"Your Majesty's Temple Divination has indeed enlightened me." Ever since Zuo Zongtang defected to Vézé, what he wanted to learn the most was Vézé's military knowledge. After listening to Vézé's strategic views on the future of the South China Sea at the Politburo meeting, he could not help but ask Vézé for advice.
Vézé was a little unimpressed by Zuo Zongtang's compliment. At least in Vézé's view, even if the Pacific Ocean could not become China's inland lake, there was no reason for foreign countries to threaten China's mainland from the Pacific Ocean. In the future, China would be a large country with the mainland as its core and an unprecedentedly large maritime territory on the periphery. The South China Sea was just the first step for China, and more land would fall into China's hands in the future. This was not just personal ambition, but also the pressure from China's huge population.
Under this strategic view, the South China Sea was just a skip, not the end. Don't expect China to spit out the meat you ate, so before eating the meat, you had to think about how to really eat it. It was just that before the emergence of nuclear weapons, the world's borders were destined to be dynamic, and the great powers would find ways to make the borders more favorable to themselves.
But this kind of thinking seemed to be temporarily incomprehensible to his comrades who had just learned to read the world map, so this time he was not willing to overpower his comrades who were eager to go south. If the expansion party was beaten into silence, it would not be a good thing for China.
"Old Zuo, the concept of strategy must be matched with strength. Our current problem is that there are still too few ways to solve domestic problems, and we can only rely on expansion. Since this is the only way, I can only be cautious. Only by being cautious can we make fewer mistakes. Of course, even if we encounter setbacks, I will not change my mind. " Vézé originally wanted to complain, but Vézé was Vézé, and he inadvertently revealed his ruthlessness in the end.
The naval war with England in the future was inevitable. By then, no matter how tragic the outcome would be, Vézé would not stop once the war started. The final five minutes would decide the outcome of the battle.
After listening to Vézé's words, Zuo Zongtang pondered for a moment and finally spoke his mind. "Your Majesty, I can see that you care a lot about the British Navy. You also said that Britain's steel production is ten times more than China's. This is what I think after listening to your words. No matter how strong the United Kingdom is, it still has to travel thousands of miles. We have logistical problems. The British have bigger problems than us. In this way, our disadvantage is actually not that big. "
"You're absolutely right!" Vézé laughed. "Actually, as long as we can produce 100 million tons of steel annually, we can wrestle with England in the South Sea. I'm actually not that worried about the UK. "
"Why?" Zuo Zongtang asked.
Vézé brought over a world map. "England is surrounded by powerful countries. France, Russia, Italy, and Prussia are not easy to deal with. England is a troublemaker in Europe. It maneuvers among the major countries and relies on the conflicts between them. If England really wants to fight us, they can mobilize their fleet to fight against China. Think about it. Even if England can beat us at sea, they will definitely suffer heavy casualties. But if England goes to China, can they win? "
Zuo Zongtang's eyes lit up. Vézé's words were very clear. Once England spent a lot of money in a war that they did not win and did not receive reparations, they would not be able to suppress the European countries when they returned to Europe. At that time, England's status would plummet. England would not do such a stupid thing.
"As long as we can show England how powerful we are, we can get what we want!" Zuo Zongtang was overjoyed by this beautiful prospect.
This balance was learned by Vézé from the 21st-century Sino-American relationship. The Americans were still full of Cold War ideas. Two different systems, two superpowers, a non-destructive war between two superpowers. But China proposed that there was a fierce conflict of interest between China and the United States, and many of their strategies were also tit-for-tat. Since everyone had to stop at the step of a full-scale nuclear war to destroy the earth, they might as well admit their differences and work hard to resolve them.
Even if there were no nuclear weapons, as long as Wei Ze had the ability to pull the British off their horse, the British would not fight to the end. After all, there were vast colonies between China and England, and the loss of any land meant the decline of the country.
Thinking of this, Vézé said to Zuo Zongtang, "Old Zuo, if we want to show the British how powerful we are, we have to bleed a lot ourselves. A lot of blood. The Liberation Army had not experienced such a harsh test until now. It would be a very cruel test. The Liberation Army was able to achieve what it has today because everyone came from a good background and came from a lower class. Therefore, they know the suffering of the people and know that human lives have to be treated as human lives. In the near future, I plan to fully implement some ideological education in the party. You are a smart man, knowledgeable, and smart enough. I want to see if you can be a political commissar. "
"Commander-in-chief, you wanted me to reorganize the Chu army to fight against the aborigines. But then you made other arrangements … "Zuo Zongtang complained about Vézé's fickleness.
"The aborigines are also people, and killing the aborigines is also a killing. I feel that killing will make people become twisted. If it is not possible for the Chinese to do this kind of work, I still don't want the Chinese to do it. Now that Japan is in trouble, and that place is very poor, they will be very willing to hire the Japanese to do the killing. I feel that any problem that can be solved with money is not a problem, "Vézé said.
"I feel that Your Majesty is thinking too much. I don't see the government being lenient when killing the landlords. " Zuo Zongtang knew that Vézé was a very tolerant person, and he could tell the truth to such a tolerant person. Because lying was what they were most opposed to.
"If the landlords are obedient and don't think about being landlords anymore, we won't kill them. But it is difficult to change a person's class, and the landlords are trying to restore the landlord class. The new country that our revolution designed does not have a landlord class. They were killed because they were counter-revolutionaries, but that is another matter, "Vézé explained.
"Can't they go to the South China Sea to redeem themselves?" Zuo Zongtang asked.
"Sigh …" Vézé sighed. Even a smart person like Zuo Zongtang would find it difficult to get rid of the old way of thinking. "Old Zuo, what kind of reward do the landlords want after they perform meritorious deeds? They definitely want the rewards from the old system. Even if I don't allow landlords to exist in the mainland, I will let them continue to be landlords in places like the South China Sea. But the new country does not have the system of landlords, not in the mainland, and not in the South China Sea. Therefore, revolution and counter-revolution are not determined by whether a person is a good person or not, or whether a person has meritorious deeds. The standard to judge a revolutionary from a counter-revolutionary is which system he is loyal to. "
Zuo Zongtang did not seem to fully understand this, and Vézé was both disappointed and glad. Even a smart person like Zuo Zongtang could not quickly get rid of the old era's ideas, let alone the traditional landlords. The Restoration Party and the new government closed the door to the old literati from the system, and this move was absolutely correct.
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