The Ming Military Academy was, without a doubt, the best military institution on the entire Small Broken Sphere. Its international student division was also a coveted paradise for students from all nations. Graduates, even those with ordinary scores, were highly regarded upon returning to their home countries, let alone exceptional alumni like Napoleon and Ridgway.
Unfortunately, most of the talents nurtured by this cradle of talent, as viewed by other nations, suffered from one or another flaw.
For instance, Napoleon firmly believed that Europe's weak state was due to the absence of a powerful emperor to unify it. Similarly, de Gaulle consistently argued that emperors were superfluous and that only the equitable distribution of labor could save Europe. The art student from Austria, however, was a staunch advocate that both European monarchs and the concept of equitable distribution were tumors that deserved to be swept into the dustbin of history.
Ridgway, from the Eagle Nation, also had a “negligible” minor flaw: he firmly believed that governing required strict control over officials and chaebols, lest they collude.
International students from other countries were naturally the same, all possessing various minor flaws.
These flaws weren't necessarily incorrect. Take Europe, for example. Europe truly was fragmented precisely because no strong emperor had unified it, and that was hardly wrong. Furthermore, the performance of many European monarchs was poor, and being considered superfluous was not incorrect either.
Even Ridgway's belief that officials and chaebols should be strictly regulated was not entirely wrong. After all, officials needed money, and wealthy chaebols needed representatives in governance, with the Ming Emperor Chongzhen's reign serving as a prime example.
The key issue was that these minor flaws were infinitely magnified.
Napoleon dreamt of Emperor Louis XVI unifying Europe with strength, while de Gaulle hoped for France to swiftly adopt constitutional monarchy. The Austrian art student aspired to forcibly spread the ideal of universal harmony throughout Europe.
As for student Ridgway…
There was a joke that after Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself from the crooked tree, he was given another chance to be emperor. Emperor Chongzhen decided this time he would definitely rely heavily on the Imperial Guard and the Directorate of Ceremonial. This then led to the Principal's series of brilliant maneuvers.
Ridgway's current thoughts were quite similar to the Principal's. Not only did they share the idea that "to solve external problems, internal problems must be solved first," but they also agreed on the necessity of heavily relying on the Imperial Guard and the Directorate of Ceremonial.
Of course, if it were only student Ridgway thinking this way, it wouldn't be a major issue. After all, Ridgway was merely an officer with little real power, and the Eagle Nation's military was controlled by the Yicileye chaebols. A single Ridgway couldn't stir up much trouble.
The problem was that student Adams had been led astray by Ridgway's words!
Especially Ridgway's assertion that being able to uncover all desired intelligence would be the greatest aid to Adams in leading the Eagle Nation to greatness, which directly steered student Adams down the wrong path.
However, after feeling pleased, Adams frowned slightly and said, "Fortubol may not be enough, is it? Also, isn't Fortubol's power a bit too great?"
Ridgway nodded and replied earnestly, "Yes, Commander, Fortubol will be the greatest aid in your quest to lead the Eagle Nation to greatness. However, it cannot replace the roles of the military and the court, just as the Ming Emperor never relied solely on the Embroidered Uniform Guard."
"As for your concern about Fortubol's excessive power… In addition to the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Ming also had the Eastern Depot, which was specifically responsible for supervising the Embroidered Uniform Guard. The head of the Eastern Depot was a household slave of the Ming Emperor, so he naturally wouldn't have to worry about the Eastern Depot betraying him."
Ridgway's words directly resolved Adams's doubts and even provided solutions to his underlying concerns. Adams became elated, exclaiming excitedly, "Then what are we waiting for? You don't need to worry about funding, and what we discuss today will not reach the ears of those Yicileye chaebol lords. Let's take action, Ridgway. I await your good news!"
Ridgway, however, was stunned.
Establishing Fortubol wouldn't cost much, and whether it reached the ears of the Yicileye chaebol lords was also unimportant.
What mattered were the personnel and the corresponding funds.
