When King George III heard the price of eighty-eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight taels of silver, his heart bled. Even with an additional one hundred cannons and five thousand flintlock muskets, it couldn't compensate for the pain in his heart.
King George III knew the importance of the British East India to England.
The existence of the East India allowed England to conduct commercial exchanges with the Great Ming conveniently, while also enabling the maximum plunder of production materials from the East India, and incidentally, to squeeze out other colonial powers.
After losing the East India, although it did not affect England's status among the European colonial powers, nor its commercial exchanges with the Great Ming, England could no longer plunder production materials from the East India. These pressures would be transferred to England itself.
Moreover, the price of eighty-eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight taels of silver, although the same as Alaska, was their commercial value, political value, and military value comparable?
This was a bargain price, like a bone-crushing discount!
However, King George III also knew very well that if he did not accept this price, it might lead to an unpleasant parting. Even if the East India was barely kept, England would inevitably be severely weakened. The Ming could do without England, but England could not do without the Ming. What if, because of the East India's troubles, the Ming began to fully support the French frogs…
This was the damnable and helpless reality.
What was even more damnable was that these analyses were heard by King George III from his doctor, the one he hired from the Great Ming specifically to treat his madness.
From the moment he returned to Europe and passed through the East India, this doctor had told him that England would sooner or later have to abandon the East India, the only difference being whether it was an active or passive abandonment. If it was an active abandonment, England might gain some benefits, while passive abandonment would likely lead to estrangement with the Great Ming, which might then fully support France to counter England.
At first, King George III did not quite believe what the doctor said. After all, he was just a doctor treating madness. I, George, am mad, but I am not stupid. I won't believe everything you say, right?
Therefore, King George III mostly treated their exchanges as a form of amusement.
However, when King George III, as if joking, told this doctor about the entire European situation, the results analyzed by this doctor were all verified by time.
Including the possibility of Louis XVI divorcing the Mistress of Deficits, and the Habsburgs being beaten and seeking aid from the Ottomans and applying to join the minor pot, and other things, were all basically said by this gentleman.
However, when King George III wanted to hire this doctor as his strategist with a high salary, the doctor said, "My learning is not profound, and I am not capable of such a great responsibility. Any county magistrate from the Great Ming would be infinitely better than me."
This made King George III sigh with emotion.
Were the talents of the Ming so intensely competitive?
Even such an impressive person could not become an official and had to run off to be a doctor…
Of course, no matter how fiercely competitive the talents of the Ming were, it made no difference to King George III. In any case, England did not have as many talents as the Ming, and the loss of the East India was already a foregone conclusion. Instead of dwelling on these messy matters, it would be better to think about how to recoup some losses from other European countries.
Therefore, King George III still accepted the price with a smile, "You are truly too generous, my friend. I am very satisfied with this price."
However, what King George III did not expect was that Zhu Jinsong smiled and shook his head, saying, "No, no, no, I haven't finished speaking. In fact, this price is far below the valuation of the East India. I will absolutely not let your England suffer losses in this matter."
"How about this, the East India Company can still stay in the Tianzhu Province to do business, and can also do business in Jiugang, Lanfang Province, and Kyushu Island. The Great Ming's army will be responsible for protecting their safety and interests."
"In addition, in addition to the cannons and flintlock muskets I just mentioned, I can additionally give England five hundred overseas student quotas, including two hundred for military academies."
This was like a sudden big pie, slapping King George III in the face.
Cannons, England could build; flintlock muskets, England could also build; including steam engines, England was not unable to build them. Although not as advanced as the Great Ming's, they could still be used.
If necessary, England was not unable to abandon the East India Company, just as the Netherlands had abandoned the Dutch East India Company.
What truly made King George III overjoyed was the five hundred overseas student quotas mentioned by Zhu Jinsong, especially the two hundred for military academies.
Look at Napoleon, who beat the Habsburgs like a dog. Before coming to the Great Ming for training, who would have cared where he came from? After coming to the Great Ming for training, look at how he beat the Habsburgs!
But England did not have that many overseas student quotas, especially for military academies in the Great Ming. King George III could only watch Napoleon and the other French overseas students with envy.
Now it was different.
What France had, England could also have!
So, when he talked about the British East India Company, King George III no longer felt heartache. "Let me tell you, the people in that damned place are the most annoying. After you take over, you must pay attention to those people."
"When I return, I will inform the people of the East India Company to comply with the laws of the Great Ming. If they do anything wrong, you can deal with it as you see fit, and I will have no objections!"
Zhu Jinsong smiled and nodded in agreement one by one.
It was only after King George III left with satisfaction that Zhu Jinsong summoned all the big shots like Zeng Cheng and Zhu Erdan.
