The assembled great figures all looked at Liu Heming with smiles. Although no one directly mocked him, the air was filled with a joyful atmosphere.
After all, they were old brothers for many years, and who didn't know whom?
Or rather, among the great figures of the Grand Ming Five Military Commissions, how many were not afraid of their wives?
Liu Erniu patted Liu Heming on the shoulder with a smile and said, "It's okay, being afraid of your wife is not shameful. I'll accompany you to work overtime at the military headquarters today."
Zhu Jinsong suddenly felt something was wrong.
What were they discussing originally?
How did it deviate to whether one was afraid of his wife or not?
Besides, isn't being afraid of one's wife a traditional skill of the Central Plains factions?
Like Song Heizi of Shuibo Liangshan, not only was he not afraid of his wife, but he even dared to kill his wife, and he killed her so exquisitely that he became the leader of Shuibo Liangshan.
The rest, like Lu Junyi, although not very afraid of their wives, were not as decisive in killing them as Song Jiang, so these guys couldn't rank high.
By this logic, if these Great Ming killers were to go to Liangshan, they probably wouldn't even get a spot in the top 108!
It was even better in the Great Ming, where Marshal Qi could even stage the grand scene of inviting the Empress to review the troops!
It was simply disgraceful!
After glaring angrily at Liu Heming, Liu Erniu, and the others, Zhu Jinsong steered the conversation back to the situation in Europa: "England is finished this time. Although Louis XVI will not go crazy like George III and wage a war of national annihilation, Louis XVI will definitely not let England off easily."
Zeng Cheng nodded and echoed, "Your Majesty is correct. In my humble opinion, England will have to bleed heavily this time. Even if they don't cede territory, they will surely have to pay reparations."
Zhu Jinsong shook his head and said, "According to Europa's consistent tradition, England will not only have to compensate France for its war expenses but will also have to cede some colonies. And after England finishes fighting with France, the time for global conflict will probably not be far off."
Hearing Zhu Jinsong's words, Liu Huaiwen was a bit confused: "Your Majesty, England and France haven't finished fighting yet, have they? Given the respective strengths of England and France, this war should last for at least three to five years? Moreover, England is not that weak, and it's not necessarily impossible to win?"
Zhu Jinsong let out a chuckle and shook his head, "It won't last that long—since Louis XVI and Napoleon decided to allow English troops to set foot on French soil, it was destined that this war would not last three to five years, at most a few months."
Speaking of which, Zhu Jinsong couldn't help but laugh, "If you really want to talk about it, it's also thanks to the timing of George III's sudden illness being so perfect."
"If George III hadn't suddenly fallen ill, England could have accumulated more resources for a few more years, and their newly developed firearms like flintlock rifles and cannons would have begun to show results."
"However, George III fell ill too quickly, and England's flintlock rifles and cannons were not yet mature. The logistical pressure of overseas operations was far greater than the localized supply in French territory. Moreover, most of England's military students were from noble backgrounds and didn't learn anything substantial. This time, England is bound to lose."
"Of course, France won't have an easy time either—isn't it precisely because France allowed English troops to land that the Hamis of Benghazi dared to come out and bluster?"
With Zhu Jinsong's reminder, Liu Huaiwen and the others immediately reacted.
Liu Heming's face darkened, and he said solemnly, "I will have the troops stationed in the Western Kunlun Mountains take action to teach that Hamis a lesson and let him know what it means for heavenly might to be unoffendable!"
Zeng Cheng and the other great figures also chimed in one after another, "That's right, this madman said he wanted to eliminate the five great benefactors of the world. Then let our Great Ming take the lead, and let England, France, Russia, and the United States send some troops to form a coalition to teach him a lesson."
"I really don't know who gave him the courage. Could it be the person named Liang that Your Majesty mentioned?"
"I wonder if there are any mineral deposits in that place called Benghazi?"
"Even if there are no mineral deposits, we must teach him a lesson!"
"..."
Zhu Jinsong sighed as he watched the great figures go off-topic again, "Why are you all so excited about a mere Benghazi? If you really want to talk about it, the Western Kunlun region is also the traditional sphere of influence of France. Since Hamis has caused such a big mess, Louis XVI will definitely not let Benghazi off easily."
After thinking for a moment, Zhu Jinsong added, "Whether it's mineral resources or Kunlun slaves, do you think Louis XVI will treat our Great Ming unfairly?"
The assembled great figures immediately stopped arguing.
Indeed, if it were other countries, such as England, the United States, Russia, or other miscellaneous countries, how much meat they would tear off from Benghazi, and how much of that meat would be divided among the Great Ming, was indeed hard to say.
But it was different when it came to France and Louis XVI—as the epitome of inherited Ming admirers, Louis XVI even wished he could find an ancestor from the Central Plains!
It was just that Louis XVI's appearance was too European, and the gap between him and ordinary people in the Central Plains was too huge. Otherwise, Zhu Jinsong would have wanted to arrange a few more descendants for Chun Wei.
Zhu Jinsong smiled and said, "Speaking of which, I am very curious, I wonder what kind of reaction would occur if Benghazi got involved with the Ottoman Empire?"
That scene was truly magnificent—the Ottoman Empire, known as the husky of the country in the martial world, coupled with a Benghazi that didn't know the immensity of heaven and earth and arrogantly confronted the five great benefactors of the world at the world conference...
However, reality is reality, because novels and plays still adhere to logic, while reality does not adhere to any logic at all.
Neither Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of the Great Ming, nor Louis XVI, the King of France, nor any other great benefactor of the world, had expected that the arrogant Hamis would indeed send a large delegation and begin a European lobbying tour.
And the first target of Hamis's lobbying was beyond everyone's expectations—Austria.
