Since witnessing the might of Great Ming a few years prior, Thomas Jefferson, the third-generation leader of the Foolish Eagle, had been constantly contemplating how to surpass Great Ming.
After analysis, Jefferson and his supporters concluded that Great Ming's dominance on the small planet was not primarily due to its feared invincible army, but rather to the Great Ming Royal Academy, which was not widely known on the small planet.
The advanced equipment that suppressed the entire small planet, the railways that tightly bound the whole of Great Ming together, the powerful tool for transmitting messages – the telegraph, and the newspapers that informed all Great Ming citizens of the imperial court's dynamics, all had connections to the Great Ming Royal Academy.
The reason for the Great Ming Royal Academy's excellence was most reliant on the Shexue, Xianxue, and Fuxue schools spread throughout Great Ming.
Without the various levels of schools spread throughout Great Ming, the Royal Academy would not have had so much talent to draw upon, and without that talent, any equipment, railways, or telegraphs would have become mere illusions.
It was precisely for this reason that Jefferson decided to emulate the French and fully introduce Great Ming's textbooks, rolling them out across the entire Foolish Eagle.
Following this, a vigorous school-building campaign began in the Foolish Eagle.
If they couldn't build Shexue down to the village level like Great Ming, Jefferson demanded that Shexue be built at the county level, and Xianxue and Fuxue at the state level.
If they couldn't establish a university with full classifications and specializations in each province like Great Ming, Jefferson required the construction of several universities with full classifications and specializations around Washington.
In short, the goal was to establish the Foolish Eagle's education system first.
Of course, if the Foolish Eagle had merely done this, Ke Zhiming would not have singled out the Foolish Eagle for discussion. After all, the textbooks used by the Foolish Eagle were provided by Great Ming, and besides the omission of many crucial contents, the very act of learning Chinese language and characters from a young age was already extremely advantageous to Great Ming.
The reason Ke Zhiming singled out the Foolish Eagle for his report was that, as descendants of Anglo-Saxon bandits, the Foolish Eagle possessed an restless gene at its core.
Jefferson dispatched people to recruit scholars, forming the Foolish Eagle Academy of Sciences, and initiated comprehensive research in fields such as mechanics, physics, and chemistry, attempting to overtake the progress of the Great Ming Royal Academy.
As for the patent law that Great Ming had previously invited other countries on the small planet to jointly formulate and sign?
The Foolish Eagle stated that they had signed it, but the gentlemen in Congress had not approved it, thus they were not currently bound by the patent law.
This shameless behavior even shocked Emperor Zhu – although he knew the Foolish Eagle had always been shameless, Emperor Zhu had not expected them to be *this* shameless!
Emperor Zhu then tapped his fingers on the table and asked, "What about the second and third brothers? Has the Foolish Eagle tried to court the second and third brothers?"
Ke Zhiming's expression became even stranger: "Reporting to His Majesty, the Foolish Eagle has sent several waves of envoys to the Qin and Jin states, attempting to form alliances with the King of Qin and the Prince of Jin."
Emperor Zhu immediately burst into laughter.
The matter of the Foolish Eagle seeking alliances with Zhu Erdan and Zhu Sanshun had already been reported back by Zhu Erdan and Zhu Sanshun, not through the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but directly to Emperor Zhu.
The reason the Foolish Eagle sought alliances with Zhu Erdan and Zhu Sanshun was to confidently expand either northward or southward – originally, the Foolish Eagle had set its sights on Louisiana, which had now become the fiefdom of Prince Zhu Erdan. Since the Foolish Eagle did not dare to provoke Great Ming and Zhu Erdan, it could only expand northward or southward.
Emperor Zhu believed that the probability of the Foolish Eagle expanding southward was far greater than expanding northward.
First, northward expansion for the Foolish Eagle would bring them into conflict with the colonies occupied by his father, England.
The current Foolish Eagle was not yet the large-scale Eagle Nation that could fight anyone it pleased. Its military strength was far inferior to that of its father, England. In fact, the Foolish Eagle itself relied on France to break free from its father's colonial rule.
Secondly, Zhu Sanshun's Jin state fiefdom was located in Alaska.
If the Foolish Eagle continued to expand northward and successfully defeated its father's colonial armies, the end result would be the Foolish Eagle bordering Zhu Sanshun's Jin state, forming a situation where Zhu Sanshun was to the north and Zhu Erdan to the west – they would have territory, but the Foolish Eagle would be surrounded!
