Chapter seven hundred and twenty fourth collection
After listening to Valewski's retelling, Jérôme Bonaparte felt a little mixed.
No matter which plane he is in, the Li people who have endured the severe beatings of imperialism can quickly adjust their status and use the special geographical advantages of the Far East to protect their own interests as much as possible without large-scale conflicts with imperialist powers.
.
Jérôme Bonaparte guessed that the reason why the Satsuma and Chosu Domains were willing to purchase ships and guns from France was probably based on two possibilities.
First, Satsuma and Nagasu wanted to test whether France intended to colonize them like Ryukyu by purchasing these military supplies. After all, a country trying to colonize would never arm the country it was about to colonize. (Historically, Japan has always been afraid of them.
Divided by the imperialist powers.
It was not until the end of the Russo-Japanese War that Japan's worries were completely eliminated.)
The second is Satsuma and Nagasu... at least the Satsuma Domain hopes to show its goodwill to France by purchasing French ships. After all, the previous Satsuma Domain was beaten violently by the French Empire's expedition fleet. Not only that.
He lost money and even vomited out his little colony of Ryukyu.
Otherwise, the Satsuma Domain could purchase a fleet from Britain.
Looking back at the big empire next door, from the beginning of the Opium War to the present, in nearly decades, the big empire has not changed at all, and it still looks sluggish.
Thinking of this, Jérôme Bonaparte asked Valewski again if he had any news about the Qing Dynasty in the Far East.
Walewski told Jérôme Bonaparte that the entire Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not received any other useful information so far.
"Forget it!" Jerome Bonaparte sighed and said, "Let's get back to the topic! Dicko, you just said that you want to submit a new round of shipbuilding plans to the Legislative Yuan, right?"
"Yes! Your Majesty!" Dicko nodded and replied to Jérôme Bonaparte.
"How many francs will it cost for the new round of shipbuilding plan?" Jérôme Bonaparte asked Minister Dick again.
Minister Dick told Jérôme Bonaparte that he planned to spend five years building a global navy with both offensive and defensive capabilities, which was expected to cost about 400 million francs.
"400 million francs!" Jerome Bonaparte took a breath after hearing this, and then asked, "Do you know how much the empire's fiscal revenue is now?"
Dicko shook his head subconsciously. As the Minister of the Navy, he really didn't know much about the empire's finances.
"The revenue of the entire empire last year was about 2.8 billion francs!" Jérôme Bonaparte replied to Dicko: "This is even after raising taxes on high-added products (there has been no increase in luxury goods taxes in history)
(the income is 1.8-2.2 billion francs). Now you have to deduct 1/7 of the annual fiscal revenue!
You want me to use the tax revenue of all French citizens to support your navy and its ancillary industries!"
"Your Majesty, if the navy is not updated quickly, the advantages we have accumulated in the early stage will soon be surpassed by our opponents!" Minister Dick argued to Jérôme Bonaparte.
"What? Do you still want to compete with the British Empire next door for naval supremacy?" Jerome Bonaparte glanced sideways at Dicko.
"Your Majesty, I don't think there is anything wrong with this!" At this time, Dicko had the attitude of a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers: "No country is born to be a maritime hegemon! The British Kingdom also defeated countless opponents before it passed.
Status today!
If Britain can do it, so can we."
After Jérôme Bonaparte was silent for a moment, he responded to Minister Dicko: "Dico, having dreams is something to be encouraged, but sometimes, we also have to be based on reality.
Now you remind me of a person who, like you, tried to build a navy the same size as Britain, but his ending was very bad!
Strong military strength does not mean that comprehensive national power is also strong.
The British have better coal and cheaper iron ore than we do, which means they can produce a batch of steel at a cheaper price than we do.
With this steel and the equipment they set up on the island country, they can also launch fleets one after another as quickly as possible.
Under such circumstances, so what if we accumulate early advantages!
You won’t be overtaken by them with a backhand!”
"Your Majesty, do we really have no chance?" Minister Dick asked Jérôme Bonaparte somewhat unwillingly.
"Yes!" Jérôme Bonaparte responded firmly to Dicko, "As long as we can persevere, we will be able to defeat Britain sooner or later!
However, our generation may not be able to see it!
Minister Dicko, what you have to do now is not to think about how to surpass the Kingdom of Britain, but to try to close the gap with Britain!
