The kings of Chunhe, the capital of the Qing Dynasty, Qing, Guangxi, Fujian, Tang, and the Four Kingdoms Alliance gathered here to celebrate the opening ceremony of the Yaxuan Railway.
This newly built trunk railway directly connects the independent railway networks of the four countries into a whole.
Completely clear up the transportation barriers within the Four-Nation Alliance, and make the transportation of personnel and materials extremely smooth.
The biggest role of railway network connectivity is to completely unite the four countries into a whole.
Medicines from the Tang State, grain and oil from the Qing State, ammunition from the Fujian State, steel from the Gui State, and armies from various countries can be quickly transported through the railway network to any area in the four countries with railway access.
As the host, King Qing Jiang Zhiyu felt very excited as he listened to the salute outside to celebrate the opening of the railway.
As a small country on the border of Europe, Qingguo has ignorant people and poor resources.
After he established Qingguo, he worked hard to develop Qingguo for many years, but the national strength did not improve much.
Qingguo was poor and weak, which led to a decline in competitiveness, except for the loans granted by the Imperial Bank.
Whether it is the investment from businessmen or the funds raised through the stock market, Qingguo is more than a step behind the mainstream countries such as Churui.
Fortunately, Qingguo discovered oil and took advantage of the oil industry.
As one of the few countries in Europe that can provide oil, Qingguo's status has also increased.
However, King Jiang Zhiyu of Qing discovered that as the importance of oil became more prominent, Qing might not be able to hold on to its wealth.
Once chaos breaks out in Europe, Qingguo, which is a major source of energy and an important transportation hub, and its own strength is very weak, will be easily attacked by other countries.
King Qing Jiang Zhiyu learned of signs of alliance between Gui and Tang.
It is difficult for these two neighboring countries to expand in other directions, but it is easier to expand to Qing State, and there are enough benefits to encourage them to do so.
King Qing Jiang Zhiyu was well prepared. He first tried to join this alliance, but he did not expect to succeed.
The alliance jointly resisted the economic crisis. In this process, the countries achieved mutual trust.
Qingguo's current strength still hasn't improved much.
But King Qing Jiang Zhiyu no longer has to worry about Qing.
As a member of the alliance, Qingguo only needs to be the logistics manager.
Apart from the alliance countries, the only neighboring countries of Qing Kingdom are the Empire and Liang Kingdom.
The empire will not attack vassal states without any reason.
The resources that Qingguo has in the country are nothing more than oil and food. The empire is very rich in these two resources.
Another neighboring country, Liang Kingdom, is also a country rich in oil.
Liang's national strength is also not strong, and it is a country that is not fully industrialized.
The Han people in China built cities in various places, settled in cities, and carried out industrial and agricultural production.
The indigenous people of Liang still maintain their nomadic customs.
King Sumeng of Liang was born into the Mongolian tribe.
In order to suppress the indigenous tribes in the country, he immigrated a large number of Mongolian tribes.
This approach caused fierce conflicts among the various tribes in Liang Kingdom.
Liangguo sells oil and has no problems as a resource-based country.
But it is basically impossible for him to expand outward.
After Qingguo joined the alliance, it became the safest country in the alliance.
King Qing Jiang Zhiyu, as the host, invited the monarchs from all over the world to attend the dinner held in the palace.
During the dinner, they talked about recent events in Europe.
Prince Qing Jiang Zhiyu, as the host, first said with some concern: "Since the empire announced the regulations on civil war among the vassals, all countries have basically chosen to invest their resources in the military and related industries.
The arms race among European countries has intensified, and our alliance must be prepared to deal with new situations."
The King of Fujian Zhang Wan reminded: “We must not only pay attention to the situation in Europe, but also pay attention to the situation in countries outside the region.
The Jin State is also engaged in an arms race, and it has a territorial conflict with our Fujian State.
It is very likely that Jin State will take advantage of the chaos in Europe to attack our country of Fujian.
When the time comes, Fujian will have to deal with this war and may not be able to provide timely support.
The king is now worried that some countries that have conflicts of interest with the alliance will pay a certain price and choose to win over the Jin State and let the Jin State contain the Min State."
When King Qutian of Gui heard the worries of King Zhang Wan of Fujian, he laughed and said: "The biggest enemy of our alliance is the State of Wu.
Wu State is the most hostile to our alliance and has always wanted to form a new alliance to deal with the alliance we formed.
This time Wu State sent ministers to the empire to lobby.
Our country, Gui, also sent ministers to prevent the empire from trusting Wu.
The end result was great and the Empire did not take sides.
Why Wu did this was because he wanted to win over other countries to form an alliance through this method.
But because the empire proposed fairer rules, some countries that did not want to participate in the war were able to survive.
Wu's attempt to form an alliance failed.
Countries that do not want to participate in war will not choose to stay together for survival reasons.
