Emperor Zhu smiled and asked, "I have only one question for all of you—do you think the common people of our Great Ming will care if the lives of Kunlun slaves are also lives?"
Being asked this by Emperor Zhu, Zeng Cheng and the other bigwigs were stunned.
Would the common people of Great Ming care if the lives of Kunlun slaves were also lives?
If it were back when he was the prefect of Daqing for the deaf and mute old dog, Zeng Cheng would have thought that the common people would definitely care if the lives of Kunlun slaves were also lives. Because it was Daqing, peaceful and prosperous, with the people of the great nation showing courtesy by caring about the lives and deaths of barbarians.
But ever since he defected to Emperor Zhu, Zeng Cheng had truly let go of his prestige as a prefect. Having gained much insight by following the peasant association during the Liangmeng Gu period, if asked this question now, Zeng Cheng would only find it laughable.
More than a decade ago, the lives of the common people in the Central Plains were not even considered lives. They had only just begun to eat their fill for a few years, and now they had the leisure to care if the lives of Kunlun slaves were lives?
This was pure nonsense.
Even Zeng Cheng, the Elder Zeng, who had been a prefect, found it laughable. As for the others, like Liu Huaiwen, Liu Heming, and the other bigwigs who had rebelled with Emperor Zhu against Liu Juren in Liu Miao Village, it was even more so.
Who hadn't starved?
Who hadn't been oppressed by landlords and officials?
As he thought about it, Zeng Cheng suddenly asked, "Your Majesty, I still feel something is not right."
After receiving a nod from Emperor Zhu, Zeng Cheng continued, "Logically speaking, the living standards of our Great Ming's common people are already considered good, aren't they?"
Emperor Zhu gave a noncommittal "hmm" and said, "Barely passable, there's still a lot of room for improvement."
Being told this by Emperor Zhu, Zeng Cheng felt somewhat stuck.
Zeng Cheng really wanted to grab Emperor Zhu's dragon robe and ask, "Now the living standards of the Great Ming's common people are not good enough? Then Your Majesty, please explain what kind of life is truly considered good!"
Seeing Zeng Cheng's troubled and conflicted expression, Emperor Zhu chuckled and said, "I think that the current common people are merely able to eat their fill, and can eat fish and meat a few times a year. This living standard can only be considered passable, not really very good."
"What I consider good is when children dare to be picky eaters, when the elderly are willing to throw away leftovers, and when the family only considers what they like to eat during meals instead of figuring out how to save a few cents from their mouths."
"What I consider good is when the common people not only have clothes to wear but also good clothes, and can change into new clothes whenever they want."
"What I consider good is when the common people can criticize the government and the court for any shortcomings they perceive because they are well-fed, not because they can't survive."
"..."
After Emperor Zhu finished describing what he considered good, Elder Zeng Cheng no longer wanted to say anything. According to Emperor Zhu's description, that would be heaven, not the Great Ming!
Destroy it, hurry up. Being the Grand Secretariat to Emperor Zhu is too damn tiring!
After a private grumble, Zeng Cheng said with a pained and conflicted expression, "When Your Majesty's idea of 'good' can be realized, I dare not speak of it. But I can say that currently, on this entire small broken sphere, the living conditions of our Great Ming's common people are the best. Your Majesty should not object, right?"
Emperor Zhu hummed and asked, "And then?"
And then?
Zeng Cheng, while grumbling in his heart, bowed and said, "Since the common people of our Great Ming do not care if the lives of those Kunlun slaves are lives, then how could the common people of other barbarian nations, whose living standards are even worse than those of our Great Ming, care if the lives of Kunlun slaves are lives?"
Having said this, Zeng Cheng stopped speaking. Anyway, he had said enough, and the rest was for Emperor Zhu to figure out.
Emperor Zhu, however, laughed and said, "I don't care about the living standards of those barbarian nations, nor do I care if they care whether the lives of Kunlun slaves are lives. I had you prepare this article for those barbarian nobles, not for those barbarian commoners."
Zeng Cheng and the other bigwigs were immediately stunned.
You, Emperor Zhu, asked us to prepare an article titled "The Lives of Kunlun Slaves Are Also Lives" to criticize the silly eagle, but you don't intend to let the common people of the silly eagle and Europe see this article?
