Zhu Jinsong never imagined that Pierre and Piano, along with envoys from various European countries, would actually dare to accept that order.
It was an order that would require all of Europe to toil for over a decade, perhaps even decades, in cultivation.
Frankly speaking, this order, for Europe, was akin to the inverse evolution of the Zheng Guo Canal, an arrangement conceived by Zhu Jinsong and other high-ranking officials like Zeng Cheng to ensnare them.
The issue was that while the Zheng Guo Canal brought eternal merit to the Qin state, this order was directly aimed at severing Europe's roots. If European countries were to pour all their efforts into growing grain for profit, then the concept of the Industrial Revolution would likely be nonexistent for Europe.
If Zhu Jinsong were in their shoes, he would rather tighten his belt and pursue the Industrial Revolution, no matter the cost, than agree to such terms.
The boast of "better to buy than to make" and "universal harmony" in the overseas edition of "The Great Ming Gazette" was, at best, propaganda concocted by the Bureau of Strategic Deception under the Ministry of Rites to fool people.
At the very least, the regular edition of "The Great Ming Gazette" would never carry such nonsensical theories. Instead, it would only publicize breakthroughs and progress in specific research projects, detailing the rewards and commendations received from the court, thereby encouraging the people of the Great Ming to study and innovate.
Of course, the reason for this was not that Pierre and Piano were too foolish, but rather that they simply did not have the luxury of worrying about matters ten or decades into the future.
This behavior, which would be termed "a drill that neglects the rear" in the Great Ming, was born out of the helplessness and sorrow of Pierre and Piano, or rather, of France and Portugal.
Mutual suspicion and obstruction between the court, nobles, magnates, and commoners, empty state coffers, ineffective governance, a massive trade deficit with the Great Ming that they could not overcome, and a host of similar issues forced European countries to prioritize making money.
What else could they do?
At the very least, through continuous "learning" from the Great Ming, France had been thriving recently, with Louis XVI even earning the moniker "the Second Sun King."
Even Pierre, who was originally just an illegitimate child, had acquired a noble title and become a prominent figure in France, a perfect testament to the saying "having it all."
Therefore, since the disadvantages were not immediately apparent but the benefits were tangible and visible, how would the European barbarians choose? It was simply a matter of voting with their feet.
For example, Pierre, in order to gain favor with the Great Ming and secure more benefits for France, even went to great lengths in "The French Gazette" to praise Zhu Jinsong and the Great Ming.
Pierre declared that Emperor Zhu Jinsong of the Great Ming was a benevolent emperor, caring for all beings and the world, an emperor unprecedented in history. He stated that the Great Ming was the core of the Far East and the pillar of global stability, and that Europe must learn from the Great Ming comprehensively to avoid being abandoned by the world.
Even more unexpectedly, perhaps because Pierre felt that mere praise was insufficient to garner attention from France and Europe, he even went to great lengths to cite examples and praise in "The French Gazette," which was established in imitation of "The Great Ming Gazette."
"The Emperor of the Great Ming shed tears for those condemned to death."
"The Great Ming's urban drainage system is the best in the world, while France's situation is embarrassing."
"The streets of the Great Ming are never as dirty and chaotic as those of Paris; noble ladies do not need to wear high heels or carry umbrellas when going out."
Such flattery, while feeling familiar, also made Zhu Jinsong inexplicably blush.
Zhu Jinsong even harbored suspicions that Pierre might be a member of the Bureau of Strategic Deception under the Ministry of Rites of the Great Ming. With Pierre as a role model, various newspapers in Europe soon engaged in a competitive spree of fabricating stories and showering the Great Ming with praise, elevating it to a paradise.
Of course, Zhu Jinsong was not particularly concerned about how these European barbarians praised the Great Ming. After all, dating back to Marco Polo, Europe had a large number of fervent admirers of the Central Plains, and their praises were always hyperbolic, with no limit to exaggeration. Pierre's current level was still considered mediocre.
In contrast, Zhu Jinsong was more concerned about Burma and Siam.
Burma and Siam were fundamentally different from Jiaozhi. Jiaozhi was directly conquered by a massive army, where aristocratic families, big or small, were swept away in one fell swoop. The remaining task was to resettle the populace to secure the borders, with no other troublesome issues.
However, Siam and Burma were different.
These two regions voluntarily submitted to the royal court, and had not yet had the chance to experience the fatherly love of the Great Ming.
Precisely because of this, the local gentry and scholars in Siam and Burma were dissatisfied with the Great Ming's approach. Why should agricultural associations be established? Why should land be distributed to the common folk? Why should we gentry be suppressed? Why should the common folk be educated and taught to read and write?
If you do not respect us gentry, do you expect us to help your Great Ming court govern the realm, or even to rebel?
Even if your Great Ming army is incredibly powerful, can it possibly kill every single person in Burma and Siam?
Today, we gentlemen will show you that Burma will always be for the Burmese, and Siam will always be for the Siamese!
What? The Great Qing was forced to retreat to Zhili, and Jiaozhi was annexed?
So what? Our Burma once defeated the Great Qing, and also defeated Jiaozhi!
Ultimately, it was because the Great Qing and Jiaozhi were too weak. Don't you see our Burma and Siam? As long as we gentry unite, your Great Ming army will be helpless against us!
