"There really aren't 10 million tons? Hehe, that's not far off, right? Anthony smiled, "At first, the Imperial Cabinet was skeptical when it learned of the great achievements of agriculture in the Far East, but later learned that in 1621 the Far East alone exported more than 2 million tons of grain, and strongly supported the military logistics of Hailan and Fizhen, and its attitude immediately changed one hundred and eighty degrees!" In the past, the imperial authorities hesitated on the issue of the Eastern Crusade, mainly because they disliked the cold climate of the Far East, the vast land and the sparse population and the lack of products, and the income from recovering the lost land was probably not worth the cost of military expenditure and law and order maintenance. The imperial government requisitioned back the grain of the Far Easterners, calculated it at a discount of 5 million tons, and sold it on the international grain market, making a net profit of 150 million gold duga! If you think about it for yourself, wouldn't it be the best of both worlds to have such a large windfall every year, not only to fill the fiscal hole, but also to avoid the intensification of domestic tensions due to excessive taxation? ”

Roland understood that the imperial authorities were also playing the same plan - in vain to start a war to loot the people of the Far East to make up for the domestic deficit and transfer the domestic social contradictions to the Far Easterners.

Strong fortresses tend to be easier to breach from within. In the face of a crisis that could come at any time, Roland immediately had two ideas, one was to mobilize the whole country to strengthen preparations for war, and the other was to gain an in-depth understanding of the dynamics of the imperial government and opposition, and try to establish contact with the opinion leaders within the empire who opposed the war.

"So are there people within the empire who stand up against the military's expansionist tendencies?"

"That's a good question, to the point!" Anthony smiled and held up four fingers, "According to my observations, there are at least four forces in the empire that oppose the Crusade. ”

"One is the bottom public. They bear the main costs of the war, have to squeeze more taxes out of their teeth in order to support the war, are forced to do hard labor, and even serve as cannon fodder on the battlefield, enduring real suffering, but even if the war is won, most of the wealth plundered from the Far East is divided among the officials, and when it is their turn, there is only a little residue left, and of course there are good reasons to oppose the war. Anthony sighed, his eyes showing some compassion, "Although there are many people at the bottom, it is a pity that there is no spokesperson at the top of the government, and the lords of the holy city of Yashan will not give much consideration to their opinions. ”

Before the silent majority is mobilized, the only thing they can do is to live silently, die silently, and cause as little trouble to the country as possible. Roland sympathized with the people at the bottom of the empire, but could not find a suitable way to borrow this power to stop the war, sighed softly, and waited for Anthony to continue.

"The second group that opposed the Crusade...... It is a multinational investor represented by our Fogel family. Anthony smiled, and then changed to a solemn expression: "We oppose all forms of national and ethnic conflicts, believe in cosmopolitanism, and hope that the world will always be peaceful, and that no country can do business in any corner of the world in peace and security, and increase the well-being of all mankind through our own work - this is our common ideal." ”

"The cosmopolitanism of the capitalists." Roland complained in his heart. Antony's "ideal" cannot be said to be a hypocritical rhetoric, and the cross-border flow of capital can indeed increase the total welfare of society, but the key is that the "Fogels" who adhere to this idea avoid talking about distribution. In their ideal country, the rate of return on capital will always be greater than the rate of economic growth, and the pie of total social welfare seems to be getting bigger and bigger, but the distribution is also becoming more and more uneven, and the gap between the rich and the poor is also getting wider and wider.

Putting aside these philosophical differences, there was a very practical factor in the opposition of the financial capitalists of the Assanian Empire, most of whom secretly invested in Far Eastern government bonds through the Fogel family bank, and the returns were quite good in the past two years. Regardless of the cosmopolitan ideals, they did not want the collapse of the Kolas regime out of investment risk, so they would certainly try their best to prevent the Empire from sending troops to the Far East and try to broker peace talks.

"The Fogel family is an old friend of the Far Easterners, and it is our common position to seek peace, and I hope that everyone can do their part to avoid war." Roland hinted at Anthony.

Anthony smiled knowingly, didn't respond directly to his hints, and continued with the topic.

"The third force opposing the crusade is the current cabinet headed by the Count of Müller."

"Isn't the Mill cabinet anxious to get rid of the blame, why is it against waging a war to transfer the contradictions?" Roland asked.

"The reason is actually very simple, war may alleviate the internal contradictions of the empire in the long run, but in the short term it will inevitably exacerbate the contradictions! The military department does not care where the money and food come from, but only stretches out its hand to the cabinet and asks the Mueller government to ensure the supply of military supplies, and the Mueller cabinet has gone to great lengths to maintain the colonial war and has made a bunch of bad debts, and the military expenditure of the Eastern Crusade is a huge expense. I am afraid that the war is not over yet, and the Mueller cabinet will have to collectively step down and apologize. Anthony spread his hands, "It's like a house on fire, the military department suggested digging a well and pumping water out to extinguish the fire, but Prime Minister Muller is now trapped in the burning house, and before the well is ready, he will be burned alive, and how can he promise to help the military raise the cost of digging the well!" ”

"It makes sense, if I were Count Muller, I wouldn't support the military's approach." Roland couldn't help but laugh, "Who was the last force to oppose the Crusades?" ”

"It's the 'reformers' led by Prince Frank." Anthony mentioned His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and his face couldn't help but show a hint of respect.

"Prince Frank was in the prime of life, open-minded, energetic, and gathered a large number of reformist cadres around him, this group of people had similar backgrounds, young intellectuals from aristocratic backgrounds, graduated from the Central University of the Empire, most of them had the experience of studying in economic powers such as Feizhen, Hailan, and Canaan, and worshiped the foreign system, believing that the religious, legal, economic, and even political systems of the Yashan Empire were outdated, and that if they did not carry out drastic reforms, they would collapse."

"Hearing you say this, most of the reformers in the empire are progressive young people who are worried about the country and the people, how do they plan to start reforming?" Roland inquired with Anthony with great interest.

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