Sir Edward, holding his pipe, pointed at Old Justin, who was in charge of England’s treasury, and said: “England has made quite a bit of money in recent years. Whether it’s the copper mines in Sri Lanka, the trade with those Kunlun slaves, or the export of agricultural products, all have brought substantial revenue to the English treasury.”
“However, Mr. Justin, can you tell me where the money in the treasury has gone? Besides the military expenses prepared for France this time, where is the rest of the money?”
“You certainly can’t tell me that the money in the treasury has grown wings and flown away, can you?”
As Sir Edward’s words fell, the other nobles also turned their attention to Old Justin: “Besides the income you mentioned, Mr. Edward, hasn’t the East India Company also made a lot of money?”
“And the taxes over these years. Our tax rates in England were not low to begin with, and after King George’s reforms, they became even higher—so, where is the money? Where has it all gone?”
“If Mr. Justin has allocated these funds, why wasn’t Parliament notified?”
“Mr. Justin, I believe we require your explanation.”
Facing the aggressive nobles and officials, Old Justin’s complexion turned grim.
England had indeed made a lot of money in recent years, and George III’s tax reforms, modeled after the Great Ming, had heavily squeezed these nobles.
As Sir Edward and the other nobles and officials had said, without any particularly large expenditures, England’s treasury should not be in such a state of lacking funds.
The problem was that England’s treasury did indeed have a significant expenditure, and it had been secretly allocated before George III’s madness struck, without any approval from Parliament.
Now that Sir Edward and the others were suddenly raising the issue of the treasury’s lack of funds, Old Justin found it difficult to explain.
Sir Edward then coldly snorted and said: “I think we need to propose to Parliament a motion to impeach Mr. Justin, unless you can clearly explain why the treasury is out of money.”
Seeing the atmosphere becoming increasingly tense, George III simply signaled to his confidant, Pitt, and then cleared his throat, saying: “The funds in the treasury were allocated separately by my order to Justin. If you have any questions, you can raise them with me after Pitt finishes his explanation.”
Upon hearing George III even suggest that they could raise questions, Sir Edward had no choice but to abandon his plan to target Old Justin. He snorted and dejectedly puffed on his pipe.
Pitt cleared his throat and said: “It is true that a large portion of the funds in the English treasury has been secretly allocated, but His Majesty George did not use this money for his own indulgence; rather, it was used for the research and development of firearms.”
“Gentlemen, I believe you are aware that various European countries, including England, have purchased a large number of firearms and cannons from the Great Ming.”
“It can be said that the expenses for purchasing firearms and cannons annually even account for one-twentieth of England’s entire military budget.”
At this point, Pitt couldn’t help but sigh: “Even so, we are still unable to gain an advantage over France or other countries militarily, because other countries are also constantly purchasing firearms and cannons from the Great Ming.”
“Of course, if it were just this, it wouldn’t be much of a problem, as we would always need to procure military equipment.”
“But gentlemen, have you ever thought about what situation England would face if the Great Ming suddenly stopped supplying us with military equipment?”
“The guns in the hands of our soldiers would become useless, like sticks, for lack of ammunition, and our cannons would become mere decorations, or even targets, for lack of cannonballs.”
“Therefore, after discussing with our cabinet, His Majesty George decided to secretly allocate a sum of money for the research and development of our own firearms and cannons.”
Sir Edward let out a cold laugh and retorted: “And then? We know that this time, a large number of English-made firearms and cannons were used in the war against those French frogs, but the battlefield results could not prove that their power was inferior to those of the Great Ming.
“We can even say that if it weren’t for the large number of English-made firearms and cannons dragging us down, that short, stumpy Japanese fellow Tojo Nijuhachi actually had a chance to settle France within three months.”
“Furthermore, Mr. Pitt, you say that if the Great Ming stopped supplying us with military equipment, our firearms and cannons would become useless. Then, where did you get the information that proves the Great Ming would stop supplying us with military equipment?”
Sir Edward took two puffs of his pipe and continued with a cold laugh: “Facts speak for themselves, esteemed Mr. Pitt. Even during our war with France, the Ming people did not stop supplying us with military equipment, because they still needed to earn silver from us.”
Pitt was furious: “You foolish prairie dog, you are as foolish as Gargamel! The Ming people did not stop supplying us with military equipment because we are at war with France. What if we were at war with the Great Ming? If we don’t have complete independent production capabilities, what would we use to fight?”
With a snap, the pipe in Sir Edward’s hand fell onto the table. His expression perfectly conveyed utter astonishment. “War with… the Great Ming? God, my ears must be playing tricks on me. Damn you, Pitt, has your head been kicked by a donkey?”
Seeing the atmosphere becoming increasingly tense, another confidant of George III, Fox, could only brace himself and step forward to smooth things over under George III’s watchful eye: “Hypothetically, hypothetically, Mr. Pitt is merely speaking hypothetically, gentlemen, please do not take it to heart. Furthermore, isn’t the most important matter now to discuss how to redeem Edward and Richard?”
Sir Edward snorted: “They went to war under the orders of His Majesty George, and they were captured due to incorrect battlefield command. On what grounds do you expect their families to pay this ransom?”
Fox’s eyes darted, and he smiled: “Of course, they fought for England, and I believe England has both the responsibility and the obligation to redeem them—perhaps, we could even make a profit from it?”
Make a profit?
