As is well-known, the country of Silly Eagle, built by exiles such as thieves, bandits, and swindlers, had a fundamentally flawed foundation from its inception, inherently carrying the genes of bullying the weak and fearing the strong.
Therefore, when Silly Eagle's third leader, Thomas Jefferson, was rebuffed by Zhu Jinsong, Jefferson did not choose to flip the table and fight to the death. Instead, he first sought out Louis XVI.
In Jefferson's view, since the conflict between Silly Eagle and the Great Ming was caused by Louisiana, and Louisiana was sold by France to the Great Ming, it was natural to communicate further with France.
More crucially, Jefferson felt that even if he lost, he should at least understand why. "Are we Silly Eagles considered to have the same culture and people as you French? Even if you Louis XVI disagreed with Silly Eagle's offer, you could have raised the price. Why did you have to half-sell Louisiana for next to nothing to the Ming country? And even if you sold it, couldn't you have said something in advance, instead of making us Silly Eagles lose so much face?"
And when Louis XVI heard the news of Jefferson's embarrassment, his first reaction was satisfaction.
So Louis XVI did not hesitate to offer some advice to his younger brother, Jefferson: "Why half-sell Louisiana for next to nothing to the Great Ming? Heh, what use do I, Louis XVI, have for Louisiana? Will it allow me to plant the French flag all over Louisiana? Or will it make the people of Louisiana eat baguettes so hard they can be used as weapons?"
"Why should I watch you Silly Eagles lose so much face? Let me tell you, little brother, if it weren't for the fact that I, your brother, found you somewhat agreeable and gave you a heads-up, you wouldn't even have time to cry when things go wrong!"
"Yes, watching you suffer is for your own good – those Habsburgs, and those Ottomans, they don't even have the chance to cry now!"
"You don't need to thank me, your brother is just a warm-hearted person who likes to help others!"
Jefferson thought to himself, "I really thank your ancestors for eight generations for this." "Where did you hear that I wanted to say thank you?"
After mentally grumbling, Jefferson still asked obediently, "So that's it for the Louisiana matter? We Silly Eagles really get nothing?"
Louis XVI glared at Jefferson and said, "Louisiana is about to become the fief of His Highness Prince Qin of the Great Ming, and you Silly Eagles are adjacent to the Prince's fief. There are countless benefits. What more do you want to get? A person should be content!"
Jefferson felt even more displeased.
What did he mean by "countless benefits" just by being adjacent to the Prince's fief? Did he mean that having their lifeline held by someone else was a good thing for Silly Eagle?
However, what Jefferson never expected was that Louis XVI would earnestly nod and say, "Yes, being adjacent to His Highness Prince Qin's fief is a good thing, and having our lifeline in the hands of the Great Ming is an even greater good thing."
"If the example of the Habsburg family is not clear enough, then you can think about the example of the Ottoman Empire. Anyway, your Silly Eagle navy is still helping the Great Ming transport supplies to the Ottoman Empire."
Speaking of this, Louis XVI suddenly slapped his forehead and put on a look of sudden realization, "My apologies, I forgot that your Silly Eagle navy helping the Great Ming transport supplies was decided by old brother Hua Sheng Dun, so you might not be very clear about it."
"Let me put it this way, the main reason the Great Ming wants to attack the Ottoman Empire is that the Ottoman Empire has countless oil resources, and the Great Ming happens to need oil, so the Ottoman Empire is in trouble."
Hearing Louis XVI say this, Jefferson became even more aggrieved, "We Silly Eagles don't have much oil!"
Facing Jefferson's grievance, Louis XVI shook his head and said with disappointment, "You Silly Eagles have rubber!"
"As far as I know, although the Great Ming's demand for rubber is not particularly large at the moment, it is steadily increasing. What would be the consequences if the Great Ming really needed a lot of rubber one day?"
Jefferson was still aggrieved, "But, even if the Ming country needs rubber, we haven't said we won't supply it to the Ming country."
