The five people present were all thousand-year-old foxes. Why was Emperor Zhu playing with Liaozhai?
Especially Watson Dun, who was even more displeased with Zhu Jinsong's statement – if the Great Ming didn't want the overseas territories in Europa, would the silly eagle want them?
After thinking for a moment, Watson Dun spoke up to persuade him, "I think, after all, this is Louis XVI and George III's kind gesture, right?"
Zhu Jinsong waved his hand with a smile and said, "I truly have no intention of taking any land in Europa. Moreover, fighting the Habsburg family is for the stability, peace, and future development of Europa, not for their meager territories!"
As he spoke these words, Zhu Jinsong's heart bled.
To say that Zhu Jinsong had a change of heart and no longer coveted land in Europa would be pure nonsense.
No matter how much he desired the land there, even if Louis XVI and George III were willing to cede the Habsburg territories, the Great Ming had no way to digest it at present.
Of course, if it were a matter of appointing a noble to take over territories like Luxembourg or Austria, it wouldn't be impossible. But the problem was, what would happen after taking over the territories?
The territories currently occupied by the Great Ming had not yet been assimilated. The entire Great Ming was in a state of vast territory and sparse population. How could they possibly swallow more land in Europa?
Relying on the local populace would easily give rise to another Jiaozhi.
This was a problem that had always troubled the emperors of the Central Plains dynasties.
The founding emperors of the Central Plains dynasties were all formidable warriors with strong armies, making territorial expansion easy. However, the wars before the founding had depleted a large portion of the Central Plains dynasties' young and strong men, leaving insufficient population to occupy new territories.
By the time the population had grown again, the national strength of the Central Plains dynasties had begun to decline. Maintaining existing rule and order was already a struggle, leaving no surplus energy for further territorial expansion.
Thanks to the incompetence of the Great Qing and the extravagance of Qianlong, this rebellion against the Qing and restoration of the Ming did not consume many of the Central Plains dynasties' citizens. Therefore, Zhu Jinsong could freely occupy Jiaozhi and Burma, and relocate people to Liaodong and Nurgan Commandery in the beginning.
However, as large numbers of people migrated outwards, the population of three hundred million gradually began to seem insufficient. Once places like Lanfang, Jiugang, Eastern Siberia, Duogansi, and Ü-Tsang were filled, the population of the Great Ming mainland would likely drop to around two hundred million.
If the Ottoman Empire and India were also included, the Great Ming would have a deficit of at least two to three hundred million people. It would take at least ten years for the population of the Great Ming to increase, which was simply impossible.
After all, they were not leeks.
Moreover, the Great Ming itself had many problems. Maintaining such a vast territory already felt like a stretch, leaving no surplus energy for expansion into Europa.
However, to simply give up like this, Zhu Jinsong felt a sense of reluctance.
At the very least, he had to dig a pit for the barbarians of Europa and trap as many as possible.
After thinking for a moment, Zhu Jinsong opened his mouth and said, "Alright, since it's just the five of us, I'll be blunt – none of us can make good use of the Habsburg family's territories."
"On the contrary, after the devastation of artillery fire, the Habsburg territories would inevitably be reduced to ruins. Whichever of us takes them would have to spend considerable effort rebuilding them."
"Especially the people there, there must be millions of them, right? If each person consumes one jin of grain per day, that's millions of jin of grain. Even if their local grain can cover part of it, and even if only hundreds of thousands of jin of grain need to be supplied daily, who can afford it?"
Louis XVI and George III immediately shook their heads.
Supplying hundreds of thousands of jin of grain daily – who could bear such a burden?
The Great Ming might have abundant grain, but their grain didn't appear out of thin air. Without money, why would the Great Ming provide so much grain?
Louis XVI frowned and said, "If we calculate it this way, wouldn't the Habsburg family become a troublesome burden?"
George III chimed in, "More than troublesome, it's a huge problem – why don't we just let the Habsburg family off and make them cede territory and pay reparations?"
Louis XVI subtly glanced at Zhu Jinsong and said, "How can that be? Don't forget what we said before we started fighting. If we let them off with ceding territory and paying reparations, how can we, the 'Five Great Benevolent Ones,' maintain our reputation?"
With that, Louis XVI looked at Zhu Jinsong again and said, "My current idea is to completely eliminate the Habsburg family, to completely destroy the Holy Roman Empire, or Austria, and then establish a new Holy Roman Empire. What do you think?"
Zhu Jinsong smiled and said, "That's a decent idea, but I have an even better one."
Louis XVI immediately perked up and asked, "What idea?"
Zhu Jinsong said, "It's certain that the Habsburg family will be eliminated. However, ceding territory and paying reparations is a sticky matter, especially since we are the Five Great Benevolent Ones. Therefore, we can sign a friendly treaty with the new Holy Roman Empire, for example…"
After roughly outlining the "Tomorrow's Seven Articles of Friendship," Zhu Jinsong continued, "See, we've dealt with the evil Habsburg family, rescued the suffering people of Austria, and helped the new Holy Roman Empire develop. Doesn't this fit our identity as the Five Great Benevolent Ones?"
"Of course, to ensure the new Holy Roman Empire does not go down the wrong path, I believe it is necessary for us to station some troops in the new Holy Roman Empire to maintain local public order."
"I propose the establishment of the 'Little Pot' Peacekeeping Force, composed of contingents from each of the Five Great Benevolent Ones, with the 'Little Pot' bearing all expenses for this force."
"To show my sincerity, I, on behalf of the Great Ming, will dispatch a fully organized infantry battalion."
Louis XVI nodded and said, "I agree. Our France is also willing to send a fully organized infantry battalion."
George III followed suit, "Our England will do the same."
