As early as 1510, the Portuguese sailed to India and established a trading post in Goa, on the west coast of India.Now, in 1663, the Western colonists arrived in India, more than 150 years ago.After the Portuguese, the Dutch, the British, and the French also arrived in India, among which the British came from behind, occupying Masuri Patam on the east bank in 1611 and Surat on the west bank in 1613, and gradually expanded their power to the entire Deccan Plateau.In contrast, the arrival of the Ming fleet in India was actually more than forty years later than that of the British.However, due to the high quality and wide variety of Ming goods, Ming merchants quickly opened up the situation after arriving in India and gradually drove inferior British goods out of the market.Under similar technical conditions, no one in the world can make products cheaper, better and more competitive than China.As soon as the merchants of the Ming Dynasty came, they naturally robbed the British of their jobs.Twenty-three years ago, after the outbreak of the bourgeois revolution in Britain, the handicraft industry in Britain developed rapidly, and the domestic bourgeoisie urgently needed a vast market to dump its domestic products.Britain has a small territory and a limited population, and the market cannot meet the development of the British bourgeoisie, so Britain must find a larger market.At this time, there was competition between European countries, and it was difficult for British goods to enter European countries, while the American colonies were undeveloped, and black Africa was a reckless country with limited consumption power.At this time, the most prosperous and wealthy regions in the world were still the three centers of the Old World, East Asia, India, Ottomans and Persia.This is the core area of the traditional world, with a high civilization, and after all, it is rich, and most of the world's wealth and population are concentrated in these three regions.Among them, East Asia is in the sphere of influence of the Ming Dynasty, it is a competitor of the West, it is the guardian of the old world, the Celestial Empire has everything that does not need the British, and British goods are not competitive.The Ottoman Turkish Empire had a vast market and a large population, but it was hostile to Christendom, so the only target that Britain could find was India, a large market of more than 100 million people.In the middle of the seventeenth century, the total population of the world was about 500 million, and India alone accounted for 20% of the population, and with India, Britain occupied at least one-fifth of the world's market.Zhao Ming values India because once the Ming Dynasty controls India, it controls half of the world's population and market, and no country can easily shake the Ming Dynasty.At this time, Britain did not have any advantage in the face of the Ming Dynasty, so when the Ming Dynasty exerted its strength and began to expand its influence and business territory in India, Britain was immediately at a disadvantage.British goods could not compete with the merchants of the Ming Dynasty, but the British did not work the products, but used many other means to compete with the merchants of the Ming Dynasty.This included forcing the Indian princely states to sign treaties with the British East India Company to prevent them from trading with Ming merchants to protect their markets, and sending pirate fleets to raid and plunder Ming caravans.About ten years ago, the Ming Dynasty fleet began to appear on the east coast of India, and many Ming Dynasty merchant ships were plundered by British pirates.In recent years, merchants of the Ming Dynasty formed a fleet through the merchant shipping company, and the situation gradually opened up.This made the British colonists very angry and uneasy, due to cultural differences, the British did not choose to compete fairly, but decided to drive away the Ming caravan, so with the Ming caravan, a fierce conflict broke out in the Bay of Bengal.In the conflict, the British relied on strong ships and artillery, but in the face of the same strong ships and guns, they lost their advantage.At this time, the sudden addition of the Zhou army made the two sides hit it off, and under the attack of land and water, they defeated the Ming caravan and seized the Ming Dynasty's stronghold in the Bay of Bengal.Delhi City, inside the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites of the Zhou State.Hong Chengchou led a group of officials of the Zhou State to sit at a long table in front of the British East India high-level who came to start negotiations.At this time, Sun Kewang looked at the conditions put forward by the British, "The Great Zhou Empire and the British East India Company reached a military alliance to jointly resist the expansion of the Ming Dynasty's power to India."2.
The Great Zhou Empire opened up to trade, allowing British merchants to enter the Zhou State for trade, and allowing British merchants and their families to live freely in the Zhou Kingdom.3.
Permission to post British consuls.Fourth, the tax paid by British merchants on the import and export of goods shall be agreed with the United Kingdom.5.
British businessmen committed crimes in the Zhou State and needed to involve the consul in the trial. ”Sun Kewang glanced at Hong Chengchou, threw the document on the table, and scolded directly: "What kind of covenant is this?"
”The senior management of the British East India Company saw that Prime Minister Zhou Guo was angry, and hurriedly said a bunch of bird language.After listening to the translation, Hong Chengchou said to Sun Kewang: "This is only a preliminary treaty, we can negotiate, and we can also put forward our demands." ”Sun Kewang said angrily: "These white feudal ghosts, their hearts are not right, they are too cunning, even if they are allies, they should be mutually beneficial, and their treaty is obviously to pit our Great Zhou."
Ben is in league with them, with reservations. ”When Hong Chengchou heard this, he immediately straightened his face and pointed out that the East India Company was too unauthentic.The people of the East India Company, in fact, just wanted to rely on the Orientals, did not understand the meaning behind these diplomatic terms, and wanted to take advantage of them.When they saw that Zhou Guocheng knew each other, they hurriedly said that they could change it.Hong Chengchou said: "Sun Xiang, they have agreed to delete the unreasonable terms, Sun Xiang will give his opinion!"
”Sun Kewang did not object to an alliance between the Great Zhou Empire and Yingyi, and Zhao Ming was able to have today, starting from absorbing and learning Xiyi firearms.In order for the Zhou state to maintain its independence and resist the expansion of the Ming Dynasty, it needed to rely on something from Xiyi.When Sun Kewang heard this, he picked up the document again and said in a deep voice: "Second, British merchants can enter the Zhou Kingdom to trade, but the entry of merchants and their families requires the approval of the Great Zhou.Third, Britain can send consuls, but Da Zhou must also send consuls to Britain.Fourth, the amount of tax to be collected is determined by Da Zhou.Article 5: British merchants who committed crimes in the Great Zhou were tried by the Great Zhou. ”The interpreter told the British mission the contents, and there was a burst of discussion, followed by a half-loud voice.After listening to the translation, Hong Chengchou said to Sun Kewang: "They can accept these changes, but they are asked to give them the most favored nation treatment."
That is, the amount of customs tax can be determined by Da Zhou, but the tariffs that Da Zhou collects from various countries, their products must have the lowest tax rate. ”Sun Kewang bowed his head, "This is acceptable." ”Hong Chengchou then said to the British mission: "The Great Zhou can give Britain the most favored nation treatment.However, the firearms and craftsmen that Britain promised to provide to the Great Zhou, as well as the help of the Great Zhou in building military workshops and shipyards, must be implemented as soon as possible. ”After hearing this, the British hurriedly said that as long as the money was available, the factory and shipyard could be built immediately.At that moment, the two sides exchanged views, and then signed the "Zhou-British Alliance Treaty".()