Xinshun 1730

Chapter 1270 Attack and Defense Mind ([-])

Every family has scriptures that are difficult to recite, and there are many conflicts in any country. There are more internal problems in Dashun, and similar problems will appear soon.

But fortunately, in this war against Europe, the beneficiaries paid the money, and those who supported the war were actually similar to the British Whig Party—a combination of emerging aristocrats, military aristocrats, and emerging bourgeoisie. They can appropriately give up some land rent income because they have assets with higher yields.

The difference is that, compared with the British industry and commerce, the Tory Party oppressed by the Whig Party can’t breathe; on the Dashun side, the Whig Party suppressed by the Tory Party can only do things on the edge of the empire, and the interior of the empire is still Private plots of gentry and landlords.

Fortunately, Dashun's size is large enough, its domestic tax efficiency is not that high, and it does not have hundreds of millions of foreign debts and almost 1500 million taels of national debt interest a year.

These problems are pressing on the United Kingdom, which has reached its tax limit, and many backlogs of contradictions have all exploded.

There are conflicts between the gentry class under the banner of defending tradition and the emerging bourgeoisie.

Contradictions between British mainland and North American colonies.

The conflict between the West India Chamber of Commerce and the East India Company.

The conflict between the king's party and the prince's party.

Whether to continue to strengthen ties with Prussia, that is, the contradiction between Hanover and the colonies.

The contradiction between land tax, consumption tax, industrial and commercial tax, salt tax, tea tax and sugar tax - this tax issue is easy to understand by looking at the set of French Physiocrats: for example, a foot of cloth costs one yuan, Agricultural employees also have to wear trousers, so the increase in the price of wearing trousers can also be regarded as the expenditure of the landowner to a certain extent. According to the theory of the Physiocrats, it will eventually be passed on to the landowner.

The situation of William Pitt is quite special. In the early days, he was a princely party, and he clearly stated that he was the British opposition, because he believed that the influence of the House of Commons came from either the king's support or anti-government activities.

Under the small circle of Whig oligarchy, William Pitt's choice was right, because he would not be able to enter the decision-making circle in normal politics, which depends on seniority.

However, by organizing anti-government activities and being a princely party in the audience, it is very easy to gain enough prestige.

Therefore, in the early years, William Pitt was used as a banner of "anti-Whig, anti-king, anti-German interests over Britain, and anti-land tax".

George II ridiculed him as a "patriotic baby", because Peter always criticized George II for protecting Germany but not Britain.

And their circle, they call themselves "Little Patriots", "True Patriots", "Make Britain Great Again", "Patriot Party".

The wife of the Duke of Churchill, before her death, appointed William Pitt as the spokesperson of an orthodox British politician, and gave William Pitt a part of the Duke Churchill's estate and a large estate.

The money is actually not much, an annuity of 3 taels of silver a year, but this is a banner, a banner of approval from the old duke party.

After the widow of the Duke of Churchill appointed William Pitt, more nobles of the "British Orthodox Patriots" began to support him.

However, support is limited.

The same is the evaluation of the old horse:
[The attempt to maintain one's own hereditary oligarchy is the only characteristic of Whigism. 】

[Other interests and principles which the Whig party sometimes defends are not its own, but are imposed upon it by the development of the industrial and commercial classes, that is, of the bourgeoisie.Just as after 1688 the Whigs united with the financial magnates who had great power at that time... the surest way to drive the Tories out of government, the Whigs came to power and put those connected with the regime A part of the fruits of victory are my own]

[...but... (whenever it develops to the point where only the bourgeoisie benefits), they hasten to hold back the movement in order to prevent its further development and at the same time restore their position]

This is the "Orthodox British faction", or the "enlightened" and "truly patriotic" land rent aristocratic faction headed by the aristocratic faction, supported William Pitt's global colonial strategy; but now they oppose it after encountering setbacks s reason.

William Pitt is a fanatical conceiver of global colonial empires. Historically, he suggested that it is better to declare Spain together. Before Spain enters the war, gather troops to snatch the Spanish treasure ship first. If there is no war, he will resign. .

