As the Son of Heaven of the Central Plains, Emperor Zhu naturally considered himself the ruler of the world. Nations like the Ottomans or England were viewed as separate countries when he was in a good mood, and as vassal states when he was not, to be disciplined when necessary.
From this perspective, the funds previously raised by Mahmud II from England, Tsarist Russia, the Habsburgs, and a host of other European and Ottoman nobles and officials should naturally belong to the treasury of the Great Ming.
Even if, as a concession, the Ottoman Empire were considered a separate country, it no longer existed. Therefore, the Ottoman wealth was naturally Great Ming's spoils of war, and the money should also belong to the treasury of the Great Ming.
Thus, the question arises: is there any problem with Emperor Zhu using the treasury of the Great Ming to excavate the Suez Canal? Absolutely not!
As for those who lent money to Mahmud II, what should happen to them?
It is truly regrettable. As the saying goes, debts are extinguished with death. Mahmud II has passed away, so his debts are naturally cleared. Those who lent him money can only consider themselves unlucky.
If absolutely necessary, then they should go and ask Mahmud II for the money. The Emperor of Great Ming and the Great Ming army swear to defend their right to demand payment from Mahmud II. After all, Mahmud II was the one who borrowed the money, not the Great Ming, and the Great Ming could not assume any of Mahmud II's debts.
The issue of labor is not a significant problem either. As is well known, although the Great Ming has always been short of labor, when the Great Ming needs labor, it can always find it.
Without the British East India Company, the Great Ming has the Dutch East India Company to recruit on their behalf. Without the Russian and English nobles selling contract laborers, the Great Ming can acquire them from French nobles.
It's merely a matter of changing labor dispatch suppliers, nothing major.
In contrast, how to swindle those barbarians is a more troublesome matter.
Emperor Zhu tapped his fingers on the table and said slowly, "Send word to the military bases at Pune and Chennai. Tell them we will not ambush the English fleet supporting Sri Lanka at Cape Aser. Have them proceed with the original plan, ensuring that the barbarians in Sri Lanka witness the destruction of the reinforcement fleet with their own eyes."
However, Prince Zhu Jianying frowned and asked, "The English fleet supporting Sri Lanka is easy to handle. The problem is how to deal with the mess in the Ottoman Empire? Our fleet only has a small number of ground troops. They alone cannot defeat the entire Ottoman Empire, can they?"
Upon hearing Prince Zhu Jianying's question, Emperor Zhu chuckled.
If viewed purely from a military perspective, the combat power of the Son of Heaven Fleet was indeed terrifying, arguably the top fleet of the era.
However, no matter how powerful a fleet is, it can only dominate at sea. To fight ground wars, it ultimately relies on ground troops.
For instance, the Son of Heaven Fleet was equipped with a large number of cannons, and their firepower was indeed stronger than the Ottoman shore batteries. However, all those cannons were fixed on the warships. Bombarding Ottoman defenders in ports and coastal areas would be no problem. But once the Ottoman defenders retreated dozens of miles, the cannons on the warships would be out of range. Therefore, relying solely on the few thousand marines of the Son of Heaven Fleet for a forced landing would be suicidal. No matter how weak the Ottoman Empire was, it could still muster tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of troops. No matter how formidable the Great Ming army was, it could not be so foolish as to pit a few thousand marines without artillery against tens or hundreds of thousands of troops with artillery.
The problem is that Emperor Zhu never intended to conquer the entire Ottoman Empire with just a few thousand marines.
Not all problems are purely military problems.
Strictly speaking, the issues with the Ottoman Empire are similar to those with England, Tsarist Russia, and the Habsburgs. These powers can be considered to have governance and interest issues.
They formed an alliance against the Great Ming because the Great Ming affected their stability and interests.
Coincidentally, the Great Ming also had a staunch ally in Europe.
France.
Emperor Zhu had sufficient reason to believe that as soon as he sent word to Louis XVI about the situation in the Ottoman Empire, Louis XVI would eagerly dispatch French troops to help the Great Ming resolve the Ottoman issue.
