George III did not know if Francis I was shameless, but George III knew that Louis XVI was definitely shameless.
As one of the five great benefactors of the small broken pot, Louis XVI fawned over the Great Ming Emperor in every way, prioritizing the Great Ming in everything, and giving no opportunity for others to show off, perfectly interpreting how many ways the word "lick dog" could be written.
After a long silence, George III could not help but tentatively ask, "If, I mean if, if the Ming Kingdom has a conflict with Europa, or if the Ming Kingdom wants to advance into Europa, what are you going to do?"
Louis XVI retorted, "Do you think it's possible? Before thinking about any problem, please use your brain and think if this problem can be established."
George III frowned, "Why can't it be established?"
Louis XVI chuckled and said, "The Ming Kingdom's newspapers once published statistical data. The Ming Kingdom has three hundred and fourteen million, one hundred and twelve thousand people, and its land area is eighteen million square kilometers. There are less than 18 people per square kilometer, indicating a state of abundant land and sparse population."
"Let's not consider for now whether the Ming Kingdom has the ability to transport troops across the sea to Europa for combat, nor the supply problems of overseas operations. Even if the Ming Kingdom can advance into Europa, what will it use to occupy the land of Europa?"
"Also, haven't you noticed that up to now, almost all the wars fought by the Ming Emperor have been passive counterattacks, and he has almost never initiated an attack on other countries."
"Even if it attacks the Ottoman Empire, it is for the Ottoman Empire's oil, and also to establish prestige for the small broken pot. What does Europa have? Does Europa have oil? Or does Europa have a large amount of gold and silver?"
"Compared to the Great Ming, Europa is simply the poorest countryside imaginable. Do you still expect the Great Ming to actively send troops to occupy Europa? Are you hoping the Great Ming will come to Europa for poverty alleviation? What a nice thought you have!"
George III was speechless.
After another long period of silence, George III asked again, "Are you really planning to learn from the Great Ming comprehensively? Including the French court and army?"
Louis XVI nodded as a matter of course and said, "Of course, it is not shameful to learn from the strong. What is shameful is to have the opportunity to learn from the strong but refuse to do so."
"In fact, if it were not for the inability to find enough translators, I would even prepare to offer Chinese language and character courses in French schools, so that French people would have the opportunity to learn Chinese language and characters from a young age."
George III nodded and fell silent again.
Comprehensively learning from the Great Ming, including the court and the army, and even offering Chinese language and character courses in schools, is beyond the description of "lick dog." This is simply madness, utter madness—is he planning to turn France into a mini-Ming Kingdom?
Looking at the silent George III, Louis XVI could not help but feel a little proud.
What's wrong with copying everything from the Great Ming?
Compared to what France currently has, the Ming Kingdom's system is more advanced, its army is more formidable, its written characters are more beautiful, its language is more elegant, the most advanced knowledge is written in Chinese characters, and the most advanced technology follows Ming Kingdom standards. If France does not learn from the Great Ming, should it cling to its old and corrupt ways and wait to be swept into the dustbin of history?
Besides, learning the written characters and language of the Great Ming does not mean completely abolishing the written characters and language of France.
After a moment of secret pride, Louis XVI spoke again, "I plan to conscript labor in Paris to clean the excrement outside the city of Paris, and no one can shake my resolve, no matter who tries to dissuade me."
"After cleaning up the excrement inside and outside the city, we will properly dredge the Seine River, which is blocked by excrement, and plant more flowers and trees, so that the people of Paris can also have a beautiful living environment like the people of the Great Ming."
"Also, Versailles, Fontainebleau, and Marly, these places will also be thoroughly cleaned, and proper toilets will be built."
Speaking of this, Louis XVI's mind stirred, and he looked at George III and asked, "I remember that the sanitary conditions in your London are not very good either? And the River Thames..."
In response to Louis XVI's words were a series of words starting with "f" and "s."
The French in Paris liked to relieve themselves wherever they pleased, and the English in London also liked to do so. The French in Paris liked to dump their excrement in the streets, outside the city, and into the Seine River, and the English in London also liked to dump their excrement in the streets, outside the city, and into the River Thames. Just as the Seine River was blocked by excrement, the River Thames was not spared.
The Italian adventurer Giacomo Casanova often saw people standing by the roadside or leaning against buildings to "release the floodgates" in broad daylight. The English writer Samuel Pepys even recorded in his diary that his wife squatted on the road to "do her business."
In British literature, there is a description: ordinary families in London at that time did not have toilets, and many people would defecate and urinate wherever they pleased on the streets. The streets were filled with animal offal, furs, and filth, and even livestock such as pigs, cattle, and sheep would run around and defecate in the streets. Some Londoners, unable to bear the humiliation, wore twenty-centimeter high heels to avoid touching this excrement.
As for the River Thames outside London, it was even "a river that flowed with sewage all year round."
After cursing a barrage of words starting with "f" and "s," George III tugged at his collar, breathed heavily, and said to Louis XVI, "Alright, you have successfully convinced me. For the sake of the River Thames, I also plan to learn comprehensively from the Great Ming, at least to deal with the excrement in London and the River Thames, uh, excrement."
...
Just as Louis XVI and George III were discussing the excrement problems in Paris and London, Liu Yangxing, the first governor of the Great Ming stationed on Kyushu Island, was also bewildered by the excrement problem.