Upon hearing that England had the responsibility and obligation to redeem young Edward and Richard, Sir Edward and Sir Richard had already relaxed. Now, hearing that they could even make a profit…
Sir Edward, holding his pipe, asked with a smile: “Tell us, how do we make a profit?”
Fox glanced at George III, and after receiving George III’s signal, he directly said: “You should have heard that Hamis of Benghazi said many, well, inappropriate things at the Little Broken Pot conference.”
Upon hearing Benghazi, Sir Edward and Sir Richard immediately lost interest. Sir Edward said bluntly: “Benghazi is within France’s sphere of influence. Even if Hamis of Benghazi said something, it has nothing to do with us.”
Sir Richard echoed: “That’s right. Benghazi is so poor that even thieves cry when they go there. Even if we snatch it from France, what’s the point? It’s better not to lose money!”
Seeing the nobles and officials showing signs of agitation again, Fox’s face darkened, and he angrily said: “I know Benghazi is very poor! We are not going to attack Benghazi either!”
After the nobles and officials quieted down, Fox took several deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down: “What I mean is, Hamis of Benghazi said things he shouldn’t have at the Little Broken Pot, causing a huge mess, and those French frogs will definitely not let him off easily.”
“Coincidentally, we have a lot of surplus military equipment, such as matchlock guns and flintlock pistols.”
“These things are of no use to us, but selling them to Hamis of Benghazi can make him slightly stronger, enough to give those damn French frogs some amusement.”
Sir Edward shook his head and said: “Mr. Fox, Benghazi is too poor. Even if the military equipment we have is surplus, those Kunlun slaves cannot afford it.”
However, to the surprise of Sir Edward and the others, Fox also shook his head and denied Sir Edward’s statement: “Poor? Perhaps they cannot afford to eat or wear clothes, but they are certainly not poor.”
The nobles and officials present were immediately in an uproar.
Sir Richard retorted bluntly: “If not being able to afford food or clothes, and frequently starving to death, does not count as truly poor, then I ask, what does count as truly poor?”
Fox let out a laugh and said: “Please calm down, esteemed Sir Richard.”
“Perhaps you are not aware, but Benghazi has large diamond deposits—yes, diamonds that King Louis IX of France decreed only the king could possess, and the reserves are far greater than those in India.”
That’s right, that place called Benghazi was indeed so poor that even thieves were reluctant to visit, but Benghazi did produce diamonds, and the people of Benghazi were unaware of the value of diamonds.
Or rather, the people of Benghazi were not truly foolish enough to be unaware of the value of diamonds, but Benghazi and the entire Western Kunlun had always been French colonies. Just like the tributary pricing power of the Central Plains guilds, the French would not be foolish enough to tell the people of Benghazi the true value of diamonds, nor would they purchase diamonds at market prices.
Fox smiled and said: “Believe me, gentlemen, we only need to provide some surplus military equipment and firearms, along with some black bread, to exchange for a large amount of diamonds from those Kunlun slaves in Benghazi, and those Ming merchants in London will be waving their Yuanbao bank notes, madly buying diamonds.”
Upon hearing this, the nobles and officials present became excited.
With the Ming merchants’ advertising slogan, “A diamond is forever, a gem for eternity,” a diamond craze swept across the entire European continent. Which nobleman would dare to show their face without a pair of diamond rings when getting married!
It was detestable that those greedy Ming merchants always found ways to speculate on the rarity of diamonds, thus selling diamond rings at exorbitant prices!
If there were indeed large diamond mines in Benghazi…
Perhaps, England could not only make a substantial profit but even intervene in the diamond market?
Upon thinking of this, the breathing of Sir Edward, Sir Richard, and the other nobles and officials became rapid.
Fox continued: “However, although Benghazi has abundant diamonds and England has a large amount of surplus military equipment, this kind of transaction cannot be completed overnight. Coincidentally, England’s treasury does not have enough funds to redeem young Edward and Richard…”
Sir Edward’s face darkened, and he said sternly: “What do you mean by that? Are we just giving up on them?”
Fox said: “They are heroes who fought for England, so how can we give up on them? To solve the problem of the treasury’s lack of funds, Mr. Justin and I have discussed issuing a batch of war bonds, and we will redeem these bonds after the trade of military equipment and diamonds is completed.”
“Gentlemen, this is not only to solve the problem of reparations to France, but also to redeem young Edward and Richard, and more importantly, to provide everyone with an opportunity to make money. Therefore…”
Sir Edward snorted and said: “Our Edward family is willing to purchase one million pounds of bonds.”
Sir Richard followed suit: “Our Richard family is also willing to purchase one million pounds of bonds.”
“…”
As the various nobles and officials announced their willingness to purchase war bonds, George III quickly amassed approximately ten million pounds.
After the nobles and officials had left, George III couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh: “Ten million pounds is probably not even enough to cover the military expenses as compensation to France, let alone redeem young Edward and the others.”
Fox shook his head slightly and advised: “According to Justin’s calculations, the military expenses France spent this time are around six million pounds. Therefore, we can completely negotiate the military expenses to eight million pounds.”
“In other words, we have another two million pounds to redeem young Edward and Richard.”
“Moreover, I heard that Pierre is in charge of this negotiation. He should know that the Emperor of the Great Ming will certainly not sit idly by and watch England completely decline, so everything is still open for negotiation.”
“As for the rest… Sri Lanka is definitely irrecoverable, so let it be ceded.”
George III snorted coldly: “These terms are all acceptable, but the condition of only allowing England to retain twenty thousand troops for self-defense absolutely cannot be agreed to, no matter the cost!”