"General, do you really plan to hit Spain hard? This Spain seems to be quite strong, but I am afraid that the expedition will take a long time."
"General, if we are going to go to war with Spain, do we need to change our focus?"
"This cannot be changed. The 'Republican New Deal' is of great importance, and we must not fall short of the success."
"But to fight against foreign aggression, one must first settle the domestic affairs. If there is a quarrel at home over matters of 'limiting land' and 'equalizing land', how can the general have the energy to use troops abroad?"
In the capital room of the General's Mansion, Li Zhongshan was discussing with a group of his confidants how to deal a serious blow to the Spanish Empire without adversely affecting the "Republican New Deal" in the Ming Dynasty. However, the "Republican New Deal" has always been the top priority in Li Yat-sen's mind. In order to implement this "Republican New Deal", he was even willing to postpone the process of unifying China, which shows how seriously he attached importance to the "New Deal".
The key points of this "Republican New Deal" are "land restriction" and "land equalization". These two policies are not only used to protect Chinese people, but also to inhibit the inflow of industrial and commercial capital into the "land-selling and rent-collecting industry." China has always had the tradition of "using the weak to pursue profit and using the basic to defend it" - this is Sima Qian's original words in the Historical Records. The "end" refers to the "end of industry and commerce", and the "base" refers to land and agriculture.
It can be seen that starting from the Qin and Han Dynasties or even earlier, wealthy Chinese who made fortunes in industry and commerce liked to invest the money they earned in the "land-buying and rent-collecting industry" which had lower risks but relatively stable returns.
Of course, it is natural that rich people like to buy land and collect rent, and like to stick to their roots. This is not just the case in China, but also for wealthy people in other countries. The reason why a large amount of capital is invested in industry and commerce in Europe instead of buying land and collecting rent is mainly because they have followed the path of feudalism for a long time. A large number of real estates were held by feudal nobles, and for a long time, these real estates were fiefs linked to military service. It is very difficult for a merchant to sell a noble fiefdom, and he might even be dragged by the king to fight as a knight, which would be fatal!
Therefore, their big businessmen can only invest in industry and commerce. Even if they want to buy real estate, they usually buy urban residential or industrial and commercial real estate in the free city.
In China, land privatization has been carried out for a long time. Although there are military real estate and noble estates, they are not the mainstream. The mainstream is still private real estate that can be bought and sold freely, with stable income and good liquidity. Moreover, there are many wealthy people in the "Republican Ming Dynasty" who have purchased the status of national scholars and nationals, and have the right to discuss politics and "free from kneeling". For them, buying land, collecting rent, and passing it on to their descendants is the surest way to keep their roots.
Therefore, Li Zhongshan must hang a "sword of equalizing land" on private land. Even if the matter of "equalizing land" cannot be carried out nationwide, it must not be messed up by Huang! It must be preached every year and every month, and at the same time it must be implemented in various ways in the newly recovered lands, so that the wealthy people in the southeast always feel that they are in danger, so that they will not hold too much land.
"It is imperative to restrict land! We can continue to discuss land equalization and try it out in some places at the same time." Seeing that Li Zhongshan's closest confidants couldn't come up with a solution, he simply decided to set the tone himself, "As for the New Deal, not only must it continue to be implemented , and it needs to be extended!”
"General," Dai Zi, who came from Guangdong to serve as the right-hand military advisor of the General's Mansion, frowned and asked, "What do you mean by generalization? Our new policy currently involves a wide range of aspects, and the military aspect is broad. There are a lot of things: the military system needs to be reformed, military orders need to be unified, officers and soldiers need to be ranked according to their ranks, military production needs to be given greater support, and military academies need to be vigorously developed, starting from primary school, middle school to university. To promote it, what other aspects can be reformed?”
Dai Zi is now Li Zhongshan's right-hand man who relies heavily on him - this guy is very smart!