Before coming to Kyushu Island, Liu Yangxing had diligently studied knowledge about Wa (Japan). He knew that Wa was an island nation with scarce resources, but Liu Yangxing never expected that Wa would be so poor that even the supply of excrement was insufficient.
This matter began when Liu Yangxing first arrived on Kyushu Island.
As the first governor of the Great Ming on Kyushu Island, Liu Yangxing had to make preparations before the Great Ming migrated its people to Kyushu Island, including but not limited to planning the future blueprint of Kyushu Island, setting up the framework of the governor's yamen, and dispatching people to supervise the construction of the governor's yamen and local government offices, etc.
However, before Liu Yangxing could plan the future blueprint of Kyushu Island, Tokugawa Ienari came to visit.
Tokugawa Ienari expressed that Kyushu Island henceforth belonged to the Great Ming, which was beyond doubt, but Tokugawa Ienari wanted to contract all the toilets of the Great Ming on Kyushu Island, guaranteeing to clean them thoroughly, with the sole condition that the excrement would belong to Wa.
Liu Yangxing was stunned at that time.
No money, just excrement?
As a member of the Central Plains Hall, Liu Yangxing naturally knew that excrement could be used for composting. However, Kyushu Island was not small in area, and some people would be migrated to live there in the future, generating a considerable amount of excrement every day. If Wa undertook the cleaning tasks, it would mean that Wa would have to expend a large amount of manpower and material resources, in return for the excrement of the Great Ming. This matter...
How desperately short of excrement was Wa?
It was only after sending people to inquire carefully that Liu Yangxing understood what was going on.
Most of Wa's land was sandy soil. This type of soil contained a lot of sand and had coarse particles. Although it had good permeability, it contained fewer nutrients. Moreover, in the rural areas of Japan at that time, not every household could afford to raise livestock. Therefore, Wa's farmers could only rely on human excrement as fertilizer to improve the soil and promote crop growth.
At that time, the Wa people considered defecating at a friend's house a generous act—it was a gift.
In order to ensure a sufficient supply of excrement, some Wa farmers would pay a certain fee for excrement to surrounding households, inns, and other places, and then process the excrement into fertilizer suitable for crop growth, thereby increasing crop yields. For a period of time, some larger inns would reduce rent to increase the number of guests in order to increase the yield of excrement.
As the demand for fertilizer for the land increased, the demand for excrement exceeded supply. Excrement instantly became a seller's market. Some landlords and residents began to charge exorbitant prices, increasing the price of cleaning excrement from the past 20 taels to 60-70 taels, stating, "Buy it if you want, otherwise we can transfer the cleaning rights to others who accept this price." As a result, some desperate farmers, disregarding the risk of imprisonment, infiltrated residents' homes to steal excrement.
Then, Liu Yangxing began to calculate.
After the problems on Kyushu Island were basically resolved, the Great Ming would definitely migrate its people to live there, which meant that a large number of public toilets would need to be built on Kyushu Island, and consequently, a large amount of excrement would be produced daily.
And the Great Ming's plan for Kyushu Island was to be a base for maritime trade and garrison, not for its people to come and farm. Therefore, this excrement was of no use to the Great Ming.
If the Tokugawa Shogunate sent people to contract the toilets and transport away the excrement that was of no use to the Great Ming, this would be a win-win situation.
But!
Although this matter seemed fair, and both parties could benefit, if Tokugawa Ienari wanted to transport the excrement away without paying, wouldn't that mean the Great Ming was at a disadvantage?
If the national treasury earned less money due to his own reasons...
Upon thinking of the possible consequences, Liu Yangxing could no longer sit still.
After careful consideration, Liu Yangxing said to Tokugawa Ienari, "Although this governor very much wishes to agree to Prince Shunyi's request" - Tokugawa Ienari was still the Prince Shunyi conferred by Zhu Jinsong - "however, Your Highness probably does not know yet that our Central Plains people like to grow something wherever they go. When the Great Ming begins to migrate its people to Kyushu Island, this excrement will be just right for composting. Therefore, please forgive me for not being able to agree to Your Highness's request."
Tokugawa Ienari was immediately displeased.
Although Liu Yangxing kept referring to himself as a subordinate and calling him "Your Highness," Tokugawa Ienari also knew clearly that no matter how displeased he was, he could only endure it.
Once he clashed with Liu Yangxing, it would not be Liu Yangxing who would suffer. The Great Ming Emperor and the Great Ming court would not side with him, and perhaps Liu Yangxing would even be promoted and enriched because of it.
Just as Tokugawa Ienari was about to give up, Liu Yangxing continued, "However, since Your Highness Prince has already spoken, it would be unreasonable for this subordinate to not agree at all."
"How about this, this subordinate will agree to Your Highness for a portion first, that is, one-tenth of the excrement pits on Kyushu Island will be allocated to Your Highness, how about it?"
Hearing this, Tokugawa Ienari's eyes suddenly lit up.
He refused, but then gave back one-tenth because of his identity as Prince Shunyi. What did this mean?
This meant that his identity as Prince Shunyi was very effective!
It also showed that there was room for negotiation in this matter!
After thinking for a moment, Tokugawa Ienari simply tried to ask, "If this Prince wants to get more excrement pits?"