Zhu Jinsong's impolite request for the English barbarians to roll back to India was not because he arrogantly looked down on the British Empire, but because the British Empire at this time still had something to ask of the Great Ming.
It must be admitted that George III, the current leader of the British Empire, was indeed a rare good person. Historical records describe him as quiet and humble since childhood, with a gentle disposition, never bullying his playmates or subjects by virtue of his prominent status, truly admired and loved by all. He even brought this precious quality to his interactions with the Great Ming.
Of course, all of this was mainly thanks to Sir Howard.
Sir Howard, being a knight, could not possibly tolerate being openly extorted. Therefore, after returning to the British Empire, Sir Howard stated that the Ming Dynasty's flintlock muskets were worth fifty taels of silver each, and it was through his diligent negotiations that he managed to secure them for thirty taels of silver each.
As for ordinary flintlock muskets costing only ten taels of silver or even less?
God, what right did those shoddy goods, which required pouring gunpowder into the pan and were greatly affected by rain or shine, made loud noises but possessed little power, and had intolerably low range and accuracy, have to be compared with the flintlock muskets of the Great Ming Empire?
As everyone knows, a horseshoe could potentially affect the outcome of a war.
Therefore, there was no such thing as extortion. On the contrary, Mr. Ke from the Ming Dynasty was a great man and a perpetual friend of England.
From this point of view, the gentlemen of the British Empire were not much better than the officials of the Great Qing. Based on the intelligence reported by Sir Howard, George III decided to dispatch a formal delegation led by Lord Macartney to establish formal diplomatic relations with the Great Ming.
In fact, if not for Zhu Jinsong's sudden rise, George III had originally intended to send Macartney to establish formal diplomatic and trade relations with the Great Qing.
In 1790, during the eighty-year-old birthday celebration of the Qianlong Emperor, George III meticulously selected a batch of gifts, including the most advanced steam engine of the time, models of warships, astronomical telescopes, pistols, cannons, pocket watches, and world maps, which were certainly full of sincerity.
George III's objective was simple. At that time, the British Empire did not dare to provoke the Great Qing, a mythical Eastern power, and only hoped for mutual exchange, equal communication, and cooperation.
Of course, there is no need to elaborate on what happened later, as it involved the Qianlong Emperor and the Great Qing.
However, it is worth mentioning that the respect shown by George III and the British Empire towards the Qing Dynasty was not due to the Qing's apparent strength, but rather related to the Great Ming, which had long since perished.
Before the Great Ming's song of "Liang Liang" (a metaphor for decline) even began, the Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch of Europe had already taken the lead, first in Asia, making a fortune through maritime trade and armed plunder. This made the then British King Charles I extremely envious, and he was eager to carve out a piece of Asia for himself.
The problem was that Charles I had no idea how the Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch operated in the Far East. He did not know that the Dutch had been beaten down by the Great Ming several times, nor did he know that Portuguese officials in Macau were taken to be caned by Ming magistrates. Of course, the Dutch and Portuguese would not have told Charles I about their beatings.
Thus, blinded by the immense wealth of the Far East, Charles I ordered the formation of a small ocean-going fleet, commanded by naval officer Weddell, to set sail for China.
This fleet included four large warships: the "Dragon," "Sun," "Catharine," and "Colonist," and two smaller warships: the "Anne" and "Discovery."
The warships were heavily armed with cannons lining their decks. Before departure, Charles I specifically granted Weddell military autonomy and the right to open fire. The objective of this expedition was very clear: to obtain preferential trade rights with the Ming Dynasty backed by military threat, and ideally, to "seize" one or two trading ports, similar to the Portuguese.
In 1637, on June 25th of the tenth year of Chongzhen's reign, Weddell's fleet arrived in the waters near Macau. On July 22nd, the fleet reached the waters near Guangzhou and brazenly dispatched the warship "Anne" to probe the waterway and Ming defenses at the mouth of the Pearl River. The arrival of Weddell's fleet attracted the attention of the local officials in Guangzhou. They immediately sent people aboard to meet Weddell, inquire about his intentions, and ordered him to withdraw from the mouth of the Pearl River.
However, Weddell reasoned that if the Portuguese could "seize" Macau a hundred years ago, why couldn't the British Empire? Thus, confident in his superior ships and firepower, Weddell ignored the demands of the Ming government and approached the important town of Humen in early August.
The defenders of the Yanniangxie Battery near Humen ordered the British fleet to retreat to the outer sea. Weddell, however, brazenly ordered his ships to open fire. Fierce exchanges of fire occurred between the two sides at the Yanniangxie Battery. However, due to the defenders' insufficient preparation and the hasty nature of the incident, the Yanniangxie Battery was destroyed by the British army.
Having achieved victory in the first engagement, Weddell proudly notified the Guangzhou officials, demanding that the Ming Dynasty open trade with Britain and cede one or two trading ports.
If this had happened under the Great Qing, Weddell's demands would likely have been met. Unfortunately, Weddell encountered the Great Ming—a stubborn youngster who insisted on "recapturing all the Liao" even when facing imminent collapse.
As a result, not only were Weddell's demands not met, but he was also repeatedly warned by Guangzhou officials, and several British merchants who came ashore to trade were arrested.
Subsequently, in early September, the Guangzhou defenders decided to resolve the issue with Weddell by force. On the night of September 10th, the Guangzhou navy employed a fire attack strategy. They mobilized over 40 sailors and piloted five ships loaded with fuel oil and sulfur under the cover of night towards the British fleet. After igniting the ships, they directed them to ram the British warships. The British crew hurriedly sailed away to the outer sea, narrowly escaping disaster.
