Dufresne expertly presented small gifts to the Chief Tuae and High Priest Matua of the Yiwei Maori Tribes, and the Maori’s attitude immediately warmed up.
After some awkward pleasantries through a translator—since the Tahitian language isn’t exactly the same as the Maori’s—Dufresne cut straight to the chase and said to Tuae,
“Respected Chief, I am here to represent His Majesty the King of France to purchase some land from you. As for the payment, you may choose from weapons, clothing, furniture, or even technology. I assure you that you will be completely satisfied with this deal.”
Tuae and High Priest Matua exchanged glances and smiled at Dufresne, “How much land do you plan to buy?”
The latter, seeing that the other party didn’t seem to resist, thought to himself that the Crown Prince had overestimated these people; they were still ignorant natives after all. According to the routine commonly used by colonizers—just like how the Spaniards had dealt with the Indians—cheap trinkets could get them vast lands.
He replied immediately, “If possible, I would like to purchase 50,000 acres at first, and then continue buying more, depending on the situation.”
The translator spent quite a while explaining the unit “acre” to the Maori Chief. However, Tuae suddenly sneered and shook his head, “At most 500 acres, we need some firearms.”
Dufresne’s face stiffened in an instant, and he rushed to say, “You have so much useless land here, 50,000 acres is nothing to you.”
“500 acres.”
“50,000 acres, and we can provide you with the firearms you want.”
“500 acres, there is no other possibility!”
Dufresne was unaware that the Maori had mastered agriculture and held their farmland in high esteem. Tribes often waged wars over land, so why would they sell it so easily?
In fact, the British would encounter the same snag decades later, and they would have to go to great lengths, sending troops to “persuade” the stubborn Maori.
Dufresne took a deep breath and quickly returned to the “script” the Crown Prince had given him.
He put on a harmless smile, “You might have misunderstood, we do not need arable land, but wasteland.”
Tuae was still uncompromising, “Not even wasteland will do.”
Left with no other options, Dufresne played his trump card, “Your Excellency the Chief, what if I told you that the land I purchase would still belong to you? I just want to use it for sheep farming, and your people would still manage the land?”
“Ah?” Tuae seemed somewhat lost and probed, “And you will still provide me with firearms?”
“Of course!” Dufresne signaled to his assistant, took an old-style matchlock gun from him, and handed it to the Maori Chief, “500 of these guns, along with 10,000 rounds of ammunition and gunpowder. Plus, 500 sets of flax jackets, skirts, and 300 blankets, in exchange for your 50,000 acres of wasteland.”
Tuae confirmed incredulously again, “The land won’t belong to you, and my people can still set foot there?”
Continue your adventure at empire
“Absolutely correct!”
Tuae was delighted; what difference was there from not having sold the land? He would gain a large number of firearms, clothes, and blankets at no cost!
Dufresne smiled and said, “The only thing is that the 50,000 acres must be used for sheep farming.
“Oh, don’t worry, I will provide the sheep; I only need your people to help take care of them.”
“Oh, rest assured, I will pay your people a fair wage, whether it’s firearms or anything else.
“And the sheep will belong to you, too.”
“What?!” Tuae’s eyes almost popped out of his head—was there such a good deal in the world? Not only was he getting goods for free to buy the land, but also sheep for free! And on top of that, they were offering wages for sheep farming!
Dufresne continued, “Of course, you cannot simply slaughter these sheep unless they are too old to produce wool. And your tribespeople must take good care of them, if any sheep die or are injured, the cost must be deducted from their payment.”
“And my only demand is that all the wool produced must be sold to France. Yes, sold, after all, the sheep are yours. We will provide the corresponding goods in exchange for the wool.”
This was Joseph’s New Zealand strategy.
In the face of a situation where the French Navy was utterly incapable of defeating the British, and aiming to establish a stable colony in the Pacific Ocean, facing the well-travelled, battle-hardened, and highly united Maori, there was only one strategy to use.
That was to share profits with the Maori!
The land is still yours, the sheep are yours, I pay the wages for sheep farming, and I pay for the wool you produce.
If anyone still refuses this, they must be a fool!
This is the model often used by modern meat joint factories, providing farmers with piglets and buying them all back when they are grown. However, placed in New Zealand, where land costs, labor, and wool prices are so low they are almost negligible.
And with New Zealand’s natural conditions, even the indigenous people could easily raise sheep well.
Everything was perfect!
At the same time, France formed a community of interest with the Maori and even armed them by way of payment.
When the British intended to cause trouble, they would first have to deal with the fierce Maori.
You see, although the Maori were still in the Stone Age, they possessed a highly formidable weapon—the Pa.
This was a military defense system.
Usually built on raised ground like hills, the Maori would turn the landscape into terraced planes and construct fences and towers layer by layer—the former made of sharpened stakes, the latter of stones, all secured with flax.
Behind these fences, they would dig trenches as deep as 4 meters. Thus, after each fence was breached, the enemy would still face a deep ditch and another fence.
Most ingeniously, these “fortresses” constructed by almost primitive people inherently had the capability to defend against cannon!
Facing cannon fire, the Maori would immediately take shelter in the trenches behind the fences. Solid cannonballs were useless against these defenses. Once the cannonade ended, they would leap out and engage the enemy in hand-to-hand combat.
During the mid-19th century, British forces that attempted to conquer New Zealand suffered greatly because of these “Pa.” Nearly every “Pa” required thousands of cannonballs and an extremely long period to conquer. And after the British breached the last tower of the “Pa,” the Maori would escape through tunnels dug in advance.
And such “Pa” were something that each Maori tribe would build several of; New Zealand was riddled with them everywhere…
Even the mighty British of 1840 could only resort to deception and sign a colonial treaty with the Maori chiefs. They were soon overwhelmed by Maori uprisings and were ultimately forced to agree to Maori self-governance.
Therefore, taking a tough approach was never an option for New Zealand.
From the very start, Joseph intended for the Maori to speak French, raise France’s sheep, believe in France’s Catholicism, and prosper together.
As for the possibility of the Maori colluding with the British?
Not to mention the honesty and stubbornness innate in the Maori’s character, just the penetration and influence that France would develop in New Zealand over many years meant it wasn’t something the British could easily handle.
At the very least, the British would have to pay a price ten or eight times higher than what they historically spent colonizing New Zealand to stand a chance of taking over here.