"For the middle and upper classes of the Chinese Empire...... Life offered convenience, enjoyment, and entertainment at a lower cost and with minimal hassle, a privilege previously enjoyed only by the wealthiest classes and monarchs. The inhabitants of the Imperial Capital could drink from the overseas provinces or colonial ranches at the table while reading the advertisements in the newspapers, and then they could buy as many products from the whole world as they wanted, as long as he saw fit, and there was every reason to hope that the goods he ordered would be delivered to his doorstep as soon as possible—the Imperial cruise ships and freighters sailing across the oceans would deliver them to the Empire in the shortest possible time; At the same time, in the same way, he can invest his wealth in natural resources and new ventures in any corner of the world, and share in the fruits and advantages of the future, without any effort or effort......"

World Empires

Although the book "World Empires" published in 1900 describes the life of the people of the Chinese Empire, the Chinese Empire after 1900 is undergoing earth-shaking changes.

It was from all this that party politics began to appear in China, and in the following periods, political parties finally broke away from the track designed by His Majesty in the 28th year of the empire, and with the support of the crown prince, they were able to show themselves in the political struggle.

Party politics is new to the country, but it is certain that all this is exactly what the country's elites are committed to promoting, and domestic affairs are beginning to be dominated by popular opinion, bureaucrats are beginning to be accountable to parliament, even women can participate in politics, and universal suffrage has emerged at the local level. All of this was experimented with in the colonies for a long time, but it was not until forty-two years later, after the twentieth century, that is, in the Western calendar, that it was not implemented on the empire itself.

In the 28 years since the empire, China has been in an unprecedented state of prosperity. Urban life, culture, and art are flourishing like never before. And everyone believes that all this is unchangeable and unshakable, and this prosperity will continue, and it seems that no one sees the hidden worries in it.

On the fourth day of the first month of the fiftieth year of Kaihong, on February 3, 1908 in the Western calendar, a heavy snow fell again one after another, but this heavy snow did not affect the grand ceremony that was being held. On this day 50 years ago, Zhu Yifeng, as the founding emperor, ascended the throne as emperor in Nanjing, and it was from that day that this day became the National Day of the Chinese Empire.

On this day, grand celebrations were inevitable in all parts of the empire, because it was the long New Year's holiday, so the whole country, from the North American provinces to the African colonies, and the Pacific provinces, were all bustling with activity, and the combination of national day ceremonies and holidays everywhere gave people more reasons to celebrate all this and celebrate their lives.

In the past 50 years, the country has undergone earth-shaking changes, not only that the empire has 65% of the world's industrial output, nor is it 70% of the world's steel production, not even that the empire, which is the ferryman of the world, has more than 35 million tons of merchant ships, and more importantly, the Chinese people have never enjoyed such a rich life.

"Before the founding of the empire, 70% of the people of the empire were struggling on the edge of food and clothing, and in the fifty years of the empire, not only was the problem of warmth solved as early as 20 years ago, wheat, rice, cattle and sheep, and dairy products from the colonies not only enriched the people's tables, but also changed their lives, even the poor people in the slums of Shanghai, not only could eat, but also ate meat at least twice a week, and malnutrition had long disappeared from the country......

The praise in the newspapers was not stingy, but for Zhu Yifeng, as the emperor of the empire, he knew that all this was true—because China had the largest territory and colonies in the world, the great plains of North America supplied the wheat and corn needed by the empire, the pastures of Australia and New Zealand provided the meat needed by the empire, the farms in Africa supplied all kinds of tropical crops, and even the plantations in Southeast Asia also provided all kinds of tropical fruits needed by the empire.

Of course, more importantly - now the population of the empire itself is only 250 million, and the native agricultural population including Siberia is less than 50 million, and the large-scale migration that lasted for fifty years has fundamentally changed China, and the local population is getting smaller and smaller, and correspondingly, there are more than 500 million Chinese living in North America, Africa and Pacific provinces, and the former Japanese, Koreans and Vietnamese have long been integrated into the Chinese.

All of them, it seems good...... Apart from...... Thinking of the ambition of Wilhelm II in Europe, who was eager to try with Britain and try to redivide the world, Zhu Yifeng's slight lock.

Could it be that a new world war is inevitable?

"Father, the banquet is about to begin!"

At this moment, Zhu Yifeng heard his son's words, raised his head, and saw his son - Zhu Fenghai, who was fifty-five years old, wearing a red Han-style dress, he didn't know when he came in, and he didn't know how long he had been standing there, looking at his son's somewhat whitish sideburns, Zhu Yifeng sighed in his heart.

He has been the crown prince for fifty years!

However, compared to Charles in the United Kingdom in another time and space, it seems that there are more than ten years less. Moreover, everything is coming to an end.

Since the earthquake in San Francisco destroyed the laboratory two years ago, Zhu Yifeng has been waiting for the arrival of this year, and in a few months, everything will be over!

"Fenghai, this year's banquet will be hosted by you, I ...... I ......"

Shaking his head, at this time, Zhu Yifeng hoped that he could use his father's identity to chat with his son for a while, after all, there was not much time left for him, only a few months, although as early as eight years ago, he deliberately handed over the country to him in the way of the crown prince's imprisonment, but ...... When the day really came, he didn't know what his son would lead the country to.

For this son, though, he was generally satisfied. In terms of releasing power, he is even more active than himself, but the only thing that worries Zhu Yifeng is whether his steps will be too fast, after all, it is a good idea to end autocracy with autocracy, but it all takes time.

Looking at his father, who looked white, Zhu Fenghai nodded, after the death of his mother eight years ago, his father almost no longer cared about state affairs, but as a helmsman, he guided him to govern the country. Fathers rarely attend banquets like this.

