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The true news of the Eighth Naval Enlargement Act of 1916 was quickly confirmed by the CIA of the Chinese Empire, and the Imperial Chinese Navy, which had always maintained restraint in the development of its military strength, could not sit still. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ╔╗

In order to ensure the world hegemony of the Chinese Imperial Navy, Lin Jianzhang, the new Minister of the Admiralty, and others immediately submitted a letter to the National Assembly, proposing the expansion of naval forces.

The Chinese Empire had just completed its rectification campaign and was in urgent need of diverting the attention of the people, so it took a tough stance on the issue of the US Navy Act of 1916, accusing the United States of deliberately provoking a large-scale naval arms race between the Chinese and American navies.

After the United States participated in World War I, the hawkish forces rose, and after the general mobilization of the United States, the country had more than 5 million troops, 30,000 artillery pieces, 60,000 heavy machine guns, more than 1,200 tanks, the Air Force had more than 2,000 planes and airships, the Navy had more than 400 warships, and the war reserve materials were as high as 1 billion tons.

In the face of this situation, the Chinese imperial side was not to be outdone, and a series of plans and preparations for a possible future war against the United States formulated by the General Staff before the outbreak of the European war also came up with a series of plans.

In June of the 16th year of Guanghua, Wang Chenhao convened the largest imperial meeting after the rectification movement, which was attended by all high-ranking officials from the military and political circles, so that the entire Qianqing Palace hall was full.

Before convening the Imperial Meeting, Wang Chenhao had already talked to the ministers of the five provinces, nine ministries and departments. Due to the rapid expansion of the military power of US imperialism, the huge political, economic and military blockade inflicted by the Chinese Empire on the United States in the Pacific, Atlantic and Caribbean regions has always haunted US imperialism. Now the US imperialists seem to feel that their white spoon military strength can already confront the Chinese Empire in an all-out way, so the United States, under the leadership of the American hawks, has made up its mind to confront the Chinese Empire in an all-out way.

Although Wang Chenhao never wanted to confront US imperialism too soon, the Chinese empire was rising so fast that the United States and the Western powers were extremely hostile to any country rising to or surpassing them. Just as the rise of Germany was strictly contained by the old imperialist countries such as Britain, France, and Russia, the rise of the Chinese Empire could not get rid of this fate, and a rising country would inevitably be suppressed by the old countries with all their might. The rise of the Chinese Empire has been so rapid that it has caused extreme panic in the West. However, the background and environment for the rise of the Chinese Empire were very good, and the old imperialist countries such as Britain, France, Germany, and Russia were fighting among themselves so much that they did not have the energy to contain the Chinese Empire. Of course, they did not fail to try to contain the Chinese Empire, but unfortunately the containment force was too weak and failed.

Under the leadership of Wang Chenhao, the Chinese Empire used superb political and military means to successfully provoke the Eight-Nation Alliance's war of aggression against Britain, and smashed the British Empire's strategic goal of trying to strangle the Chinese Empire after the Sino-Russian War. The British Empire's defeat in the Sino-British War and the Eight-Nation Alliance's invasion of Britain deprived the British Empire of a second chance to stifle the rise of the Chinese Empire. And with the outbreak of World War I, all the European powers were involved in the whirlpool of war, making the British Empire and other old imperialist countries powerless to prevent the rise of the Chinese Empire in the East, so that they lost the opportunity to stifle the rise of the Chinese Empire for the third time.

The old imperialist countries, led by the British Empire, eventually lost three opportunities to stifle the rise of the Chinese Empire for various reasons. By 1916, the European powers had been exhausted by the First World War, and it was impossible to get out of the war, let alone contain the rise of the Chinese Empire.

The old imperialist countries in Europe were unable to contain the rise of the Chinese Empire during these two decades, and in the end, the British Empire and other great powers had to admit that the Chinese Empire had risen to become a world-class power and had to accept China into the ranks of the world powers. ╔╗

However, the European powers were powerless to contain the rise of the Chinese Empire, including politically, economically, and militarily. Between the old and the new, the old countries will do their best to prevent the rise of the emerging countries. In the same way, emerging countries, as a competitive relationship, will also suppress and stifle each other.

