Chapter 275 Arms Race

No matter how optimistic pacifist is, after passing through the world, especially Europe, over the past decades, he may have to give up his ideal of peace. Especially since the new century, the British Empire has established a superpower for more than 400 years and is increasingly being challenged by newly emerging new powers around the world. Since China announced its transcendent status in the Far East Pacific and taught the disobedient Philippines a lesson, the whole of Europe has been watching the British jokes.

The British actually lost the courage to send expeditionary forces. Although this comment from French newspapers on the Philippine War is surprising, in some ways, it cannot be said that the French sighed the current changes in the world.

During the two years of the Moroccan crisis, the Italian-Turkish War, and the Balkan War, all countries in Europe greatly strengthened the war accumulation they had already prepared for.

In this naval era, the most effective and obvious accumulation is the accumulation of battleships. For the strong, this giant at sea can convey the will of the country and nation far away, while for the weak, an effective defense navy will help the security of the country.

The battleship competition led by Britain and Germany has actually begun for a few years, but other countries have not followed up so early. Knowing that the comprehensive European war or the precursor to the outbreak of world wars in the past two years has become increasingly obvious. There have been too many hatred and conflicts of interest between countries, and other countries with a sense of responsibility and crisis have also begun to follow up.

Build a ship! Build a ship! This is the main theme of the entire world in the next ten years.

Six years after the first Fearless Class battleship of the British Empire was launched, the third country to independently build the Fearless Class appeared. (Note: The third country to join the Fearless Class Club was Japan and the Satsuma class). After building airship carriers and a series of cruisers, accumulating experience in building large ships and a large number of skilled workers, the Lushun Naval Shipyard received an order from the Navy Department in 1906 to start construction of China's first Fearless Shipship, and designed the Qianlong battleship with ten twelve-inch guns. Another shipyard, Dongning Naval Shipyard, started construction of the Li Yuan one month later on November 6, 1906.

This is the first batch of orders after the Navy's ten-year shipbuilding plan was approved. After rough calculations, 200,000 to 300,000 people in the Liaodong and the East China Sea area are busy with this plan. After making a few years of windfall, people who entered the upstream and downstream industries found that from this year, more capital has increased. After more than ten years of development, especially after the national laws improved the ban on private capital's operation of military weapons, domestic private capital no longer only focused on traditional industries such as land, minerals, logistics, etc. as in the past. Private consortiums from Jiangnan, Shanxi and Shaanxi have entered these industries with a large amount of funds.

The reason is no different. The Navy Plan is a long-term large investment plan. In addition to state funding, there are many other parts of the owed amount that need to be raised by private funding, especially by issuing naval bonds. Therefore, it is obvious that how much capital flow will be transferred into these industries in the next ten years. Chinese people, especially Chinese who do business, have never lacked such sensitivity.

Those who have received the first news are naturally those who have internal news. Zhang Jian, the new Minister of Industry and Commerce, mobilized his family and local funds to invest in a large import and export business and a fleet of transportation and logistics in Shanghai, preparing to make great efforts in the later decoration of warship construction and the supply of supplies of supplies.

However, his actions made many people misunderstand. Especially the British managers of the Royal Armstrong Shipyard in Jiangnan, they believed that a second-rank official in the imperial court would naturally have insider news. Based on his actions, the Admiralty Department would definitely have orders for them in the future, otherwise Zhang Jian's company would not have headquarters in Shanghai.

Until this year, they did not receive any orders from the Navy. Instead, they took back their independent General Administration of Customs since the establishment of the Chinese Empire and gave them four orders to prevent pirates and smuggling.

Of course, they would not be idle in their factory. Otherwise, the product of Hankou Iron and Steel Enterprise will be built directly to the downstream through the Yangtze River.

Another consideration is that the class with workmanship as the main source of income, which is what later generations call the working class, has formed a huge number. In order to maintain social stability, a low unemployment rate must be guaranteed. A regional industry cannot be supported by planned orders for a long time, especially in an ancient and huge country like China, which is between the transition period of agricultural civilization and industrial civilization.

