For the subjects of the Chinese Empire, which was four years old. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

They are undoubtedly enjoying a real "prosperous era", at least they are entering the "prosperous and prosperous era" often mentioned in the public opinion circles, of course, this "prosperous era" is not the "prosperous age" in the mouths of the Manchu minions who put gold on their faces, and there will be no "policy letter" submitted by the people to ask for the reduction of silver grain, reduce the burden, and relieve the poor, but Qianlong and the scholars and others have repeatedly and carefully studied it, and the person who delivered the book was executed Ling Chi, and the female dependents and minors were all sent to slavery. Later, Lord Qianlong was "merciful" and allowed his younger brother and nephew to be beheaded and sentenced to be executed after the autumn. This so-called "prosperous age" is nothing more than the boasting of a group of minions.

In contrast, the prosperity of Kaihong in the four years is not so much that the government is pasting gold, but rather that the public opinion circles have taken the initiative to mention it, and in their view, the era of Kaihong does have the conditions for a prosperous era -- the lives of hundreds of millions of ordinary people have been significantly changed, and those people in the whole country who were once ragged and hungry have finally eaten enough and put on clean new clothes.

The fundamental changes in the lives of the people of Qianshou are impossible for anyone to ignore, since those who have been advocating "Neo-Confucianism" since the founding of Kaihong and the Yuan Dynasty, they have to admit that the world of Kaihong is entering the "prosperous age" in the book.

In the past four years, millions of landless and landless poor people have been forcibly relocated to the northeast, northwest and even overseas, and despite repeated public criticism, no one can ignore the fundamental change in their lives.

In the rich continent of Africa, which may be called "China's Promised Land", it is not a big problem to fill your stomach at all, as long as you spend a little effort to open up a little barren land, you can eat enough, and if you want to eat meat, it is also easy to solve, there are countless birds and animals in the grassland and woodland.

After the hardships of the early days, the migrants who migrated to Africa were able to obtain a much better supply of food, especially meat, than their compatriots at home. Especially in areas suitable for agriculture, the daily life of the residents is quite nourishing, and there is wine and meat every day. Even in the northeastern and northwestern frontiers of China, the migrants lived a much richer life than the people in the interior, and the abundant land allowed them not only to eat enough, but also to eat more meat than the people in the interior.

At the same time, the emergence and promotion of scientifically bred varieties and phosphate fertilizers and other fertilizers have also changed the lives of people in the mainland. Of course, what really changed people's lives was the reduction of population pressure, the war reduced tens of millions of people, and the migration of millions of people has alleviated the current situation of dense population and overcrowding, and in the future, a large number of people will move to the sparsely populated Xinjiang, Northeast China, Mongolia, coastal and other places. Of course, the vast colonies will undoubtedly absorb more people, and all this will eventually lead to China's real "open prosperity".

Although China has been in the open for four years, there is still a little gap between the real prosperity and the real prosperity, no one will doubt that the prosperity will come soon! No one doubts this.

Just when people are looking forward to welcoming the coming of prosperity. But the war broke out suddenly!

Wars tend to break out in the most unexpected ways.

July 7th.

A telegram from Panama was sent from New York to London, and from London through France, Italy, Egypt, the Red Sea, through India, Singapore, and halfway around the world, and finally from Hong Kong, and finally to the imperial capital of the Chinese Empire.

This is a secret telegram sent by a fleet sent by the West.

At the same time as this cipher telegram was sent, several other telegrams with similar contents were transmitted to various parts of China through the same line. Almost overnight, the contents of the telegram spread, and dozens of large newspapers across the country turned the front-page advertisement into a piece of news.

"Extra! The West sends a fleet to the Caribbean to annihilate the British Royal Navy! ”

In the early morning, in the shouts of the newspaper sellers, in the crisp sound of the bell, and hearing the contents of the newspaper, people all stopped and bought the newspaper, and the newspaper was written in two large characters in terrifying huge black letters.

"War!"

It's war!

There is no doubt that the war broke out!

The war has started in the most unexpected way, in the most unexpected places, with the most unexpected opponents!

The Chinese who have been in Kaihong for four years are not the Chinese who did not know why Britain was 20 years ago, and the Chinese now have learned through newspapers and books that Britain is the number one power in the world today.

As the world's largest power, Britain has the world's largest industry, as well as the world's largest fleet. When reading the contents of the newspaper, almost every person with a modicum of sanity has a thought in their minds.

Are we English rivals?

After asking this question, people naturally turned their attention to the imperial capital, to the imperial palace located in the center of the imperial capital, and as subjects of the empire, they knew that the empire was now facing an unprecedented test.

Nothing surprising When the news of Panama came, the Imperial Council was convened, and at the Imperial Council of the Wuying Palace, the ministers argued and expressed their opinions.

The vast majority of the ministers were very clear - there could be no war with the British. Their reason is very simple - the power gap between China and Britain is too great!

Last year, Britain's steel output was 3.8 million tons, while China's only 720,000 tons, Britain is more than five times that of China, the only thing that can make everyone more gratifying is that China's steel output is more than ten times that of the United Kingdom. As for the other two countries, the difference in power is more than several times.

Although China's industrial scale has exploded over the past few years through huge government investments and bank loans, the gap between China and the UK is too large to ignore. In the face of this disparity in strength, who can ignore all this and pat their chests and say that we will definitely be able to win the war.

What's more, for people who are a little more sensible, they are more willing to spend ten years to develop themselves, rather than at this time, to challenge the world's first power with a body that has just grown some muscles or even a little weak.

