Now

The relationship between the Ocean Empire and Tsarist Russia was not good, Li Fushou first rejected Tsar Nicholas II's request for marriage, and then refused to give Tsarist Russia a large loan, unless the other party came up with gold hard currency, otherwise, the ruble would not be recognized.

This attitude of unwelcome to Tsarist Russia not only angered the Russian Tsar Nicholas II, but also provoked Britain and France, which issued several official diplomatic notes expressing strong protest.

Protest is protest, and the Ocean Empire is still going its own way.

As long as Emperor Li Fushou does not let go of his mouth for a day, there will be no fundamental change in this attitude towards the Russian Bureau, and he wants to buy everything he wants, but he has to buy it with gold.

Britain and France and other countries really had no choice, the war on the Western Front broke out on French territory, and France could only borrow 300 million gold oceans from the ocean empire syndicate, which was specially used to export war materials to Tsarist Russia, and finally repaid by the French government with an interest rate of 8.5% for five years.

This money was not used until the end of 14, and Britain had no choice but to guarantee another loan from London, totaling 400 million gold oceans, for a period of 5 years, with an interest rate of 8.2%, which was specially used to provide war materials to Tsarist Russia and support Nicholas II to fight the war.

Britain, France, and Russia are the main pillars of the Entente military bloc, and Serbia, Belgium, Greece, Fuso, and other countries can only be regarded as beating the side drums, and if they want to win against the Germans on the European battlefield, Tsarist Russia is an important force.

As long as Tsarist Russia is willing to contribute to the death, Britain, France and other countries are willing to pay for their allies.

Li Fushou knew that Tsarist Russia was a huge pit, from Catherine II to the reign of Nicholas II, Russia had been dependent on external loans, and before the outbreak of World War I, Tsarist Russia had owed 6.4 billion rubles in external loans, and by the end of the war, its internal and external debts amounted to more than 15 billion gold rubles, and the result was that a big son did not pay back.

It doesn't matter if you tear your face, Li Fushou is not willing to throw money into the water, especially in France, which is the worst, that really wants to die.

The attitude of the Ocean Empire was particularly tough, and Tsarist Russia was forced to start loading gold on ships, planning to export a total of 850 tons of gold to the Ocean Empire, and the first batch of 150 tons to be used to purchase materials needed for the war.

Tsarist Russia demanded so many things, from hundreds of thousands of tons of grain, flour, oilseeds, to millions of woolen coats, woolen blankets, hundreds of thousands of guns stored in Oregon, thousands of cannons to tens of thousands of tons of ammunition, canned food, tobacco and toffee, almost everything, and the amount was staggering.

Looking around the world, the only one that can supply so much material is the Ocean Empire.

Not to mention anything else, Tsarist Russia urgently needed millions of wool coats, and no other country could take them, and the Ocean Empire could easily get it.

In order to win the war that could not be delayed, Tsarist Russia had no choice but to give in and ship its stored gold to the Ocean Empire.

In the field of the icy and snowy European battlefield, as an important military material, only the woolen coat with excellent cold protection effect is needed in the European market, and tens of millions of pieces are needed not only by the Entente countries, but also by the Central Powers.

Looking at the beautiful scenery outside the car window that kept receding, Li Fushou couldn't help but smile at the corner of his mouth.

Nowadays, more than 100,000 ranches in Australia are vigorously breeding lambs, and by next year, the total number of sheep can be doubled, whether it is wool coats or frozen meat, as many as you want.

Australia, the chosen land of abundance, can still supply the world with its own strength, and it can still be at ease.

He stretched out his hand and pressed the electric bell, and then the box door was pushed open, and Li Xiaozu, deputy director of the secretariat, quietly walked in, his hands lowered to listen to the instructions.

"Xiaozu, to find out the summary data of agricultural production and planned exports this year and next year, make a detailed analysis report, fully estimate the huge demand in Europe, and do everything possible to expand production, this is a golden opportunity to occupy the market, to beat the reputation of Australia's high-quality agricultural products."

"Wechen obeys the holy order and will do it immediately."

"Don't worry, Xiaozu, how many years have you been working by my side?"

"If you return to the saint, Weichen has served the saint for nine years now, and the new year is the tenth year."

"It's been ten years, how many decades can there be in life?" Li Fushou couldn't help but sigh, his slender fingers lightly tapped the tabletop, carefully considered it, and said; "In this way, you have been acting steadily over the years, and you have a good view of the overall situation, and you should go out to the local area to accumulate the ability to take charge of yourself. Now there are two options, go to Mozambique or North America as the Crown Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, which one do you choose? ”

"Return to the Holy Majesty. In Wechen's opinion. Mozambique's economic development was on track, and the issue of the black indigenous race had been largely solved perfectly, and the work was not very challenging. This is not the case in North America. The ratio of Huayi's population to white people is basically 6:4, and the white residents in the region are relatively independent, so it is necessary to further guide and instill the patriotic spirit, unite the national main consciousness, deepen and spread Chinese culture, customs and promote national pride. Wechen felt that this was a very challenging job and was willing to share his worries for His Majesty. ”

"Good, you get to the heart of the matter. What North America needs is not to promote economic growth and industrial development, but to focus on national integration. I was not mistaken, and I was very pleased. When you go back, you will hand over your work and spend the year at home. The day of the decree is coming. ”

"If you thank the Holy Grace, you will not dare to have a heavy trust, and you will do your best to die."

