"Karl, who do you think will win if we go to war with France now? Let's be honest. Bismarck said to Moltke, chief of staff of the army of the Kingdom of Prussia.

"Our army will surely win a great victory." Moltke replied without hesitation.

"Really?" Bismarck said that he actually believed Moltke's judgment, but only on the European continent, France's hundreds of years of accumulated prestige almost made people dare not look at it directly. Some military novices of later generations only remember that Prussia defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War, and Germany quickly flashed France and occupied Paris in World War II, but they don't know how France beat the German states in the hundreds of years before, whether it was Austria or Prussia, they were all beaten by the French, and they all beat the past, and they all hit the psychological barrier. Just like when the French Navy faced the British Royal Navy at Trafalgar, even though there were more warships than others, all they could think of was to escape.

In the Battle of the Three Emperors that year, Emperor Napoleon crushed the armies of the German states, and then in the hands of the current Napoleon, the French army was in the Crimea, so that the Russians knew what the first army in Europe was. In the face of such a prestigious army, Bismarck, who had personally watched how the Prussian army grew up step by step, also knew that the current Prussian army, both in terms of training level and equipment level, had a huge advantage over the French army, and even in terms of numbers, it far surpassed the French army. And all along, all kinds of construction and training of the Prussian army were aimed at defeating France as the ultimate goal, but when this day really came, even Bismarck could not help but feel extremely nervous.

"Yes, Prime Minister, our army is already an era ahead of the French army in terms of equipment. As far as artillery is concerned, although the number of artillery equipped by our army is slightly less than that of the French army, because half of our artillery is already a new type of artillery with a top tube, and the rest are still steel guns, although they are still retired. And the French are mainly still using bronze racks to retreat artillery, both in terms of rate of fire and range, are far behind us, in terms of overall artillery firepower, we are more than three times that of the French army, and this still does not take into account the range advantage of our artillery and the difference between the power of the high-explosive shells used by our army relative to the howitzer and ordinary solid shells, otherwise, just the artillery power, our army is more than ten times that of the enemy. As for the infantry, even if we do not consider that our training is much higher than that of the French army, just in terms of the rifles used, our army has already generally used rear-loading rifles with smokeless propellant, while the French are still using rear-loading rifles without rear-loading rifles fired with black powder, and they are much inferior to us in rifle firepower. And, all these years, we have been working on how to defeat France all the time, and now, Prime Minister, I can assure you that we are ready. Moltke continued to say firmly.

"Okay, then let's go see His Majesty together. persuaded him to support his cousins in their quest to succeed him as king of Spain. Bismarck said to Moltke.

If Bismarck had only some misgivings about going to war with France, then His Majesty Wilhelm I was full of fears about going to war with France. Although it is already an established national policy to meet the French soldiers, at this time, it is not so easy to make up your mind.

……

"Soon there will be a war in Europe. Because Napoleon III had no choice but war. At the regular family meeting, Scrooge said to Carol and Catherine. Dorothea, on the other hand, has been temporarily disqualified from attending the conference for the safety of the fetus because her belly is already very large.

"I have informed the traders of MacDonald Ventures in Europe that they are ready to go long on Prussian-related companies and short on French stocks in related industries." Catherine replied.

"Generally speaking, after the outbreak of war, a large amount of hot money will come from Europe to the United States in a short period of time, and railways and agriculture will become hot spots for these hot money investments. As soon as the railroad is hot, well, steel will also become a hot spot. Carol, you have to be prepared to raise the price of steel and something a little bit, so that you can make money while also giving others the space to enter the steel industry. Scrooge said to Carol again.

"Scrooge, we finally crushed those competitors, why now...... Do you think I have nothing to do, so I need to get some opponents out and crush them to play? Carroll didn't understand Scrooge's approach.

"Carol, of course it's to crush them one more time. But this is not to crush them for fun, but because we want to take this opportunity to let those European capitals know that those things are not for them to touch. You think, we do have a monopoly in the steel industry now. But Carroll, what is the purpose of a monopoly? Scrooge asked.