It was precisely based on this mindset of "they are incompetent because they are useless; if it were me, I would surely succeed" that the gentry of Burma and Siam quickly raised the banner of rebellion.
The development of events also proceeded as these gentry expected. The Great Ming army was not as formidable as they boasted. Faced with the allied forces of the gentry from Burma and Siam, the Great Ming army could only retreat further while protecting Ming officials and citizens.
This news greatly excited the gentry of Burma and Siam.
Was the Ming army formidable?
So formidable that it retreated again and again, so formidable that it was almost withdrawing from Burma and Siam?
Let's see who dares to boast that the Ming army is invincible!
If you really think about it, with just a little more effort, we could directly take down the Great Ming itself!
Then, these gentry of Burma and Siam shouted the slogan, "March to Jinan Prefecture and capture Zhu Jinsong alive!"
Even Meng Yun, the former king of Burma and now the Marquis of Submission to the Great Ming, and Zheng Hua, the former king of Siam and now the Marquis of Shunhua to the Great Ming, once doubted if their decision was correct.
Of course, although the two of them secretly doubted the correctness of their original choice, due to their residence in Jinan Prefecture, they quickly submitted a memorial to Zhu Jinsong, stating that this was entirely the self-seeking behavior of those gentry and had nothing to do with them. They hoped that His Imperial Majesty Grandpa Ming would discern the truth.
This made Zhu Jinsong very annoyed.
Zhu Jinsong casually tossed their memorials onto the table and snorted, "These two fellows are truly cautious. Even the Embroidered Uniform Guard cannot find any fault with them."
After speaking, Zhu Jinsong instructed Zhu Erdan, "Prepare to cast the net. Those who were meant to jump out have pretty much all jumped out."
...
In the region bordering Yunnan and Burma, there were many Ming remnants who had followed Emperor Yongli into Burma. As soon as the Great Qing retreated to Zhili, these Ming remnants attempted to contact the Yunnan authorities, hoping to restore their status as subjects of the Great Ming.
Unfortunately, at that time, Yunnan was in turmoil with various rebels fighting each other, and there was no reliable government. By the time Yunnan was brought under the rule of the Great Ming, and King Meng Yun of Burma voluntarily submitted, these Ming remnants automatically regained their status as subjects of the Great Ming.
Of course, there must have been some cases of false registration, as the Burmese were not entirely foolish. After witnessing the might of the Great Ming, some Burmese must have secretly altered their family genealogies to prove they were of Han descent.
The Ming government was not overly concerned about this. After all, the Yongli era was extremely chaotic, and much of the documentation had been lost. Even if some Burmese falsely registered, it would be impossible to verify.
However, whether it was the common people who could prove their identity as Ming remnants or those "Ming subjects" who had falsely registered, upon hearing the news of Burma and Siam joining forces to rebel against the Ming, these people began to cause trouble.
They were clamoring about how to join the army and how to defeat the rebel forces of Burma and Siam.
Especially after learning that the Great Ming army had been retreating repeatedly, these people became even more restless. They not only prepared their own weapons but also intended to take the initiative to seek out the rebels.
Regardless of how many of them were sincere and how many were feigning, in the absence of the ability to distinguish between truth and falsehood, they could only be assumed to be sincere.
This caused Yang Danui, who was stationed in the area, a great deal of trouble. The Great Ming had fought many wars in recent years, and there were many opportunities to accumulate military merit. Yang Danui had already been promoted to the rank of Regimental Commander through merit.
Precisely because of this, Yang Danui was particularly troubled.
If he were just a Battalion Commander, Company Commander, or Platoon Leader, Yang Danui would only need to follow orders from his superiors. However, at the rank of Regimental Commander, there were many situations that required Yang Danui to make decisions.
Could he reveal the Great Ming army's plans to the surging Ming remnants?
Certainly not. Military plans were strictly confidential. No matter how foolish Yang Danui was, he would not risk being court-martialed by revealing them.
Allowing these people to seek out the rebels on their own?
That was even less likely, because these people were ordinary citizens, not soldiers. Unless all the soldiers of the Great Ming were wiped out, or the Emperor of the Great Ming issued a final mobilization order, it would never be the turn of these people to go to the battlefield.
Therefore, Yang Danui could only send people to intercept them.
The key issue was, if this continued, when would it end?
Yang Danui sighed, looking at the supervising censor opposite him, and said, "The commotion has been getting worse these past few days. If it were just the Ming remnants causing trouble, I could understand. But surely there must be some who have falsely registered among them? Why are they causing so much trouble too?"
Supervising Censor Yang He said with a smile, "They are expressing their loyalty."
"The Ming remnants are causing trouble because they sincerely hope the court will recover Burma and Siam, and thus wipe out the shame.
"As for those who have falsely registered, they are hoping to express their loyalty by causing trouble. At the same time, they are worried that the court might actually abandon Burma. Because once the court decides to abandon Burma, these people are likely to be abandoned as well, and subsequently face retribution from the rebels."
"Never mind, it's just a matter of a few more days. Just endure it a little longer."
Yang Danui glared at Yang He and said with a cold smile, "Speaking of which, I must remind you, Supervising Censor Yang, that our Great Ming army is an all-firearms army, not the old kind that chops with swords and knives!"
"When the counteroffensive begins, please, Supervising Censor Yang, strictly adhere to military orders and stay in the rear. Don't you dare rush forward with a stool!"
"I beg you!"