Palace, first conference room.
After summarizing the progress of last year's goals, Zhang Liang issued the new year's State of the Union address as usual.
With last year's experience, this year's State of the Union address was more detailed and targeted. Some strategic judgments made the ministers' eyes light up.
In the ninth year of Gaia, the strategic focus of Great Xia would shift from overseas to Asia.
The first to bear the brunt was naturally the three dynasties in the Indian region. Only by conquering India could Great Xia truly control the Indian Ocean and thus connect the maritime trade of the three oceans.
In addition to India, the Persian Empire in the west and the Romanov Dynasty in the north had to be dealt with according to the circumstances.
The global situation was volatile. No matter how powerful the Cabinet of Ministers was, they could not accurately predict it.
In addition to Asia, the Mayan and European battlefields were mainly indirectly intervening. They tried their best not to directly intervene.
The goal was naturally to delay these two wars as much as possible.
By doing so, it could let the enemies continue to consume each other, and it could also create a good external environment for Great Xia's military operations in Asia, reducing the possibility of interference.
"The competition between the Silver Hand and the Azure Badge is a rare strategic opportunity for the empire." Zhang Liang changed the topic and reminded, "However, this period of strategic opportunity will not go on indefinitely."
"The Cabinet of Ministers has done a scientific assessment. If the two sides can't determine a winner in the ninth year of Gaia, then they will definitely stop and make peace. It is impossible for them to continue fighting to the death."
"So, there is not much time left for the empire." Zhang Liang emphasized again.
Ouyang Shuo agreed with Zhang Liang's judgment.
In fact, the development of the war had put the Silver Hand in a dilemma. In their original plan, the Allies should have unified the European continent in the eighth year of Gaia.
That way, they would have two years to integrate, digest, and even challenge Great Xia again.
If Great Xia did not interfere, this strategic concept of the Silver Hand would indeed have a basis to realize. Not only in the European battlefield, but also in the American battlefield, the Dawson Dynasty would have probably conquered the Mayan Dynasty.
If that was the case, the Silver Hand's sphere of influence would have surrounded Great Xia in the east and west.
The biggest mistake of the Silver Hand was probably underestimating Great Xia's influence and means. They also overestimated the pride of the Azure Badge and asked Great Xia for help.
This winter was a rare period of strategic adjustment for the Silver Hand. After this round of adjustments, Ouyang Shuo had reason to believe that the global battlefield would welcome new changes in spring.
It was precisely because of this that the Advisor Cabinet suggested that the empire shift its strategic focus back to the Asian mainland. They should first expand the strategic depth of the mainland and obtain the position of the hegemon of Asia before taking care of other things.
Basically, Gaia's nine years of Grand Xia could only do so much.
In addition to the military operations, the internal affairs naturally continued to strengthen the local infrastructure, especially the construction of the power grid, and comprehensively promote the industrialization of the coastal cities.
Now that the capital was the first to be electrified, the construction of the empire's power grid and power plants would enter a period of rapid development, and the coastal cities would be the first to light up the night.
With the blessing of electricity, the efficiency of industrialization would usher in another leap.
With history as a mirror, the Empire's path of industrialization was a highly condensed version of the global path of industrialization in history. Everything was extracted from the essence, and the planning was also the most scientific and fastest path.
Throughout the entire process, there was not the slightest detour.
In the first place, there was no room for detours, because the slightest pause could cause the other dynasties to surpass them.
The game world was not reality. There were no technological bottlenecks between the dynasties, only resource bottlenecks and manpower bottlenecks. If one were to calculate further, it would probably be the difference in organizational and implementation capabilities.
Regardless of which aspect, Grand Xia had a unique advantage.
It was precisely because of this that there was no room for slacking off. Grand Xia had to work hard, bit by bit, to accumulate what might be a negligible advantage.
After a long period of accumulation, they would finally establish an unshakable advantage.
If they could really reach that step, Grand Xia would create another miracle. That was, Grand Xia would be able to rise above all the other dynasties in the world at the same starting line.
This was an extremely impressive feat.
In addition to the mainland, the three overseas protectorates would also become the focus of construction.
Ouyang Shuo had already ordered the Transportation Bureau to cooperate with the three protectorates to draw up the infrastructure plan for the three overseas protectorates, build a railway network, and upgrade the highway network.
For this, the Imperial Court had prepared a huge amount of funds to support the infrastructure construction of the three protectorates.
This was also a blessing that the Imperial Court had brought to the local people. It would help strengthen the local people's recognition of the Imperial Court and promote the economic development of the three protectorates.
In addition to the infrastructure construction, Ouyang Shuo had also ordered the cabinet to conduct an in-depth research on the entire industry chain of the Empire. He wanted to make the industries in the mainland and the three protectorates complement each other.
He did not want all of them to work together, which would result in all of them being small and big but not strong.
To put it bluntly, he could not allow the three protectorates to continue producing for the mainland and become a raw material base. There was no consideration for the development of the protectorates, no regional discrimination, or even killing the goose that laid the golden eggs.
This was what Ouyang Shuo did not want to see.
Hearing Ouyang Shuo's statement, the three overseas protectorates, Mulan Yue, Bai Hua, and Tao Wu, felt a huge weight lifted from their hearts, and they became even more motivated.
In addition to the complementary industries within the Empire, the Nine Years of Gaia, the internal affairs of the Empire, or rather, the trade strategy, had an extremely important point, which was to strengthen the trade with the Banto Empire and the Indian Empire.
These two empires were large countries with gold reserves, but the development of their industries was extremely uneven.
This gave Grand Xia an opportunity.
In Ouyang Shuo's words, he wanted to use a large amount of goods to empty the gold of the two empires, allowing the Empire's gold reserves to rise to a new level.
This series of trade measures was collectively referred to by Ouyang Shuo as the 'War of Gold'.
In the future, to make the Great Xia dollar the global currency, the Empire needed to have gold reserves that far exceeded the other empires, so as to strengthen its authority.
Otherwise, no empire would easily submit to it.
This was basically the Grand Xia's general strategy for the Nine Years of Gaia. After the meeting, it would be broken down into specific goals and handed to specific organizations to organize and implement.
Ouyang Shuo had recently been talking about a word, 'activeness'. He did not wish for the Great Xia to be an internally rigid empire, but a new generation empire that dared to think and act.
The Great Xia at present was far from stagnating.
The entire ceremony lasted for two days before it came to an end. Under the participation and witness of the twenty-six important officials, the empire's strategy for the coming year was finalized.
After the meeting, Ouyang Shuo held a banquet in the royal palace to celebrate the new year in advance.
…
4th February, the capital.
Amidst the hustle and bustle, the Spring Festival approached once again.
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