New Shun 1730

If Count Maurepas knew how to use idioms, he would probably think of the phrase "driving a tiger to devour a wolf". But a more accurate way of saying it is to lure a tiger to devour a wolf.

Dupleix's meaning is very clear. If the navy is not used for defense, it will lose money, especially when there is no equivalent navy around.

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

Since Dashun has built a navy, and from the speed of volleys, it can be known that it is at least trained twice a week, which shows that this navy has invested a lot of money.

In this case, Dashun's expansion direction is nothing more than Japan or Southeast Asia.

And if it goes to Southeast Asia, it will definitely conflict with the Netherlands.

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

Whoever takes over the whole of Bengal will be 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 may become a colony completely within a few decades, and no one dares to think that India will be so fragile at this time.

Dupleix's suggestions have always revolved around the clear goal of "France's overseas interests are to collect taxes in India."

Count Maurepas did not immediately oppose or support it. He wanted to wait and see. As a plenipotentiary envoy, he has a certain degree of 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 "God Save the Queen", and it is actually very similar. Even the original version is a French song.

This is a standard monarchy hymn, similar to the elegant music in the Book of Songs, and different from the war songs and national anthems of the general republic. It sounds like mourning music.

This is also a very standard "licking ass" song, and it is literal. This is a song presented by the "lucky minister" to celebrate the recovery of Louis XIV after he had an anal fistula operation. It can be regarded as the national anthem of the French Bourbon dynasty at this time.

Count Maurepa had never seen such a reception.

But he still stood aside, hummed the hymn, and met Liu Yu who came to greet him.

Dashun had no national anthem, and even if there was court music, Liu Yu was not qualified to play it.

When he arrived in the capital, the emperor might play court music when he met him, but it was definitely not allowed here.

The two sides greeted each other according to the etiquette. Liu Yu bowed his hands, and Count Maurepa used the French etiquette.

The carefully selected grenadiers and tall marines served as the guard of honor. The height of the tall Shandong men was still overwhelming for these Frenchmen.

For this legendary and misunderstood army that had fought against Russia and Junggar, Count Maurepa was sure that Dashun had a very strong army, and it was very different from European soldiers: a felt hat with a red tassel on the top of the head.

In addition to the difference in military caps and uniforms, the firearms were the same.

Flintlock rifles are not some mysterious high-tech. If Dashun does not buy them from France, it can also buy them from the Netherlands, Britain, and even Spain.

The reason for buying French guns is mainly to get closer to France. However, Dashun only bought two batches and then produced them by itself.

Liu Yu did not expect this honor guard to make the French exclaim invincible. After the greetings, 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. Excuse me, Mr. Count, has the letter of credence been translated?"

Count Morpa said that the letter of credence had been translated, and it was translated by missionaries who had been in China for many years. There was absolutely no disrespectful content, and the taboos that should be taken had been avoided.

Some of them were missionaries who had been to the court, and there should be no problem with the translated letter of credence.

To be safe, Liu Yu took the copy and read it again, and asked Kang Budai to find some "taboo" professionals to carefully examine it, and confirmed that there was basically no problem, which was reassuring.

Many people in the court were already quite dissatisfied with Dashun's disrespectful diplomacy. There could be no mistakes at this time, so as not to be exploited by others.

The letter was fine, but what to talk about became a problem.

France was not Russia, which had a long border issue with Dashun. Both sides knew what the French delegation wanted to talk about this time.

Liu Yu wanted to send people to France to learn shipbuilding, and get the design drawings of France's new battleships, and the French king could send a few truly excellent shipbuilding technicians at the official level.

He wanted warships, and wanted excellent French 74-gun battleships.

This intention was not expressed once or twice, but France had been holding it in its hands, and all it gave Liu Yu were outdated goods.

France already had the new design drawings, but it didn't want to build them because it was short of money.

Liu Yu exposed what he wanted too early, and the French would definitely use it to exchange for what they wanted.

Liu Yu also knew what France wanted.