This unique phenomenon in China is of course not only this, but also includes the full exploration of domestic demand. This is also the main reason why the Chinese bourgeoisie is not as aggressive as the European and American bourgeoisie. China's domestic market is huge. If the domestic demand market is fully developed, Chinese companies do not need to expand overseas markets. They only need overseas raw materials supply. In the later generations, China could not produce internationally renowned enterprises like Japan and South Korea, and this is the reason.

Therefore, fighting the Philippines is basically not my wishful thinking, but also an overseas military use that conforms to public opinion.

The huge domestic market in China was also the main reason why foreigners were coveting. The reason why my government was able to dance freely among the great powers was to open the market overseas rather than close the market. These two main reasons are that China has no commercial interests with other countries. They have brought a relatively harmonious international relations with major countries to the country, and at the same time brought a large number of overseas advanced industrial enterprises to China.

The United States, Germany, Britain, and even France and Russia basically have a large number of investments in China. At this time, the great powers only need market access and quasi-national treatment rather than territorial demand. Therefore, although the air in Europe is getting tighter, in Asia, except for China's military use, no strong country has the need and determination to come to Asia to wade through the muddy waters of the Russians.

Influenced by the founding of the British Labor Party in that year, local workers' organizations in China have gradually moved to the political stage. After local trade union organizations submitted their creation letters to the Ministry of Education and Chemical Industry in the past few years, the Chinese Labor Party, the first national workers' organization in China, was founded this year. It is also the first time that I formally examined the new forces on the Chinese political stage, but the leader is an old-fashioned figure - Qu Hongji. After staying at the Royal Society Research Institute for a few years, he focused his work on protecting the interests of workers. In three years, he relied on his good personal charm that extremely conformed to the aesthetic standards of the Chinese people, conquered hundreds of thousands of workers from all over the country and was elected as the first chairman at the First National Congress of the Labor Party.

Qu Hongji, who has excellent carpenter skills, naturally attracted a large number of carpenters to join the Labor Party. In addition, the court had no intention of prohibiting it, so when the Labor Party applied for the number of party members, the Ministry of Education and Chemical was stunned by his number of more than 700,000 members, and the Labor Party became the second largest party.

I observe these changes in China quietly as a bystander and a guide. Everyone will naturally think that they are the only right person in the world, so at some point, I will also extend my power to guide these phenomena. For example, the founding of the Labor Party, if I think it will hinder my long-term plan in the near future, I will introduce it to my track without hesitation. If not, then I can only send qualified candidates to lead the party.

For example, orders for Royal Armstrong Shipyard patrol ships and the full opening of the shipping industry are the guidance level of kindness.

The shipping and shipbuilding industry are destined to be the most profitable industry in this period, which is the common recognition of the visionary businessmen of the whole world. The situation in Europe in 1905 has shown signs of unstoppable wars, and countries around the world are destined to build navies in the next few years.

Since Britain, Germany and China, the fourth country to follow up has emerged. The French parliament passed a resolution to allocate funds to the Navy to build six Dandong-class battleships that rebuild confidence for the navy and deal with Germany's aggressive military offensive. Of course, the French shipbuilding industry has once again fallen below the world's mainstream level. This type of warship can only be regarded as fearless at best. The Dandong-class, with four 12-inch guns as the main firepower, can only barely keep from being dumped too far by the Germans in front of the four Nassau-class ships that the Germans plan to launch this year.

In order to control the Americas and realize President Roosevelt's world status, in 1905, the first American dreadnought was officially launched and started construction. Two South Carolina class (12 inch × 8) were built, followed by two Delaware class (12 inch × 10). When they were about to bid farewell to people in 1906, they announced a new year's shipbuilding plan - two more advanced Florida class battleships, which will start construction in 1907. Their pace does not seem to be affected by the chaos in the domestic economic circle. Although some people expressed doubts about such a spending move during the parliamentary debate, America has not yet taken it, and Uncle Sam naturally needs to continue to work hard.

