According to the calculations of Zeng Cheng and other big shots, the majority of the budget approval for the twentieth year of Sheng Huang's reign would fall on river dredging, electricity, railways, highways, and the impoverished department.
Zhu Jinsong also felt that the proposals of Zeng Cheng and other big shots were not wrong. After all, the national treasury had limited funds, and there were countless things to spend money on, so priorities had to be set.
Could river dredging be delayed?
No.
River dredging not only targeted some silted-up rivers but also included projects such as reservoir construction, irrigation ditch construction, and dike construction and maintenance.
It could be said that river dredging was directly related to whether floods could be eliminated before they occurred and whether land could be irrigated.
This meant that river dredging directly concerned the grain security of the Great Ming, and even the personal safety of the people of the Great Ming.
Of course, no one in Qianlong Lao Gou's family cared about this, but who in the legitimate Central Plains Court would not care about this?
As for electricity, railways, and highways, it went without saying. Electricity lines were directly related to whether trains could run at night and whether telegrams could be transmitted smoothly. Railways and highways were equivalent to the economic artery and also the artery of national security, and they could not be saved either.
The impoverished department was the same. The community schools and county schools in various places were directly related to the next generation and the generation after that, and the generation after that of the Great Ming, and whether the Great Ming could continue to lead the entire small broken earth. This was a consensus of the entire Great Ming court, and no one dared to save in this area.
Instead, it was the Royal Academy and the Five Military Commissions... Although the current small broken earth had some signs of change, no matter how the winds and clouds changed, they were always concentrated in Europe. The impact on the Great Ming was only in maritime trade, and it had no impact on the national security of the Great Ming.
The Great Ming's current standing army and numerous overseas military bases were enough to block the flames of war outside the Great Ming's national gate.
Therefore, there was indeed no need to approve more budget for the Five Military Commissions.
Of course, not approving more budget did not mean that the military expenses of the Five Military Commissions would be reduced. After all, Europe had already become chaotic, and it was possible that a full-scale war would break out at any time.
Thinking of Europe, Zhu Jinsong couldn't help but feel a little worried, but in addition to the worry, there was also a hint of expectation.
The worry was because George III had suddenly gone mad and inexplicably wanted to fight France. England's full-scale war with France would inevitably affect the Great Ming's influence in Europe, and it would also affect the Great Ming's maritime trade.
If nothing else, consider the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company in India. Although the Netherlands was ostensibly on the same side as England, the Netherlands' recovery was due to France.
Under such circumstances, what would William I of the Netherlands choose?
If William I could be sensible and choose to follow France, then the Dutch East India Company in India would have to fight the British East India Company, which would in turn affect the Great Ming's labor recruitment business.
If William I also suffered from a mental disorder like George III... The British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company would not fight, but would these two companies join forces to deal with French merchant ships?
It should be known that many of the Great Ming's goods were transported to Europe through French merchant ships. If the British and Dutch East India Companies clashed with French merchant ships, it would ultimately affect the Great Ming's maritime trade.
So it was very annoying.
As for the trace of expectation in Zhu Jinsong's heart, it was because the art student from Austria and student Xiao Dai from France had chosen to return to Europe – Adolf, the art student from Austria.
Both of them had learned a lot of ambiguous theories from Jiang Xinlong, and by relying on their respective learned theories, they had formed their own small groups in the overseas student college of the Great Ming Royal Academy.
Adolf learned the theory of distribution according to need, and also learned the importance of the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Student Xiao Dai learned the theory of free competition, and also recognized the importance of the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Zhu Jinsong eagerly anticipated what kind of sparks these two almost diametrically opposed theories would collide with in Europe and what impact they would have on Europe.
After thinking for a moment, Zhu Jinsong simply instructed Ke Zhiming again, "Increase the intensity of infiltration into Europe."
...
Just as Zhu Jinsong was anticipating what kind of sparks Adolf and student Xiao Dai would create, the armies of England and France had already begun to collide and sparks of war had ignited – most of the officers of the English army had experience training in the Great Ming, and the French army was the same.
In other words, English officers were very familiar with the tactics of French officers, and French officers were also very familiar with the tactics of English officers.
