After the dinner was over, Gu Derivation did not immediately return to the ship, but was left behind.

I knew that what I was doing at the dinner table wasn't over yet. So before His Majesty could ask, Gu Cheng took the initiative to step forward.

"Your Majesty's retainers came to seal the port for the Ottomans?"

"Since the Qing family knows my thoughts, then tell me the truth what happened there?"

Zhu Mingzhong asked straight to the point.

"Back to Your Majesty, the information I learned before the minister left office has been truthfully told just now. It's just that the minister personally has some thoughts on this matter, and I don't know whether to talk about it or not. ”

Gu Derivation said cautiously.

"But it doesn't hurt to say it."

Zhu Mingzhong nodded and said.

"It's Your Majesty, so the minister has something to say."

Gu Zhibi said frankly to His Majesty respectfully.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that our strategy in the Ottomans in recent years, which seems to be secret, is actually full of wisdom, as far as the minister knows, starting from Egypt, the Ottomans have seen that we want to bite a piece of meat from them, from Egypt to the Balkans, we have financed the uprising of those rebels, provided them with weapons, provided funds, all of this, all of this is deteriorating the relationship between us and them, in the minister's opinion, it is only now that the Ottomans have begun to close the port, but the minister is curious why they are doing this now, maybe, That is, because they are afraid of our power. ”

"Well, the power of the Ottomans may be strong for Europe, but compared to us...... It's normal for them to be wary of our strength. However, the sudden closure of the port is a bit abnormal. ”

Zhu Mingzhong nodded and said.

The Ottoman Empire was very aware of the gap between their strength and the Ming Dynasty, and because of this, after their defeat in Vienna, they chose to be patient in the face of the intervention of the Ming Dynasty for the independence of Egypt, of course, the most fundamental reason was that the Balkan uprising contained too much of their strength.

Now the Ottomans are closing the port, which is not only a warning to the Ming Dynasty, but also shows that they have withdrawn, so Zhu Mingzhong will agree to strengthen his forces in Egypt, just in case.

"Back to Your Majesty, the minister thinks that now that the Ottoman seal the port must be a test, to test our bottom line, after all, the Ottoman knows very well that our strength, and he himself is a big Western country, it is impossible for them not to react to our actions, so they will also deal with some things cautiously, and the minister believes that the Ottoman will not rashly deal with us. In Yichen's view, maintaining deterrence at present is the best choice for us, and it is not in the interests of the Ming Dynasty to rashly engage with them, after all, for the time being, it is undoubtedly in our interests for the overseas commercial interests pursued by the Ming Dynasty to maintain temporary friendship with them. ”

Gu Derivation's answer made Zhu Mingzhong's brows furrow slightly, and a burst of displeasure welled up in his heart, and then said.

"Business interests may be important, but don't forget our mission!"

Zhu Mingzhong's tone became a little stern.

"Perhaps, in the past twenty years or so, our expansion into overseas colonies has been limited, and we have also been cautious in our expansion in the Tianzhu Sea and in the Atlantic, almost including all the islands in the ocean that are adjacent to the mainland. This was a very shrewd strategy, as the Ming could use these islands to establish commercial relations with the mainland, and draw as many commercial benefits from the mainland as possible through commercial channels like vampires, without having to bear any moral or political responsibility for the decline of the mainland due to colonial exploitation, let alone the thankless responsibility of governing the mainland colonies. But ......"

Zhu Mingzhong, whose tone became a little displeased, said with a serious expression.

"But if we only look at the future from this perspective, then we will have no imperial bearing, no imperial mission, and no ambition to create a great civilization. Don't forget, we, what kind of responsibility we shoulder, we shoulder the responsibility of civilization, if it is only limited to consultation, then the Ming Dynasty is at best a small country that is good at planning and harming others and benefiting itself, and does not admire the fate of mankind in the future at all! ”

His Majesty's words fell on Gu Yuan's ears, making him hurriedly shake his head while being surprised.

"Your Majesty's lofty position is really beyond the reach of the ministers, compared to Your Majesty, the ministers are too petty."

