. It turns out that there are hidden religious factors in it.

Maybe the prince may also be a hidden Catholic. Maybe after arriving in the capital of the empire, you can inquire about the prince's public beliefs before the ban on religion.

After thinking that he had figured out the key point, Phillips quickly threw away the worries just now. It sounded like the Duke, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Dashun, was not fanatical about starting a war.

Maybe the previous attitude was just to ask for bribes?Even Dashun itself didn't have such a strong attitude, the duke just took the opportunity to enrich his own pockets with public interests?

If this is the case, it seems that it is a good thing not to give gifts.

Sure enough, after hesitating for a moment, Qi Guogong said: "His words did not mean the meaning of most people in the dynasty. He is just a small group of people in the court. above interests."

Phillips quickly said: "Your Excellency is right. Young people are always crazy about war, and officers always like to rely on war to enhance their reputation. The war between the Netherlands and the Ming Empire originated from the Ming Empire. Bewitched by the Catholics and slandered by the Jesuits on Holland, it was just an accident. Holland would never think like that again. And we just wanted trade..."

"Your country is now banning religion, and the Netherlands is not a Catholic country. I think we will have a deeper understanding."

After repeating the logic of robbers, Duke Qi could only hold back a smile in his heart, and praised: "The Ming Empire is our enemy. You started a war with the Ming Empire. Why do we hate you for this? Only fanatical young people like Liu Yu , My mind is full of ideas such as empire, honor, and ethnic group, so I say these naive words. These words can be said to others, but if you believe them, it is unwise."

Phillips quickly said yes, thinking that this is a mature and smart person, and he likes to deal with such people, not with those fanatics.

"Don't rush to be happy. Some young officers in the Celestial Dynasty are still easily incited. Especially the naval officer in charge of him, you have to know the saying, you reap what you sow, and you reap what you sow. He is The Beanman."

This is a warning to Phillips that although the court's attitude seems to be that it does not want to cause trouble, you, the Netherlands, should not go too far.

After making sure that Phillips understood what he meant, Qi Guozheng said: "During the Wanli period of the previous dynasty, the massacre of the Spaniards in Luzon was not wanted by the court. Those who seek profit from distant countries, but if such an incident occurs again, I am afraid that the public opinion in the world will be difficult to control. These young military officers and young nobles headed by Liu Yu will definitely use this force to demand war. This is what the court cannot Allowed, this is not where the interests of the Celestial Dynasty lie."

"The people there are all thieves who stole the country. It is really difficult to manage. Moreover, there are still many internal disputes in the Celestial Dynasty. The local chieftain rebellion in the southwest region, the old Junggar tribe, the believers in the Western Regions, the Mongols... These are all It has greatly involved the energy of the imperial court."

"Since the Qin Dynasty, the destruction of the Celestial Dynasty has always come from the north, where is the most dangerous place for the Celestial Dynasty. The imperial court does not want to use too much power in other directions, let alone affect the large amount of silver exports. This is related to the imperial court's finances. .”

It is no longer an attitude of taking money to do things after accepting bribes, but an old-fashioned foresight to seek the country, or more like a sanctimonious after being unable to accept bribes.

(End of this chapter)