Perhaps George III's words of comfort had taken effect, or perhaps he had truly come to understand. William I, lost in thought, threw away the candied hawthorn in his hand and said, "I understand."
However, George III picked up William I's discarded candied hawthorn with a darkening expression. "Listen, William, in the Ming Dynasty, carelessly discarding trash will result in a fine. They won't care if you're a king. In fact, even if the Ming Emperor himself throws trash on the street, he'll still be fined."
After admonishing William I twice, George III continued, "I heard that the reason Louis XVI, that fool, arrived a few days late was because Napoleon had already captured all of Luxembourg."
"You know, after losing Luxembourg, the entire Habsburg family's power will be significantly weakened. And this is precisely the opportune moment for your Netherlands to re-establish itself. As long as the Great Ming Emperor is willing to help you, Louis XVI and the Bourbon family will not object."
"Also, I have a very amusing thing to tell you."
William I couldn't help but be a little curious and asked, "What is it?"
George III chuckled and said, "When Louis XVI, that idiot, first came to the Ming Dynasty, he brought his own chef, saying he was afraid he wouldn't be used to Ming food."
William I couldn't understand what was so funny about that.
George III continued, "Of course, if it were just that, it wouldn't be that funny. The key is that after our first meeting of the Five Great Benevolent Ones, Louis XVI, that fool, said he wanted to treat everyone to a French meal, claiming that Ming cuisine lacked elaborate presentation."
George III's expression gradually turned peculiar. "Later, the Ming Emperor treated us to another meal, most of which was elaborately presented—or rather, it shouldn't be called presentation, it should be called works of art."
"Afterward, Louis XVI never mentioned French cuisine again. When he returned to France, he shamelessly borrowed two chefs from the Ming Emperor, saying that if they weren't lent to him, he feared he would starve."
William I still couldn't understand what was funny.
George III looked at William I's bewildered expression and finally sighed helplessly, saying, "Alright, William, I just hope you can be a little happier."
William I nodded, forcing a smile onto his face. "Thank you."
George III patted William I on the shoulder. "Let's go, we'll keep walking. There are more beautiful sights ahead. I believe the more you see, the more you will understand the Ming Dynasty, and the clearer your understanding will be."
"For example, look there, that woman. She entrusted her child to the care of Ming soldiers. Have you ever seen such a thing in Europe?"
William I shook his head and said, "No."
George III chuckled and said, "Not only have we not seen such scenes? In fact, all we see are the fearful gazes of civilians towards the military."
"When European armies appear in villages inhabited by civilians, the civilians' first reaction is always to flee, to flee far away, regardless of gender."
"But in the Ming Dynasty, this situation does not occur."
William I asked curiously, "Are there truly no conflicts between the Ming army and their civilians? George, you know, if the relationship between the army in certain places and the civilians is particularly good, it's quite normal. But for the entire country to be like this, it's a bit abnormal."
George III said with a peculiar expression, "Who says they have no conflicts? The 'Great Ming Newspaper' has recorded conflicts between the Ming army and civilians."
"The Ming army has regulations that prohibit them from taking a single needle or thread from civilians, and even more so from eating food from civilian homes. However, Ming civilians never care about this; they always try their best to give good food to the Ming soldiers."
"This is the greatest conflict between the Ming army and Ming civilians. The Ming Emperor also issued a notice in the 'Great Ming Newspaper' prohibiting their civilians from… well, 'feeding' their army. That's the word."
"Obviously, the Ming Emperor's command failed for the first time. Ming civilians are unwilling to heed this command from their emperor. If the Ming Emperor asked them to go to the battlefield, they would be very happy. Even if the Ming Emperor asked them to die, they would most likely not refuse. It's only this prohibition of feeding that they have never paid attention to."
William I said thoughtfully, "It seems that the Netherlands, and even all of Europe, should learn this the most."
George III shook his head and said, "This is very difficult."
"William, can your Dutch army be willing to starve to death rather than rob civilians of their food? Can they endure freezing to death rather than enter civilian homes? Can they go to rescue civilians at the first sign of disaster? Can they use their own lives to guarantee the lives of civilians in extremely dangerous situations?"
"Your Dutch army cannot do it, nor can our English army, nor can the armies of other European countries."
"But the Ming army can do it."
"Also, whether in times of war or peace, the Ming army has a tradition of officers leading the charge. The sacrifice rate of senior officers is even slightly higher than that of junior officers."
"This is something we can never learn, because the Ming army is very special. They can be defeated, they can be scattered, but even if only two or three people remain, they can still consciously form an army and continue to complete their mission until the last person sacrifices themselves."
"Can any army in Europe do this?"
"Obviously, no."
George III said with great helplessness, "Although I really wish the English army could learn from the Ming army, the current situation is not very ideal, because many things simply cannot be learned."
"To change the relationship between European civilians and European armies, a great upheaval is necessary, and it cannot be achieved in just one or two years."
"Let's take it slow. When your Netherlands is re-established, you can also send some students to the Ming Dynasty, just like us. Perhaps you will also get a quota for military students."
William I nodded, then sighed again, "I hope Louis XVI won't obstruct it."
...
Louis XVI, holding a roasted lamb leg in one hand and a wine glass in the other, would have been unrecognizable to anyone who didn't know him – this was the King of France, the leader of the Bourbon family.
Only after eating and drinking his fill did Louis XVI say excitedly, "Luxembourg has been completely taken. It proves that my decision to send students to the Ming Dynasty to study military skills was correct. If Napoleon hadn't become so powerful, this war would have dragged on for several more years."
