From a strength perspective, the combined forces of the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg family could indeed contend with the minor nations of Europa.
However, from a geographical standpoint, the Ottoman Empire was closer to the Great Ming's current territories and farther from Europa. The Habsburg family was already in a state of continuous retreat. Even if the Ottoman Empire was prepared to fully support them, they might find themselves unable to.
After careful consideration, Zeng Cheng couldn't help but cautiously inquire, "Your Majesty, I truly cannot understand why the Ottoman Empire would influence the war situation in Europa."
Zhu Jinsong, however, shook his head and said, "It's not that the Ottoman Empire can influence the war situation in Europa, but rather that with the alliance between the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg family, the entire war in Europa has begun to develop towards a full-scale conflict."
Speaking of which, Zhu Jinsong began to tap his desk habitually, "If they couldn't sustain themselves, the Ottoman Empire would not have allied with the Habsburg family."
"And the so-called inability to sustain themselves is not just in dealing with the attacks from the 'Sand Geese,' but also reflected in the Ottoman economy. As the Western Fleet and the 'Silly Hawk' fleet began to blockade the waters around the Ottoman Empire, their oil could no longer be sold."
"Unlike the Great Ming, with its vast territory and population of four hundred million, the Great Ming can achieve internal circulation even without relying on maritime trade. But the Ottoman Empire cannot. The Ottoman Empire must rely on maritime transportation and trade."
"In fact, among the many countries on this little ball, many cannot guarantee their national grain supply."
"Take India, for example."
"Although those Indian brothers are exporting grain to the Great Ming, they themselves don't have enough to eat, and a large number of them starve to death each year due to food shortages."
As Zhu Jinsong finished speaking, Zeng Cheng, Liu Huaiwen, and even Zhu Erdan, along with other prominent figures, were somewhat bewildered. Especially for Liu Huaiwen, the pillar of the Ministry of Revenue, this news was more miraculous than any legend.
The idea that some unscrupulous merchants might hoard and resell grain, disregarding the lives of the people, was not entirely unacceptable to these magnates. After all, such merchants had existed since ancient times, and even the Great Ming could not completely eliminate this situation.
However, this situation generally occurred in local areas, mostly involving collusion between merchants or between merchants and officials, capitalizing on natural disasters.
For instance, the grain trade between the Great Ming and India in the past involved officials from the Great Ming's Ministry of Revenue directly communicating with officials from India to purchase grain.
This meant that the Indian imperial court, in order to earn money from selling grain, was willing to let its people starve to death?
And there was another key word in His Majesty's words.
Each year.
While Zeng Cheng and Liu Huaiwen and other magnates were still in a daze, Zhu Jinsong continued, "It's the same for the Ottoman Empire."
"The Ottoman Empire is also short of grain and various resources."
"Once maritime trade is completely blockaded, the Ottoman Empire cannot rely on its own territory for internal circulation. Not only will the economy collapse, but even the livelihoods of the people cannot be guaranteed."
Speaking of this, Zhu Jinsong looked at Zeng Cheng and asked, "If you were the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, with your economy on the verge of collapse, your people potentially revolting due to hardship, and your army unable to fight, what would you do?"
Questioned by Zhu Jinsong, Zeng Cheng fell into a dilemma.
If domestic grain production was insufficient, and there were no channels to purchase grain from abroad, and the army was unusable, then if the situation was based on these three premises, there seemed to be no other path but to await death.
Seeing Zeng Cheng lost in thought, Zhu Jinsong turned to Zhu Erdan and said, "What if it were you?"
Zhu Erdan frowned, "In my opinion, the best solution is to train the army first. As long as you have an invincible army, all other problems will not be problems."
Zhu Jinsong let out a cold laugh and retorted, "With the economy on the verge of collapse, where would you get the money to train the army? By relying on your pretty mouth?"
"The Guanning Iron Cavalry of those years only needed one million taels of military pay to march into the pass. Could Emperor Chongzhen borrow one million taels?"
"The final outcome, I suppose, doesn't need me to say more, right?"
Of course, it didn't need Zhu Jinsong to say more.
