New Shun 1730

Since no one wants to be called "Zhao Gou", the only way is to escalate the verbal attack.

France wants to extradite Washington for trial, because the French confession is clearly written and signed by Washington.

Then Britain can only escalate the situation, saying that the French are sneaky, like spies, otherwise why would they kill you?

Once the public opinion on both sides escalated, these news followed the merchant ships of Dashun across the ocean.

The staff of the Privy Council is not stupid, and they understand what is going on at a glance: the French do not want to fight, but the British do.

War can only be avoided if both sides do not want to fight.

The reason why the French do not want to fight is very simple.

Since they have already gained the advantage in trade, the French only seek the Ohio Valley as a buffer zone to ensure their ginseng, mink fur, and "Dongzhu" trade in the north.

The French are taking advantage at this time, so of course they don't want to fight.

And British capital is obviously jealous, so of course they want to fight.

According to the situation of the last Ginseng War, it is conceivable that the initiative of the war is in the hands of the British, because the British control the sea power and have a larger population.

Only those who hold the initiative are qualified to decide whether to fight or not.

Since the party holding the initiative is very interested in fighting, it is more and more high-profile to mobilize public opinion - Dashun is still very familiar with this. The dignitaries of the previous dynasty can indeed make it difficult for some weak emperors to deal with public opinion.

When Emperor Chongzhen first came to power and was not very accustomed to the status of emperor, he was unable to interrupt the court debate for a while, and left behind the famous saying "Let me finish speaking first, then you can speak."

Those who can speak are still powerful. Although it is not the same, Dashun can also understand what the situation is.

Moreover, the King of England at this time was still a "foreign race". When a foreign race is the king, he is generally more afraid of this kind of public opinion that starts a war, thinking that he can only be more radical than the British to avoid being scolded.

Dashun saw this kind of verbal attack escalating, and Liu Yu had always said that he wanted to repeat the story of Dashun's trip to Southeast Asia during the War of Austrian Succession, so he was sure that Europe would definitely fight.

Now, the "dawn" is beginning to appear.

As long as Britain and France go to war, it is estimated that chaos will soon occur.

Once Europe is in chaos, it will be Dashun's opportunity to seize India, which is also the emperor's dream of using the three major taxes of India, namely land tax, population tax and salt tax, as internal treasury silver, and comprehensively strengthen the power of imperial rule.

The emperor is old, and he wants to leave enough silver and a stable source of funds for his son.

Having money, or having a lot of money, does not necessarily mean that you can rule well.

But at least, it is safer than hanging yourself because you have no money.

Therefore, the emperor made this southern tour from this new perspective of "the world", mixed with the perspective of the old world, and containing the perspective of the new world.

The time chosen is also very subtle.

It was chosen in mid-June.

In theory, running to Jiangnan in mid-June is not normal. Normally, in mid-June, you should stay in the north to escape the summer heat. Why go to the south of the Yangtze River?

But mid-June is the day when almost all cargo ships from Western countries arrive at the port.

French, British, Spanish, Swedish, Dutch, Russian...

For a grand performance, the fear is that there will be no audience.

And for a performance with clear political significance, the fear is that the people who want to see it will not come.

So, the emperor, contrary to his usual practice, chose mid-June, which is not very suitable for going to the south of the Yangtze River, to tour Songsu in the south.

He held a fleet review.

Obviously, the most suitable places for a fleet review are Weihaiwei and Lushunwei.

But, if you review there, people can't see it.

The strategy of the decision-making circle of Dashun was formulated by Liu Yu. It was a very standard "wait until both sides are defeated, and then the Celestial Empire will send troops to reap the fruits, seduce France to cede India's 'Shangdang to Zhao', and delay until the British national debt collapses."

Dashun organized an armed neutral trade alliance in Europe.

So, how to ensure that this alliance can make a fortune during the war and let the other side "temporarily endure"?

Fleet review.

Bring out all the assets of the Dashun Navy and hold a large-scale fleet review at the mouth of the Yangtze River.

In this way, warn all countries that it is best not to involve Dashun.

If Dashun's merchant ships smuggle during the war, you'd better turn a blind eye. It's better to have less trouble than more.

If Dashun is doomed, it will be so bad.

As for whether European countries can be scared into peace? Obviously, it is impossible. The current situation has reached a point where fighting is inevitable. The last few major conflicts have not been resolved, and fighting will happen sooner or later.

Dashun's strategic calculations have been determined, and it will make a fortune in the early stage of the war.

You hijack each other's ships, Dashun has no objection, and even welcomes this. Hijacking each other's ships means that Dashun will dominate the East-West trade market in Europe during the European war.

But the smuggling was too much, and as the saying goes, if you walk along the river, you will get your feet wet. So we have to consider how to make the other side suppress their anger and continue to overcome their annoyance when they are annoyed with the armed neutral alliance.

At the same time, it is also sending some signals to some countries in the future.

Under the guidance of Liu Yu, France can actually make a decision easily at this time: should it continue to toss in India, which has basically no results and loses money all day long? Or should it maintain its advantage in North America, where a large amount of ginseng and mink fur are exchanged for silver every year?

