However, Zhu Jinsong did not agree with the ideas of Zeng Cheng and the other elder statesmen.
Although a large portion of the profits that the Yicileye people gained in Ouluopa flowed into Da Ming, the Yicileye people were not best at being mere intermediaries.
The Yicileye people were best at lending money.
"You should know that the Yicileye people do not charge interest when borrowing from each other, but they charge high usury on loans to others."
Zhu Jinsong said slowly, "These Yicileye people are like pervasive mosquitoes and flies; wherever there is an opportunity to make money, the Yicileye people will appear."
"These Yicileye people have always liked to consider themselves 'God's chosen people,' thinking they are superior. More importantly, betrayal runs in the blood of these Yicileye people; whoever treats them slightly better, they will betray."
For example, even after the turn of the millennium, the Yicileye people in Kaifeng were always clamoring to return to their ancestral land, and some Yicileye people even wanted to change their nationality and ethnicity to completely rejoin the Yicileye people.
For example, they would constantly associate themselves with celebrities like Einstein, merely because Einstein had a slight trace of Yicileye blood, and these Yicileye people would forcefully categorize Einstein as one of their own.
Another example, when the Mustachioed Man was frantically retaliating against the Yicileye people, the first to harbor them was the Zhongyuan Tangkou. At that time, Songjiang Prefecture had already formed a gathering place for the Yicileye people. However, these Yicileye people colluded with the Japanese bandits, providing them with various technologies and assets, in an attempt to purchase land from the Japanese bandits to establish a nation – the land these Yicileye people chose was Liaodong.
This was the "Fugu Plan" proposed by the Japanese bandits – establishing a Yicileye nation in Liaodong.
The fugu, though a delicacy, is highly poisonous. The Japanese bandits used the fugu to liken their cooperation with the Yicileye people, stating that while it was profitable, it was also dangerous, like the fugu, from which one must remove the "poison" before enjoying its taste.
Even the Japanese bandits, who were considered insane, were so cautious and vigilant, which speaks volumes about what these Yicileye people truly were.
Furthermore, in order to gain the trust of the art students, the Japanese bandits began to follow the art students' policies in 1940. Although they did not slaughter them on a large scale like the Mustachioed Man, they no longer treated those Yicileye people as favorably as before.
At this time, those Yicileye people who remained in the courtyards tried their best to escape into Zhongyuan, seeking opportunities to restore their nation.
Fortunately, the Zhongyuan Tangkou at that time had already seen through the true nature of the Yicileye people, and no place was willing to accept these Yicileye people.
Then, these Yicileye people began to flee back to their homeland in Ba-le-stan. To be precise, these people were not truly "fleeing" back to Palestine, but rather they were preparing to "restore their nation"!
After the Second World War ended, under the coercion of the Foolish Eagle and Ouluopa, Palestine was forced to cede a piece of territory as an "assembly point" for the Yicileye people.
The Yicileye people thus successfully "restored their nation."
However, these Yicileye people, who had successfully restored their nation by obtaining land from Palestine, were not grateful to Palestine at all. Instead, they directly engaged in conflict with Palestine, attempting to obtain more "settlements."
Zhu Jinsong believed that as long as the countries in Ouluopa took action against the Yicileye people, these Yicileye people would portray themselves as particularly tragic, then flee to other countries with their wealth and technology, continuing to bleed them dry while attempting to restore their nation once more.
Therefore, Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of Da Ming, had no intention of giving these ungrateful Yicileye people any opportunity.
"Send someone to notify Pierre and Martial Niel, and have the newspapers of France and England take action to thoroughly expose the true faces of those Yicileye people."
Zhu Jinsong said, tapping his fingers on the table, "The 'Da Ming Newspaper' should not be idle either. Once the newspapers in Ouluopa begin their reports, expose what the Yicileye people did in the Zhongyuan Tangkou."