What are the consequences of this self-indulgence?

That would be catastrophic! It will be devastating.

“…… In any case, in the opinion of the ministers, as long as peace can be maintained, peace must be maintained at all costs, and this matter must be resolved diplomatically, not by war......"

Guo Taosong, who is the secretary of the Ministry of Education, looked at His Majesty in a profound tone and said solemnly. As a scholar of the Ministry of Education, he has been fully committed to compulsory education for the past four years, and although he rarely bothered with foreign affairs, he was specially allowed to participate in this imperial council as the only scholar in the center who had traveled to Europe and the United States.

Because of all of them, he knows Britain better. Understanding the fundamentals of Britain's maintenance of its hegemony, Britain will never tolerate any country challenging its "world hegemony" while it maintains its so-called "world order", and Britain has proven this time and again over the past half century.

It is precisely because he understands Britain that he mentions "at all costs", and only in this way can the situation deteriorate further. But he clearly did not call His Majesty's thoughts.

"The only thing we can do now is to solve this problem at any cost, after all, we are likely to face retaliation from Britain at any cost. Your Majesty! ”

"I don't know what Guo Shangshu means by whatever the price means?"

His words were immediately opposed by others, after all, not everyone was willing to compromise with Britain, especially under the stimulus of this victory, and it could even be said unceremoniously that fortunately there was no Imperial Historian now, otherwise based on his words, I don't know how many people would be impeached.

"That's what it means!"

"What if the British let us withdraw from Panama by then? Or even withdraw from Africa? Isn't it acceptable? ”

"We can negotiate, we still have room to negotiate now, after all, we just won a battle."

Although advocating diplomatic coordination, Guo Taosong was also very glad that the navy won this battle, and won very beautifully, completely annihilating the British fleet. This would give China a bargaining chip at the negotiating table.

"With this leverage, we will be able to resolve the current crisis through diplomatic negotiations."

Turning to His Majesty, Guo Taosong said again.

"Your Majesty, ten years, no matter what, we must fight for ten years, even if it is to wear intestinal poison, for the sake of the future of my Chinese dynasty, we must endure it!"

Guo Taosong, who bowed deeply, bent down again,

"Even if the world can't bear it, we have to be patient, in the opinion of the ministers, with this decade, the empire not only has the first generation of loyal subjects for the country, but also has the basis to challenge the British, today we may accept some conditions in humiliation, but ten years later, we will have the opportunity to completely defeat the British!"

Endure what the world can't bear!

When Guo Taosong said this, Zhu Yifeng was just silent, in fact, he had already made a decision, and in the face of Guo Taosong's opposition, he did not answer, but waited for the opposition of others.

"Guo Shangshu, do you mean that we let the British bully like this?"

"The fist is not as hard as the family, so naturally it can only be bullied! Between countries, how can they be arrogant! Between countries, it is necessary to rely on national strength to speak, not to win two battles! ”

In the face of the military's opposition, Guo Taosong replied bluntly.

"If Britain attacks the African colonies, I would like to ask, how will the army defend the African colonies when the time comes, and how will the navy defend the merchant fleet if Britain intercepts our merchant ships on the sea? We seem to have won this naval battle, but we are facing a great power, and they have more warships than even all our merchant ships."

"They have a lot of warships, but their warships are backward and outdated!"

Zhu Yifeng, who had been silent, looked at Guo Taosong and expressed his attitude.

"This incident may be a crisis, but it is also an opportunity!"

Facing the ministers, Zhu Yifeng said in calm words.

"We must see the fact that in the past ten years, our army and navy have a technological advantage over the Western powers, and they are being equaled by the Westerners little by little."

Technology has never been possible to blockade, and the breech-loading guns used by the Chinese army, although not yet widely adopted in Europe, are only a matter of time, because France has already begun to use rifles of the same kind, and the same is true for ironclad ships.

"It is true that in ten years, our national strength will be several times stronger than it is now, but by then, our technological superiority will have been completely lost, and by then, even if we have a more powerful force, the strength to fight with the British, but we will have to face a much stronger Britain - they will have a larger ironclad fleet, a more modern army, and when the time comes, our chances of winning will not increase, but decrease, and now ......"

After a pause, Zhu Yifeng's eyes revealed a decisive meaning.

"I think that we must take advantage of our current technological superiority to take the enemy by surprise in various places, and only in this way can we hope to defeat this powerful enemy!"

The reason why Zhu Yifeng made up this determination is precisely because he knows Britain no better, for this kind of hegemonic country, concessions cannot be exchanged for survival, especially in this era of the law of the jungle, respect can only be obtained through war.

China may be a big country now, and it still maintains the dignity of a thousand-year-old empire, but since the Opium War, Westerners have always despised China.

War is the only way to win the status of a great power!

"Now, we have a certain advantage over the British, after all, now the British ironclad ships have been devastated, which means that in the Atlantic, our sending fleet is already the most offensive force, and the British Royal Navy, which is poorly equipped, will have to go on the defensive, which means that in other areas, our opportunities will come......"

When His Majesty mentions other regions, almost everyone has a term in mind: "Hong Kong!" After all, for China, Hong Kong is a lingering shadow, and the Chinese empire has never forgotten that land.

"Hong Kong?"

Looking at everyone, Zhu Yifeng smiled,

"Hong Kong, of course we have to recover it, but in addition to Hong Kong, we can also see that Britain has opened its door to us, and now all we need is to take back everything that can be taken when this door is open, and of course, we must first take back what belongs to us!"

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