The war is over, and peace is restored to the world. However, people of insight know that this war is nothing more than a temporary truce. As new contradictions come to the fore, it won't be long before war begins again. Istanbul is not a peace conference, but an armistice.

However, it is understandable that the Chinese Empire became the world hegemon through this world war. Even Germany, which had the ambition to challenge the hegemony of the Reich, could not deny the current position of the Reich. From the map, you can intuitively see the strength of the Chinese Empire. All of Asia, with the exception of West Asia, has become the territory of the Chinese Empire. Not only that, but the territory of the empire also expanded to Europe, and the fertile lands east of the Volga River, south of the Don River, and north of the Caucasus Mountains in Eastern Europe became the territory of the Chinese Empire. In addition to this, the empire also has several overseas provinces of small islands in the Mediterranean, which will be officially named the Mediterranean Province.

In addition, the whole of North America and Canada, with the exception of the former southern states of the United States, ruled by the Kingdom of Spain, became the territory of the Empire. In general, there is no other country in the empire that can compare with the empire in terms of territorial area. Although a significant part of these territories had not yet developed, it was not very difficult to digest them with the empire's large population base. Even, the original overpopulation problem of the empire can be completely solved at this moment. With such a large territory, is it not possible to accommodate the empire's population of less than 600 million?

At this time, it seemed that the population of the empire was still a little too small. However, Long Yufei is not worried about this. As long as people's lives can get better and better. The population of the empire was bound to grow at an accelerated rate. The concept of having many sons and grandchildren has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people in the empire. I guess it won't be long. The population of the empire would grow exponentially. With a sufficient population, the empire wants to dominate the whole world. It doesn't seem to be a problem.

On the morning of December 26, 1855, Emperor Long Yufei convened a pre-imperial meeting, which was attended by Crown Prince Long Hua. Although the crown prince Long Hua, Prime Minister Lin Zihao and Foreign Minister Wei Yuan only returned to China yesterday, they should have been allowed to take a good rest. But now that the empire has too many affairs, where is the time for them to rest? It's the end of the year now, and we have to make good arrangements for the coming year. In this way, we can ensure that all work is carried out in the coming year. In particular, the territory of the empire has expanded quite a bit again, and all work must be carried out next year.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the war has come to an end for the time being. Next, our focus should be on domestic construction and development! Emperor Long Yufei glanced at the high-ranking officials of the empire and the important generals of the military in the conference room.

Many people understood the word temporary emphasized in Long Yufei's mouth. Yes, the war is only a temporary end. It won't be long before the war resumes. As for how long this time will take, it will depend on how long it will take for the two countries, the Chinese Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, to complete their preparations for war. Or rather, it depends on the final will of the two countries.

"In this world war, we got what we wanted. Territory, wealth, and glory. However, it also brings us an enemy. An enemy as formidable as ever. A hostile state with a population of more than 100 million and an industrially developed country will be born in Europe, with the interests of empires in Europe. and the interests of the whole world will be threatened. Therefore, we cannot think that the war is over and the empire will be able to sit back and relax when it becomes the hegemon of the world. We need to be vigilant and ready for war at all times! Long Yufei continued.

Long Yufei regarded the Kingdom of Prussia as an unprecedented enemy of the Chinese Empire. Some people may not agree with this. After all. In their opinion, the current Chinese Empire is definitely the most powerful empire that has ever existed. Although the Kingdom of Prussia took advantage of this war to lay the foundations of a powerful empire. However, compared to the Chinese Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia was still too weak.

Long Yufei knew that some people would have such thoughts. However, this is not a problem, as long as they follow his will.

"Next, Your Excellency the Prime Minister will introduce to you the next stage of the development plan of the empire!" Long Yufei said.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Imperial Prime Minister Lin Zihao stood up, glanced at everyone, and opened the future development plan of the empire that had been prepared in front of him. This is a development plan that the cabinet has begun to draw up in the late stage of the war, and Long Yufei's opinion has been fully consulted.