For instance, usury, or wanting to live in Tiaojin Hutong but not recognizing the identity of Da Ming citizens and refusing to pay taxes, or that the Yicileye people had betrayed the King of Zhou during the Yongle period.
The main reason is that the Yicileye people themselves have unclean hands, otherwise, where would so many old debts come from?
After Zeng Qing and the other elder statesmen agreed, Zhu Jinsong tapped the table again and said menacingly, "Send someone to contact Adolf, take him to see the imperial tombs I built, and tell him in detail about the purpose and construction methods of the imperial tombs."
"Also, take the opportunity to tell him the principle that the world belongs to the people of the world – under the rule of the Habsburg family, Austria has suffered successive defeats, and the people are in dire straits, needing Adolf to stand up and rally the masses."
Upon hearing this, Zeng Cheng and the other elder statesmen could not help but feel a sense of sorrow for those Yicileye people and the Habsburg family – the last person to be so remembered by His Majesty the Emperor, Qianlong the Old Dog, would probably not even be able to piece together a human shape from his bones now!
...
Since arriving in Da Ming, Adolf had immersed himself in the ocean of knowledge, madly learning everything he could, and was ranked alongside Delamari Pasha, the student leader sent by the Ottoman Empire, as the most studious students.
This dissatisfied Adolf greatly, and he even reprimanded the other students from the Habsburg family: "I brought you across the distant strait, through Hebei Province, and finally to study in the schools of the Ming Kingdom, hoping that you would achieve success and make Austria stronger."
"But, you scumbags!"
"You actually have the audacity to rank the Ottoman Delamari Pasha as the most studious student alongside me – may I ask, what are you here for? Are you not here to study, but to enjoy life?"
"This is infuriating!"
"If, if in the next exam, none of you have scores higher than Delamari Pasha, I will send you to see Kangxi!"
The students from the Habsburg family who were reprimanded by Adolf were clearly afraid of him, especially after Adolf threatened to send them to see Kangxi. These students dispatched by the Habsburg family also began to study frantically.
This change greatly pleased Jiang Xinlong, the instructor responsible for these students, who, following Zeng Cheng's instructions, explained more content to Adolf.
For example, the process and principle of building imperial tombs: "The existence of imperial tombs is not only to demonstrate martial prowess but also to deter dissent."
"In the past, Fuk'anggan, the illegitimate son of Qianlong the Old Dog, massacred a village, so His Majesty ordered that Fuk'anggan and his army be built into imperial tombs. From then on, the Jian Yi army never dared to massacre villages at will, not even at the personal command of Qianlong the Old Dog."
"Why?"
"Because they knew that after massacring a village, they would be built into imperial tombs, and they feared becoming building materials for the imperial tombs."
"Just as you said, those Yicileye gentlemen forced you to plant cotton, causing your fingers to develop illnesses, while those Yicileye gentlemen used your blood and sweat money to enjoy themselves. This is because they do not fear you."
"Our Emperor of Da Ming once said that the world belongs to the people of the world – you may not fully understand this saying, but it means that any country is composed of thousands upon thousands of ordinary people, and the taxes of a country come from thousands upon thousands of people, not from a few Yicileye gentlemen."
"This principle applies to your Austria as well."
"I ask you, do ordinary people constitute a larger portion of Austria, or do those Yicileye gentlemen constitute a larger portion? Do ordinary people control more wealth, or do those Yicileye gentlemen control more wealth?"
"Furthermore, for a country to become strong, it must have a powerful voice."
"Take Da Ming as an example – before His Majesty the Emperor launched his rebellion, our Zhongyuan Tangkou had been carrying out the movement to restore the Ming Dynasty for over a year. Yet, why was it that while others failed, only His Majesty the Emperor could save the rivers and mountains from peril and rescue the people from suffering?"
"Because His Majesty the Emperor stood on the side of the common people and truly considered the welfare of all the people."
Adolf felt his mind was overwhelmed.
Did the words of Instructor Jiang have merit?
They certainly did, as concrete examples were right before his eyes.