He is a master of mathematics, physics, and chemistry, and has very strong management skills. He also has strong hands-on skills. What's even more amazing is that he can also be a teacher and lead students. In the past few years, he was in charge of the military industry and military academy in Guangdong, and his performance was particularly outstanding. He also learned Latin from Luo Wenzao, and then he also studied many books on Western natural philosophy by himself.
Li Zhongshan knew his abilities, so he transferred him back from Guangdong and became the Right Military Advisor of the General's Office - this position is a senior official under the General and second only to the Left Military Advisor, in charge of military affairs, military industry, and military science. . Equivalent to "Secretary of War"!
"Wen Kai, you misunderstood," Li Zhongshan waved his hand and said with a smile, "the generalization does not mean to launch more New Deal projects, but to extend the Republican New Deal to North Korea, Japan, and Annan."
Dai Zi had no control over this matter, so he stopped talking. Li Zhongshan turned his attention to Zhou Chang, Zhou Peigong, the Zuo military advisor in charge of military orders and training, and Yao Qisheng, who took over the Jinyi Guards.
These two are also very important figures in Li Zhongshan's shogunate. Together with Dai Zi, Li Zhongshan's good brother Li Zhongzheng, the commander-in-chief of Model No. 1 Town and the general manager of the Nanjing Lecture Hall, and the Nanyang Minister Cai Yurong, Li Zhongshan’s innermost circle.
Zhou Chang knew Li Zhongshan’s thoughts best, so he immediately took up the topic and said: “General, the one in power in North Korea now is Yang Qilong, the supervising country. The general Tokugawa Ietsuna is in power in Japan. The King of Li in Annan is also ignored by Lord Zheng. The political systems of these three countries are quite similar to our Ming Dynasty. If the generals can make Yang Qilong, Tokugawa Ietsuna, and Annan Zhengzhu accept the general positions conferred by the Ming Emperor, and then export the people's republic system to them, North Korea, Japan, Annan has been incorporated into a republican alliance system with the Emperor of Heaven as the suzerain and you, the Great General, as the leader."
This Zhou Chang's proposal is still very much in line with Li Zhongshan's wishes!
Nowadays, the West is a large circle. Although dogs and dogs bite each other internally, they can still basically remain consistent when dealing with the Eastern dynasty of Ming Dynasty.
Looking at the East, the Ming Dynasty, North Korea, Japan, and Annan basically lived a small life behind closed doors, and were easily defeated by the group of Western colonists. The three secondary civilizations of the Chinese civilization, North Korea, Japan, and Annan, are all "Lu Bu-style adopted sons." If the adopted father of China does not control them, they may go to the West to find a new adopted father.
Therefore, the method proposed by Zhou Chang is still good. The Ming Dynasty is still the adoptive father of the Chinese civilization circle, and it can give legitimacy to the supervisors, generals, and Lord Zheng who are in power in the adoptive son's family.
For this tyrant, lack of legitimacy is the biggest weakness! And if their legitimacy comes from their respective theoretical monarchs, then they may be deprived of their legitimacy by the monarch!
Now their adoptive father of the Ming Dynasty has come to provide them with legitimacy. This legitimacy is called "the people of the country are in a republic and the generals are in charge of the government"! The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty directly appointed them as generals, granting them the responsibility of "respecting the Chinese and resisting the foreigners" and protecting the country from the invasion of Baiyi ghosts and animals.
Is this legal enough?
But Li Zhongshan still didn't nod, because he still had a problem that he didn't know how to solve?
Yao Qisheng watched Zhou Chang finish. Li Zhongshan did not nod in agreement. After thinking for a moment, he understood what he was thinking: "General, do you think Geng Jingzhong is a little difficult to arrange?"
Geng Jingzhong. It was indeed an accident!
He is a rebel after all! They also rebelled in Nanjing and almost overthrew the Ming Dynasty. They should be eradicated.
According to Li Zhongshan's plan, after he had done a lot of trouble in Japan, it was time to send troops to deal with him.
But I didn't expect this guy to make a cross-Pacific escape and run away to Acapulco, which would be difficult to deal with.
Li Zhongshan nodded.