"My Excellency, in this war, the Empire has not only gained vast territory, but also received huge funds for development. First of all, in terms of war reparations, the empire received 7.2 billion Chinese dollars in war reparations. In addition, the British royal family paid a special payment of two billion Chinese dollars. The empire plundered two billion dollars worth of wealth on the battlefield. In addition to this, according to the agreement between the empire and the princely states of India, the princely states of India will also pay special funds of 800 million Chinese dollars per year to the empire. In this war, the empire spent a total of 16 billion Chinese dollars in military spending. After deducting these consumptions, the empire made a total profit of 14 billion Chinese dollars! Lin Zihao said.

"14 billion Chinese dollars? So much? Except for the Chancellor, who already knew the figure, the other senior military and political officials were dumbfounded. All along, war burns money. But now, instead, the empire has acquired a wealth of 14 billion Chinese dollars through the war. You must know that at the beginning of the war, the empire's annual financial revenue was only one billion Chinese dollars.

"Ahem! Everyone, be quiet! Long Yufei saw that everyone was talking about it, and stopped it loudly.

His Majesty the Emperor spoke, and everyone naturally cooperated. For a moment, there was silence in the conference room.

"Although the empire has gained a huge amount of wealth in this war, everyone knows that this is almost the wealth accumulated by the Western powers for hundreds of years. The wealth they have accumulated over hundreds of years has almost been hollowed out by the empire. In the next war, even if the empire wins the war, it is estimated that there will be no way to plunder so much wealth again! Long Yufei said.

Everyone nodded their heads, but it was also a good thing for the Empire. The wealth accumulated by the Western countries over hundreds of years is acquired by the empire, so that the empire can use this wealth to develop itself and further widen the gap with the Western countries. In the same way, the empire has more capital to gain the upper hand in the next war.

"As for the use of this fund, the cabinet thinks about it in this way. Among them, 10 billion Chinese dollars will be used to develop domestic infrastructure construction, and the other 4 billion Chinese dollars will be handed over to the military to develop armaments and rearmament warfare, so as to prepare for the next war! Lin Zihao said.

When Lin Zihao put forward this distribution plan, the conference room exploded all of a sudden. Both cabinet officials and military giants disagree with this. The Cabinet believes that 4 billion dollars for military spending is too wasteful. We can first use the vast majority of the funds to develop the domestic economy, and when the country becomes rich and strong, there will be more funds to feed back to the military.

However, the military believes that although the four billion Chinese dollars seem to be a lot, they are actually not enough at all. Now the total size of the Empire* army has reached five million people. After the end of the war, whether the five million troops are to be retained or to be partially eliminated will require money. In addition, the old equipment in the war also needs to be replaced and updated, and more new equipment needs to be purchased. In particular, the Navy, after the sale of two-thirds of its warships. The strength of the Imperial Navy had fallen to a dangerous point. In addition to the four 'Tang-class' battleships under construction, the Empire needed more surface warships to guarantee the superiority of the Imperial Navy and ensure the Empire's overseas interests. There is also money for the Empire's research and development of new weapons. For example, the advanced weapons such as armored vehicles and tanks developed by the Imperial * Military Research Institute are subject to technical reasons, and their performance and reliability are not guaranteed. Therefore, none of these weapons have been shown in this war. However, in the next war, the Empire will have to use these weapons. The Air Force's new fighter jets also need to invest more money in research and development. Once mass production is achieved, these will require a large amount of military expenditure to procure.

Although the General Staff has not yet come up with a plan for the reform of the Reich* army, it is undoubtedly necessary to prepare enough funds there first.

"Okay, everyone, stop arguing. As for the allocation of this fund, for the time being, it will be distributed according to the opinion of the Prime Minister! However, the funds are first deposited in the bank, and the cabinet and the military submit a report on their use according to their own needs, and I will approve the use before using it! Long Yufei said. In the past few years, the empire has been tightening its belts to develop the economy and industry, and now that there is suddenly such a large amount of money, everyone is naturally red to death.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Everyone nodded.

After that, Lin Zihao made clear the cabinet's work plan for next year, first, to vigorously develop domestic infrastructure construction, especially the construction of railways and highways from the hinterland of the empire to Eastern Europe. Infrastructure development in the Empire's overseas territories, including ports, roads, and railways. The second is large-scale overseas migration. The total population of the empire is now approaching 600 million. But only a little more than 100 million people live in the South Seas, North America and elsewhere in Asia. The Empire's plan for the future is to emigrate another 200 million people overseas in five years. (To be continued......)

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