Although the Ming's Embroidered Uniform Guard bore the title of a military garrison and was indeed under the five military command departments in terms of organization, they hardly paid any heed to the five military command departments. Furthermore, the personnel of the Embroidered Uniform Guard were spread across the entire Small Broken Sphere. Even if calculated at a minimum of one Longyuan treasure banknote per person per day, tens of thousands of Embroidered Uniform Guard members would cost tens of thousands of Ming Longyuan treasure banknotes daily.
Even if Fortubol, upon its initial establishment, didn't reach the expenditure level of tens of thousands of Longyuan treasure banknotes per day, it would certainly cost several hundred to a thousand Longyuan treasure banknotes daily, wouldn't it?
Accumulated over time, this was no small sum!
However, as Ridgway stood there dumbfounded, student Adams directly revealed the answer: "Those Yicileye chaebols have families behind them, and I, Adams, also have a family behind me! Thank God my father left me such a substantial inheritance!"
After a moment of contemplation, Adams looked at Ridgway with interest and asked, "You studied in the Ming for four years, surely you learned more than just this? And don't tell me you only learned military matters."
Adams's question seemed to touch upon a certain unspeakable point for Ridgway.
As an outstanding graduate of the Ming Military Academy's international student division, Ridgway naturally wouldn't have only learned military matters, nor would he have only learned the concept of governing through the Imperial Guard and the Directorate of Ceremonial.
It was just that Ridgway was somewhat ill-timed. He returned from the Ming filled with knowledge, intending to apply it to serve the Eagle Nation. However, that unlucky fellow Thomas Jefferson was impeached and stepped down. Ridgway, having just obtained a minor official position, was labeled as belonging to the Jeffersonian faction and was subsequently marginalized.
Now that Adams suddenly inquired if Ridgway had learned other things, Ridgway couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.
After a brief moment of thought, Ridgway said gravely, "While in the Ming, I also learned the Five Arts of Governing the People."
Adams became curious and asked, "What are the Five Arts of Governing the People?"
Ridgway replied, "The so-called Five Arts of Governing the People were proposed by a sage of the Central Plains known as Lord Shang. They are: Unifying the People, Weakening the People, Exhausting the People, Humiliating the People, and Impoverishing the People."
"Unifying the People means making everyone follow the leader's footsteps forward, not allowing anyone to harbor other thoughts."
"Weakening the People means the nation is strong, but the people are weak."
"Exhausting the People means finding tasks for the commoners to do, making them spend their days in busyness, leaving them no time or energy to think about other matters."
"Humiliating the People means making the commoners lose their self-respect and confidence, instigating them to report and expose each other, so they live in constant fear."
"Impoverishing the People means that beyond what is necessary for survival, the commoners should not possess more means of production and should not accumulate wealth."
"If any of these five are ineffective, they shall be put to death."
Adams's interest was immediately piqued.
The Five Arts of Governing the People that Ridgway spoke of were actually practices the Eagle Nation had always employed, though the specific methods differed slightly from those of the Central Plains.
Unifying the People: The various Yicileye chaebols and the aristocratic descendants of the Mayflower bandits in the Eagle Nation were at odds with each other. It was unrealistic to expect them to rally the people of the Eagle Nation to follow the leader's footsteps forward through the newspapers, nor did it align with the interests of the Yicileye chaebol lords and the Mayflower bandit aristocratic lords.
However, not calling upon the people of the Eagle Nation to follow the leader's footsteps did not mean the Yicileye chaebol lords and the Mayflower bandit aristocratic lords did not practice the art of unification.
They promoted the idea of equitable distribution of labor and the divine creation of the world, thereby achieving the goal of governing the people.
Weakening the People: The Eagle Nation itself was still a weakling. The commoners in the Eagle Nation could barely contend with the Indigenous people, so their weakness or lack thereof was of little consequence.
As for exhausting, humiliating, and impoverishing the people, there was little to be said. After all, the Yicileye chaebol lords were masters of these arts. Even if he, Adams, and the aristocratic lords of the Mayflower bandit descendants did not practice these methods, the Yicileye chaebol lords certainly would.
However, despite practicing these arts, no one had ever systematically organized such complete theories; most actions were based on instinct and experience.
