Volume 3: Confrontation! The Run of Civilization Chapter 480 Philip's Fantasy
"Okay, I don't care about the navy. What about the army? Do you want to send a support force?"
"I don't think that's necessary. Luzon in the Philippines is an island. The most important thing in island attack and defense is the navy. As long as the navy can win the battle, the outcome of the land war is not particularly important."
"Well, that's fine. Alas, we have barely started intelligence work on China, and we have no idea where China's technology tree is at. I hope they don't have ironclad ships."
"Yes, I was hoping that opium would bring us some Chinese help." After a moment of regret, Philip pulled himself together and said, "Sending two ironclad ships this time is a good way to test the Chinese. If they don't develop ironclad ships, we can sweep the coast of the western Pacific. If they do, we can take this opportunity to see how far they have developed."
"Yes." Nodding, Rudolf said: "Philip, besides China , the west..."
"Ah, you sensed it too. I was just planning to come find you later."
"For the past half month, I have sensed that the Japanese time traveler has been approaching us. I guess this guy got tired of vacationing in Hawaii and started to march towards America."
"So, Rudolph, you may have to go there in person for this matter."
"...Okay, the European Union has just been established, and you have a lot of things to do. But because of this, there is no war in Europe, so I can spare some time."
"Well, how many people are you going to take with you?"
"I will take three divisions with me. I will also try to intimidate those lawless governors in America."
"Okay, I'll have Count Barudis allocate the corresponding fleet and transport ships to you."
"Okay, then I'll prepare myself and try to set off in early July."
"No problem. In fact, if possible, I think you can leave in mid-July. Because I plan to hold a European Council meeting in Brussels on July 1 to discuss the division of Africa. You can attend with me then."
“Dividing Africa?”
"Yes." Philip walked to his desk and found a map of Africa. "When the Justice League was founded, I said that North and South America belonged to Spain, and Africa belonged to the countries in the league. Although it has become the European Union now, we have also worked hard to dismember France and bury the Holy Roman Empire. But we have to admit that within the league, Britain, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, and Poland still have considerable power. Even within France, the Grand Duchy of Paris has a certain strength."
"Well, I know that , but what does this have to do with dividing Africa?"
So you are a pure soldier.
"Rudolf, do you know that agriculture in Europe has actually been suffering from poor harvests in recent years?"
"Ah? Is there such a thing?"
"Yes, because it is the Little Ice Age now. Look at the Chinese time traveler. He has changed the old Chinese habit of being reserved and forbearing, and he is eating up Southeast Asia in a very ugly way. One of the main reasons is that the Little Ice Age has come. Agriculture in the middle and high latitudes has not been doing well in the past few decades. Therefore, he must take over Southeast Asia to completely ensure food security. And it is the same in Europe. I don't know if you have noticed..."
"Notice what?"
"Two aspects. First, no matter how many new factories are opened in Madrid or the entire Iberian Peninsula, they can always recruit workers quickly. And because there are too many applicants, they will lower their wages to get a job. If I hadn't set the minimum wage, I guess many factories would have people willing to work there just to feed them enough food. Second, our treasure fleet is getting bigger and bigger, but the amount of gold and silver shipped back from the Americas each year has not increased and has even decreased slightly. In fact, it is mainly food that fills the cabins."
"Huh? There's such a thing? Um, was the Little Ice Age really that damaging to agriculture?"
“It’s huge, and we have a problem in Europe.”
"What's the problem?"
"Hahaha, Rudolf, come to think of it, this is all caused by us, Spain. We shipped a large amount of gold and silver back from America, and it caused a price revolution."
"Philip." Rudolf simply found a chair and sat down. "Tell me in detail what the price revolution is all about."
"Okay. There is an old Chinese saying that things are valuable because they are scarce. In medieval Europe, gold and silver were roughly stable for hundreds of years, and the price of these commodities was able to remain stable for hundreds of years. However, in the past hundred years or so, a large amount of precious metals have been transported back to Europe from America by Spain, while the materials produced by Europe itself have not increased much. Naturally, the precious metals will depreciate. Simply put, money is worthless.