Zhu Jinsong got straight to the point and said, "Well, the conflict with England has been resolved. King George III has decided to sell the Dutch East India, and the price is the same as when the silly goose sold Alaska."
Zhu Erdan immediately asked with a confused expression, "Sell the East India? That means we don't have to send troops to Tianzhu anymore? As long as the Ministry of Personnel prepares officials and the Ministry of Revenue prepares the migrating people, this matter is resolved?"
After receiving an affirmative answer, Zhu Erdan immediately wailed and shouted, "Today is the day when the Great Ming lost the most military officers and nobles!"
Zhu Jinsong's face darkened. After scolding Zhu Erdan, he turned his gaze to Zeng Cheng and others, "The next steps are for the Ministry of Personnel to prepare officials, the Ministry of Revenue to prepare for the migration of people, and the Ministry of Works to prepare to build the railway."
Liu Huaiwen, for the first time, did not complain about poverty but readily agreed, "Okay, the Ministry of Revenue will start preparations immediately. Let's bring in a hundred thousand households first, and then migrate more slowly."
Song Yucheng, the Minister of Works, also did not complain for the first time, "I will have people prepare when I return, striving to complete one line within two years and the double line within five years."
Zhu Jinsong grunted and continued, "There are many gems in Tianzhu. As long as you release this news, I believe there will be many people willing to migrate there."
"By the way, I also promised King George III some additional things, including one hundred cannons and five thousand flintlock muskets, allowing the East India Company to continue doing business in Tianzhu, and also allowing them to expand their business to Jiugang and Lanfang."
"In addition, there are five hundred overseas student quotas, including two hundred for military academies."
The big shots in the court were somewhat dismissive of the things Zhu Jinsong promised. Even Liu Huaiwen did not feel heartache. The Five Military Commissions had to scrap a batch of outdated cannons and flintlock muskets every year. If they could exchange these things for Tianzhu, it would be considered making use of waste.
Moreover, if there was a conflict in Tianzhu, the military expenses would surely be more than just these things.
As for the five hundred overseas student quotas, that was even less of a problem. The Great Qing recruited overseas students by giving them all sorts of benefits, while the Great Ming recruited overseas students by charging fees. The more overseas students from England came to the Great Ming, the more money the Great Ming could earn.
If it weren't for maintaining the "prestige" mentioned by His Majesty, Liu Huaiwen would have wished that other countries would send tens of thousands of overseas students to study in the Great Ming.
Zhu Erdan chuckled and said, "Why don't we arrange the military overseas students from England to the Chengdu Military Command Academy?"
"The French military overseas students are at the Shandong Military Command Academy, and the English military overseas students are at the Sichuan Military Command Academy, and in the future…"
As Zhu Erdan finished speaking, the big shots in the court chuckled.
The Great Ming now had more than forty comprehensive universities, including seven military academies.
Unlike the other more than thirty universities, those thirty-odd comprehensive universities emphasized comprehensive subjects, with similar teaching levels and research strengths. These seven military academies, however, had their own specializations. For example, the Shandong Military Command Academy focused on large-scale troop operations in plains and hilly areas, while the Sichuan Military Command Academy focused more on mountain warfare and small-scale troop operations.
And like the other thirty-odd universities, these seven military academies also had a rivalry, and they wished that the other military academies would stumble.
If they could really arrange for French military overseas students to study at the Shandong Military Command Academy and for French military overseas students to go to the Sichuan Military Command Academy, as Zhu Erdan said…
The big shots chuckled again.
After leaving the imperial palace, the big shots began to gather their subordinates.
"Tianzhu will soon belong to the Great Ming, and the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue have already begun to prepare officials and migrating people."
Song Yucheng, the Minister of Works, said to his subordinates, "Our Ministry of Works must also hurry and must not drag our feet because of our ministry."
Xu Shuanggui, the head of the Railway Department, immediately frowned.
Why are you staring at me like this when there are so many heads of the Ministry of Works?
Xu Shuanggui said, "Our Railway Department has no problem, but this budget…"
Song Yucheng said, "You can ask the Ministry of Revenue about the budget. This is an emergency situation, so let them approve a separate budget for you. Also, can you be more generous? The Ministry of Revenue has tens of millions of taels of silver. Every time you report a few million or tens of millions of taels, who do you look down on?"
Xu Shuanggui immediately started complaining, "You don't know, sir. Every time our Railway Department goes to the Ministry of Revenue, the Minister or Vice-Minister says that the debt collectors have arrived. They never approve much, making our Railway Department seem like we are asking for small change."
Song Yucheng ignored Xu Shuanggui and cast his gaze towards the head of the Road Department, "This Tianzhu…"
The head of the Road Department immediately nodded and said, "Don't worry, sir. We will start the survey immediately. After the survey, we will start construction and guarantee a five-lane, no, a dual eight-lane highway within three years."