百多禄, familiar with the history of Nan Yue and Da Ming, knew very well that not to mention the dozens of factions claiming to be the legitimate successor of Da Ming fighting fiercely in the Central Plains, even if Da Ming were to unify again, seeking Da Ming's help to resolve Nan Yue's issues would be a case of inviting trouble.
This was not due to 百多禄's suspicion, but rather historical precedent.
Back then, when Nan Yue was still called An Nam, an internal strife had occurred. The maternal relatives of An Nam, 胡季犛, rebelled, killing all the Trần imperial family of An Nam at the time and intending to place his son on the throne.
As a result, a prince named Trần Thiên Bình managed to escape and flee to Laos – doesn't this situation resemble Nguyễn Phúc Ánh's current predicament? The only difference is that Trần Thiên Bình fled to Laos, while Nguyễn Phúc Ánh fled to Siam.
Later, Trần Thiên Bình made his way to Da Ming. Emperor Zhu Laosi, acting as a father to his vassal state's son, immediately ordered Trần Thiên Bình to be escorted back to his country.
However, not far from the northern bank of the Phú Lương River, just as they entered An Nam, Trần Thiên Bình was ambushed and killed by soldiers arranged by 胡季犛.
He was killed under the heavy protection of five thousand Ming troops, and several Ming officials were even killed.
Afterward, Zhang Fu led his troops to An Nam and brought back 胡季犛 and his son to the capital of Da Ming to be executed.
Therefore, 百多禄 was particularly worried that Nguyễn Phúc Ánh would be killed like Trần Thiên Bình, and that the new Ming nation would, under the pretext that the legitimate Trần clan had been wiped out, decide to stay permanently.
In any case, Nguyễn Phúc Cảnh, who was only seven years old and by his side, might die at any time. If he died, Nan Yue would be completely without an heir, and its incorporation into Da Ming would be justifiable.
So, for Louis XVI to completely abandon Nan Yue and instead tell Nan Yue to seek help from the "Da Ming Empire" – wasn't this treating Nguyễn Phúc Ánh like a fool?
百多禄 grabbed Pierre's sleeve and pleaded, "Mr. Pierre, the Ming Dynasty has long since perished, and the Qing Dynasty is mired in warlord separatism and civil war. Even if Nguyễn Phúc Ánh wants to seek help from the so-called Ming Dynasty, whom should he turn to?"
"Without the help of France, Nguyễn Phúc Ánh will surely fail, even be killed. Not only will the missionary endeavor be affected, but France will also lose its opportunity to advance into the Far East."
"Therefore, Mr. Pierre, for the sake of God, please persuade His Majesty the King again."
However, Pierre ruthlessly unclasped 百多禄's fingers from his sleeve, one by one.
Initially, it was France that wanted the ports of Đà Nẵng and Côn Đảo in Nan Yue, so Nan Yue was the sweetie.
Now that France no longer needed Đà Nẵng and Côn Đảo, therefore…
Pierre sneered and said, "I think His Majesty the King's attitude is very clear: Europe belongs to France, and the Far East belongs to Da Ming. France will absolutely not interfere in matters within the sphere of influence of its allies."
"As for whom Nguyễn Phúc Ánh should seek help from… that is Nguyễn Phúc Ánh's problem, what does it have to do with us in France?"
"However, for the sake of God, I can tell you a clear path – have Nguyễn Phúc Ánh send someone to Shandong, Da Ming, to request assistance from the Emperor of Da Ming."
At this point, Pierre sneered again and said, "Of course, if Nguyễn Phúc Ánh sends someone to the Qing Dynasty to ask for Emperor Qianlong's help, then Nan Yue is an enemy of Da Ming, and also Da Ming's most loyal ally in Europe, and France's enemy."
百多禄 was completely despairing.
Seeing that Louis XVI was as stubborn as a turtle determined to eat a scale, and was resolved not to care about Nan Yue's fate, 百多禄 could only prepare to return to Siam with the seven-year-old Nguyễn Phúc Cảnh to deliver this despairing news to Nguyễn Phúc Ánh, allowing him to make the final decision.
After 百多禄's departure, the Count of Artois, on Louis XVI's orders, published a new article in the latest issue of "Le Moniteur Universel," stating that France had no intention of interfering in the affairs of its allies in the Far East and hoped that its allies in the Far East would soon deal with the old dog Qianlong.
Then, Pierre, along with the "Le Moniteur Universel" translated into Chinese characters, two hundred French students, and over two hundred French nobles, boarded a ship bound for Da Ming—
After dealing with the petty bourgeoisie who wanted to seize power, and once again stabilizing the situation in all of France, the French nobles began to yearn for Da Ming again.
Especially the Emperor of Da Ming, praised by Louis XVI and Pierre, who had even written several articles praising him, made these French nobles filled with curiosity and a touch of admiration.
Therefore, a new wave of enthusiasm for traveling to Da Ming arose in France.
...
At this time, Zhu Jinsong was unaware that a large group of French tourists (fat sheep) were about to visit and study in Da Ming, nor did he know that Nguyễn Phúc Ánh of Nan Yue would soon come to seek his help.
In fact, even if Zhu Jinsong received a plea for help from Nguyễn Phúc Ánh now, he would likely just have an article published in the "Da Ming Newspaper" expressing his close attention and deep regret regarding the affairs of Vietnam.
