The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 290 First Mover Advantage
"Johnny, to be honest, I really envy a centralized country like Qi. They can carry out major projects at any time and anywhere that are difficult for all countries in the world to complete."

In the English Legation on Tiansheng Avenue in Zhuque District, Chang'an, Dean Henderson, the Minister to Qi, had just finished breakfast. He picked up a white tablecloth and wiped his mouth elegantly, then turned to his assistant and said.

"Did you know? Yesterday, our group of diplomatic envoys was invited to attend the inauguration ceremony of Chang'an West Railway Station. We once again witnessed the birth of a new landmark building in Chang'an City. Oh, God! That large-scale railway station is simply It is a miracle of human architecture and the crystallization of a great art. It is unimaginable that it only took fourteen months from the foundation to the completion of this railway station, which is so fast!”

"Yes, if we in the Kingdom of England were to build this large-scale railway station by ourselves, I think it would take at least four years. Well, maybe more than five or six years." Johnny Scott, the counselor's secretary of the embassy, ​​nodded. Said: "I have to admit that as long as the people of Qi want to build a great project, they will definitely spare no effort and invest huge manpower and material resources in a short period of time to complete it as quickly as possible. Their government does concentrate its efforts on In the near future, they are preparing to recruit tens of thousands of people to build a dam on the upper reaches of the Daxing River. A huge lake will be formed in the valley there (the original site of Wivenhoe Lake), thus making everyone Chinese people can more fully develop and utilize the river.”

"Oh, the crazy and persistent Qi people." Dean Henderson shrugged, "They are using their technological and manpower advantages to transform the once desolate Hanzhou continent into a more livable place. More vibrant. By the way, what’s on the schedule today?”

"Lord Henderson, I have no special arrangements this morning. I just need to deal with some daily affairs of the legation." Johnny Scott said, placing several newspapers in front of Henderson, which also included translations of relevant major news. The manuscript was submitted to the minister after a night of hard work, sorting and translating it, in order to provide the minister with the latest political developments in Qi.

"However, according to the appointment made three days ago, at 2 p.m., you will go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qi to discuss and negotiate with the officials in charge of American affairs about the trade dispute between Britain and Qi in our American colonial territories. By then, You need to leave half an hour early to avoid being unnecessarily late. As you know, the main road leading to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is undergoing expansion and repair of sewer pipes, and is full of various construction materials, which will be affected to a certain extent. It affects the smooth passage of horse-drawn carriages.”

"Well, to be honest, I really don't want to deal with people from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qi." Dean Henderson smiled bitterly and shook his head, "Facing the powerful Qi people, we have too few chips in our hands to restrict The people of Qi have almost no means. Therefore, I think that this meeting will not have any good results. Not only the businessmen of Qi will not easily give up the lucrative smuggling trade in North America, but also the gang in the American territories. Selfish local power groups cannot categorically reject the various commodities imported by the people of Qi. It is unimaginable that Qi is so far away from the Americas, and the imported industrial products also have a strong cost advantage. "

"Yes, Lord Henderson." Johnny Scott nodded and said: "I have been in Qi for two years, and what impressed me most is Qi's huge industrial production capacity and extremely low prices for industrial products. As long as the people of Qi are willing to lower their profit margins, the industrial products they produce will have no rivals in the world unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless artificial barriers are set up to import Qi's goods, the large-scale influx of Qi's goods can be prevented. Otherwise, no country's industrial products can compete normally with Qi's goods."

When Dean Henderson heard this, his face immediately showed a bitter and painful look, and he said in a difficult tone: "We in the Kingdom of England have tried to make this kind of effort, but unfortunately, we failed. Do you know? " The Treaty of Chang'an between Qi and Ying was negotiated and signed by Baron Wilmington and I. This may be a permanent painful experience for me, and it will be a lifelong shame."

"I'm sorry, Lord Henderson." Johnny Scott said apologetically, "This is not your fault alone, nor is it your shame alone. I believe that all English people will understand and sympathize with your efforts. At the same time, I also firmly believe that as our Kingdom of England continues to introduce Qi's industrial technology, we will surely regain our strength and become stronger. In time, our Kingdom of England will surely wash away the shame of defeat."

"Johnny, I appreciate your optimism and determination for the future." Dean Henderson sighed and said softly: "But I won't repay you too much for the changes in the future strength of Britain and Qi. Expectations. Not to mention that the population size and territory of the Qi people are several times that of our Kingdom of England. Their first-mover advantage in industry and their expanding industrial scale system will make it extremely difficult for us to catch up. Maybe we will make progress and make breakthroughs in the field of industrial production, but it will not make much difference in narrowing the gap in strength between the two countries.”

"Lord Henderson, are you too pessimistic about the future development of our Kingdom of England?" Johnny Scott asked carefully: "As far as the entire European continent is concerned, the industrial development situation of our Kingdom of England is undoubtedly the best. , is already ahead of all countries. As long as we continue to introduce advanced technology and industrial production systems from all over the world, our Kingdom of England will only become better and better. Moreover, we have a vast European market to nurture our industry. The resource-rich North American continent can provide us with industrial raw materials and product dumping grounds. If we can integrate the politics and economy of the North American colonial territories well, then even if we cannot close the power gap with Qi in the future, it will not appear to be so. Too weak to resist."

"The industrial development of a country is quite difficult and tortuous, and it is not easy to catch up." Dean Henderson smiled slightly and said earnestly: "The achievements that Qi has achieved today were not achieved overnight. Industrialization The difficulty is beyond human understanding and imagination.”

As the minister to Qi State, Dean Henderson has stayed in Qi State for nearly five years. He has a little knowledge and understanding of this huge empire, and he has a clear understanding of Qi State's strength.

How difficult is it for a country to industrialize? The first foundation is the chemical industry. The basis of the chemical industry is three acids and two bases (i.e. sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, caustic soda, and soda ash).

First of all, there must be a sulfuric acid industry. Sulfuric acid can produce primary fertilizers, medicines, explosives, pigments, daily chemicals, detergents, and batteries developed and experimentally developed by Qi people (providing support for wired telegraphs)...

Sulfuric acid requires sulfur ore. After the sulfur is ground, it is fed into the reactor. Sulfur dioxide gas is generated, and sulfur trioxide gas is generated in another furnace, which is cooled into sulfuric acid.

At present, Qi's Kaihua Island (near Java Island) and Jinzhou Island (near Sumatra Island) have the highest quality sulfur mines in the world, with an annual output of approximately hundreds of thousands of tons, which can provide a steady stream of raw materials for the sulfuric acid industry.

Secondly, there should be a hydrochloric acid industry. Hydrochloric acid is used in steel washing, leather industry, coal chemical industry, etc. Hydrochloric acid requires a salt mine. It decomposes saturated salt water to obtain hydrogen and chlorine. After ignition and combustion, hydrogen chloride gas is generated. After cooling, it is absorbed by water and becomes hydrochloric acid.

There are many salt lakes in the interior of Hanzhou, which can provide sufficient salt mineral raw materials for the hydrochloric acid industry.

Then, there should be a nitric acid industry, which can be used to make primary fertilizers, explosives, dyes, pharmaceutical industry, etc...

Nitric acid requires saltpeter. Nitric acid is obtained by calcining the saltpeter at extremely high temperatures and dissolving it with water and oxygen. Whether it is Kaihua Island, the Ryukyu Governor-General, or even India, there are some of the best saltpeter mines in the world.

Next, there should be a caustic soda industry, which is used in paper making, kerosene refining, printing and dyeing, textile fibers, etc...

The caustic soda industry requires limestone. The limestone undergoes a series of washing and chemical reactions to generate caustic soda.

Weiyuan Island held by Qi State, Muscat controlled by the Arab region, Oman and other places all have extremely abundant limestone reserves. Even the Kingdom of Cambodia also has considerable limestone reserves.

Finally, there is the soda ash industry, which is used in the production of detergents, glass industry, food industry, metallurgy industry, etc...

Soda ash can be made by the decomposition of salt, which, see, also requires large amounts of salt minerals.

When ordinary countries see that industrialization is so complex and difficult, and that they have to gather so many mineral and chemical industries, they simply get through it without any trouble.

Qi State not only has the first-mover advantage in industry, but what is even more enviable is that the mineral resources it possesses are really complete and very rich.

Coal as industrial power, iron ore as the basic raw material of industry, and corresponding minerals such as aluminum, copper, zinc, lead, nickel, etc. are all available in Hanzhou continent. There are even gold mines and gold mines that make people crazy with envy. Silver mines are also extremely rich in reserves.

Not to mention, the Nanyang Islands, Weiyuan Islands, Dongzhou Islands and other places occupied by Qi State also have inexhaustible timber resources.

