Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 337: Blockade promotes development, dumping destroys industry!

Upon hearing this, Li Yi's face immediately darkened.

What do you mean?
You want to cede my land and set up a concession on my Tang Dynasty land?

Although Tsarist Russia wanted to take away the Qing Dynasty's land, what belonged to the Qing Dynasty would sooner or later belong to the Tang Dynasty.

Tsarist Russia wanted to cede the Qing Dynasty's land. What's the difference between this and cede the Tang Dynasty's land?
Who the hell do you think you are?

The Eight-Nation Alliance was defeated by our Tang Dynasty.

Do you, Tsarist Russia, still want to go to heaven?
Also, what? If I agree to your conditions, you, Tsarist Russia, will help the Tang Dynasty fight the Qing Dynasty.

What if I don’t agree?
Are you going to help the Qing Dynasty to fight against our Tang Dynasty?
No, to some extent, Tsarist Russia has actually come to an end now.

Damn, how dare you threaten me!

Li Yi is really a little angry now, because no one has dared to threaten him for a long time.

But Li Yi quickly regained his composure, because he realized that the words of the Russian envoy were just a test in the negotiations.

There's no need to get angry over a test.

Li Yi sneered, adjusted the word order a little, and then said.

"is it?"

"If my intelligence is correct, your country should be about to start a war with Britain and France in Crimea, right?"

"Why? Could it be that Tsarist Russia now has the national strength to fight Britain and France alone and send people to the Far East to interfere?"

"With such national strength, why didn't the Tsar invade Eastern Europe and unify Europe instead of meddling in the Far East?"

Although the Tang Dynasty was deeply mired in the domestic unification war and the disaster relief work in the disaster areas caused by the Yellow River's diversion, it could not extricate itself.

But any discerning person can see that the situation of Tsarist Russia is definitely more critical than that of the Tang Dynasty.

At the very least, the Tang Dynasty was confident in dealing with both domestic war and disaster relief.

Give the Tang Dynasty some time and all of these can be settled.

But Tsarist Russia was truly in a passive position in Crimea.

Tsarist Russia might not be able to defeat either Britain or France.

Not to mention the Crimean War, in which Britain and France fought together.

Oh, by the way, the Ottoman Empire and the Sardinian Empire also stood on the side of Britain and France.

Nicholas' face fell when he heard this, knowing that his blackmail had not worked.

But he still said.

"Although the situation in Crimea is tense, we Tsarist Russia also have our own allies."

"The Holy Alliance is not a mere decoration. Austria and Prussia will not sit idly by and watch the great Tsarist Russia being beaten up by Britain and France. Our allies will definitely stand by us and help us fight against British and French imperialism!"

The reason why Tsarist Russia dared to go to war with Britain, France, the Ottoman Empire and Sardinia at the same time in Crimea was certainly not because it was reckless.

The Tsar anticipated that when a war broke out between him and Britain and France, his allies, the Holy Alliance, would stand on his side, help him share the pressure, or mediate.

But Nicholas I could never have imagined that the so-called Holy Alliance would actually stab him in the back.

Standing on the side of Britain and France!
Well, this is also the reason why Tsarist Russia suffered a crushing defeat in the Crimean War.

Li Yi smiled but didn't point it out.

"maybe!"

He was in a God's perspective and of course knew that Austria and Prussia would stab Tsarist Russia in the back.

But why should he tell the other party?

What if Nicholas I also realized this and chose to surrender to Britain and France in Crimea, then wouldn't the war in Crimea be prevented?
Li Yi was still thinking about selling arms to both sides and making a profit after the war in Crimea broke out.

After saying this, Li Yi continued.

"Your Excellency has come all the way to the Tang Dynasty and to me. I'm sure you are not here to argue with me."

"Your Excellency, please do not mention such unrealistic conditions as concessions and cession of territory, unless Tsarist Russia wants to go to war with the Tang Dynasty."

"But I think that now the Tsarist Russia should focus its main energy on Crimea instead of coming to the Far East to fight with the Tang Dynasty. This is meaningless."

Upon hearing this, Nicholas nodded in agreement.

"Your Majesty is wise."

Li Yi continued.

"But there are some topics we can still talk about."

"For example, trade, establishing diplomatic relations, sending envoys to each other, these mutually beneficial things, there is no problem."

"What do you think, Your Excellency?"

Nicholas could only say again.

"Your Majesty is wise."

After saying this, Li Yi stared at Nicholas with sharp eyes and then said.

"So, you will withdraw your aid to the Qing Dynasty, right?"