Only with thick and thin hair can we truly defeat them!
Therefore, your 400 million franc shipbuilding plan will not be approved by me!
I hope you can reformulate the next pragmatic plan!"
"Yes! Your Majesty!" Minister Dico responded with a slightly depressed tone.
"By the way, as a semi-official organization, the Maritime Transport Commission is not very good if it is always affiliated with the Navy!" Jérôme Bonaparte then responded to Minister Dicko.
The reason why he didn't say anything about the Naval Committee being affiliated with the Navy at the beginning was entirely because the Crimean War was about to begin.
Now that the Crimean War is over, if the Navy continues to "guide" shipping, it will easily breed a huge interest group, which is not conducive to their rule.
Therefore, the Maritime Commission must be returned to the hands of the government. Similarly, the Railway Commission will also abolish militarized management after Jérôme Bonaparte returns.
The General Staff Headquarters only needs to maintain communication agencies in the railways, and that’s it!
"Yes!" Minister Duco replied to Jérôme Bonaparte.
"Okay! What you have to do in the recent period is to revise the shipbuilding plan and adjust the shipbuilding industry in Toulon!" Jérôme Bonaparte warned Minister Dick: "However, don't be too hasty when making adjustments.
!
Don't let it turn into a large-scale layoff, you can tell the businessmen in Toulon exactly what I am saying now.
If anyone makes workers unemployed on a large scale, I will borrow their brains!"
Jérôme Bonaparte will spare no effort to attack any existence that affects the stability of the empire.
Thousands or tens of thousands of workers and a few capitalists, who is less important than Jerome? Bonaparte still has a scale in his heart.
Later, Jérôme Bonaparte invited Dicko to have a supper. Minister Dicko, who was sitting at the table, suddenly felt relieved, but at the same time, he also felt that the burden on his shoulders was a little heavier.
At four o'clock in the morning, Minister Dicko left Jérôme Bonaparte's residence and walked alone in the empty streets. He couldn't help but feel lonely in his heart.
Jérôme Bonaparte himself once again sat on the sofa and communicated with Valewski, "I'm going to return to Paris tomorrow!"
There was a hint of surprise on Walewski's face. He asked Jerome Bonaparte tactfully whether it was too hasty to leave so soon. He himself had not contacted Paris yet!
"I think it's good not to contact you!" Jérôme Bonaparte replied to Valewski, "Let's return to Paris quietly and give them a surprise!"
I'm more afraid of being frightened!
Walewski couldn't help but complain in his heart. Now that Emperor Gerard Bonaparte insisted on returning, as a minister, he did not dare to have any objections.
As for the welcome ceremony, we can only wait for a suitable opportunity to make up for His Majesty the Emperor.
"Your Majesty, do you want to return for a visit and rest first?" Walewski asked Jérôme Bonaparte: "I will wake you up when the departure time comes!"
"Forget it, look what time it is now!" Jérôme Bonaparte pointed to the grandfather clock and responded to Valewski.
Walewski glanced at the time. It was already 4:30 in the morning, only two and a half hours before the first train to Paris left.
It also took nearly an hour to get to Toulon train station from them, which meant that Jerome Bonaparte could only sleep for an hour and a half.
"I'd better deal with it here!" Jerome Bonaparte shrugged his shoulders and lay on the sofa with his eyes closed to relax. Gradually, Jerome Bonaparte fell into sleep.
…
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"
Accompanied by vague calls coming from his ears, Jérôme Bonaparte slowly opened his sleepy eyes and asked: "Is it time yet?"
Jérôme Bonaparte rubbed his eyes, yawned and said to Valewski: "I'll ask Wilnia to get up, and you can go get ready too!"
After saying that, Jerome Bonaparte dragged his tired body from the living room to Vernia's bedroom, then pushed Vernia's body and said: "It's time to get up!"
"I don't want to get up!" Vernia said lazily after being shaken awake by Jérôme Bonaparte.
"If you don't get up, I will leave you behind!" Jerome Bonaparte gently pinched Vernia's little face.
"I know! I'll just get up!" Vernia reluctantly opened her eyes, and with the help of Jerome Bonaparte, she put on her clothes.
Then, Vernia and Jérôme Bonaparte walked out of the bedroom, washed briefly, put on wigs and glasses (to prevent people from recognizing them), and took the carriage to Toulon with Valewski.