It was impossible for a person to be both good and bad at the same time. A person must be good in the eyes of some people, and bad in the eyes of others. It was the same for the country.
In February 1874, as the economic crisis continued to spread, the storm of discussion about China swept across the English Channel and landed on the continent of Europe. At the beginning, the newspapers on the continent of Europe used the attitude of a spectator, the relevant content in the gossip section of the society section. The German newspapers didn't even discuss the radical republicanism.
Britain was worthy of being the most developed industrial country in the world. From 1788 until now, there had been more than a dozen rounds of economic crises. The aristocrats and capitalists who controlled the British regime had been trying to find a solution to the economic crisis. However, the scale of the economic crisis grew larger and larger, affecting more and more fields. From the textile industry to the speculative industry, from light industry to heavy industry. From domestic to foreign, from local administration to national political power. No field could escape the impact of the economic crisis, and no system could not safely lie down under the impact of the economic crisis.
The more they learned about China's system, the more the British aristocrats and capitalists felt it was an eyesore. But the British upper class, who had accumulated rich experience in economic crises, did see that China's system had a huge advantage in dealing with the crisis. The British intelligentsia's view was more active. Because it involved the republicanism, the British newspapers at first only published articles that criticized the republicanism. When the British intelligentsia began to discuss how China's system would deal with the economic crisis, the newspapers also began to be a little restless.
Don't talk about China's system, don't talk about China's philosophy, just talk about some of China's specific methods. This kind of discussion increased the sales of some of the small and medium-sized newspapers that participated in the debate. The Economist was a magazine published by The Economist Newspaper Company of London. It was founded in September 1843 by James Wilson. It was founded by James Wilson. Most of the articles in the magazine were witty, humorous, powerful, serious yet humorous, and focused on how to tell the reader the most information in the least amount of space.
Just by looking at the name, it was obvious that this was a newspaper aimed at the intellectual class. The Economist was involved in the discussion from the beginning. Most importantly, in the discussion, the Economist created a discussion mode that only talked about the means, only talked about the phenomenon, and did not talk about the background. While not touching the British ruling class, it also catered to the anxious mood of the British people. As a result, the sales among the literate working class skyrocketed, and its influence spread rapidly.
The British newspapers couldn't take it anymore. Finally, they joined the discussion. As soon as all kinds of specious solutions came out, European newspapers, which were also affected by the economic crisis, began to follow suit.
Uncle Ma saw these problems very clearly. His evaluation was, "The monopoly has started to move from spontaneity to self-awareness!"
Vézé's economic model was an out-and-out government-controlled monopoly. Europe didn't care about China's state-owned land system, nor did they care about the political and social systems that went along with this basic system. What they saw was the efficiency brought about by this monopoly. Capital needed a market. By monopolizing the market, the ability to control the economic crisis would be strengthened. With the support of data, his judgment of the market would be more forward-looking and predictive. In the eyes of capitalists, this kind of action could lead to the possibility of a more rational face of market fluctuations, and could even solve the economic crisis.
Uncle Ma had already read Vézé's article on the economic crisis and the three major economic cycles. He was looking forward to seeing how Vézé would deal with China's economic crisis in the future. As for the tinkering skills that were far inferior to Vézé's level, Uncle Ma didn't even bother to give an immediate evaluation.
The shift in the direction of public opinion in Britain and even in Europe finally made the days of China's ambassadors in Europe better. After a few months of keeping a low profile, the British public dispersed, and normal work could finally continue. The Europeans, especially the British, have a lot of pride. Economists and intellectuals have given their own names to the various solutions derived from China's policies. XX economics, XX jazz solutions, dazzling solutions came out one after another, and with the operation of financial resources and connections, they began to try to seek various benefits for individuals or groups. China then entered the background, at least out of the center of the whirlpool.
Of course, this kind of separation was very limited. The attitude of the British ruling class towards China became more hostile. This was based on the conflict of system, ideology, and economy. The impact of the crisis in Britain was not that big for the time being, because Britain had the most experience in dealing with economic crises. There was an old saying in China, "Once bitten, twice shy." Economic crises happened once a decade. The last one broke out from 1867 to 1868. The British still had a deep fear of speculation and knew the dangers of over-investment, so the outbreak of the economic crisis was not too severe. However, China seemed to have found a way to overcome the economic crisis, which meant that China could invest without limit. With the rapid development that China had shown in the past 20 years, how far would China develop in another 20 years?
In April 1874, the British House of Lords began a gloomy discussion on how to deal with the rise of China. The Russians had been wailing for the past two years. After the Chinese army seized Heilongjiang, they began to send small forces to sweep the Russian strongholds in the Far East. Moreover, the Chinese Navy was not satisfied with just seizing Heilongjiang. The Chinese fleet had already killed their way to the Bering Sea and uprooted the Russian strongholds in the Pacific. In the summer, the Chinese appeared in Alaska.
