Chapter 173 Lan Fang's Envoy

"Representative of the Lanfang Republic?" Carlo was stunned and looked at Butler Luo Lun who was reporting the news.

"Yes, Your Majesty, it is the Lanfang Republic that you ordered before." Butler Luo Lun nodded and confirmed again.

In fact, such a small Asian country could theoretically not alarm King Carlo of Spain.

But because the Lanfang Republic was related to Spain's strategic plan in Kalimantan, and because Carlo had given instructions in advance, when the Lanfang Republic actually sent an envoy to Spain, the guards still reported to Butler Loren. here.

"Lanfang." Carlo looked at the map of the East Indies hanging in the office. The name of the Republic of Lanfang was on the island of Kalimantan and was extra circled.

Later generations received too much praise for this overseas republic established by the Chinese, and Carlo also had a slight favorable impression of it.

But this does not mean that Carlo will go against the interests of Spain and the royal family to help Lanfang, but will make his own decisions on the premise that it is beneficial to the interests of Spain and the royal family.

At present, for Spain, the Lanfang Republic is still necessary to exist. With the Lanfang Republic attracting the attention of the Dutch, Spain's annexation of the Bulungan Sultanate will become much smoother.

Spain can even stay out of the matter like the British, and by supporting the Lanfang Republic, let the Lanfang Republic become its own thug to fight against the Dutch.

The benefits of doing this are obvious. Spain does not need to participate in the war, and naturally does not need to bear casualties. Providing weapons and equipment to Lanfang Republic can also earn some income. Anyway, the weapons and equipment eliminated by Spain's military reform have no place to sell.

During this period, European countries had entered the era of breech-loaded rifles. Those muzzle-loading rifles were difficult to sell except for equipping colonial armies.

It would be better to sell it to Lanfang Republic at a low price and let them cause trouble for the Dutch and make the water in Kalimantan as muddy as possible.

"Let him come in." Carlo waved his hand and motioned for Butler Luo Lun to bring in the representatives of the Lanfang Republic.

After a while, a yellow man who was obviously dressed differently from an East Asian walked in under the leadership of Butler Lauren.

"Wu Yongxiang, the diplomatic representative of the Lanfang Republic, pays homage to His Majesty King Carlo of Spain!" Wu Yongxiang, the diplomatic representative of the Lanfang Republic, saluted Carlo very respectfully and introduced himself.

"Spanish? Do you speak Spanish?" Carlo was a little surprised. He didn't expect that the diplomatic representative in front of him was actually proficient in Spanish.

However, Carlo was not in the mood to pretend to be cool by speaking Chinese. After all, taking the initiative to speak the other party's language in a diplomatic situation was equivalent to bowing to others. In Spain, you have to speak Spanish, and Carlo will not forget his sense of propriety just because of his identity in his previous life.

"Yes, Your Majesty the King. As you know, proficiency in foreign languages ​​is the basic ability of a diplomat. I know some Dutch, Spanish, English and French. Please forgive me if I don't speak well." Lanfang Republic Diplomatic representative Wu Yongxiang nodded first and answered Carlo's question, and then explained.

"You are very powerful, Mr. Diplomat. Being able to master so many languages ​​at the same time is your ability." Carlo nodded, expressed his affirmation of the language ability of the diplomat in front of him, and then asked his own question: " The Lanfang Republic is far away in Kalimantan, so why did it send diplomatic envoys all the way to Spain?”

Wu Yongxiang swallowed nervously, carefully organized his words, and then said word by word in Spanish: "Dear Majesty the King, Mr. President sent me here to conclude a treaty of friendship and establish a permanent alliance with your country. "

The full name of Lanfang Republic is Lanfang Datongzhi (General System) Republic. The head of state is called Zongzhi or the Chief of the Tang Dynasty, which means the general leader of overseas Chinese.

Because there is no similar translation in Spanish, Wu Yongxiang used the relatively similar president when translating.

It is no longer important how the head of state translates. What is important is the purpose of Wu Yongxiang's trip, which is to conclude an alliance treaty with the Kingdom of Spain as much as possible and help the Lanfang Republic continue to survive.

Yes, continue to survive.

