Chapter 751: How Large Is the Great Ming, Exactly?

Caballero took out the "Japan–Mongol Agreement" he had prepared and showed it to Fernando Álvarez and Chigi; both could not help but praise it.

This "Agreement" was drawn up far too brilliantly!

First, the "Agreement" perfectly avoided the religious red line of Philip IV and the Holy See — namely, the religious question of the Timurid Empire of Hindustan. Spain was not France; it could not, for the sake of national interest, defy the Pope's opposition and ally itself with the Catholic Church's enemy, the Ottoman Empire.

Therefore, the Islamic faith of the Timurid Empire of Hindustan was, for Philip IV, an insurmountable obstacle.

Yet Caballero, the "expert in international law," employed the concept that the Timurid Empire of Hindustan was subordinate to the Great Khan's empire, so that the Great Mongol State represented the Timurid Empire of Hindustan diplomatically. In other words, he treated the Timurid Empire of Hindustan as a part of the Great Mongol State.

Sonin and the other five ministers went abroad and made a circuit, and not only changed the name of the state, but even the territory became quite different — out of nowhere, an extra India appeared!

If one were now to draw an internationally recognized complete map of the Great Qing, Dorgon would not recognize it — was that country on it really the Great Qing?

Sonin and the others were, shall we say, extremely uneasy! They had no idea whether they could account for it once they returned.

However, they could at least muddle through with Philip IV and the Holy See. Whether Great Mongol or Great Qing, neither made Islam the state religion, and that was enough — politically correct!

Second, the "Agreement" handled the question of Catholic missionary work quite brilliantly as well!

Not free preaching, but unfree preaching!

"The Mongols do not agree to grant Catholicism the right to spread freely?" Bishop Chigi asked with a frown.

"No, they agreed to it. It is I who do not agree." Caballero's answer surprised everyone.

"Why?" Chigi asked.

Caballero smiled and said, "Because free preaching is in fact impossible to carry out! The Great Mongol State can represent the Mughals here in Europe, but that does not mean it can truly protect the Church's freedom to spread the Lord's gospel on Mughal soil.

Moreover, Joseon, a vassal state of the Great Qing, is also quite hostile to Catholicism!

And within the Great Qing's own territory there are also some problems. Confucianism and Buddhism wield great influence there and occupy the mainstream. Once the Church is allowed to develop freely, unnecessary conflicts will surely break out. When that happens, given the temper of the Great Qing's Imperial Father Prince Regent, he will very likely issue an edict of prohibition, and may even kill believers — which would be even more disadvantageous."

Free preaching in places where Catholicism was not the mainstream was of course the goal the Catholic Church pursued, but that was the "maximum demand," not the bottom line; the bottom line was simply not prohibiting Catholicism.

And from Caballero's understanding of the Qing court, the Holy See, and the Kingdom of Spain, if free preaching came first, then later they would certainly fall out over matters of preaching and prohibition.

Rather than fall out over trifles in the future, it was better to strictly restrict the matter of preaching from the start — better than being as close as newlyweds now, only to become mortal enemies within a few years!

Caballero said, "That is why I included in the 'Agreement' a clause providing that missionary matters be negotiated between the Holy See's ambassador to the Great Qing and the Great Qing court. These matters are best discussed properly!"

The Duke of Nájera, Fernando Álvarez, was indifferent; he merely turned his head to look at Chigi. Chigi was a very open-minded cardinal, and he said to Caballero with a smile, "Lord Chancellor, you have done well. You have considered the matter very thoroughly!"

He paused. "There are still some trade questions beneficial to both sides — ah, should I say all three sides — to be discussed with the Mongols. His Majesty the King has already agreed to establish a Pacific Trading Company specifically responsible for the fur trade with the Great Qing, and to establish an India Trading Company responsible for trade with the Mughals. Do you think these two companies can actually be set up?"

Caballero thought for a moment and said, "The fur trade in the Pacific poses no problem, but trade in India will likely infringe upon the interests of the Dutch, the Portuguese, and the English, and needs careful consideration."

