For the Great Ming, dealing with minor issues for the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company was not a big deal. Even dispatching a military expedition would have been manageable.
However, Zhu Jinsong absolutely refused to tolerate them impersonating the Great Ming army to recruit laborers.
This wasn't about how history would record the event, but about the reputation of the Great Ming army.
In reality, the reputation of the Great Ming army was always contradictory.
Within the Great Ming homeland or its overseas territories, in the eyes of the Great Ming populace, the Great Ming army was naturally the finest army in the world, the most trustworthy and reliable.
A saying circulated among the Great Ming people: even if the soldiers of the Great Ming pointed their guns at the people, they would undoubtedly be aiming at the enemies behind them.
And in the eyes of the indigenous people of the Old Port Administration and the Lanfang Administration, the Great Ming army was essentially akin to demons, even more terrifying than the unconquerable demons of legend.
As for Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of the Great Ming, whether the Great Ming army's reputation was good or bad was its own affair. How could he possibly allow the barbarians from the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company to misuse it?
Tapping his fingers on the table, Zhu Jinsong spoke, "Impersonating the Great Ming banner is absolutely out of the question. However, the Great Ming still needs Indian laborers, so this matter needs to be resolved."
Upon hearing Zhu Jinsong's words, Zeng Cheng and the other senior officials were somewhat bewildered.
The British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company, those minor nuisances, were certainly unreliable. Perhaps Britain, the Netherlands, and France combined were also unreliable. Even setting aside the distance between Britain, the Netherlands, France, and India, Britain itself needed to recruit laborers to mine in Sri Lanka. The Netherlands was busy re-establishing its nation, and France was occupied with fighting the Habsburgs. This meant that Britain, the Netherlands, and France had no surplus troops to dispatch.
Solving the problem in India without relying on these three countries...
This largely implied deploying the Great Ming's own army.
The question then arose: if the Great Ming army were to be deployed to resolve the situation in India, what would become of the agreements Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of the Great Ming, had made with George III and Louis XVI?
This made Zeng Cheng and Zhu Erdan, along with the other senior officials, feel a sense of unacceptable loss.
Especially for Liu Huaiwen, the head of the Ministry of Revenue, it was even more unacceptable. Due to the promises from George III and Louis XVI, the Great Ming treasury had already allocated military funds originally intended for the Five Military Commissions to the Ministry of Works. If these funds were suddenly to be reallocated to the Five Military Commissions, what would happen to the ongoing projects of the Ministry of Works?
More importantly, with this turn of events, wouldn't the Great Ming lose its advantage? Not gaining an advantage meant a loss!
Thinking this, Liu Huaiwen couldn't help but speak up, "Reporting to Your Majesty, I believe that since George III and Louis XVI have already promised to capture laborers, this matter should be resolved by them. We..."
Zhu Erdan's eyes lit up as he said, "Your Imperial Brother, if our Five Military Commissions dispatch troops to India, I dare guarantee that we can pacify all of India within six months!"
Hearing this, Liu Huaiwen glared fiercely at Zhu Erdan and snorted, "I have no doubt that your Five Military Commissions can pacify India within six months, but I want to ask you, how much military expenditure would be required for these six months? And how many laborers would remain in the end?"
Zhu Erdan was immediately speechless.
Zhu Erdan could roughly estimate the military expenditure required for fighting for six months, but when it came to how many laborers would remain in the end… Zhu Erdan lacked the confidence to estimate.
This would largely depend on those bloodthirsty fighters.
If it were like the previous offensive against the Portuguese barbarians occupying Macao, then there might not be many laborers left in all of India.
Seeing Zhu Erdan fall silent, Liu Huaiwen snorted again, "Your Majesty, I believe it is truly inadvisable for the Five Military Commissions to dispatch troops again, unless their military budget for this year is still sufficient and they do not require funds from the national treasury."
Zhu Erdan anxiously retorted, "No allocation? Are you asking the soldiers to go to war on an empty stomach?"
Liu Huaiwen retorted with a cold smile, "Then I ask you, where is the money? At the beginning of this year, the national treasury allocated one hundred million in military funds to your Five Military Commissions, equivalent to ten million taels of silver. Have you already spent all the money?"
