Vézé gave Zuo Zhidan a task, which was to bring up the discussion of mineral development rights in diplomatic negotiations. If the British were willing to agree, then China could also agree with the British position in Japan.
The British Ambassador blinked after hearing this. This request was too unexpected. The British Ambassador did not even suspect that China was going to invade Western Australia. Australia was a big desert. Western Australia was vast, and it was a godforsaken place. The lack of water alone was enough to make all the possibilities of invasion zero. If the Chinese really went to Western Australia, would they be able to survive by drinking seawater?
As for the minerals, it was nonsense. There were thousands of kilometers between Western Australia and China. Unless they were transporting gold or silver, the cost of transporting such minerals was enough to turn any profitable transaction into a loss-making one. There was only one thing in the British Ambassador's mind. China would definitely benefit greatly from the mineral trade.
Regardless of the huge gap between the Chinese word "moon" and the English word "moon," the moon in the sky would not be affected in the slightest by the difference in human terms. The British couldn't say "the offensive and defensive forces are different" in Chinese, but the British knew that the new China was completely different from the Manchu Qing's China. Manchu Qing tried his best to resist the foreign infiltration of China, while the new China did its best to expand its sphere of influence. London was very uncomfortable with this. Sending thousands or even tens of thousands of troops to China would be suicidal. There was no way to make China yield.
The Crimean War had proved one thing. As long as a large country could still fight, Britain could not win. Britain's current strength could not make a large country yield. How to deal with the sudden rise of a large country like China was a new topic.
"What mineral does your country want to develop?" The British Ambassador asked tentatively.
"Iron ore," Zuo Zhidan answered very simply. After saying this, Zuo Zhidan and the British Ambassador felt that it was extremely nonsense. Iron ore was not particularly precious in this era. Britain had its own iron ore, and there were many iron ore in Europe. At this stage, China did not lack iron ore. The Shilu Iron Mine in Hainan Island and the Magnetite Iron Mine in Maanshan were enough for China's steel companies to work at full capacity. Putting aside the fact that there were no iron ores in Western Australia, even if there were, transporting iron ores from Western Australia to China was a ridiculous choice.
Compared to the shock of the British side, China's Foreign Minister Zuo Zhidan's feelings were more mystical.
In the past decade, there had been a "joke" in the Liberation Army that Heavenly King Hong had founded the God Worshipping Sect. In fact, the real reincarnation of the Heavenly King was not Hong Xiuquan, but Vézé. It was a joke that was not really a joke. In all fairness, if Vézé had not popularized a large amount of basic knowledge in the Liberation Army from the beginning, everyone would have thought that many things, including telegrams, were spells. Even if everyone knew that it was not spells, but what Vézé called "science," the fact that he was able to create such a scientific system had a strong sense of mysticism.
Why was Vézé the only one who could see and create China's scientific system? This was an "exception," this was a "unique case." If one wanted to explain this "unique case," mysticism was often the best explanation. "Ordered by heaven," "gifted by heaven," "descended from the stars," China's unique explanations were inexplicably persuasive in the development of science and technology and the establishment of industrialization in China. The more it emphasized that Vézé was different, the more persuasive it was. The more persuasive it was, the more it strengthened Vézé's uniqueness.
From Vézé's point of view, the iron ore in Western Australia was extremely important to China. The iron ore in that damn place was extremely pure, and the purer the iron ore, the lower the cost of steel refining. Most importantly, pure iron ore could simplify the production process and improve the quality of the steel. In the 21st century, Vézé's friends in the steel industry had mentioned this. China's steel furnaces in the 21st century were already "extremely delicate," and using iron ore produced in China would probably cause the furnaces to explode.
If Australian iron ore could be used, China's steel output in 1870 could easily exceed three or even five million tons. This was completely above the United Kingdom. From a long-term perspective, as long as there was profit to be made, China's maritime industry would expand at a terrifying speed.
In the last two years, the construction of warships had greatly promoted the development of civilian ships, and the Guangdong shipyard had proposed a design plan for a 10,000-ton ship. The traditional iron frame and wood shell had been subverted, and a steel frame and steel shell transport ship design was proposed. Only this design could realize the concept of building a 10,000-ton ship quickly. And this 10,000-ton ship would undoubtedly greatly reduce the cost of ocean transportation.
Zuo Zhidan was not clear about this change, but he felt that Vézé's jumping thinking had made it impossible for him to keep up. He asked the incredulous British Ambassador, "Can the British accept it?"
