Howard said with a grave expression, "Furthermore, gentlemen, I don't care what your situation was before under Tatar rule in Guangzhou's Thirteen Factories, but I'm telling you now that since this is the Ming Dynasty, you will please abide by Ming Dynasty rules and not cause me any trouble."
"In short, in order to foster good relations with the Ming Emperor, for this vast market, and for that glorious silver, what those damned French frogs dare to sell, we will sell, and what those French frogs dare not sell, we will sell even more!"
While Howard was discussing with his contingent of "envoys" what could be sold and what could not, the French envoy Pierre, residing next door, was similarly deliberating with his "delegation members" on countermeasures.
"This is the situation, those damned rose beef are living right next door, and I believe, gentlemen, you know what the Ming people are truly aiming for?"
"God knows how low the bottom line of those damned Anglo-Saxon bandits is, and no one can guess what terms they will agree to with the Ming people."
"Believe me, what we dare to sell, they will surely dare to sell, and what we dare not sell, they might sell as well."
"This is truly terrible."
"I must say, ever since our King's pen pal, that Tatar Emperor, made that decision that was simply as foolish as our King's, this world has become very strange."
As Pierre finished speaking, a member of the delegation tentatively asked, "Then why can't we ally with the rose beef next door? After all..."
But Pierre sharply rebuked him, "After all what? After all, we cannot return Aquitaine to those damned Anglo-Saxon bandits. After all, we have fought over a hundred years of wars with those damned Anglo-Saxon bandits, from the Battle of Sluys to the Battle of Castillon and the Battle of Bayonne, and the great France and those damned Anglo-Saxon bandits have paid a great price."
The chastised delegation member rolled his eyes and retorted, "Even if we cannot ally with those damned Anglo-Saxon bandits, Mr. Pierre, please do not forget that we have the great France behind us. We have invincible armies. If these 'Ming people' dare to play any tricks, we can completely fight them into submission."
Pierre now deeply regretted why he had chosen such fools as members of his delegation.
Pierre, with a gloomy expression, reprimanded, "It is true that we have the great and invincible France behind us, but think with your pitiable walnut-sized brain, how far is it from France to this so-called Ming country? And how many troops can our great France possibly dispatch?"
"Do you know how many people participated in the entire Siege of Orléans? Do you know how many troops the Tatar Emperor mobilized when fighting this Ming Emperor?"
"No, you know nothing. You, like our King and the Lady of the Deficit, only know how to buy clothes, host balls, renovate villas, decorate gardens, and incidentally keep a few mistresses and have a lot of illegitimate children."
"But I know!"
"When the Tatar Emperor fought this Ming Emperor, the combined armies they deployed were tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, possibly a million! The troops they used just for war alone outnumbered the entire population of Paris!" (In 1789, the population of Paris was about 600,000 to 640,000, according to the historyofparis entry on Wikipedia)
"Perhaps the Tatar Emperor is a fool like our King, but you cannot treat the Ming Emperor as such a fool."
"The territory already occupied by this Ming Emperor alone has a population greater than that of all of France combined. Do you know how large this market is?"
"You truly are a fool!"
"Please shut your mouth from now on and do not utter another word. Once the negotiations are over, you will immediately return to France!"
After rudely berating this utterly foolish delegation member, Pierre then turned to the other members of the delegation and said, "Gentlemen, in order to prevent those damned Anglo-Saxon bandits from snatching our orders, I have decided to agree to as many of the Ming Emperor's conditions as possible."
"What those damned Anglo-Saxon bandits dare to sell, we will sell, and what they dare not sell, we will also sell, as long as the Ming Emperor pays the silver."
"If the Ming Emperor's money is insufficient, I can even apply for special funds from our foolish King to temporarily lend to the Ming Emperor."
"I will apply to the King, requesting him to become new pen pals with the Ming Emperor, so that France and the Ming can become the most loyal allies, and let that Tatar Emperor as foolish as Vaglay go to hell!"
Saying this, Pierre looked at the other delegation members and said solemnly, "Undoubtedly, this is an investment, and also a gamble. Gentlemen who agree, please raise your hands."
As Pierre finished speaking, all the members of the French delegation raised their hands, including Vaglay, who had just been scolded.
Although the power in France was currently influenced by Queen Marie Antoinette, the Lady of the Deficit, as Pierre said, securing funds to lend to the Ming Emperor for investment was not a problem for France.
Compared to the issue of money, the fact that their own King was a pen pal with the former Tatar Emperor was more bothersome.
However, compared to the tension of Howard and Pierre, the members of the Eagle Nation delegation, who had just moved into a courtyard not far from Howard's, appeared quite relaxed.
Especially Thomson, their leader, who unceremoniously mocked Howard and Pierre: "Gentlemen, let's guess what those lime juices and those damned French frogs are doing now?"
"That's right, they must be thinking about how to reach a trade agreement with the Emperor of 'Ming'."
"Unfortunately, those lime juices don't have a good reputation, especially in present-day Ming. I heard they were originally enslaved by the Tatar Emperor, and we, the great Eagle Nation, have also had similar experiences."
"Therefore, this time, our winning chances are clearly greater!"
"No need to pay attention to them, gentlemen, let's look at the Ming people's procurement needs."
