As for whether the American soldiers of the Silly Thief Eagle caused any trouble in the Ottoman territory, Zhu Jinsong had no doubt, but if he said they would obediently listen... Zhu Jinsong's first reaction was to think of phrases like "mountains and rivers overturned" and "sows climbing trees."
After all, the whole world knew the usual behavior of the Silly Thief Eagle's soldiers; causing trouble was normal, and listening was abnormal.
However, Zhu Erdan's expression gradually became strange: "At the beginning, those naval soldiers of the Silly Thief Eagle were not very obedient. The Commander of the South China Sea Fleet, out of consideration for being allies, didn't pay much attention to them."
"It was just that the Silly Thief Eagle's soldiers often mocked those short and stunted Japanese people intentionally or unintentionally. After a few conflicts between the two sides, those Silly Thief Eagle soldiers finally became honest." xxs壹贰
Zhu Jinsong was stunned and asked, "Did the short and stunted people beat up the Silly Thief Eagle?"
Zhu Erdan said, "Yes, at first, the short and stunted people didn't dare to clash with the Silly Thief Eagle's soldiers. It was the Commander of the South China Sea Fleet who hinted to them that they could find trouble with the Silly Thief Eagle, and only then did the short and stunted people become assertive."
Speaking of this, Zhu Erdan couldn't help but sigh, "Those short and stunted people are indeed good dogs; they will bite whomever they are told to bite, and they don't even care if they can bite through the other party."
"Including in the Ottoman territory, whenever there was a war, those short and stunted people would charge forward desperately, and they were extremely fierce towards the Ottoman barbarians."
Zhu Jinsong sneered, "The short and stunted people of Japan have always been like this. As long as the Great Ming is stronger than the short and stunted people, they will obediently listen, more obedient than dogs."
"However, it is absolutely crucial that they are not given a chance to break free from the leash. Once they break their restraints, they will turn around and bite their masters."
"For example, during the time of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Japan sent envoys to Tang several times to learn. However, after four envoys to Tang, there was the Battle of Baekgang. After that, Japan sent Tang envoys to learn again."
"By the third year of Yongle, Eunuch Zheng He sailed to the Western Oceans in July, and the Japanese slaves came to pay tribute in November, offering twenty heads of Japanese pirates. Emperor Chengzu ordered the Japanese envoys to deal with them themselves. The Japanese envoys took these twenty heads of Japanese pirates to Ningbo and steamed them to death in large vats. At this time, who would dare to say that the Japanese slaves were disrespectful to the Great Ming?"
"And after Emperor Yingzong, you should also know what the Japanese slaves were like, right? By the Jiajing period, the troubles caused by the Japanese slaves were so rampant that they dared to attack Nanjing."
"From this, it can be seen that the Japanese slaves have always been like this. As long as the Great Ming can keep them suppressed, they are the best dogs. If they cannot be suppressed, these mad dogs will turn around and bite their masters."
Zhu Erdan, Zeng Cheng, and other prominent figures all nodded thoughtfully. Zhu Erdan even tentatively said, "Why don't we just get rid of Japan..."
With that said, Zhu Erdan made a throat-slitting gesture. Zhu Jinsong, however, let out a cold laugh and said, "What's the hurry?"
"At the beginning, it's not that I haven't thought about completely eliminating those short and stunted people. After all, killing one Korean is the same as killing one, and adding a short and stunted person is also the same."
"But this matter is not handled like that—have you heard of 'slaying the dog after the rabbit is dead'? The rabbit isn't dead yet, so why are we in a hurry to kill the dog?"
"Sometimes, there are things that are inconvenient for the Great Ming to do, understand?"
Zhu Erdan nodded as if he understood but not entirely. Zhu Sanshun suddenly spoke, "Brother, can I go to Japan to recruit some people and take them to New Qinzhou together?"
After thinking for a moment, Zhu Sanshun shook his head and changed his words, "Or, let's recruit some short and stunted people first and let them go to New Qinzhou first?"
Zhu Jinsong tapped his fingers on the table as he pondered, "It's possible. But we can't recruit too many. We still need to send some supervisors. Once New Qinzhou is stable, we need to settle all the remaining matters."
Zhu Jinsong understood Zhu Sanshun's intention.