After some internal deliberation, Adams felt that this set of theories was tailor-made for the Eagle Nation. The ones who most needed to be weak, humiliated, and impoverished were precisely those Yicileye chaebol lords!
As Adams was contemplating the Five Arts of Governing the People, Ridgway continued, "When the Tatars occupied the Central Plains, there was an official named Heshen who proposed the theory of 'saving the people begins with saving officials.'"
Adams was taken aback and asked, "What does 'saving the people begins with saving officials' mean?"
Ridgway explained, "Saving the people begins with saving officials means that when the commoners suffer disasters, the safety and interests of the officials must be guaranteed first. Only by ensuring the officials' safety and interests can they devote their minds to the relief of the commoners."
"For example, the Central Plains once suffered a flood. Heshen, who was in charge of disaster relief at the time, deliberately allowed the officials to greedily amass wealth and let them exchange grain for bran to distribute to the disaster victims. This was because one jin of grain could be exchanged for three jin of bran, allowing more people to survive."
At this point, Ridgway looked at the nodding Adams and asked, "Commander, do you think this theory is right or wrong?"
Adams instinctively felt something was amiss.
The theory sounded reasonable, but if it were truly without issue, why would Ridgway specifically ask this question?
After much thought, unable to figure it out, Adams directly asked, "Where does this theory go wrong?"
Ridgway gave a cold laugh and said, "The greatest flaw in this theory is that even if one jin of grain could be exchanged for ten jin of bran, those officials would not distribute all ten jin of bran to the disaster victims. Instead, they would give the disaster victims one jin of bran and sell the remaining nine jin."
"Just like our Yicileye chaebol lords in the Eagle Nation, no matter how much benefit they are given, they will never be satisfied, nor will they consider sharing even a fraction of that benefit."
"If we continue to stay by the side of the Ming, being one of the 'Five Virtuous Families' of the Small Broken Sphere, and the Ming is willing to guarantee our Eagle Nation's status in the martial world, then all of this would naturally be fine. But don't forget, those Yicileye chaebol lords are quite dissatisfied with the Ming; they even want to instigate conflict between the Qin and Jin states."
"If the Ming Emperor discovers what they are doing, will our Eagle Nation be attacked by the Qin? When the Qin attacks our Eagle Nation, will those Yicileye chaebol lords contribute money to the national treasury?"
"Before the Tatars occupied the Central Plains, the wealthy merchants of the Ming, similar to the Yicileye chaebols, did not contribute a single coin. Instead, they extensively smuggled military equipment to the Tatars for profit!"
Adams was completely dumbfounded.
Many things were like a sheet of paper – Adams had long felt that the Yicileye chaebols were not quite right, but he couldn't quite figure out why. It wasn't until Ridgway used the example of the Donglin gentlemen of the Ming that Adams suddenly understood.
Adams immediately instructed Ridgway, "Li, I hope you can find me some books from the Ming. I want to study these theories thoroughly."
After Ridgway agreed, Adams changed the subject and shifted his focus to the Indigenous people. "Li, you heard the meeting just now. The Yicileye chaebol lords want to encourage commoners to target those Indigenous people, and you have already expressed your stance."
Ridgway nodded. "Yes, esteemed Commander, since our Eagle Nation has an army, soldiers should be sent to the battlefield, not hidden behind the commoners."
Adams grunted. "I understand your thoughts, but those Yicileye chaebol lords will not agree with your view, and I will not provide you with much support in this regard."
Ridgway was immediately stunned, somewhat confused by Adams's attitude.
Adams continued, "Therefore, you need to find your own way. While establishing Fortubol, you should also train your troops well and strive to obtain some military authority. Within the scope of my authority, I will give you the greatest assistance. Once we can truly control the Eagle Nation, you can slowly realize your ambitions."
After Adams finished speaking, Ridgway was completely in disarray.
So, after all this talk, you want the horse to run but not feed it?
Damn it all!
However, after mentally cursing Adams up and down, Ridgway was also spurred on by Adams.
Before, there was no sign of opportunity, so it was understandable. But now that there was an opportunity to strive for, Ridgway was confident he could quickly obtain some military authority and was also confident he could create Fortubol in the shortest possible time!
(End of this chapter)
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