"If it's really just iron ore …" The British Ambassador almost said the word "no ploblem." But out of diplomatic skill, the British Ambassador swallowed the two people back into his stomach. He thought for a moment and replied, "I will report this matter to the country. But the problem in Japan has to be confirmed first. "
"The iron ore matter is not confirmed, the matter in Japan cannot be confirmed." Zuo Zhidan also wanted to make this matter a closed loop. After all, such a business discussion was too outrageous. China had never been to Australia, and it was unlikely that Vézé knew about the Australian mining division. Instead of promising to talk about the future, it was better to use this as a bargaining chip to block the British's request. At this time, Zuo Zhidan suddenly suspected that Vézé thought the same. It was indeed necessary to tell the truth in diplomacy, but sometimes the truth was completely nonsense. That was how bargaining worked.
"I don't think it's appropriate for Minister Zuo to link Sino-British trade with the problem in Japan." The British Ambassador also understood Zuo Zhidan's thoughts and immediately protested.
Zuo Zhidan rolled his eyes at the British Ambassador and said, "China and Japan have been neighbors for thousands of years. Whether Britain intervenes or not, we are neighbors, and we will continue to do business. Britain asked China to stand with Britain in the civil war in Japan. I don't think Britain has a reason to order China. We have no intention of intervening in the civil war in Japan. "
This made the British Ambassador speechless. Britain's closest territory to Japan was Malaysia, which was almost the same distance as the distance between Western Australia and Guangdong, China. As Zuo Zhidan said, the trade between China and Japan could not be interrupted. This was determined by geography. Just as the trade between Britain and France could not be interrupted, a narrow English Channel could not change the relationship between Britain and France.
While thinking about how to negotiate this matter, the British Ambassador heard Zuo Zhidan continue, "Korea is a vassal state of China. Recently, Korea recognized the new China Zheng Mansion as the suzerain of Korea. Based on this relationship, we do not accept any country intervening in Korea. "
Vézé asked Zuo Zhidan to solve the problem with Korea, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent someone to contact Korea. In the end, the king of Korea reluctantly recognized the suzerain status of the new China. Although they still had to beat Korea, before that, China had to show its attitude to other countries.
The British Ambassador was immediately unhappy. The trade between Korea and Britain was basically zero. China was the largest trading country between Britain and the West Pacific. However, this did not mean that Britain would obediently recognize China's ownership of Korea. Before recognizing China's rule in the Far East, Britain had to give it a try. "We ask Korea to open up to us!" The British Ambassador expressed his attitude.
"We will not stop you from doing business with Korea, but we will not accept any military action against a vassal state of China." Zuo Zhidan also expressed China's position.
After these talks, Zuo Zhidan reported to Vézé. Vézé's comment was only three words, "Well done!"
Zuo Zhidan asked, "Your Majesty, Korea is a bit troublesome. They want the land west of the Yalu River."
"Let them sleep," Vézé said sarcastically, "As long as the Xiang Army is still here, Korea will not be able to cross the Yalu River."
After that, Vézé's face suddenly showed a very strong malice. Zuo Zhidan felt that this malice was very familiar. Whenever Vézé came up with some creative ideas, he would always have this expression. Zuo Zhidan could not help but ask, "Your Majesty, are you going to let Manchu Qing attack Korea?"
Vézé sneered and said, "Originally, the boundary between China and Korea was not the Yalu River. It was only in the Ming Dynasty that the land east of the Yalu River was given to Korea. I want to contact the Xiang Army. If they can guarantee that they can occupy the old land of the Han Dynasty and still maintain that kind of territory when we attack Korea, then I can consider sparing the Xiang Army's life. "
With the crimes of the Xiang Army, it was unlikely that the Liberation Army would let them go. Even Foreign Minister Zuo Zhidan could understand this. She had never expected that Vézé would let the Xiang Army go because of the old land of the Han Dynasty. Zuo Zhidan almost instinctively objected, "Your Majesty, I don't think it's appropriate. Although Korea made a lot of excuses during the negotiation, at least they agreed … "
Vézé was amused and said, "If we can't attack Korea ourselves, Korea will not be convinced. But let's see Korea's attitude on this matter. As far as I know, the Manchu Qing who have retreated to the outside of the Great Wall have a hard time. "
Zuo Zhidan really did not know why the Manchu Qing who had retreated to the outside of the Great Wall had a hard time. The territory outside of the Great Wall was vast. It was said that the Manchu Qing who had retreated to the outside of the Great Wall had less than 200,000 people, and they were the so-called elites. What was there to be sad about when 200,000 people had retreated to the outside of the Great Wall? Inside the Great Wall, a county had a population of 200,000. How could a county compare to the size of the territory outside of the Great Wall?
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