Everyone in the Great Ming knew that before "Gou Chengzi" even reached the capital, Emperor Chongzhen had asked Wu Sangui, the commander of Shanhaiguan, how much military pay was needed to mobilize the Guanning Iron Cavalry to quell the rebellion. Wu Sangui said one million taels. However, by the time "Gou Chengzi" breached the capital, Emperor Chongzhen had not obtained these one million taels and could only helplessly hang himself on that crooked poplar tree on Meishan.
After a long silence, Zhu Erdan's face showed a ruthless expression, and he said in a deep voice, "When 'Gou Chengzi' entered the capital that year, he extorted tens of millions of taels of silver. If the national treasury were truly empty, I would certainly first extort those corrupt officials who harm the people!"
Liu Huaiwen also agreed, "Exactly. If the national treasury is so empty that it cannot even produce one million taels, and the officials in the court have private fortunes of tens of millions of taels, it would be better to kill them all!"
Zhu Jinsong let out another cold laugh and retorted, "What if you can no longer control the army?"
Zhu Erdan was stunned again. After careful consideration, he tentatively asked, "Imperial Brother means that the current Ottoman Sultan can no longer control the Ottoman army?"
Zhu Jinsong nodded and said, "The current Ottoman Sultan not only cannot control the army but also the imperial family and the court."
"Then it's completely finished," Zhu Erdan said. "If one cannot control the army, the court, and the imperial family, what's the difference between this Ottoman Sultan and a puppet? Besides waiting for death, I really can't think of any other way."
Zeng Cheng also chimed in, "Your Highness Qin is absolutely right."
If one could not control the army alone, or could not control the imperial family and the court alone, it would still be manageable. One would only need to exert some effort to seize power.
If one simply lacked enough food or was blockaded, then the solution would be as Zhu Erdan had just said: as long as a formidable army was forged, the problem could be solved.
But when all these chaotic problems occurred simultaneously, the situation became a dead end.
Under the conditions of food scarcity and blockade, no one had enough time to seize power, nor did they have time to train the army.
When the army and the court could not be controlled, it was naturally impossible to dispatch troops to seize food, nor to break the blockade.
Considering all this, it seemed there was indeed only the path of waiting for death.
However, Zhu Jinsong then continued, "Based on these premises, the Ottoman Empire's only way out is to unite with the Habsburg family."
"The Habsburg family can provide the Ottoman Empire with a large amount of grain and wealth, while the Ottoman Empire can provide soldiers to the Habsburg family."
"Once they unite, their biggest problems can be solved."
"More importantly, France and England individually pose no problem to the Habsburg family or the Ottoman Empire. However, when the Habsburg family and the Ottoman Empire unite, France and England will be at a disadvantage."
"Once the French and English armies show signs of defeat, many small countries in Europa will lean towards the Habsburg family."
"While none of these small countries individually amount to much, when they gather around the Habsburg family, they become an extremely formidable force."
Upon hearing this, Zeng Cheng and Zhu Erdan, along with the other magnates, finally understood the intricacies of the situation. Who would have thought that the Ottoman Empire, situated between the Great Ming and Europa, would be so outwardly strong but inwardly weak?
After sighing with emotion, Zeng Cheng and the other magnates couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed. After all, weren't all these messy problems caused by His Majesty?
If His Majesty hadn't instigated France and England and others to form the "Little Broken Pot" alliance, and promoted the idea of the "Five Benevolent Sages," and incited France and England to attack the Habsburg family, where would all these troubles have come from?
Now, all these problems had erupted, and it seemed they were about to drag the Great Ming down with them!
However, upon second thought, Zeng Cheng felt that Emperor Zhu Jinsong shouldn't be solely blamed.
In fact, the reason the Great Ming was able to defeat the Great Qing back then, besides the Great Qing's own incompetence, was that the Great Ming's substantial wealth obtained through maritime trade was a very important factor.
Similarly, later on, if the Great Ming hadn't acquired new warships and the latest books from Europa through their "benevolent sage" friends France and England, the Great Ming wouldn't have developed so rapidly.