In the two decades from the end of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century, the Chinese Empire, the German Empire, and the American Empire, these three countries rose together as emerging countries, once attacked the old imperialist powers in Europe together, fought together, and could be said to be brothers in the trenches.

However, as the old imperialist countries of Europe were defeated by the new imperialist countries, they were powerless to prevent the rise of China, the United States and Germany. Without old rivals, China, the United States and Germany naturally had to squeeze each other with all their might, which led to a fierce trade war between China, the United States and Germany on the eve of World War I.

However, with the outbreak of the First World War, Germany was too ostentatious, and in the end, the old imperialist countries such as Britain, France, and Russia had to choose to take Germany first, strangling Germany from dealing with the other two new countries, the Chinese Empire and the United States. Britain, France, Russia and other old imperialist countries did not expect that Germany's war potential was so great that they could not completely strangle Germany in a short period of time, but were dragged to the brink of collapse by Germany. Germany's strategic attempt to clean up the Chinese Empire and the United States has come to naught.

The three emerging powers, Germany, is no longer playful, it has been besieged by a group of old imperialist countries, and its economy has regressed for 20 years, and it is no longer possible to compare with the Chinese Empire and the United States.

In this way, the Chinese Empire and the United States were left among the three emerging powers. Originally, China and the United States should still jointly confront Britain, France, Russia, and other old imperialist countries, but Wang Chenhao prematurely went all out to suppress the United States and bullied the United States politically, economically, and militarily, and finally put the United States on a situation of hostility to the Chinese Empire and naturally want to move towards all-round confrontation.

The United States has already seen that no matter who wins or loses in the European countries, post-war Europe will lose its global dominance. The Chinese Empire made a fortune in World War I, which caused the United States to fear that the Chinese Empire would become the dominant country in the world after the war. Similarly, as an emerging power, the United States obviously wants to become the world leader, not the Chinese Empire, and it is impossible to share the world initiative with the Chinese Empire, East Asia and North America must decide the winner, and the post-war world order can only be dominated by one country.

In this way, the Chinese Empire and the United States, for various reasons, completely moved towards all-out confrontation, and the most dangerous state of hostility. Both sides wanted to destroy the other, stifle the other's rise, and seize dominance of the post-war world, so war between the two countries was inevitable at this point.

The United States, believing itself to be a strong military and joining the side of the Entente, has formed a war mentality towards the Chinese Empire. Similarly, the Chinese Empire was not afraid of war, and in the face of the aggressive entry of the United States, the Chinese Empire also chose to clench its fists and fight with all its might.

The chiefs of the five provinces and nine ministries had heard the rumors in advance, and knew that the emperor Wang Chenhao had made up his mind to fight the United States, so all the relevant documents had been prepared, because they knew that before the Chinese Empire went to war, it would conduct a comprehensive assessment of the situation in all aspects of the country, compare it with the situation in all aspects of the country after the war, see what had changed and what had not, and then evaluate the war. If you make a profit, you will make persistent efforts, and if you lose money, you will learn a lesson.

Since the founding of the Chinese Empire, every war has not lost money, so all officials have confidence.

The civil and military officials arrived, and after a short time, Wang Chenhao came to the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, and after the civil and military officials collectively gave the highest courtesy, the imperial meeting officially began.

Although Wang Chenhao knew that the meeting was very important, the female official in front of the palace still shouted according to the usual practice, "There is a book to start and no book to retreat from the court". ╔╗

Tang Shaoyi, the new Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet, began by saying: "Your Majesty, the Navy Enlargement Act of 1916, which was passed by the United States of America a month ago, has been identified. The U.S. Navy openly claims a total of $400 million, but in reality it totals more than $1.2 billion. A total of eight capital ships equipped with 18-inch guns were allocated for the construction of five new aircraft carriers, as well as 40 light cruisers, 200 destroyers and 200 submarines. In addition, the US Army has a total strength of more than 5 million, with tens of thousands of artillery pieces and more than 1,000 combat vehicles, the Air Force has more than 2,000 airplanes and airships, and the Navy has more than 400 combat ships of various kinds. Only 20% of the list of military aid to Europe is on the list, and the United States does not need so many military forces and material reserves for its own defense, so Wechen suspects that the United States is brewing a war against the Empire. ”

