Subtitle of this chapter: The first time is tragedy, the second time is comedy, and what is the third time?

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The faces of the two little devils were a little ugly, and Nomura Kichizaburo coughed and said: "Mr. Yuan, you must not misunderstand, through the '88th Fleet' plan, the country also wants to maintain the harmonious situation in the Far East with its friends and promote the common prosperity of Greater East Asia, and it is not aimed at any country. ”

It's a diplomat who can tell nonsense with his eyes open, and you don't believe it yourself.

"Oh, I see...... Then I was really mistaken. Our Master Yuan said with a smile, "But it doesn't matter what I think, what matters is what the U.S. government and the American people think." ”

This sentence is really to the point, of course, if our Master Yuan now clearly tells the two neon gold, there will be a war between Japan and the United States, and these two little devils will definitely treat him as a big madman.

So he didn't dwell too much on this topic, but changed the conversation and said: "Actually, it still comes down to the Anglo-Japanese alliance." ”

"We Oriental people have a term for Go, which is called golden horn and silver edged grass belly. The reason why the Second German Reich, which had the most powerful army in the world, was still defeated was because they were located in Central Europe, with Tsarist Russia to the east and Britain and France to the west. Fighting on two fronts, how many undefeated people? ”

In the same way, don't look at the United States, far from the world island, and in the New World. However, as long as the Anglo-Japanese alliance exists, they will be in a disadvantageous position to be caught between the Pacific and the Atlantic. If you were the other hand, might you put up with this kind of strategic situation of fighting on two fronts like Germany in the event of a war? ”

In fact, such a simple geopolitical knowledge, it is not unclear to think of these two elites of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The reason why Yuan Yanqian opened his words was to guide this conversation to the track he wanted.

He continued: "So the key is not your country or the United States, but ...... United Kingdom! ”

"If the sun never sets, the empire still wants to maintain the glory of the Victorian era and continue to dominate the world. Then Great Britain said that it would not turn its back on the Anglo-Japanese alliance. Is it the other way around...... Hehehe. ”

As soon as these words came out, Nomura and Yamamoto showed some disbelief. Yamamoto Fifty-six couldn't help but ask: "Mr. Yuan, do you think that the British will be willing to give up global domination?" ”

Let's put it this way, adults in 1921, and certainly adults with a little common sense of international politics, can be called "Victorian figures", because their formative years are shrouded in the afterglow of the "infinite sunset" of the empire on which the sun never sets.

The Victorian era was the culmination of the Industrial Revolution in Britain and the heyday of the British Empire's economy and culture. For Victorian figures, although Britain was exhausted during the First World War, it was simply rare for someone like Master Yuan to be sure that Niu Niu would fall from the top of the world.

When Yuan Yanqian heard this question, her spirit couldn't help but perk, and it was finally time for her to really pretend to be forced.

"Mr. Yamamoto, it's not that Britain is willing or not, but whether Britain can maintain their world hegemony."

He habitually lit his cigar and said leisurely as he shook a match, "Gentlemen, do you know what 'The resource curse' is?" ”

"Resource curse?" The two little devils looked at each other and shook their heads.

Of course they don't know, because this phrase was just "invented" by our Master Yuan. The resource curse is a concept in development economics that came to be known as "Dutch disease".

Our Master Yuan enthusiastically began to brainwash them...... Well, it's class:

"Gentlemen, throughout history there has been an economic phenomenon that has often occurred that a country's abundance of natural resources can drag down its economic development......"

This view will be more profoundly understood by future generations, and the countries of Arabia, which "became rich because of the flow of oil", are a good example. On the surface, their level of industrialization and military prowess are simply a disgrace.

Of course, there are other examples in history.

"You don't believe it? Let me give you an example. ”

For example, the world's first truly global empire and colonial empire is also known as the Spanish Empire, which is known as the first empire on which the sun never sets. In front of the two of you, I don't think I need to retell its history, except to say that the Spanish Empire rose and fell from the precious metals of the Americas. ”

This example tells us a truth, labor creates value, innovation drives progress, and plundering and rentier will only lead to the degradation of the country and the nation! But this eternal truth is no match for human inertia and short-sightedness. ”

Yuan Yanqian took a puff of cigarette and said with a strange expression: "For the humans of our time, luck...... Or unfortunately, Britain followed the mistakes of Spain. ”

"The colonies all over the world are the gold of the Americas for the British. With such a vast and rich colony, and such an abundance of cheap labor, what industry did the British themselves have? ”

After the Second World War, John Maynard Keynes once recalled England in a melancholy tone: "The inhabitant of London, while drinking tea in the morning, could buy by telephone all kinds of products from all over the world, as much as he saw fit, and every reason to hope that the goods he had ordered would be delivered to his door quickly; In the same way, he can invest his wealth in natural resources and new ventures anywhere in the world, and share in the fruits and advantages of the future, without any hassle or effort...... Previously, this was a privilege reserved only for the wealthiest and most powerful kings. ”。

Relying on the abundant resources and huge manpower of the colonies, Britain successfully completed the primitive accumulation and industrialization of capital, but it was the abundant resources of the colonies that made the British industry lose the impetus for further progress.

Don't blame others for being red-eyed. The mustache, always very honest, said bluntly, "If the Anglo-Saxons do not recognize, in addition to the interests of the British, there are also the interests of the Germans...... Then I don't think there can be an eternal friendship between the German and Anglo-Saxon peoples. ”。

Are these scenes, these words familiar?

As a time-traveler and economist, Yuan Yanqian knows that the resource curse trap of the world empire has occurred three times in history, the first is that the Spanish Empire flourished in American precious metals and declined in American precious metals; The second is that the British Empire rose in the colonies and fell in the colonies; Is it the third time......

"Gentlemen, Engels...... Of course I don't like his doctrine, but he said a wonderful thing that all great events and people in world history often appear the first time as tragedy, and the second time as comedy. ”

"The decline of the Spanish Empire was accompanied by a series of wars that followed the Thirty Years' War, so what will happen to the decline of the British Empire?"

Speaking of this, our Master Yuan couldn't help but have a question in his heart, what will happen when the third world hegemony declines?