"China is the same as Russia, they have an incomparable desire for land. If China is allowed to seize Alaska, they will border Canada, "the aristocrat said in a heavy tone.
The greed of the Russians for land was well known. China had always been regarded as an old Eastern Empire. After the change of the throne of the Eastern Empire, the new Emperor Vézé showed greed that was no less than that of Russia.
The aristocrat continued, "China has announced that it will build another 3,000 kilometers of railway in 1874. A very important railway will reach Qiqihar. After the railway is completed, China is only a few hundred miles away from the border of Nerchinsk. Russia is thousands of miles away from here. Do you think that China will stop at Nerchinsk? "
There was a burst of laughter in the hall. The conflict between China and Vietnam was enough to prove one thing. When a few thousand troops were attacked by a Chinese army a few hundred kilometers away from the China border, there was no way they could survive. The French were like this, and so were the Russians. Russia was not the only country in the northern ice fields. Canada was also in the northern ice fields. Therefore, the British were very clear about the situation in that place. As long as the populous industrialized countries in the south continuously sent troops into the northern countries to carry out killings, the northern countries could not resist this war of attrition. Russia's wailing in the past two years was entirely because of China's tactics. As Russia's strongholds were pulled out one by one, it was only a matter of time before Russia lost the Far East.
"We should ask China to express its stance on this matter and not invade Russia!" A member of parliament suggested.
"Then we must first persuade Russia to recognize the Nerchinsk treaty. Do you think the Russians will agree? "Immediately, a member of parliament put forward his own opinion.
It was not the character of the Russians to expect Russia to obediently accept Russia's defeat. Not to mention, even if the Russians recognized it, would the China, who already had a huge advantage, recognize it? China did not even need to immediately force the Russians to cede the Far East. As long as China actually controlled the Far East, with the current situation of conflict between countries, sooner or later there would be a chance for a big settlement.
Since it was impossible for China to back down, Britain could probably only play hard. However, it was easy to say that they would use force, but it was not easy to do it. In the current economic crisis, who would pay for the military?
Using the excuse of defending Russia to pay for the military? Wasn't this joke a little too much? Of course, the members of parliament were not willing, and they knew very well that the Russians would not pay a penny to the British. Looking at it now, it was not realistic to expect China to cede territory and pay reparations. Without the territory and reparations, Britain would lose the possibility of profiting from the war. The only benefit that could be considered was to attack China and teach China a lesson.
China's rise was too fast. If China was allowed to develop unscrupulously, in a few years, the price that Britain would have to pay to teach China a lesson would be even greater.
"As far as we know, the number of ironclads that China currently has is about 30, six of which are of the 6000 ton class …" The member of parliament who advocated for a tough attitude began to introduce the strength of China's navy.
Many members of parliament had a contemptuous look on their faces after hearing this. Britain's annual military expenditure for the year 187 01871 was 9013000 pounds, and the total tonnage of the navy was 633000 tons. China's small fleet was very fierce in Asia, but compared to the British Royal Navy, it was just a drizzle. The Royal Navy could send the Chinese Navy to the bottom of the sea in minutes. It was difficult to control China on land, but it was not a problem at all on the sea. Especially the discussion not long ago, the members of parliament of the British Empire were also very clear about it. Being able to solve the economic crisis in this era was the goal that all governments were pursuing. Even if the British Empire could not achieve it for the time being, there was no reason to let the China do it so easily.
"Attack the Chinese navy and buy time for the British Empire. Once we've settled our domestic problems, we can let China know that they're no match for us." A member of parliament directly instigated the crowd, "Let's attack the Chinese navy and buy time for the British Empire.
After the vote, the motion to attack China from the sea did not receive enough votes.
The pro-war members of parliament were extremely puzzled by the choice of the opposing members of parliament. The opposing members of parliament also expressed their opinions frankly. "If it's just a naval attack, it means that we will have to blockade the coast of China for a long time. How long will it take for the Chinese to give in? Three years? Five years? Ten years? What can we gain other than continuously consuming our strength? It's just a disruption of China's trade with other countries. Now it seems that China's development does not rely on trade with other countries. Our goal is not to stop the trade between China and other countries, but to establish our dominant position in the Western Pacific. This war may not be able to achieve our goal. "
The United Kingdom was doing a good job in governing by elites. At least the members of parliament were quite democratic. The debate surrounding this issue went on for more than a month. During this time, after three votes, the British Parliament finally passed the new bill by a narrow margin. In the new bill, the United Kingdom blockaded the Strait of Malacca and other important sea routes leading to the Indian Ocean, not allowing China's ships to pass through. Strengthen the relationship with Japan, and try to take down the Republic of Prawn first. If China showed the slightest resistance, the United Kingdom would annihilate the Chinese Navy and shell China's coastal cities.
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