While temporarily setting aside the continent of the indigenous peoples, it was not that Zhu Jinsong was not interested in the continent of the indigenous peoples, but rather that there was no immediate need to take action. After all, the population of Great Ming was severely insufficient, and forcibly occupying it would only lead to a situation with more land and fewer people.
Moreover, with the enfeoffments of Zhu Erdan and Zhu Sanshun on the continent of the indigenous peoples, a strategy of gradual progress was far more enjoyable than a decisive victory.
Zhu Jinsong suddenly let out a laugh and looked at Ke Zhiming, saying, "To my knowledge, the 'Silly Eagle' is also extensively using Kunlun slaves?"
Ke Zhiming bowed and replied, "Your Majesty is wise. The 'Silly Eagle' is indeed using a large number of Kunlun slaves. However, the 'Silly Eagle' in the north is advocating for the abolition of the Kunlun slave system, demanding that each state of the 'Silly Eagle' be established as a free state. Meanwhile, the gentlemen in the south of the 'Silly Eagle' prefer to use Kunlun slaves. The two sides are in constant conflict, and currently, the gentlemen of the southern 'Silly Eagle' have the upper hand."
Zhu Jinsong nodded and chuckled, "I recall that the Xiongnu, the Turks, and the Mongol Yuan all had a tradition: whoever wins is right. Since the gentlemen of the northern 'Silly Eagle' dislike the Kunlun slave system, and the gentlemen of the southern 'Silly Eagle' have a need for Kunlun slaves, why not have a war? Whoever wins, that's the way it goes. How good is that?"
Upon hearing Zhu Jinsong's words, Zeng Cheng, Liu Heming, and other prominent figures immediately became excited. Especially Liu Huaiwen, who directly exclaimed, "This method is still the best!"
Zeng Cheng glanced dismissively at Liu Huaiwen and snorted, "Minister Liu, do not get happy too soon. Those 'Silly Eagles' can also produce firearms and cannons themselves, so your Ministry of Revenue will not gain much."
Liu Huaiwen chuckled and said, "What does it matter if the 'Silly Eagle' can produce them themselves? As long as there is war, firearms and cannons are prone to damage. Whether it is the northern 'Silly Eagle' or the southern 'Silly Eagle,' who can guarantee that their firearms, cannons, and ammunition reserves will be sufficient to last the entire war? As long as there is even one who cannot guarantee it, then those firearms and cannons accumulated by our Great Ming..."
At this point, Liu Huaiwen, who had been all smiles moments ago, suddenly changed his expression and exclaimed, "Oh no! Those that were accumulated have already been sold to Europe. If the 'Silly Eagle' needs more, we might have to set up two more workshops!"
Zhu Jinsong waved his hand indifferently, saying, "We can discuss whether to build new workshops later. The most important thing right now is how to get the northern and southern gentlemen of the 'Silly Eagle' to fight each other! Furthermore, our Great Ming will certainly support the southern landlords."
The trivial matters of the 'Silly Eagle' family, in the final analysis, were that the gentlemen of the northern 'Silly Eagle' wanted to develop industry and limit or completely prohibit the Kunlun slave system in the newly acquired territories, while the southern landlords of the 'Silly Eagle' hoped to expand the Kunlun slave system to the entire 'Silly Eagle.'
The gentlemen of the northern 'Silly Eagle' believed that the southern landlords of the 'Silly Eagle' were too ignorant, only seeing the cotton on their own small plots of land, and that engaging in industry was the most profitable. Meanwhile, the southern landlords of the 'Silly Eagle' believed that the gentlemen of the northern 'Silly Eagle' were too foolish, as industry and commerce were risky, and planting cotton with Kunlun slaves was more stable.
Based on this premise, Great Ming would naturally support the southern landlords of the 'Silly Eagle,' because the development path of the northern gentlemen of the 'Silly Eagle' conflicted with the plan Great Ming had formulated for the 'Silly Eagle.'
In comparison, the southern landlords of the 'Silly Eagle' were quite lovable—the less they valued education and industry, the more they endeared themselves to Emperor Zhu.
Zeng Cheng bowed and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, I believe that Prince Qin should strongly support the southern landlords of the 'Silly Eagle.'"
Zhu Jinsong grunted, "Continue."
Zeng Cheng first bowed in agreement, then slowly said, "The current situation is that the southern landlords of the 'Silly Eagle' hold the advantage. The gentlemen of the northern 'Silly Eagle' are bound to be dissatisfied. If the southern landlords of the 'Silly Eagle' receive covert support from Prince Qin, their momentum will likely grow even stronger, and the gentlemen of the northern 'Silly Eagle' will become even more displeased, leading to increasingly fierce conflicts between the two sides. Furthermore, I believe that Prince Jin should secretly support the gentlemen of the northern 'Silly Eagle' to prevent the strength of the two sides from becoming too disparate."
