Xiao Letian stretched out his hand and gestured for Hyōtaro to sit down. "Of course we have a plan. In fact, we have already deduced the current situation before we went out, and we have also made a lot of preparations step by step..."
"We are now just like Tang Monk studying for Buddhist scriptures, basically one step at a time, one difficulty at a time! If we want to achieve the final result, we have to overcome it all the way. Borneo is one difficulty, the Suez Canal is another difficulty, and now we have arrived in Europe. , I didn’t expect that Britain would face another big difficulty!”
"I was afraid that the UK was secretly trying to hack us, so I asked Pierre to return to Europe early and launched a wonderful media war, as well as a series of reports on the Oriental Chinese..."
"My purpose is to increase our popularity and create countless fans who love us among the European people... Don't ask me what kind of fan this fan is, it's not a fan of food anyway!"
"When we have a certain mass base, every move we make will attract attention. If the UK wants to deal with us, it won't look too ugly or use too shady tactics. After all, their government also needs to be smeared and whitewashed. Face!"
"This is our first countermeasure! So far, it seems that the effect is very good!"
"The second strategy is to do everything possible to gain friendship with the British aristocracy, because Britain is not monolithic, and they are divided into many forces internally!"
"Nobles, capitalists, major parties...each force has its own demands. On the surface, our enemy is the United Kingdom, but in fact, its roots are still in these die-hard colonialists represented by Benjamin..."
"For Britain, we must learn to dissect it, unite some parts, and fight others. This is the key to breaking the situation. Before I got closer, we had Emperor Tongzhi in our hands. This is a very good card, a card that can bring us closer to the British aristocracy. A good card!”
"It's a pity that I didn't expect that the British would come and alienate Zai Chun. I can only find a breakthrough elsewhere!"
"We can win over the power of the nobility, and at the same time we can also win over the support of Benjamin's opposition party. Why do I ask the prince to go back to see Gladstone? Because the Liberal Party is now the most vocal competitor, and Gladstone is very likely to Replace it!"
"To be honest, if more than two million pounds can buy Gladstone's support, I don't think it is much!"
"Isn't that much?" Xiang Ying couldn't sit still. "More than two million pounds, that's twenty battleships! There are not so many battleships in the entire Qing Dynasty!"
Xiao Letian waved his hand, "Your calculation is wrong. The apparent cost of a first-class British battleship is about 100,000 pounds, but that is only the price of the hull..."
"Wood, iron, cables, sails... plus the labor of the shipyard, the total cost is about 100,000. Tianlaixiao said www.⒉But if the battleship wants to form a combat effectiveness, it needs more Where are the weapons!”
"Cannons, muskets, training officers and soldiers, all kinds of artillery shells...a huge amount of ancillary materials! Add up these costs, and a main warship cannot afford to buy without 250,000 pounds!"
"That's ten warships, and a line is not a small number!" Jin Sanshun kept calculating in his mind, and he was just about to break up with her.
At this time, Wang Ju smiled, "Don't think so. Let me ask you, in human history, did hot wars cost more military expenditures? Or did cold wars cost more?"
"Don't bother, let me tell you, a secret war costs more than ten times as much as a hot war!"
Wang Ju looked at Xiang Ying with a deep look, "Lie Zhan considers himself a gold-eating monster. A battleship costs millions of taels of silver, and one shell costs ten thousand taels of silver. You are the captain of the Zhiyuan, and you know this better than me..."
"The navy and the army are all the same. There is no way to fight without gold and silver. This era is not like the ancient times. Once you have used up a steel knife, someone else can use it. If you seize it, use it again..."
"In this day and age, artillery shells and guns are all consumables. If a war breaks out, even if you have an ocean of logistical supplies, just use them up!"
"But when we analyze the problem, we cannot just look at short-term hot wars. After all, war is not the norm, especially large-scale national wars are very rare. Most of the time, there are small-scale conflicts between humans, including in peacetime... "
"At this time, the money is spent in invisible places! How much does it cost to bribe a spy? How much does it cost to train an assassin? How much does it cost to build an intelligence network?"
"To be honest, in my eyes, Gladstone's two million pounds is not much at all. The overt and covert fights between these political parties cost no less than the army?"
Xiao Letian nodded, "Yes, the most important thing is that secret wars have no end and will never stop forever, but hot wars can be stopped. Most of the time, the military still relies on deterrence to protect the country!"
"I first prepared four million pounds to bribe Benjamin's political opponents and wanted to use the British to destroy him. This can be regarded as fighting against the enemy. However, I underestimated Gladstone's ability. This is a real Elite politicians!”
"The reason why Britain is so strong in the final analysis relies on its strong talent pool. Wars are fought by people, the economy is developed by people, and politics is run by people!"
"I still underestimated the talents of the world. Since Gladstone can hack me for two million, in our eyes he is a shameless villain, but in the eyes of the British, he is a national hero!"
"Don't be angry. Since people can trick us, they are capable. We should respect capable people instead of resenting them!"
"I will solve Gladstone's problem personally. I will go and meet him personally! This is a master. None of you can compete with him. You can't beat him!"
There was silence in the cabin. After a long time, Sima Yun suddenly laughed and said, "We will definitely support Yuan's decision, but I'm just a little confused... Do we have to bet on Gladstone? Don't we have a fourth plan?" Yet?"
People were whispering among each other. They admitted that what Xiao Letian said made sense and that the various plans were also very precise. The first plan was to create media hype and build popularity.
The second plan is to win over the nobles and compete for resources, and the third method is to support the opposition party in attacking Benjamin.
So the question is, is there a fourth method, or can the third method be adjusted so that the greedy old man must replace Benjamin? Is there no other more suitable candidate?
Xiao Letian smiled bitterly and shook his head and said, "Don't look at me like that. There really is no other suitable candidate. It makes sense for me to choose Gladstone!"