In fact, Zhu Jinsong was happy to let Zhu Sanshun recruit some Japanese slaves to New Qinzhou. After all, Japanese slaves were very docile and obedient when leashed, even daring to give everything for their masters, including their lives. Once they received their master's orders, they would unhesitatingly pounce on their opponents and bite them fiercely. Letting them go to New Qinzhou would be convenient for many things that the Great Ming army found inconvenient to do.
It was precisely for this reason that Zhu Jinsong had not chosen to completely eliminate the Japanese slaves.
Zhu Sanshun nodded and cupped his hands, "Yes, Brother, you can rest assured."
Zhu Jinsong then hummed and turned his gaze back to Zhu Erdan, "Regarding the war situation in the Ottoman territory, are there any problems with weaponry and supplies?"
Zhu Erdan nodded and replied, "Brother, please rest assured. The weaponry sent to the Ottoman territory is produced by Northern Industries and Southern Weaponry, and the supplies are all uniformly allocated by the Five Military Commissions. There will absolutely be no problems."
Zhu Jinsong merely nodded noncommittally at Zhu Erdan's statement—weaponry was easier to talk about, but supplies ultimately required some procurement from the private sector, such as grain, medicine, and bandages.
And once private procurement was involved, many things could become uncontrollable.
A certain ministry was a good example, as they dared to sell expired, moldy, and substandard goods to the army, especially when the Rabbit was fighting abroad.
Zhu Jinsong never believed that capital would have any conscience.
Thinking of this, Zhu Jinsong subtly gave Ke Zhiming a look. Ke Zhiming, who had been paying attention to Zhu Jinsong, also subtly nodded.
Fortunately, the situation Zhu Jinsong worried about ultimately did not occur in the Great Ming.
It wasn't that these wealthy merchants of the Great Ming had developed any conscience, but rather because the current Great Ming Law was sufficiently brutal—if no issues were discovered, it would be fine, but once the spies from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Eastern Depot, or the Heaven and Earth Society found any leverage...
Lingchi, waist chop, cart death, confiscation of property, extermination of family, extermination of clan, and various other cruel punishments had not been abolished.
Although great care was usually taken when dealing with the people of the Great Ming, starting from capital punishment such as beheading and hanging, it required multiple reviews from the county to the prefecture, then to the provincial administration, and finally to the Ministry of Justice. However, after the review was completed, the subsequent scenes were very bloody.
Especially when it involved issues related to the Five Military Commissions, it became even more fatal.
Therefore, even with the temptation of profits exceeding three hundred percent or even several thousand percent, these wealthy merchants of the Great Ming still remained clear-headed and did not dare to gamble with the lives of their nine generations.
Coupled with the fact that the reorganization of the various ministries of the Great Ming was progressing, Zhu Jinsong felt somewhat gratified.
However, the next problem made Zhu Jinsong feel somewhat exasperated.
It must be admitted that Zhu Jinsong had ultimately overestimated George III and Louis XVI.
At first, these two useless fellows had repeatedly stated they would send people to recruit laborers in India, and Zhu Jinsong had agreed—the Great Ming wanted laborers and land. As for who recruited the laborers to the Great Ming, or how the land ultimately fell into the hands of the Great Ming, the process was not important.
But Zhu Jinsong never imagined that England and France today would be so useless that they couldn't even deal with the Indians.
The specific situation was as follows: after George III and Louis XVI returned to England and France respectively, they recruited a large number of people to go to India. England recruited personnel from the British East India Company, and France recruited personnel from the Dutch East India Company.
There were no accidents or problems during this process.
The problem was that after the personnel from the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company gathered in India and began their recruitment work, all the Indians revolted.
Why did they revolt?
Because in the past, the British East India Company in India was only after money and resources. Although the treatment of Indians was not good, those Englishmen at least respected the traditional customs of India.
In other words, those Englishmen still recognized the caste system, and the Englishmen had no interest in becoming monks.
It was precisely because of this that the Indians did not resist the colonial rule of the Englishmen.
But this time it was different. Because after the personnel from the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company gathered in England, they arrested people indiscriminately. Any Indian they saw would be recruited as a laborer.
The Indians collectively felt that this was unacceptable.
The Brahmins and Kshatriyas were used to being superior. Now, being suddenly arrested and made laborers, they were naturally unhappy.
The Vaishyas below them were also not very willing, as Vaishyas could be considered the third caste in India, with at least some connection to the word "person."
And what was most unexpected was the Shudras and the fifth caste, the Dalits.