Meng Fanzhi, the head of the Ministry of Rites, followed suit and bowed, "Reporting to Your Majesty, I believe that neither our Great Ming itself, nor Prince Qin and Prince Jin, should openly declare their stance. Even if a statement is to be made, it should be a declaration that Great Ming opposes the use of Kunlun slaves."
Upon hearing Meng Fanzhi's statement, Zhu Jinsong let out a hearty laugh, even feeling the urge to clap and praise him, "Let us proceed according to the wishes of Ministers Zeng and Meng. Bring me a plan later."
Meng Fanzhi's remarks gave Zhu Jinsong a sense of familiar déjà vu, much like that year the 'Silly Eagle' loudly proclaimed that something was inviolable, the rabbit loudly called for striking down something, England loudly opposed the division of something, and Russia loudly declared that something was superior to something else. In a daze, he felt as if the Four Great Virtuous Families had grabbed the wrong script.
A friendly reminder: the head of France at that time was busy wooing girls, so he didn't have the script in his hand.
(If you don't understand, please search on Baidu. The beast is too powerful; one chapter was blocked yesterday.)
After Zeng Cheng and Meng Fanzhi bowed in agreement, Zhu Jinsong continued with a smile, "I also have a plan to help the 'Silly Eagle' and England build some railways."
Many years ago, when England wanted to build railways for the Great Qing, Little Li Zi said to the Old Buddha, "Old Buddha, the foreigners are coming to build railways for us."
Emperor Zhu really wanted to see the Grand Secretary Fox from England say to King George III, "Your Majesty, the people of Ming are coming to build railways for us."
Many years ago, the 'Silly Eagle' used a large number of Chinese laborers, and beneath the railway ties of the 'Silly Eagle' family were buried the corpses of countless Chinese laborers.
Emperor Zhu really wanted to see what would be buried beneath the railway ties when the 'Silly Eagle' family built railways now.
Although Zeng Cheng, Liu Huaiwen, Liu Heming, and other prominent figures did not know about Emperor Zhu's mischievous intentions, all the officials present understood that although Emperor Zhu was always impulsive, he would never genuinely intend to help the 'Silly Eagle' and England build railways out of kindness.
It was likely that he had come up with some wicked and outrageous scheme.
Emperor Zhu soon turned his attention to Mansmann.
The reason for ruthlessly exploiting Europe was the two Opium Wars, and the reason for ruthlessly exploiting the 'Silly Eagle' was that the 'Silly Eagle' had acted inhumanely. However, the reasons why Emperor Zhu wanted to exploit the Ottoman Empire were much more complex, and it was not solely for its oil.
As everyone knows, the small pot of land has five great virtuous families, and the internet also has five great virtuous families.
The Great Korean Empire, Southern Vietnam, India, the Polish brother who was just targeted by Zhu Jinsong, and the later Husky Dog of China, now the Ottoman Empire—in order to trouble the Habsburg family, the Ottomans went to the French embassy and burned the Dutch flag, and incidentally beat up passing Englishmen.
Taking the wrong road, mistaking the person, such an operation that seemed incredibly absurd was quite normal for the Ottomans.
Of course, if the Ottomans were merely mentally unstable, Emperor Zhu would not have paid them much attention, nor would he have held a grudge for it. The most important reason was that the Ottomans had an enmity with Emperor Zhu—
That year, when Bear Two and Bear One and their brothers were fighting over the division of assets, Bear Two's family had a Kuznetsov-class fishing boat with only sixty-seven percent completion.
Bear One wanted to buy this fishing boat but had no money, and Bear Two, without the support of the Bear Country, the Planning Committee, the Military-Industrial Committee, the nine defense industry ministries, six hundred related specialties, and eight thousand supporting factories, was unable to complete it.
Dismantle it?
Dismantling this fishing boat was not a problem for Bear Two, but the dismantling fee was 250 million dollars, and the materials after dismantling were only worth five million dollars. If it were truly dismantled, Bear Two would have suffered a massive loss.
Therefore, this fishing boat became a persistent worry for Bear Two.
At this time, a helpful little white rabbit jumped out and offered to buy this Kuznetsov-class fishing boat for twenty million dollars.
Bear Two found it to be a good deal, as no matter how stupid Bear Two was, he could distinguish between twenty million dollars and five million dollars.
However, when a certain fishing boat, numbered sixteen, set sail for China, it was intercepted by the Ottoman Turks in the Bosphorus Strait on the grounds that a non-powered large vessel transporting it was obstructing the waterway.
The solution proposed by the Turks was simple and brutal: the first demand was that the fishing boat be cut into small sections before it could pass, and the second demand was that China must open its tourist routes to Turkey, and simultaneously guarantee that at least two million Chinese tourists would visit Turkey for consumption each year.
In addition, Turkey also demanded that China provide quantitative economic assistance to alleviate Turkey's pressure, and in terms of military affairs, it required the transfer of China's highest-level equipment and technology at a low price at that time.