Louis XVI chuckled scornfully and said, "The Ottoman Empire also didn't say it wouldn't supply oil to the Great Ming. Perhaps old brother Hua Sheng Dun didn't tell you, but the day before the Great Ming was beating up the Ottoman Empire, they still imported a large amount of oil from the Ottoman Empire."
Jefferson said resentfully, "Are you just going to sit by and watch the Ming country act tyrannically? Where is there any peace and stability in this small world and small pot now? Almost everywhere, there are merchant ships recruiting laborers for the Ming country or transporting ore for the Ming country. Large amounts of silver are flowing into the Ming country, and we are only getting a very, very small portion of it. What if all our countries united to oppose the Ming country?"
Louis XVI glanced at Jefferson dismissively and retorted, "Do you think that's possible?"
"France and England have a hundred-year deep enmity, you and England have a great enmity from colonial rule, Russia and Europe have always been at odds, and other messy countries also have grudges against each other. Who are you going to unite?"
"Besides, even if you can get these mutually antagonistic countries to unite, can it affect the Great Ming?"
"This small world has a population of one billion people, of which 400 million are Ming people, and the other one hundred million to nearly two hundred million diaper-heads have been turned into laborers. This means that the total population of all other countries on this small world is no more than the population of the Great Ming."
"So, the question is – can you, Jefferson, unite these 400 million people into one rope?" xxs壹贰
Louis XVI spread his hands, smiled self-mockingly, and then continued, "No, you can't, I can't, no one else can. No one can unite these 400 million people into one rope."
"But the Great Ming is different. The Emperor of the Great Ming can unite all 400 million people of the Great Ming into one rope."
"So you will find that the Ming country can undertake basic infrastructure construction involving tens of millions of people, such as railway networks and public transport networks, as well as granaries and schools all over the Ming country."
"And the armies stationed in various parts of the small world will unconditionally obey the command of the Emperor of the Great Ming. The Emperor of the Great Ming can command any soldier or officer within the nearly two million troops of the Great Ming."
"If the Emperor of the Great Ming is willing, he can even assemble an army of several million in the shortest possible time, and the common people of the Ming country are also eager to join the army. The entire Ming country is like an invincible and war-craving war machine."
"Believe me, whether it is basic infrastructure construction involving tens of millions of people, or a military system that can command any soldier or officer, or a war machine where civilians eagerly join the army, these are things that no other country on this small world can do, whether it is our France, your Silly Eagle, or England, or Russia."
"It is precisely because of these reasons that the Emperor of the Great Ming can do anything he wants, such as forming the small pot without anyone daring to object. Similarly, if the Emperor of the Great Ming feels that the small pot is no longer necessary, he can disband the small pot at any time."
"In fact, the saying of the five great benefactors of the small pot is just for pleasantry. Who doesn't know that we four great benefactors have to act according to the Emperor of the Great Ming's face?"
"Don't you think that the five great benefactors of the small pot will never change? When we exist, we are naturally one of the fixed five great benefactors, but what about the day when we don't exist?"
"So, what do you have to fight the Great Ming with? Rely on your own head?"
"Never doubt it, the Emperor of the Great Ming has this strength!"
After listening to Louis XVI's analysis, Jefferson fell into deep silence.
Jefferson was not stupid.
In fact, before coming to the Great Ming, Jefferson had heard some rumors – two small European countries were fighting each other, their domestic affairs were in famine, and these two small countries were continuously exporting grain to the Great Ming.
When Jefferson first heard this rumor, he disbelieved it a thousand times over.
It was normal for two small countries to fight to the death due to domestic famine, but it was unbelievable for two small countries to fight and starve while exporting grain to the Great Ming.
But after hearing Louis XVI's comparison of the population of the Great Ming with that of other countries, and after hearing Louis XVI's explanation of the military strength of the Great Ming, Jefferson believed it.