His strategy is also very clear:
Eliminate France as a great power; cut off French overseas possessions, especially those sugar-rich islands in the Caribbean; drive France out of India; replace it in Canada.

The reason is that he believes that the prosperity of Britain should be based on trade. Trade brings wealth, and wealth strengthens the strength of the army and navy. Monopolizing the trade of the sea, rather than relying on the land tax, is the future of Britain. where.

If you want to do it, kill France and Spain...

However, British conservative politicians don't think so.

Hit, yes.

Weakening France, of course.

However, including the peace with France after the Seven Years War in history, in fact, Britain, as the victorious country, had quite loose conditions for France, and even returned the sugar-producing islands in the Caribbean Sea.

Don't look at Canada at that time with the eyes of future generations. The French themselves didn't think it was very valuable, and Voltaire also said that it was just a few acres of snow.Before there was no mink fur and ginseng trade with Dashun, five Canadas were not as good as one Guadeloupe.

Therefore, the Paris peace treaty of the Seven Years War, in the eyes of some fanatical self-proclaimed patriotic British, was actually "undefeated but defeated", and the conditions for France were too favorable.

And the reason for giving France such a generous price...is not because the British conservatives have a problem with their brains.

Rather, because British conservatives are well aware of how strong France is.

Once the cutting is too hard and the pressure is too hard, the French will definitely choose to retaliate wildly, pull up the West-French Anti-British Alliance, and build warships for revenge.

And once revanchism rises in France, the memories of the Hundred Years War left to the British tell them that once France with a strong foundation goes crazy, once it starts revenge, it means abandoning the continental strategy, and if it wants revenge to kill Britain, then Britain will be miserable.

Because, the political conservatives in London know that France is not Britain. France’s arable land area, population, self-sufficient and developed handicraft industry, its internal taxation and patriotic enthusiasm, even if it is cut off from trade and lost the Caribbean and North America, It can also pull out an army of hundreds of thousands and a fleet of hundreds of warships.

Even if they win, they hope to accept it as soon as it is good, and not to push people too far, and really force Europe to form an anti-British alliance.

The traditional aristocrats uphold the British geopolitical traditions and act as shit sticks instead of trying to be the European hegemon to monopolize the ocean, because they are sure that they cannot control it.

And, in fact, before Dashun entered the war, the goal had been basically achieved, and he would accept it as soon as it was good, and the peace talks with France would be over.

If France is forced too hard, and it is impossible to completely eat France, what is the plan?Trying to raise a French who is holding his breath and preparing to fight another Seven Years War to avenge Britain's revenge?
Moreover, in itself, this alliance is a brain problem.If it wasn't because Hannover was threatened by Prussia, if you insisted on licking Prussia in order to protect Hannover, you could obviously pull out a tripartite alliance of Russia, Austria, and Britain.

It's good now, because Hanover was dragged into the water by Prussia, and the anti-British alliance has been formed.

What's more frightening is that the Asian empire has also come over. The Asian empire does not need to worry about the threat of "the French landed in Scotland and went straight to London". They have a stronger foundation, more land, and a larger population. beat?
The Duke of Newcastle was going to take the blame for the previous battle in Menorca, and you, William Pitt, took this opportunity to get him down.

Now, India is lost, Gibraltar is besieged, the Sino-French joint fleet may land in Scotland, France clearly rejects the peace talks, Spain joins the war... Who will bear the blame?

The problem is that no one wants to take the blame now.

Because no one can carry it.

I don't even want to carry it.

The siege of Gibraltar is more of a symbolic meaning to Britain.

This symbolizes that after the Menorca incident, the British army, which managed to gain command of the sea and the strategic initiative, once again changed hands and gave it to the Sino-French coalition forces.

It also means that from now on, it is no longer the UK that chooses to fight North America, the Caribbean, or West Africa.

Instead, China and France can fight Scotland, North America, and the Caribbean.

