Dufresne skillfully presented some small gifts to Chief Tūī and High Priest Matarau of the Tainui iwi, and the Maori leaders immediately became more welcoming.

After some not-so-smooth small talk through the translator—since the Tahitian language wasn’t identical to the Maori language—Dufresne got straight to the point with Chief Tūī:

“Respected Chief, I’m here on behalf of His Majesty the King of France to purchase some land from you. As for the payment, you can choose weapons, clothing, furniture, or even technology. I guarantee that you will be more than satisfied with this deal.”

Chief Tūī and High Priest Matarau exchanged glances and then smiled at Dufresne. “How much land do you want to buy?” the chief asked.

Seeing that the chief wasn’t entirely opposed, Dufresne thought to himself that the Prince had overestimated these people—they were still just ignorant natives. Following the usual colonizer’s playbook, like the Spanish did with the Native Americans, he could probably get a vast amount of land for a few trinkets.

He promptly responded, “If possible, I’d like to purchase 50,000 acres initially, and then more depending on the circumstances.”

After the translator spent a while explaining the unit of “acres” to the Maori chief, Tūī suddenly sneered and shook his head. “The most I can give you is 500 acres. We’ll need some firearms in return.”

Dufresne’s smile froze. “But you have so much unused land here. What’s 50,000 acres to you?”

“500 acres.”

“50,000 acres, and we can provide the firearms you want.”

“500 acres, no more.”

What Dufresne didn’t realize was that the Maori had already mastered farming and greatly valued their land. Wars between tribes over territory were common, so there was no way they would easily part with their land.

In fact, the British would encounter the same resistance decades later and would eventually have to deploy their army to “convince” the stubborn Maori.

Dufresne took a deep breath and quickly returned to the “script” provided by the Prince. He smiled gently. “You may have misunderstood. We don’t need farmland; we just want the wild, grassy areas.”

But Tūī remained firm. “Even the grasslands are not for sale.”

Left with no choice, Dufresne played his trump card. “Chief, what if the land I buy still belongs to you? I only want to use it to raise sheep, and your people would continue to manage it.”

“What?” Tūī was taken aback, then cautiously asked, “And you’ll still give me firearms?”

“Of course!” Dufresne gestured to his assistant, who handed him an old flintlock musket. Dufresne presented it to the Maori chief. “500 of these guns, along with 10,000 rounds of ammunition and gunpowder, plus 500 sets of linen coats and skirts, and 300 blankets, in exchange for your 50,000 acres of grassland.”

Tūī, still in disbelief, asked again, “The land remains mine, and my people can still use it?”

“Absolutely correct!”

Tūī was thrilled—this was like not selling the land at all! He would get a bunch of guns, clothes, and blankets for nothing!

Dufresne continued, “However, the 50,000 acres must be used for raising sheep. Don’t worry, I’ll provide the sheep, and I’ll also pay your people for taking care of them. Whether in firearms or something else, they will be compensated.”

“And those sheep will belong to you.”

“What?!” Tūī’s eyes widened in shock—was there really such a good deal in the world? Not only was he getting paid for the land, but he was also being given sheep for free, and paid to raise them?!

Dufresne added, “Of course, you can’t slaughter the sheep at will, except when they’re too old to produce wool. Your people must take good care of them. If any sheep are lost or injured, the compensation will be deducted from their wages.

“And my only condition is that all the wool produced must be sold to France. Yes, sold—after all, the sheep are yours. We’ll exchange goods for the wool.”

This was Joseph’s New Zealand strategy.

Given that the French navy couldn’t compete with the British, trying to establish a stable colony in the Pacific—especially when facing the battle-hardened and united Maori—required a different approach.

The solution was to share the benefits with the Maori!

The land remains yours, the sheep are yours, I’ll pay for the shepherds, and I’ll buy all the wool you produce. Anyone who refuses such an offer would have to be a fool!

This is similar to the model used by modern meat-processing plants, where farmers are provided with piglets to raise, and the grown pigs are then bought back. However, in New Zealand, land, labor, and wool prices are so low they’re almost negligible.

And with New Zealand’s favorable conditions, even the native people could easily raise sheep successfully.

It was a perfect plan!

Moreover, France would form a community of shared interests with the Maori and even arm them by paying them wages. When the British eventually tried to cause trouble, they would first have to deal with the fierce Maori.

Keep in mind that although the Maori were still in the Stone Age, they had an extremely formidable weapon—the pā.

This was a military defense system.

Usually built on hills or other high ground, the Maori would transform the terrain into terraced flat surfaces and then construct layers of palisades and towers—the former made of sharpened wooden stakes and the latter built with stones and reinforced with flax.

Behind the palisades, they would dig trenches up to four meters deep. So, even if an enemy breached one layer of palisades, they would still have to deal with deep trenches and another palisade.

The most remarkable feature of these “fortresses” was that they naturally defended against cannon fire!

When faced with artillery, the Maori would immediately take cover in the trenches behind the palisades. Solid cannonballs were useless against these defenses. Once the bombardment ended, the Maori would emerge and engage the enemy in close combat.

The British suffered heavy losses against these pā during their military campaigns in New Zealand in the mid-19th century. Almost every pā required thousands of cannonballs and a lot of time to conquer. And when the British finally breached the last tower, the Maori would escape through pre-dug tunnels.

Each Maori tribe would build several such pā, so New Zealand was dotted with these fortifications…

Even the powerful British in 1840 had to resort to deception, eventually signing a treaty of colonization with the Maori chiefs. But soon after, they were embroiled in Maori uprisings, which led to the British agreeing to Maori self-governance.

So, trying to take New Zealand by force wasn’t even an option.

Joseph’s plan from the start was to have the Maori speak French, raise French sheep, and embrace French Catholicism—everyone would prosper together.

And as for the Maori possibly siding with the British?

Even ignoring the Maori’s inherent sincerity and stubbornness, France’s deepening influence and involvement in New Zealand over time would ensure that the British would have a hard time taking over.

At the very least, Britain would have to pay a price ten or twenty times higher than it did historically to succeed in New Zealand.

(End of Chapter)

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep