The topic of going south and north appeared again in the Imperial Council. However, unlike in the past, the southbound strategy is now bankrupt.

Since the plan to seize the Philippine Islands failed, the follow-up strategy of the South Seas is even more needless to think about. If the European Union can interfere the first time, it can interfere with the second. If you continue to go south without knowing whether you are alive or dead, it will be a sign that you are tired of living.

On the whole, although Japan suffered heavy losses in the Philippine War, they were not completely without gains.

Among them, the biggest gain is the acquisition of a modern fleet. In the past, they had capital ships that money could not buy, but in the war they got both.

Judging from the total tonnage of warships alone, the Japanese Navy has become the fifth naval power in the world after Britain, Austria, Russia, and Spain.

If nothing happens, after the end of the Philippine War, the warships purchased at the Japanese government auction will be able to surpass Spain and Russia and become the world's third naval power.

If nothing else is taken into account, then this is the highlight of the Japanese Empire. It's a pity that behind this glamour, there is also an empty treasury.

In Japan's present situation, it is simply impossible to afford such a fleet without external expansion, and even if all the government's financial revenues are invested, it will not be enough.

"Judging from the current situation, it is indeed easier to go north than to go south, the problem is that the finances of the empire can no longer support a big war.

North Korea is not to be worried, but the reaction of xxx, we cannot but take into account. Even though they are gone, they are still a behemoth to us.

Once a war breaks out, it is not something we can unilaterally end when it will end. In the event that the war continues, there is a high probability that the empire will be dragged to death. ”

It's not that Kiyotaka Kuroda is timid, it's that the Japanese government's finances are too bad. Although the Philippine Islands are rich, they have not had time to operate them, and the plundered wealth alone is simply not enough to support the war.

I don't have any money in my pocket, so I don't have anything to do. Although the neighbors are in decline, they have a solid background, and with the current strength of the Japanese Empire, there is no certainty of victory.

Yama Prefecture Youtomo: "Kuroda-kun, now is the best opportunity to go north." Because of the Philippine campaign, our neighbors have let their guard down on us, and they are fantasizing about losing both us and the Spaniards.

But they forgot that although we had suffered heavy losses in the war, the military power of the empire was growing, and the balance of power between the two sides had changed.

The limited finances of the empire constrained the development of military power, and we could not support such a large army in peacetime. Our national power determines that the military power of the empire is now at its peak, at least for the next twenty years.

If we don't take advantage of the advantages of the present to knock our neighbors down and expand enough living space for the empire, we will have no chance in the future.

We don't have a choice. For the sake of the future of the Japanese Empire, even if the risk is great, it must be done. Moreover, the risk is not great now, even if it fails, it is a big deal to repeat the old things of 1874. ”

Ambition comes not only from strength, but also from the "face" of a decaying empire. If you can get compensation for the failure of the invasion, what is there to be afraid of?

Even if you lose the war, it's a big deal to do a few more performances, and the matter will pass, and maybe you can take advantage of it.

No matter how powerful such a country is, it cannot be feared. It's more cost-effective to be an enemy than a friend.

In a sense, the ambitions of the Japanese government were indulged by the XXX Empire. If there was a different owner, Japan would have been crippled in 1874, and there would have been no follow-up ......

In addition to the soft persimmons that are easy to pinch, what is more important is that there is no need to encounter the forces of the great powers in the north, unlike the great powers in the South Seas, who gather together and have to step on thunder if they are not careful.

The main thing is that the last thirty or forty years the tsarist government has been busy, first taking Constantinople, then teaching restless Prussia, and now it is busy moving south to India.

The government's strategic center of gravity did not shift eastward, and the pace of expansion of the Russians in the Far East naturally slowed down, and the tentacles did not have time to penetrate deep into Korea.

With the lesson of the failure of the southward movement, this is the moment when the Japanese government fears the foreign powers the most. Although they are not inferior to Spain, they are not arrogant if they do not win.

Seeing that no one answered, Emperor Meiji frowned and asked, "Does the Admiralty have a different opinion?" ”

"Nope!"

Admiral Minister Saigo replied slowly.

As is customary in the Japanese military, the navy will oppose any proposal from the army, and vice versa. What's more, now it is also involved in the battle for the expansion route, and the competition should be more intense.

However, Saigo Congdao has a word of suffering. No matter how good the reason, the southbound strategy has failed. As the stronghold of the southbound faction and the leader of the invasion of the Philippines, the Admiralty is naturally to blame.

Such a big responsibility is not even the Admiralty. In order to avoid a political reckoning in the future, they now have to make compromises.

In fact, not only the Admiralty, but also the top of the Japanese government are grasshoppers on a rope. Resisting the European Continental Alliance is lifeless, and it is impossible to give an account to the country when it makes compromises.

If you want to land safely, you must find an excuse that can be accepted by the people. Although "striking the south and attacking the north" is a bit far-fetched, it is better than nothing.

The Japanese people have not yet reached the craziest time, and as long as they win the victory in the end and have a decent trophy, they will be able to explain the past.

After a moment of silence, Emperor Meiji said indifferently, "If you have no opinion, then prepare to negotiate with the European Continental Alliance."

Prime Minister, if you are European, who knows the European Union best, you will be in charge of the negotiations. Don't worry about keeping the Philippine Islands, and get compensation for the empire as much as possible!

On the issue of going north, the military came up with a plan as soon as possible. We can't afford to lose, and you should know what the consequences will be if there is another accident. ”

It can be seen that Emperor Meiji was very dissatisfied with the current situation. However, apart from warning and beating, he couldn't do anything else, and the depression can be imagined.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

……

After finishing a game, I immediately went to another table. Faced with a gambler-style government, Ito has nothing to say.

I knew it was wrong, but the Japanese government had no choice. It's easy to leave the table, but the question is what happens to the debts left behind after you have finished it?

Don't look at the "government bankruptcy-debt restructuring" of European countries, if the Japanese government dares to follow suit, it will immediately become the "chicken" used to set an example for monkeys.

Not to mention the Anglo-Japanese alliance, it involves vital interests, and it is useless to have any alliance. In this regard, the British government is the most realistic.

To use the most popular phrase in the international media: "It must be a land power country that dares to rely on Britain's accounts." If you want to be more specific, you can also add a Russian Empire to the end.

So far, only the Tsarist government has been able to settle the accounts of the British, and has not received "cordial condolences" from the Royal Navy.

Including the countries of the European Continental Union, they are now going bankrupt and having a good time, and still none of them say that they are ready to pay their debts. One by one, the demands were: partial reduction of loan interest, or grace payment time.

People have a backstage, but they really have no money, and the British government is not easy to use, so creditors can only accept debt restructuring with a sad face. It's better to be able to recover the cost than to lose all your money.

Don't think about this kind of treatment for the Japanese government, the southward strategy failed, the Russians did not advance eastward, Japan's value to Britain has fallen to a low point, and it is not worth the British government to sell their face.

……

Franz was naturally unaware of the suffering faced by the Japanese government. Although the memory of his previous life has faded over time, it still does not affect his displeasure with the Meiji government.

The cost of the labor expedition is too great, and it is okay to knock the sticks in secret. What is even more reassuring is that the Japanese government, which has been severely beaten by society, still thinks that the Spanish government's public relations has played a role.

Since the Japanese misunderstood, it was better to let them misunderstand, just be a behind-the-scenes hero, and Franz has always stayed away from things that show off and pull hatred.

The next international mediation, Franz no longer cared. As long as the British government's mind did not enter the water, Japan's withdrawal from the South Seas was a foregone conclusion.

If the British government had jumped out in support of Japan at this time, Franz would have been even happier. As long as the event expands, it will be Britain vs. the Continental Union.

If it really becomes "the princes of the Eighteen Roads to ask for Dong", then there is no need to do anything, or in five years, HRE will be the only world overlord.

It's just that the position of hegemon obtained by this kind of group is not stable, and the Russian Empire, as a good ally of the HRE, is likely to seize India; And the United States of America, far away in the Americas, could also take advantage of the opportunity to annex Canada.

This is not a problem of 1+1=2, and mass production will also cause qualitative changes. Both Russia, which annexed India, and the United States, which annexed Canada, have the potential to become world hegemons.

One-on-one Shinra is not cowardly. Although the current Russian Empire has fewer internal contradictions, the price paid is a significant reduction in population, and the numerical superiority of gray cattle no longer exists.

Even if India is obtained, with the efficiency of the tsarist bureaucracy, it will not be able to transform into national strength in the short term.

The United States, known as the Chosen One, is now also in a shrunken version, not only has it lost the southern region and Alaska, but more importantly, the quality of the population has been greatly reduced, and the racial contradictions in the country have risen significantly.

It is a pity that the Holy Mother is not in vogue now, and the government of the United States has suppressed the contradictions by force, otherwise there would be no problem if they had given them a saint.

A single Shinra family can hold it down, if these two guys from all over the world join forces, things will not be so easy to handle.

It is obviously unrealistic to directly use violent beatings. Every time a major war of this level breaks out, it is a heavy blow to the HRE Empire.

