After the New Year, the Australian singing and dancing leveled, and after the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month, factories and mining enterprises quickly returned to the busy production rhythm of the past.

In the new year, the war situation in Europe suddenly became tense, and various orders flew like snowflakes.

The Battle of Verdun broke out on the Western Front in Europe, the Eastern Front was full of artillery fire, and the wars that broke out in Southern Europe, the Balkans, the Near East, and North Africa stretched to the Eurasian and African continents, and the scale and intensity were far greater than those of the first two years of the war, revealing the boundless slaughter of the decisive year.

Tens of millions of people are involved in frequent wars, do not produce, consume an astronomical amount of goods every day, and greedily devour the enormous wealth of Europe.

Native Australia

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Royal Presence in Australia, and the Cabinet has been planning a series of grand celebrations since the beginning of the year, warm-up for the September ceremony, folk essays, poems, songs, gifts for the celebration of various overseas state specialties, architecture, crafts and engineering, etc., many matters have already been in full swing.

Although Li Fushou himself didn't want to do it, he couldn't stand the persuasion of the ministers round after round, and admonished, if he didn't do it, it would put the ministers in a situation of disloyalty, filial piety, unkindness, and fatherlessness, how could it be the way of the monarch's father?

Li Fushou couldn't resist the ministers, so he could only let them do it.

But there are three chapters of the covenant beforehand;

First, it is forbidden to impose forced apportionment, and raising funds will increase the burden on the people. Second, don't go on big projects, big projects, and stop in moderation. Third, the main purpose is to focus on the joy and happiness of the whole country, and do not excessively mobilize the people's strength and waste money.

As the richest royal family in the world, the royal wealth of the Ocean Empire exceeds 10 billion gold oceans, and its royal funds, family funds, growth funds, many banks and other institutions invest in enterprises all over the world, and the property rights are countless, forming a huge commercial and financial empire.

With the wealth of the royal family, what kind of treasure can be seen?

All that is needed is a little heart from the subject, a song, an article, a long-distance run with the participation of 10,000 people, a blessing, and a thank you are enough!

Daming Palace

Unlike the stable and peaceful prosperity in society, the atmosphere in the Dongji Hall was solemn, and Prime Minister Zhang Li, Finance Minister Tang Zhaoyi, Foreign Minister Li Sixian, War Minister Marshal Li Xuanzhu, and Admiral Zhu Qingxi, Minister of the Navy were all present.

Everyone didn't speak, but quietly waited for the Holy Majesty to inquire.

Li Fushou was looking at two letters in his hand, one was a secret letter written by British Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, and the other was a secret letter written by French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau.

I watched it for a while

Li Fushou casually put the letter on the imperial case, took a sip of hot tea, and couldn't see any clues with an indifferent look on his face, as if he was still thinking about the content of the letter.

After waiting for a few more minutes, Prime Minister Zhang Li asked tentatively; "Holy Lord, what do you mean by England and France?"

"What's the point, they want to drag us into the water, Britain and France are preparing to launch a large-scale offensive on the Somme River together, because too many French troops are involved in the Verdun front, the battle is very anxious, and the casualties are very great. Therefore, the Battle of the Somme will be led by the British, sending the main force of the British Army to fight, and the letter says a lot, the French are willing to share Indochina with us, and the British want to lease ships to escort the ship, you can see for yourself. ”

After Li Fushou finished speaking, he stretched out his hand and pushed, and Cai Tinggan, the secretary general standing next to the imperial case, hurriedly picked up the letter with both hands and sent it to Prime Minister Zhang Li.

"Thank you, Secretary General Youlao." Prime Minister Zhang Li took the letter and politely thanked him.

Cai Tinggan replied with a smile; "You don't have to worry about it."

Although it is a private secret letter, it talks about national affairs.

Of course, Li Fushou will not hide and pretend to be mysterious, the pre-imperial deliberations are about national affairs, and his current form and style are more inclined to the mean, and all major events must be discussed by the court and implemented after reaching a consensus.

Instead of the previous arbitrariness and dictatorship of the Sacred Heart, the cabinet only needs to do it step by step.

This is because the cabinet ministers are full of experience, have experienced political experience, handle things properly and steadily, and have an excellent view of the overall world situation, which is an ability that Li Fushou attaches great importance to.

It is very terrible for a world power, a powerful country, whose leader does not have a global strategic vision and only knows how to make a fuss behind closed doors.

Now that the Cabinet has been in power for six years, the domestic and foreign affairs have been running in very well, and we can rest assured.

The second is to delegate power to the cabinet and to the parliament, which is a gradual process, and the sensitive upper political figures of the empire have felt the change and rejoiced about it.

After reading a letter, Prime Minister Zhang Li passed it down, and soon after the circulation was completed, the cabinet ministers had a thoughtful look in their eyes, and their expressions were different.

"Your ......, Holy"

"Let's discuss it first, if you have any opinions, you can speak freely, regardless of the arguments, Marshal Tie Zhu will talk about it first, let us listen to the views of the military."

