Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 797: Skillfully Passing the Buck Again
In 1648, Europe was filled with cries of grief and sorrow.
At that time, Europe had a total population of just over 100 million, but 1.35 million young and strong men joined the war. It can be said that every European at that time had relatives, friends, or relatives of relatives, or friends of friends who joined the army and went to India for the expedition.
As a result, the expected achievements and fortunes were not seen. The backbones or future hopes of more than one million families were gone, gone...
The whole of Europe and society was filled with grief and shock. After that, it was natural that there was an emotion that needed to be vented!
"Your Majesty, this question of pacifying the people?"
The aging Prime Minister Osvalles was in tears: This war had caused too much damage to the economy. The Ming Dynasty had prepared for this war for more than three years in advance. Even as the victorious party, the fiscal deficit was quite frightening, and the grain prices that had been stable for thirty years could not be maintained. The pressure on Europe would be even greater. Apart from other things, the pensions for more than one million military families alone were enough to exhaust .
"Osvalles, are the people in the alliance feeling very unstable recently?"
"It is very unstable. In terms of ideology, churches in various places have reported that the people in various parishes are generally no longer pious to God, and some individuals have explicitly questioned God. They said that since God is omniscient and omnipotent, why didn't he bless us to win such a crucial battle. In terms of public security, officials from various places have reported that there has been a significant increase in riots, robberies, and thefts in their jurisdictions. In addition, due to the loss of India, the source of raw materials such as jute, spices, and many minerals has been cut off, and many factories have been forced to stop production. The increase in the number of unemployed people has further aggravated the deterioration of public security. In addition, due to the fall of India, many old nobles and their families who were transferred to India have stayed in India, and their relatives in Europe are also extremely dissatisfied. According to the information received by the Intelligence Bureau, many nobles are secretly colluding and preparing to challenge you at the Alliance Conference..."
"I had expected and prepared to be criticized at the league meeting. But before that, the public's emotions need to be appeased and the social economy needs to be restarted. All these things require money to solve."
"Your Majesty, the government is out of money." Osvalles gave a bitter smile: "Last year, the royal government's income was 530 million and its expenditure was 810 million. The combined income of other countries in the alliance was about 260 million, but the combined expenditure of all countries exceeded 500 million. After losing India, it is expected that the royal government's income this year will drop sharply to less than 400 million, and its expenditure will definitely increase..."
“Print money, keep printing money.”
"Your Majesty, printing money is very simple. But if too much money is printed, prices will continue to rise, and the lives of ordinary people will become more difficult."
"This is the only solution." Philip, who had not even the mood to support his nose recently, sighed and said, "First, let the families of the dead, missing, and captured get the money to appease these people in the short term. Then let the governments of various countries get the money to help the monarchs of various countries overcome their urgent needs. If too much paper money is issued and inflation occurs, the bourgeoisie will definitely get rich in the end, which will also appease the emotions of this group of people. In this way, although the lives of ordinary people will become more and more painful in the future, at least for now, when their emotions are the strongest, we can safely get through it."
"I see. Then, Your Majesty, how many should be printed first? And how should they be distributed specifically?"
"Let's print 1 billion first. Give some to governments, some to owners of medium and large factories with more than 100 employees. Give some to the families of soldiers who were killed, missing, or captured. Of course, we need to give more to the more than 100,000 soldiers who are withdrawn with us. Now, their inclinations will determine whether Europe can remain stable."
"You don't have to worry too much about the army. I have already transferred five Casti divisions back from North America in advance according to your instructions. With this force, plus all the military factories are in my Spanish mainland, the armies of other ethnic groups will be powerless even if they want to cause trouble."
"My Prime Minister, in addition to printing money, you should also pay attention to propaganda. Well, there are two directions. The first is that the Indians fought poorly. They could not take down the Khyber Pass where tens of thousands of enemies were stationed even though they had 300,000 soldiers. As a result, we were strategically divided into two parts by the enemy and could not respond to each other. The second thing..." Philip hesitated for a moment, but still said firmly: "Some businessmen are blinded by greed and sell inferior goods as good ones. The clothing and food provided to our soldiers have problems, resulting in large-scale non-combat casualties in our army..."
"Your Majesty, it is understandable that the anger of the people is directed at the Indians. It is no problem to throw all the 150,000 Indians brought back by Wallenstein into the streets and let our people beat them to death. As for directing the anger at some merchants, I can understand it. After all, as the lives of ordinary people become increasingly difficult, it is natural for hatred of the rich to grow. However, we cannot overthrow the entire merchant class, right?"
"Of course not." Philip showed a cruel smile. "The Jews, who made them a group that neither had their own country nor was richer than other groups? Let's guide our people to vent their anger on the Jews. Then we can take the opportunity to confiscate their property and make up for our fiscal deficit. Moreover, many ordinary people don't have to pay back the debts they owe to the Jews."
"This... this is very un-chivalrous, but it seems to be the best solution at the moment. I understand, Your Majesty. In short, the things you just told me about will take about three months to produce results. Therefore, I suggest that you convene the EU General Assembly in three months."