Taking a deep breath, Zhu Mingzhong stared at Gu Cheng for a few moments before sighing.

"I don't blame you for this, our colonial strategy in the past, there are indeed some problems, outside of Nanyang, Xinxia and North America, we emphasize the cost-effectiveness ratio, emphasizing commercial interests, as for the rest, they all give way to this basis, even the Philippines, we consider commercial interests the most, we do have a little family, but, at the same time, I have not forgotten my mission, what are we in Egypt, in North America, and in Xinxia? It is for the mission of spreading civilization! In order to shoulder the mission of the continuation of human civilization, the Ottoman ......"

After a slight pause, Zhu Mingzhong said coldly,

"It's a stumbling block for us to achieve this mission, so it has to be completely solved."

"Your Majesty is angry. The minister's failure to understand the holy will is indeed a dereliction of duty on the part of the minister. Your Majesty is asked to condemn you. However, the minister thought that the court should still be cautious in this matter. First, because the strength of the Ottomans is strong, although the current strength is not as good as in the past, it is still a great power in the world, and second, if our country attacks, it will inevitably need to go on an expedition, so it is bound to have many inconveniences. Your Majesty, I beg your pardon to say that in the case of the Ottomans, the court should now choose forbearance, and should further accumulate its strength in Egypt, and strive to strike a fatal blow at it at the right time in the future. While asking His Majesty for guilt, Gu Fu argued with reason.

In fact, after receiving the news of the Ottoman closure of Hong Kong, Gu Zhen, who was still serving in his subordinate department at that time, had already made a decision, and he was also ready to suggest to His Majesty. Even now, after leaving his subordinates, he has not changed his original judgment.

"As for the previous Governor Huang's suggestion of an alliance with the Spaniards, the minister thought that it was entirely feasible, and even now, we should send an envoy to negotiate an alliance with the Spaniards, of course, the purpose is not to exchange Jerusalem with them, after all, it is still under the control of the Ottomans, and we are now negotiating with them in order to tell the Ottomans that if they insist on going their own way, then we will definitely solve the problem by other means."

Listening to Gu Derivation's explanation, Zhu Mingzhong's displeasure eased a lot. He thought for a moment and then asked.

"And what if the Ottomans reopen the port? In that case, what should the imperial court do? ”

"Back to Your Majesty, the reopening of the port by the Ottomans is exactly what the imperial court needs at this stage, and this does not prevent us from making an alliance with the Spaniards, all we need is time, and of course when the right time arises, we need an appropriate excuse."

Gu Derivation said directly. The biggest advantage of being a boss is that you can see the big picture, not just Oss.

"Excuse ......"

Zhu Mingzhong groaned and did not speak.

"The minister thinks that the current Ottoman closure of the port is not a suitable excuse, this is just an ordinary commercial dispute, if this is used as an excuse to send troops, will it cause dissatisfaction among the people? Furthermore, if the closure of the port was something they had been planning for a long time, then I am afraid that they had already prepared their plans and were waiting for our fleet to go and throw themselves into the net, so I thought that we could send troops to strengthen the forces in the direction of Egypt, and we could form an alliance with the Spaniards, but for the time being, we would not use troops, and at the same time maintain deterrence, and induce them to take the initiative to go to war against us, of course, this time should be chosen by us, not by them. ”

After Gu Derivation finished his suggestion, he fell silent.

"Well, the Qing family has some truth. I also understand that this may be the best choice, but I think that the majesty of the Ming Dynasty cannot be provoked, and their closure of Hong Kong is an offense to the Ming Dynasty, and if we can't do something, then in the future, others will follow suit. ”

After a moment of silence, Zhu Mingzhong said categorically.

"Then according to Your Majesty's intention to send troops?"

Gu Zhen asked worriedly.

"We don't have to send troops, Jerusalem, that's a very good suggestion!"

Zhu Mingzhong smiled, if you say what is the biggest gain from going south this time, I am afraid it is Huang Baichuan's suggestion.