This truly embodied the old saying: "Misfortune is what fortune leans on; fortune is what misfortune hides."
While Zeng Cheng and the other magnates were sighing with emotion, Zhu Jinsong continued, "The reason I instructed the Five Military Commissions to conquer the entire Ottoman Empire within a year, in addition to the messy reasons mentioned above, is that I cannot place all my hopes on England and France."
Hearing this, Zeng Cheng and the other magnates, who had been sighing and reminiscing, were once again plunged into bewilderment.
What did this have to do with England and France?
It was His Majesty who had targeted the Ottoman oil from the very beginning, and it was His Majesty who had declared his intention to eliminate the Ottoman Empire from the start.
Zhu Xisong continued, "Besides being busy recruiting laborers in India, England and France are also busy mining copper in Sri Lanka."
"In other words, England and France currently do not have much power in mainland Europa. It is already difficult for them to suppress the minor nations of Europa. If we were to expect them to quickly deal with the Habsburg family and then deal with the Ottoman Empire, it would be more realistic to expect a sow to climb a tree."
Hearing this, Zeng Cheng and the other magnates finally understood. Besides worrying about the "Little Broken Ball" escalating into a full-blown conflict, His Majesty's primary concern was that he wouldn't be able to reap benefits from England and France, so he decided to personally enter the fray and eliminate the Ottoman Empire.
After silently complaining, Zhu Erdan cupped his hands and said, "Imperial Brother, rest assured. We of the Five Military Commissions will prepare immediately and guarantee the complete conquest of the Ottoman Empire within a year."
Liu Huaiwen glanced at Zhu Erdan, then gritted his teeth and said, "Since we are going to do it, let's do it big. The national treasury will allocate ten billion in military funds to you this time!"
A smile immediately appeared on Zhu Erdan's face.
It wasn't easy. The famously stingy "Heavenly Character" was willing to allocate ten billion in military funds to support the Five Military Commissions' foreign campaigns. This was truly unprecedented. In the past, every time they asked the national treasury for money, it was like begging for pennies.
Just as Zhu Erdan thought Liu Huaiwen had a change of heart, Liu Huaiwen turned to Zhu Jinsong and said, "Your Majesty, since the military funds for this attack on the Ottoman Empire are allocated by the national treasury, what about the subsequent spoils and oil fields..."
Zhu Jinsong couldn't help but rub his forehead and said, "I originally had no intention of keeping the Ottoman national treasury and those oil fields in my hands. This time, Uncle Huaiwen, you have overthought it."
Liu Huaiwen was immediately stunned by Zhu Jinsong's words. So His Majesty had originally intended to hand over the Ottoman national treasury and oil to the Ministry of Revenue? So he had been generous for nothing this time?
A great loss!
Thinking of this, Liu Huaiwen couldn't help but say with a mournful face, "Reporting to Your Majesty, I was just talking nonsense. Uh, uh, the national treasury is currently empty..."
Zhu Jinsong smiled and waved his hand, saying, "As the saying goes, a gentleman's word is as good as his bond, and a swift horse needs no whip. Uncle Huaiwen is the esteemed Minister of Revenue. Since you have already promised ten billion in military funds, how can you go back on your word? Although I disdain it, I cannot put Uncle Huaiwen in a position of unrighteousness~"
Liu Huaiwen thought to himself, it would be better if you trapped me in unrighteousness. Otherwise, with these ten billion military funds gone, I might lose ten years of my life!
However, since there was no room for negotiation on the matter of military funds, Liu Huaiwen no longer dwelled on it. Instead, he turned to Zhu Erdan and said, "I am telling you in advance, it is no problem to allocate these ten billion military funds to your Five Military Commissions. But if you dare to spend it all..."
Zhu Erdan's heart tightened, and he quickly shook his head, "Father-in-law, please rest assured, your son-in-law knows what he is doing. He knows."
Seeing Zhu Erdan acting so cowardly, Zhu Jinsong couldn't help but glare at him and mockingly say, "What's the big deal even if you spend all ten billion?"
"After all, it's an expedition to the Ottoman Empire. Whether ten billion is enough is still debatable."