Speaking of this, Louis XVI's expression became somewhat conflicted. "The only troublesome thing is that the consumption of ammunition is too fast, both cannonballs and musket bullets."
Zhu Jinsong laughed heartily and said, "When you arrive, you eat roasted lamb legs, and after eating roasted lamb legs, you ask me to lower the price of ammunition. You're really trying to eat me out of house and home."
Louis XVI also laughed along. "How can what happens between us be described as trying to eat you out of house and home? However, I'm not just eating your lamb leg for nothing. I have another piece of good news for you."
Zhu Jinsong made an "oh" sound and asked, "What good news?"
Louis XVI said, "I'm planning to restore the Netherlands. Is this considered good news?"
This was indeed good news.
Zhu Jinsong had been thinking about how to persuade Louis XVI to agree to the restoration of the Netherlands. The French Bourbon family did not swallow the Netherlands to offer warmth to the Dutch. If they could not gain enough benefits, they would certainly not agree to the restoration of the Netherlands.
Now that Louis XVI suddenly said he would agree to the restoration of the Netherlands, it was like a pillow arriving when one was sleepy for Zhu Jinsong, a genuine piece of good fortune.
The question was, was Louis XVI drunk on fake wine?
Louis XVI said, "I know the Ming Dynasty has already reclaimed the Dutch East Indies. Since William I is willing to give up the Dutch East Indies, it means there are benefits that attract him more than the Dutch East Indies."
"And besides restoration, I really can't think of any other benefit that would make that fool William I give up the Dutch East Indies."
"So, rather than wait for you to propose it, it's better for me to propose it first, so you'll owe me a favor. Shouldn't ammunition be cheaper?"
Zhu Jinsong smiled and said, "Alright, alright, you win. As you wish, the ammunition will be cheaper for you."
Louis XVI nodded, then said seriously, "I have to admit that the officers who came to the Ming Dynasty for training are indeed stronger than those who didn't, both in tactical command and strategy."
"Especially Napoleon, who has ingeniously invented the 'Ming-equipped division' strategy. He organized some officers who returned from training in the Ming Dynasty into a separate division."
"From the current perspective, the combat effectiveness of this division is the highest among all French armies, and its discipline is the best among all French armies."
Zhu Jinsong nodded and asked, "So? Are you planning to ask for more quotas for military students?"
Louis XVI shook his head and said, "No. The annual quota of five hundred students is almost enough for France. Any more would be difficult to arrange in the short term, and the French treasury might not be able to afford it."
Hearing Louis XVI say this, Zhu Jinsong became uncertain about Louis XVI's intentions.
If one were to speak frankly, Louis XVI was not short of money at the moment. At least the one hundred million Ming Dragon Yuan loan was equivalent to ten million taels of silver. Now that he no longer had "Madame Déficit" to squander his fortune, if he only played with locks, how much money could he spend?
Besides, Louis XVI had been amassing wealth in France, ruthlessly striking at many French nobles, and playing the game of confiscating property to gain silver with great flair. He had even paid off France's foreign debt of over a billion francs, so could this fellow be short of money?
Just as Zhu Jinsong was lost in thought, Louis XVI continued, "I plan for France to fully learn from the Ming Dynasty, including primary schools, secondary schools, and universities. In this regard, I hope to receive your help."
"The help I'm talking about is to obtain your Ming Dynasty's primary, secondary, and university textbooks, and I'll also trouble you to send some teachers to France to help me establish a complete educational system."
"I plan to list Chinese as one of the official languages of France and have all French children start learning the language and writing of the Ming Dynasty from a young age."
Zhu Jinsong tapped the table with his finger and asked, "Why?"
Louis XVI laughed and said, "We are friends, and the Ming Dynasty and France are each other's most loyal allies, aren't we?"
Zhu Jinsong said, "This reason is not enough. Louis, you know that Ming Dynasty's primary school textbooks are fine, but starting from secondary school textbooks, there is a large amount of Central Plains history. If you let French children learn Central Plains history from a young age, do you know what the consequences will be?"
Louis XVI said, "I know, of course. Either they will rebel constantly, or they will greatly admire and worship the Ming Dynasty. But no matter what, this is a good thing for the Ming Dynasty, isn't it?"
Zhu Jinsong said, "But you will suffer losses, and France will suffer losses."
Louis XVI said meaningfully, "Who knows whether it's a loss or a great gain?"
"I've read an article from your Ming Dynasty called, 'The old man named Sai losing his horse might not be a bad thing.'"
"My friend, I don't mind letting the French people learn Chinese from a young age, nor do I mind them joining the Ming nationality. I don't even mind selling all of Europe. I think you understand what I mean, right?"
Zhu Jinsong understood perfectly, but was somewhat bewildered.
From willingly agreeing to the restoration of the Netherlands, to comprehensively introducing Ming Dynasty textbooks, making Chinese one of the official languages of France, and finally openly saying he would sell all of Europe, the signals revealed by Louis XVI were already very clear.
This fellow was betting the future of France on the assumption that the Ming Dynasty would definitely encroach upon Europe, and he was trying to secure the most benefits for the Bourbon family and all of France. At least in the future, when the Ming Dynasty encroached upon all of Europe, they would treat the Bourbon family and the French people well.
The question was, how much of this declaration was sincere? And how much was to test the waters?
Tapping the table again with his fingers, Zhu Jinsong said solemnly, "Louis, do you know what you are saying?"