Foreign Minister Wu Dinh Fong said: "Your Majesty, the official attitude of the United States has become increasingly tough recently, they accuse the empire of arranging island chain blockades around the United States, and question the empire's Bermuda naval base, San Juan base, Panama fortress, Wake Island, Guam, Thousand Islands and other bases, and demand that the imperial government reduce its military strength in these places, otherwise it will affect the overall situation of Sino-US relations." In addition, the U.S. government lodged a formal protest against the Reich's European policy, accusing the Reich of supplying the German Navy and selling stolen goods from the Bermuda naval base in the Atlantic, and demanding that the Reich government immediately stop it, otherwise it would be an enemy of the United States and the Entente. ”

Defense Minister Wang Shizhen explained: "The military role of the Empire's Bermuda naval base in the Atlantic Ocean as a deterrent to the Atlantic coast of the United States and suppression of the American Atlantic Fleet is self-evident. The base, as a platform to support the German Navy in its operations in the Atlantic, had already generated huge war revenues for the Reich, and its economic value was no less important. In addition, the Empire's San Juan Naval Base in the Caribbean Sea is an important military fortress to protect the Empire's interests in the Caribbean and deter the United States along the Gulf of Mexico. As for the construction of military bases in the Kuril Islands, Wake Island, Guam, and Caroline Islands, it is also for the security of the empire's homeland and to prevent the US Pacific Fleet from attacking the coastal areas of the empire from Hawaii and the Philippines. Therefore, these military fortresses are crucial and must not reduce military strength. ”

After Wang Shizhen finished speaking, Minister of the Interior Nguyen Trung Shu explained to the ministers: "It can be seen that the United States is deliberately trying to confuse the interests of the United States itself and the interests of the Entente countries by making this request. In order to find an excuse to start a war against China, they also had to instigate the Entente to declare war on China. ”

Zhang Jian, Minister of Agriculture and Industry and Commerce, said with concern: "In this way, even if we don't want to go to war with the United States, sooner or later the United States will persuade the Entente to go to war against China." At this stage, the Allied side completely relied on the Empire's material exports to maintain the situation, and once the Empire stopped exporting arms and materials to the Allies, the Allies would not last long and would fail. ”

Wu Tingfang nodded and said: "Therefore, the United States has seen the crux of the problem, and skillfully transformed the contradiction between China and the United States into the contradiction between the empire and the entire Entente. They deliberately exaggerated the extent of our support for the Allies in order to turn the Entente against the Empire en masse. ”

Minister of Communications Zhan Yaoyou said: "Looking at it this way, the United States sees clearly the key to the European war, as long as the empire's supply line to the Allies is cut off, it is equivalent to strangling the neck of the Allies." ”

Wang Shizhen added: "The Allies only have the German Navy to fight, but the German 17-inch main gun battleships have not been able to serve for a long time, but the United States has secretly built a North Carolina-class battleship with 17-inch guns last year, which is enough to defeat the German Navy." But the U.S. Navy continued to build Iowa-class battleships with 18-inch guns, and there were four more Olympia-class battlecruisers than the Imperial capital ships of this calibre. It was no longer aimed at the German Navy, but was prepared to fight the Imperial Navy. Obviously, the U.S. Navy hopes to defeat the Imperial Navy together with the forces of the Entente, so that the Empire's blockade of the island chain against the United States can be lifted and the war in Europe can be ended. ╔╗”

Zhang Jian said indignantly: "As an emerging economy, the German economy is definitely finished if it is dragged down by the war." I think the United States wants to dominate the post-war international order on its own, and take the opportunity to win over the Entente and strangle our empire, just as they strangled Germany. ”

The civil and military officials nodded one after another, feeling that this is the most important strategic purpose of the United States at present.

