"Mr. Minister, do you know why many nations in this world cannot enter industrial civilization? Or even if they enter industrial civilization, they are not doing very well?" Wang Ju asked.
Ulan Geli was stunned and shook his head subconsciously. At this time, Wang Ju said rudely, "Just like Tsarist Russia, it is an industrial country in name. In fact, everyone knows that it is just a backward country that has just got rid of slavery. It’s just an agricultural country!”
"You want to engage in industry? It's too difficult, considering the strength of your country's industry...hehehe..." Director Wang couldn't help but laugh.
"You!" Ulan Geli suddenly became angry. "I respect you as a senior Chinese official, but you can never insult my motherland!"
"Oh...I'm sorry, I'm really sorry...but isn't what I said the truth?"
"How many cities and regions are there in the huge Tsarist Russia that can produce industrial products today? With all due respect, they are all concentrated in the two European cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg, right?"
"The rest of the area is a vast agricultural and animal husbandry area, starting from Central Asia and going east. You can't even produce a screw here!"
"And even if it is your industrial zone in Europe, it is far behind Germany and the United Kingdom... and now that you have developed, your strength is not as good as ours!"
"No, no, no, don't be angry. Listen to me. I really don't mean to humiliate you. I'm just stating a fact!"
"How has the production capacity of breech-loaded artillery been increased? Compared with Krupp, are your costs lower? Is it more efficient? Is it more powerful? When these issues come together, they become the most critical point!"
"Are your industrial products competitive in the market? Faced with the industrial impact of Britain and Germany, can your products withstand the impact?"
This sentence made Ulan Geli turn pale and he couldn't say a word. He had no way to refute!
Wang Ju is right. On the surface, Tsarist Russia today is an extremely powerful empire, but its internal problems are also very serious. People who don’t know how to do it think that this country is too big, scary, and too cruel to defeat, but for those professionals, Look, this country is too weak!
Weakness actually lies in industrialization! Originally, Tsarist Russia industrialized later than Western Europe, and its social system changed even later. Now that the serfs have just been liberated, the country's main economy is actually still agriculture and animal husbandry!
Tsarist Russia can produce muskets and cannons, and now breech-loaded artillery can also be produced, but being able to produce it does not mean that your industrialization will be on an equal footing with Germany and the United Kingdom!
The cost of your industrial products is higher than others, the output is lower than others, and the quality is worse than others. Then your weapons and equipment will no longer be internationally competitive!
Your weapons and industrial products can only be produced domestically. As long as other countries can buy good products from Germany and the UK, who wants yours?
A serious consequence of this is that your country's industry has no profitability, and you cannot make money, so you can only rely on internal digestion to barely maintain development!
"Haha... all the profits of your industry only come from the domestic market, and international market trade can only make a small amount of money in some more backward Central Asia and the Middle East!"
"Even countries in East Asia will not choose your industrial products! Don't be convinced, are your breech-loading guns competitive with our Chinese imitation Mauser?"
"You are the minister, and you should have done business intelligence. Our cost is half of yours, and the quality is slightly higher than yours... Who do you think consumers will choose?"
"Our Northern Industrial Zone has been making profits. We must remember that we are making money! And what about you? It's just a dismal operation, very dismal..."
Ulan Geli's face turned red and white. "Well... that's only temporary. Our great tsar and our great country will change this situation sooner or later!"
"Yes, it will change sooner or later, but you are changing and we are changing too! Don't you want to hear my point of view?"
Wulan Geli stopped talking and nodded silently!
"Haha... In fact, your question just now is one of the answers. Are you sure the city is clean and the streets are tidy just to look good?"
"Wrong, we are reshaping the people's spirit!"
Director Wang looked out the window and said, "Please look carefully. Such a busy street seems to be chaotic, but everyone is in order, driving on the right, vehicles giving way to pedestrians, and no one dares to touch the strict health laws... …”
"Behind the appearance of freedom, there are actually invisible ropes restraining these people and making them understand the rules!"
"Why do people need to understand these seemingly useless little rules? Spitting, defecating everywhere, driving on the left, not giving way to pedestrians, and even swearing at others... aren't these all moral issues? "
"Why do we use laws to strictly suppress their immorality?"
Wang Ju answered his own question and said, "Actually, it's just one sentence. We will use this kind of rules and regulations to restrain the people, so that they can reborn from the thinking of agricultural society and completely integrate into industrial civilization as quickly as possible!"
"Your Excellency, Minister, I don't know if you have your own farm. I think there were serfs in your family before! What did those serfs look like?"
Wulan Geli tilted his head and thought, but said nothing!
"Haha, let me answer it for you... People who grew up in an agricultural society don't need to be too strict. As long as they can follow the basic solar terms of spring, summer, autumn and winter, sowing when it's time to sow, and harvesting when it's time to harvest, they will definitely have income!"
"Agricultural production does not require too much precision! A day or two difference in sowing is not a big deal, and a longer or shorter furrow will not affect the yield too much!"
"No matter how refined your planting is, you may encounter floods, droughts or locust plagues, or even a flock of birds may take away your harvest. Everything is very rough, and refinement is a joke!"
"In the long winter, people are extremely bored and can only become more lazy...The empty natural environment in the countryside also makes people do whatever they want!"
"Whether it's spitting, urinating, or littering... this is no problem in rural areas. To be honest, there are no trash cans for them to use!"
"Not to mention walking on the right and vehicles giving way to pedestrians. You can walk through the entire field at will. There are so few people and so much land that you don't need any road rules at all!"
"They are loose and can do whatever they want. If you ask them to hammer in a row of nails, they can't even nail them neatly!"
"Think about it, is this the reality on your farm? And all these behaviors and habits were inconsequential in the past farming era!"
"But after entering the industrial age, this national character will become the biggest shortcoming!"