The struggle between countries, though seemingly complex, ultimately boils down to a struggle of people.
In other words, population is the most fundamental foundation of a country.
If a country has hundreds of millions of people, it is difficult for its military strength not to be strong.
The opposite is also true.
If a country has always been sparsely populated, then no matter how strong its military strength is, it is merely superficial data, a bubble that will burst at the slightest touch.
Of course, the diaper-heads of Tianzhu are an exception, because although Tianzhu has 200 million diaper-heads, only ten to twenty million of these diaper-heads can be considered human, and the rest can only be considered livestock.
The same was true for the Great Qing before – the situation in the Great Qing was even more problematic than that of the diaper-heads, because in the entire Great Ming, only one person could be considered human, and the rest were all slaves.
After figuring out these messy things, Jefferson simply took a deep breath and said solemnly to Louis XVI, "Thank you, my friend."
Louis XVI acted very magnanimously, "You're welcome, my friend. As you said, we can be considered to have the same culture and people, can't we?"
"Take my advice, since you cannot defeat the Great Ming, try to join it. The best way to make the Emperor of the Great Ming feel at ease is to place your lifeline in the hands of the Emperor of the Great Ming."
"Compared to the other more than one hundred small countries on this small world, your Silly Eagle is already very lucky to be designated as one of the five great benefactors of the small pot by the Emperor of the Great Ming, and to have the fief of His Highness Prince Qin of the Great Ming located near your Silly Eagle territory."
Jefferson nodded earnestly and said, "Yes, I understand."
Only after sending Jefferson away did Louis XVI couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Same culture and people?
Bullshit!
You Silly Eagles are more likely to have the same culture and people as those rose beefs, not us French!
Now I, Louis, have sold Louisiana to the Emperor of the Great Ming to poke your bruised spot, not only to witness the drama of your Silly Eagle being embarrassed and losing face, but also to make your Silly Eagle feel grateful to me, Louis. Great!
In a good mood, Louis XVI simply asked Pierre to be summoned and instructed Pierre, "Quickly have someone finalize the Louisiana matter in writing. For the payment method, deduct it from our previous debts. The Great Ming doesn't need to pay separately."
After Pierre agreed, Louis XVI slapped his forehead again and added, "Right, remember to contact Grand Secretary Zeng Cheng, and repay the ten billion Dragon Yuan we previously borrowed from the Great Ming, and then borrow another ten billion."
"This matter must be handled quickly. We absolutely cannot fall behind George III, that rose beef. I heard that George III is going to borrow twenty billion from the Great Ming this time, and Russia also intends to borrow ten billion."
Hearing that France, England, and Russia were almost lining up to borrow money from the Great Ming, Pierre was completely stunned. "I mean, it's understandable that we borrow money from the Great Ming, after all, we are currently at war with the Habsburg family and have many expenses. But they are not particularly short of money, so why are they borrowing money?"
When Pierre asked this, Louis XVI's face immediately darkened.
He slapped his forehead vigorously, and then said with great regret, "This is my fault. I previously told George III about France borrowing ten billion from the Great Ming, and this scoundrel remembered it?"
The thought of learning the skill of using borrowing and repaying as a protective charm by George III and Paul I made Louis XVI want to strangle himself.
However, since this skill has already been learned by George III and Paul I and will soon be put into practice, Louis XVI has no choice but to hope that Pierre will be faster and absolutely not let those scoundrels George III and Paul I get ahead.
That's right, even when borrowing money from the Great Ming, I, Louis, leading France, must be one step faster than others, just like our hands are always raised faster than others!
And when Zhu Jinsong learned of George III and Paul I's request to borrow money from the Great Ming, he was utterly bewildered. First, Louis XVI sought to borrow money from the Great Ming, and now George III and Paul I have been added. Will Jefferson from Silly Eagle be added in a few days?
The key point is that as fellow great benefactors of the small pot, is it really okay for you to be so shameless?