If these conditions could be grudgingly accepted, then Turkey's final condition would be fatal to the rabbit—China must pay an additional ten billion dollars as a deposit under third-party guarantee!
The Turks were not afraid of offending the rabbit because of this. After all, the Kuznetsov-class fishing boat had already been purchased by a rabbit named Xu Zengping, and the money had been given to Bear Two. Even if the Turks intercepted the Kuznetsov-class fishing boat, it had nothing to do with Bear Two, and they could simultaneously appease the 'Silly Eagle.'
The rabbit certainly could not agree to such absurd demands.
The first was the plan to cut the Kuznetsov-class fishing boat into small sections.
Why did the rabbit buy the fishing boat? It was certainly for fishing. If the entire Kuznetsov-class fishing boat were cut up as the Turks demanded, then how could they go fishing?
Secondly, opening tourist routes and guaranteeing at least two million Chinese tourists to visit Turkey each year.
If Turkey received two million tourists annually, it would be about right. Asking China to arrange for two million people to visit Turkey each year? What was the difference between that and directly cutting off the rabbit's flesh?
Do not forget that the rabbit at that time was so poor that it was willing to sell anything. Not to mention whether the rabbit at that time had ten billion dollars, even if it did, the rabbit would absolutely not be willing to give it to Turkey.
After all, it was a Husky Dog of China. According to Turkey's usual chaotic and unreasonable practices, once this ten billion dollars fell into Turkey's hands, the only outcome would be like a meat bun thrown to a dog—there would be no return.
Not to mention the absurd demand for the low-price transfer of China's highest-level equipment and technology at that time.
And Zhu Jinsong, Emperor Zhu, happened to have read this record online before he time-traveled.
Therefore, Zhu Jinsong, who had always been generous and tolerant, after overthrowing the Great Qing, casually made a note in his little book: the Husky Dog of China had always acted inhumanely, and he would have to have a talk with it later.
It was precisely because of this that Emperor Zhu, while ruthlessly exploiting the Polish brother, Europe, and the 'Silly Eagle' this time, also remembered Turkey.
Zhu Jinsong said with a smile, "The matters concerning the Polish brother and Europe have been settled, and the 'Silly Eagle' side is also basically settled. The next step should be the Ottoman Empire."
Zeng Cheng and the other prominent figures were already numb to Zhu Jinsong's habit of exploiting one after another.
After all, if you exploit one, it's exploitation; if you exploit two, it's still exploitation. Exploiting a few more doesn't seem like a big deal, does it?
Compared to the Polish lords and the 'Silly Eagle' mentioned earlier, Zeng Cheng and the other prominent figures actually hoped that Emperor Zhu would exploit the Ottoman Empire first—Emperor Zhu wanted to exploit the Ottoman Empire not entirely for its oil, but Zeng Cheng and the other prominent figures wanted to exploit the Ottoman Empire entirely for its oil.
Especially Liu Huaiwen, who controlled Great Ming's purse strings, wished he could directly kill the Ottoman Empire and bring all the oil from the Ottoman Empire back to Great Ming.
This was because Great Ming was currently purchasing oil from the Ottoman Empire at a certain price. Even if it were one piece of silver per barrel of oil, it was still hard-earned money.
If they could directly kill the Ottoman Empire and turn the Ottoman Empire into a Great Ming province, wouldn't this no longer require spending money?
Just as he was thinking, Liu Huaiwen suddenly felt something was wrong.
If Emperor Zhu killed the Ottoman Empire and it became a province of Great Ming, then the oil of the Ottoman Empire would become the oil of Great Ming.
Although they no longer had to buy it with money, using it felt somewhat painful.
After all, Emperor Zhu also said that he wanted to leave usable resources for his descendants and not to squander them indiscriminately.
After thinking for a moment, Liu Huaiwen bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I believe that oil is not exclusively found in the Ottoman Empire, is it? Do the Russian Bear and the 'Silly Eagle' family also have oil?"
Zhu Jinsong nodded and responded with curiosity, "What is it?"
Liu Huaiwen chuckled and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, I believe that the oil of the Ottoman Empire will sooner or later be ours, the Great Ming. Therefore, I believe that we should not squander it indiscriminately as we do now, lest our descendants have no oil to use."
Zhu Jinsong was immediately stunned by Liu Huaiwen's thought process.
The oil reserves of the Ottoman Empire are so vast that even after nearly a century of exploitation in later generations, they have not been depleted. Uncle Huaiwen is worried about the reserves now, isn't that a bit too early?
However, after a moment's thought, Emperor Zhu felt that Liu Huaiwen was right.
As the saying goes, one who does not starve from eating and drinking will suffer from lack of calculation—no matter how large the oil reserves of the Ottoman Empire are, they all belong to Great Ming, don't they?
It is a good thing to save some oil for future generations!