The Liao Kingdom is isolated in southern Africa, surrounded by deserts and rainforests.
They have no borders with any country except the indigenous tribes in the rainforest.
The Liao Kingdom's navy was relatively powerful, and the Liao Kingdom was not afraid of threats from the sea.
This unique geographical environment gave Liao people a sense of security.
Liao people had more experience investing in artistic creation.
The songs and unique story-telling novels that appeared in the Liao Kingdom are best-selling all over the world.
Li Qingmu, the king of Liao, was walking on the bustling streets of Daliao City. He looked at the fishing boats that frequently went out to sea in the port.
On both sides of the street, there are shops selling goods along the street.
At the newly opened cinema, people are queuing up in long lines, ready to experience a new thing like movies.
Li Qingmu, King of the Liao Dynasty, praised: "Every time I see this scene of peace and prosperity for the country and the people, I feel very happy.
Back when the princes were choosing overseas territories to establish their kingdoms, I immediately chose the southernmost corner of Africa.
Here in South Africa, there are no national powers around, they are all scattered indigenous tribes.
Development here will be very smooth.”
After King Li Qingmu of the Liao Dynasty talked about this situation, he sighed and said: "Two things that I could not predict are what caused the slow development of the Liao Kingdom.
Our Liao Kingdom is now, not to mention compared with Zhao and Wei.
Even the Chu State, which lagged behind the Liao State in its founding, has now caught up with the Liao State's strength.
The first thing was the establishment of the Suez Canal.
The southernmost point of the Liao Kingdom was called the Cape of Good Hope, which was formerly the busiest waterway in the world.
The Empire goes to Europe, and Europe goes to the Empire, both need to pass through the Cape of Good Hope.
The Liao Kingdom is located on this busy golden waterway and will definitely usher in great development.
But no one could have predicted the opening of the Suez Canal.
With the Suez Canal connecting the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, the routes between Europe and the Empire can be sailed directly through the canal, and there is no need to detour around the African continent.
Without the steady flow of merchant ships, the port's business plummeted.
Now we can only accommodate some heavy-loaded merchant ships. These are merchant ships with very thin profits. We cannot make much money from these merchant ships.
The second thing is that I underestimated how lazy black people are.
There is a reason why the African continent has not been able to develop strong countries.
I have never thought that there is a group of people, most of whom just want to make a living.
Once they earn enough money to buy tomorrow's pie, they will stop doing what they are doing.
This trend is no longer limited to the black community, other people are also imitating it.
As a result, the number of highly qualified workers and engineers in our country is extremely scarce.
With these two situations occurring in the Liao Kingdom, there is no solution to the problem of slow development."
Li Qingmu, the king of Liao, then mocked himself and said: "King Su Xiong of Zhao is very ambitious and wants to take advantage of this economic crisis to leave other countries far behind so that Zhao can dominate one side.
But our Liao country cannot even take advantage of the economic crisis.
The domestic economy is a stagnant water. Except for the government-run companies controlled by the royal family and the court, there are few large companies.
They are all these small shops on both sides of the street.
These small shops can survive as long as the government does not squeeze them too much."
The new Prime Minister of the Liao Kingdom, Yao Qiwen, had served as the Minister of Household Affairs, and he could feel the anxiety of the Liao King Li Qingmu even more.
The King of Liao looked at the vassal states established later in Europe, which were developing at a rapid pace, with the same pattern every half a year.
The development of the Liao Kingdom seems to have been put on pause. Several years have passed, and there has not been much change in the country.
This stark contrast made not only the King of Liao, but also the ministers of the Liao Kingdom extremely anxious.
The predecessor, Prime Minister Shen, was still a relative, so he felt that he could not bear such great pressure and chose to resign.
Yao Qiwen has been thinking about what the Liao Kingdom should do to achieve great development during this period.
He repeatedly read various policies issued by the empire and studied them for a long time, especially the backward provinces of the empire. Only then did he discover what are the most critical factors for backward areas to develop industry?
Yao Qiwen prepared for a long time. After listening to the words of Liao Wang Li Qingmu, he immediately said from the side: "Your Majesty, Zhao Wang Su Xiong's ideal minister also agrees that everything has a good side and a bad side.
As long as we change our thinking, it is not a good thing, but it will be more conducive to the development of our country.
This situation may not occur.
Our country has not been affected by the economic crisis, while the other major vassal states have been affected by the economic crisis and their development has stagnated.
The normal thinking is that our country's industrial strength is indeed inferior to that of others, and its economic size is very small.