As the Tang Dynasty gained a huge advantage on the front battlefield, the intelligence war became more and more successful. The spies planted by the Military Intelligence Department in the capital were even able to detect the contents of the meetings of the Qing Dynasty's Military Affairs Council.

Naturally, Li Yi also obtained information about Tsarist Russia's intervention in the war between the Tang Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty.

Although the gray beasts did not directly participate in the war, they provided a batch of arms to the Qing Dynasty.

To some extent, this can definitely be regarded as the end of Tsarist Russia.

Nicholas heard this and said with a troubled look on his face.

"But the cooperation between our country and the Qing Dynasty was signed in a treaty."

"It is not easy for our country to breach the contract casually..."

Li Yi heard this and sneered.

"Very good. In that case, I can only regard Russia's assistance to the Qing Dynasty as a signal to declare war on our Tang Dynasty."

"Next, the Tang Dynasty will make a reciprocal response and lift restrictions on arms sales to countries such as Britain and France."

"I hope that the arms sold by the Tang Dynasty will not be used by Britain and France on the battlefield in Crimea in the future!"

The Tang Dynasty’s arms are in great demand.

It is in great demand not only in East Asia, but also all over the world.

Ever since the Eight-Nation Alliance suffered losses at the hands of the Tang Dynasty, they have become quite interested in Tang's breech-loading artillery, explosive bombs, breech-loading rifles, rotary machine guns and other military weapons.

Britain, France and other countries have proposed several times to purchase a batch of arms from the Tang Dynasty.

However, they were all rejected by the Tang Dynasty.

However, the previous rejection was due to insufficient production capacity.

It’s not that Li Yi doesn’t want to sell!
Although the Tang Dynasty’s current weapons seem very advanced, and even have a generation gap with other countries, in fact, the technical difficulty of many things is not high.

These are all things that can be produced with the technological conditions of this era.

The reason why other countries do not have production equipment is just a layer of window paper. Now that the Tang Dynasty has broken this layer of window paper, soon all countries will enter the era of rear-loading weapons.

Take the breech-loading rifle as an example. The first country in the world to equip its army with breech-loading rifles in large quantities was not the Tang Dynasty, but Prussia.

Long before the Tang Dynasty, Prussia had the ability to produce breech-loading rifles.

It’s just that the Prussian breech-loading rifle has never experienced actual combat, so it is not taken seriously and is even despised.

Taking the breech-loading artillery as an example, even if there was no Tang Dynasty, it would not take long for Britain to invent the breech-loading rifled cannon during the Crimea period.

That is the famous Armstrong cannon.

The rotary machine gun was invented by Doctor Gatling in 1861, not long ago.

In other words, even if the Tang Dynasty strictly prohibited the export of arms and weapons, it would not take long for the powers such as Britain and France to figure it out on their own. Therefore, there was no need for an arms embargo at all.

As soon as the arms production capacity of the Tang Dynasty becomes a little more relaxed, Li Yi will open the door to sell arms.

In this way, on the one hand, they can raise funds by selling arms.

Secondly, it is possible to destroy other countries’ weapons production systems through dumping at low prices.

If you want to destroy a country's industrial production capacity, the best way is definitely not trade sanctions behind closed doors, but large-scale dumping at low prices.

Blockades promote development, while dumping destroys industries.

This is the conclusion that the Eagle Sauce has reached in front of the whole world, using ironclad facts to prove its point.

To give a very simple example, when the price of purchasing is cheaper than the price of making it yourself, not every country will insist on independent research and development like China.

Most countries will do the same as India and choose to buy rather than make.

If most weapons are imported, it won't be long before the country's weapons production system is destroyed.

In terms of cost control, Datang, which has built a complete military production industry chain, is confident that it can crush all competitors.

In this era when mechanization is just beginning, the importance of a large amount of high-quality and cheap labor to industrial production is self-evident.

What the Tang Dynasty lacked the least was population.

When it comes to cost control, no one can beat Datang.

Nicholas's expression changed noticeably when he heard this.

"Your Majesty, this..."

Of course, it was not only Britain and France that knew how powerful the Tang Dynasty's military weapons were, but Tsarist Russia also knew it.

Once the Tang army sold arms to Britain and France, Britain and France would use the arms in Crimea.

By then, Tsarist Russia would be in trouble.

In the end, Nicholas took a deep breath and gave in.

"The only guarantee I can make to you, King, is that our country will not continue to increase its aid to the Qing Dynasty."

"But our country has no way to withdraw the previous aid, because the Qing Dynasty will never agree to return the arms and weapons it has obtained."

Upon hearing this, Li Yi just sneered.