However, the Russians, who had long maintained a second and third-largest navy in the world, almost stopped their pace in this competition era after suffering huge setbacks. For three years, the Russian Navy under Saint Andre did not welcome a new ship. Of course, this was financial considerations, but more importantly, their confidence seemed to sink into the bottomless ocean with the fleet heading to Japan. The bad domestic situation made them unable to participate in this game of the great powers, and they became increasingly conservative. In recent years, their little brother, the Serbs, have become more and more popular.

Of course, this is not the case with the German camp. Their purpose is to take advantage of the opportunity when the dreadnoughts appeared and everyone started at the same time. In more than ten years, they spent more than ten years to make up for the debts owed for decades and hundreds of years. Therefore, after announcing the construction of two Nassau-class ships in Asia and Europe, they also had Feng.

De.

The construction plan of the two battle cruisers, Tann and Blüchel. After inheriting the name of the Blüchel cruiser, which was sunk by the British, they seemed to be using such a move to prove something to the British, although what they wanted to prove had been countless proofs and no longer needed to be proved again.

Their firm ally Austro-Hungarian Empire was also the fifth to join the Dreadnought Club. After firmly controlling the Bosnian region along the Adriatic Sea, Vienna officially announced that it would join the ranks of naval powers. They would increase their investment in the region and build large shipyards. Relying on the help of the Germans, a navy that can achieve its strategic goals in the Adriatic Sea. They even announced in advance the name of the first dreadnought that had not yet started construction - the Austro-Hungarian Emperor, which is similar to the Chinese. They like to name the emperor or noble royal figures for battleships, such as the overlord ships at sea.

At the moment when the British Empire's Navy Minister Lord Fisher was quarreling with a group of veterans over the guiding ideology of building battlecruisers or battleships, the Germans announced the shipbuilding plan to build battlecruisers gave Lord Fisher great support. The Germans' construction of battlecruisers seemed to be making footnotes to Lord Fisher's thoughts, which gave the Navy minister a certain advantage in the quarrel.

In order to cope with the aggressive pressure of the German group, the British also silently strengthened their already powerful navy. After the three Palefon-class battleships achieved a decisive role in the Battle of Singapore in the Far East, they launched three St. Vincent-class battleships in 1905. With the failure of the former Sino-British Joint Fleet in the Far East and the retirement of their flagship USS Collingwood, the three new battleships were named St. Vincent, Collingwood and Avant-garde.

Of course, Lord Fisher's advantage was reflected in 1906. In this year, they decided to build three battleships and three battlecruisers, namely the battleships Neptune, the Giant, the Marquis, and the Battlecruiser, the New Zealand and the Australia. The naming of the latter two battleships had a considerable degree of political significance, and the British seemed to be using this method to declare the importance of New Zealand and Australia to the British Empire to the two restless countries in the Far East.

Overall, from 1905 to 1906 and in the years that followed, countries around the world will launch dozens of new battleships or battle cruisers one after another. This phenomenon also proves that every country is actually insecure. They urgently need powerful warships to add a lock to their door.

However, the huge shipbuilding plan requires huge funding support. While the shipbuilding capitalists happily count the money, the naval ministers or naval ministers of various countries are facing huge pressure from the cabinet or parliament. However, everyone who is questioned seems to have completed their tasks successfully, because the harsh facts are reminding everyone that the world will soon face a doomsday trial.

In the words of the British, “I saw the lights in Europe going out.”

The place where the lights are being extinguished is not just Europe. An unprecedented earthquake in San Francisco extinguished countless lights in April, which also brought the US economic situation to a more sluggish situation. Under such huge economic pressure, the shipbuilding plan, which is second only to Germany and Britain, can only show that they need to eat the entire America as quickly as possible. Therefore, President Roosevelt signed the shipbuilding plan under huge pressure.

The United States of America is facing a bottleneck, and their future will be bright after it survives.

On an island in Florida, banking and industrial giants, including JP Morgan and Rockefeller, are preparing for a major economic shock to save their bad reputation, and President Roosevelt's envoy also began their tours to major countries around the world, especially major naval countries, to solve the economic pressures facing naval construction.

In the United States' plan, after the construction of the Florida class, their naval size was enough to solve all problems within the Americas, and the pressure on naval military equipment was relieved to a certain extent. It was time to solve the problem of economic pressure.

