"In the early days of colonial expansion, basically every time you used military power, you could seize excellent deep-water ports, the best golden waterways, the vastest plains, and the richest mines..."
"From a business perspective, this represents extremely high cost performance! What you get after investing tens of millions of pounds at a time is a gold mine that will make you stable profits for hundreds of years. How cost-effective is this deal?"
"But now that the great geographical discovery of the world is over, are there still golden treasures waiting for you, the British Empire, to occupy?"
"All the excellent deep-water ports have been carved up by countries such as Britain and France, and of course old maritime powers such as Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands. Look at Tsarist Russia. They are going crazy for a warm-water port and an outlet to the sea!"
"Even a not-so-excellent port like Vladivostok can make them happy. This shows how far the world has been divided!"
"Looking at the land controlled behind the port, how many areas are there that are really densely populated and have developed agriculture and industry? India has been completely carved up, and the coast of Africa is all clean. You even have to explore inland along the rivers..."
"Don't think I don't know how many expeditions you have sent along the Nile. Isn't it Ethiopia that Benjamin wants?"
"But think about it, apart from giving some false glory to British citizens, what real benefits can be gained by conquering such a plateau country?"
"For that coffee and cotton? Or are Londoners starting to like giraffes and elephants?"
Xiao Letian sighed and said, "Actually, Sudan's Ethiopia is just a typical example. In fact, there are many such areas on all continents. Since they are deep inland, the British must invest more troops if they want to control them. There are countless Native savages, enemies of other religions..."
"Even if you capture this place, how much will it cost to maintain it? What kind of return from the colony can you break even? It doesn't matter if you do a loss-making transaction once or twice. Doing it too much will only prove that there is something wrong with your brains!"
Xiao Letian drank a glass of wine emotionally. "Everything has proven that the colonial policy no longer works. This is a very obvious trend and must be changed..."
"And you! Mr. Gladstone, how can you become independent from the Whig Party and allow the young Liberal Party to develop so rapidly? Isn't it because your group has clearly seen this general trend! "
"You know very well that although the UK is at its peak at the moment, fatigue has already appeared. There has been no major investment in domestic infrastructure for decades. London's sewer system is not even as good as Paris!"
"In the past few years, Ireland shocked the world. There was such a large-scale famine in the empire where the sun never sets. How can we explain this?"
"Of course, these problems can be easily solved. As long as you are willing to invest, there will be returns within a few years. But the thorn in your heart is not a simple domestic investment, it is education, right? Your eyes have betrayed you. I’ve lost your heart, don’t even think about lying to me!”
At this moment, Xiao Letian has completely controlled the situation. The thoughts of Gladstone and the eavesdroppers are completely controlled by Xiao Letian. No matter whether you agree with his reasoning or not, you cannot deny that this Eastern head of state is truly unparalleled in eloquence.
Even Crown Prince Edward couldn't sit still. He was pacing back and forth in the narrow room with the whiskey that had melted on ice. His face was full of worry, which showed that Xiao Letian's words had stimulated him.
You have to strike while the iron is hot. Xiao Letian will never give them any chance to breathe. Gladstone blocked the words without needing to refute them.
"I know what you want, higher education that you are proud of, right? You want to use Oxford, Cambridge and those research institutes that are the envy of the world to refute my point of view, right?"
"Haha... I admit that Britain is still at the forefront of the world in cutting-edge scientific and technological research, so you still have an illusory sense of glory!"
"Your industrial strength is still very strong. You can copy the ace Zhiyuan in my hand just from some broken data and a few photos captured by scales. Of course, this is the foundation of the Empire on which the sun never sets..."
"Because you still have such an advantage right now, there are many voices opposing compulsory education in your country. After all, investment in compulsory education is different from other investments..."
"If you build a road, you can see the real thing in two or three years; if you build a railway, you can get benefits in ten or eight years... The government's revenue comes from taxation, and the people are naturally opposed to tax increases!"
"With investment that is visible and tangible, there is still a little opposition, but compulsory education will take decades or even longer to see results, so many business elites and political elders are resistant, right?"
"Benjamin relies a lot on these old-fashioned victories to fight you. I'm not wrong, right?"
As soon as these words were spoken, not only did Gladstone sit up straight, but the leaders of industry and commerce and representatives of the banking and financial circles who were eavesdropping could not sit still either.
Because Xiao Letian belongs to them, they are the biggest opponents of compulsory education... no, no, no, they should be the biggest doubters and wavers.
Perhaps they support compulsory education in their hearts, but since this investment is costly and time-consuming, it gives selfish businessmen a headache.
Infrastructure investment must come to an end one day, and municipal improvements or military expansion also have a plan. It is calculated that it is a budget of 10 million pounds. Once the money is spent, it will be over.
Only compulsory education is an endless investment. As long as compulsory education is started, it will increase the financial burden forever. The wool comes from the sheep, and these expenditures will ultimately have to be borne by the taxes of businessmen.
This is what they are most resistant to, and this is also the mass basis behind Benjamin's rejection of Gladstone's compulsory education proposal in Parliament.
Now Xiao Letian has torn away the plain surface of the British political arena and directly exposed the tense conflicts in the flesh and blood to the air. Everyone is as nervous and angry as if they were running naked.
"Is this damn Chinese trying to alienate our friendship? Your Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, we cannot let him continue. This person is so rude!"
Edward frowned and pressed his palm down sharply, "Shut up! Let me finish! Don't you even have the courage to listen?"
Gladstone, who was opposite Xiao Letian, had a wry smile on his face and said nothing. He sighed inwardly, "Young head of state, you are playing with fire! I hope you are an excellent firebender!"
"However, I really like your crazy energy!"
