Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 699 Entering the Electricity Age
"Ladies and gentlemen, here comes the President of the European Union, His Majesty Felipe, King of Spain."
"God bless the Union, long live His Majesty!"
On March 1, 1640, a grand dinner party was taking place at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez in Madrid, Spain, gathering dignitaries and wealthy businessmen from all over Europe.
"Everyone, welcome to tonight's banquet. Some guests who have been in and out of the palace many times may have noticed that the decorations, especially the lighting, are a little different in the palace today. In particular, the candlelight on the table is very dim. And the candlesticks on the ceiling are not lit at all."
Glancing at the guests who nodded slightly, Philip smiled and said, "Now, everyone, please keep an eye on your partner, because we will be in darkness for a moment. If you find that your partner is missing after the light comes again due to your negligence, I will not be responsible."
"Hahaha~" Philip clapped his hands amidst everyone's laughter. A waiter had already come to the few candlesticks and extinguished the candles everywhere almost uniformly.
The whole hall was suddenly plunged into darkness. But the darkness did not last long. When Philip said "Turn on the lights", the waiters who had been waiting at the light switches pressed the switches at the same time. Then, amid exclamations of "Wow", the entire Aranjuez Palace was illuminated by the lights, showing its true splendor.
"Oh! God!" Countless ladies could not help but scream: This light source was brighter and more stable than candlelight. For people who saw electric light for the first time, the shock was like people in the 21st century suddenly looking up and seeing a spaceship coming.
"Everyone, everyone." After the exclamations of the crowd at the scene subsided a little, Philip pressed down his hands slightly, and then he said: "About twenty years ago, when the steam engine was mature and about to become popular, the scientists of our Asturian Academy of Sciences foresightedly began to study electricity. In the past twenty years, scientists have overcome one difficulty after another and made one great discovery after another. Finally, six years ago, a decisive breakthrough was made. Thunder and lightning, the greatest power in the sky, was finally tamed by us Europeans.
Five years ago, the generator set driven by the steam turbine was installed on the battleship Prince of Asturias, and the Marquis, Duke, Barcelona and other battleships also adopted this system. The combination of steam and electricity enables us to build battleships larger and stronger. These battleships also helped us achieve great victories in America and Asia, allowing the Lord's believers to severely punish those Chinese who had no faith. In recent years, our scientists have not stopped, but continued to study. Finally, at the end of last year, we realized the long-distance power transmission. After repeated experiments, the Lachaman thermal power plant, 60 kilometers southeast of Madrid, has been put into operation, and the electricity needed for all the lights in the Aranjuez Palace is transported from there by the power grid!
Ladies and gentlemen, we entered the steam age more than 20 years ago, and now we are standing at the entrance of a new era. Yes, starting today, we have officially entered the electric age! With the widespread use of electricity, telegraphs, telephones, washing machines, rice cookers, electric fans, radios, and even subsequent refrigerators, air conditioners, televisions... will gradually enter human life in the next few decades. Praise God for allowing us to see such a great scene in our lifetime. Praise our scientists, because it is because of their efforts that our lives are becoming more and more convenient. "
"Praise your majesty!"
"Hahaha, everyone, let's welcome with warm applause the protagonist of tonight's banquet, the President of the Asturian Academy of Sciences, Professor Galileo!"
In the warm atmosphere, Philip and his queen finished the first dance. Then, ignoring the passionate and bold looks from the surrounding ladies, he pushed Galileo to the main seat, then slowly walked out of the main hall and came to his office. There, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom, Osvalles, was already waiting there.
"Dear Prime Minister, I am sorry to have kept you waiting. You have worked hard during my absence. To be honest, I did not expect the generators at the Rachaman Power Plant to generate electricity so quickly. I am very grateful for your excellent work."
"It is an honor to serve you, Your Majesty."
"Please take a seat, my Prime Minister. Let us get down to business. First, I need to know the revenue and expenditure of the Kingdom and the Alliance last year."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Although he has been in charge of the country's government for more than 20 years, Osvalles, who is not yet 60 years old, is still full of energy: "Your Majesty, the royal government's income last year was 490 million and its expenditure was 320 million. Just this year, the country's fiscal surplus reached 170 million. The finances of other have also improved significantly. Many countries that have been in deficit for many years have significantly reduced their deficits, even if they have not completely balanced. Your Majesty, I have to say that your decision to go against all odds and expedition to India is really correct and great!"