Chigi thought it over and nodded. "Very well, then let us begin with the Pacific trade. Perhaps we can even use the Great Qing's support to pry open Japan's doors — then we could make a great deal of money!"

Just as the Great Qing envoys disguised as Mongols were opening negotiations in Seville with the representatives of Spain and the Holy See, Ji Kun, who had just seen off Condé, Li Shaoyou, and Gulgu, finally met the Dutch representative Van Diemen in the newly hung signboard of the Ming Embassy in Paris.

By the way, Prime Minister Mazarin in the end did not leave the port of Marseille! Although he had boarded a French warship bound for Alexandria together with Condé, Li Shaoyou, and Gulgu, he had left behind in the hotel the gifts that the Queen Regent Anne of France had given to the Retired Emperor and Empress of the Great Ming, and so had to disembark to retrieve them; and in order not to alarm anyone, he disembarked disguised as one of his own attendants.

Having missed the sailing, Mazarin had no choice but to return once more to the Château de Saint-Germain and reluctantly take up the post of Prime Minister of France again.

A few days after he resumed the premiership, the Dutch finally sent someone to welcome Ji Kun — the Netherlands was quite an interesting country: a fine dual hegemon of Europe by land and sea, yet after defeating Spain and winning national independence, it had gone and pulled itself apart.

On the surface it was still one country, but underneath it had split into seven parts. Not only were the army and navy divided into seven parts, each under the jurisdiction of its own province, but any matter of any consequence had to be passed by all seven provincial assemblies before it could be carried out.

So after returning home, Van Diemen had spent these days shuttling back and forth between the assemblies of the seven provinces and the board of directors of the East India Company, explaining to a great many people the drastic changes now taking place in the Eastern world. He had run about for several months, answered a pile of baffling questions, and kept busy until February 1651, when he finally obtained from De Witt, the president of the States General, a definite answer and a question.

The definite answer was that the Republic of the United Provinces welcomed the arrival of the Ming mission!

The question was: exactly how large was the Ming Empire? This was indeed a difficult question, and Ji Kun did not know either, because under different standards the size of the Ming Empire was not the same.

Moreover, even under the same standard, the area of the Ming Empire was constantly changing.

"Ambassador Diemen, what exactly does your States General want to know?"

In Paris, inside a three-story Western-style building, Ji Kun was receiving Van Diemen. He of course knew that the States General's question was not so simple.

Van Diemen smiled and explained, "The States General's question covers three aspects. First, how much territory does the Ming Empire claim to possess?

Second, how much land does the Ming Empire actually control at present?

Third, how large is the Ming Empire's home territory? By home territory is meant the claimed territory excluding the outer vassals."

Diemen had finished speaking, but Ji Kun merely fixed Van Diemen with a piercing gaze. "Ambassador Diemen, continue!"

Van Diemen shrugged and smiled. "Very well, let me explain further. The States General wishes to know whether the Ming intends to unify China, and also wishes to know the Ming's territorial claims in the direction of the Southern Seas."

Ji Kun laughed. "The Ming will of course unify all China! But as for the Ming court's territorial claims in the Southern Seas, this envoy does not know either!"

If one did not know, one must not speak recklessly!

Moreover, Ji Kun already knew that the Dutch had taken the wrong medicine and had themselves disbanded a very powerful army.

Although the Dutch navy remained strong, without a powerful army the Netherlands had no ability to occupy too much territory in the Southern Seas.

Furthermore, the Ming now also had two "good friends" in France and the Ottoman Empire — in the struggle against the two European maritime powers of Holland and England, having friends here in Europe was extremely important.

Otherwise, the Ming could easily be bottled up on the eastern continent by others, with no leverage at all and no way out.

But with France and the Ottoman Empire, the Ming Empire could, when necessary, even buy France to threaten the Dutch homeland, which had no army!

Ji Kun paused, then countered, "This envoy would also like to know, how many territorial claims do you Dutch have in the Southern Seas? Perhaps our two countries, together with Portugal and England, could sign a 'Four-Power Treaty' to jointly guarantee stability and free trade in the Southern Seas."

(End of Chapter)