"Let me think about it again...Actually, I'm not avoiding this issue, I just haven't straightened out some details! Please believe me, when the Zhiyuan comes back, and when the situation in the Far East stabilizes, I will definitely give you An answer!”
Being able to force such a promise from Xiao Letian, today's meeting was not in vain. Everyone reorganized the focus of recent work, and soon it was evening.
At the meeting, the fortress plan was improved, and the general direction of Ryukyu's future governance for at least ten years has been set. As for the follow-up solution to the Dakar conflict, everyone also adopted more of Pierre's suggestions. After all, he is the one who is most familiar with the matter. French intelligence officer.
According to Pierre's analysis, France is now in a relatively sensitive period for the emperor and the cabinet. The conflicts between them have begun to appear, and the struggle for power has greatly reduced the administrative efficiency of the government.
Even if the cabinet collectively agrees to retaliate for the Dakar incident, it may not be until next year. At present, France does not have time to prepare for two wars at the same time, not to mention that the target of this one is still the distant Ryukyus.
Prussia was actively preparing for war. Although Bismarck tried to use various methods to paralyze the whole of Europe, everyone knew that the conflict between Prussia and France was gradually escalating.
Where should France's limited military spending be invested? Is it the Army or the Navy? The amount of funds required to deploy troops across half of the world is quite huge. Even if you can win in the end and get war compensation, you still have to pay upfront funds in advance.
France is very rich, but a huge amount of wealth is stored among the people. France's wealth does not mean that the emperor can use it casually. After all, the Second French Empire is a capitalist country where private property is believed to be sacred and inviolable. There is absolutely no Qing Dynasty. The strong sense of centralization of monarchical power that "everything in the world is the king's land, and the land beside the land is not the king's ministers".
It’s true that you are the emperor, but you also know clearly whose money belongs to you! You can spend the royal money however you want. The cabinet money is national finance. If you want to use it, you have to ask the cabinet for permission. As for the people's money, don't even think about it. If you dare to stretch your hand, the French will dare to have another revolution and kill you. head of.
Pierre's analysis was very thorough. According to his analysis, even if France really wanted to send troops to retaliate against Ryukyu, it would be destined to collide with the Franco-Prussian War. Compared to Ryukyu, mainland France is more important.
The only thing that needs to worry is the United Kingdom. France will definitely encourage the United Kingdom to encircle and suppress this warship, which will be more troublesome.
But there is no solution. First of all, the night battle in Dakar did not provide more evidence to Britain and France. Everything is speculation with insufficient evidence, and Europeans generally have a mentality of looking down on Asia and want to recognize Ryukyu. Being able to own a warship that surpasses the level of the entire Europe is really a difficult psychological hurdle.
Another key point in solving the problem requires the intervention of Long Ye, who is far away in northern Japan. If a war breaks out against Russia in the Far East, then Britain will definitely be happy to see the result. Even in order to jointly deal with the Tsar, he will have to choose short-term During the period, I cooperated with Xiao Letian.
"To sum up, the key point for us to break the situation now is actually two wars, one is the Franco-Prussian war, and the other is the war in the Far East. The better we fight, the weaker the impact of the Dakar incident will be on us! "
After listening to Pierre's analysis, it really felt like the sun had come to light. Everyone put aside their psychological burdens and devoted themselves to work. Pierre even received high-standard treatment from the Prime Minister personally sending him out of the house.
In the evening, the typhoon that had been raging for three days finally calmed down. The sky was a clear blue, and the burning clouds in the west were faintly connected. The whole city suddenly became full of people and came to life again.
Xiao Letian watched Pierre walking on the streets of Naha. He didn't know what happened. He suddenly noticed that Pierre looked a little lonely. It seemed like he was lonely.
"I really don't know if he and Fangguan can have a relationship, but it is said that Fangguan has no new love in Europe, and the two of them have been communicating... Forget it, other people's love has nothing to do with me, I'd better worry less! Just like Xiao He believed what they said, the muscles outside Ryukyu are now very strong, but the heart is still a little underpowered..."
"Reward for merit and punishment for punishment! Internal promotion mechanism! This is the core factor that unites people's hearts. We cannot ignore people's desires! It seems that I still have to stay up late today!"
While Xiao Letian was troubled by the system, a group of people thousands of miles away in Beijing were discussing the same issue.
Yangxin Hall, Xinuang Pavilion! Cixi was sitting behind the bead curtain. The dragon chair in front of her was empty. On the left and right sides of the dragon chair were Prince Gong, Prince Chun and other nobles from the Eight Banners. Upon closer inspection, they were all so-called conservative forces.
Kneeling in front of the dragon chair was a timid man, holding a red lacquered wooden plate in his hand. On it were stacks of brand-new banknotes, which were the latest printed Qing Dynasty household bonds.
On the surface, today's small meeting was convened by Cixi on the spur of the moment, but in fact it was a careful arrangement by the conservative forces. Taking advantage of Ci'an's absence from the Forbidden City to offer incense at Tantuo Temple, the conservatives wanted to After breaking through the barriers and accomplishing some things, it became an established fact. In the end, it was difficult for Ci'an to change it.
After Andehai was beheaded, Li Lianying became a popular figure in front of Cixi. He walked over in small steps and took a few wads of banknotes from the red lacquer plate and sent them behind the bead curtain.
"Lafayette, please take a look! This is the bond printed by the newly debugged machine. The problems of rough edges and unclear ink in the past have finally been corrected. Take a look at how clearly the dragon pattern is printed on it..."
There were one-, five-, and ten-yuan banknotes in front of Cixi. The faint smell of ink was definitely not as good as burning incense, but it was the smell of money, and people felt happy when they saw it.
Cixi took out a piece of paper, folded it, unfolded it and looked at it. Hearing the clicking sound, she laughed and said, "Oh! These banknotes are really strong. Are they afraid of water?"
"No... not afraid of water!" The nervous voice of the person kneeling below changed, and it was sharp and piercing to the ears.
"Be careful! Be careful of losing your manners in front of the old Buddha! How did I teach you the rules before entering the palace?" Yi? scolded from the side, then smiled and cupped his hands at the bead curtain, "I have never seen the majesty of the royal family. It's a bit... Nervousness is inevitable, I hope the Queen Mother will understand!"
People who see money are always in a happy mood. Cixi did not care about the rudeness of the visitor but said with interest, "Are you Yang Zhi? You can abandon the dark side and turn to the bright side. You also printed so many banknotes for the court, which solved the court's urgent need." , this is a great achievement... please give me a seat first!"
"Hey... Lafayette gave me a seat, why don't you kowtow to express your gratitude?"
