Chapter 1411 There are many benefits to playing Portugal
The propaganda plan submitted by the Reporting Department of the Ministry of Rites mainly focused on two points. The first was to make the majority of the people of the empire believe that the empire's war against Portugal was just and that the imperial military would fight for the interests of the people of the empire.
The second is to make the majority of the people of the empire think that even if the empire goes to war against the Portuguese, there will be certain economic losses in a short period of time, but these losses are caused by the shameless Portuguese, not because of the empire's war.
At the same time, it should be emphasized that after the victory of the subsequent war, the empire can recover these losses with profits, so that the majority of the empire's people can enjoy the dividends of the war.
In short, the core goal of the second round of publicity is to get the public to identify with and support this war!
After all, the war with Portugal envisioned by Li Xuan was not just as simple as capturing Malacca. The real strategic goal was not just Malacca, but to completely open up European routes!
Capturing Malacca and controlling the Straits of Malacca is only the first step. Then the empire will completely expel the Portuguese from the Nanyang waters and pull out all Portuguese strongholds in the Nanyang region.
The second step is to compete with the Portuguese for the Indian Ocean, eliminate the Portuguese maritime power in this area through a series of sea battles, and at the same time pull out and capture the Portuguese strongholds in Burma, India, Ceylon, West Asia and other places one by one.
Instead, it aims to achieve complete control over India and India's coastal routes.
The third step is to attack the east coast of Africa, and in the process try to make the Portuguese surrender and release the blockade on the west coast of Africa.
If the Portuguese refuse to surrender, the war will continue. The empire will completely pull out all the Portuguese strongholds on the east coast of Africa, then rush into the Atlantic Ocean, burning the war to the west coast of Africa, and then fight all the way to Portugal.
Until people surrender and European routes are opened.
The most fundamental purpose of the war against the Portuguese was to open up European routes, and the rest was actually just incidental.
However, the route from Asia to Europe is almost the lifeline of the Portuguese, and its importance is self-evident.
This kind of thing is to steal food from the Portuguese's jobs, and also destroy their jobs. Even if the Portuguese suffered a military defeat in Malacca and even India, they want to make people lose their jobs.
It is also impossible for them to give in easily and then give up the European routes that the Portuguese regard as their lifeline.
Therefore, in the war against the Portuguese, one must be mentally prepared for a protracted war!
This kind of war may be protracted. Without widespread support within the empire, it will become very troublesome. Therefore, if possible, Li Xuan still hopes to obtain widespread support in the country, even if it cannot be obtained.
Support, but at least we must ensure that the public does not object!
The first wave of public opinion propaganda simply revealed some news and then tested the domestic response, especially the reaction of the business community. But now it seems that the response from the first wave of testing is relatively positive and positive.
At this time, the second wave of public opinion propaganda was launched. The focus of the propaganda at this time was naturally to talk about how bad the Portuguese were and how bad they were. At the same time, the focus of the propaganda was on how the Portuguese had monopolized Europe in the past ten years or so.
Through trade, the Tang Empire earned countless amounts of money.
And this money originally belonged to the Tang Empire, to the industrial and commercial circles of the Datang Empire, to the workers of the Tang Dynasty, to the farmers of the Tang Dynasty, so it belonged to all the people of the Tang Dynasty.
However, by shamelessly monopolizing shipping routes, the Portuguese prevented the merchant ships of the Tang Empire from traveling to Europe for trade, and swallowed up countless wealth that originally belonged to the people of the Tang Dynasty.
Why did our silkworm farmers in the Tang Empire work so hard all year round planting mulberry trees and raising silkworms, but in the end they could only barely make ends meet?
Why do we, the raw silk workers of the Tang Dynasty, work so hard in the hot and humid silk reeling workshops for a whole year, but in the end they only get a salary of Weibo!
Why did our sailors from the Tang Empire risk their lives to transport silk to Malacca, but the rewards they received were not enough to support their families?
Why is all this happening?
Because of the Portuguese, by monopolizing trade routes, they shamelessly lowered the price of our silk. After it was shipped to Europe, it was sold for dozens of times or even higher!
Silk sold for 100 yuan in Europe, the Portuguese took 90 yuan or more of it. We in the Tang Dynasty could only get less than 10 yuan, and within this less than 10 yuan, the production cost was occupied
At least most of it, only a meager profit of one or two yuan was left in the end!