It would be fine if Qi State only had abundant resources. This was only the basic condition for its industrialization. But Qi also has an excellent geographical advantage. It is located at the intersection of the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. It is not far from the Chinese mainland, the Indian subcontinent, as well as Persia, Arabia, Africa and other countries and regions with large populations, allowing it to obtain vast territory. The commodity market is sufficient to digest the massive amount of industrial products produced by Qi State, thus continuously nourishing and strengthening Qi State's industry.

Can you imagine? India alone has a population of hundreds of millions, more than the entire European continent. It is such a huge market, but it is monopolized by the Qi family.

As Qi helped the Persians expel Afghan tribal rebels and restore the Safavid Empire, this regional power with a population of nearly 10 million also completely opened its doors to Qi's products.

In the Ottomans, because they maintained a traditional friendly alliance with Qi, Qi's commercial power almost occupied more than 60% of the market share of this pagan empire. In Europe, Qi's goods also filled the streets and alleys of various countries and regions. Then, countless precious metals were pulled back to the Hanzhou continent by Qi merchant ships one after another - yes, most European countries were fighting with Qi Basically, all trade transactions are in a state of surplus (that is, trade deficit).

Although the Qi people claimed that they did not deliberately pursue a trade surplus, compared to their developed and advanced industrial production capabilities, the European continent did not have many commodities that could reverse the trade balance in exchange for Qi's goods in equal amounts, and they could only painfully exchange a large amount of them. Gold and silver and other precious metals were put into their hands, or economic sovereignty was continuously transferred, allowing Qi to invest in many domestic industries related to the economy and people's livelihood.

In order to combat the invasion of Qi's commercial capital, many European countries also adopted corresponding restrictive measures. For example, France, relying on its strong position in the European continent, ignored Qi's repeated warnings and threats and blatantly increased the import tax rate on many Qi products. In order to protect the fragile domestic cotton and linen industry, it even established a ban on Qi's textiles. The import quota restrictions made the people of Qi very angry.

Like Sweden, in order to maintain the competitive advantage of its steel industry, it not only imposed high tariffs on Chinese steel products, but also used various means to force Qi people to sell more shares in the Northern Steel Plant jointly established by the two countries, so that the Kingdom of Sweden could Take full control of the largest steel plant in the Nordic region.

For example, the Kingdom of Prussia strongly requires Qi's commercial capital to retain 50% of its annual profits to invest and build factories in Prussia, thereby promoting the development of Prussian industry.

Of course, although the Kingdom of England was defeated by Qi, it was forced to sign the "British-Qi Chang'an Treaty" and had to open its doors to Qi's goods. However, in order to protect and promote the industrial development of England, the government also took a number of measures to limit and weaken the competitiveness of Qi's goods in the domestic market from all aspects.

For example, the "Regulations on the Sale of Foreign Goods" was promulgated, which levies special taxes on the links and processes of distributing and transporting Chinese goods. It also classifies certain Chinese goods as luxury goods and imposes additional consumption taxes.

For example, from the government level and the private level, we strongly advocate that the subjects of the kingdom purchase various industrial products produced in England and keep precious gold and silver currency on the British island as much as possible.

In addition, the government took the lead and involved a large number of businessmen and factory owners to establish a number of investment committees, following the industrial investment model of Qi, to gather strong capital to invest in certain specific industries and provide many effective support policies.

The reason for this is also because the English have seen the benefits of Qi people concentrating their efforts on big things, especially the basic chemical industry, coal chemical industry, and coal and steel heavy industry, which all require massive funds for research and development and construction. Any one person alone can do this. It is difficult for individual investors to proceed. Therefore, it is better to gather everyone's strength and focus on tackling the problem. If results are produced, then just share the profits according to the proportion of everyone's investment.

In fact, the English also understand that it seems to be the most reliable to have the government take the lead in organizing it like Qi State, and many cabinet departments to jointly establish industrial development funds to guide and invest in various new industries.

But this is possible in a centralized country like Qi, but it will definitely not work in England!
The businessmen (the bourgeoisie) worked hard to unite to suppress the royal family and establish a constitutional monarch. How could they free it from its shackles and re-centralize the royal family?
You must know that once such a centralized system is implemented, even though it is for the purpose of industrial agglomeration, the final result of this kind of thing is very likely to strengthen the authority and influence of the royal family, and even cause the monarchy to revive again. This is a major problem for England's domestic commercial capital. The last thing guys want to see.