Sending troops to help Nguyễn Phúc Ánh restore his kingdom? Don't be foolish. Fighting wars for others is nowhere as satisfying as recovering lost territory. Even if Zhu Jinsong regretted it, he would only regret that the Nguyễn clan hadn't completely died out yet – as long as the Nguyễn clan was extinct, Zhu Jinsong could send troops under the banner of recovering lost territory, reviving the lineage, and punishing the wicked.
Besides, compared to the chaotic state of Nan Yue, Zhu Jinsong was more concerned that the Da Ming treasury was finally wealthy, even reaching an unprecedented sum of over five million taels of silver.
Of this over five million taels of silver, two million taels were originally in the Da Ming treasury, and the remaining over three million taels were earned from various barbarians in Europe by Zhu Jinsong with a clear conscience.
Of course, while five million taels of silver might sound like a lot, it amounts to virtually nothing when considering the fiscal needs of a nation.
When Zhu Jinsong first ascended the throne, the Da Ming court ruled over six provinces: Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, Jiangsu, Fujian, and Greater Ryukyu, along with parts of Shaanxi and Zhili. Therefore, even after Zhu Jinsong abolished agricultural taxes, the tax revenue in the first year of his reign reached a staggering thirty million taels.
This was the benefit of abolishing burdensome taxes and vigorously developing industry.
The vigorous development of industry naturally brought about immeasurable benefits to commerce. Furthermore, abolishing the various arbitrary taxes imposed by the Manchu Qing, coupled with the mutual supervision of institutions such as the Censorate, the Office of the Grand Censor, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, resulted in a favorable business environment.
The existence of workers' unions, farmers' unions, and merchants' associations also ensured the interests and incomes of farmers and workers. When the interests and incomes of farmers and workers increased, their consumption levels would also rise, allowing merchants to earn more money.
The better the environment and the more opportunities to make money, the more merchants would be willing to come to Da Ming, which in turn meant more commercial taxes Zhu Jinsong could collect.
The reason Zhu Jinsong dared to promote industrialization before unifying the country was largely thanks to the nearly ten million citizens of Zhili sent by the old dog Qianlong.
First, these refugees from Zhili were, in a sense, similar to landless migrants. The difference was that landless migrants might cause trouble, while Zhu Jinsong could arrange these people into workshops and construction sites, thus promoting the process of industrialization.
These combined factors created a very positive cycle. Even though the Da Ming court under Zhu Jinsong maintained a very low tax rate of ten percent, the tax revenue in the year Zhu Jinsong ascended the throne still reached thirty million taels of silver.
What bothered Zhu Jinsong was that although this thirty million taels of silver seemed like a lot, it was still a negligible amount in terms of the entire Da Ming's needs—
For any country to function normally, it inevitably involves defense spending, administrative expenses, infrastructure, public safety, education, healthcare, social welfare, and many other aspects.
Take the army under Zhu Jinsong, for example. Weapons and equipment cost money, right? Research and production of equipment cost money, right? Soldiers' food, clothing, housing, and daily training cost money, right? Compensation for the families of fallen soldiers costs money, right?
Although the military budget this year appeared to be seventeen percent of the entire Da Ming's finances, it was actually only about five million taels. Compared to the extremely high cost of military equipment research and development, a military budget of five million taels was truly insignificant, let alone being used to cover other miscellaneous military expenses.
Therefore, faced with various areas that required spending, let alone thirty million taels of silver, even thirty million taels of silver would likely be spent without a penny left.
The original two million taels of silver in the Da Ming treasury, in name, no longer belonged entirely to the Da Ming treasury.
It was designated for responding to sudden disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and landslides. Only if it remained unused by the next year would it be carried over as the previous year's surplus and injected into the treasury as reserves for the following year.
Therefore, in this situation, to suddenly earn over three million taels of silver from the European barbarians, how could Emperor Zhu Jinsong not be happy?
However, while Zhu Jinsong was happy, Liu Huaiwen, the pillar of the Da Ming fiscal system, was not happy at all—
After learning that the treasury had over three million taels of silver, first Zhu Erdan, representing the military system, along with Liu Hemming, Liu Erniu, and others, approached him, expressing their desire to use these three million taels to fight for territory. Then, the civil official system, represented by Zeng Cheng, also came, stating the need to use these three million taels to build schools or bridges and roads.
In short, every single tael was meticulously allocated, making Liu Huaiwen, the pillar of Da Ming's finance department, even want to kill those scoundrels who came asking for money with a knife—
The thirty million taels collected last year were taken away by these scoundrels for over twenty-eight million taels before they could even warm up, leaving two million taels for emergency use. Now, these scoundrels are eyeing the three million taels that had just entered the treasury?
What made Liu Huaiwen even more despairing was that while the civil officials like Zeng Cheng were somewhat manageable, the military scoundrels like Zhu Erdan and Liu Hemming were clearly acting on the Emperor Zhu Jinsong's orders when they came asking for money.
Damn it!
If all three million taels were disbursed, and then something unexpected happened, the treasury would truly be so empty that rats would run through it, you scoundrel!
After kicking and cursing Zhu Erdan, Liu Hemming, and Liu Ergou away, Liu Huaiwen, while puffing on his dry pipe, grumbled to his subordinates, "From now on, if you see them coming to ask for money, just open the door and release the dogs. Let them bite as many as they can!"
"Damn it, do they think I don't know they still have money? It's not the end of the year, and the five million taels allocated to them, at least two million taels have not been spent yet!"
"His Majesty wants to go to war, let him use money from his private treasury. Anyway, these three million taels in the treasury must be kept for emergencies."
However, Liu Huaiwen clearly did not know about a law called Murphy's Law – the more you worry about something happening, the more likely it is to happen.