The reason was that France's interests were already firmly tied to Great Ming's interests. The more benefits Great Ming gained, the more benefits France could gain along with it. If Great Ming suffered heavy losses, France's status in Europe would plummet, and it might even be completely devoured.
Of course, Emperor Zhu did not intend to rely on France to solve the Ottoman problem. After all, no matter how pro-Ming France was, it was still the France of Europe, and France's strength was only so-so. The areas where it could be utilized were indeed limited.
Tapping his fingers on the table, Emperor Zhu turned to Zhang Dequan and mentioned a name no one expected: "Send someone to the Lanfang Administration to inform Luo Fangbo, telling him that I need him to bring his men to the Ottoman Empire."
As the chief eunuch of the Eastern Depot, Zhang Dequan naturally bowed and complied without hesitation. Prince Zhu Jianying, however, looked bewildered and asked, "Luo Fangbo? Can he solve the Ottoman problem?"
Prince Zhu Jianying was not unaware of Luo Fangbo, nor was he unaware of the origin of the Lanfang Administration. That area was originally the territory of barbarians, but it inexplicably became the property of the Lanfang Company, and then inexplicably became an Administration of the Great Ming.
In this series of changes, the name Luo Fangbo ran through it all.
It was Luo Fangbo who went overseas to the South Seas to strive, then collaborated with others to establish the Lanfang Company, and subsequently rallied local indigenous people, placing all power on the entire island under the Lanfang Company, before finally requesting incorporation into the Great Ming.
However, given the circumstances at the time, if the Great Ming had not appeared out of nowhere, Luo Fangbo would likely have unhesitatingly requested to be incorporated into the Qing Dynasty, or sought trade with the Qing Dynasty.
To put it bluntly, Luo Fangbo, who transformed from the General Manager of the Lanfang Company and the Grand Minister of Lanfang into the Marquis of Lanfang of the Great Ming, was a person that Prince Zhu Jianying considered usable, but definitely not someone to be heavily relied upon.
After all, no one could guarantee that under sufficient temptation of profit, Luo Fangbo would not transform again into some marquis or duke of another country.
Furthermore, it was certainly not a problem to let Luo Fangbo manage a company or similar business. After all, turning a business into a small country was his skill. However, Luo Fangbo's level was likely limited to that, and nothing more could be expected of him. If Luo Fangbo's level were high enough, he would not have been intimidated by those from the Dutch East India Company into requesting incorporation into the Great Ming! The Ottoman Empire, on the other hand, required precisely a highly capable leader. After all, the Ottoman Empire bordered Europe, Tsarist Russia, and the Western Kunlun Mountains, and could be considered a place of four-way conflict. If one's methods were not sufficiently strong and flexible, one might be swallowed whole.
However, Emperor Zhu chuckled again and said, "Have you forgotten what I just said?"
Just as Prince Zhu Jianying was carefully recalling what Emperor Zhu had just said, Emperor Zhu continued, "I have already said that the Ottoman Empire will be set up as a Military Commission."
"Among the Five Military Commissions of the Great Ming, we have no shortage of generals who are capable and have killed many people. With them serving as commanders here, there will be no need to worry about security issues, and Luo Fangbo can wholeheartedly apply his methods here."
Prince Zhu Jianying certainly did not doubt Emperor Zhu's judgment. However, what he couldn't understand was why Emperor Zhu had not mentioned how the entire Ottoman Empire would be conquered after all this talk.
After some thought, Prince Zhu Jianying directly asked, "Your Highness, you haven't told me how to completely take over the Ottoman Empire yet."
Emperor Zhu smiled slightly, shook his head, and retorted, "I ask you, what conditions do you need to conquer the Ottoman Empire?"
Zhu Jianying was first stunned, then carefully replied, "Naturally, it would be sufficient troops and supplies. Given the scale of the Ottoman Empire, to quickly conquer it, at least a hundred thousand ground troops and corresponding material support would be necessary."
Emperor Zhu nodded and then asked, "If there are only thirty thousand troops and corresponding supplies, can you conquer the entire Ottoman Empire?"
This question from Emperor Zhu plunged Prince Zhu Jianying into deep thought.
Could the entire Ottoman Empire be conquered with only thirty thousand troops?
The answer was yes.