Of course, when publicizing like this, the court newspapers would never say anything about the price and risk that the Portuguese had to pay to transport silk from the Tang Dynasty to Europe, let alone the countless Portuguese merchant ships.
There are not many ships that sank to the bottom of the sea on the way, set off from Europe, and then successfully returned to Europe with full cargo.
Even when they purchased raw silk in the Tang Dynasty, they only needed ten yuan, but after going through all kinds of hardships and shipping it to Europe for a hundred yuan, although the profit was huge, it was definitely not that expensive.
Because merchant ships will suffer losses, supply ports along the way also need funds to maintain operations, and wars with pirates and numerous natives are needed. These are all costs.
Just like the Tang Western Trading Company, their merchant ships are very profitable for trading, but their costs are definitely not just the cost of purchasing goods. In fact, you have to include the huge expenses of the company's fleet to maintain the operation and safety of the colony.
expenses, these are all costs.
However, there is no need for ordinary people to know about this kind of thing!
People only need to know that the Portuguese made a lot of money on the route from East Asia to Europe, and this money originally belonged to the Tang Dynasty.
Sure enough, after such publicity, the direction of public opinion quickly changed. If people just knew that there was a conflict with the Portuguese and that the war was about to break out, they would still be worried about the negative impact, and then they began to worry.
, and came up with the idea that even if there is conflict, it is better to avoid war if it can be avoided.
Otherwise, both sides will suffer heavy losses in a fight.
But now, after the second wave of publicity came out, the trend among the people has changed.
Young students from many universities in the country, filled with enthusiasm, instantly found a outlet and began to curse the Portuguese.
In the industrial and commercial circles, many people are also beginning to think about how much benefit it will bring if the empire completely occupies India and completely monopolizes trade between India, the Safavid dynasty, and the Ottoman region. If it can open up European routes, what benefits can it bring?
How many benefits come.
Naturally, there is only one result of this kind of prediction, and that is great benefits!
As a result, people in the business community began to hope that the empire would kill the Portuguese as soon as possible and monopolize the trade markets in India, West Asia and the Ottoman region, and then enter the European market.
Even for ordinary people, they have seen reports that India is extremely rich and has a pleasant climate suitable for agricultural development and survival. It is not like the Southeast Asian region, where there are tropical jungles everywhere. With the current technical conditions, immigrants can develop and reclaim farmland.
more difficult.
Moreover, at this time, the Railway Department under the Ministry of Transport, which had just become independent from the Ministry of Industry, also announced a new round of railway construction plans in due course. The new railway construction plan was named Southwest Railway. This railway is expected to be
It will start from Changsha, Hunan, pass through Guiyang, Guizhou, then enter Yunnan, and continue south to Myanmar.
This southwest railway plan is actually just a false start. Because the terrain in the southwest is complex, railway construction is very difficult. Based on the current technical conditions and construction capabilities, even if it costs the lives of road construction workers to fill it, it is estimated that it will take at least several days.
It will take ten years to build such a southwestern railway. As for the railway connecting Myanmar and even entering India, that is even more distant.
However, people have seen from this railway plan how convenient it will be to travel to and from India in the future. You can reach India directly by taking a train. It seems that immigrating to India will also be a very good thing.
Not to mention, the North Korean newspaper also said that if it can completely monopolize the markets in India and West Asia, it will play a huge role in promoting domestic industry and commerce, and will provide more jobs for the country.
Provide more income to the people of the empire.
All in all, everyone says it’s better to beat the Portuguese!
After the second round of publicity was completed, the Tang Dynasty Newspaper began the third round of propaganda. However, this time the propaganda had already begun to promote war mobilization and made people feel the huge military power of the Tang Empire. It was determined that this
A war must be won, completely dispelling people's last worries!
The Tang Dynasty Daily used a full second page to report on the commissioning of the Tang Empire’s first steel and steam battleship Jiangnan in human history!
Although it is difficult to say that the Jiangnan is a steel battleship, because the internal structure of this battleship is mostly made of wood. The main part of the structure is a steel structure, and the hull is mainly made of wood, with just a layer of wrought iron wrapped around it.
, this shell is not even the kind of armor belt that later generations would think of, nor is it armor made of a mixture of oak and wrought iron. It is just a layer of simple wrought iron.
And it’s not comprehensive coverage, in fact it only covers a few core areas!
However, regardless of what's going on inside, at least from the outside, the Jiangnan looks like a steel battleship.