Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 728 Win-win is the way to go
In the historical plane, the first truly operational telegraph line appeared in 1839. The first submarine cable laid across the English Channel, linking Britain to continental Europe, appeared in 1850. But true wireless telegraphy, which could communicate over long distances, did not arrive until 1895.
In Zhu Youdong's plane, wired telegraph has only been around for five or six years. Although the time travelers all know that wireless telegraph will be more practical in future telegraph communications, and they urge their scientists to work hard to develop wireless telegraph . But on the one hand, technical issues are not something that can be achieved just by saying so by political leaders, and it takes time. On the other hand, even with wireless telegraph, wired telegraph still has its advantages in terms of security and stability. Therefore, whether it is China, Europe or Austria, they are now developing wireless telegraph while constantly building telegraph lines. Countries like Spain, which need the ocean to connect the interests of all parties in their country, have already put the laying of the Atlantic submarine cable on the agenda.
However, that was all, because there was no wireless telegraph. So when Yiprahin wrote a handwritten letter to Zhu Youdong in May, it was already October 1642 when Zhu Youdong saw it.
After reading Yipulaxin's letter, Zhu Youdong smiled gently, and then asked Fang Zhenghua to call Chen Zizhuang and Cui Chengxiu over.
"Look at this, humph, Osman's Chinese translation is not good, this Chinese version seems extremely stiff. Please help me look at the original Turkic version."
"…Your Majesty, this should be the handwriting of Grand Vizier Ibrahim. When I was on a diplomatic mission to Istanbul in the early years, I had many correspondences with this Grand Vizier. In addition, the way he asked for help and acted in a pretentious manner was indeed Ibrahim himself."
"Hahaha, it's true. Well, you, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Commerce, what do you think? Is it feasible or not?"
"Your Majesty, I think it's feasible!" Cui Chengxiu stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, when the Sino-European trade was smooth, silk, porcelain and tea could bring at least 30 million silver dollars of net income to our Ming Dynasty every year. Although the commercial tax received by the court was only 6 or 7 million. But after these 30 million silver dollars entered the market of our Ming Dynasty, they were extremely useful in alleviating the shortage of money in our Ming Dynasty. In recent years, with the severance of Sino-European trade, the silver dollars on the market of our Ming Dynasty have shown an appreciation trend again... Therefore, before the issuance of paper money in our dynasty, it is very necessary to restart the Silk Road to alleviate the shortage of money in our Ming Dynasty again."
"What Mr. Cui said is indeed true. In that case, I'll leave this matter to you two. What I mean is that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should have a good discussion with the Ottomans. In addition to reopening the Silk Road, it would be best if both sides could build telegraph lines to the intersection of each other's control areas. This will facilitate contact and enable timely communication when problems arise."
"Yes, I accept your order."
"You have to come up with a specific plan for this matter, and the actual implementation is the Xinjiang Provincial Administration. However, this involves the safety of the trade route after all. Therefore, we have to choose someone to serve as the captain of the Silk Road Guard. Do you have any candidate?"
After the two looked at each other for a moment, Chen Zizhuang bowed and said, "Your Majesty, this man performed extremely well in this Xinjiang campaign against the bandits. While annihilating a large number of enemy troops, the losses of his militia were the least."
"What? Wu Sangui? Uh, okay, then I'll grant Chen Qing's request. Fang Zhenghua, you go to the Imperial Stables later and ask Liu Shimin to select 3,000 veterans who are about to retire for Wu Sangui. Also, ask the Ministry of Finance to open an account for him. You can let Cao Sanxi take care of the annual administrative expenses and salary quota."
"I accept your order."
"Okay, let's stop here for the reopening of the Silk Road. Also, Mr. Cui, how is the trade route in America going?"
"Your Majesty, the telegram sent from Nanjing to the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing said that more than four months ago, a transport ship loaded with 300 tons of silver ingots and 12 tons of gold ingots departed from Lima Port in America and arrived at Nanjing Port the day before yesterday. And in my Ming Dynasty, the Ministry of Commerce has recently received applications from 27 chambers of commerce to operate routes to America and conduct trade in America."
"Ah, it's not easy. I have been investing in America for so many years, and finally I see some decent output. Cui Qing, in addition to gold and silver, there should be many other specialties in America. Food, seafood and so on, we can let our merchants set up canneries there. As for mines, in addition to gold, silver and copper mines, South America is also rich in coal, iron and saltpeter, especially saltpeter mines, the mining cost of which is much lower than that of my Ming Dynasty... In short, South America has great potential!"