After Paul I and Watson Dun had also stated their positions, Zhu Jinsong nodded with satisfaction and then steered the conversation back to the "Little Pot." "I have a proposal to put forward in the 'Little Pot' next year, which is to ban the research and development of large-scale killing weapons in the future."
"Weapons like cannons and firearms used to defend one's country can, of course, be developed by any country. The Great Ming is even willing to assist other countries in their research and development."
"However, regarding weapons like landmines, I believe it's better not to develop them casually. After all, their cost is too low, and they can cause a large number of combat and non-combat casualties, making them extremely excessive weapons."
Watson Dun shifted uncomfortably and said, "This… should also be considered defensive, right? If other countries are prohibited from developing them, isn't it a bit too…"
Zhu Jinsong narrowed his eyes and looked at Watson Dun, saying, "These weapons are not humane."
George III glanced at Zhu Jinsong, then at Watson Dun, and said, "I can agree to this request, but France must sign it first and must abide by it. You know the old grievances between England and France. If France doesn't sign, England cannot sign either."
However, to George III's surprise, Louis XVI readily agreed, "No problem, France can sign first and will abandon the research and production of landmines in the future."
George III looked at Louis XVI in bewilderment and asked, "You're really giving this up? France won't develop it anymore in the future?"
Louis XVI grunted and said, "Of course. The destructive power of these things is inferior to cannons and firearms. They are basically useless except for defense, so we can certainly give them up."
"Moreover, on the entire 'Little Pot,' who can threaten the status of our Five Great Benevolent Ones? Does it matter if we have these things or not? Or, to take a step back, even if we need these things, isn't there still the Great Ming? Can't we just buy them from the Great Ming?"
Zhu Jinsong's expression softened slightly, and he then said with a smile, "I truly cannot bear to see our soldiers injured or disabled by landmines, which is why I made this proposal."
"Furthermore, as Watson Dun just said, these weapons are ultimately defensive in nature. Those that already exist are probably enough for everyone to use. If not enough, the Great Ming can also provide these things for everyone."
"You don't need to suspect that I'm trying to deceive you – to be honest, the Great Ming is currently planning to reform its existing army, changing the original large-group model to a new joint operations model, and is also prepared to largely abandon landmines."
Louis XVI immediately asked, "How will it be reformed? Can we, France, learn from it?"
Zhu Jinsong laughed heartily and said, "Of course. If I couldn't, why would I tell you these things?"
"First is to streamline the army's structure. The Great Ming currently has a total of 1.2 million troops, and I plan to reduce them to 800,000."
"Second is to streamline the original combat units starting from the division level, while also strengthening the firepower configuration at the battalion level. In this way, although the number of troops will decrease and military expenditure will be reduced, the army's combat effectiveness and firepower intensity will not only not decrease but will even significantly increase."
After Zhu Jinsong had explained the general approach, George III, Paul I, and Watson Dun all looked thoughtful. Louis XVI, however, looked at Zhu Jinsong with a hint of nervousness.
What was the meaning of this? I, Louis, was about to sell you the entire Europa, and you're teaching these few methods to improve army combat effectiveness?
Why couldn't you teach them to me, Louis, alone!
Zhu Jinsong subtly winked at Louis XVI and continued, "Although the army's combat effectiveness will increase, I don't recommend you learn this method, because this method is very expensive when fighting wars."
"In fact, the Great Ming is currently only planning to select one or two army-level units for experimentation, and to see the results on the Ottoman battlefield before deciding whether to promote it throughout the entire army."
In reality, Zhu Jinsong would absolutely not implement this method, only selecting an army for this kind of reorganization under each governor-general's office.
This reorganization had many benefits, such as reducing the number of troops, lowering military expenses, improving combat effectiveness, and increasing the intensity of firepower, as Zhu Jinsong had told George III and the others.
However, Zhu Jinsong had omitted one point: this method of streamlining the structure was not suitable for large-scale wars, especially wars like those the Great Ming was fighting against the Ottoman Empire. In fact, they were not using this method.
How many troops did the Great Ming deploy for the war against the Ottoman Empire?
No more, no less, three armies, about 150,000 troops. Only one division was streamlined and used to lead the charge, because this method of streamlining the structure was suitable for breakthrough operations, relying on firepower superiority for rapid assaults. Large-scale annihilation battles were simply unfeasible.
More importantly, this method was suitable for the Great Ming but not for them. Streamlining the structure and strengthening firepower meant an increase in the consumption of shells, bullets, and even artillery and firearms themselves. A round of shelling might fire dozens more shells than before streamlining.
The Great Ming could experiment with this method, but if Europa played it, they would basically go bankrupt.
Even more deceitful was that the drawbacks of this method were not apparent in the short term, and only the improved combat effectiveness would be visible.
Otherwise, Zhu Jinsong would not have told them this method.
Just then, Louis XVI appropriately asked, "On the Ottoman battlefield? Does that mean the Great Ming army currently attacking the Ottoman Empire has completed the reorganization you mentioned?"
Zhu Jinsong nodded and said, "That's right. Otherwise, I wouldn't be telling you all this today." xxs壹贰
With Zhu Jinsong's words, Watson Dun and Paul I didn't react much, but George III became excited, "If that's the case, then that army in India…"
Zhu Jinsong nodded and said, "That's right. That army was experimental. They were supposed to engage the Ottoman army immediately, but unfortunately, there was a misunderstanding with your English army in India."
Compared to the opportunity to make the entire English army stronger, George III couldn't bother about the matters in India at this moment.
George III cleared his throat and said, "Um, could you give me a copy of this reform and streamlining plan? I intend for the English army to learn from it. After all, we are the Five Great Benevolent Ones. If England becomes stronger, it's also good for the 'Little Pot,' isn't it?"
However, before Zhu Jinsong could agree, Ke Zhiming knocked on the door from outside.