After the civil and military officials understood the current situation, Wang Chenhao said at this time: "Ladies and gentlemen, I think that the United States has already shown signs of going to war with the Empire, and it may be that the Entente is still hesitating, so the United States has not really taken action yet. However, if the U.S. Navy Enlargement Act of 1916 was completed, the Imperial Navy would be under even greater pressure. ”

Wang Shizhen hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that when the United States has not completed all its plans and preparations, the empire should strike first and nip all the forces that try to threaten the empire in the embryonic stage. ”

Although the civil and military officials were mentally prepared, many officials were surprised when they heard Wang Shizhen's request to take the initiative to go to war.

Wang Chenhao asked the crowd: "Ladies and gentlemen, what do you mean by the white spoon?" ”

Among the civil and military officials, there are quite a few officials who are not willing to fight. But because they all received the news and knew that Wang Chenhao had decided to go to war, only Zhang Jian, Cai Yuanpei and others asked for a postponement, and they should not take the initiative to start a war, but should prepare first. Because once the war against the United States is started, the focus of the empire will be shifted to the war against the United States, and the export of arms and materials to Europe will be reduced, which will affect the implementation of the empire's plan to make a fortune.

However, the military representatives headed by Wang Shizhen unanimously held that the first strike system and the later attack were subject to the fact that if the United States had waited until the United States had completed the Eighth Naval Expansion Act, and there were still unidentified army and air force expansion bills, the United States would have become even more powerful at that time, and a passive declaration of war on the United States at that time would not be conducive to the Chinese Empire.

In the end, most of the civil and military officials supported a war against the United States, because they subconsciously believed that the Chinese Empire was invincible, and the outcome of the war would definitely be more for the Chinese Empire than for the loss.

"The ministers seconded it!"

As Tang Shaoyi took the lead in supporting the war against the United States, the civil and military officials immediately agreed, so the first item of the imperial council, which determined the war against the United States, was passed.

Wang Chenhao nodded and said, "Since you all think that our empire can go to war against the United States, then we must first determine the overall strength of the empire, as well as the comparison and differences with the United States. ”

Tang Shaoyi understood, so he said: "Your Majesty, Wechen has ordered the cabinet to sort out the latest economic data released by the Imperial Bureau of Statistics. ”

Then, Tang Shaoyi presented the latest report of the cabinet on the comprehensive national strength of the empire. Wang Chenhao instructed the female officials in front of the palace to read it out in public, so that all the members of the hall could understand it and know it in their hearts. Only by truly grasping the comprehensive national strength of the empire will we be able to formulate a correct strategy in the event of a future war against the United States.

I only heard the female official read: "In the face of the extremely complex domestic and foreign economic environment and extremely severe natural disasters and various major challenges, under the wise leadership of His Majesty the Emperor, the Imperial Cabinet firmly pursued the economic development ideas put forward by His Majesty the Emperor of the Emperor of judging the situation and making scientific decisions, and finally united and led all ethnic groups throughout the country to accelerate the development and construction of the national economy, so that the overall economic operation of the empire was good, and the total economic output and total industrial output value continued to be maintained at the first level in the world......

In the first half of 1916, the GDP of the Chinese Empire was 12.26 billion dragon dollars, an increase of 42.3% over the previous two quarters of the previous year at comparable prices, and an increase of 463% over the same period in 1912 before the outbreak of the First World War. ╔╗

In terms of different industries, the primary industry grew the fastest, reaching 16.84 billion dragon dollars, an increase of 445.3% over 1912, mainly due to the rapid expansion of heavy industry stimulated by the world war; the added value of the secondary industry was 7.29 billion dragon dollars, an increase of 212.2%, which was relatively weak, mainly driven by the export of strategic materials; The added value of the tertiary industry was 6.04 billion dragon dollars, an increase of 209.5%, and the industry was not directly related to the world war, but was stimulated by the rapid expansion of the primary and secondary industries.