Yao Qisheng immediately suggested: "General, there is no Geng Jingzhong in the world, and Geng Jingzhong did not say that he was Geng Jingzhong, and he is already far away in the New World!"
"That's right!" Li Zhongshan's eyes lit up and he said with a smile, "Then I will go to the court on behalf of Geng Jingzhong's adopted brother Geng Jingzhong to ask for the title of a Ming Dynasty general who conquered the east, and ordered him to establish Akka and conquer New Spain! "
He thought for a while and then said: "The matter of feng Geng Juyi is easy to handle, but the matter of feng Dechuan Jiagang and that so-called Lord Zheng is not easy. Do you have any good suggestions?"
"General, I have an idea." It was Cai Yurong who had the idea.
Cai Yurong, the Nanyang Minister, was actually in charge of diplomacy. He performed well when he served as the co-organizer of the Nanyang Minister in Macau, so he was recommended to Li Zhongshan by Wu Xiaotuo, and then he officially succeeded Li Zhongzhen as the Nanyang Minister and came to Nanjing to become a general. The Nanyang Minister under the jurisdiction.
"Ren'an, if you have any good ideas, please tell me." Li Zhongshan asked.
"General," Cai Yurong said, "it is definitely not possible for us to rashly grant the titles of Tokugawa Jiagang and Annan Zhengzhu. But if we make Yang Qilong the general of Zhendong and order him to establish the government of North Korea and assist King Li, he will definitely be happy. Take orders.”
"That's true," Li Zhongshan said with a smile, "Brother Yang is one of ours!"
"The general can also secretly instruct Yang Zhendong to send North Korean troops to conquer Japan!" Cai Yurong suggested again, "North Korea and Japan are feuding. If Yang Zhendong wants to lead North Korean troops to invade Japan, North Korea will definitely be willing to obey."
"I am willing, but can the Koreans beat the Japanese?"
Cai Yurong smiled and said: "General, don't we still have us? If we secretly use some force to let the Koreans give Japan a show of strength and let the Tokugawa shogunate know how powerful they are, then we can ask Mr. Shunshui to lobby the Germans." Kawamitsu Kuni, let him persuade Tokugawa Ietsuna to ask us to mediate, and we will just confer Tokugawa Ietsuna the title of general to conquer the barbarians."
"Okay!" Li Zhongshan slapped his thigh, "First give him a good beating, and then accept him as a dog. I'm not afraid that these Japanese people won't be convinced!"
"The general is wise!"
Several people below offered "heartfelt appreciation" together.
Li Zhongshan smiled and said to Cai Yurong: "Ren'an, it seems that you are thinking about how to be the minister of Nanyang and how to engage in diplomacy. Not bad! Then do you have any way to rectify Annan?"
In fact, Cai Yurong's diplomacy skills came from Li Fuchen - Lao Li gave him 500,000 taels to buy Jiangxi, and then asked him to go to Guangdong to become the co-organizer of Nanyang Minister. Although he did not understand diplomacy, he had 500,000 taels. With the capital, he could hire the best consultants for himself. Later, he was ordered to "jointly develop" Bintan Island at the entrance to Malacca with the Dutch. As a result, I came into contact with more foreigners and Cantonese and Fujianese doing business in Nanyang. People thought that he was the Nanyang Minister of the Ming Dynasty, and he was generous and generous, so they were willing to serve as his staff. Moreover, he has strong leadership skills, so he has prospered in the position of Nanyang Minister, and now he has entered the core of Li Zhongshan's circle.
"General," Cai Yurong said, "Annan not only has Lord Zheng, but also Lord Ruan, who is also very powerful! Lord Zheng can also hold King Li to command Annan, but Lord Ruan has nothing and prefers to settle in Guangnan. We can invite Nan first. The king came forward and asked for the title of General Guangnan of the Ming Dynasty for Lord Ruan, and granted him the power to open the government and order him to govern Guangnan.
