unclear

Chapter 1136 Balancing Interests

But he didn't have any good solution, just to fight back. However, he expressed limited dissatisfaction with Wang Datou's experience.

The originally planned military action was turned into a peace talk by one person. At the least, this is personal heroism, and at the most, it is suspected of disobeying orders.

In order to show personal ability, they ignore collective decision-making. If all front-line combat commanders do this, what is the use of the staff?

If it really succeeds, even without the emperor's protection, no one can say anything. The only fear is that it will end up like this, with no way forward or backward.

"If it can be proven that Wang Datou made a serious mistake in his work, I will deal with it seriously without you telling me. But before the matter is fully understood, please do not complain to each other. This will chill the hearts of those who have devoted themselves to the empire.

Let’s not discuss responsibilities and gains and losses today. After all these years, someone finally dared to challenge the empire. In my opinion, this is not a bad thing.

Since the battles with Outer Khalkha and Wala, the empire had not fought a decent large-scale battle in the past ten years. It was unknown whether the soldiers still had the courage, whether the generals could still command, whether the army could handle the task, and whether the court could plan and unite as one.

In the near future, the Empire is likely to face a larger-scale war. Rather than being caught off guard, it is better to take the opportunity of the current situation to proactively test the combat effectiveness of the Empire's army. What do you think?"

Hong Tao was very dissatisfied with Tan Mingming's speech. The traces of personal prejudice and departmental struggle were too obvious. It cannot be said that someone who did not act according to the design of the General Staff is a saboteur.

However, we cannot criticize Tan Mingming for being ignorant of the overall situation. If the accident was really caused by Wang Datou's misjudgment, he should indeed be punished accordingly.

So let's put aside the merits and demerits. The key issue at the moment is how to deal with the challenge from the Ottoman Empire. Yes, it is a challenge. Since the other party does not want to negotiate and has arrested Ming officials, it is obvious that they are not convinced.

Hong Tao believes that there is no other solution to this behavior. He must face it head-on without blinking an eye and punch it without saying a word. Even if the other party wants to negotiate, he has to wait until the winner is decided.

This is not bellicosity, nor is it a personal grudge, but a statement of attitude to other countries. It clearly tells everyone that the Ming Empire is not a soft persimmon, nor is it bloated, and it is not old. Anyone who wants to make trouble must be prepared to fight to the death.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. In my opinion, we should first send an envoy to explain the pros and cons and then find out the truth. If the other party still refuses to change, it won't be too late to use thunderous means."

The court officials did not directly say that the emperor's obvious inclination towards war was wrong, but they did not completely agree with it either. The main reason was that the Ottoman Empire was too far away, and the Ming Dynasty had no interests in the area.

Opening up trade routes to Europe sounds tempting, but in reality it is not urgent. A large part of the goods of the Ming Dynasty were consumed internally, and the export share had always been undertaken by Portuguese and Dutch merchant ships, with limited quantities, so there was no need to make great efforts to open up new markets in a short period of time.

There is also a land trade route from Yarkand to Persia, and going further west does not make much sense because the production cannot keep up. The goods transferred from Persia to the Russian Empire alone have been increasing year by year, and the price has nearly doubled, but the supply still cannot meet the demand.

Even if the Ottoman Empire was turned into an overseas territory, it would not be of much help to the many industries in the Ming Dynasty. It was good to use the Port of Colombo as a commodity distribution center, but it was really impossible to take care of going further west. Every court official, without exception, ran a business of one kind or another, and the scale of each business was ranked first, and they became the spokespersons of certain industries.

The court officials did not oppose the expedition to the Hawaiian Islands, but also rushed to offer suggestions. Why? Because they heard that there were several large silver and copper mines in America. If they did not vote in favor of sending troops and show more enthusiasm, they would not be able to get their hands on the spoils in the future.

It's not that they don't like fighting, but the benefits are not enough. The Ottoman Empire didn't have any special products to show for itself, and it was obvious that they couldn't gain much, but they had to spend the treasury on fighting desperately. What was the point?

"We were going to talk in the first place. I was planning to send resident envoys to each other to increase contact. But in the end, we got a cold shoulder. Do you think you should turn the right cheek after getting slapped on the left?"

Hong Tao rejected this suggestion without even thinking about it. Negotiations were not part of the plan. No matter how you look at it, the two great powers, Ming and Ottoman, do not have the basis for peaceful coexistence.

It was only because Wang Datou had a sudden idea and persuaded the Grand Vizier Tabar Pasha, and accidentally came up with a new idea of ​​resolving differences without using force, which was more in line with the interests of the Ming Dynasty in the short term, that the previous plan was greatly revised.

But the facts proved that Wang Datou failed. The arrogant and contemptuous Murad IV had no intention of having a good talk. Under such circumstances, it was a bit wishful thinking to expect to solve the problem through peace talks.

It's only once that you get cheated, you can't fall into the same pit many times. Regardless of whether it's a misunderstanding or not, it's definitely right to prepare for war first. Some people will only talk nicely when the enemy is at the gates. Even if you want to negotiate, you have to send troops first. Using war to promote peace is the best way.

"Your Majesty is right, but it is the settlement period now and the budget for next year has not yet been released. It is difficult to raise military funds in such a hurry. It would be better to wait until after February and the budget is approved before starting a war."

Seeing that the proposal for peace talks did not receive the emperor's approval, the Minister of Finance Sun Yuanhua found another excuse: military funds. Without sufficient military funds, neither the navy nor the army could go to war.

I'm not saying I won't give it to you, I'm just not doing it for now. If we delay it for a few months, we'll have time to figure out the whole thing, and we'll also have a chance to slowly convince the emperor not to act too hastily.

“Military expenses can be temporarily drawn from the treasury. I have saved a sum of money over the years, and I have not embezzled it even when I wanted to renovate the three main halls, so that I would not be controlled by military expenses at the critical moment.

As the art of war says, speed is the essence of war. Right now, the Ottoman army is confronting the Persians in Baghdad, and it is impossible to dispatch too many forces to defend everywhere. This is the best time for the Ming Dynasty to intervene. The longer it takes, the greater the variables.

Although the Colombo base has not yet been put into use, it can use the Danish relationship to borrow the Port of Hormuz as a supply port. I believe the Persians will also be happy to see this situation. "

But the emperor seemed to be stimulated by something and was determined to fight a war, and could not wait even a day. This made it difficult for the court officials to understand, and the Yangxin Palace fell into silence for a while, and the atmosphere was very depressing.

(End of this chapter)