"Well, the Great Good."

Li Fushou looked at Li Xiaozu with a respectful expression and shook to the ground, thanked him, and nodded with satisfaction.

This is indeed a good seedling, and after a few years of accumulating independent work experience, you can enter the cabinet and serve as the chancellor of the exchequer and the secretary of industry.

The key is to be young, only in his thirties this year, and he is a noble duke's son, whose family glory is tightly tied to the empire, inseparable, and a trustworthy talent.

Now that Marshal Mo Rufeng is in North America, and Marshal Li Xuanzhu has returned to the empire to serve as the Minister of War, the timing of sending Li Xiaozu to go at this time is just right, and there will not be a situation where the military and government in North America are controlled by the Li family and his son.

No matter how intimate it is, there are still necessary precautions.

Looking at today's important ministers in the court, basically all of them are the confidants and courtiers cultivated by Li Fushou, from Fan Zhongzhai to Zhang Li, the two prime ministers, all of whom are from the head of the imperial secretariat, which is very revealing.

To put it bluntly, the Cabinet is just a larger secretariat.

Li Fushou is not worried about letting outsiders control the situation, which will inevitably lead to more detours, so he can only work harder and personally control the direction of the empire.

Only when the legal system is perfected, when all the rules are established, when the government, parliament, and the judiciary form an effective clamping power structure, and when the electoral system is becoming more and more perfect, will he be able to let go and delegate power.

Li Fushou did not train the crown prince Li Siyuan with his heart, let alone teach him personally, because the current situation of the imperial dictatorship of the Ocean Empire cannot be sustained, and it is inevitable to turn to the British constitutional monarchy in the future.

In other words, the royal family will henceforth be rubber stamps and symbolic representatives of the state, and the main executive powers will be ceded to the cabinet and parliament in order to achieve lasting development.

A hundred years later

Li Siyuan didn't have the foresight, he only needed to be a symbolic puppet emperor, and the rest would be handled by the elected cabinet and parliament.

Having personally controlled the court for decades, Li Fushou knows the pros and cons of the German-style constitutional monarchy, which is completely a makeover of the feudal royal rule in the old era.

It would be a tragedy for the whole country to meet a wise lord who could lead the empire on the road to prosperity, and to meet a person who was overjoyed and self-serving.

This was very evident in Kaiser Wilhelm II, Tsar Nicholas II.

At the height of the power of Germany and Tsarist Russia, there was a deep crisis that could destroy the entire empire.

Li Fushou didn't dare to gamble and couldn't afford to gamble, so his choice was to promote the transformation of the empire into a parliamentary system at the right time after World War I, and greatly cede power to the cabinet and parliament.

With the prestige he has accumulated over the years, he is confident that he will intervene in the government at a critical time, so as not to embark on an unpredictable wrong path.

This is the secret thought of his heart, and he has not revealed it to anyone.

And another hidden idea, that is, to push the United States into the arms of the German-Italian-Austrian alliance, seems to have a little basis for realization at present.

In accordance with its obligations under the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Alliance, Fuso formally joined the Allied Coalition to declare war on Germany and took a practical step by sending troops to occupy the fortress of Qingdao.

Therefore, Fuso was a full member of the Entente.

The United States is now at odds with Fusang, and has the insurmountable territorial issue of the Republic of Arizona, so it is definitely unwilling to stand in the same trench with Fusang.

The two sides have been constantly clashing in New Mexico, which is very meaningful.

Once the second US-Japan war breaks out, hehehe...... That's a lot of fun.

The United States can choose to just declare war on Fuso, but what about the United Kingdom?

Based on the "Anglo-Japanese Alliance Treaty", Britain should also declare war on the United States and support its Fuso allies, and then it will also draw France, Russia, Belgium, Greece, and Romania into it, and be forced to declare war on the United States in order to fulfill the alliance of the same enemy.

In this way, the United States will not fall to the German-Italian-Austrian alliance.

If Britain does not declare war, then Fuso, in anger, will inevitably announce its withdrawal from the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Alliance, which will deal a major blow to Britain's international credibility, and it will not be justified in any way.

Everyone else has fulfilled the covenant, but you don't fulfill it yourself, is the relationship a joke?

In Li Fushou's thinking, the royal special train that ran all the way north crossed the fields and mountains, and headed all the way to the north......