Especially far away from the center of the world, our external trade volume is extremely low.
This has resulted in our country being basically unaffected by the economic crisis.
Minister's change of thinking also shows that our country's economy is flexible and easier to adjust.
Other vassal states were affected by the world situation. They could not even adjust their economic structure and could only watch the economic crisis break out."
Yao Qiwen was not just a man of empty words, he also made some arrangements in response to the situation in the Liao Kingdom.
When an ordinary official takes office, he has to do several major things to show his abilities.
He, the prime minister, is no exception and needs to use tangible results to scare others.
When Yao Qiwen was stunned by Liao King Li Qingmu, he said slowly: "Your Majesty, for an industrially backward country like ours, if we want to develop industry, the most critical issue is to have a large enough market.
Funds and technology for industrial development are easy to solve.
Only the market is difficult to solve, but the problem of the market must be solved.
Even if it means building a good factory and training good workers.
Without enough market, these factories that were built would eventually close down.
Our domestic market is not big enough, but I judge that there is a very large market around our country."
Li Qingmu, the king of Liao, looked a little depressed. When he heard what Yao Qiwen said, he immediately became energetic.
Li Qingmu, the king of Liao, asked excitedly: "Yao Aiqing, what method are you talking about?
I have thought about it for a long time, but I haven’t found any large-scale markets around our country.”
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Prime Minister Yao Qiwen said confidently: "Of course it is a colony built by European countries in Africa.
These colonies were built in extremely scattered areas and their populations were not large.
But they have a huge demand for industrial products.
As long as things from our country are cheap, the price is cheaper than shipping them from their homeland.
There will be businessmen who cannot bear the motivation of profit and choose to buy products from our country.
This is our country's only chance to catch up with them by taking advantage of the economic crisis in other countries."
When King Li Qingmu of Liao heard this method, he looked at the joyful smiles on the faces of the people on the bustling streets.
He made up his mind and said: "This method is very good. This is the only feasible method that I have heard during this period.
I never lack the courage to fight. No matter how slim the opportunity is, I will try my best to avoid regrets."
Li Qingmu, the king of Liao, was a naval general.
The navy is on the sea, and accidents happen very frequently.
Naval generals must have the courage to make decisions when the opportunity arises.
Li Qingmu, the king of Liao, was not someone who would give up easily. The situation in Liao was already like this. Even if he lost, it would not have much impact.
When Prime Minister Yao Qiwen heard the determination of Liao King Li Qingmu, he was also confident.
As long as everyone in the Liao Kingdom works together, they will definitely be able to do this well.
As for the problem of laziness among black people in the country, he has no good solution.
The living conditions of black people have lasted for thousands of years and will never be corrected in a short time.
Prime Minister Yao Qiwen has nothing to do about this situation.
The only choice the Liao Kingdom could make was to let these black people engage in heavy manual labor for which they had no skills anyway.
Black people with better physiques can handle these simple tasks without messing up the work.
…
Prince Zheng and Wang Zhongce were drinking ale in the study.
The little eunuch stared closely at his watch, observing the time on it.
He saw that the time had come to the appointed time.
He immediately walked to King Zheng and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, it's time for you to talk to King Jin."
Prince Zheng and Wang Zhongce nodded. He picked up the phone and directly ordered: "Fetch Prince Jin Li Fengming for me."
The calls between the royal families of the two countries are all connected through dedicated lines, which is more convenient to use.
The relationship between King Zheng Wang Zhongce and King Jin Li Fengming has always been very good.
When the phone rang, he thought of the days when he, King Li Fengming of Jin, and King Zhang Yuliang of Fujian supported each other when he first came to East Africa.
This period of time seems like yesterday. King Zheng and Wang Zhongce did not expect that King Zhang Yuliang of Fujian, who was about the same age as him, died early.
The relationship between Jin and Fujian was not bad at first, but King Li Fengming of Jin was greedy for Fujian's oil, which directly led to the outbreak of war between the two countries and the relationship deteriorated extremely.
The Jin State needs to make every effort to deal with the threat of the Fujian State, and this is why it needs to appease the Zheng State.
The Jin State wanted to prevent a sudden attack by the Zheng State, which caused them to be attacked by the north and south fronts, and in the end they could only fail.
King Zheng and Wang Zhongce also had no idea of expanding northward.
Zheng is now expanding westward and southward, and there are still vast areas of land in Africa that remain undeveloped.
There is no need for Zheng to seize other countries' territories.