Therefore, as long as Jefferson's brain was not entirely foolish, the Foolish Eagle was unlikely to expand northward.
Of course, it was not entirely impossible.
If England, France, the Habsburg family, and a host of other chaotic European nations were to put aside their grudges and fully support the Foolish Eagle's northward expansion, the outcome could truly be uncertain.
Thinking again about how chaotic Europe was... Emperor Zhu simply shook his head with a smile and said, "Regarding the Foolish Eagle matter, what are your thoughts, my lords?"
Liu Erniu said with a completely indifferent expression, "Reporting to Your Majesty, I believe we can beat the Foolish Eagle as well."
Beat them all at once?
Seeing Zeng Cheng, Liu Hemin, Shen Hao, and others turn their gaze to him, Liu Erniu proudly said, "The Russian Tsar Alexander is not behaving himself, and the Foolish Eagle's Jefferson is also not behaving himself. Since that is the case, why not beat both Russia and the Foolish Eagle together? And in doing so, let other countries on the small planet see that since Great Ming could defeat two major benefactors of the small pot, beating them would be like playing a game! Who would dare to misbehave in the future!"
After Liu Erniu finished speaking, Emperor Zhu wanted to laugh, Liu Hemin wanted to cover his face, Zeng Cheng and Shen Hao were deep in thought, only Liu Huaiwen jumped up three feet high and cursed Liu Erniu, "What crap are you spewing, you dog! How much fake wine have you drunk, Liu Erniu? You want to beat both Russia and the Foolish Eagle?"
Liu Erniu was directly stunned by the scolding, and even couldn't help but blink his eyes – Liu Erniu's bull-like eyes were originally quite large, and now they looked resentful as he blinked: "Why? Just one Russia and one Foolish Eagle, isn't it easy to beat them?"
Liu Huaiwen directly spat and cursed, "It's easy to beat them, and I don't doubt your abilities, but tell me, does war cost money? And where does the money come from?"
Liu Erniu immediately replied without thinking, "Of course, the national..."
Before he could say the word "treasury" after "national," Liu Erniu froze completely.
War requires money, and money requires the national treasury to approve military expenses – Uncle Huaiwen was known throughout Great Ming as a stingy person. Even small skirmishes were hard to get approved for funding, let alone fighting two major benefactors simultaneously. Wouldn't that be like cutting flesh from Uncle Huaiwen? And specifically from his heart's core...
Liu Huaiwen glared at Liu Erniu, whose face had turned red, and snorted, "Speak up, why aren't you speaking anymore?"
Seeing Liu Erniu being reprimanded to the point of not daring to even fart, Liu Hemin couldn't help but step forward to smooth things over: "Uncle Huaiwen, don't take it to heart. You know this guy, he's just a brainless brute."
Shen Hao, however, said thoughtfully, "Actually, it's very simple to add some fun for the Foolish Eagle without having to fight them head-on with real swords and guns – or, we could support their neighbors and let them cause trouble for the Foolish Eagle."
Liu Huaiwen snorted coldly and said nothing, implicitly agreeing to Shen Hao's suggestion.
Compared to the proposal of fighting both Russia and the Foolish Eagle simultaneously, Shen Hao's approach was clearly much more cost-effective.
However, what no one expected was that Shen Hao, even with Liu Huaiwen, the ultimate miser, clearly defaulting, would propose a new way to play: "There's an even more cost-effective way to play – why don't we take the theory of 'distribution according to need' that we taught the little German artist last time, revise it, and teach it to another Foolish Eagle?"
"If that's still not enough, then why not find another Foolish Eagle and teach him the theory of 'more work, more gain' that we taught classmate Xiao Dai."
"Then, let Prince Qin support the little German artist's theory of 'distribution according to need,' and Prince Jin support classmate Xiao Dai's theory of 'more work, more gain.' Wouldn't that be fun to watch?"
"Coincidentally, the landlords to the south of the Foolish Eagle all like to use Kunlun slaves to grow cotton..."
Liu Huaiwen, who had been wearing a stern face moments ago, suddenly broke into a smile.
Compared to this approach of nurturing two students and letting them stir up trouble back home, the method of supporting the Foolish Eagle's neighbors seemed too expensive!
Thinking about saving a large sum of money for the national treasury, Liu Huaiwen eagerly said, "This method is good, this method is good!"
Liu Hemin and other important figures also nodded, agreeing to Shen Hao's proposal. Zeng Cheng, however, added with a smile, "Although this method is good, it still requires the cooperation of Commander Ke."
