While Pierre was utterly bewildered, Luha Antoinette asked with utmost seriousness, "Pierre, I wish you would tell me, in the Ming Dynasty, what kind of merit is considered the greatest?"
Luha Antoinette, after all, was the sister-in-law of Louis XVI, King of France, and considered a relative of Pierre. Thus, Pierre hid nothing and directly stated, "To be precise, it's not just in the Ming Dynasty, but in this land, the greatest merit is the expansion of territory."
"The common people here might not remember some emperors from history, but they remember the generals who expanded territories and waged wars abroad quite clearly."
"For instance, they might not know who the sixth emperor of the Ming Dynasty was, but very few people would not remember the names Qing Wei and Huo Qubing."
After speaking, Pierre couldn't help but ask curiously, "Why do you ask this?"
A smile of everything being under control appeared on Luha Antoinette's face, making her seem somewhat unfathomable. "Of course, it's for France."
"When we return, I will persuade my sister to give a piece of land to the Ming Dynasty. In return, the Ming Dynasty should also give us a piece of land, shouldn't they?"
"This way, it would be equivalent to us helping the Ming Dynasty complete territorial expansion, and we could simultaneously hold the identities of both France and the Ming Dynasty. Wouldn't this kind of alliance be more effective than the verbal agreement you have with the Ming Dynasty?"
Pierre looked at Luha Antoinette, utterly bewildered, and praised, "You are truly a genius!"
Seeing Pierre praise her, Luha Antoinette immediately said excitedly, "Right? My mother said I was very smart since I was a child!"
Pierre remained bewildered, feeling as if he were on the verge of a breakdown.
Was "genius" a compliment?
"Sorry, I forgot you're a village girl from Austria; you haven't learned the Ming people's ability to insult someone using compliments."
Pierre's expression turned grim, and he said, "For your audacious idea, the Ming Emperor has an almost undefeated army to deal with you."
"Put away your dangerous thoughts. The Ming Emperor would absolutely never agree to your request, as it would be a profound humiliation for him."
Luha Antoinette was taken aback and muttered softly, "How could that be? Isn't this very normal?"
Pierre sneered, "What is very normal in Europa is not necessarily normal here in the Ming Dynasty."
"You should be thankful you asked me beforehand instead of acting rashly. Otherwise, your actions might have been considered provocation by the Ming Dynasty, possibly even triggering a war between the Ming Dynasty and France."
"Even if the Ming Emperor didn't misunderstand you, your idea still wouldn't be realized—even if the Ming Dynasty wanted to acquire a fief, it would require the merit of eliminating a country, let alone that you are French."
However, Luha Antoinette was still unwilling to give up and continued to press, "Then, besides this, what other merit can earn a fief?"
Seeing Luha Antoinette's persistence, Pierre let out a laugh and said, "Of course, there is another way: making all the Ming people able to eat their fill."
"Mind you, not just one full meal, but to be able to eat their fill at every meal. And 'all people here' includes all commoners and even slaves, not just nobles and freemen."
Pierre shrugged and said, "First, you need to research a sufficiently high-yielding grain, and second, you need to promote this high-yielding grain throughout the entire Ming Dynasty, so that all Ming people will never have to worry about starvation.
"If you can achieve this, all positions, fiefs, and rewards except for the Emperor's will be yours to choose. No matter if your demands are reasonable or unreasonable, the Ming Emperor will agree to them. He might even personally drive your carriage for you, have the Crown Prince hold your horse, and all officials will kneel by the roadside to welcome you. All Ming people will treat you as a saint—in the hearts of the Ming people, you will be more revered than God."
The hopeful look on Luha Antoinette's face vanished instantly.
Could a human say this?
Could a human conceive of such a method?
Apart from God, perhaps no one could accomplish this!
Not to mention, I, Luha Antoinette, am merely an ordinary Archduchess of Austria and have no knowledge of farming. You want me to cultivate high-yielding grain?
Seeing that Luha Antoinette seemed to have given up, Pierre cupped his hands towards her and said, "Luha, do you have anything else? If not, I shall take my leave."
Pierre had thoroughly learned all the etiquette used by the officials and commoners of the Great Ming that he had witnessed.
However, Luha Antoinette, being the biological sister of Marie Antoinette, the "Madame Déficit" of France, truly had a thought process that was beyond ordinary people.
As the saying goes, if one plan fails, another arises. Luha Antoinette reached out to stop Pierre, took a deep breath, and said, "Then, I have one last method—marriage alliance."
"As long as the Ming Emperor is willing to marry me as Empress, Austria can become an enclave of the Ming Dynasty in Europa. The child born to me and the Ming Emperor can become the Emperor or Empress of the Ming Dynasty while simultaneously becoming the Grand Duke or Grand Duchess of Austria."
"Hey, Pierre, are you listening to me? What are you looking for? Searching for something while talking to a lady, you are not gentlemanly at all, it's very rude!"