The result of mutual familiarity was that it was difficult to distinguish between the two sides in terms of tactics, and it was even uncertain whether they could distinguish between victory and defeat in strategy.
However, what no one expected was that the doctor whom George III brought to England to treat his madness, after "persuading" Queen Charlotte of England, suddenly had a wild idea and came up with a move that was unprecedented and unlikely to be repeated.
The doctor sent someone to India, and from the "Japanese dwarfs" in India, found a seemingly relatively normal Japanese person who had studied at a military academy in the Great Ming and was praised by a group of Japanese dwarfs as the "God of War of Kanto" – Toujou Nijuhachi.
The so-called Kanto War referred to Toujou Nijuhachi leading troops in battles in the Kanto region of Japan. Because he always won, he was hailed as the "God of War of Kanto" by the short and stumpy Japanese.
As for his actual military command level, Toujou Nijuhachi could not even compare with the graduates of military academies in the Great Ming from France and England. This guy might not even be as good as some farm association presidents in the Great Ming.
The problem was that no one knew Toujou Nijuhachi's true level, because after leaving Japan, Toujou Nijuhachi fought against the Indian "third brothers" under the command of Toujou Kojiro.
As is well known, the "third brothers" are very fond of peace and prefer to play the game of non-violence and non-cooperation most of the time. They dislike drawing swords and guns on the battlefield.
Most of the time, the "third brothers" fight with their mouths.
Under this premise, Toujou Nijuhachi could easily achieve brilliant achievements. The title of "God of War of Kanto" was widely acclaimed in the Indian region and even reached England through the British East India Company.
Then, the doctor was moved.
In the doctor's opinion, what did the barbarians of Europe know about war? Rather than relying on these barbarians of Europe to command wars, it was more reliable to find a short and stumpy Japanese person.
After all, no matter how bad Japan was, it was still a small weakling next to the Great Ming. Those who could mix around the Central Plains Court must be better than these barbarians of Europe.
Under normal circumstances, the short and stumpy Japanese would never go to Europe to meddle in Europe's affairs, but this doctor who came from the Great Ming to England acted under the banner of the Great Ming – I, a famous doctor of the Great Ming, am borrowing you short and stumpy people, which is giving you face, you must accept it!
Then, the short and stumpy Japanese people, who felt they could not afford to offend the Great Ming Father, and because of this doctor's presence in England, these short and stumpy people mistakenly believed that the Great Ming Father also intended to help England.
Therefore, these short and stumpy people really chose to accept the doctor's favor and honestly sent the "God of War of Kanto" Toujou Nijuhachi of Japan to England.
Upon arriving in England, Toujou Nijuhachi was immediately appointed to command the vanguard of the English army by Queen Charlotte. Queen Charlotte was not entirely obedient to the doctor, but was completely "persuaded" and would not object to the doctor's requests.
And Toujou Nijuhachi did not live up to the doctor's expectations. As soon as he took over the vanguard of England, he led the English army to capture Calais.
Of course, it was somewhat inappropriate to describe Toujou Nijuhachi's achievement as "capturing" directly. This was because according to the plans of Louis XVI and Pierre, Napoleon, and other French big shots, regions like Calais, Le Havre, Caen, and Brest were "reserved" for England.
Surrender?
Of course, it was not surrender, but a pre-arranged plan by Louis XVI and Napoleon, with the aim of allowing the English army to occupy more territory, thereby lengthening the supply lines of the English army, and then choosing a suitable time to completely cut off the supply lines and retreat routes of the English army.
To implement this plan, the French army not only had to "retreat" fifty kilometers after a slight resistance according to Louis XVI's order, but also had to proactively retreat another hundred kilometers if necessary, allowing the English army to occupy a large amount of French territory.
Louis XVI even deliberately appeared bewildered and caught off guard in the newspapers.
Therefore, even without Toujou Nijuhachi, the English army could easily capture Calais, and could even easily "capture" some of the supplies deliberately left behind by the French army in Calais.
However, the English side did not know about Louis XVI and Napoleon's plan, and the French army's acting was not without resistance. It was just that in the direction of Calais, they appeared more weak.
And because the French army appeared weaker in the direction of Calais, it made Toujou Nijuhachi's achievement even more outstanding.