However, the situation in Austria seemed somewhat different from Da Ming?
In Adolf's view, Da Ming was entirely dominated by the Emperor of Da Ming and the many ministers in the court. Da Ming did not have so-called Yicileye gentlemen; even Da Ming's own merchants did not possess the vast wealth that the Yicileye gentlemen held.
Austria, however, was dominated by the Habsburg family and the noble lords. The power of the Austrian Emperor was not significant.
More importantly, the noble lords of Austria were no different from the Yicileye gentlemen.
In other words, if Adolf wanted to make Austria stronger, he would have to unite all of Austria and make them work towards a common goal – this conflicted with the interests of the Habsburg family.
Even disregarding the issues with the Habsburg family, the collusion between the Yicileye gentlemen and the nobility was enough to induce despair.
"I hope you can teach me."
Adolf sincerely bowed to Jiang Xinlong and said, "Yes, I know that Austria is now like a tree full of蛀虫, and those Yicileye gentlemen are the蛀虫."
"However, these蛀虫 are colluding with the noble lords of Austria. To eliminate these蛀虫 would encroach upon the interests of the noble lords, and even touch upon the interests of the Habsburg family. What should be done about this?"
Jiang Xinlong stroked his beard and smiled, "How about this, I will tell you stories from the Qing Dynasty, and things that I have experienced later."
"When the Great Qing was not yet gone, there was a class called 'Iron Rod Farmers,' also known as the legendary Eight Banners. They did not need to labor or study; from the day they were born, they could receive banner silver issued by the barbarian chief."
"In the beginning, the number of these Iron Rod Farmers was not large, and the money they collected was naturally not much. However, as time passed, the number of these Iron Rod Farmers began to increase, and the banner silver they collected grew larger and larger."
"Coincidentally, His Majesty the Emperor called for action, and the Great Qing collapsed directly."
"Of course, the Great Qing did not collapse entirely because of those Iron Rod Farmers, but we must admit that the Iron Rod Farmers also occupied a large factor – this is like your noble lords in Austria."
Seeing Adolf looking thoughtful, Jiang Xinlong smiled again and said, "Next, I will talk about my personal experiences – in the past, I was appointed by His Majesty the Emperor to serve as the head of the Agricultural Association in the Solon region."
"At that time, I thought to myself, since the Great Qing oppressed us and the Solon tribe, and also oppressed the various tribes on the grassland, why couldn't we unite the grassland tribes? Just as the Solon tribe voluntarily allied with us."
"However, the chieftains of the grassland tribes each had their own interests, and many chieftains' interests were tied to the Great Qing."
"Therefore, those chieftains stood in opposition to us, and they were unwilling to unite with us."
Upon hearing this, Adolf's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Then how did you handle it?"
Jiang Xinlong laughed and said, "How did I handle it? It's very simple, unite with those tribes willing to unite with us, and attack those tribes unwilling to unite with us."
"For example, if there are three tribes, A, B, and C, that are unwilling to unite with us, and tribe A is the strongest while tribe C is the weakest, then we would first attack tribe C, then tribe B, and annex tribe C and tribe B to strengthen our own power."
"When we become strong enough, tribe A, which is the strongest, will no longer be our match."
"Of course, during this process, we must also give some benefits to those tribes willing to unite with us, so as to attract more tribes to join us."
Adolf's eyes became even brighter: "Do you mean that if I want to get rid of those Yicileye gentlemen, I have to find a reliable helper first, and this helper is the common people of Austria?"
Jiang Xinlong smiled and nodded, saying, "Our Emperor of Da Ming once said: Capital is bloody, and when capital comes into the world, every pore drips with dirty blood."
"If you want Austria to become strong, you will inevitably face many problems. The first obstacle in your path will be the Yicileye gentlemen, and the second will be those noble lords – the interests of the noble lords and the Yicileye gentlemen are not the same as the interests of Austria."
"Also, His Majesty the Emperor once said that we must distinguish who our enemies are."