Although Liu Yu said that in the temple calculation, Britain should throw away India, replace the Netherlands, use India to disintegrate the Sino-French alliance, use the East-West trade that replaced the Netherlands to contact the Dashun alliance, and draw a line in the Persian Gulf to divide the world.

However, the current situation is that Britain has great interests in India. Liu Yu has previously forced the British East India Company to go all out to India in the form of trade sanctions.

And North America does not pay taxes, and smuggling is heavy. In fact, it is not as valuable as a Caribbean sugar island.

On the contrary, the East India Company, as the main creditor, is called the East India Company, and its core interests are in the east.

When France faces a choice, France can choose to give up India and drag Dashun into the water, thereby saving the increasingly valuable North America and pulling in an ally.

But Britain cannot make such a "stupid" decision at this time, and abandon India by losing all the investments of the East India Company and bankrupting shareholders.

The French East India Company has gone bankrupt several times, and the King of France can directly recall the people of the East India Company because France is very centralized.

The fleet review was also to make the French make necessary concessions when necessary, so as to reverse the outcome of the entire war.

Of course, in the eyes of Confucian scholars with a traditional world view, this fleet review or military review was only for the increasingly important Jiangsu.

Let Jiangsu, which has become extremely important and plays a role in finance and taxation after the reform, understand how powerful the court is.

Even if it is expanded, it is said that Korea, Ryukyu, Japan, Vietnam, and the countries in Southeast Asia have been informed that they must fulfill their "vassal obligations".

The emperor's review.

What do the vassal do?

The vassal must bring troops to participate and deeply understand what the emperor and the vassal are.

This itself is also in accordance with etiquette.

The emperor reviewed the troops and held an alliance, and the vassal sent troops to participate in the alliance according to their titles. This is an ancient ritual in itself.

Deterrence and intimidation are self-evident.

But the understanding under the old world view ends here.

In fact, there are very few people who can think of this step.

However, in fact, for the decision-making circle of Dashun, this time it is certainly intended to deter local merchants and gentry in Jiangsu.

But more importantly, it is hoped to obtain alternative support from merchants.

This support is based on the national debt that Dashun has not yet issued.

If Dashun goes to war, to what extent can merchants support it?

As long as they think Dashun can win, they will continue to support it, especially many industries closely related to Western trade.

If the interest rate can be reduced to 7% or 8%.

Dashun uses salt taxes, annual fees for monopoly trade purchases, annual fees for fur trade purchases, etc. as interest mortgages, and it should not be a problem to get 100 million taels.

For Dashun, holding on is winning.

Holding on until the British national debt collapses, Dashun can declare victory. Britain still has nearly 300 million taels of national debt, and most of its fiscal revenue has to pay for the interest on national debt.

Win and eat meat.

Lose and eat shit.

So, how to make merchants have enough confidence in the court's war and actively accept relatively low interest rates to buy national debt?

The natural thing is to let the merchants see directly how powerful Dashun's own military power is.

Not only can it win.

And it can win.

The more intuitive, the better.

The simpler, the better.

The most intuitive and simplest way to show it is the land and sea review, the surrounding court, and the firing of thousands of cannons.

The merchants and emerging classes in Songsu know that Dashun has a navy and has giant ships like the Europa, and they can even see them from time to time.

But how many are there?

In fact, the tonnage of Dashun's warships may not be too scary.

But once they gather together, they can be like a forest of sails.

Let those merchants who are laymen, do not know the concept of delivery distance, and find it difficult to understand the logic of war, have sufficient confidence when necessary.

As for the precautions against merchants, it is not that there is no war for the imperial power, but it is just that.

The emperor has always been sure of one thing in his heart.

Whether it is salt industry or maritime trade, the bigger it is, the easier it is to manage.

Decentralized management requires high-end governance.

Big and concentrated, as long as the court does not collapse, three jailers and five factory guards can solve it directly.

In a place like Dashun, the emperor has never considered the possibility of the so-called chaebol seizing power.

Although there are several so-called chaebol giants in the textile, salt and overseas trade industries in Dashun, their power may be enough to call the wind and rain in small European countries, but in the eyes of the emperor of Dashun, two factory guards can solve it-of course, according to the correct name, Dashun has no factory guards, that is called the children's army.

Dashun has the tradition and historical logic inherited by Dashun, at least in the eyes of the emperor.

Liu Yu also agreed, but he did not think that it was these big merchants who contained violent power, but another force on the opposite side of them-taking history as a mirror, it naturally touched the emperor's blind spot.

However, the emperor's view of these big merchants is correct. They are just shit, people who can be solved by a few factory guards.

On the contrary, if it is not made into a large monopoly company model, it requires extremely strong control and governance.

For example, salt.

After the salt administration reform, the emperor thought that it was much easier to manage than before.

The small but fully developed and vibrant industry and commerce were indeed difficult to manage with the control and ruling power of Dashun.

It is self-evident which is easier, managing 100,000 scattered small ones or managing a few large ones.

So there is indeed a deterrent, but the deterrent to Jiangsu merchants and the emerging class is not at the top.