Zhu Erdan said, "Of course, we haven't spent it all, but isn't this money all to be used for replacing equipment and for the attack on the Ottomans? Where do you expect me to squeeze out more for India?"
Liu Huaiwen let out a cold laugh and said, "I don't care where you squeeze it from! Your Five Military Commissions' funds have all been allocated. Do the other funds in the national treasury not have planned uses?"
"Come, come, let me calculate for you. Last year's revenue was eight hundred million. One hundred million was allocated to your Five Military Commissions, three hundred million to the Ministry of Works, one hundred million to the Ministry of Rites, two hundred million to the Ministry of Revenue, and one hundred million to the Imperial Academy. Calculate it, is there any surplus money?"
Zhu Erdan began to refute, counting on his fingers, "That's seven hundred million. What about the remaining one hundred million?"
Liu Huaiwen spat and said, "There is still one hundred million. Isn't it needed for emergencies? Besides the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Revenue, and your Five Military Commissions, do all other ministries, temples, and directorates not need to spend money?"
Seeing Zhu Erdan utterly speechless, Zhu Jinsong simply waved his hand with a smile and said, "Although I said that the problem in India needs to be solved, I never said that the Great Ming army had to be deployed."
Upon hearing this, Liu Huaiwen, Zeng Cheng, and the other senior officials became even more bewildered.
If not deploying the Great Ming army, would they sell firearms and guns to the Dutch East India Company and the British East India Company?
For Liu Huaiwen and the other senior officials, selling some weaponry was not a problem. The problem was that the Great Ming did not have so many military reserves.
France had purchased a large batch of cannons and guns, and Britain had also purchased a large batch of cannons and guns. The Netherlands had not purchased many cannons and guns, but there were so many small countries in Europe, who wouldn't want to buy a batch of cheap, durable, and powerful military equipment?
This had led to the current situation of military equipment being in short supply for the Great Ming.
It wasn't that the Great Ming's military equipment was insufficient, but rather that the military equipment available for sale had been snapped up. The Northern Industries and Southern Armaments, under the Ministry of War, were already struggling with insufficient production capacity. Where would there be surplus military equipment to sell to the British and Dutch East India Companies?
Recruiting more personnel and manufacturing more military equipment?
Theoretically, it was not impossible, but wouldn't the construction of the workshops require time? Wouldn't the training of workers also require a certain period? Wouldn't the purchase and transportation of raw materials also take time?
By the time the backlog of existing orders was cleared and the surplus military equipment was transported to India… the Great Ming might have already dealt with the Ottomans.
If that were the case, would the Great Ming still need the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company to recruit laborers?
The Great Ming army that had marched on the Ottomans could have easily pacified India in passing!
Diverting a portion from existing orders and prioritizing its shipment to India to sell to the British and Dutch East India Companies so they could handle matters?
This was also unrealistic.
Not to mention that the orders from Northern Industries and Southern Armaments were contracts between countries. Even if there were no such contracts, the Zhongyuan Tangkou had always adhered to the principle of keeping one's word. If they said they would deliver by a certain time, they would deliver before that time.
As for Zhu Jinsong and Zeng Cheng and the other senior officials of the Great Ming court digging pits and burying Europeans… clearly, digging pits and burying people had nothing to do with integrity. Those European barbarians could only blame their own stupidity for being tricked, not the Great Ming court for being untrustworthy.
Precisely because of this, Zeng Cheng and the other senior officials could not think of any way to break the deadlock.
Just then, Zhu Sanshun suddenly smiled and said, "Your Imperial Brother, I know your method."
Zhu Jinsong smiled and looked at Zhu Sanshun, saying, "Tell me?"
Zhu Sanshun cupped his hands and replied, "Your brother believes that Your Majesty's intention is to continue conscripting some Japanese, sending those short and ugly people to India, to recruit laborers under the name of the British and Dutch East India Companies."
"In this way, the matters of the British and Dutch East India Companies are resolved, the short and ugly people are dealt with along the way, and the Great Ming's need for Indian laborers is also met. It is truly killing three birds with one stone."
Zhu Jinsong chuckled and said, "That's right, that's exactly what I plan to do."
"Those armed forces of the British and Dutch East India Companies are cowardly and afraid of death, but those short and ugly people are not."