"Let's go for a walk together!"

Although he is seventy-three years old, as an old man, Zhu Yifeng's body is still very healthy, especially under deliberate exercise and maintenance, although it may not be compared with Stallone who is 70 years old and still filming action movies in another time and space, but at least it is not much inferior, the reason why he works hard to exercise and maintain his body is because Zhu Yifeng knows that he still has a task, and this task is just a few months away.

In order to accomplish that task, he had to maintain a good identity.

Accompanied by his son, Zhu Yifeng came to the Imperial Garden, fifty years, so that the trees in the Imperial Garden have long grown into big trees, after a winter snow, the Imperial Garden is full of beautiful snow, only the trail was deliberately swept out.

"Actually, I don't like them to plow snow like this!"

Stepping on the cobblestone path, Zhu Yifeng said with some disappointment.

"I like to walk on the snow and listen to the sound of stepping on the snow, and when you were a child, you didn't feel tired when it snowed, even if you played in the snow all day......"

"Father, son, ......"

Before Zhu Fenghai's words were finished, Zhu Yifeng shook his head and said.

"Today there are only father and son! Just like when we built a snowman here, there was only father and son! ”

Yes, today there are only fathers and sons!

There was only a conversation between the father and the son, not between the emperor and the crown prince, and after setting the tone, the two of them continued to walk, chatting as they went, chatting about the past, and slowly talking about the current situation, the current situation in Europe.

“…… If Britain and Germany and North America declare war on France, South America and Russia, let them fight, and when they fight for about a while, we will enter the war again, before that, I think it is more beneficial for us for the empire to remain neutral, after all, the territory of the empire is too vast, just defense, we need to consider the problem of multi-front combat, neutrality in the early stage of the war, should be the most advantageous choice, but ......"

After a pause, Zhu Fenghai glanced at his thoughtful father before speaking.

"In the Army Staff, there is an opinion that we should decisively intervene in it and prevent the outbreak of war, after all, we are the builders of the world order and must also shoulder the responsibility of defenders! Moreover, this avoids the possibility of short-term failures due to unclear goals in the early stages......"

Too big!

This is the biggest problem facing China now, the territory is too vast, so that China's power is scattered, although China has the largest army and navy in the world, but they are scattered all over the world, which makes China seem to be at a disadvantage in all directions against potential imaginary enemies.

In the past few decades, Zhu Yifeng has been trying to get rid of this difficulty and solve this problem, but in addition to increasing military spending and expanding the army, there is no very good solution to the problem, after all, China is different from the United States in later generations, and the United States in later generations can have a group of followers and thugs to assist him in maintaining order, but what about China now? The vast colonies and overseas provinces all need the protection of the empire, not only the national flag of the empire, but also the fleets of the empire, the army of the empire, although the overseas colonies have brought unprecedented benefits to China, but they are also a burden, maintaining huge overseas interests, maintaining a large cruiser fleet, and the decisive battle at sea between countries requires a large number of combat ships.

What the fuck...... It is true that the bigger the country, the more responsibility.

Even now some politicians have begun to complain there that the empire spends 15,000,000 Chinese dollars a year on the defense of the colonies, "merely nourishing a whole bunch of military garrisons and a kind of complacency that the sun never sets on the empire." This is an unfair and radical statement, but it is undeniable that the overseas provinces and colonies have brought wealth to China as well as burdens for China, but in general, the overseas provinces and colonies have played the role of cows.

"A short-term defeat is not terrible, after all, we have the largest territory and colonies in the world. Whether there is a war in the Indian Ocean or the Pacific Ocean, we can train our navy in the Pacific Ocean with peace of mind, even if the enemy occupies our territory in Africa and North America, we still have colonies in Southeast Asia, and Oceania, we can also train troops at home, our huge industrial strength is the foundation on which we stand, industry, population, these two determine that we are not warlike, compared with external enemy countries, in the future, the real enemy of the empire, lies within! ”

Faced with his son's worries about the future, Zhu Yifeng said what he was worried about for the first time. The strongest fortress is conquered from within, and the same is true for China, which has actually grown into a giant that cannot be easily defeated by an external enemy, and in addition to the basic national strength, there is an additional guarantee that the country has little need to think about external threats.

But an internal threat is inevitable, and this internal threat will even intensify over time, and this threat may even destroy the empire in the end.

"Internal?"

Zhu Fenghai was stunned for a moment, he immediately thought of his actions to release power to the Advisory Council over the years, could it be that his father did not approve of him releasing power to the Advisory Council? But isn't that exactly what he wants?

Eight years ago, when he first unleashed some power to the Council, his father not only objected, but even agreed, saying that the people should indeed hold power.

Could it be that now my father has changed?

Thirty years ago, when the Imperial Senate was established, the Senate was the legislature of the Empire, but the Senate only had quasi-legislative power, it had to review proposed legislation and the power to make recommendations, but it did not really have the power to initiate any legislation. Later, the Senate slowly gained a lot of power, especially after the constitution, after it became the House of Nobles, its power was much greater than in the past, and perhaps because of this, they were resistant to the Senate from the beginning, because they feared that the Senate, which was dominated by civilian members, would eventually take away their power.

Thinking he had figured out why, he asked tentatively.

"Father, are you worried that the release of power to the Council now will cause the royal family to lose power?"

"Iron and Blood Ambition" has come to an end, and the new book "Daming Iron Bone" has been distributed, which is full of blood and passion, I hope you can continue to support Speechless, if you have a recommendation ticket in your hand, please also support, and then collect it by the way, thank you again! Welcome everyone to join the "Daming Iron Bone" reader exchange group: 15O536833 to discuss together. Welcome to sign up! Then ask for recommendations and collections