Especially these guys are big guys, and they can't be killed with a stick. Next door is France, for example, and before it has yet recovered from the wounds of war, the voices of revenge in the country have begun to rise.

Although King Carlos has tried his best to suppress it, it is impossible not to let people speak in such a country that worships freedom.

Hatred will continue, if you really fight all the way to become the world hegemon, it is estimated that before the decline of the HRE itself, the hatred will overthrow the hegemony of the HRE.

As soon as he thought of Britain, France, Russia, the United States, or more countries taking revenge together, Franz felt his scalp tingle. Fight all the way, what is the road of hegemony, it is clearly the road of suicide that leads to hell.

not only destroys himself, but also drags the entire human civilization to hell together. It seems that this is what the mustache of the original time and space did, and the awesome Third Reich soon became history in the flames of war.

Since you can't go all the way over, then Britain, the overlord, should be left alone for the time being. As long as the British themselves do not die, it is not a big problem to support them for another ten or eight years.

Shenluo just used this time to continue to practice his internal skills, and after he had an absolute advantage in strength, he would go over to take over. lest the strength is not good, and others can take advantage of it.

For now, let's not do anything and deal with the economic crisis honestly! If the European continent collapses, no matter what hegemony is, it will collapse at the touch of a button.

……

Prime Minister Karl: "Your Majesty, the list of the first batch of specially dispatched laborers has been determined, with a total of 468,000 people from 13 countries, including Sard, Piraeus and Switzerland, and it is expected that they will start boarding ships and going overseas next week.

The recruitment of the second and third batches of workers is also carried out similarly. With more than 18 million registrations as of last week, it seems that governments are hiding the crisis. ”

There is no way, the "labor dispatch plan" that was originally just to solve the unemployment rate in the younger brother's country has been expanded to the entire European continent with the participation of other European countries.

Don't look at the recruitment enrollment ratio is only 1:6, it doesn't seem to be much, and any job fair in the future can add a zero to the back.

The problem is that the base is huge, 18 million people have signed up to recruit 3 million laborers, and even though some of them are employed, there are many more unemployed people who do not sign up because they do not want to work in the colonies.

From the analysis of the data, it can be determined that the unemployment rate in European countries has far exceeded the information provided by national governments.

Now Franz somewhat understands why the economic summit is progressing so fast, with such a high unemployment rate, and governments are sitting on a powder keg every day, and it is not efficient.

Not to mention that the conditions of the Viennese government were not excessive, even if they were harsh, they could only accept them in order to maintain their rule.

"Hmm!"

After a pause, Franz asked with concern, "Is the language teacher in place?" ”

The scope has been expanded, and the original labor dispatch plan has also undergone a qualitative change. If it weren't for the fear of arousing the vigilance of governments, Franz would have opened up for recruitment a long time ago.

Attracting immigrants is secondary, the most important thing is to promote language and culture and expand the soft power of the empire.

Whether you like it or not, the most widely spoken language in those years was English, followed by Spanish, and Austrian was not as widely spoken as French.

Because of historical legacies, French has the reputation of "aristocratic language", so much so that European aristocrats have run to learn French. Even in the decline of France, the language of European diplomacy remained French.

If people don't want to learn language and culture, you can't force it into their minds.

Overseas is a little better, because of the defeat of France, the HRE has become more attractive to people of insight who are eager to learn to save the world, and even the wind of learning Austrian language has risen.

The European continent is not good, they are all old neighbors, who doesn't know whom?

It is said that Shinra's fist is the largest, and everyone believes it; If you want to say that the HRE culture is better, fool the ghost!

Martial arts can't compare to you, and everyone in Wendou is still not intimidated. Regardless of whether it is a divided Italy or a declining Greece, they are all historical and cultural beings who have beaten the existence of the HRE.

If it weren't for the banner of the Roman heir, Franz himself would not be embarrassed to advertise his long history and culture. But it's okay to fool people overseas, but don't humiliate yourself on the continent.

The Vienna government was not without its efforts, but the French and Italians were noticeably more professional in their arts.

As the saying goes, "the country is unfortunate and the poet is lucky", now that the country is developing, those works of art that worry about the country and the people will naturally not come out.

In contrast, divided Italy and defeated France both provided the best stage for literati and ink writers. Works of art are now pouring out.

If you can't compare to art, you can only play with technology. The economic crisis is the best opportunity, and others can not learn it, but those who go to work in the HRE Overseas Territories must learn the Austrian language.

Whoever owns the territory is in charge, and when you get to the place, you not only have to learn the language, but also your living habits have to change.