They would prefer that Congress, which they control, appropriate funds to establish such an industry fund, but lawmakers representing other industries will certainly not agree.

The reason is very simple. Why should I, a shipbuilding businessman, pay to help you develop the coal chemical industry?
Therefore, this is a flaw in the political system of the Kingdom of England. In order to "chain the king in a cage", centralization of power can only be sacrificed to maintain a constitutional monarch.

Today's Parliament in England is simply a collection of businessmen or lower-level nobles who stick together for warmth. Everyone has reached a consensus on dealing with the centralization of royal power, because it is related to everyone's vital interests. Otherwise, the king, who has the highest authority and supreme power, will surely pick their pockets and even hang a noose around their necks.

But if we raise taxes across the country in order to concentrate financial resources on developing a certain industry, it will definitely lead to endless wrangling and there is a high probability that it will not pass.

After all, you still have to figure it out yourself!
Relevant stakeholders will establish their own associations, organize their own funds, and conduct their own research and development. Naturally, the results obtained will be shared by the relevant investors themselves.

After studying the development process of Qi State for decades, Dean Henderson came to an "accurate" conclusion, that is, the strength of Qi State does not lie in technology, military strength, or their excellent geopolitical situation, but their national system. The State of Qi can use the entire national strength as the backing to support and promote the rapid development of a certain industry or a certain enterprise. It can promote the industry by providing government grants, financial subsidies, tax exemptions, technical assistance to various scientific research institutions, etc., etc. Or companies can achieve technological breakthroughs or market breakthroughs in a very short period of time.

As an Englishman, it is hard to imagine that in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Qi State would actually spend 40% to 50% of the entire national finance on large-scale official immigration, thereby rapidly increasing the population size to Millions of people.

When the Qi State was not very financially wealthy, their Emperor was able to overcome all objections and implement compulsory education for all. This was simply impossible for the Kingdom of England.

Why should the noble lord's money be spent on those poor people?
In order to build a complete Hanzhou railway network, the people of Qi did not hesitate to spend huge manpower and material resources to build thousands of kilometers of railways in remote inland areas.

You know, because the inland Hanzhou is arid, rainless and sparsely populated, building railways there will not create much economic value at all, but the people of Qi did not feel sorry for it and spent tens of millions to build several railways across the inland.

For another example, the State of Qi levied a border development tax on the prosperous Hanzhou mainland in order to maximize the development and construction of surrounding overseas territories, thereby forcibly knitting these fragmented territories together politically and economically.

In contrast, England, and even Scotland and Ireland on its doorstep, are not very willing to spend a large sum of money from their pockets to engage in construction.

As Johnny said, as long as the people of Qi are willing, they will "spare no effort" and invest huge manpower and material resources in a short period of time to complete a major project or major event as quickly as possible.

England is not good in these respects. The national parliament is generally closed. On weekdays, members are busy with their own business in various places. Only when major events occur, they will gather together for meetings and discussions.

England still does not have a national financial and taxation system, and the government can only receive a pitiful amount of tax revenue to maintain the operation of civil servants and a small army. Once we run out of money, we turn to Congress for help, or temporarily levy a certain tax, or have members of Congress allocate money in the name of "aid money." It can be said that it is very careless to distinguish between public and private matters.

Of course, the congressmen don't care about this. They usually don't pay any taxes. The country is their manipulation tool. It's normal to pay some money when something happens. Anyway, they can still make a lot of money later.

Deep down in his heart, Dean Henderson hopes that England can transplant some of Qi's systems to England to promote the rapid development of the Kingdom of England.

But he, who is well versed in English politics, knows that this is unlikely to be achieved.

Traditional Chinese culture is completely different from English culture. They weaken individual rights in order to seek greater collective interests, which does not work in England. Any move aimed at increasing royal centralization or big government was met with wariness by businessmen and fierce opposition. Because they were afraid that the English royal family would become like the French Bourbon royal family, with absolute monarchy power, thus endangering the property and lives of merchants.

It does not have a first-mover advantage in industry, and various industries have been crushed by Qi in all aspects. What is even more frustrating is that due to political constraints, even the system is weaker than Qi. So England wants to catch up quickly. The goal will undoubtedly be extremely difficult.

Of course, it is not just England that faces this dilemma caused by its industrial disadvantage. Almost all countries in Europe and even the world will face this problem.

So, is there any way or way to break this situation?

(End of this chapter)