Chapter 1172: Selling the Pots and Pans to Go Colonize

Zhu Cilang was by nature rather fond of taking shortcuts and seizing advantages, so he would not grandly and openly clash head-on with those powerful Western nations; instead, he would watch how the situation in Europe shifted and pick the right moment to strike.

For example, when dealing with Spain he would form an alliance with France and England — even if England and France later made a separate peace with Spain, for the Great Ming that was still better than having no alliance at all.

And when it came to dealing with Holland, a maritime power, he had to wait even more patiently for an opportunity — Zhu Cilang had been cheated several times before by the profiteers of the Dutch East India Company, and if he truly had been the sort who could not tolerate the slightest grievance, he would have fallen out with them long ago. Yet he could endure it, turning a blind eye and never letting it erupt.

Because he was waiting for an opportunity — waiting for the Dutch and the French to start fighting! The man in power in France now was none other than Louis XIV the Great, and ever since Prince Condé returned, France had begun reforming its army, and by now its troops were strong and its horses sturdy. If a Franco-Dutch War still occurred in this timeline, Holland might even cease to exist as a nation. Why should Zhu Cilang not wait?

Besides, the Dutch profiteers might cheat people, but they were still quite useful — that lot did business without asking about faith; whether you followed the Heavenly Principle or the Lord of Heaven, as long as the silver arrived, everything was negotiable.

By comparison, Catholic Spain and France, Protestant England, and the Muslim Ottomans were none of them as easy to deal with as the Dutch.

So Zhu Cilang had no intention of utterly destroying the Dutch East India Company. If their Dutch homeland really was conquered by Louis XIV, the Zhu Emperor would be quite willing to let the East India Company continue to exist on Java, the Spice Islands, and the Indian Ocean.

Because he needed a fairly flexible and weak middleman. Of course, the Malacca Strait, that strategic chokepoint, still had to be firmly held in hand.

And apart from the Malacca Strait, there were still quite a few "ownerless" territories that could be staked out and colonized.

For instance, the Philippine Islands were now "ownerless" — Spain had already slipped away, and although the Great Ming had occupied the city of Manila, it had not invested much strength there, nor did it intend to establish a garrison command or a directly administered province on Luzon.

Another example: in the North Pacific exploration expedition led by the Great Ming navy, in which the English, French, Dutch, and Portuguese navies all participated, many "ownerless" lands had also been discovered. Of these, only one bay, named Arctic Bay (Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka Peninsula), had been occupied by Ming forces; all the other places were "ownerless."

Then there was the Southern Continent (Australia), of unknown vastness, which was also ownerless. Although the Great Ming navy had not yet explored the Southern Continent, through materials obtained from the Dutch they already knew that such a stretch of land lay empty there with no one claiming it.

In addition, there were still many "ownerless" lands in Siberia. The Great Ming's rule extended only as far as the Heilongjiang basin, where a Heilongjiang Military Commissioner's Office had been established; farther north no one governed. And Russia had only a few lonely outposts in Siberia — one could not say that all of it belonged to the Russians.

As for India and the Western Ocean, there were even more "ownerless" territories there!

Apart from the lands firmly controlled by the Mughal Empire, the lands already firmly controlled by Western colonizers, and the lands that had fallen into the hands of the Shun roving-bandit empire, everything else was "ownerless."

Laoshan, the Palace of Benevolent Longevity.

A world map sent over by the Foreign Ministry now lay spread out before the Retired Emperor Chongzhen, Retired Empress Zhou, Noble Consort Yuan, Consort Wei, Consort Wu, Consort Hu, and the others.

The map marked out many "ownerless" lands, and at first glance it seemed there were even more of them than lands that had owners!

"Retired Emperor, what does 'ownerless' mean?"

The one asking was Consort Hu, a mixed-blood beauty in her thirties. Although she had already borne several children, she kept herself extremely well, and with the alluring figure Heaven had granted her, she had the Chongzhen Emperor utterly infatuated.

Hearing his beloved consort's question, the Retired Emperor Chongzhen at once replied with a beaming smile: "My beloved, 'ownerless' means it can be seized and made into a fief for Our princes. The Jiaqing Kingdom that Ci'en is going to is right here."

As he spoke, Chongzhen pointed at the newly marked Jiaqing Kingdom on the map and said to his bewitching consort: "It is a bit far, but the place is truly not bad, and there is even a chance to expand southward — later it can be upgraded into a vassal kingdom."

