At this point, the conversation has entered a situation that ordinary people cannot understand. Only well-educated politicians can understand what Cai Bixia is talking about.
What is war? There is no justice or freedom of belief, war is just a business, a super big business that trumps all businesses!
From the moment humans learned to use tools, they were already able to arm their hands. Wooden sticks were not necessarily used to fight cattle, sheep, and horses. They could also crack the heads of other tribal warriors!
Polished stone knives and stone axes are not only used to cut prey, they can also chop off the heads of competitors!
Asking for resources from nature is a way for humans to survive, so raising a butcher knife against one's own kind is also a way to survive, and it may even lead to a better life!
Not only can people teach cattle, sheep and horses, but cats, dogs, chickens and ducks have become livestock! Humans can also teach their own kind to become slaves! How did humans create so many towering buildings in ancient times?
Didn't the luxurious life of the nobles before Qin and Han Dynasty rely on slaves to support it?
Even if slavery is abolished, humans will still start from their own kind. Is the wheat in the Central Plains ripe? Fire up the cavalry and grab it!
Are there herds of cattle and sheep outside the Great Wall? Don’t the powerful Central Plains dynasties extort some tribute?
The history of human development is a history of killing the same kind without any mercy. In order to survive or live better than others, launching a war has never been a morally burdensome choice!
Primitive people cast bronze, sharpened iron swords, and invested money in the army. Then people in the 19th century also made money, loaded cannons, and invested heavily in building a powerful armed force!
The army was built with a lot of money, should it be put there as a decoration? Don’t you want to see returns when investing? Obviously politicians are more responsible than ordinary people think, and they are obviously smarter!
Common people all know that when money is spent, there is always something to gain. Don’t those people know that?
The British and French coalition obtained parliamentary authorization by a slim vote, invested heavily in establishing an expeditionary force, and spent millions and millions of pounds to attack the Qing Dynasty. Is it for some bullshit morality?
The first thing he has to solve is to reimburse the military expenses first. After defeating the Qing Dynasty, he will at least collect a large amount of war compensation, and he will make money!
What is the difference between investing money to build an army and funding a company? If you gather money together, you have to make a profit. If you don't make a profit, then why gather money? Only fools can lose money!
Cai Bixia rolled her eyes at the drooling Yi Kuang and sneered, "Actually, there is nothing to discuss about purchasing arms. Sometimes your decisions are not what you want!"
"It's up to your competitors to decide! If others have it but you don't, then you will put yourself in an extremely dangerous situation!"
"The money invested by others has been converted into combat power. One day in the future, I will be able to defeat you on the battlefield, and then earn back my investment tenfold from the compensation!"
"Airships are very expensive. If you don't have six or seven million taels, you can't have combat effectiveness. But once you have this combat effectiveness, maybe one day you can earn 16,7 million from the enemy!"
"Is it difficult to settle this account? Do you want to be a loser and be plundered by others, or do you want to be a winner and plunder others?"
"You don't have to participate in the arms race if you don't want to! Are you still dreaming of living a small life behind closed doors? The enemy has already prepared cannons to blow open the small door of your house!"
None of these princes can refute Cai Bixia's words. This is a bloody reality, and it is a twist that ordinary people cannot understand!
Ordinary people always naively think that if I don’t kill people or set fires, I don’t eat poisonous things, I don’t do illegal things, I just want to live my peaceful life, why am I bothering others?
But if your family is rich, it will definitely hinder others. Why would the robber reason with you and show mercy? Your family has money and food. This is the only reason why they attack you!
The devil's six eyes flickered. He had understood Cai Bixia's subtext. The meaning was very clear. If you don't spend this money, let alone Chinese and foreigners. If Emperor Tongzhi had such an airship force, , the end of your Xishan camp has come!
Zai Chun has 30,000 new Yulin troops at his disposal, and there are Chinese and British people backing him up. This situation is originally a balancing act between two sides!
Although the Xishan Camp is better because of its strong military strength, it cannot withstand the enemy's new weapons!
It is unrealistic to expect the airship troops to kill many enemies, but at critical moments on the battlefield, this weapon can be used to carry out key tactics to break the situation, and the effect will be great!
Not only that, such a unit can also have a great psychological shock on the enemy, and the morale of the army will be lost by then!
The stuff is really nice, but where can I get the money to buy it? Even if one were purchased at Emperor Tongzhi's price of 450,000 taels of silver, including training and support, a force of nine airships would cost between five and six million taels of silver!
Although the Qing Dynasty had a great family and a great business, there were too many places to spend money. No one could say that they could spend so much money in one go!
Fortunately, this business is too big and there is no need to make a decision today. The princes will still have time to discuss it when they come back!
"Princes, you have already said this for the sake of talking, and it would be pointless to say it any more! Anyway, you have to discuss it carefully when you go back, why don't we just leave it like this today..."
Cai Bixia knew that the fire should not be too big, otherwise it would burn the pot, and she was ready to leave at the critical moment!
"Wait..." Yi Kuang and Guiziliu actually shouted out in unison.
The two looked at each other, and Yi Kuang first said to Cai Bixia with a frown on his face, "That... that Mr. Cai... we have to have a glass of wine before leaving, otherwise it will appear that we are really lacking in etiquette!"
I bother! Several princes and the eunuchs in Yin'an Palace began to curse in their hearts. This is really embarrassing and has been thrown into the Pacific Ocean. You even dare to seduce the special envoys of negotiations between countries?
Guiziliu stomped his feet fiercely, "Step back, why are you talking so much nonsense?"
It's rare that Yi Xin actually gave Cai Bixia a hand. "Mr. Cai, you are Xiao Letian's special envoy. I'm afraid you are not just here to sell arms this time, right?"
"In your capacity, there are so many big things to do. Such a small task can be completed by Fan Lian, the God of Wealth, just sending anyone at will!"
"I'm afraid, your intention is elsewhere, right? How about having a frank talk..."
Bang bang bang... Cai Bixia applauded and said, "It's happy, it's happy... It's happy to talk to people who understand!"
"Let me tell the truth. The Qing Dynasty did have some fiscal surpluses in the past two years. In one year, there was an extra surplus of more than 10 million yuan on the books..."
"But it's not enough. This amount of money is simply not enough for such a huge empire... How much money will be left after several floods and droughts? How many years have it been since the Yellow River and Huai River floods have been desilted?"
"So don't listen to me. No matter how good this airship is, you can't afford it!"
"Find ways to increase revenue and reduce expenditure! As long as you give our Chinese concession a few special zones, the rent will naturally be able to offset the cost of arms!"
"This is a good deal with no capital. What the Chinese are interested in are unowned wastelands and wastelands. Even if there are some landowners, the purchase cost will not be high!"
"Exchanging useless land for the world's top munitions is a very good deal!"