Li Fushou didn't want to set the tone for the topic first, so he interrupted Prime Minister Zhang Li's inquiry, took the lead in naming Marshal Li Zhuzhu, and then took a sip of tea and made a quiet observer.

Since he was named, Marshal Li Zhuzhu stood up and bowed his hand, and said with a little hesitation;

"Enlighten the Holy One;

Wechen thought that there was a lot of content in the private messages between Britain and France, but first there was a major premise to be established, that is, whether the empire would join the war?

If we do not go to war, then everything will be carried out in accordance with the current policy, which is a matter of doubt and does not need to be discussed.

In the event of a war, it would be a fundamental change in imperial policy, involving both political and military aspects, and the solution to these problems would be different.

War has always been a stage for soldiers to display their skills, and the army is the indispensable protagonist, but as a soldier, you must always keep in mind;

War is only a continuation of imperial politics, a means of solving problems, and do not be delusional to take over the throne and kidnap the empire to embark on the path of war in order to realize personal ambitions and dreams.

Judging by the official position of the military

We are not in favor of joining the Entente, we are not in favor of participating in the war in Europe, we do not want our officers and soldiers to shed blood and sacrifice for the white people, and we do not want to fight on the battlefield for such an empty goal as world stability and peace.

This war, which has spread throughout Europe and Asia and Africa, is essentially a drama of white countries vying for world hegemony, and has nothing to do with our Chinese Empire.

If one day, the Holy Lord decides to participate in the European competition and dominate the world, and the bolt invites himself to be a pawn and lead the millions of warriors of our royal army to charge into battle, advancing without retreating. ”

What Marshal Li Xuanzhu said is very reasonable, first of all, it is necessary to establish a major policy premise, otherwise the following discussion will not be possible.

There should be no confusion between the measures taken to enter the war and not to participate in the war.

The ministers turned their eyes to the saint again, facing everyone's dependent gaze, Li Fushou's heart was warm and helpless, these people were all secretaries he personally cultivated, Li Fushou's identity is also a master, a father and a master, including the former Foreign Secretary, the current Minister of Finance Tang Zhaoyi is no exception, and his dependence on him is almost natural and unreserved.

"The current major policy remains unchanged, and whether or not to change course in the future depends on the evolution of the international situation. Li Fushou said.

He was talking about a third possibility besides going to war and not going to war, adding more uncertainty to policymaking and leaving more room for manoeuvre.

When Marshal Li Xuanzhu heard this, he saluted upwards and replied respectfully;

"The Holy Lord's decree, Wechen understands.

What the British and French heads of state said was not on the table of the Cabinet without considering the current entry into the war, and what the French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau said about sharing the colonies of Indochina was not on the table.

The French Governor's Office of the Indochina Peninsula, the Yue Kingdom, Thailand, the British Channel Governor's Office and other places are all close neighbors of our empire, and after the island of Sumatra is included in the empire's pocket, it is separated from the above-mentioned countries by a narrow Strait of Malacca.

It can be said that chickens and dogs smell each other, and they are close at hand.

There has been a lot of discussion among the people about the entry into Indochina, and the military admits that there are also relevant military plans, but this is only to meet the needs of the emergency, not the strategic direction of the empire's expansion.

As a soldier, he did not dare to influence national policy with the needs of the military, and did not do anything about it, but only did his part, restrained the people in the army who were ready to move, and acted according to the will of the gods.

The king of Yue, Gu, and Zhu Zhu were old acquaintances, and they had a friendship to resist the French army together.

In his private letters, he made no secret of his ambitions for French Laos and Cambodia, hoping to one day dominate Indochina and establish a great power.

To put it bluntly, this person is ambitious and talented, far from being the master of the Ming pattern, and his ability cannot support such a vigorous heart.

Yu also pointed out this point directly in his reply, King Yue has governed the country for more than 20 years, and the empire has given a lot of gifts. So far, Yue Guo is only a preliminary industrial country dominated by agriculture, the economic aspect is lackluster, the development of people's livelihood is far inferior to that of Fusang, the integration of ethnic groups is neither thorough nor practical, and even the implementation of the national language is not effective.

The domestic bureaucratic comprador is rampant, and the upper nobility is more popular with a style of luxury, all of which are inseparable from the king of Yue himself.

The current strength of the Yue Kingdom is more than self-preservation, and the expansion is insufficient.

So I bluntly told King Yue in my reply and persuaded him to extinguish this undeserved thought as soon as possible.

Although the French were beaten by the Germans, it was not something that the little King Yue could remember.

On the issue of British leasing of ships, the army is optimistic about the outcome and does not comment.

Regarding the desire of the Entente to supply existing military equipment in large quantities, in addition to tanks, self-propelled guns and aircraft of the latest equipment, without affecting the combat effectiveness of the main forces, we can cooperate.

Reserve ammunition and outdated weapons can be given more, and standard equipment can be given less.

Qiqi Sheng, Weichen's words are finished. ”

Marshal Li Xuanzhu saluted again, and Li Fushou nodded slightly, signaling that he could sit back and listen to the opinions of others.