Moreover, their actions also have a high-sounding slogan - for the sake of world peace.

When the New Year was approaching in 1907, President Roosevelt tried his best to call for peace in his New Year speech. Although they were destined to be outside the main battlefield of the future, out of God's mission or compassion for the world, the United States of America called for peace to the world in Washington.

The footsteps of the peace envoy also arrived in Beijing and received a warm response from the Prime Minister of the Chinese Cabinet Zhang Zhidong, who was also facing economic pressure. When I received the presidential envoy the next day, I also deeply agreed with the United States' appeal, and took the initiative to accept the special envoy's suggestions and called on countries around the world for a high-profile call to establish a naval balance mechanism.

"Take back the welfare that people should enjoy from the ocean." American newspapers translated my speech "supported by the navy, the people's wealth and ointment." into such a beautiful and inciting discourse that caused responses to countries around the world. Together with the efforts of the Americans, they led to the decision of the Washington Summit in 1908. At the invitation of President Roosevelt, heads of government or emperors, kings and other practical figures from major countries in the world will gather in Washington during the New Year of 1908 to discuss how to solve the problems that countries need to solve through agreements.

This is a means to ensure peace and a means to push his reputation to the top. After President McKinley brought a period of prosperity to the American people, the United States under his rule did not go to the next level, so he needed to give himself and the American people a satisfactory answer.

I also have pressure. The huge amount of funds required for education is already in danger of being squeezed out by the construction of the navy. Yung Wing, a stubborn old man, asked me more than once to see me. Of course, I also know that education funds need to be invested in a huge proportion, but the navy also needs to be built. The achievements of the past few years must be protected by a strong army, otherwise there will be a risk of vomiting back.

Before and after the autumn exam in 1906, Yung Wing, who could not fully understand my difficulties, even quarreled with me in the Hall of Peace of Heart. This was something that had never happened in the past decade. Since establishing his authority, I had never encountered a minister who dared to talk back. After saying a few words, Mr. Rong actually wanted to resign. In desperation, he had to say all kinds of good things. Zhang Zhidong also persuaded him from the side and calmed down.

But the contradiction has not been resolved. In Yung Wing's eyes, education funds are insufficient and no point can be lost. Not requiring the cabinet to increase the allocation is already a concession for the education industry. In his words, "Your Majesty only knows the strong army, but the strong ones are only military weapons. If you don't teach those who can control military weapons, what is the use of your Majesty just making military weapons?"

I was inspired by this sentence. How could I be the emperor who only knows how to make weapons? The money I spent on education over the years accounts for nearly one-third of the government's revenue every year. I attach great importance to education to my level, but it has not been in history, and it seems that there is no such thing as future generations. I will be criticized in this way. Where can I afford to lose face?

Finally, after compromise, education funds remained at a weaker ratio of one-third of the annual income each year. At the same time, Zhang Zhidong was preparing to clarify the tax system. In the past, the tax system was missing, especially the industry, which has always attracted capital to enter with low taxes. Now we need to adjust this balance point slightly, and the tax rate should be appropriately raised. The Ministry of Taxation must also be established and strengthened, and the customs must be held up. Since the customs power has been recovered, although there has been a large amount of investment every year, the annual income of 600 million silver coins is still small, and the smuggling phenomenon needs to be strictly controlled. This is also the reason why the customs need to increase patrol ships.

In order to appease the education community, on the autumn birthday of Confucius, I personally worshiped the Confucius Temple, the former Imperial College next to the National Headquarters of the New Confucian Party, which is now newly repaired and the largest Confucius Temple in the country. This was another large-scale measure to raise Confucius' status after being named "The Greatest Saint of the Chinese Emperor of Wenxuan for All Times".

In addition, at this ceremony, Confucius focused on commending his contribution to education, and personally issued the five-term educational purpose presented by the Ministry of Education - loyalty to the emperor, respecting Confucius, respecting the emperor, and respecting the martial monks.

This finally calmed the contradiction between education and arms, allowing me to face the upcoming Washington Summit with an active attitude.
Chapter completed!