A seemingly inconspicuous place that can play an unexpected role.

Seeing that His Majesty had already made a decision, Gu Fei dared to question it at all. He shook his head deeply.

"Your Majesty. When the minister arrived in Pingnan, he must have someone to strictly monitor the situation on the Tianzhu Sea, and report to His Majesty as soon as there is any disturbance. ”

"Well, then the Qing family will go down first."

Zhu Mingzhong nodded in response.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Nachen ...... He quit. ”

When Gu Derivation was about to withdraw, Zhu Mingzhong looked at him and said.

"Aiqing is doing things well there, I won't forget the Qing family!"

His Majesty's words made Gu Wei tremble, and when he retreated to the door, he once again looked at His Majesty, and then slowly retreated.

After Gu Cheng stepped back, Zhu Heyuan, who had been watching from the side, asked thoughtfully.

"Father, are you really going to use the Ottomans?"

He already knows where his future "fiefdom" is, and of course he is very concerned about this matter, after all, it is directly related to his future.

"Not preparation."

Shaking his head, Zhu Mingzhong said to his son.

"But it must be, as the father said before, this is our responsibility, and it is also the necessity of spreading civilization, either we are satisfied with the status quo, or we let the world bathe in the gospel of Chinese civilization, this is our mission......"

Mission!

After coming to this era, with the changes of time, an unprecedented sense of mission arose in Zhu Mingzhong's heart, of course, this generation was more based on the need for "expansion".

There are many kinds of expansion needs, some are based on territory, but they can also be based on "civilization", and only "civilization" is the highest reason, after all, territorial expansion is often "unjust", but what about the expansion of civilization?

But it's an honor.

This honor and mission. And this kind of mission can drive Daming to continue to expand outward.

"Throughout the ages, people have always emphasized that wars must be famous, otherwise they will be reckless." The fundamental purpose of "being famous" is not just to find a reason for oneself to go to war. The more important thing is to give the soldiers a determination to fight to the death. Many times many wars are lost, not because of the weak fighting power of the aggressor, but because the soldiers lack sufficient will to fight. ”

It was not natural for Zhu Mingzhong to think of those wars in modern times. I can't help but sigh at the wisdom of my ancestors in my heart.

I don't want to be in North Korea in another time and space, after the baptism of World War II, whether it is the quality of individual soldiers or the cooperation between teams, it has reached the point of perfection, and its combat effectiveness is very strong, but the US army also has a fatal weakness, that is, the will to fight is far from volunteering! The army is resolute and will surrender once it runs out of ammunition and food.

"The teacher is famous. At least for that, we have to do that. This is the only hope that we will fight a war tens of thousands of miles away and win it. If we are going to fight a battle with no name. So ......"

There was a moment of silence. Then Zhu Mingzhong said.

"Then we could have failed a lot. Therefore, we must be famous and unanimous. ”

"The whole country is unanimous?"

For this term, Zhu Heyuan is obviously a little unfamiliar. It was the first time he had heard the word, even though he could take it literally.

"Yes, it's the whole country. It is the same hatred and hatred. It's like the current war against the Manchus. Even if this war lasts for ten or twenty years, from the court to the people, there will be 100% support for the official army to carry out this war, and no one will care about how much money will be paid in this war, and no one will care about how many people will die in this war, what is the only thing people care about at that time? ”

Looking back at his son, Zhu Mingzhong asked rhetorically. Facing his father's question, Zhu Heyuan thought for a moment and replied.

"Victory. At that time, the only thing people cared about was victory, that is, we defeated the enemy in the end and won the war. ”

Just like the war in the Western Regions, no one cares how much money is spent, and no one cares about the railways. Maybe it will be in a state of loss for a long time.

There is only one thing that everyone cares about...... Victory.

People care about victory, that's all.

"That's why I need to be famous."

After a long sigh like this. Zhu Mingzhong looked at his son and said earnestly.

"Everything we have to do now is for the future. But few people know. The significance of all this for the Ming Dynasty. In a situation where people don't even know it. The division is famous. It was our only option. ”

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