What good would it do to simply let the nobles of the silly eagle and Europe see such an article?
Emperor Zhu smiled and said, "Have you all forgotten how the governments of the silly eagle and Europe elect their leaders or chief ministers?"
Zeng Cheng was immediately stunned.
As the Grand Secretariat of Great Ming, Zeng Cheng certainly knew how the silly eagle elected its leaders and how elections for leaders or chief ministers were conducted in Europe.
Zeng Cheng had even criticized those barbarians for being without loyalty or filial piety because of this.
While Zeng Cheng was in a daze, Emperor Zhu continued, "Barbarian nobles are all people who have nothing to do after they have eaten their fill. As long as they see this article, they will use it to their advantage—either to gain benefits for themselves, or to attack their enemies, or to win votes for themselves."
"As for whether the lives of Kunlun slaves are lives, the barbarian nobles actually don't care, nor do they mind. They will only try to make the barbarian commoners believe that the lives of Kunlun slaves are also lives."
Zeng Cheng was completely dumbfounded, even falling into deep self-doubt.
Before Emperor Zhu raised his army to rebel, wasn't he just a peasant from Liu Miao Village under Ningyang County in Yanzhou Prefecture?
And himself? Zeng Cheng had been a Jinshi for twenty years under the deaf and mute regime, and by the forty-seventh year of the deaf and mute regime, he had already risen to the position of Prefect of Tai'an.
This kind of play, which involved undermining an entire country at every turn, should have been something he was more skilled at. But in reality, why was Emperor Zhu so amazing?
Shaking his head slightly, Zeng Cheng decided not to dwell on this issue anymore. He was a Jinshi, but a Jinshi was only a mortal. The Emperor, on the other hand, must be a manifestation of the Ziwei Star Lord or a descending dragon. Mortals should not try to compare themselves to immortals.
Emperor Zhu, however, was unaware that his Grand Secretariat was so formidable as to concoct a divine descent scenario in such a short period.
Emperor Zhu merely smiled and said, "With this article, and with the King of Qin and the King of Jin cooperating with the north and south factions of the silly eagle, we are not afraid that the silly eagle will not fall into chaos."
Since they were all going to trick the barbarians anyway, tricking them lightly was still tricking them, and tricking them harshly was still tricking them. Since it was tricking no matter what, it was better to trick them harshly.
...
More than half a month passed in the blink of an eye, and the news of the sudden death of Paul I reached the capital of Great Ming from Moscow.
Along with it came a string of terrifying news: Alexander suddenly fell into the water and caught a cold, Alexander's beloved warhorse had its four legs sawn off, and Alexander's sister, Catherine, mysteriously disappeared for a whole night and was only found the next morning.
Koshelev and Batytskiy were completely despairing.
Whether it was the sudden death of Paul I, or Alexander's sudden fall into the water, or Catherine's mysterious disappearance for a whole night, each piece of news alone was not too bad. But when gathered together, all this news only proved one thing.
The imperial palace of the Sand Goose was absolutely unsafe!
At the very least, it was absolutely unsafe compared to the legendary Ming Dynasty's Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Whether it was Alexander's sudden fall into the water or his beloved warhorse's legs being sawn off, these were merely warnings—they had the ability to make Paul I suddenly die, and they also had the ability to make Alexander die as well; they had the ability to make Catherine disappear for a whole night, and they also had the ability to make Alexander disappear completely!
With a heart full of sorrow, Koshelev could only say through gritted teeth, "Restart negotiations with the Ming people. Agree to their conditions."
Batytskiy hesitated, "But if we eagerly seek negotiations with the Ming people, I fear they will propose even more unreasonable conditions?"
Koshelev was silent for a good while before suddenly saying, "What else can we do? If we continue to drag this out, do you know what else the Ming people might do?"
As he said this, the expression on Koshelev's face suddenly turned cold, and he said sternly, "His Highness Alexander, no, His Majesty Alexander now—if it weren't for His Majesty Alexander's misjudgment, how could we be in this situation? Don't forget, we were originally one of the five great benefactors of the small broken pot!"
Batytskiy also fell silent.