Pierre's face darkened as he said, "I'm looking for a knife! I'll kill you, you idiot, to prevent you from provoking a war between the Ming Dynasty and France—no, not just a war between the Ming Dynasty and France, you might even drag all of Europa into war!"
Luha Antoinette became somewhat flustered, quickly took two steps back, and then looked at Pierre, "Why? Is a marriage alliance also considered a humiliation by the Ming Emperor?"
Pierre stopped looking for a knife and gazed at Luha Antoinette, "A marriage alliance is not considered a humiliation by the Ming Emperor, but marrying you is! Let me ask you, how many lovers do you have?"
Luha Antoinette timidly held up three fingers, then thought about it and held up the remaining two fingers: "Five, only five. What does this have to do with a marriage alliance?"
Pierre roared, "It has a lot to do with it! Even ordinary Ming people, when choosing a wife, wish to marry a pure and chaste woman, not someone with five lovers—!"
"Let alone the Ming Emperor! The Empress of the Ming Emperor will be chosen from all eligible women in the Ming Dynasty. And requirements like a clean background, dignified appearance, good figure, and being well-read and polite are just the most basic criteria. May I ask, Archduchess of Austria, which of these do you satisfy?"
"Put away your frighteningly foolish ideas and obediently be a noble lady. Go shopping, buy things, but never think about these issues again, otherwise, you will truly bring disaster to France and all of Europa!"
...
While Pierre was worried about Luha Antoinette's intelligence, Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of the Great Ming, and other prominent figures like Zeng Cheng were also worried about Pierre's intelligence.
Zeng Cheng even blushed a little, "I've already become a very learned person? Although Heshen and Ji Yun, both served the Qianlong Emperor, I have to admit their knowledge is ten thousand miles stronger than mine."
Zhu Jinsong appeared to take it for granted. Having seen the "rolling and wriggling" of Ai Da Jin and the "Jingri" (Japan-obsessed) elements like Luo Tai Jun, Pierre, a beginner-level "Zhongchui" (China admirer), didn't seem particularly impressive.
Zhu Jinsong even wished that Pierre would praise them more enthusiastically.
Tapping the table with his fingers, Zhu Jinsong began to lecture the prominent figures of the Ming Dynasty court, "The cultivation of the first generation of French 'rolling and wriggling' has been very successful so far. Next, we must increase our efforts to turn all two hundred French students into French 'rolling and wriggling'."
"Of course, in terms of江湖地位 (jianghu status, a term often used to denote prestige and influence, implying a certain seniority and respect), these two hundred-plus French students cannot be compared to the erudite scholars like Voltaire and Diderot. Therefore, we must strive to turn them into 'rolling and wriggling' as well."
"The finance department should prepare a budget and allocate a special fund for this purpose."
"The French edition of the 'Great Ming Newspaper' should also be prepared."
Speaking of which, Zhu Jinsong suddenly glared at Zeng Cheng, the Prime Minister of the Great Ming, and reprimanded, "We are doing this for the common people of France, for them to live good lives like the people of the Great Ming as soon as possible. This is a great undertaking. Why are you blushing?"
Zeng Cheng mused, "Am I blushing? No. I just feel the weather is too hot. Anyway, blushing is impossible."
Besides, where did Pierre say anything wrong?
"I, Zeng, may not compare to Heshen and Ji Yun, but compared to those European barbarians, I, Zeng, am definitely a learned scholar. Anyway, the theory of relativity proposed by His Majesty is explained this way!"
"Our Ming Emperor has been making efforts to popularize social schools, county schools, and libraries, right? Although social schools haven't been fully popularized even in Shandong yet."
"Our Ming government does indeed strive to act for the people, although there are still many areas where it hasn't been done perfectly."
"And that steam engine, the Great Ming has indeed built it, although there's only one, and only one line."
Thinking this, Zeng Cheng suddenly felt the temperature in the room return to normal.
After reprimanding Zeng Cheng, Zhu Jinsong continued, "Don't worry about whether others believe it or not. As long as the European nobles—the voice of France has always been held by the nobles—believe it, the common people will naturally believe it too."
"All departments and bureaus should each do their own tasks. The Court of State Ceremonial should remember to arrange personnel. Those who need to take the French nobles to visit the shooting range should do so, and those who need to take the noble ladies shopping should do so. Anyway, it's their own money being spent."
"Also, how is the preparation of 'Rites of Zhou' and other classics going?"
Zeng Cheng replied, "Your Majesty, rest assured. All matters concerning etiquette and rituals have been prepared, guaranteed to be sufficiently complex, making people realize at a glance that they are for nobles only."
Zhu Jinsong grunted and continued, "The Ministry of Education should arrange the Four Books and Five Classics for them. Subjects like mathematics, physics, and chemistry should be reduced as much as possible, but not entirely absent. Also, try to arrange more theoretical courses and Confucianism courses for them."
Speaking of which, Zhu Jinsong turned his gaze to Ke Zhiming, "Remind your subordinates to be careful and not let them discover any clues. Also, try to purchase or adopt some European orphans and hand them over to the Embroidered Uniform Guard later."