Agricultural production has grown steadily, thanks to the government's financial support, the large-scale use of mechanized production, efficient fertilizers, and excellent grain varieties, which have increased grain production for 17 consecutive years. The total annual grain output reached 291.5 million tons, an increase of 18 percent over the previous year and 652 percent over the pre-war period of World War I. In addition, the output of oilseeds increased by 12.7 percent, and that of sugar increased by 12.9 percent. Meat output maintained a steady growth, with the annual output of pigs, cattle, mutton and poultry reaching 44.8 million tons, an increase of 348.6%. Among them, the output of pork and beef was 33.7 million tons, an increase of 313.7%. At one point, the frenzied growth of meat outpaced the growth of food, mainly because the belligerents in Europe were in dire need of food and meat supplies. At first, the Chinese Empire exported grain and meat on a large scale, but soon found that Europe preferred to eat meat. Moreover, the profit from exporting grain alone is not high, and it is only by processing grain into flour, bread, cakes, and instant noodles for export that it makes money. And Europe likes to eat meat, so the meat exports of the Chinese Empire are also made into canned meat in boxes, because the Chinese Empire's first canned spiced meat is very delicious, after adding preservatives, the shelf life is very long, and it is welcomed by all parties in Europe, because they pay more attention to the shelf life of food during the war. Because there are no preservatives in their domestic production, the shelf life is not long, and many of them spoil before they are delivered to the battlefield. This is especially true in isolated places, where soldiers are more in need of canned food with a long shelf life. Therefore, the achievements of the Chinese Empire in food made the entire European battlefield full of canned food printed with Chinese manufacturing, accounting for more than half of the food in Europe, this figure is shocking, and the profits obtained by the Chinese Empire are considerable. With the dependence on the Chinese Empire's food on the battlefields of Europe, the Chinese Empire soon raised the price of food exports, and by 1916, the average price of the Chinese Empire's food exports to Europe doubled, and the profits obtained were twice as high.

The Chinese Empire became the world's largest industrial power, and its rapid growth in industrial production and the substantial improvement in corporate efficiency benefited from the outbreak of the world war. In the first half of 1916, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 55.7 percent over the previous year. In terms of light and heavy industry, heavy industry increased by 76.5 percent, and light industry increased by 63.6 percent. In terms of regions, the fastest growth was still in the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangzhou region, which grew by 24.9 percent, the central and southern Liaoning region by 28.4 percent, the Yangtze River Delta region by 25.5 percent, the Pearl River Delta region by 23.4 percent, and the growth rate in other regions did not exceed 20 percent.

It can be seen that the coastal industrial base of the Chinese Empire generally grew faster than the inland, because of the huge number of coastal exports, which affected the acceleration of industrial growth.

The biggest driver of industrial growth came from the heavy industry of the Chinese Empire, and the world war caused global steel prices to skyrocket. The Chinese Empire produced 36.9 million tons of steel in 1916, surpassing the United States by 14.8 million tons. In third place is Germany with 18.32 million tons, fourth Britain with 7.78 million tons, fifth France with 4.69 million tons, sixth Tsarist Russia with 4.23 million tons, Italy with 1.25 million tons, Austria-Hungary with 760,000 tons, and Ottoman Turkey with 220,000 tons.

Such a huge steel production is mainly due to the fact that large-scale exports to Europe were basically consumed by the war. At this time, the Chinese Empire no longer needed to expand domestic demand, because the construction of a comprehensive national industrial system and infrastructure had been basically completed, and it was impossible to digest it. The large-scale construction of railways in the Chinese Empire was also completed, and the demand for steel began to decline. ╔╗

However, the Chinese Empire still sold such a huge amount of steel to Europe, on the one hand, because the Chinese Empire's exports of materials are accompanied by political conditions, if you do not import steel and other materials from the Chinese Empire, then I will not sell you advanced weapons and equipment, but sell them to your hostile countries. This semi-blackmailing form of political conditionality forced European countries to import these materials from the Chinese Empire on a large scale.