Gibraltar itself, is not crucial, because even if Gibraltar is lost, it will not really threaten the foundation of Britain.

But the siege of Gibraltar is very important, because whether or not the Sino-French coalition forces capture Gibraltar means that they have the strategic initiative.

In this case, once Gibraltar is captured, there are two possibilities.

First, the Mediterranean Fleet of the Sino-French Allied Forces, the reinforcements along the West African coast from the Cape of Good Hope, the Spanish Navy, and the French Brest Fleet may choose to land directly in the UK.

The second type is that the navy on the Dashun side will use William Pitt's strategy, use the same way, and return to the other side, helping and cooperating with France and Spain to launch attacks in the Americas and the Caribbean West Indies, and capture Barbados and other industries. Sugar Island, helping France recapture Louisbourg, and attacking Britain's thirteen-state colony southward.

In the first case, there is nothing to say.

Shou.

In this regard, the British aristocracy can still fight for the motherland.Because they have permanent property, they themselves live off the land, and of course they have to defend their motherland and state religion.

The key is the second case.

In this case, should the North American colonies do more for Britain?Do you want to give more rights to the North American colonies in exchange for them being there and holding back the French army, so that France cannot counterattack in North America, so as to achieve a decent peace?

In this, it has to involve some intricate relationships between the North American colonies and the United Kingdom.

From the perspective of class, the War of Independence in North America was actually very complicated, far from being that simple.

This involves the South and the North, the oligarchic political Whig Party and the opposition Country Party, financial capital and real industry.

It involves the plantation economy bound to the British financial capital in the south, the primogeniture system bound to the British feudal tradition, the industrial and commercial backlash in the north developed because of the "Navigation Regulations", and the smuggling of northern merchants.

And also involved the struggle between the oligarchic Whigs and the Maharajah, Bolingbrokes and Parliamentary Sovereigns.

The complicated situation here can be explained with an example that can be regarded as Yiye Zhiqiu.

At this time, among the famous people in the North American colonies in London, there was a person who was later printed on the 100 dollar bill.

Benjamin Franklin.

As a representative of the North American colonies, he came to England after the outbreak of the Anglo-French Indian War.

To put it simply, Benjamin Franklin's thinking can be regarded as the "children of the world" faction.

In the War of Independence in North America, Franklin "anti-British Parliament, not against the King of England".

The question here is "Does the sovereignty of the United Kingdom belong to the King of England? Or to the Parliament?"

If the sovereignty of the United Kingdom belongs to the British king, then in Franklin's view, this is in line with the traditional British "liberal" spirit.

That is to say, the United Kingdom and the United States have a Commonwealth, the United Kingdom has a British parliament, and the colonies have a colonial parliament.

Including, on the famous "Stamp Act" issue, Franklin also stood on the side of "abstract Britain".

However, in order to oppose the Whig oligarchy, Viscount Bolingbroke expected a real king who could override Parliament.

Those who control the parliament, that is, the oligarchy of the Whig party, have the idea that "sovereignty lies in parliament"-this is of course theoretically more progressive than sovereignty in the hands of the king and the emperor.

But it is a reality to note that in fact Parliament is firmly controlled by the Whig oligarchy.In other words, the small circle of their ruling group will rule Britain.

Here comes the problem.

If the sovereignty rests with the King of England, then the relationship between Britain and the thirteen North American states is the two sons of one father.

If sovereignty is in Parliament, and Parliament is controlled by Whig oligarchs, then...the thirteen North American states do not have seats in this Parliament.

In other words, the relationship between the United Kingdom and the thirteen states in North America is the British Parliament, which rules the thirteen states in North America. It is a relationship between father and son, and a relationship between the suzerain and the colonies.

To be more specific, it may even be a bit of a mouthful-the North American War in later generations, from Franklin's point of view-[it was not against the British King, but precisely to restore the British King's sovereignty].

Similar principles can be compared to North Korea and Dashun.

The sovereignty of North Korea is in the hands of the Emperor Dashun, but not in the hands of the six governments of Dashun.

