Thomas Jefferson, the third great leader of the so-called "foolish eagle," was inwardly lamenting the fate of Louisiana. Meanwhile, the Wenhua Hall within the Forbidden City had become a joyous spectacle.
According to the conversion rule of approximately six mu per acre and ten yuan of Great Ming Dragon Currency per tael of silver, it was as if ten yuan bought six mu of land. Moreover, Zhu Jinsong and Louis XVI had deliberately ignored the actual area of Louisiana during the transaction, treating it solely as the size of Fujian's administrative region. This made the deal, after rounding, practically a giveaway.
Zhu Jinsong, smiling, said to Zeng Cheng and the other magnates, "I never expected that fool Jefferson to bring up the Jurchen issue. Otherwise, I would have given him some face. Now, he has lost both face and substance."
Zhu Erdan grumbled, "He may have lost face and substance, but our Great Ming has also lost countless generals and lords today. With fewer opportunities to earn military merits, I fear I will be blamed."
Zhu Jinsong glared at Zhu Erdan and reprimanded him, "As the saying goes, 'one general's success is built on ten thousand soldiers' bones.' Are not the military merits of those generals and lords earned by the soldiers of the Great Ming? It is a good thing to obtain Louisiana without fighting, saving many sacrifices. In essence, we have made a huge profit."
After scolding Zhu Erdan, Zhu Jinsong turned to Zeng Cheng and the other magnates, saying, "Although Jefferson, that fool, has backed down, Louisiana is still too close to the foolish eagle, and its area is equivalent to two Us-Tsang. We must still make preparations."
Zeng Cheng nodded, wanting to say something but holding back. Finally, he could only awkwardly cup his hands and reply, "Yes, Your Majesty, I understand."
Seeing Zeng Cheng glance first at Zhu Erdan and then at himself, and then appear to hesitate, Zhu Jinsong smiled and said to Zeng Cheng, "The situation in Louisiana is, after all, different from that in Xin Qin Prefecture. Elder Zeng, please speak your mind freely."
After a moment of hesitation, Zeng Cheng finally bowed respectfully and said, "If Your Majesty had not overturned the table with Jefferson, I would have had nothing to worry about. After all, our Great Ming holds the moral high ground and possesses great strength. Even if the foolish eagle felt dissatisfied, they could only endure it. But now that Your Majesty has overturned the table with Jefferson, and Jefferson has lost face, I worry that he might take a desperate measure and send troops to contend for Louisiana."
As Zeng Cheng finished speaking, Liu Huaiwen also furrowed his brow. "If we migrate too many people at once, I fear it will affect the construction of railways and roads. It's not just a matter of the national treasury's finances, but primarily a shortage of labor. After all, we cannot delegate everything to laborers."
As Zhu Jinsong had stated earlier, Louisiana's area was as vast as two Us-Tsang, and it was too close to the foolish eagle. In Europe, a territory like Louisiana alone would be enough to constitute several small countries. To hold such a vast territory and suppress the foolish eagle's minor schemes, the Great Ming would need to station sufficient troops in Louisiana and also migrate enough of its people.
However, the Great Ming itself was still in a state of vast territory and sparse population. If millions or even tens of millions more people were migrated to Louisiana, the population of the Great Ming would become even sparser.
Even if the Great Ming court continuously encouraged its people to have more children, its population would eventually increase. But time waits for no one, and population size would undoubtedly affect the Great Ming's development speed!
Therefore, Zeng Cheng was reluctant to allocate too many soldiers and people to Zhu Erdan, lest it affect the Great Ming's own development.
But then again, without a sufficient number of troops and people, how could Zhu Erdan suppress the foolish eagle's ambitions?
If the foolish eagle's ambitions could not be suppressed, would Louisiana ever have a peaceful day?
In the end, the problem still came down to the insufficient population of the Great Ming. Otherwise, if a hundred million people were directly migrated to Louisiana, and hundreds of thousands of troops were conscripted from these hundred million people, even several foolish eagles would have to kneel!
However, after hearing the concerns of Zeng Cheng, Liu Huaiwen, and the other magnates, Zhu Jinsong couldn't help but laugh.
Both the concerns of Zeng Cheng and Liu Huaiwen were based on the premise that the Great Ming could not suppress the foolish eagle without migrating a sufficient number of people.