"This does not change the fact that your country has sided with the Qing Dynasty and has become the enemy of our Tang Dynasty."

"Unless your country can make compensation!"

Nicholas's expression was conflicted, but he still asked.

"I wonder what compensation His Majesty would like?"

Li Yi tapped the table lightly with his fingers and spoke slowly.

"Don't you Tsarist Russia have a certain number of troops in Far East Siberia?"

"How about this, when the Tang Dynasty sends troops to attack the Qing Dynasty in the future, your country will send troops to assist the Tang Dynasty in the battle."

Upon hearing this, Nicholas did not agree immediately, but just said.

"Your Majesty, I can promise this."

"However, I hope that His Majesty the King can approve the sale of a batch of arms and weapons to us."

"Otherwise, I will not be able to convince His Majesty the Tsar to break his alliance with the Qing Dynasty."

Li Yi pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

When agreeing to the arms trade, Li Yi had a bold idea in his mind, which was to intercept the American land purchase plan in Alaska.

Use arms to exchange for Alaska of Tsarist Russia!
Of course, it is just an idea now and there is no rush for its implementation.

At present, the fighting in Crimea has not yet started, Tsarist Russia has not been beaten up by Britain and France, has not been stabbed in the back by the Holy Alliance, and has not yet recognized the facts.

Given Tsarist Russia's greed for land, if Li Yi now brings up the idea of ​​exchanging arms for Alaska, Tsarist Russia will definitely get furious and will not agree.

Instead of bringing it up now, it would be better to wait until the people in Crimea are almost brainless and Tsarist Russia is completely at a disadvantage in the war.

This makes it easier to lower prices.

Secondly, there would be less resistance from Tsarist Russia.

Things are easier to get done!
Historically, the Alaska purchase took place right after the Crimean War.

After the Crimean War, Tsarist Russia suffered a heavy blow in the Near East. The domestic serfdom reform was in full swing. Tsarist Russia was caught in internal and external troubles and was unable to take care of remote areas like Alaska.

At that time, Alaska was close to Britain's Canadian colonies and was almost exposed to the guns of Britain.

The newly appointed Alexander II felt that Alaska might be lost.

In order to recover as much loss as possible and obtain funds for domestic reforms, Alexander II chose to sell Alaska to the United States at the bargain price of 7 million US dollars.

In other words, Alaska was not actually important to Tsarist Russia.

In this case, when the war over Crimea is in full swing in the future, if Li Yi proposes to exchange arms for Alaska, the Tsarist Russia will most likely not refuse.

Even without the Tang Dynasty taking the initiative to propose it, Tsarist Russia would have rushed to do business with the Tang Dynasty.

For Tsarist Russia, as long as Crimea could be won, it would allow Tsarist Russia to extend its tentacles into Eastern Europe. Isn’t it just an Alaska?

Not important at all!
After seeing Nikola off, Li Yi continued to deal with disaster relief matters.

As spring approaches, rainfall in the disaster area begins to increase gradually.

The water level of the Yellow River is rising day by day.

In order to prevent the flood from getting worse, the Tang Dynasty has been working overtime to repair the Yellow River embankment.

As a result, Li Yi has more and more things to do.

……

Guangzhou, the Tang Dynasty Diplomatic Department!

Guo Songtao was meeting with British Minister Bruce and French Minister Baldwin.

In a tea room, the aroma of tea wafts through the air.

Guo Songtao raised his glass and invited Bruce and Baldwin to drink tea.

Guo Songtao put down his teacup and asked.

"I wonder why the two ministers are here today?"

Bruce heard this and spoke.

"Your Excellency the Director does not know."

"The Qing Dynasty sent an envoy to contact us and offered to cede Lushun to England and France in exchange for England and France's support for the Qing Dynasty. I wonder what the Director General thinks of this matter?"

Upon hearing this, Guo Songtao picked up the teacup and said.

"No, I think the Minister may have misunderstood. I know about this."

"Even the details of the negotiations between the Qing Dynasty and your country are known to me, the Tang Dynasty."

"If you two have any purpose, please speak frankly!"

The current scale of the Military Intelligence Department of the Tang Dynasty is in no way inferior to that of the Jinyiwei of the former Ming Dynasty.

The capital of the Qing Dynasty had long been infiltrated by the Tang Dynasty like a sieve, and the Tang Dynasty was fully aware of every move of the Qing government and the people.

The current Qing Dynasty has no secrets at all from the Tang Dynasty.

……

PS: I have to go out today for something, so this is just one update. I owe you one chapter and will return it tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)