Consort Hu said: "That must cost quite a lot of money, no? Retired Emperor, this humble one has no savings to speak of."

"No matter — We have savings. We still have five hundred thousand taels."

"Retired Emperor!" Retired Empress Zhou was displeased. "Your sons number over a hundred — how could five hundred thousand taels possibly be enough?"

"Is there not still Cilang!" said Chongzhen. "Who does not know he is the richest man in the Great Ming?"

Retired Empress Zhou said: "Cilang has sons of his own too!"

Chongzhen waved his hand. "He only has a dozen or so sons."

"Even so, you cannot refuse to part with a single hair!" Retired Empress Zhou said crossly. "You must at least produce three hundred thousand taels. This consort also has some savings and can produce three hundred thousand taels. Let us together found a kingdom."

Empress Zhou was richer than Chongzhen! Both Zhu Cilang and Zhu Cijiong had to show her filial support, and Zheng Chagu helped her manage her finances — Chagu was a "goddess of stocks"; whatever she bought went up!

"You would really put out that much?" Chongzhen was taken aback. "You have only two sons — one is the Emperor and the other is the Prince of Dai!"

"The Prince of Dai is not a king!" said Empress Zhou. "And the Prince of Dai has many sons, but only one can inherit the title!"

She pointed at Luzon on the map. "This island must be kept for Cijiong and his sons! What is this island called?"

"Luzon."

"This consort wants it!"

Chongzhen nodded and said: "Very well, then let us establish a Kingdom of Luzon. But the island is quite large — you must reserve a few Marquis of a Thousand Li for Us!"

Empress Zhou smiled. "If Your Majesty puts out three hundred thousand, this consort will have Cijiong reserve three Marquis of a Thousand Li for you!"

"Three hundred thousand..." Chongzhen was just about to agree when he found himself fixed by more than a dozen anxious gazes — his beloved consorts were all getting desperate!

"Do not fret, do not fret..." Chongzhen gritted his teeth. "Among the birthday gifts and congratulatory presents We have received over the years, there are quite a few valuable items. We shall sell them off later and should get a million or more in total! Then We can found several more kingdoms!"

The Chongzhen Emperor was ready to sell the pots and pans!

At the same time, in the princely mansion of Zhu Yihai, Prince of Lu, ten princes of the Great Ming had also gathered together to study the map!

"This place looks quite empty — what is it?"

"That is the Arctic Ocean! Bitterly cold."

"Then we shall not go there. My son has been frail since childhood and cannot endure the cold."

"This place is also quite a large stretch! And it borders the United States of New Continent..."

"This is called the Great Plain of North New Continent. I hear the Westerners have already occupied a few points there, and there are also some Yin people hunting tribes there — quite formidable!"

"How formidable? Compared to the Tartars?"

"Surely not as savage as that?"

"Then there is nothing to fear. My son graduated from the Army Military Academy and has fought the Tartars on the Mongol steppe!"

"What do you mean, nothing to fear? Do you know how far away the Great Plain of North New Continent is? His Majesty spent over a hundred million just to take the territory of the United States of New Continent! Do you have a hundred million?"

"A hundred million? No."

"Enough, enough — let us not be overambitious. Let us first pool our shares and set up a small kingdom ten thousand li square, and then each family gets one Marquis of a Thousand Li!"

"Right, right — what the Prince of Lu says is right. Each family getting one Marquis of a Thousand Li first is quite good!"

"Indeed. We are called princes, but for generations we have never governed the people or been enfeoffed with land — it is all empty! We have never held even ten li of land, let alone a thousand!"

"Then how much would a kingdom of ten thousand li cost?"

"It would surely take over a million taels... How about each family puts in a hundred thousand?"

"All the same amount? Then who becomes king?"

"We could draw lots... or settle it with rock-paper-scissors!"

"The matter of the king can be discussed slowly. What matters now is where to get these hundred thousand taels."

The moment these ten princes got to the matter of a hundred thousand taels of silver, every one of them wore a worried frown. It was not that they did not have it — if they truly did not, they would not be worried! All ten of them were the sort who, if they gritted their teeth and mortgaged their lands and mansions, could come up with the money.

But the problem is, what if this colonization venture loses money? If the princely estate is lost in the deal, where will they live? Yet if you ask them to pull out, none of them will be willing!

After all, that brat Prince Jiaqing has already raked in several million.

(End of Chapter)