However, Zeng Cheng and Liu Huaiwen had overlooked the most fundamental core factor of the problem: did the foolish eagle have the courage to take that desperate measure!
Zhu Jinsong said with a smile, "I have told you all before that the original members of the foolish eagle nation were all bandits, swindlers, thieves, priests, and artisans exiled from England and various European countries to Indian lands. From the very beginning of its founding, it was imbued with the bloodline of insatiable greed, inherent aggression, and bullying the weak and fearing the strong."
"If I had not overturned the table with Jefferson today, the foolish eagle might have thought I was easy to deal with and would indeed have coveted Louisiana. But now that I have overturned the table with Jefferson, the foolish eagle has lost that courage."
Upon hearing Zhu Jinsong's words, Zeng Cheng and Liu Huaiwen, along with the other magnates, all wore expressions of disbelief. Could the very nature of one of the Five Virtuous Ones of a mere broken pot be so absurd?
Just as Zeng Cheng and Liu Huaiwen were questioning their own existence, Zhu Jinsong continued, "Of course, merely overturning the table with Jefferson might not be enough to completely deter the foolish eagle."
"Therefore, I plan to first migrate one hundred thousand land troops there, then draw some warships from the four naval fleets to form a fifth fleet to be stationed directly in Louisiana, and then gradually migrate people."
"However, the movements during the initial few times should be grand, migrating a hundred thousand people each time. After repeating this several times, the foolish eagle will completely lose the courage to covy Louisiana."
Zeng Cheng and Liu Huaiwen, along with the other magnates, were still somewhat uneasy.
One hundred thousand land troops sounded like a lot, but to rely on one hundred thousand land troops to directly confront the entire foolish eagle was simply impossible, no matter how skilled these hundred thousand troops were.
After all, the foolish eagle was considered a strong nation and had the advantage of fighting on its own territory. The Great Ming's one hundred thousand land troops, on the other hand, required naval transport of supplies and provisions to maintain their combat effectiveness in cross-sea operations. If pushed to a desperate situation, the foolish eagle could overwhelm Zhu Erdan with sheer numbers.
Thinking of this, Zeng Cheng tentatively said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, I believe that relying solely on military deterrence against the foolish eagle is still somewhat insufficient. Why not further tempt them with benefits and coerce them with power?"
Zhu Jinsong said "Oh," and looked at Zeng Cheng, "Minister Zeng, please elaborate."
Zeng Cheng cupped his hands and replied, "The so-called coercion with power is what we previously mentioned: let Jefferson thoroughly witness the national strength and military might of our Great Ming, instill fear in him, and prevent him from acting rashly."
"The so-called temptation with benefits is to casually offer a few not-so-valuable projects to the foolish eagle, allowing them to earn some money and thus tie them to our Great Ming's chariot."
"It would be best to directly recruit some young and strong men from the foolish eagle to work. Whether they come to our Great Ming's mainland or somewhere else, it would be equivalent to draining the foolish eagle's foundation. Even if the foolish eagle has any improper intentions, they would have to weigh it carefully?"
Upon hearing Zeng Cheng's proposal, Zhu Jinsong's mind was suddenly struck by a famous term.
Selling Piglets.
This matter had its origins in the Great Qing's defeat at the hands of England.
There was no need to elaborate on the true nature of the Great Qing. Its inability to withstand Nepal's garrison in Us-Tsang was enough to illustrate how inept it was. After the First Opium War, the great powers of the Earth openly plundered laborers from the Great Qing, forcing them to sign indentured contracts and acknowledge their voluntary emigration, and then reselling them to Southeast Asia, the Americas, and other places.
Upon boarding the ship, these abducted laborers were forced to strip off their upper garments like piglets, with English letters printed on their chests indicating their destinations. The area of Heshan, Guangdong, was thus known as "selling piglets."
Hong Kong was a transfer station for this wicked trade of selling piglets. In just three years, from 1845 to 1874, the number of Chinese laborers transferred and sold through Hong Kong reached as high as 260,000.
As a port for Chinese labor export, Hong Kong not only profited directly but also served as a base for the coolie trade, earning indirect profits from the installation and repair of ships, and the supply of food and water.
For instance, transport ships were refitted with additional layers to carry more laborers, and cabin doors were fitted with iron bars to prevent Chinese laborers from resisting and escaping. These modifications were made in Hong Kong. Hotels, grain shops, and other businesses in Hong Kong reaped immense profits from the coolie trade, and the population trade also stimulated Hong Kong's initial abnormal prosperity.