Following this, the two navies engaged in several small-scale battles with mutual casualties.
Weddell's attempt to force the Ming Dynasty to submit by military means completely failed. He was also bewildered by the defeats inflicted by the Ming navy. To avoid returning empty-handed, Weddell again entered into negotiations with the Ming side, claiming that he only wished to purchase a batch of Ming goods and would leave immediately after the goods were loaded.
During the negotiations, Ming officials finally agreed to Weddell's request to release the captured British and allow them to purchase goods ashore, provided that they apologize and compensate for the war losses they caused to the Great Ming, totaling 2,800 taels of silver.
Faced with the resolute Ming court, Weddell had no choice but to grudgingly pay the reparations, purchase some goods, and then return home in dejection.
Of course, the Great Qing would not publicize such an event. After all, even before its demise, the Great Ming could force the British Empire to pay reparations and admit defeat, whereas the Great Qing had been ceding land since the era of the Qianlong Emperor's grandfather. Therefore, very few people knew about this naval battle.
For instance, forums like Yuan Qing Ba Li were filled with claims such as: Britain was in the Stuart dynasty, the king was the headless Charles I, they attacked the merchant fleet, their cannon emplacements were captured, their losses far exceeded those of the British merchants, the British merchants only withdrew because they feared the situation would escalate, and they were originally there for business, and so on.
The problem was that while those brainless little pests could spew nonsense and fabricate stories, the British Empire, which had genuinely been beaten, knew exactly what had happened.
Even during the Qianlong Emperor's reign, the British still harbored the psychological trauma of being beaten by the Great Ming. If a Great Ming, struggling on the brink of destruction, could hold down and rub the Great British Empire's fleet, then wouldn't the Great Qing, at its peak, be able to do the same to the entire world?
It wasn't until after 1840 that the British Empire truly recognized the true face and strength of this so-called Eastern superpower.
And now it was 1790.
At this time, George III had not yet recognized the true face and strength of the Great Qing. Instead, he was led astray by the news brought back by Sir Howard. The Great Qing had replaced the Great Ming, therefore the Great Qing was even more formidable. And since Zhu Jinsong's Great Ming court had defeated the Great Qing, the new Great Ming was even more powerful.
Especially since the flintlock muskets and cannons brought back by Sir Howard from the British Empire could serve as proof.
Therefore, George III sent out the diary-keeping Lord Macartney.
However, this time George III was too embarrassed to prepare flintlock muskets and cannons again, as the British Empire was now reverse-engineering the flintlock muskets and cannons exported by the Great Ming.
Therefore, the gifts brought by Macartney included the most advanced steam engine of the time, models of warships, astronomical telescopes, pocket watches, and world maps.
And Zhu Jinsong, of course, would not repeat the Qianlong Emperor's mistake of letting these items gather dust in warehouses.
In 1860, when the Anglo-French allied forces stormed the capital, they found some large boxes in the city. The allied forces initially thought they contained great treasures. However, upon opening the boxes, they discovered that they contained the gifts that George III had sent with Macartney to the Qianlong Emperor that year, and the Qianlong Emperor had never properly looked at them.
Upon receiving these excellent items from Macartney, Zhu Jinsong waved his hand and directly sent them to the newly established Great Ming Royal Academy.
Concurrently, Zhu Jinsong arranged for Macartney to witness the Great Ming army's artillery volleys and line-firing tactical drills, and to test-fire the latest developed Type 4487 artillery and Type 4487 flintlock muskets.
Then, Macartney formally represented King George III of England to request the establishment of trade relations with the Great Ming. As for Zhu Jinsong's recent demand that the British Empire cease its meddling in Burma, Macartney readily agreed.
For Macartney, or the entire British Empire, it would be best to gain an advantage in a place like Burma, but if they couldn't, it wasn't a big deal, as compared to the entire Ming market, Burma was simply not significant enough.
As for military intervention in the war between Burma and the Arakanese dynasty, or even direct military occupation of Burma…
If Macartney had met the Qianlong Emperor of the Great Qing, it is likely that after Macartney returned, the British Empire, having initially witnessed the uselessness of the Great Qing, would have been very tempted.
However, after Macartney had an audience with Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of the Great Ming, such thoughts completely vanished.
"He is a very young but extremely majestic emperor. During the formal audience, he wore extremely intricate patterned robes and a crown adorned with pearl curtains—according to the Ming people, such bead curtains, known as 'Yu,' are meant to prevent anyone from discerning the emperor's emotions."
"His decrees can reach any corner of the Great Ming Empire within three days, and no one dares to obstruct His Majesty the Emperor's orders, not even those generals who wield military power."
"In fact, the Great Ming Empire has nearly a million troops guarding their emperor. They only obey the orders of the Emperor of the Great Ming Empire, and no general can mobilize them without authorization."
"Furthermore, the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty is very complex. Without specialized guidance, it is difficult to learn—the rituals of prostration, bowing, kneeling, kowtowing, standing, and clasping hands need to be used according to different occasions."
"Compared to the Ming Dynasty, the etiquette of British nobles is like a group of rural peasants amusing themselves."
"The people of the Ming Dynasty are also very friendly. Their gaze towards us carries a trace of curiosity, which is completely different from what I heard from Sir Howard about the common people of the Great Qing Empire, even though they might be the same people?"