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Chapter 278: Common Prosperity

Du Fresne, adept at such exchanges, presented Chief Te Ue of the Tainui-iwi and High Priestess Mate Roto with some small gifts, and the Māori's attitude immediately grew enthusiastic.

After a somewhat stilted exchange of pleasantries through a translator — the Tahitian language was not exactly the same as Māori — Du Fresne directly stated the purpose of his visit to Te Ue:

"Honored Chief, I have come on behalf of His Majesty the King of France to purchase some land from you. As for payment, you may choose weapons, clothing, furniture, or even technology. I assure you, you will be absolutely satisfied with this transaction."

Te Ue and the High Priestess exchanged glances, then smiled at Du Fresne. "How much land do you intend to buy?"

Observing their apparent lack of resistance, he thought, 'The Crown Prince still thinks too highly of these people. They're just ignorant natives.' It was the usual colonizer's tactic — just as the Spanish had tricked the indigenous people back then — exchanging vast tracts of land for cheap trinkets.

He immediately replied, "If possible, I would like to initially purchase about 8,250 acres, and then continue purchasing more as circumstances allow."

The translator spent a long time explaining the unit of "mu" to the Māori chief, but Te Ue suddenly let out a cold laugh and shook his head. "A maximum of about 82.5 acres. We need some muskets."

Du Fresne's expression immediately stiffened, and he quickly said, "You have so much undeveloped land here; about 8,250 acres is nothing to you."

"About 82.5 acres."

"About 82.5 acres, no other possibilities!"

Du Fresne had no idea that the Māori had already mastered agriculture. They greatly valued arable land, and wars over land were common among their tribes. How could they easily sell it?

In fact, decades later, the British would hit the same wall. They then had to go to great lengths, sending troops to "persuade" the stubborn Māori.

Du Fresne took a deep breath. He hastily returned to the "script" the Crown Prince had given him.

He offered a disarming smile. "You may have misunderstood. We don't need arable land, but rather undeveloped grassland."

Te Ue remained unyielding. "Grassland is not acceptable either."

Helpless, Du Fresne had no choice but to play his Killer Mace. "Chief, what if the land I purchase still belongs to you? I would merely use it to raise sheep, and what if your people still managed this land?"

"Huh?" Te Ue was somewhat taken aback. He cautiously asked, "Will you still provide me with muskets then?"

"Of course!" Du Fresne signaled to his assistant behind him, taking an old Matchlock Musket from his hand and handing it to the Māori chief. "500 of these guns, along with 10,000 rounds of ammunition and gunpowder. Plus 500 sets of linen jackets, skirts, and 300 blankets, in exchange for your about 8,250 acres of grassland."

Te Ue confirmed again, disbelief in his voice, "The land won't belong to you, and my people can still walk upon it?"

"Exactly!"

Te Ue beamed. What was the difference between this and not selling the land at all? Wouldn't he be getting a large quantity of muskets, clothes, and blankets for free!

Du Fresne smiled faintly. "However, these about 8,250 acres of land must be used for raising sheep.

"Oh, don't worry, I will provide the sheep. I'll just need your people to help raise them.

"Oh, rest assured, I will pay your people sufficient compensation, whether it's muskets or something else.

"And these sheep will also belong to you."

"What?!" Te Ue's eyes nearly popped out of his head. 'Could such a good thing really exist? Not only would he get things for "selling" the land, but he'd also get sheep for free! And get paid to raise them?!'

Du Fresne continued, "Of course, you cannot slaughter these sheep indiscriminately, unless they are too old to produce wool. Your people must also care for them diligently. If any sheep die or are injured, the cost will be deducted from their compensation.

"My only demand is that all the produced wool must be sold to France. Yes, sold — after all, the sheep are yours. We will provide corresponding goods in exchange for the wool."

This was Joseph's New Zealand strategy.

Given that the French navy was completely outmatched by the British, establishing a stable colony in the Pacific while facing the worldly, incredibly formidable, and highly united Māori, only one strategy could work.

That was to share the profits with the Māori!

The land is still yours, the sheep are yours, I'll pay the wages for raising the sheep, and I'll buy the wool produced.

If anyone still refused this, they would truly be a fool!

This was a model commonly used by meat processing plants in later generations. They'd provide farmers with piglets and buy them all back when grown. However, applied to New Zealand, the land value, labor, and wool prices were all so cheap they were practically negligible.

And New Zealand's natural conditions meant even the indigenous people could easily raise sheep successfully.

Everything was perfect!

At the same time, France also formed a community of interest with the Māori, even arming them by paying compensation.

When the British wanted to cause trouble, the fierce Māori alone would be enough to give them a hard time.

It should be noted that although the Māori were still in the Stone Age, they possessed an extremely formidable weapon — the Pā.

This was a military defense system.

Typically built on high ground such as hills, the Māori would transform the hillsides into terraced platforms. Then, they would construct fences and watchtowers layer by layer. The former used sharpened wooden stakes, the latter stone blocks, secured with large quantities of flax.

Behind these fences, trenches were dug, reaching depths of up to 4 meters (about 13 feet). This way, after each fence was breached, the enemy would still face a deep ditch and the next layer of fence.

The most ingenious part was that these "bunkers," built almost by primitive people, inherently possessed the ability to defend against cannons!

When faced with cannons, the Māori would immediately retreat into the trenches behind the fences. Solid cannonballs were utterly ineffective against these structures. Once the bombardment ended, they would leap out to engage the enemy in close combat.

When the British dispatched troops to attack New Zealand in the mid-19th century, they suffered heavy losses against these Pā. Almost every Pā required thousands of cannonballs and an extremely long time to overcome. And after the British finally broke through the last watchtower of a Pā, the Māori would simply escape through pre-dug tunnels.

And such Pā, each Māori tribe would build several of them. New Zealand was dotted with these structures everywhere...

Even a power as mighty as the British in 1840 could only resort to deception, signing colonial treaties with Māori tribal chiefs. But soon after, Māori uprisings left them To Be in a Terrible Fix. Ultimately, they had no choice but to grant the Māori autonomy.

Therefore, for New Zealand, a hard-line approach was simply not an option.

From the very beginning, Joseph intended for the Māori to speak French, raise French sheep, believe in French Catholicism, and for everyone to achieve common prosperity.

As for the Māori colluding with the British?

Aside from the Māori's inherent honesty and stubbornness, France's penetration and influence in New Zealand after years of operation would not be something the British could easily overcome.

At the very least, Britain would have to pay ten to eight times the price it historically paid to colonize New Zealand to even stand a chance of taking control here.