Seeing that Qingying directly pointed out the stakes as soon as he came, and did not play according to the routine at all, Ito Hirofumi did not have the slightest expression fluctuation on his face, but continued to smile and said: "Your Highness, I am surprised by your knowledge and understanding of the situation in the Far East. However, I would like to say that on the issue of confronting the Lu Kingdom, the relationship between you and me does not seem to be the kind of handouts and begging, as Your Highness said. I admit that there is a small gap between our country and Lucia in terms of overall national strength, and it is indeed difficult for us to achieve complete victory in a one-on-one battle with Lucia alone. However, Japan is not fighting alone, and there are still Britain and the United States standing behind Japan. If the Lu succeeded in realizing their strategic vision, then their power would have directly encroached on the Qing state's Central Plains and Jiangnan, which were the traditional spheres of power between Britain and Mime. To tell the truth, Britain and the United States have reached an agreement with us on the question of defending Russia, and they will support our just cause against the country! Therefore, although your assistance is more important to our country, it is not something we must pursue. ”

Qingying secretly laughed in her heart, she had been on the forum for so long in her previous life, and she had saved a lot of dry goods, how could she not have a number in her heart for the disparity in strength between Japan and Russia? He snorted lightly and said, "Mr. Ito, I think I know that the gap between your country and Russia is not just a star and a half, but there is a huge disparity like heaven and earth, right?" ”

"In the 30 years since the Meiji Restoration, your country has made great progress in all aspects, but because your starting point is so low, it is still far from being comparable to that of the European powers. In the field of heavy industry, which is crucial in the war of the country, until now your country's has almost remained 0! Even Russia, the most corrupt and weak of the European powers, produced 1,225,000 tons of steel in 1897, and as far as I know, last year your country's steel production was only 2,000 tons, not even 600 of Russia's! Even though steel production is just one of many indicators of a country's strength, it is enough to show the chasm-like gap between an emerging country like yours and an established powerhouse. Without steel, what does your country take for ammunition and what for warships? ”

Qing Yinghu looked at the Japanese cabinet ministers in front of him, and there was an unprecedented feeling of excitement in his heart. Although he must admit that 100 years later, Japanese industry is indeed a strong B, and its cutting-edge core technology can be unique in the entire world; However, it was still 1898, and 30 years after the Meiji Restoration, Japan was still a barbarian who did not know what real industry was. What can be done with 2,000 tons of crude steel production? Compared with the millions of tons of steel produced by the European powers, Japan is completely useless in the eyes of the great powers!

was ridiculed by Qingying so mercilessly, no matter how deep Rao is Ito Hirofumi Castle Mansion was, he couldn't help but feel a trace of humiliating anger in his heart. After 30 years of top-down innovation, it is true that Japan has completely moved away from barbarism in terms of culture, but it is clear that the real development of the country cannot be achieved overnight in such a short period of time. Due to various constraints such as resources and technology, Japan has been developing slowly in heavy industry, which is related to the national strategy, and the annual steel output has not exceeded 2,000 tons for 20 consecutive years; Watching the steel production of Britain, France, the United States, Russia, Germany and other powers soar at a rapid pace, while he has been holding back, Ito Hirobumi is very anxious, but there is no good way. National development is to be staged, and the government can help it, but it must not help the seedlings; If you force it, it will definitely outweigh the losses! (In this regard, what my Chao Taizu did in the late '50s is a typical example.) ）

Now that the scars were exposed by Qingying in person, Ito's face was slightly unnatural, and he retorted: "Steel production is only one of the manifestations of the country's strength, and it does not represent the entire strength of the country." It is true that the production of steel in our country is insufficient, and it is difficult to produce both munitions and warships, but we can order from abroad. Britain is happy to sell us weapons to use against the Russians. ”

Qingying couldn't help but pout when she heard this. Indeed, heavy industry was only a manifestation of the war potential of individual countries, and for Japan, it was entirely possible to buy all the resources it needed from the British. However, it was impossible for the British to provide Japan with supplies and arms free of charge, and these were to be bought with real money; And if this is done, Japan's financial resources will also be an unavoidable issue!