On the other hand, the Chinese empire cracked down on the U.S. steel industry. Due to the declaration of external neutrality by the United States, American steel could not be exported to Europe, so the share of steel in the United States was squeezed by China Imperial Iron and Steel Company. The United States produced 26 million tons of steel before the war, but after the German blockade broke the belligerent blockade, a large number of American steel companies closed down because they could not sell steel, and at the same time, the high quality and low price of steel in the Chinese Empire made it impossible for American counterparts to compete with the Chinese Empire. From the outbreak of World War I to 1916, it had fallen to 21 million tons, while the Chinese empire filled the gap in the U.S. steel export market, soaring to 36.9 million tons.

By 1916, there were more than 12.02 million large and small light and heavy industrial companies in the Chinese Empire, 1,800 times more than at the time of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The largest is still the Royal Heavy Industries Group controlled by Wang Chenhao, which includes 360 lines and 752 large companies, accounting for 305 of the top 500 companies in the Chinese Empire, and 270 of the top 500 companies in the world, while the companies under the Royal Heavy Industries Group account for 203.

It can be said that the companies directly controlled by Wang Chenhao are basically large companies, and the connection between production and marketing is very good. The production and sales rate of more than 600,000 enterprises in the empire has reached 99.7%. This was due to the sharp export of materials from the world war, the expansion of domestic demand by the domestic government of the Chinese Empire, the overhaul of roads, railways, schools, hospitals, industrial bases and other projects, the huge consumption of the European war and the domestic investment of the empire, which naturally stimulated the rapid development of domestic industry. The largest share of arms exports, directly benefiting 890,000 large, medium, and small arms companies and associated semi-military enterprises in China.

The total import and export volume has skyrocketed, with the trade surplus reaching 20.5 billion dragon dollars last year and breaking through the 10.9 billion dragon dollar mark in the first half of this year. Among them, exports were 9.6 billion dragon dollars, imports were 1.3 billion dragon dollars, and imports and exports were offset, with a surplus of 8.3 billion dragon dollars.

The huge trade surplus, almost 84% of Europe's industrial added value in the first half of this year flowed into the Chinese Empire, and hard currencies such as gold and silver were used as international trade settlements, so that the gold and silver reserves of the Chinese Empire soared 10 times compared with the founding of the People's Republic of China, and the international financial center was transferred from London in Europe to Beijing and Shanghai, the capital of the Chinese Empire, of which Beijing became the world's first financial center, followed by New York, the third is Shanghai, and London fell to the fourth place.

After the Chinese Empire became the world's largest industrial power, the ratio of workers and peasants underwent a radical change, and the number of workers and peasants in China increased sharply from less than 1 million before the founding of the People's Republic of China to 149 million in 1916.

The income of urban residents grew rapidly, and the average total income of urban households for the whole year was 181 yuan, an increase of 21.5 percent over the previous year. Among the total per capita income of urban households, wage income increased by 9.7 percent, transfer income increased by 12.8 percent, net operating income increased by 12.1 percent, and property income increased by 20.5 percent.

The per capita net income of rural residents was 79 dragon dollars, an increase of 34.9 percent, or 13.9 percent in real terms after deducting price factors. Among them, wage income increased by 17.9 percent, net income from household operations increased by 12.1 percent, property income increased by 21.0 percent, and transfer income increased by 13.8 percent.

Judging from the proportion of workers' and peasants' incomes, the income of workers still far exceeds that of the peasants. However, according to the standard of living, 20 years ago, 20 dragon coins were enough for a family of four to feed and wear, and now the price index has only risen slightly, and a family of four can be fed and clothed by 35 dragon coins, and urban consumption is higher, requiring about 60 dragon coins. It can be seen from this that the citizens of the Chinese Empire have got rid of the subsistence life and entered a rich life, reaching the level of the second-level developed countries such as the Netherlands in Europe, but compared with the United States, the average income gap is still 102 US dollars, even if the national strength of Britain, France and Germany in Europe is huge, their average annual income is still more than 10 US dollars higher than that of the Chinese Empire, and there is still a considerable distance to chase.

Of course, the main reason is that the Chinese Empire has too many imports, 4.5 times that of the United States, so although it became a nouveau riche in this world war, and the total economic output and total industrial output value have reached the first place in the world, the average income is one, and no matter how high the data is divided by 450 million imports, it becomes very small.