This Chinese republic established overseas actually has a relatively glorious history. During the heyday of the Lanfang Republic, most of West Kalimantan was under the rule of the republic.

However, with the colonial invasion of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, the territory of Lanfang Republic was continuously eroded, and eventually only a small part of western Kalimantan remained, approximately only tens of thousands of square kilometers of land.

If the Lanfang Republic had not been smarter in the past and cleverly borrowed the name of that large East Asian country and declared itself a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, I am afraid that the Lanfang Republic would have been wiped out by the Dutch long ago.

Of course, such a name is destined not to last long. Because the so-called Qing Dynasty has long been in decay, and what awaits it is a history of humiliation.

What's more, being part of the Lanfang Republic also destined that this country would not receive support from the Qing Dynasty.

The Lanfang Republic is a republic composed of Han people, while the Qing Dynasty is a feudal imperial country under the rule of ethnic minorities. There is a fundamental difference between the two.

This can be seen from the clothing and ethnic composition of both parties. The Han people in the Lanfang Republic do not have long braids, and their clothes are more like Dutch and French-style military uniforms.

Needless to say, the other side has a long braid.

"Friendly treaty? Eternal alliance?" Carlo smiled and said as if he didn't care: "Mr. Diplomat, give me a reason."

In any case, the status of the Lan Fang Republic and Spain is not equal. Instead of asking him to give a reason, Carlo should let the other party know that it is the Lan Fang Republic that needs help, and it is also the Lan Fang Republic that should bow its head.

"Your Majesty, Spain and Lan Fang have a common enemy, the Dutch. Once we sign a friendly treaty, we can unite to fight against the rule of the Dutch.

We are willing to help your country seize the Dutch colonies, and at the same time, it is also to win more livable places for us." Wu Yongxiang, the diplomatic representative of the Lan Fang Republic, stated his reasons.

"Dutch?" Carlo smiled, with disdain and indifference in his eyes, as if he heard a joke, and said: "Do you think the Dutch will pose a threat to Spain?

As long as I want, the Spanish army can defeat the Dutch army at any time and any place. The Dutch have never been Spain's enemies, and they are not qualified to be Spain's enemies."

Although Carlo's words are a bit arrogant, the situation in Europe is indeed like this. The strength of a country determines its diplomatic status, which is an eternal truth in any era.

Don't look at the fact that the Netherlands has a long history and was once one of the hegemons of Europe. But the current Netherlands is a small country with a population of only a few million.

If there is no British protection for the Netherlands, the Dutch colonies would have been divided up by other countries long ago. The Netherlands has never been a threat to Spain. The real threat to Spain is the British behind the Netherlands.

"Spain is indeed very powerful and can easily defeat the Dutch." Wu Yongxiang first affirmed the strength of Spain in Carlo's words, and then elaborated on his own point of view: "But there are not only Dutch people in Kalimantan, right?

The British behind the Netherlands are the real trouble, whether it is for the Lan Fang Republic or Spain. As long as your country is willing to support us, we are willing to help your country fight against the British and the Dutch together."

This sentence really hits the point. Spain's real concern is not the Dutch, and the Dutch are not qualified to play a chess game with Spain.

The real chess player on Kalimantan is the British. The Lan Fang Republic wants to find a common enemy with Spain, and its eyes should also be on the British.

"Although that's what I said, Spain doesn't need allies at this time." Carlo nodded, affirming Wu Yongxiang's point of view, but also expressing his opposition.

"Your Majesty." Wu Yongxiang still wanted to fight for it, but Carlo waved his hand to interrupt him, and then said: "Although I don't need an ally, I don't mind having a central subordinate in Southeast Asia. Mr. Diplomat, I think you should understand what I mean?"

Whether from the comprehensive strength of the country or the current situation, the Lan Fang Republic is not qualified to be an ally of Spain.

In the final analysis, the strength of the Lan Fang Republic is too weak. Without the support of Spain, the Lan Fang Republic is destined to perish in the colonial aggression of the Netherlands.

At present, the only country that can help the Lan Fang Republic is Spain, which is also the purpose of the Lan Fang Republic coming to Spain from afar.

Unfortunately, they underestimated Carlo's ambition. For Carlo, he is not willing to support a foreign country that can threaten Spain.