Japan's financial situation is much better than that of heavy industry, but this is only a 600-fold gap in steel production. Thanks to the support of the textile industry and the domestic per capita tax payment that is more than three times that of Europe, the Japanese government has achieved an average annual income of more than 450 million people with a population of about 42 million, but it is still not on the table compared to the real European powers such as Russia. The Russian government's revenue was four times that of Japan, and the strength of both the navy and the army was completely overwhelming. This is like in StarCraft 2, you have to use a single mine economy to fight against the 90 farmers of the other four mines operating at full capacity, and the economic level is not an order of magnitude at all; And the other side has much more troops than you, how do you say this battle will be fought? Even if Russia is unable to throw all its strength into the Far East due to its distant geographical location, it is far from being matched by Japan's national strength, and the other side only needs to operate normally and then storm the army as a A, and the game is over!

Therefore, in order for Japan to defeat Russia, it must not only work together as a rope at home, but also receive financial support from abroad. At present, Japan's greatest dependence on Britain has no spare strength to help this little brother.

According to the naval expansion plan announced by France, they will build five armored cruisers this year; These ships, which were relatively weak in firepower, but were designed to reach speeds of more than 21 knots and had large coal bunkers, were clearly intended to launch a disruptive attack on Britain's sea transport lines. In order to counter this behavior of the French, the British Parliament has passed an extremely large annual budget for the navy, which is expected to start construction of five 14,500-ton battleships and four 12,000-ton first-class cruisers within this year; Even if Britain could dilute the cost of building ships by plundering cheap raw materials from the colonies and building them in batches, the cost would be staggering. The cost of these 9 capital ships alone exceeded 8.5 million pounds; Combined with the daily maintenance and personnel expenses of the two great navies, Britain's naval military spending this year will reach a new high, accounting for more than 22% of the government's total annual revenue. And in addition to the navy, which is a thunderous spender, Britain has also begun to spend money on the army!

In this plane, although the "Kruger Telegram" incident did not appear with the intervention of Qing Ying, Britain's determination to use force to solve the Boer problem did not change in the slightest with the disappearance of this incident. The country, founded by the Boers, descendants of the Dutch, not only had a history of national policy detrimental to British interests, but also possessed the largest Rand gold mine in the world, which Britain had long coveted and dreamed of bringing under its control. Therefore, whether it is for the sake of the dignity of the British Empire or for its own economic interests, Britain has every reason to give this small state a little color.

In order to achieve this, Britain has a need for the army for the first time in almost 40 years, and this is another big extra cost! Under these circumstances, even if Britain still had money left to lend to Japan, the amount would certainly be quite limited and could not meet Japan's needs for arms expansion. As for the wealth of the British Empire, which has been deposited for hundreds of years...... Dear, these real money and silver are the bottom of the British box, which is used to prepare for emergencies! Historically, even in 1909, when the Anglo-German naval competition was at its worst, the British were reluctant to use this deposit despite the soaring fiscal deficit, so how could they be cheaper for the Japanese now?

As for the United States, there will not be much aid that can be given to Japan. In the eyes of the Americans, Russia and themselves are separated by an entire Pacific Ocean, and they cannot reach one place, so what does the dispute between Russia and Japan have to do with the United States? The reason why the United States supported Japan's cause of resisting Russia was simply that it was worried that the southern invasion of the brutal woolly bears would cause harm to the economic interests of the United States in the Yangtze River valley. Because of the limitations of the common interests of the two sides, it is doomed that the United States will not be open to borrowing from Japan for the sake of common strategic goals, as Britain did. The most important thing is that the United States is already at war with Spain at this time, and in this case, the United States must give priority to investing money in the war. There's still a lot of snow to be cleared in front of our house, so how can I lend you a broom?

Qingying, who understands this, has long been confident in her heart; Before coming to Japan, he had never worried about the benefits of this trip! Due to its own role, Japan received 20 million pounds less than in history, and its comprehensive national strength was seriously weakened; Although Britain would not sit idly by and ignore Japan's predicament because of its relationship with Russia, Britain itself had to spend a lot of money for the above reasons, and it was impossible for Japan to make up for this shortfall. Therefore, if Japan wants to achieve the miracle of winning four mines in a single mine, it must rely on German assistance!

PS: Should that collection be so unhelpful?,The author is updating normally every day.,It's never broken.

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