However, judging from the current growth rate of the Chinese Empire, if the European war is fought for another two years, the Chinese Empire will undoubtedly reach the level of the United States in both total volume and per income.

The Chinese Empire's war fortunes are best illustrated by the super-rapid growth of the money supply. With the entry of the United States into the war, the US dollar also began to fluctuate, no longer directly linked to gold, and only the dragon coin of the Chinese Empire in the world can still be exchanged directly with gold, becoming the only super strong currency in the global monetary system. At the same time, with the Chinese Empire's intervention in European affairs, the dragon coin became an international currency, and it was also a currency that the common people of all countries competed to reserve, because only the dragon coin was strong, and only the dragon coin could maintain its value.

In this very good international monetary environment, the issuance of the Chinese Imperial Dragon Coin is surging every second, the Imperial Bank's money printing machine is constantly printing day and night, but it still cannot meet the market circulation of the Dragon Coins, because the governments and people around the world are holding a large number of Dragon Coins, the Chinese Empire in the pre-war 6 sets of Dragon Coin Printing Machines to 1916 has been overloaded, the Imperial Bank has to launch 500 Dragon Coins, 1000 Dragon Coins, 10000 Dragon Coins, for international settlement.

According to a report from the Imperial Bank, the increase in deposits and loans in the Chinese Empire remained high. the balance of broad money (M2) was 14.76 billion dragon dollars, an increase of 19.7% over the end of the previous year; narrow money (M1) was 3.37 billion dragon dollars, an increase of 21.2%; The currency in circulation (M0) was 4.65 billion dragon coins, an increase of more than three times from the time of the founding of the People's Republic of China, indicating that the accumulation of national wealth in the Chinese Empire had tripled.

The balance of loans of financial institutions was 6.49 billion dragon coins, an increase of 1 billion dragon coins over last year, mainly used for war loans to the Allies. The balance of various deposits was 12.48 billion dragon coins, of which Wang Chenhao's personal deposit was the largest, reaching 4.9 billion dragon coins, continuing to be the richest man in the world. If royal fixed assets such as Royal Heavy Industries Group and the Forbidden City are included, the total amount will reach 10.5 billion dragon coins. The Rothschild family, which was devastated in the world war, has lost a lot of money from $6 billion to $4.5 billion.

In terms of gold and silver reserves, in 1916, the total amount of gold in the world was about 36,000 tons, of which private reserves accounted for about 9,700 tons, and the treasury of the Chinese Empire had 11,452 tons of gold, accounting for about 49% of the total gold reserves of various countries in the world, and the total amount of global gold mining in this year was only 694,000 tons of global silver in 33 years, and 167,000 tons were reserved in the treasury of the Chinese Empire.

The gold and silver will serve as a yardstick for the issuance of dragon coins by the Imperial Bank of China, and will also represent 30% of the world's wealth in the hands of the Chinese Empire.

In terms of education, the Chinese Empire has completed a 16-year compulsory education system for universal universities, with 412,000 kindergartens, 394,200 primary schools, 179,000 middle schools, 1,462 universities, and 6,000 night schools, including middle-aged and young students who are repeating their studies, with more than 36 million students shared, and the national compulsory and semi-compulsory literacy program has been completed. The first batch of fresh university graduates who received the school education of the Chinese Empire since they were young have graduated, and they have been influenced by all kinds of knowledge, ideas, culture, and science and technology of the Chinese Empire since they were children, and they have very few feudal and backward ideas in their minds, and they are also the most rebellious generation, because they are in the first batch of students after the end of the rectification movement of the Chinese Empire. After 16 years of education, their white spoon political class has basically become an extreme worship of Wang Chenhao's mythology, and the political class is like a theological course, which has completely mythical Wang Chenhao, and the concept of divine authority of the monarch is deeply imprinted in their white spoon minds, which is unquestionable. At the same time, they also made them conscientiously implement the spirit of the instructions of the emperor Wang Chenhao and implement them meticulously.