Some worthless individuals who considered their ancestors noble were, in fact, acting as colonialists and compradors, accumulating their first fortune through these businesses built on blood and tears.
By the mid-19th century, gold was discovered in San Francisco, the foolish eagle's territory, and labor was extremely scarce. Soon after, gold was also discovered in Australia, and a gold rush and emigration craze was incited by colonial merchants.
At that time, recruitment posters for Chinese laborers were visible everywhere in the coastal regions of Southeast China. The conditions described on the posters were extremely favorable, as if uncovering one poster would lead to finding a gold mountain. The Hong Kong piers, serving as transfer stations for Chinese laborers, were crowded with ragged Chinese laborers.
Most of the Chinese laborers during this period came from impoverished villages, bankrupt commoners, unemployed commoners, or fishermen, who were deceived or trafficked by intermediary companies such as labor recruitment offices and thus found themselves in foreign lands.
They would receive an initial advance payment, but this advance payment would be deducted for introduction fees, transportation costs, and commissions before they went overseas. In essence, various reasonable or unreasonable excuses were found to squeeze their advance wages, which was fundamentally no different from selling piglets.
These Chinese laborers also did the hardest work but earned little, and many did not even have the opportunity to return to their homeland.
For example, piglet laborers were contracted to work for a year, and their price ranged from ten, fifteen, to thirty yuan.
These honest and poor Chinese laborers, dreaming of getting rich, squeezed into dirty and cramped ship cabins, where they "sat cross-legged shoulder to shoulder during the day and slept with crossed legs at night."
Under extremely harsh conditions, sometimes traveling for months, the captains and foreign crew members were armed. Any discontent among the Chinese laborers would result in beatings and shootings. Coupled with extremely poor ventilation and sanitary facilities in the cabins, many died at sea before reaching their destinations. Sometimes, the death rate among Chinese laborers during the voyage exceeded fifty percent.
Even upon arrival at their destinations, they worked as slaves, often starving. They died in poverty and illness in foreign lands.
As a side note, among the famous Seventy-Two Martyrs of the Yellow Flower Revolution, twenty-nine were overseas Chinese laborers from Southeast Asia.
Thus, Zhu Jinsong thought that if the barbarians could do it, so could he, Zhu. If they could recruit people from the Central Plains to sell piglets, then the Great Ming could equally recruit young and strong men from Europe to sell piglets.
After some thought, Zhu Jinsong simply explained the entire process of selling piglets to Zeng Cheng and the other magnates, and then requested that Zeng Cheng and the other magnates propose a more refined solution.
Indeed, Zeng Cheng and the other magnates did not disappoint Zhu Jinsong and directly proposed a package plan.
For example, first recruit a batch of laborers in Europe through Pierre, Howard, and others, and then allow these laborers to earn some money and return to Europe. This process was called the "pit digging stage," primarily aimed at promoting the benefits of working in the Great Ming to attract more laborers.
The second stage was the "net casting stage."
In this stage, the Great Ming would arrange for secret agents of the Imperial Guard and the Eastern Depot in Europe and the foolish eagle's territories to support a group of "foreign compradors," who would then specialize in the business of selling piglets.
Then came the third stage, the "whitewashing stage."
The Great Ming, after all, was the beacon of the world and the hope of humanity. Naturally, it could not allow the image of the Great Ming to be tarnished by the act of selling piglets.
Therefore, in this stage, the Great Ming would improve the treatment of laborers, assuming those laborers could survive to this stage. It would also strive to crack down on illegal labor recruitment, assuming the foreign compradors in Europe and the foolish eagle could be dealt with.
Once this process was completed, the railway and highway networks that the Great Ming needed to build would essentially be completed. Even if there were some unfinished parts, it wouldn't matter, because the population of the Great Ming should have increased by then.
In other words, the Great Ming would no longer need these laborers.
As for the laborers' sweat and blood money...
Did that have anything to do with the Great Ming? In any case, the Great Ming did not earn a single cent of ill-gotten gains; it was all earned by those foreign compradors. If they had the capability, they should go find those foreign compradors!
Thinking of this, Zhu Jinsong ordered someone to find a map of the foolish eagle, pointed to a spot on the map, and said, "Here, let this place be the piglet transfer center."