"Thank you for your hard work, my Prime Minister."
…
God is infallible, and we who believe in God are also infallible except for original sin. Even if there is a mistake, it must be the fault of other pagans - this is the consistent mentality of white people.
It can be said that Philip's two tactics of printing money indiscriminately and encouraging European people to find trouble with the Jews were very effective in calming the emotions that were about to erupt like a volcano throughout Europe. These leeks who had lost their loved ones or whose lives became increasingly difficult due to the war, on the one hand, received subsidies of tens or hundreds of yuan under the deliberate propaganda of government agencies. On the other hand, they vented their emotions by beating, scolding, and robbing the Jews. Therefore, the angry leeks were quickly calmed down.
However, ordinary leeks are easy to appease. The dignitaries and wealthy businessmen of various countries obviously cannot be fooled in this way.
On May 1, 1648, the European Union held its annual general meeting in Madrid. Nearly a thousand people attended the meeting, including heads of various political entities, senior officials, large factory owners, and wealthy businessmen from all over the world.
"In this battle, we did make a major strategic mistake. The Chinese were clearly superior to us in strategic scheduling. I do not deny this. As the two military commanders of this Indian campaign, Henry (Durené) and I will assume the responsibilities we should assume. As a soldier, Henry bravely took on the responsibility of covering the rear at the last moment of the battle. In the end, he was captured and could not come here to apologize to you. On behalf of the two of us, I would like to express my most sincere apologies to you and am willing to accept all the penalties imposed on us by the alliance..."
At this meeting, the Grand Condé was the first to make a military report on behalf of the military. In this report, the Grand Condé took the initiative to assume the responsibility for the military command errors, and took the bulk of the blame for Philip.
Next, when Garcia made a report on behalf of the navy, he also took the initiative to shoulder most of the responsibility for the disadvantages in the naval battle, especially the defeat in the Gulf of Aden.
In this way, when Philip came to give the main report, the pressure he had to bear would be much less.
"Everyone, just now Louis and Garcia both said that they were mainly responsible for the defeat. In fact, the main responsibility lies with me. Because I am the supreme commander of this Indian campaign. Although I am not professional in military affairs, many decisions were made based on their opinions and suggestions. But after all, I am the one who made the decision.
There is no doubt that we suffered a heavy defeat in India. More than 1.2 million European troops were lost there. At the same time, we also lost a large market with a population of more than 100 million and a supplier of hundreds of raw materials. The alliance's sphere of influence suddenly shrunk from the eastern end of the Indian Ocean to the western end of the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. While our sphere of influence was severely reduced and our strength was greatly weakened, our enemy, the evil empire in the East, greatly strengthened its strength.
There is no need to hide the fact that the current situation of the alliance is very dangerous. The Lord's cause has suffered a severe setback. We European whites just saw a little hope of ascending the throne of world leadership, but it was ruthlessly crushed by the Chinese. And within the alliance, various voices of doubt are frequently heard. The entire alliance is in danger of falling apart.
However, the more this is the time, the more it is a test from God! If the Lord's cause is easily pushed to the extreme, then what is the value of the title of God's believer? Only by overcoming all kinds of difficulties and defeating the seemingly powerful enemy, such a victory is permanent and worth celebrating.
Of course, I am well aware of the difficulties that everyone here has. Therefore, at this time, as the president of the alliance, I have the obligation to solve the difficulties for everyone. For this reason, I solemnly announce here that from today, the American continent, except for Mexico and the Caribbean islands, the entire North American continent under Spanish control is open to the countries in the alliance. The countries in the alliance can submit an application to the Spanish Royal Government, stating where you want to build a settlement and how many immigrants you want. As long as it is a reasonable request, the Spanish Royal Government will recognize and release it.
At the same time, the Spanish government will open 121 patents to factory owners across Europe. These patents involve the manufacture of various heavy machinery. From now on, using machines to produce machines will no longer be a matter for Spain alone. Instead, it will be something that all powerful factory owners in the alliance can do...
Dear friends, I emphasize once again that the cause we are carrying out, spreading the glory of the Lord to the whole world, is the most noble, but also the most difficult, cause in human history. It is normal for such a cause to encounter difficulties and setbacks in the middle of its journey. But a true warrior will become more courageous with each setback. We must not become discouraged or even think of giving up because of a temporary setback. You must understand that if we give up at this time, the whole world will fall into the hands of the yellow race represented by the Chinese. At that time, even if you want to resist, you will not have any chance!
Only now, although we are in a weak position, it is not impossible to win. If the Chinese want to sort out the order in India and go on an expedition to the Ottoman Empire, it will take more than ten years to complete the corresponding material reserves and technological upgrades. If we want to break through the Ottoman Empire and truly make its main force set foot on our European land, it will take more than ten years, and it will not be possible to do this. Therefore, in the next twenty years, as long as we are determined and united, we will definitely see the dawn of victory! "
