Xiang Ying silently put down the fork in his hand, and other Chinese officials also put down the barnacles on their plates. They had seen a lot of expensive ingredients, but this kind of sacrifice of human life was really hard to swallow!
"Isn't this to your liking?" Isabella II looked at Xiang Ying in confusion, thinking that these Chinese people didn't believe what they said.
"Susan, tell our guests the price of these barnacles..."
Attendant Susan smiled and said, "Fresh barnacles can be sold for one hundred pounds per kilogram in the market in Madrid, and the barnacles selected by the royal family are all of a fixed standard in the sea..."
"The price of a kilogram of barnacles is around 250 pounds. This is a regional delicacy well-known in Europe!"
Xiang Ying smiled bitterly and shook his head, "It's not that I don't believe in the preciousness of these ingredients. With your noble status as the Queen, it's impossible for you to enjoy poor ingredients..."
"I'm just feeling a little uncomfortable, ten pounds for a life? Too..."
China has been influenced by Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism for thousands of years since ancient times. The gene of kindness has been ingrained in the bone marrow. Xiang Ying felt very uncomfortable looking at this delicacy that was exchanged for human life.
But the Queen didn't understand this very much. "This is the job of their fishermen. Since they covet the high purchase price of barnacles, they naturally have to take risks to dig them. Is anyone forcing them?"
Haha... Xiang Ying sneered, "High purchase price? I'm afraid the price that those fishermen who sacrificed their lives got in the end was not even one-tenth of the retail price. Where did the more profits go?"
"No one forces them? If people can survive, who will risk their lives to do this kind of work... The poor have no choice, the cruel society will force him to a dead end!"
“In the final analysis, it’s still the ruler’s problem!”
With a clank, the fork fell on the plate, and the queen's calm expression suddenly fell again. "Do you mean that all the responsibilities should be borne by me?"
"It's really weird. When a fisherman has an accident while collecting barnacles, do I still have to be blamed for this? They are poor because they were born with sin!"
"God punished them to come to earth and suffer. This is a matter of course!"
When Susan heard that there was going to be another quarrel, she quickly smoothed things over, "Change the dishes... What is the next dish... Shrimp bisque? Replace the barnacles immediately..."
"Mr. Xiang, let's not talk about those unhappy topics for now. Let's raise a toast to..." Susan thought about it for a long time but couldn't think of any toast.
Victor Hugo, who was accompanying the guests, was obviously very satisfied with Xiang Ying's compassion just now. He stood up to smooth things over and said, "Let's do it for the beautiful scenery of Biarritz! Cheers!"
With the great writer on the side to smooth things over, the atmosphere of the second half of the banquet became much better. When the dinner was about to end, the tipsy Queen finally started talking about business.
"Dear Xiang! Tell me about your conditions...What exactly did the head of state bring?"
As soon as Victor Hugo heard that the topic turned into political affairs, he apologized and said that his legs hurt and he wanted to take a bath in a hot spring, and left the banquet with a wink.
Under Susan's gaze, some low-level officials, attendants, maids, etc. all exited the banquet hall, leaving only a dozen core members.
Xiang Ying can still drink well. Half a bottle of red wine can't make his thinking confused at all. He coughed twice to sort out his thoughts and then spoke frankly.
"With all due respect! I'm afraid Spain won't be able to recover from the war that broke out in the Philippines this time. Don't be angry yet and listen to me slowly analyzing it for you..."
"From ancient times to the present, war has been a business. The purpose of people launching wars is either immediate benefits or long-term benefits... Only when there is benefit will they start it. If there is no benefit, no one will be stupid enough to die in vain!"
"War indemnities, seizures after victory, including the ancient competition for slaves... these are all short-term interests, just like gamblers, they open their eyes and stare at them!"
"Long-term benefits mainly depend on the control of local territories, population, mineral deposits, forests, agriculture, taxation... These long-term benefits are also the main reasons for launching wars!"
"If there are interests, there will be war. If there are no interests, there will be no war! What kind of colony is the Philippines now for Spain?"
"Okay, let me assume for the moment that the queen will be restored successfully, and then you can also launch an expeditionary force to attack Asia... But what benefits can you get from doing these things?"
"Do you think there are millions of tons of gold and silver ready-made in the Philippines waiting for you to snatch it? How much loot do you think the expeditionary force can plunder?"
"With all due respect, the Philippines has been completely plundered by you in the past three hundred years. How much oil and water can be scraped off the legs of flies and mosquitoes? Have you ever calculated..."
"If there are no immediate benefits, then there will definitely be long-term benefits? Not necessarily!"
"The Philippines does have a lot of natural resources, including gold, silver, tin, wood, rubber, spices, crops... etc. These are divided into two parts, one part is renewable and the other part is non-renewable!"
"Mineral deposits are non-renewable resources, especially your favorite gold and silver... In the past three hundred years, you have dug out everything that is easy to mine. The remaining geological conditions are extremely complex and human technology cannot mine them at all. Dangerous mineral veins that cannot be reached!”
"The input-output ratio of doing business is no longer the same. In the past, investing one gold coin could produce a mineral deposit worth a thousand gold coins. Now, if you invest a thousand gold coins, you may lose all money due to a landslide!"
"Why is your governor crying about poverty in these old age? Isn't it because all the mineable mineral deposits have been exhausted!"
"You can't dig out many non-renewable resources anymore. Of course you will turn your attention to renewable resources, such as food, wood, rubber, spices..."
"Our intelligence department has done a lot of work before. We have copied the financial accounts in the Governor of Manila's cabinet several times. Over the past ten years, Manila's tax revenue has relied heavily on renewable resources!"
"The revenue from mining and marine commercial taxes has dropped from 51% ten years ago to 37% now. Think about it carefully. Are there still gold and silver mountains in the Philippines for you to mine?"
“Data doesn’t lie!”
"Why is the decline so serious? It boils down to two points: the minerals that are easy to mine are exhausted, and the minerals that are difficult to mine cannot be mined at all!"
"In addition, how come the commercial taxes on ocean trade have also dropped? The reason is very simple. Merchants pursue profits. Our Chinese people have established more prosperous business in the East China Sea than you Spaniards!"
"Those sea-going ships take the Ryukyu, Shanghai, Tanggu...including Fusang lines, and the money they make is more than double that of your trip to the Philippines. Do you think those sea-going ships will still go to Manila?"
"It's dropped all the way to 37%! Don't you feel horrible?"