Yes, it could.
After all, the Ottoman army had always been mediocre. They were severely beaten by European armies and also by Tsarist Russian armies, leading to the Ottoman Empire being known as the "Sick Man of West Asia" in Europe.
With the elite nature of the Great Ming army fighting the weak Ottoman troops, it was essentially like an adult strongman with a sword bullying kindergarten children.
However, the crucial point was the number of Ottoman troops. Just as the Son of Heaven Fleet could not pit thousands of marines against the Ottoman army, the Ottoman Empire, no matter how weak, could still muster tens or even hundreds of thousands of troops. Moreover, the area of the Ottoman Empire was there. For thirty thousand troops to conquer the entire Ottoman Empire, putting aside the casualties, the time required alone would be a headache.
After a good while, he bowed and replied, "If there are only thirty thousand troops, it's not impossible to conquer the entire Ottoman Empire, but it will take some time, and there might be significant casualties."
However, to Prince Zhu Jianying's surprise, Emperor Zhu shook his head again and said, "The way you described is for these thirty thousand troops to be concentrated in one place and advance straight ahead. But have you considered a different approach?"
Prince Zhu Jianying asked with curiosity, "A different approach?"
Emperor Zhu smiled and nodded, gesturing on the map on the table, and said with a smile, "I ask you, how many military bases does our Great Ming have near the Ottoman Empire? Not many, but perhaps eight or ten?"
Prince Zhu Jianying's eyes immediately lit up.
Due to oil, the Great Ming had eight or ten military bases around the Ottoman Empire, each stationed with an army of division strength.
Calculating three thousand troops per infantry regiment, these military bases, if each dispatched an infantry regiment, could provide thirty thousand troops that the Great Ming could mobilize in the Ottoman Empire. And these would be thirty thousand troops distributed in different directions of the Ottoman Empire. From a tactical and strategic perspective, thirty thousand troops distributed in various directions of the Ottoman Empire might not have stronger combat effectiveness than troops combined, but the pressure they exerted on the Ottoman Empire would far exceed the effect of being combined!
After all, the land area of the Ottoman Empire was there. The combat effectiveness of these infantry regiments was far superior to that of the Ottoman army. These infantry regiments also had the Great Ming military bases behind them for support. If these infantry regiments launched attacks from different directions, even using blitzkrieg and hit-and-run tactics to wear down the Ottoman army, they could exhaust the Ottoman army to death!
Seeing Prince Zhu Jianying's eyes brighten, Emperor Zhu immediately turned to Zhang Dequan and ordered, "Send word to our Great Ming military bases around the Ottoman Empire, asking each of them to dispatch a regimental-sized unit to advance into the Ottoman Empire. If it goes well, engage in annihilation battles. If it's difficult, lead the Ottoman army on a merry chase. The military department will send reinforcements later."
There was an even more important reason why Emperor Zhu chose this tactic, which was that the tactic of launching attacks from multiple directions would make the entire Ottoman Empire filled with panic!
As Uncle Li said: When hearts are scattered, the team is hard to lead.
The tactic of attacking from all directions would give the Ottomans a feeling of being besieged from multiple sides. If the Ottoman army performed slightly poorly, the Ottomans would receive news of defeat after defeat.
Just like when the Japanese dwarfs attacked the Central Plains back then, how much of a blow to the morale of the Central Plains was it when the army under a certain effeminate leader suffered defeat after defeat? Later, how many collaborators were born because of it?
That Wang someone, who drew his sword and lived up to his youthful ideals, was so scared that he became another 'that guy' and mingled with the dwarfs!
If the Central Plains were like this, how long could the Ottomans hold out?
Moreover, besides the military bases around the Ottoman Empire that the Great Ming could mobilize, there was another army that could be mobilized, and this army was even more ruthless and ferocious than the regular army of the Great Ming military bases!
Or, it could be said that the Great Ming army was capable, and the practice of building ossuaries at every opportunity was indeed ruthless, but regardless, the Great Ming army was still a regular army.
However, the other army was different. They did not have the title of regular army, nor did they have the discipline of regular army. They acted unscrupulously, and were so insidious and vicious that they were utterly inhuman!
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