"Yes, Your Majesty. I have long known from the books of Wang Zhizhong and Xu Xiake that South America is rich in natural resources. But when I communicated with the merchants below, they all had doubts about setting up factories and mining in South America. It's not that they are afraid that the Indians there will be difficult to get along with, but they think that our Ming Dynasty... uh, Your Majesty, please forgive me, they don't have confidence in our Ming Dynasty's military advantage in South America. After all, in recent years, our dynasty has not had an absolute upper hand in the battle with the Western bandits in South America."
"Well, you don't have to worry too much. It won't be long before good news comes from South America. By then, I'm afraid that people who want to make a fortune in South America will pile up their applications on your desk!"
…
October 15, 1642, Lima, South America.
Nearly two years have passed since the Ming Dynasty and the Indians recaptured this place. In addition to the Baroque-style buildings left by the Spaniards, there are also some Chinese-style buildings with flying eaves and brackets. In the center of the city, a traditional Chinese building with three eaves, ten meters high, stands tall. Although there are still many workers working in many places in this building, the flow of people coming and going through the gates has fully demonstrated that this is the ruling center of the Ming Dynasty in South America.
In the southeast corner of this building, there is a conference room full of the atmosphere of a time traveler - or rather, the decoration style of this room is very similar to the tiered classrooms that are common in many domestic universities in the 21st century.
Now, there are nearly two hundred strong men sitting in this lecture hall: they are wearing the same light green uniforms of the Ming Dynasty Army, and wearing shoulder straps of various ranks from captain to major general. The only difference between them and ordinary Ming Dynasty Army officers is that their skin color is generally darker than that of Ming Dynasty officers, and their facial contours are more three-dimensional. Then, the parallelogram shape of the collar badges at the collar of their military uniforms is obviously different from the rectangular shape of ordinary army officers. The pattern of a microphone and a pen on the collar badge is also obviously different from the two rifles of the army.
This group of people are the battalion-level and above of the ten Indian divisions formed by the Ming Dynasty in South America in the name of the Inca Kingdom Defense Force. At this time, the one standing on the rostrum at the bottom of the entire lecture hall is naturally the eldest son of the Ming Empire. In a month at most, the Bogota Battle of our Ming Dynasty and the Inca Kingdom coalition will begin. If we can win this battle, we can drive the main force of the Spanish out of the South American continent, and the Inca Kingdom will be able to gain a firm foothold. If we fail, we will not only lose Quito, but also Lima. It is said that we will be beaten back to the Andes again. Therefore, the importance of this battle cannot be overemphasized.
However, before the start of this important battle that could determine the fate of the Indians, some inexplicable rumors spread among the ten Indian divisions. This was very detrimental to pre-war unity and seriously affected our preparations for war. Therefore, today we convened a meeting to clarify these rumors. When you return to the army, you will be responsible for helping our soldiers unify their thoughts and strengthen their beliefs in their respective divisions, regiments, and battalions... That's right, in order to respect the Indians, Zhu Ciyi, Sun Chuanting and others greeted the locals by their Indian names. However, for some Indian officers who have accepted Chinese culture and have a certain degree of loyalty to the Ming Dynasty, they prefer to use their Chinese names when introducing themselves.
Zhu Ciyi also has an Indian name here. Unlike Li Zicheng's torch-holding and Zhang Xianzhong's fragrant mouth, his Indian name is very simple and very noble: Dawn. And Sun Chuanting's Indian name is also of the same level as Zhu Ciyi's: Hope.
"Dances with Wolves, can you tell me what the recent rumors are in your division?"
"In my Third Division, soldiers have been talking about it for the past few months. They say that the Spanish came to America and took away the gold and silver from America. Now, the Ming Dynasty is also taking gold and silver from America. It seems that there is no difference between the Ming Dynasty and Spain. If that is the case, why do we have to pay such a great sacrifice, with so many deaths, to drive out one tyrant, only to welcome the next one."
"Everyone, there are almost all rumors like this in your respective units, right?"
"Yes."
"Very good." After nodding with a smile, Zhu Ciyi said: "First of all, I want to say that it is impossible for the same rumor to spread widely among Indians in just one or two months without the enemy's mischief. Therefore, we need to conduct an internal investigation. Let's see who in our respective troops has illusions about the Spaniards, or who is not determined to begin with, and is simply a spy sent by the Spaniards.
Of course, it is necessary to investigate the spies, but more importantly, we need to let our soldiers realize fundamentally the difference between our Ming Dynasty and Spain.