Koshelev continued, "Anyway, His Majesty Alexander has been scared out of his wits and has asked us to agree to all the conditions proposed by the Ming people."
Batytskiy remained silent, while Koshelev became impatient, "What do you say? Should we immediately restart negotiations with the Ming people, or do you have any other ideas?"
Batytskiy looked up, his face filled with confusion, "Restart negotiations? Then let's restart."
After thinking for a moment, Batytskiy added, "However, I reserve my opinion. I believe that if we delay for a few days, perhaps we can still gain a sliver of room for maneuver for the Sand Goose?"
Koshelev glanced coldly at Batytskiy and said nothing more.
Batytskiy's statement of reserving his opinion was entirely a preparation for shifting blame later—look, I said we should have waited a few days back then, but you, Koshelev, were too eager to restart negotiations, which is why we had to agree to these harsh conditions from the Ming people.
However, to the despair of Koshelev and Batytskiy, now that they wanted to restart negotiations with Great Ming immediately, Zhu Gang, who had taken over the negotiations from Shen Hao, was no longer in a hurry.
On the first day, Zhu Gang went to a brothel.
On the second day, Zhu Gang went to a brothel.
On the third day, Zhu Gang still went to a brothel.
For three consecutive days, the attendants sent by Koshelev and Batytskiy to meet Zhu Gang could not see the main person. The only news they could bring to Koshelev and Batytskiy was that Zhu Gang had gone to a brothel.
Koshelev and Batytskiy felt as chaotic as if trampled by ten thousand alpacas.
"Why doesn't he die in a brothel!" Batytskiy paced back and forth, his face filled with anger and helplessness.
In contrast, Koshelev appeared quite calm.
The main reason was that Koshelev had completely come to terms with it—since things were already this way, how much worse could they get? It was merely a matter of ceding a larger or smaller piece of land, or paying more or less dragon currency.
Of course, coming to terms with it did not mean that Koshelev intended to give up.
After careful consideration, Koshelev simply instructed the attendant, "Continue to request a meeting with that Ming official who likes to visit brothels. If he is still not in the yamen, then find out which brothel he has gone to, and we will go to the brothel to block him."
After the attendant left the room, Batytskiy asked, looking bewildered, "Go to the brothel to block that Ming official? Will that be useful?"
Koshelev let out a cold laugh and said, "Whether it's useful or not, we still have to restart negotiations with the Ming people. Moreover, I suspect that the Ming official is deliberately delaying time."
Batytskiy was startled and asked, "Delaying time?"
Koshelev nodded, "That's right, delaying time—you should know that although Ming officials can visit brothels, they have regulations that strictly prohibit them from doing so during working hours. And that Ming official has been there for three consecutive days. Do you know what that means?"
Batytskiy was stunned again and asked foolishly, "What does it mean?"
Koshelev said through gritted teeth, "It means that the Ming official is willing to gamble with his own future to delay the restart of negotiations—this also means that the Ming court may still be hesitant, hesitant whether to seek peace with us or to directly launch a war."
Batytskiy was immediately startled, "Launch a war directly? Do you know how far Great Ming is from Moscow? God, this..."
Koshelev interrupted Batytskiy without hesitation, "Far? The Ming people have railways, they have enough troops, and the Ming generals wish to fight—do you remember the Ming general from the last negotiation? He had been silent all along, his expressionless until..."
Until Batytskiy asked if Great Ming intended to go to war with the Sand Goose, Liu Er Niu then smiled excitedly.
He even openly displayed his desire for war!
Fortunately, Zhu Gang, who had visited brothels for three consecutive days, seemed to have finally entered a state of exhaustion and agreed to Koshelev and Batytskiy's request to restart negotiations.
As soon as they met, Zhu Gang got straight to the point, "The conditions are still the same conditions. Do you agree, or do you agree?"
With just one sentence, the hearts of Koshelev and Batytskiy sank to the bottom—if Shen Hao, who was in charge of the negotiations before, was somewhat reasonable, then the person who replaced Shen Hao was a complete scoundrel!
Koshelev tentatively said, "We can agree to the conditions you proposed before, but..."
Zhu Gang directly waved his hand and said, "Either agree, or don't agree. There is no 'but'!"