As the Great Ming rose, the most powerful nations on the entire small broken ball were the Great Ming, England, France, Tsarist Russia, the Eagle Country, the Ottoman Empire, and the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by the Habsburg family, which was neither holy, nor Roman, nor worthy of being called an empire.
With the establishment of the Little Broken Pot, and the Great Ming winning over England, France, Tsarist Russia, and the Eagle Country to jointly open up to the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg family, the other countries on the small broken ball could only choose sides, either actively or passively.
About a hundred countries chose to stand with the Little Broken Pot, while the remaining dozens chose to stand with the Habsburg family and the Ottoman Empire due to geographical proximity and other reasons.
As everyone knows, the most basic principle of the Little Broken Pot is the principle of unanimity of the Five Great Benevolent Ones.
Or rather, the principle of prioritizing the interests of the Five Great Benevolent Ones.
Coupled with the Great Ming's masterful planning from behind the scenes, this led to the Five Great Benevolent Ones growing stronger and stronger, their military and economic strength far surpassing those of the other member states of the Little Broken Pot.
Or, to put it more directly: apart from the Great Ming, among the leaders who came to the capital of the Great Ming to participate in the Little Broken Pot conference, Louis XVI and George III, the four great benevolent ones, were the most powerful.
When the most powerful, Louis XVI and others, were stunned into imbeciles, it was naturally unimaginable how the leaders of the other small countries were stunned.
However, what shocked Louis XVI and the four great benevolent ones, as well as the leaders of these small countries, even more was that the Great Ming began to summon retired soldiers. Except for the Great Ming and its die-hard lickspittle, France, most countries on the small broken ball did not have the concept of retired soldiers. Most armies served for life, or simply had no standing armies and conscripted temporarily when fighting.
Now, these people witnessed what professional retired soldiers were.
Large numbers of able-bodied soldiers from all over the country gathered near the capital. After gathering, they voluntarily organized themselves according to their original military commands. If there were no corresponding retired officers in their formations, retired soldiers with higher military ranks would serve as temporary commanders.
After the assembly and organization, these retired soldiers had already formed an army of 100,000 men. Apart from lacking equipment and armor, these 100,000 men were no worse than any other army.
It was only at this point that the big bosses of these various factions truly realized the gap between their countries and the Great Ming.
An army of 100,000 did not intimidate these big bosses. Except for a few of the weakest countries, any other country could muster an army of 100,000 if they bit the bullet and sold everything they had.
What truly shocked these big bosses was that the time it took from issuing the mobilization order for retired soldiers to these soldiers scattered across the Great Ming gathering in the capital and completing their organization was only half a month!
For countries with smaller territories, it was not a big deal; at most, they envied the Great Ming's territory and population, and its ability to assemble an army of 100,000 in less than half a month.
However, for countries with larger territories, they knew how terrifying this speed of assembly was. Among all the member states of the small broken ball, there were at least eight or ten countries that could assemble an army of 100,000, but only the Great Ming could assemble and organize them in half a month!
Not to mention that the Great Ming's territory itself was vast. These soldiers were scattered all over the Great Ming, and it took quite some time just to gather them in the capital. To put it bluntly, this mobilization demonstrated the ability to mobilize, transport, and coordinate, and behind it represented war potential!
Zhu Jinsong was very satisfied with the shock of these leaders of various countries, and even planned to invite Louis XVI and others to inspect these 100,000 retired soldiers and to participate in the farewell ceremony with them.
These 100,000 retired soldiers, who were no longer on the active roster of the Great Ming's Five Military Commissions, but had received their active duty equipment, were the first batch of "commoners" from the Great Ming to go to Louisiana.
Only the principal officials of the Honglu Temple and the Court of Colonial Affairs were not happy. The two often got together and grumbled about their dissatisfaction. If we talk about a prosperous era, could our Great Ming be considered a prosperous era now?
However, in the prosperous eras of our Central Plains dynasty, were there not grand occasions of "all nations coming to court"?
The Western Regions countries paid tribute to the Han Dynasty, and Han envoys would often kill kings for amusement, and even brazenly threatened them, "Do not move, lest the Han army arrives, and moving will lead to the destruction of the state."
During the Tang Dynasty, Jieli danced in Chang'an, Feng Zhidai composed poems in Chang'an, the Goguryeo envoys acted as sycophants in Chang'an, and the Western Turkic tribes raised money to build the Tianshu Tower.
