Chapter 16
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Chapter 16: Great Ming Empire
"The Ming Empire greatly embarrassed the English ambassador."
On March 5, 1834, a corner of the "Brandenburg News" published this information, which seemed unimportant to the people in Germany but caused a big uproar in England.
The Ming Empire had long followed a policy of isolation and had little external communication. Western countries could only gather information through some missionaries and clever individuals.
From conversations with the spiritual Ming people, it was revealed that the Great Ming Empire was an extremely wealthy and powerful superpower in the Far East, dominating the region, and considered everyone else beneath them.
Since the era of Marco Polo ushered in the first wave of Western admirers, many books praising the Great Ming people’s fair complexion, noble lineage, and superiority, such as "The Inferiority of Germanic Roots" and "Why Anglo-Saxon people can’t compete with the Great Ming people," were written by Western scholars.
Because the Great Ming Empire closed its doors to the outside world, Western countries couldn’t learn the truth through normal channels. All they heard were exaggerated stories from people who claimed to know the truth, and none of it was objective.
After hearing these stories for a long time, the Western countries started to believe that the Great Ming Empire was unbeatable.
In the aftermath of this event, the Great Ming Empire humiliated an English envoy. While the people in England were outraged, the country itself did not take any action and chose to stay quiet.
In 1834, who would dare to humiliate England besides the Great Ming Empire? If it were another country trying such a foolish act, the Royal Navy would quickly come for a lesson, showing them the might of a modern military force.
Leader One picked up another newspaper called "The Chronicle," which had a list of the world’s strongest nations on the back page, similar to rankings in certain games that were updated regularly.
"The Chronicle" ranked the British colonial system and the Ming tribute system as tied for first place, stating that the Great Ming Empire was the only superpower that could rival England. It specifically mentioned the recent incident with the humiliated envoy as proof of the Great Ming’s strength, highlighting England’s lack of response.
Leader One chuckled, thinking this newspaper was just full of exaggerated stories.
Most of these so-called experts and clever people had never actually been to the East; they just formed their opinions based on hearsay.
Leader One had actually visited the Ming Empire, spending almost half a year there, giving him a deep and accurate understanding of the situation.
A word, strong on the outside but weak on the inside.
Over there is a pure feudal society, where the country’s resources are used very poorly. Despite its huge size, it lacks corresponding strength, and every social class from top to bottom has serious issues.
Great Ming survived until 1834 not because of reforms, but through violent suppression. They used a large Magic Energy Army to suppress peasant uprisings and keep their power by force.
Their technology is stuck in the 1700s, with very low productivity. Land consolidation is severe, and the lower-class people live worse than European serfs.
When people couldn’t survive, they started to rebel. However, facing the Magical Energy Department armed with farm tools, they had no chance. The Ming royal family maintained their power through harsh labor and heavy taxes to feed their army, which suppressed the uprisings. But the people, suffering under cruel rule, rebelled more, creating a vicious cycle of escalating conflicts.
If one day, the people had the power to resist the Magic Energy Army, the Great Ming Empire would collapse instantly.
The people there need advanced weapons and more importantly, advanced ideas. They must find their own right path through suffering.
This is the Great Ming Empire as seen through Leader One’s eyes.
But in the eyes of Western countries, the Great Ming Empire is very strong, with millions of troops and tens of thousands of Magic Energy Knights. Although they are outdated feudal forces, their immense size is very intimidating.
In the past, the Western countries didn’t even think about the Great Ming. But now, with England and France becoming modern nations through the Industrial Revolution and rise of capitalist banking, their power increased greatly and they started to think about the Far East.
Although the Great Ming Empire closed its borders, it still engaged in international trade.
They exported large quantities of tea, silk, animal furs, porcelain, hog bristles, and sugar. The first few items were luxury goods favored by the Western nobility, while hog bristles and sugar were considered strategic items. The Great Ming Empire dominated the market with its huge export volumes.
However, the imports into the Great Ming were very few, almost negligible compared to their exports.
The Westerners felt it was unfair. They were making money from the Ming Empire every day, but weren’t allowed to make money in return. And on top of that, they had to settle transactions in silver, causing all the silver to flow to the Ming Empire. What were they going to do?
Trade is supposed to be a two-way street, but the one-way trade of the Great Ming caused discontent. It was like a group of gamblers playing cards, with the Ming Empire taking all the winnings and not sharing with others, which made everyone unhappy.
England tried various ways to make some money from the Ming Empire, so they started a tobacco business. But recently, the Ming Empire banned tobacco, not allowing its people to smoke tobacco and preventing England from making money.
England sent a delegation to the Great Ming Empire to discuss the trade system.
England believed that both England and the Great Ming were world powers, arbitrators between the Western and Eastern worlds. They saw their status as equal, and thought the trade system should be reformed. They proposed a balance in silver circulation and trading the needed goods.
As a result, the Emperor did not meet with the delegation from England at all. He even refused to let them come ashore. Instead, he sent a letter insulting the English Empire, saying they were a tiny land of barbarians who wanted to talk to the divine Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The letter basically said, "How dare you try to talk to our Emperor! Get lost!"
The insulting letter angered the people of England, but the English royal family, government, and parliament did not react at all. They chose to stay quiet and back down.
They felt that the Great Ming Empire was truly powerful, and it was too far away in the Far East for England to be able to launch enough forces to fight against them.
So, England sent another delegation to address the trade issues, this time led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. They prepared to meet the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty once again.
They wondered how the Great Ming Empire would respond this time.
Honestly, Leader One didn’t know what would happen next in this world because the Blue Star had magical powers. If the Ming Empire and England went to war… Would the Great Ming use their powerful Magic Energy Army to win?
Could a feudal army with magical powers defeat a modern army?
If the Great Ming Empire lost, would their fate be similar to Earth’s history?
If the Great Ming Empire won, what direction would their future take?
Leader One felt that whether Great Ming wins or loses in the competition with the West, it is not a good thing. Maybe the best outcome is a tie, so that Great Ming can realize its shortcomings and truly reform from feudalism to modernity. People also gradually awaken during this process, going through a great revolution and rebirth…