"Excess profits, of course. Well, Marx has made this very clear in his new book Capital. Carol replied.

"If you are afraid that someone will come in and break the monopoly, and you keep the price low, then where do you pursue 'excess profits'?" Scrooge smiled and said, "We can attract these people to invest in it, and when their factories are built and they are ready to become productive forces, we can crush them again." That means they're building a factory for us, and we're going to be able to make more profits. ”

"And in this way, the next time we raise the price, few people will dare to enter this market." Catherine chimed in.

"Scrooge, there's one thing I want to mention, it's about oil." Rockefeller, who was invited for the first time to a family meeting of the MacDonald family, spoke.

"Oh, John, what do you think?" Scrooge asked.

"I consulted with some of our experts and they told me that it is possible to use petroleum as a raw material in the manufacture of ammonia, and that it may be cheaper. I think we should do research on this. Also, someone mentioned to me the idea of an internal combustion engine, which I think is also good. He said Scrooge, you know this kind of thinking, and even this kind of thinking originated from you. I know that's where oil really comes in. I'm curious to know when these things will be put into research and production? ”

"Ammonia synthesis and even other organic chemistry related to the use of petroleum are already being developed. Maybe in a year or two it will be fruitful. The internal combustion engine is still a bit of a bit technologically immature, and it's not the time for it to come out until we decide to let the railroads crash. John, you should understand the purpose of this thing, a lot of it, this thing is used to steal business with the railroad. Scrooge did not hide his thoughts from Rockefeller, but told him bluntly about his strategy, "John, oil will now be mainly used as marine fuel and some raw materials for the chemical industry in the short term. Your focus should be on how to control more oil fields. Well, the Dashi yàn room is verifying a technology that uses shock waves to detect oil fields, and once realized, it will also be of great benefit to our exploration. ”

……

"Your Majesty, I have heard that we have sent an envoy to Prussia to ask for an audience with King Wilhelm I. He was asked to publicly pledge never to support Prince Leopold in succeeding him as King of Spain. and to annex part of Bavaria and Hesse-Darmstadt on the west bank of the Rhine to France as compensation for France's conservative neutrality in the Austro-Prussian War. Such conditions are almost impossible for them to agree to, and if they do not agree, do you really intend to resort to war? The leader of the Third Party, Emile Olivier, asked Emperor Napoleon III directly.

"Yes, Emile. Even if he agrees, I will have to start a war. Napoleon III did not shy away from replying, "Because the Prussians are about to produce urea, which will destroy the competitiveness of French agriculture." I have here a report of the Academy of Sciences that you can look at. Only by defeating Prussia through the war can we protect our agriculture and keep our peasants from starving. ”

Emile Olivier looked at the report carefully and asked, "Your Majesty, can't we just ask for the relevant patents?" ”

"Do you think it's possible?" Napoleon III laughed, "Everyone knows very well the desire of the Prussians to unify Germany. The biggest obstacle today is France. Because their unification meant the emergence of a powerful land power on the borders of France. Europa is big, but it can't accommodate two land powers. At the same time, their unification would mean that we would lose many of the interests of southern Germany, which would not be tolerated. If they want to do that, they must confront us. And by using agricultural technology, using cheap agricultural products to bring down the French agricultural market and plunge France into a revolution, they will be able to avoid the danger of direct confrontation with us and achieve their goals. Will such a technology patent be sold? Even if they agree, they will deliberately delay until next year's grain is ripe, and they will be able to achieve their goal. So this battle must be fought. Emile, I know you've always wanted to turn a monarchy into a constitutional monarchy. If you and your party can support the war in parliament, I agree with your idea of political reform. How is this deal? ”

"Your Majesty, are you telling the truth?" Emele Olivier asked, his eyes wide.

"Of course, how can I talk nonsense about such a heavy question?" Emperor Napoleon III replied. If he could defeat Prussia, then his prestige in France would rival that of his uncle, the Emperor who was small but incomparably tall in the hearts of countless Frenchmen. At that time, even if the form of government becomes a constitutional monarchy, who will be able to restrain a king who thinks he has the same prestige as Emperor Napoleon I?