The battlefield was a very realistic place. Those with ability were quickly promoted, and those without ability died quickly.
The outstanding Toujou Nijuhachi quickly gained the trust of Queen Charlotte and Prince George, the Prince of Wales, and was appointed as the overall commander of the land forces of the English army.
So the question is: What are the short and stumpy Japanese people best at?
As everyone knows, the short and stumpy Japanese are good at causing trouble, good at the practice of "gekokujo" (下克上 - the lower stratum overthrowing the upper stratum), and good at committing inhuman atrocities.
However, what the short and stumpy people are best at is not these.
Perhaps because they were born in Japan, that tiny piece of land, the psychology of the short and stumpy Japanese people was somewhat abnormal, and they were prone to impulse.
Coupled with the frequent volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis in Japan, the short and stumpy Japanese people easily developed a mentality of not knowing whether tomorrow or the unexpected would come first.
Therefore, what the short and stumpy people are best at is gambling, especially gambling on national destiny.
The Battle of Baekgang in the Gaozong period of the Tang Dynasty was a gamble on national destiny, and the Korean War in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty was also a gamble on national destiny.
The subsequent Sino-Japanese War was also a gamble on national destiny.
For example, the Sino-Japanese War.
The situation at that time was that the Donghak Party uprising broke out in Korea, and the Qing Dynasty at that time was the suzerain state of Korea, so it sent troops to suppress the uprising in Korea.
The problem was that the short and stumpy Japanese also sent troops to help Korea quell the internal unrest.
At this time, it was still in the stage of diplomatic bargaining.
Japan had no confidence in this matter, because first, Japan was definitely not in the right, and second, Japan did not dare to think of defeating the Qing Dynasty.
Obviously, the Qing Dynasty at that time also thought so: I am the glorious Qing Dynasty, what can you, a mere fledgling like Japan, do? I will directly send more troops, see if you are afraid!
However, under the instigation of public opinion in Japan, the country became indignant, and many people became irrational: What's so great about you Qing? Watashi Nihon is not made of mud!
So, the Qing Dynasty sent troops, and Japan also sent troops; the Qing Dynasty increased its troops, and Japan also increased its troops; the Qing Dynasty sent the Beiyang Fleet, and Japan sent the Combined Fleet – even if it meant gambling with national destiny, Watashi Nihon could not admit defeat!
No money?
The Emperor took the lead in practicing austerity, and the people immediately sold their pots and pans.
Yukichi Fukuzawa, a thinker of the Meiji Restoration, not only wrote articles to stir up public sentiment but also sold his property and directly donated 10,000 yen. At that time, one yen could buy a beef hot pot, and 10,000 yen was definitely a large sum of money.
And there were tens of thousands of Yukichi Fukuzawas in Japan, and tens of thousands of Yukichi Fukuzawas donated 2 million yen.
The local gentry and scholars of Japan were supportive, and the Japanese court naturally could not back down – Japan directly issued 100 million yen in war bonds, and the people subscribed enthusiastically. By 1894, the Japanese Parliament had even opened a supplementary military expenditure budget of 150 million yen.
The attitude of the entire Japan at that time was: Fight. If we win, we will demand money from the Qing Dynasty and have a good time together. If we lose? Let alone losing, even a draw would completely finish Japan.
A certain American newspaper at the time said: The Chinese let the Japanese fight. Even if they kill a thousand people a day, it would take 1,500 years to kill them all.
However, Japan won this war that gambled with national destiny – even though it gambled with national destiny, the short and stumpy Japanese people never expected the Qing Dynasty to be so incompetent.
Since then, the short and stumpy Japanese people have become even more fond of gambling on national destiny.
The subsequent Russo-Japanese War was a gamble on national destiny, the full-scale invasion of the Central Plains Court was still a gamble on national destiny, joining forces with the little Hitler art student was a gamble on national destiny, and the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor was even more so a gamble on national destiny.
Although they lost the gamble on national destiny several times later, these historical instances of gambling on national destiny were enough to illustrate how heavy the gambling nature of the short and stumpy Japanese people was.
Now, Toujou Nijuhachi intended to gamble on England's national destiny.