In 1637, the Spanish government had an income of 320 million and an expenditure of 230 million. Just one year after conquering India, its income soared by 170 million. There is no doubt that the main source of wealth obtained by Spain from issuing paper money in India was to achieve such a huge increase.
In fact, Zhu Youdong made a mistake that traditional Chinese people are most likely to make: Generally speaking, Chinese rulers like to exempt taxes for a few years after conquering a new place. On the one hand, it is to win the hearts of the people, and on the other hand, it is to allow the newly stationed officials to carry out their work smoothly and establish order as soon as possible.
Zhu Youdong used this tactic in East Asia and Southeast Asian countries, and it was basically very smooth.
So after Zhu Youdong conquered India, he habitually did not collect taxes from India for three years, and officials such as Wen Tiren also mainly governed the local area with leniency. But India is really a magical place. If you are polite to it, it will think you are easy to bully. In addition, this place has been deeply poisoned by Hinduism for many years, and the whole people have long had a special worship of white skin. Therefore, when the Europeans came in 1638, most of the Indians surrendered.
When Philip arrived in Europe, as a historian, he was not as merciful as Zhu Youdong because he knew that the harsher you treat the strange people in this place, the more obedient they will be to you.
Therefore, he started issuing worthless paper money and trying to get wealth from India as soon as he landed. The key point is that after he did it, the Indians didn't say anything and accepted it honestly. Now, not only was the issuance and application of Spanish paper money in India very smooth, but a large amount of Indian gold and silver also rushed into the Spanish treasury.
After all, it is an ancient civilization with a population of more than 100 million. At this time, the wealth accumulated in the Indian Peninsula far exceeded that of the American continent. Therefore, Spain was completely full after only one year of conquering India. Even the younger brothers of the European Union also made a lot of money.
"Your Majesty, because of the acquisition of a large amount of wealth, the transfer plan of old European nobles and the re-recruitment plan you promoted are now going very well. At present, the Royal Government and the Alliance Secretariat have received a total of 231 transfer applications, and we have completed 163 of them. In addition, since last year, we have received about 350,000 applications for enlistment... Now, the second batch of 150,000 reinforcements of the expeditionary force have all boarded the ship and are heading to India. It is expected that by June of this year, His Majesty Gustav and Lord Wallenstein will once again have a full 500,000 army."
"Very good. Prime Minister, how is the construction of our warships progressing during my absence in Europe?"
"The fifth and sixth Prince-class battleships, the San Juan and Gonzalo, have both entered the outfitting stage. The design drawings for the new class, the Philip I, with a displacement of 15,000 tons, have been completed and can be built after your approval. As for cruisers under 10,000 tons, three are currently under construction, and there are five lightweight battleships under 5,000 tons."
"Too little, dear Prime Minister. Now that we have a power grid, I think we should build a new power plant in each of the three cities where the shipyards are located, Bilbao, Seville and Barcelona. This will give these three shipyards stronger shipbuilding capabilities."
"As you command, my Lord, I will make the arrangements later. However..."
"What's wrong?"
"Your Majesty, although the inclusion of India has greatly increased the revenue of the royal government, the large number of standing army expeditions has also caused our expenditure to increase rapidly. When the Chinese navy was almost annihilated, you are still building ships on such a large scale?"
"Oh, no, no, no, my Prime Minister. Please do not underestimate the Chinese. When they go crazy, their shipbuilding ability is no less than ours. I must take advantage of this window of opportunity when there is a technological gap between the Chinese and us and completely defeat them!"
"Well, Your Majesty. With all due respect, with an army of 500,000, even with an invincible navy, it is still impossible for us to conquer and occupy China."
"Yes." After supporting his nose, Philip smiled slightly: "I have never thought of conquering or occupying China. Our biggest enemy is not China, but their current emperor. I just need to kill him."