Lan Fang can get the support of Spain, but the premise is that it must submit to the rule of Spain and become a loyal younger brother of Spain.

Otherwise, Carlo doesn't mind supporting other countries to fight against the Dutch again, anyway, it is not a difficult task for Spain.

Wu Yongxiang's face turned pale. Of course, he also understood what Carlo meant by his words, which was to make the Lan Fang Republic submit to the rule of Spain.

This is not a simple submission. If we talk about submission, the current Lan Fang Republic claims to be a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, but in fact it is forced to submit to the colonial rule of the Netherlands. This is also submission.

But such submission is false. The Dutch want to annex the Lan Fang Republic all the time, and the Lan Fang Republic also wants to resist the rule of the Dutch all the time.

The submission that Carlo asked for is naturally not such a false submission on the surface, but a real submission.

If such a request is agreed, the economy of the Lan Fang Republic will be infiltrated by Spain, and even the army will be intervened by Spain.

Is it to become a real vassal state and submit to the rule of Spain in exchange for the survival of the country, or to refuse sternly and strive to work hard in the colonial competition between the Netherlands and Spain?

This is a difficult choice for the Lan Fang Republic, and it is an even more difficult choice for Wu Yongxiang, the diplomatic representative of the Lan Fang Republic.

As a diplomatic representative, Wu Yongxiang must have certain powers. His power may be enough to directly agree to Carlo's request, but does he dare? Of course not.

This is not a trivial matter, and the interests of the entire Lan Fang Republic are sacrificed.

Wu Yongxiang's expression changed for a long time, but he didn't dare to have the slightest dissatisfaction. The villains in his mind fought each other for a long time, and Wu Yongxiang finally couldn't make up his mind: "I'm sorry, Your Majesty. But such conditions are not something I can decide. I will convey your request back to the country truthfully and ask our president to make a decision."

Carlo nodded, not surprised at all: "Of course, Mr. Diplomat. Since you are a guest of Spain in Spain, I will let the government arrange your food, clothing, housing and transportation.

If your government has any reply, I am happy to listen."

Under the leadership of Butler Loren, Wu Yongxiang walked out of the Madrid Palace with a complicated expression.

As a diplomatic representative of a small country, the Spanish government naturally would not pay too much attention. However, since Carlo had ordered, the government's diplomatic department still arranged a quiet residence for Wu Yongxiang and his entourage, and provided them with a carriage for travel.

All the way from the palace to the residence, Wu Yongxiang looked at the city of Madrid with a complicated expression, and the envy in his eyes almost overflowed.

Compared with Madrid, the capital of the Lan Fang Republic, East Banting (Pontianak), is in such a state of ruin that it is beyond description.

Although the small Lan Fang Republic also has a population of nearly 4 million, it is completely incomparable with these European countries in terms of infrastructure, technology and economy.

"Alas! If the Han Chinese had such technology, why would Lan Fang be in this state?" Wu Yongxiang sighed, his face very complicated.

"Master, we will learn these foreigners' stuff sooner or later. When our weapons become as powerful as those of the foreigners, we don't have to be afraid of the Dutch or the Spanish." Wu Yongxiang's entourage, who is also his confidant and subordinate, said at this time.

"I hope so. Will the foreigners hand over these stuff to us so easily? It's a pity that the civilization of our great country was destroyed by the wild boar skin. The red cannons of the former Ming Dynasty are still vivid in our minds, but the wild boar skins now use weapons such as swords, guns, sticks and clubs. It's ridiculous! Ridiculous!" Wu Yongxiang sighed and ended the topic.

Although Wu Yongxiang used the excuse of contacting Lan Fang, in fact, where was the way to contact the country?

It was very troublesome for European countries like Spain to contact the East Indies colonies, not to mention a small country like Lan Fang that had no diplomatic embassy.

If there was indeed a way to contact, it would be to send someone back to Lan Fang to confirm the news and then come to Spain to inform.

But it would take several months to go back and forth, which was not only troublesome, but also might miss the opportunity.

Lan Fang already needed help from others. If Spain was asked to wait for a few more months, even if the cooperation could be reached, it would probably fail.