Lord Zheng in the north of Annan will definitely feel worried and horrified when he knows that the Ruan family in Guangnan has been sealed. When the time comes, he can ask King Yi to come forward and join forces with Lord Zheng in Annan. In this way, the King of Wing supports Lord Zheng, and the King of South supports Lord Ruan, the general is in the middle to arbitrate. Are you afraid that you will not be able to control the Annan Kingdom? "
This Cai Yurong is really clever. No wonder he became the governor of Huguang under Kangxi at a young age!
Li Zhongshan felt confident now, and then glanced at his brother Li Zhongzheng, "Brother Zhongzheng!"
"Second brother, what are your orders?" Li Zhongzheng said nothing just now, but now he knew something was about to be done, and he looked positive.
"Third brother, please go to North Korea and help Third Brother Yang send troops to Japan!" Li Zhongshan thought for a while and then said, "There is a large island in the northeast of Japan, called Ezo Island, two miles away from the east coast of North Korea. Thousands of miles of sea route, sparse population, and lax defenses. You ask Brother Yang to send troops to Ezo, then send elite troops to guard it, and let the Tokugawa Shogunate counterattack. As long as the Tokugawa Shogunate is unable to recover, I, the Ming Dynasty, can intervene."
Ezo Island is Hokkaido. If a sailboat heading to the New World can start from Hokkaido, it only needs to sail 14,000 miles east to reach the west coast of North America, and then follow the coastline south for 7,000 to 8,000 miles to reach Acapulco. .
Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that this island is the springboard from East Asia to North America!
Since the Ming Dynasty wants to enter North America, this island must be firmly controlled!
Europe, Kingdom of Spain, Madrid.
In October 1677, Juan José, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Spain, the illegitimate son of the former King Philip IV, and the only son with normal intelligence, was troubled by the endless European wars and the severe situation facing the Kingdom of Spain. .
The ongoing European war is the Franco-Dutch War. Since Spain still occupied the Spanish Netherlands (Belgium) between France and the Netherlands at this time, Spain could only fight as an ally of the Netherlands in this war.
Louis XIV's ambition to lead Europe also attracted most of Germany to become his enemy, including powerful countries such as Austria and Prussia, which successively joined the anti-French camp. Therefore, the war situation was once very favorable to the anti-French alliance. After Louis XIV failed to conquer the Netherlands in his initial "fast attack", he began to fall into protracted and attrition, and he fell into passivity before his eyes.
But no one expected that in 1677, when the Dutch Consul William resorted to a trick - bed politics, sleeping with the future Queen of England, and the whole of Europe was about to besiege France, France suddenly became frightened again!
Since 1677, the French army has successively won the siege of Valenciennes, the siege of Saint-Omer, the siege of Cambrai, and the Battle of Cassel, and also occupied an important position in the Battle of Fort Kochers that ended in a draw. Got the upper hand.
If the European war continues on this trend, Spain will lose the war again!
I really don’t know what’s going on with this country? Although it owned half of the world, there was no way to defeat the "lonely" France in a war involving more and fewer. It obviously has the largest number of gold and silver mines in the world, but it cannot spend enough to hire an army. Moreover, it is always in the midst of one financial crisis after another. The entire country has gone bankrupt countless times! The most hateful thing is that the Spanish Habsburg dynasty obviously still has able-bodied men - such as Juan Jose, but they are destined to fall into the dilemma of extinct heirs!
There is clearly someone in the Spanish Habsburg dynasty who can give birth to a son, but people do not recognize the legitimacy of this man who can give birth to a son. Not only can he not inherit the throne after the death of his idiot brother, but he can't use the Habsburg surname!
What is wrong with the people in this country? Isn't this confusing right and wrong?
Just when Juan Jose felt sad that he could not be the king of Spain, a sudden knock on the door dragged him out of his thoughts.
"Who?" Juan Jose asked.
"It's me, Sanchez." A very anxious voice came from outside the door, "Prime Minister, I just received a report from the Governor's Palace of New Spain that the Chinese have occupied Acapulco! And they..."
(End of chapter)