During the Hongwu reign of the Great Ming, there were also many un-conquered countries, and in the Yongle reign, countless countries came to the capital to pay tribute.
Only during the reign of Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of the Great Ming, did the Great Ming have only one vassal state, Wa State, at most!
This is outrageous. We are clearly a celestial empire, yet we only have one vassal state paying tribute. How can this be called "all nations coming to court"?
It would be better if future generations knew that our Great Ming had turned those vassal states into administrative provinces. If they didn't know, wouldn't they mock our Great Ming for lacking the atmosphere of a prosperous era with all nations coming to court?
Of course, if one really had to force it, one could still add two more vassal states: the Jin State, far away in Qinzhou, and the Qin State, far away in Louisiana.
The problem is that the nature of these two countries is a bit difficult to determine.
From the perspective of the imperial clan, these two countries are definitely internal vassals, as Zhu Erdan and Zhu Sanshun are both brothers of the Great Ming Emperor.
However, from a geographical perspective, these two countries are definitely external vassals, as their territories are outside the Great Ming, and historically, no prince's fiefdom was outside the mainland.
But no matter how you calculate it, the heads of the Honglu Temple and the Court of Colonial Affairs dared not treat the Qin State and the Jin State as vassal states like Wa State. They could only treat them as princely fiefdoms.
Therefore, there is still only Wa State that can come to the capital of the Great Ming to pay tribute!
Thinking of this, the principal officials of the Honglu Temple and the Court of Colonial Affairs became even more disheartened, even having the urge to persuade Zhu Jinsong to quickly kill Wa State and be done with it. Since there were no other vassal states left, why keep Wa State? It was simply disgusting!
However, their proposal was rejected at the level of Zeng Cheng.
After all, the Great Ming still needed the Wa State auxiliary troops to recruit laborers in India, and in future conflicts with other countries, these auxiliary troops would be needed as cannon fodder. If Wa State were eliminated now, would they be expected to step up?
Then, the principal officials of the Honglu Temple and the Court of Colonial Affairs continued to be dejected.
On the other hand, Tokugawa Ienari, who had come to pay tribute to the Great Ming, stood tall.
According to Tokugawa Ienari's understanding, since the Great Ming was the suzerain of Wa State, it meant that Wa State was the son of the Great Ming. Since there were over a hundred small countries in the Little Broken Pot established by Father Ming who respected Father Ming, wouldn't it be very glorious for him, the son, to be among them?
Tokugawa Ienari even learned to look down on people with his nostrils. Although Tokugawa Ienari was only five feet tall, Louis XVI and others were more than a head taller than him, yet Tokugawa Ienari simply looked down on George III and the others. At most, his attitude towards Louis XVI was slightly better, because Louis XVI was a pen pal of the Great Ming Emperor's grandfather, so he naturally had to be treated with special consideration.
The other leaders of the small countries were indifferent. After all, they knew they could not afford to offend the Great Ming and did not understand Wa State's background. Therefore, even if they were looked down upon by Tokugawa Ienari with his nostrils, they could only endure it. However, George III, Paul I, and Jefferson were all gnashing their teeth with hatred.
Why? It's true that your Wa State is a vassal state of the Great Ming, and it's fine for you to consider yourselves the sons or grandsons of the Great Ming Emperor, but we are all the Five Great Benevolent Ones of the Little Broken Pot personally acknowledged by the Great Ming Emperor. Why do you look down on us with your nostrils?
Fine, even if you think you have the right to look down on us with your nostrils, we can still tolerate it, but why do you look up to that brat Louis XVI!
Just because he's better at being a lickspittle?
At this moment, the benefits of the Great Ming's power, which had been displayed to them through various channels, became apparent. After being looked down upon by Tokugawa Ienari with his nostrils, George III, Paul I, and Jefferson, although very displeased, their first reaction was not how to retaliate, but how to establish good relations with the Great Ming.
We must at least become their uncle to Wa State!
Even Zhu Jinsong was shocked by this situation.
Although he looked down upon Wa State and, like the principal officials of the Honglu Temple and the Court of Colonial Affairs, wished he could quickly kill Wa State, Zhu Jinsong had to admit that Tokugawa Ienari's behavior of looking down on people with his nostrils this time had played a certain role.