The first batch of graduates of the Chinese Empire who underwent 16 years of full-time education in the Chinese Empire had as many as 4 million graduates, which was 1 million more than the total number of college graduates in Europe and the United States that year. Therefore, when the Ministry of Education of the Chinese Empire announced the implementation of the universal university system, a large number of middle school students facing employment chose to continue to go to university, and many employment recruits also applied for retaking exams one after another, hoping to go to the university to be gilded and find better jobs after coming out.

This was a peak period for education in the Chinese Empire, and there were several more peaks in the following years, and according to further calculations, it is expected that the number of university graduates in the Chinese Empire would begin to decline after 1930, and before that, the Chinese Empire would be at the peak of college graduates for 14 consecutive years.

Cai Yuanpei, Minister of Education, said that the achievements of the Chinese Empire in attaching importance to the development of education will soon be reflected, and the Chinese Empire will become the country with the most advanced intellectuals in the world, and at this rate, the Chinese Empire will lead the direction of the world's education development in ten years, and the future development speed of the empire will be even faster.

However, Zhang Jian, Minister of Industry and Commerce, gritted his teeth at Cai Yuanpei. Cai Yuanpei is happy, but 4 million college students have graduated at once this year, and Zhang Jian doesn't know how to place them. Last year, 1.6 million college students were employed, and this year there are 2.4 million more, which is very stressful. Fortunately, the Chinese Empire is catching up with the war fortune in World War I, there are many private jobs, and the Chinese Empire is in the peak period of talent demand, but it can also be solved.

According to a report from the Ministry of Communications, the Chinese Empire has completed 450,000 kilometers of railways and 24 million kilometers of roads, including 5 million kilometers of war-ready roads, 1,230 large, medium, and small airports, and military and civilian airports in major cities and military bases.

The Ministry of Health reports that 560 large hospitals, 52,000 small and medium-sized hospitals, and 470,000 village and town clinics have been built across the country. There are 20 epidemic prevention and early warning areas across the country, and there are 25 large-scale virus prevention stations and 130 small and medium-sized epidemic prevention stations in the epidemic prevention and early warning areas, covering the entire territory of the Chinese Empire, and a complete epidemic prevention system has been built.

In addition to the fact that the Black Death in Europe was still prevalent in Asia and needed to be dealt with, Wang Chenhao knew that the Spanish flu would break out in the last year of World War I, which caused more than 10 million deaths in China. Therefore, Wang Chenhao had to take precautions and make arrangements in advance. At the same time, research on foreign bacteria from Area 51 has shown that the alien bacteria left behind by the Tunguska explosion have caused mutations in many influenza bacteria and viruses around the world. Wang Chenhao believes that the Spanish flu of that year must be related to this matter, so he attaches more importance to the establishment of an epidemic prevention system.

At the imperial meeting, Wang Chenhao was most concerned about the issue of fiscal revenue, because if he wanted to start a war against the United States, he had to reserve a huge amount of funds, otherwise it would be difficult to fight hard with the United States, which had strong economic strength.

In 1916, the budget of the Chinese Empire was 2.578 billion dragon dollars, of which less than 15% was spent on national defense, and the focus of the empire's work was on economic development.

In order to prepare for war against the United States, after Song Hanzhang and others, the Chinese Empire needed to issue 4 billion dragon dollars of war bonds, and without affecting the economy, it was better to repay 400 million dragon dollars of national bonds every year, and pay them off in 10 years.

The war budget of 4 billion dragon coins seems to be a lot, but once it falls into a stalemate war of attrition with the United States, 4 billion is simply not enough.

Wang Chenhao turned to Wang Shizhen and asked, "4 billion dragon coins, what do you think?" ”

Wang Shizhen thought for a while and said: "Unless there is a quick victory, the battle will be won or lost, if the stalemate continues, I am afraid it will not be enough." ”

Tang Shaoyi said: "It's just a quick battle!" How many years are you still going to fight? The empire finally provoked a war in Europe, and the money earned could not be consumed like this. ”

Zhang Jian suddenly asked, "Will the Army occupy New York?" ”

Zhongjin was stunned for a moment, and immediately burst out laughing.

(To be continued)