Because France signed the Edict of Fontainebleau, many non-Catholic artisans fled, and the handicraft industry was somewhat in a state of decline.

In foreign trade, the Netherlands and Britain imposed tariffs on each other, and foreign exports were very poor. For advantageous industries such as wine, the Netherlands' tariff on France has reached 90%.

Domestic demand, France is even more attractive. The Mississippi bubble has cut off France's leeks, export sales are no longer good, domestic demand is even more ruined, 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, it is more interested in money.

Silk, porcelain, tea, etc., Liu Yu estimated that France wanted to exchange the battleship design drawings.

This definitely cannot be replaced.

It’s not that it can’t be sold.

As for porcelain, it won't be long before some low-end European porcelain will crowd out the market.

You can definitely get a high price if you sell it at this time, but the problem is that the blueprints used to exchange for battleships are not very cost-effective.

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

But there is nothing to exchange for anything else.

It is impossible for the French navy to defeat the British. The distance is so far, and they are more about using each other to contain the common enemy. It is not possible to hope for cooperative operations for the time being.

The French were not interested in the new thing Liu Yu had, flat glass, because flat glass was originally made of French technology that was more advanced, and the British had to steal it.

Cigarettes didn't make much sense, but matches could be sold. It was impossible to ship such flammable matches to Europe for sale. But the French would definitely not agree if matchmaking technology were to be replaced with drawings.

Fortunately, in terms of arms, Liu Yu still had a few trump cards at the bottom of the box, and he wanted to give them a try.

A new type of battleship can be figured out by starting with a cruiser. It just takes too long.

Time is what he lacks.

Today's allies may be tomorrow's enemies, and India, a place that can provide cotton for the Dashun Industrial Revolution, must be fought for, relying on these broken cruisers and sixty-four-gun old battleships that are too slow to keep up. , definitely not.

As for the prestige and reputation that the emperor wanted, Liu Yu actually didn't care too much.

Thinking of this, Liu Yu pretended to be unintentional and asked: "Are there gunmen on the mast of the French Navy? Are the muskets they use rifled?"

Rifling appeared earlier than the flintlock musket. The accuracy is much higher, but if you want the lead bullet to spin, the bullet must be thicker than the muzzle. This makes loading very troublesome. You need to use a hammer to knock it in. At this time, there are no standard parts tolerances. From time to time, the lead bullet does not fly out after two hammers are used, but is blocked inside and explodes.

Count Morpa said: "They all use muskets. Although the rifled ones can shoot more accurately, loading is too troublesome."

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

Although France now only has seven or eight battleships left that can leave port at any time, the foundation is there. As long as they add money and patriotism to donate money, they can quickly build a fleet. Count Morpa is still qualified to express a little pride in Weihai's fleet.

"Yes, our navy has just started. But China must have a strong navy to ensure the interests of our expatriates."

“In Batavia, there are tens of thousands of Chinese people, and their lives there have always been discriminated against. 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 Chinese Empire 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 battleship design drawings. We just need to step up training and use various methods to increase firepower."

"Our cannons can fire faster; our masts are also equipped with rifled gunners 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, he also made it clear to France that Dashun's interests lay in Southeast Asia, and his first target was Batavia in the Netherlands.

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

The Dutch East India Company was the economic backbone of the Netherlands. If a conflict broke out in Southeast Asia, the Dutch funds could be disrupted almost immediately.

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

Count Morpa was very curious about the gunnery innovations Liu Yu mentioned, but he didn't care much about the new rifled gun loading technology.

Because I haven't seen it with my own eyes.

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

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

However, Liu Yu did not let him visit, nor did he focus on the fusiliers on the naval guns. There was no technical difficulty in that thing, it was just a matter of thinking.

"Mr. Count, you can take a look at the practice of our new rifled flintlock muskets. I think this is what your country urgently needs. Although you are the Minister of the Navy, and although the navy needs cannons, the situation facing France is different from the general situation. It’s the same: we need to maintain a strong army and a strong navy, and the total military expenditure is limited.”

“Perhaps this new rifle loading technology can improve the French army and save money for the navy.”