In this process, the biggest losers are the farmers. Their rent is a fixed amount of money. In the past, they could buy a big house in the city with a rent of 100 silver coins, which was enough for the whole family to spend for several years. But now, if they collect a rent of 100 silver coins, they probably won't have much left after buying the house. At this time, the farmers have three choices to reverse this situation. First, transform into a factory or buy a ship to do business. Second, increase the rent of the tenants. Third, sit back and wait for death.
Of these three paths, the Dutch basically chose the first path. Our Spanish farmers basically chose the second path. Many of the Germans chose the third path. But no matter which path these people choose, agriculture will become poorer and poorer. Wealth will quickly concentrate in the hands of business owners. Therefore, the price revolution plus the Little Ice Age climate is a double blow to our European agriculture. In fact, this process will be further intensified with the promotion of steam engines. "
"Well, Philip, what does this have to do with the partition of Africa?"
"Dear Rudolf, because we Castilians are generally conservative, most nobles cling to our country estates and are unwilling to seek innovation and change to start industries. In addition, we fought too many wars for Catholicism in the past few years, so we brought back precious metals worth about 4 billion pyrites from America, but only about 200 million remained in the country. The rest of the money has become the nutrient to promote the industrial development of other countries and regions in Europe. Therefore, I now have to force the construction of large factories in the Iberian Peninsula. In addition to putting more pressure on our domestic farmers, forcing them to transform and liberate our farmers, we must also find a way to bring back funds and technology from all over Europe.
But this created new problems. The allied countries already had a lot of difficulties, and now we have such a big blood-sucking blood vessel. If there is no place for these allied countries to suck blood at the next level, then these allied countries are likely to collapse in a short period of time. By then, civil unrest and revolutions will break out in various countries. As the leader of the alliance, we will be busy suppressing them all day long. How can we have the energy to unite the forces of all Europe to attack the Ottoman Empire? "
"Hmm... I kind of understand. Hey, Philip, it's a good thing you came here with me. Governing a country is really troublesome. So, how do you plan to divide it?"
"Haha." Philip put his finger on the map: "I'm just making a rough distinction. South Africa belongs to Western Europe, West Africa belongs to the Nordic countries, and East Africa belongs to Central Europe. As for Central Africa, whoever gets it first gets it."
"Well, what about North Africa?"
"Hahaha, Rudolf, North Africa belongs to the Ottomans now. When you come back from America, we will gather the elite forces of the European Alliance and take it down."
"Philip, I still have questions."
"Um?"
"All the countries in the alliance have sent troops to Africa, so who will join the European Alliance Army?"
"Rudolf, this involves politics again. The allies sent their old-style armies to Africa, and they were still invincible. And after their old-style armies left, it was convenient for me to build a new army. We in Europe, not counting Southeast Europe and Russia, which are still under Ottoman rule, should have a population of 50 to 60 million. In the next few years, I will first use the industrial revolution in Europe to promote the establishment of household registration, and really find out how much manpower we can mobilize. Then, taking advantage of the large-scale departure of the old-style troops, we will form at least 500,000 new troops. After three to five years, the new army will be trained, and our allies will begin to get some benefits in various colonies, effectively easing domestic conflicts. At that time, it will be our turn to fight a decisive battle against the Ottomans."
"I understand." Rudolf stood up. " Next month , I will accompany you to attend the meeting in Brussels and then we will leave for America. Well, it will take about half a year to go back and forth. It will take about half a year to a year to find the Japanese time traveler and annihilate him. Then I will patrol America for another year. It will take about two to two and a half years to come back, just in time for the war against the Ottomans."
"Hahaha, that's right, Rudolf. After we conquer the Ottoman Empire, we will immediately start to open the Suez Canal. I estimate that by that time, the technology of ironclad ships will be fully mature, and the various allied countries will be deeply bound to us. Then we will organize a million troops and a huge ironclad fleet to fight a decisive battle with the time traveler from China in India!