For example, Jefferson declared that upon his return to the Eagle Country, he would send some people to Louisiana to help His Highness the Prince of Qin of the Great Ming establish his fiefdom and planned to establish several trading cities near the Prince of Qin's fiefdom.
George III also declared that he would send more laborers to Sri Lanka to mine copper and ensure the supply of copper ore to the Great Ming.
Zhu Jinsong was somewhat pleased with George III's statement, but he scoffed at Jefferson's statement. Jefferson was a descendant of typical Anglo-Saxon bandits, and coupled with the fact that the Eagle Country's founding genes were not pure, when the Great Ming was powerful, the Eagle Country could certainly play the role of a grandson perfectly. However, if the Great Ming was not powerful enough, the Eagle Country would definitely turn around and bite the Great Ming.
From this perspective, wasn't the Eagle Country much better than the Wa slaves?
Of course, the true nature of the Eagle Country was not very important to the Great Ming. In any case, Zhu Jinsong did not intend to give the Eagle Country a chance to bite back.
After all, with Zhu Erdan's Qin State fiefdom located next to the Eagle Country, and both Zhu Jinsong, the Great Ming Emperor, and Zhu Erdan, the Great Ming Prince of Qin, being young, there were at least several decades left to slowly play with the Eagle Country.
Coincidentally, Zhu Jinsong thought of a more suitable way to deal with the Eagle Country.
"The people of the Eagle Country are wild and untamed; they don't submit to the Celestial Dynasty's rule. That's what they're like."
Zhu Jinsong said with a smile to Zhu Erdan, "Since they want to be wild, let them be wilder. You can secretly find a few barbarians from the Eagle Country and have them instigate the Kunlun slaves in the Eagle Country to pursue human rights, understand?"
Zhu Erdan chuckled and said, "Your Majesty, rest assured, I understand this. After all, I've been with you for so many years. Even if I just watched, I should have learned. What's more, you taught me personally."
Hearing Zhu Erdan say this, Zhu Jinsong's face immediately darkened.
What did he mean? Did he mean that the Emperor of the Great Ming specifically taught him these insidious and vicious tricks?
After glaring fiercely at Zhu Erdan, Zhu Jinsong continued, "Do you know that the slave owners in the Eagle Country tie the Kunlun slaves with chains and force them to grow cotton?"
"As the Son of Heaven, I shepherd the people on behalf of Heaven. How can I stand by and watch the Kunlun slaves in the Eagle Country suffer inhuman treatment? Are only the lives of the Eagle Country people precious, and the lives of the Kunlun slaves not precious?"
Zhu Erdan responded with a smirk, "Yes, Your Majesty is right. I was being foolish."
Zhu Jinsong snorted coldly, "Such things can be done directly, but when speaking of them, one must use more pleasant wording. After all, you are the Prince of Qin of the Great Ming, and every word and deed must be carefully considered."
After Zhu Erdan agreed, Zhu Jinsong continued, "Also, for good things like Fushou cream, and previously cotton seed oil, you can find some barbarians from the Eagle Country to act as agents in Louisiana."
"Also, I heard that the Eagle Country seems to have a type of grass whose leaves are shaped like palms. When rolled up and inhaled, the effect is similar to Fushou cream. You should send someone to find and research it, and you can continue to sell it to the Eagle Country in the future."
"But there's one thing you must remember," Zhu Jinsong's expression suddenly turned cold, and he said sternly, "I don't care what you do with these things to harm the barbarians, but you are absolutely not allowed to sell Fushou cream, including similar items, to the people of the Great Ming. If anyone dares to sell this to the people of the Great Ming, we will find one and kill one, find two and kill a pair. Extermination of the clan is the minimum, and ten generations of extermination is the maximum, even for the people of the Great Ming."
"Also, if any citizen of the Great Ming dares to inhale this thing, unless a doctor genuinely confirms it is for saving their life, we will find one and kill one, without mercy!"
Zhu Erdan's heart trembled, and he bowed and said, "Yes, your younger brother remembers. We will absolutely not allow anyone to sell these things to the people of the Great Ming, nor will we allow the people of the Great Ming to inhale such things."
Zhu Jinsong's expression eased slightly, and he said, "Go and call the third brother. The three of us will have a good gathering tonight."