Of course, our Ming Dynasty did transport a considerable amount of gold and silver from Lima back to the mainland more than four months ago. In a few days, it is estimated that another batch of gold and silver will be shipped. Everyone has returned to the army, and there is no need to hide this. But you need to clearly tell the soldiers what our Ming Dynasty brought to America before transporting the gold and silver from America. What will it bring to America after transporting the gold and silver!
Since the second year of Tianqi, when our Ming Dynasty first landed in South America. Twenty-two years have passed. In total, our Ming Dynasty has taken away hundreds of rubber trees in South America, as well as hundreds of tons of gold and silver four months ago. But what did we give to America? Two rebel leaders, one of whom became your current queen. Countless guns and ammunition, so that you no longer have to face the Spaniards with bare hands. Sixty-eight factories of various types have given the Indians their own primary industry. A mature political system has enabled you to break away from the scope of clan tribes. Advanced medical technology has freed you from the threat of smallpox, influenza, and even syphilis. A common language and writing have allowed you, the Native Americans, to truly become a whole instead of the hundreds of scattered tribes that were previously...
Over the past 22 years, nearly 90,000 Han Chinese have come to America. More than 10,000 Han Chinese have died here for the Indians' independence. These 90,000 Han Chinese have never killed an Indian for no reason. At most, they fought with a local boy because they liked the same girl. Speaking of this, didn't I fight with one of you in order to get Rama? He even left a wound on my chest.
“Hahahaha~” Amid the laughter of the crowd, a tall Indian man stood up with a red face and said, “Shuguang, let’s not talk about this here. That blow of yours almost cut off my right hand!”
"Sit down, let your hair spread in the wind, and sit down." He waved his hand with a smile: "You all know that I am the eldest son of the Ming Dynasty, and you also know that your weapons are all provided by the Ming Dynasty. Logically, if I like an Indian girl, can't I just use my power to rob her? But I didn't. Not only that, all the aid workers of the Ming Dynasty will not use their power to pressure you locals when they have private conflicts with you. We are willing to respect your customs and solve the problem in the way you think is traditional and fair. Isn't it?"
"yes!"
"Then let's go back and see how the Spanish treated America. 150 years ago, Columbus arrived in America with a group of Spanish sailors who were suffering from septicemia and dying of illness and starvation. They survived with the help of local tribes. But when he came to America for the second time, he massacred the Indian tribe that rescued them. After that, wherever he went, he brought shamelessness, massacres and diseases to that place...
Over the past 100 years, the Spanish took away more than 2 million kilograms of gold and more than 100 million kilograms of silver from the Americas. But what did they bring to the Americas? Death. Over the past 100 years, the number of Indians has dropped by 90%! Diseases, such as smallpox, influenza, pneumonia, cholera, plague...pain. Over the past 100 years, countless Indians have lost their families, their lands and loved ones, and everything they should have enjoyed. Exploitation. Over the past 100 years, countless gold, silver, and copper mines have been filled with piles of bones, as well as Indian miners who toiled all day long under whips and shackles...
Ladies and gentlemen, Spain only took from America, but never gave anything in return. And when it took, it never asked about the feelings of the Indians being taken. Because the thinking of white people is a typical zero-sum thinking. In this kind of thinking, the more you are given, the less I get. For my happiness, you must get nothing.
We in the Ming Dynasty do not have a zero-sum mentality. We emphasize common development and win-win cooperation. Of course, we in the Ming Dynasty need gold and silver from the Americas, because our country has developed too fast in recent years, and the increase in production has exceeded the increase in gold and silver each year. As a result, deflation has occurred - which is more terrible than inflation in the economy. Therefore, transporting gold and silver from the Americas to the Ming Dynasty is a life-saving thing for us.
However, while we take away the gold and silver, we must also return more to America. In this way, the Ming Dynasty and the Inca can go hand in hand and develop together.
Many of you used to be hunters, so you should know this. In order to survive, we have to hunt some animals. But when we hunt animals, we usually avoid spring, because many animals are pregnant at that time. Even if we have to hunt animals in spring, we will try to kill as few as possible, or kill males. On this point, we, the Ming Dynasty, and you Indians have a consensus. But the white people in Europe are not like this. For the sake of skin, they don’t care about the season, and they don’t care whether the species will become extinct in the future... This is the difference between the typical zero-sum thinking and the common development thinking...
Everyone, do you still have any doubts in your heart now? "
there is none left!"
"When you return to the army, can you make your soldiers understand the difference between the Ming Dynasty and Spain?"
We can! "
"Can you inspire the soldiers to fight bravely in the upcoming Battle of Bogota, which will decide whether America will be gloriously revived or completely destroyed?"
We can do it! We must win the Battle of Bogota, and we can win!"