So before Wu Yongxiang left the Lan Fang Republic, he had already determined the specific content of the cooperation with Spain and the areas where he could make concessions with Liu Asheng, the current general of Lan Fang, and other important personnel.

If the conditions of Spain were within the acceptable range of Lan Fang, then it would be better to reach cooperation as soon as possible. But if the conditions of Spain were too harsh and exceeded the bottom line that Lan Fang could bear, then the negotiation would end with regret.

Although the residence provided by Spain to Wu Yongxiang was not simple, he had not slept well in the past few days.

There was no way, the mental pressure was too great. It was so great that when Wu Yongxiang closed his eyes, he would think of the problems that the Lan Fang Republic might encounter in the future. Either he would completely surrender to the rule of the Spanish, or he would be completely defeated and destroyed by the Dutch.

After being tortured for several days, Wu Yongxiang finally made a decision. In other words, the two villains fighting in his heart finally had a winner.

There was no way, for the Lan Fang Republic, the most important thing at present was to survive.

The Spanish only wanted part of the sovereignty of the Lan Fang Republic and the surrender of the Lan Fang Republic. But the Dutch wanted the complete demise of the Lan Fang Republic. They were not targeting the Lan Fang Republic, but the land reclaimed by the Lan Fang Republic.

The Lan Fang Republic has been established for nearly 100 years. In these 100 years, the population of the Lan Fang Republic has expanded from the initial 100,000 to nearly 4 million, which seems to be a lot of people.

But the bad news is that the proportion of the real main ethnic group of the Lan Fang Republic, the Chinese, or the Hakka people, is not that high. At present, the number of Chinese is only over 500,000, and most of them are local indigenous people who surrendered to the rule of Lan Fang, that is, other ethnic groups.

This is also the reason why the Lan Fang Republic can only surrender to the Dutch. After all, only 500,000 people are truly loyal, and the rest of the population will not fight to the death for Lan Fang and the Dutch.

Because so many people have been continuously cultivating this land, the land controlled by the Lan Fang Republic has quite fertile arable land and a relatively developed economy.

Although it is not as good as European countries, compared with the local indigenous tribes nearby, the Lan Fang Republic is definitely a tempting piece of fat, which is why the Dutch are eyeing the Lan Fang Republic.

Even the Brunei Empire, which once controlled this land, is far less important than the Lan Fang Republic. If the 4 million population of the Lan Fang Republic can be controlled, it can greatly promote the development of Kalimantan Island and allow the Dutch to have a large granary on Kalimantan Island.

Because there are as many as 500,000 Chinese in the country, the Lan Fang Republic actually has no choice.

Only the Lan Fang Republic can shelter these more than 500,000 Chinese. If the Lan Fang Republic is destroyed by the Dutch, what awaits these Chinese may be a worse situation than the local indigenous people.

The Lan Fang Republic has existed on this land for nearly a hundred years, and they certainly understand the attitude and strategy of Europeans towards local indigenous people.

Because of the diligence of the Lan Fang people, they have reclaimed a large area of ​​land and created a lot of wealth. These wealth are not only targeted by European colonists, but also by local indigenous people.

If the Lan Fang Republic perishes, even if the Henan people will not be too harsh on the Lan Fang people, the local indigenous people will definitely launch crazy revenge.

Even for the survival of these Chinese, the Lan Fang Republic must continue to exist.

As for the need to submit to the rule of Spain, the Lan Fang Republic has already done this.

During the heyday of the Qing Dynasty, the Lan Fang Republic declared itself to be a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty and has always wanted to seek the protection of the Qing Dynasty.

But Wild Boar Skin would not trust a Han Chinese republic. Even if the Lan Fang Republic showed goodwill, the other side always regarded it as a pirate group, not an orthodox country.

The former Lan Fang Republic was forced to submit to the rule of the Dutch in order to survive. Now it is nothing more than changing a ruler on their heads, and the change is not that big for Lan Fang.

A little sacrifice in exchange for the survival of the entire Lan Fang is worth it in Wu Yongxiang's view. Besides, Lan Fang does not have to submit to the rule of Spain all the time. If it can learn these powerful technologies and weapons of Spain, the future Lan Fang may be able to dominate its own destiny.

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