The phone was quickly connected, and the greetings from Jin Wang Li Fengming came.
"Prince Zheng, how are you these days?"
Prince Zheng and Wang Zhongce replied with a smile: "Everything is very good. We have no enemies around Zhengguo, so we don't need to worry about national defense issues.
The king only needs to handle some government affairs, and the rest of the time he will be at ease."
Jin Wang Li Fengming heard the reply from Zheng Wang Zhongce, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
The situation in Zheng is indeed a relatively comfortable one.
The King of Jin Li Fengming also wants to have this kind of treatment, which is impossible for the Jin Kingdom in this life.
The Jin Kingdom's terrain is more dangerous, guarding the Red Sea route.
But this has also become a favorite in the eyes of some forces.
Jin King Li Fengming did not dare to slack off at all. If he slacked off a little, the Jin Kingdom would probably be annexed.
Hearing what King Zheng and Wang Zhongce said, he felt reassured.
Zheng Guo still maintained its previous strategic direction, and they had no strategy of going north.
This is good news for Jin. They only need to guard against enemies in the north.
Jin King Li Fengming sighed and said: "The economic crisis caused by the empire has begun to affect our vassal countries.
The most important income of the Jin State was the cost of merchant ships transiting the Red Sea.
Because of the economic crisis, this income has plummeted.
Commodity prices have also begun to drop on a large scale. The price of grain exported by Jin State has dropped by almost half.
Many domestic grain merchants are complaining. If this continues, few grain merchants will continue to export grain.
Exports of cotton and ore have also been affected.
We still need to develop industry. We can't make big money just by relying on these low-level excuses.
Without enough money, we cannot upgrade industry and fall into a vicious cycle."
King Zheng Wang Zhongce heard Jin King Li Fengming talking about industrial development issues.
He said helplessly: "Industrial development is slow, I have also noticed this situation.
This is not an era of agricultural society. A country's strength lies in its population.
As long as the population is sufficient, troops can be recruited.
The soldiers who are not eliminated by the war will become elites.
It's completely different now. If you want to see which side is stronger, you have to fight for industrial strength.
We must develop industrial strength so that we will not become a piece of cake on the chopping board."
What Prince Zheng and Wang Zhongce said is correct nonsense.
But he was indeed encouraging Jin King Li Fengming to vigorously develop industry and arm the Jin army.
The stronger the Jin State is, the more they can protect Zheng State from the danger from the north.
This will allow Zheng Guo to develop steadily without having to invest a lot of energy in preparing to deal with enemy countries.
King Zheng and Wang Zhongce knew that King Li Fengming of Jin could hear the hidden meaning in his words.
This also once again expressed to Jin Wang Li Fengming that Zheng Guo had absolutely no intention of going north.
Jin Wang Li Fengming could certainly hear the meaning contained in Zheng Wang Zhongce's words.
As kings of the country, the two of them have certain words that cannot be said through their mouths.
The only way to make the other party understand what they want to say but cannot say out loud is through being aggressive.
Jin King Li Fengming got the answer he wanted. He changed the subject and said: "What are you, Zheng, planning to do about the economic crisis?"
Prince Zheng and Wang Zhongce replied in a helpless tone: "There are very few things we can take advantage of as a big event like the economic crisis.
I just hope that the economic crisis will not have too big an impact on the country."
Jin Wang Li Fengming said in a self-deprecating tone: "The stronger the industrial strength of a country, the more serious the economic crisis they will suffer.
We have not yet taken off the label of being an agricultural country, and our export quota is still grain, minerals, and agricultural products."
King Zheng Wang Zhongce smiled bitterly and said: "We in Zheng are the same.
I really didn’t expect that we would develop a few years ahead of schedule. Just because we didn’t choose the right location for Jianguo, we are now often targeted.
There has not yet been an industrial power in Europe.
This is our opportunity and we must not sit back and wait."
When Jin Wang Li Fengming heard what Zheng Wang Zhongce said, he nodded in agreement: "Industry should indeed be developed, especially the military industry.
The empire was in economic crisis and so many companies went bankrupt.
If we can’t afford first-hand equipment, we buy second-hand equipment, and that’s no problem at all.”
Prince Zheng Wang Zhongce and Prince Jin Li Fengming had a lively chat about how the two countries could develop industry.
Except for foreign enemies, the situations of Zheng and Jin were somewhat similar.
The strategies they propose to each other can be used to check for deficiencies and strengthen their respective strategies.
The two monarchs chatted very late. They put down the phone and ended the call without finishing their conversation.