Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 102 Russia's Revenge (1)
In the 13th year of Guangxu, January 1887, the Sino-British Burma War and the Sino-Russian Siberia Blitz have gradually dissipated.The focus of national discussions is the latest five-year plan and the latest military service system.

However, none of these seemed to be able to destroy Guan Xuqing's mood to immediately turn the country into development.One after another, the successive appointments of people have been issued from the South Study Room, which has been transformed into a cabinet in terms of function, showing the determination of the 17-year-old emperor.The current form is too rare.

From a global perspective, although the two wars in Vietnam and Burma completely offended the two imperialist giants, Britain and France, it is conceivable that in the days to come, these two colonial empires will inevitably do everything possible to contain China's development.

For example, China and Myanmar have made some small moves to fully support development, etc., but as the famous saying goes, there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies in this world. From this perspective, through these two wars, China At least it has obtained the qualifications to negotiate with Britain and France on an equal footing. When other colonialist countries spy on China, they will also weigh it first, instead of always seeing him as a piece of fat that is fed to their mouths.

Such a change is actually very important. Whether the external pressure is heavy or not determines the angle of a country's policy, whether it is military or economic.

With equal status, it is possible to carry out diplomatic cooperation, which can be seen from the series of treaties signed with Germany and the United States after the war.The Qing Dynasty fully accepted the capital and products of Germany and the United States, allowing the two countries to obtain a huge capital export area and product dumping market, while China received some production and technical support from the two countries, financial and fiscal reforms with the financial support of the two countries, and Comprehensive dispatch of international students and other assistance.

This seems to be a disadvantage for China, but we should see the essence when looking at the problem.Any poor, closed and backward country cannot complete the transformation of civilization and civilization without the help of advanced countries, just like the United Kingdom, New China and the Soviet Union, so it is necessary to pay an appropriate price.

Unlike Britain and France, which hold a large amount of capital but are unwilling to transform their own industries, during this period, the industries of Germany and the United States were in a stage of rapid development. It is a negligible part. This scale of capital export will not hinder the development of China's national industry, but will also provide technical assistance. The grass is more plump.

As for product dumping, not to mention that the two countries are half a world away from China, whether it is shipping from Hamburg to Yangon, Myanmar or dragging the goods from Los Angeles to Shanghai, the shipping costs are quite amazing. You know In this era, neither airplanes nor steam turbines have been invented. The speed at which large freighters can run more than ten knots is already amazing in this era.So these treaties are far less dire than they appear on paper.

Although more than 40 years have passed since the first Opium War, China's small-scale peasant economy still occupies the mainstream of social economy.

To break this situation, a large number of high-quality, high-quality circulation commodities are necessary. Instead of flooding the market with inferior commodities from Britain and France, it is better to enjoy the best commodities in the world. You must know the greatness of Germany and the United States. Some of the technology is already the best in the world.As for domestic factories, the products of Germany and the United States are all high-end products, which have little impact on them who are just starting out and mainly engaged in some low-tech livelihood industries.

Second, the industrial threshold in this era is not high, and the possibility of imitation and refurbishment is high, which also allows domestic factories to catch up quickly.

Of course, even with the support of Germany and the United States, it is not easy to rest easy.After all, Britain and France have the world's first and second navies, and have a huge colony with one-fifth of the area. Their strength is undoubtedly very strong.

However, this period was the end of world colonialism, and the Berlin Conference was held in March 1885.The great powers officially divided up Africa, the last land of colonialism, and each country roughly determined the sphere of influence in Africa according to historical habits and their respective interests.

For a time, there were wars on that piece of gold, the Egyptian war, the Ethiopian war, the Mahdi uprising in Sudan, the Congo riots, the Nepal riots, and the Boer riots in South Africa.The great powers devoted most of their energy to that area, and even Russia, which was not invited by the Berlin Conference, stepped up its activities in Iran, hoping to open up the outlet of the Indian Ocean.Participate in this carve-up.

As for the only one that could cause trouble for China.During this period, they urgently needed to digest the aid brought by Britain and France.And the navy's grand "four ships" plan will take time.Therefore, such a gap is undoubtedly a godsend opportunity for China.

Speaking from the internal environment.The powerful forces of the Qing Dynasty that originally restricted the development of the country basically disintegrated, the country will gradually get rid of the heavy burden of the banner people, and the contradictions among the various ethnic groups are bound to ease.Through these two wars, the development of domestic industry and commerce was greatly stimulated. Although the result of the war did not receive much compensation, the funds for the war mainly came from the country's agricultural tax, which was apportioned to merchants compared to farmers who accounted for more than [-]% of the population. Undoubtedly, a very small part of them went, and in this way, the scissors effect of industry and agriculture was realized in a disguised form.

As for the life of the peasants, because there were no major natural disasters during the Guangxu period, they could barely live a decent life. In addition, the newly acquired Vietnam and Myanmar are areas with extremely rich agricultural resources, and the immigration policy has been eased to a certain extent. The contradictions of land annexation, so the contradictions caused by the difference between industrial and agricultural scissors did not appear clearly.

More importantly, the victories of the two wars against foreign aggression in name have greatly improved the morale of the people, especially the "feud" that the enemy still burned the Old Summer Palace and caused heavy harm to himself in the two Opium Wars. endless enthusiasm.

Just look at the unprecedented enthusiasm for joining the army that broke out after the war. The streets, alleys, taverns and teahouses praised Guan Xuqing one after another. In such a mood, the little contradictions caused by taxation were easily covered up. down.

Under the cover of currency reform, most people will not know that in the past few years, they have actually paid more than [-]% of the original tax, and they will only feel that their hands are much tighter than before. are expensive.If things go on like this, such contradictions will eventually erupt, but fortunately, the most difficult hurdle has passed. Although the industrial and agricultural scissors gap will still exist in the future, with the development of Northeast China and Myanmar and Vietnam, Such contradictions were always concealed under the tide of immigration until China began to embark on the imperialist road of external expansion.

In Tangshan in the deep winter, there is a bitter north wind blowing everywhere. Because it is located in the flat North China Plain and close to the Bohai Sea, the wind is still very strong.The strong wind blew Li Hongzhang's official robe and slapped his knees, but this proud old man did not show any fear, stroked his long beard lightly, and stood upright on the train from the capital to the outside of the pass.

This time, just after the war in Iran, Afghanistan, and Turkey ended, Russia tore up the border line that the two sides had just signed, took advantage of fire to loot, and sent troops to Longxing outside the customs. They were driven out, but some towns outside the customs were looted, and there were ruins everywhere. Even the holy capital Hetuala was burned by fire.

In the imperial court, many nobles and nobles of the banner and Qingliu clamored for using troops against Russia, in their opinion.The Qing even defeated the British and the French, who are ranked among the best in the world. What is the long-haired devil who is looked down upon by the British and the French? I heard that the long-haired devil was joined by the British and the Turks not long ago. defeated.It has to be said that the relentless reports of the "Daqing Daily" have indeed enriched the knowledge of those high-ranking officials in the capital. The first thing many people do when they get up early in the morning is to count the boxes with the newspaper.

(End of this chapter)