If Hamis chose England, it would actually be somewhat understandable, as England was a traditional European power and had recently confronted France head-on. As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and there was indeed room for an alliance between Benghazi and England.
If Hamis chose the Ottoman Empire, it would also not be difficult to understand, as the Ottoman Empire was now like a piece of fat meat, rich and defenseless. Except for the Great Ming, which had directly bitten off the fattest piece, the other four great benefactors had also sharpened their knives and forks, ready to attack the Ottoman Empire at any time.
Based on this premise, the entanglement of Benghazi and the Ottoman Empire could also be seen as mutual warming.
The problem was that Hamis chose Austria.
Perhaps it was because Austria had just been beaten by France, and France was known as the Great Ming's number one lackey in Europa?
Even more miraculously, the Habsburg family, who still had some self-awareness, did not agree to Hamis's alliance request, but the Austrian art student, who lacked some self-awareness, did agree to Hamis's alliance request!
The two parties reached an agreement: Benghazi would fully support the Austrian art student to become the new Austrian Emperor. In return, after the Austrian art student ascended the throne, he would also fully support Benghazi to break free from French colonial rule. The two sides would not only establish mutually beneficial trade relations but also provide mutual military assistance.
To expand the influence of this alliance, the Austrian art student secretly contacted a student studying abroad in Italy, a fellow named Morini.
When this news was passed back to the Great Ming by a Jinyiwei scout, even Zhu Jinsong, the穿越者 (chuānyuèzhě - transmigrator) emperor, was stunned—Adolf Hitler, the art student who just wanted Austria to become strong, Hamis, who had a brain that was not quite normal, and Morini, whose name suggested he was unreliable...
These three fellows could actually get together?
More importantly, although Hamis's brain was a bit slow, and his ascent to power was through unseemly means like a son-in-law rebellion, Hamis was, after all, the current king of Benghazi, and he did have some real power and troops.
And what did Adolf Hitler and Morini have?
Troops? No troops. Money? No money. Sphere of influence? No sphere of influence either.
Apart from Hitler's brain still having a lot of theories about distribution on demand, these two were nothing more than penniless paupers.
So, what reason did Hamis have for forming an alliance with them?
Or did Hamis simply not know how difficult it was to help Adolf Hitler become the Austrian Emperor?
After thinking about it countless times without understanding the reason, Zhu Jinsong simply stopped thinking about it. After all, Hamis's rampant speech at the world conference had completely offended France.
In comparison, Zhu Jinsong was more interested in what kind of armistice agreement France and England could reach.
Regarding the armistice agreement, Louis XVI instructed Pierre: "Because this war was entirely initiated by England, all consequences should be borne by England."
"As compensation for the war, England must bear all of France's military expenses, including soldiers' bounties, pensions, and material consumption."
"In addition, England must redeem the captured noble officers, otherwise, I don't mind sending them to the pig boat and transporting them to the Great Ming to sell as pig slaves."
"England must cede Sri Lanka to France. In exchange, France will allow England to retain some colonies on the Indian continent."
"England must reduce tariffs on France and allow French merchants to do business within England."
"England must demobilize a portion of its army, only allowing England to retain an army of no more than twenty thousand for self-defense."
"These are France's bottom lines for peace. The rest is up to you."
Pierre, who could be said to be bound by various restrictions or to have gained great autonomy, quickly communicated these conditions to the English envoy, and the English envoy quickly relayed the conditions back to England.
"Gentlemen," George III said grimly, looking at the English nobles and high officials, "because England has once again lost to those damn French frogs, they have proposed such humiliating conditions."
The assembled English nobles and high officials all lowered their heads, none intending to speak.
As the saying goes, if you make a mistake, you should admit it, and if you get hit, you should stand straight. Since England became the loser in this March War, the conditions proposed by France could only be accepted, and there was no room for negotiation.
After all, they had lost the war.
Besides, why did a perfectly good war turn out like this? Wasn't the responsibility on you, George III?
If you hadn't suddenly fallen ill and wanted to go to war, and if you hadn't suddenly recovered and replaced Tōjō Nijūhachi, even if this war couldn't be won, it could at least have been prolonged for a while, right?
But you, in order to promote the young George to the throne, you didn't hesitate to directly replace Tōjō Nijūhachi, and you replaced him in the midst of battle!
Now that the war with France has been lost and the price has to be paid, you are unhappy?
Seeing the nobles and high officials all pretending to be foolish and pretending to be oblivious, with their eyes on their noses and their noses on their hearts, like ostriches burying their heads in the sand, George III could only take a deep breath and forcibly suppress the urge to kill someone.
George III turned his gaze to the nobles, "This time, you will find a way to redeem Richard and Edward yourselves."
Upon hearing George III say this, the assembled European nobles immediately exploded.
Sir Edward Sr. said unceremoniously, "Your esteemed Majesty, young Edward went to the battlefield by following your orders, for the future of England!"
Old Richard also said unceremoniously, "We all know that Prince George has returned to England, and he was carried back by young Justin, the son of old Justin, the keeper of the national treasury."
After a slight hesitation, Old Richard boldly threw out a very damning question: "If Prince George is also captured, will you also ask us to redeem our respective children? My esteemed Majesty, there has never been such a precedent in European history!"
George III looked at Edward, then at Richard, and simply took a deep breath, playing the rogue, "There is no extra money in the English treasury! If you don't believe me, Justin, who is in charge of the treasury, is here, and you can ask him."
Old Justin, who was in charge of the English treasury, sat up straight and said slowly, "Yes, His Majesty the King is not lying to you. There is indeed not much money left in the English treasury, and it is completely unable to redeem so many nobles."
Old Edward let out a cold laugh and asked, "Where is the money?"