Ke Zhiming glanced at Emperor Zhu and then readily agreed, "No problem, the Embroidered Uniform Guard will provide assistance within their capabilities."
Zeng Cheng nodded with a smile and continued, "Besides that, I have another idea that requires Commander Ke's help."
Ke Zhiming was somewhat bewildered by Zeng Cheng's words.
He was the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, naturally at odds with officials, and Zeng Cheng was the Grand Secretary of Great Ming, the leader of the civil official group. This man was asking for his help?
After a moment of愣住, Ke Zhiming tentatively asked, "May I know what Grand Secretary Zeng means?"
Zeng Cheng stroked his beard and smiled, "I know the capabilities of your Embroidered Uniform Guard – I presume you have informants in the Foolish Eagle's territory? Perhaps even in the Foolish Eagle's court?"
Ke Zhiming glanced at Emperor Zhu again, then admitted that Zeng Cheng was correct, "Grand Secretary Zeng, what you say is not wrong. We do have a few informants in the Foolish Eagle's territory, and three or five in the Foolish Eagle's court."
Zeng Cheng chuckled, ignoring Ke Zhiming's evasive remarks, and continued, "My method is very simple: Commander Ke can find a way to support two informants and let these two informants compete for the position of Great Leader of the Foolish Eagle! Combined with the strategy of the two theories... I'm not afraid the Foolish Eagle won't fall into chaos."
Emperor Zhu also became interested, "Remember to have someone publish an article saying that the lives of Kunlun slaves are also lives. The Foolish Eagle's practice of using Kunlun slaves to grow cotton, without regard for their lives, is immoral."
However, after Emperor Zhu's words, the entire Wenhua Hall fell into an eerie silence. Zeng Cheng couldn't help but subtly observe Emperor Zhu.
The lives of Kunlun slaves are also lives... were these words something Emperor Zhu would actually say?
By the Three Pure Ones, was Emperor Zhu beaten by the Empress today? Or had he drunk too much fake wine?
Such nonsense, let alone whether it could disgust the Foolish Eagle, could certainly disgust the esteemed officials in the Great Ming court – as everyone knew, Great Ming was the one that used the most labor, and most harshly, on the entire small planet!
After some thought, Zeng Cheng decided to persuade Emperor Zhu, "Your Majesty, please reconsider. Although the lives of Kunlun slaves are also lives, Great Ming has also used many Kunlun slaves, hasn't it?"
Zhu Jinsong let out a cold snort and said, "How can that be the same? Has Great Ming put collars on Kunlun slaves? Has Great Ming used watermelons as rewards for Kunlun slaves? In our Great Ming, although those Kunlun slaves also need to labor, Great Ming does not abuse them. Instead, we provide them with clothes and arrange three meals a day for them, unlike the inhumane landlords of the Foolish Eagle!"
After thinking for a moment, Emperor Zhu added, "Oh, and bring up the serfs of Russia as well. The lives of serfs are also lives!"
Zeng Cheng and the other esteemed officials had nothing more to say.
If Emperor Zhu had simply targeted the issue of Russian serfs, Zeng Cheng and the other officials wouldn't have been so speechless, because Great Ming indeed had no serfs.
But when it came to Kunlun slaves...
It was true that Great Ming did not put collars on Kunlun slaves, and it did provide them with clothes and three meals a day. Even when employing them, they paid attention to the Kunlun slaves' physical condition, and if they fell ill, doctors would treat them. The problem was that all of Great Ming's Kunlun slaves had been castrated by European slave traders!
The castration technology of this era... while it could be said to exist, it was barely so, and if it wasn't, it was almost the same. After all, European medical practices were still at the stage of bloodletting, more bloodletting, and if that didn't work, applying dung – a barbaric stage.
In any case, they were castrated. After castration, the means to prevent infection were basically zero. The Kunlun slaves who managed to survive and arrive in Great Ming were either physically strong or incredibly lucky.
As for clothes, three meals a day, and medical treatment when sick...
Let's put it this way: even the draft animals on a landlord's estate had rest periods, and occasionally received refined feed, all to exert more strength when working.
If articles like "The lives of Kunlun slaves are also lives" were truly published in newspapers as Emperor Zhu suggested, it would be pure disgust for the Foolish Eagle, and also self-disgust. It would be like harming eight hundred enemies at the cost of eight thousand of your own.
However, just as Zeng Cheng and the other esteemed officials were struggling with their awkwardness, Emperor Zhu smiled.