Beijing, Cabinet meeting.

Lin Hong crossed his hands and put them on his knees. Although nominally, the emperor does not have direct administrative power, but through such a cabinet meeting, the obedient cabinet will still propose various plans to the emperor, and then try to complete it according to Lin Hong's intentions. In particular, Lin Hong is now living in the Old Summer Palace, basically far away from complicated political details, so the cabinet must complete the consultation with Lin Hong at one time in the near future for programmatic and strategic things.

He thought about it, and originally wanted to use the example of the Qing government being repeatedly violated by foreign powers, but this world, because of his own chaos, did not happen at all. The Times itself has derided the British government for "the most shameful defeat since Trafalgar". So, he can't use those examples.

So, he intends to explain what he means in a hypothetical way: "Ladies and gentlemen, I understand what you are thinking. That's right, market development is always something that China's industry and commerce must face and be keen on. However, our government and leadership should not only consider mechanically opening up new routes and new markets for our own industry and commerce, but also consider more detailed issues. ”

He turned his face to Xu Daoran, who was sitting there, and said, "Chancellor of the Exchequer, let me ask you, what is the average household income of Guangdong residents and the average household income of Japanese residents?" ”

Xu Daoran replied: "The average annual household income of residents in Guangdong Province is 105 yuan, and we don't have detailed data on Japan because it is a foreign country, but it is generally estimated that even if you count the privileged class of samurai, the average annual average income of their families will definitely not exceed 20 yuan." His Majesty himself believed that the income of the vast number of their commoners might be a few dollars a year. "In 1800, the annual income of the average British worker was about 22 pounds, and by 1860 it had roughly doubled, and the exchange rate between the pound sterling and the dragon dollar was 1:4.5.

Lin Hong smiled slightly and said, "So, the income of Guangdong residents is at least five to ten times that of Japan?" ”

Xu Daoran nodded and said, "This is a fairly conservative figure, Guangdong alone estimates that its income is much more than that of two Japan." ”

"In that case, if Japan is already one of the most populous of our neighbors, and if we don't consider that their wealth is concentrated in the hands of a small number of people, their purchasing power is far lower than that of our own nationals, and that there is still a part of the cost rising after crossing the ocean, how do you get the Japanese who don't even have enough to eat to buy our soap and our cigarettes?" Lin Hong took a good time to do it.

Minister of Commerce Liu Erwen said: "To be able to open up a market, there is a role of the market, if we are choking on food, picking fat and thin, what else can we eat?" ”

His Majesty the Emperor bowed slightly, and said: "The Minister of Commerce is right, but considering the military expenses and hardships we spent when we opened the market, the deterioration of the business environment caused by the other party's resistance to our merchants after demanding a large amount of compensation from the other party, and our unintentional modern enlightenment, is it worth it?" ”

Lin Hong's speech caused a quiet discussion among the cabinet ministers, and all the senior officials agreed with Lin Hong's phenomenon, these situations are realistic when you think about them casually, although there is a big difference in power between countries, and the empire can crush them with absolute superiority, but the broken market is like a broken watermelon, no one likes it.

Chen Kejie pressed down slightly with his hands, stopped the discussion of the cabinet members, and said, "Does Your Majesty mean not to expand overseas markets?" ”

From the very beginning, China's colonial strategy was very different from that of Western countries, whether it was Spain and Portugal in the early stage, or the Netherlands and Britain in the middle and later periods, they were all mainly based on plundering wealth and resources. Although they have a strong love for the land, they have few citizens and have very limited control over the colonies, so they prefer real money to open up territory. On the contrary, the Chinese have been precious land for gold and silver since ancient times, not that gold and silver are worthless, and the Chinese people's complex towards land is simply a little sick. Opening up new territories is also an important criterion for evaluating successive emperors.

So for so long, China has fought a lot of wars, and the reparations are pitiful, but as long as the land is swallowed, don't think about spit it out again.

Because of the difference in colonial concepts, although Westerners will occasionally slaughter the disobedient natives of the colony, they will not exterminate them all, because they need these natives to create wealth for them, they need to make them a market, and they need to exploit them mercilessly. The essence of China's colonies is the same as that of China's mainland, and even in many property and tax policies, it is more preferential than the mainland, which is of course to attract more immigrants.

As a result, China's territory is getting bigger and bigger, but the overseas market is still pitiful.

Lin Hong pinched his chin and said indifferently, "I didn't say that." The cabinet members expressed their helplessness at the capricious emperor.

"There must be overseas markets, but how to implement them is a delicate job, and the selection of targets can be a science. If you drive a warship to the other party's port without a head, and then knock on the other party's door, will the other party honestly buy your things? Don't say that the other party is forced to buy something or something, this kind of behavior is more stupid. It is also impossible for us to help the people of other countries get rich first and then buy our goods, and this kind of behavior is more than stupid to describe. Therefore, at the present stage, the focus of our economic work should be to expand the domestic market, with the main goal of increasing residents' income and expanding their purchasing power. ”

He tapped the armrest of his chair again, stretched out a finger and said: "The opening up of overseas markets is still dominated by purely diplomatic means, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can draw up several plans to ask the countries of South America to open their countries to us." Colombia, in particular, gave me MFN status, and the empire's Panama Canal plan for the next few years could not be missed, and no matter what method they used, their tariffs had to be negotiated with us, and the two countries jointly managed the customs. ”

Liu Erwen was a little surprised and said: "Your Majesty, this scale is not ordinarily large, and your subordinates don't think that Colombia can agree or give in." ”

Lin Hong shook his head and said: "The so-called pure diplomacy is not really completely devoid of other factors, the Pacific Fleet, get a few ironclad ships out and go around the sea off Colombia a few times, if Colombia does not agree, it will be their courage to fatten."

Navy Minister Hu Bohui couldn't help but say: "Your Majesty, is there any difference between this and coercion by force? ”

Lin Hong asked rhetorically, "Is there no difference?" ”

Chen Kejie wrote down the relevant matters with steel, and then spoke: "Your Majesty's meaning, the ministers are clear. The key is to grasp the scale, how to do the most with the least effort. ”

The table of the cabinet meeting was a long oval, Lin Hong was in the first place, and Chen Kejie sat opposite him, that is, the farthest place, Lin Hong smiled and said to Chen Kejie: "That's right, the Prime Minister knows my mind best." Although we are now strong and in the limelight, the so-called wood show will be destroyed by the forest wind, and we can't be too popular and show off. Try not to use anything that can be solved without a large-scale military operation. One point of effort can do nine points of things, which is the best result. ”

In fact, the current empire is facing this big problem, the colonization step is too big, and the domestic development has entered a stable period, and although the empire has many colonies, there are not many real markets. In general, Chinese goods are now dependent on the markets of Europe and the Americas, which is another reason why Lin Hong established a vassal state in North America.

Improving the living standards of the people and opening up the domestic market will become the main task of the empire for the next period