If the Celestial Dynasty is attacked by the invaders, then North Korea must obtain permission from the Son of Heaven if it wants to establish a country, trade, cede land, lease, etc. Yes, that's why the first article of the "Treaty of Shimonoseki" is the independence of Korea, not anything else.

Conversely, if the sovereignty of North Korea is in the hands of the Dashun government, but whether the scholars of North Korea have the qualifications to enter the cabinet as officials through the imperial examination, will the scholar-bureaucrats of North Korea be against it?

According to the logic of Franklin's set of sovereignty issues, this is roughly the case.

Here, there is also a question of Franklin's origin.

He was born in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania, without a governor.

Pennsylvania, originally Dutch, was the territory of the Duke of York after being snatched by the British. Later, the Duke of York inherited the throne and merged into the royal territory. Later, when Charles II was restored, he borrowed about 50000 taels of silver from Admiral William Bean , and then it was regarded as paying off the debt, and the land was given to William Bean.

In free translation, it means "a large piece of woodland of the Bin family".

Therefore, there is no governor in Pennsylvania, because it is a private territory in name.

Franklin came to the UK this time, in addition to being the representative of North America who contributed the most in the Anglo-French Indian War, he also had an important purpose.

That is, the request "to give the sovereignty of Pennsylvania to the king."

To put it bluntly, it is a matter of ownership.

That is, change Pennsylvania from "Proprietary Colony" to "Royal colony".

Turning private land into state-owned land—private, state-owned, and owned by the whole people, there is no need to mention the difference.

Because the sovereignty rests with the king, after it becomes state-owned land, the nature of this land is "Royal colony", royal colony, royal sovereign land.

Because the sovereignty rests with the monarch, the royal colony is state-owned land when the sovereignty of the country is vested in the monarch.

In the "Declaration of Independence" of the thirteen states, there is absolutely no mention of private property rights.

Therefore, at this time, Franklin, who was already the "Minister of the Post Office of North America", was in London at this time, regarding the issue of the siege of Gibraltar, the issue of William Pitt's policy, the issue of the thirteen North American states, the issue of the replacement of the old and new kings, and the British traditionalists. In the struggle between the powerful forces and the emerging bourgeois forces, one must express one's position.

In other words, as a representative of North America's outstanding contributions to the United Kingdom, he must express his own opinions and opinions on the issue of the invasion of North America after the Sino-French coalition forces may capture Gibraltar.

because……

Obviously, a Chinese empire that strictly prohibits Catholicism is unlikely to be idle and insist on landing in the UK to support Catholic conversion.

This is not to say that it can be concluded that Dashun will definitely not land in the UK with France and Spain.

Because the French theory that Hannover is an egg is also applicable in the UK: if it can land in the UK, wouldn't it be more direct to pinch the egg?When the time comes, let's talk about the conditions?
Rather, because the smuggling business that Dashun has done in recent years has been a bit big, and the British side actually has very loose control over North America in order to fight against France, which leads to another problem that the British side must be careful about.

Is Dashun eyeing the fat in the North American market?
Will you cooperate with local factions and northern businessmen in North America to encourage them to trade freely?
To defend the British mainland, you can't count on people from the thirteen North American states.

However, if the mainland is held, the thirteen states are lost, and the Caribbean is lost, and Britain will suffer greatly. This is something conservatives do not want to see. They still want to count on the wool trade to increase land rents.

Under such circumstances, as a representative of the Anglophile faction in North America, Franklin needed to make a statement and make some suggestions on a series of issues caused by the siege of Gibraltar.

That is, in the case where the main force of the navy has to defend the strait, if the purpose of Dashun is to expand smuggling and control trade, incite the colonies to engage in free trade, etc., will the thirteen North American states contribute more money and food to the United Kingdom? , soldiers... and military duty?
To counteract the pressure on North America that the Sino-French coalition forces will inevitably increase after they capture Gibraltar?
As for Gibraltar... there's no need to think about it anymore, it's not going to be saved at all.

(End of this chapter)