"Whaling ships? No problem, let alone whaling ships, even if they want the most advanced warships, we dare to sell them, considering it as helping our younger brothers who are also escaping enslavement."
"Eunuch niggers? No problem, although this might make our local niggers nervous, and even potentially cause an increase in the price of niggers, it's okay, someone will be found to capture more niggers."
"Weeping trees? Of course, no problem. Although I don't know what they want these trees for, perhaps for aesthetics? Who knows?"
"As long as there's silver, tea, silk, porcelain, the rest are all negotiable."
"There's nothing we won't sell, including our conscience, and even the rope that can hang us."
"All for world peace."
...
When the envoys from various countries had mostly arrived, and all had become aware of the presence of the other national delegations, Zhu Jinsong, the twenty-first Emperor of the Great Ming, finally had a little free time to receive these envoys.
After completing the formal audience, Howard, the leader of the Great British Empire's "delegation," who arrived the earliest, presented the gifts they had prepared long ago and then began his fawning: "Your Majesty, the Great Emperor of the Ming, I grew up listening to 'The Travels of Marco Polo,' and my heart is filled with longing for this ancient and prosperous country of the East."
"Please believe that I have come with the utmost sincerity, and I hope you will grant me this small and insignificant request to open more trading ports and set customs tariffs."
"Of course, if you could allow us to enter and exit cities freely like the Ming people, that would be even more perfect."
Seeing that he was preempted by Howard, the "rose beef," Pierre, the French envoy, quickly called out, "Our France also comes with the utmost sincerity—as long as Your Majesty is willing, France will be your best ally on the continent of Europa!"
Thomson glanced at Howard and then at France, and simply bowed and said, "Our Eagle Nation is the same!"
However, Zhu Jinsong paid no attention to the flattery from Howard and the others. Instead, while playing with the flintlock rifle that Howard presented as a national gift, he smilingly said to Howard, "Is this a Brown Bess flintlock rifle? I wonder if it was produced in London or Birmingham? Or perhaps India?"
Hearing the interpreter's translation, Howard was first startled, then bowed and replied, "Yes, Your Majesty, this is the Brown Bess flintlock rifle of my Great British Empire. This one in your hand was manufactured at the headquarters of the Royal Ordnance Office in London."
Zhu Jinsong hummed and said, "As the saying goes, 'it is not polite to reply without reciprocity.' Since your envoy has presented me with a Brown Bess flintlock rifle, I shall reciprocate with a flintlock rifle manufactured by our Great Ming's Liangmengshan Armory."
After Howard bowed and thanked him, Zhu Jinsong continued, "Regarding the establishment of trading ports and the setting of customs tariffs, I generally agree. The specific details will be discussed in detail by people I send."
Doing business, especially between countries, is not something that can be settled in a day or two. Even a few months of bickering is considered fast.
Of course, the progress will not be slow either—
If there is only one supplier, it is the so-called seller's market; the customer can only buy what the seller sells. If there are many suppliers, it forms the so-called buyer's market; the customer can pick and choose, and the seller must sell what the buyer is willing to buy.
This principle applies equally to Zhu Jinsong's Great Ming court and countries like the Eagle Nation, John Bull, and the Gallic Rooster, so the speed of negotiation is naturally not slow.
Let alone the Eagle Nation, John Bull, and the Gallic Rooster using their formidable ships and cannons to break open the gates of Zhu Jinsong's Great Ming court.
The Qing Dynasty around the 50th year of Qianlong was far from the Qing Dynasty in 1840 that had its gates broken open. Although the various barbarians of Europe at this time had begun to look down upon the Qing Dynasty with its pig tails, in reality, the name of my Great Qing was still quite formidable.
For example, the Lanfang Republic once used the pretext of trading with my Tatar Qing to falsely claim vassalage, so the Windmill Country, which had been eyeing Lanfang covetously, did not dare to attack directly. It was not until after two Opium Wars that the Windmill Country took the opportunity of the Rabbit-Chicken War to launch a full invasion of Lanfang.
To put it bluntly, the Windmill Country was first defeated by Nan Juyi, and then by Zheng Chenggong, resulting in a psychological shadow from two consecutive defeats that made the Windmill Country mistakenly believe that since my Tatar Qing could defeat the Ming Country belonging to Nan Juyi and Zheng Chengguo, then my Tatar Qing should be more powerful.
Similarly, Zhu Jinsong's Great Ming court has now, in turn, defeated my Tatar Qing. Therefore, even though these European barbarians know that Zhu Jinsong does not have a large navy under his command, they will not easily go to war with Zhu Jinsong's Great Ming court.
This is like what Huá Yóusè said, everyone is out here to make money, and problems that can be resolved peacefully should be resolved peacefully; there's no need to always resort to fighting.
Therefore, Zhu Jinsong, the recently enthroned twenty-first Emperor of the Great Ming, now had the privilege of being able to pick and choose in the market.
However, compared to having the privilege of picking and choosing, Zhu Jinsong clearly placed more value on the profits from arms exports.
Therefore, before the formal negotiations began, Zhu Jinsong sent people to find Howard and the other "envoys," intending to invite them to tour the firearm equipment of the Great Ming army.