After all, they knew that no vassal country dared to violate the rules set by the empire.
Countries that want to participate in the war are arrogant and powerful countries.
These countries have put forward requests to join the alliance and want to take advantage of the situation of Wu State.
This directly angered Wu State, and now Wu State has chosen not to form an alliance for the time being.
This situation is very good news for our alliance.
From what I know about the old guy Qi Gangyi, he will definitely not play the no-war card.
We have four countries fighting against one country, Wu. The advantage lies with us and there will be no problems.
Now is the time to prepare for the war and try to overestimate the scale of the war.
The reason why we formed an alliance is not only because of the Wu State, but also because the countries in Western Europe that developed colonies are too powerful.
For us, if it is just a small opponent, the real opponent is still those countries in Western Europe."
Tang Wang Su Sheng reminded: "What the King of Min just said is right, we should not only observe European countries, but also pay attention to countries outside the region.
For example, in the Rui Kingdom, once a war breaks out and the situation in the Rui Kingdom is not good, King Su Lei of Rui will most likely ask King Cao Li Dazhuang for help.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! The probability of King Cao Li Dazhuang agreeing to aid is more than 95%, and the only reason for rejection is.
That was the war between Cao State and Wei State.
This is just one example.
It is very likely that some countries that cannot afford to lose will choose to lure the wolf into the house and attract the power of a country from outside the region.
We have to prevent this situation, and we must have a global perspective to look at the problem.
If a war breaks out in Europe, the impact will not be limited to Europe alone."
King Gui Qutian agreed: "The King of Tang is right, we must have a global perspective so that we can respond to emergencies without panicking.
The essence of the matter is to enhance one's own strength.
As long as the country is strong, there is no need to worry about interference from certain countries outside the region.
If they dare to interfere, then cut off the dog paws they extend.
Our four countries have jointly recruited 400,000 troops. An army of this size will be top-notch in any vassal country.
I'm not worried about the strength of the army.
The strength of the current army is nothing more than the performance of tanks, artillery, and firearms.
With these technologies, our alliance cannot say that they are the best, but they are by no means lagging behind.
The only issue I'm worried about now is the naval issue.
Enemy countries use their navy to harass the alliance. This is bound to happen, but we don't have a good way to deal with it.
The strength of the navy cannot be improved by paying money."
As soon as Gui Wang Qutian said these words, Tang Wang Su Sheng's face turned pale.
Among the alliance, only Fujian and Tang had coastlines that could be attacked by enemy navies.
As an old vassal state, the navy of Fujian is not very strong, but it will not be easily beaten to its doorstep.
The navy of the Tang Dynasty can be said to be almost non-existent.
The coastline of Tang State is relatively long, and the enemy may find a landing place at any time.
When the King of Fujian Zhang Wan saw Tang King Su Sheng looking slightly panicked, he suggested: "Given the naval strength of the Tang State, I do not recommend that the Tang State purchase battleships to maintain coastal defense.
We in Fujian have three old battleships. Don’t look down on these old battleships. They have trained naval talents for Fujian.
Fujian's navy is relatively complete in terms of talent training and logistical supplies.
If the Tang Dynasty wants to build the entire naval system from scratch, the time and money it will cost are beyond what the Tang Dynasty can afford now.
Fujian is preparing to purchase four new battleships from the empire.
The two ships were being maintained in the port and were on mission outside for two weeks, patrolling the alliance's waters without any problems.
The Tang Navy recommended the use of cost-effective small ships such as torpedo boats and submarines to slowly train naval personnel.
The navy has enough talents to build large warships and gradually transition to battleships. This is a feasible navy growth plan."
Su Sheng, the king of Tang Dynasty, heard the suggestion of Zhang Wan, the king of Fujian. This was indeed a feasible plan for the late-developing countries.
The current strength of the Tang Dynasty's navy is too weak. Even if it purchases a battleship, it will not be able to exert the performance of the battleship without enough talents.
As for letting the country of Fujian cultivate talents, he will not do such a thing again if he commits a crime.
Whoever cultivates talents will naturally gravitate towards them.
If you do this, at least the personnel will not be protected, and at worst, the warships will not be protected.
Tang Wang Su Sheng would rather let the Imperial Navy help cultivate talents, but he would not speak to the Min King.
Tang Wang Su Sheng was still very grateful to Min Wang Zhang Wan for his kindness.
The two of them may have more in common because they are the same age.
Su Sheng, the king of Tang Dynasty, said gratefully: "Then I'll trouble King Min. With Min's navy guarding the sea, I don't have to worry about the enemy's navy."
King Qutian of Gui suggested: "The coastline of Tang is too long, and the navy of Fujian can only patrol key areas.
Tang's own navy is weak, so I suggest laying a large number of mines in places that are not Tang's main routes.
In important places such as ports, shore defense guns and torpedo boats are used to protect the enemy's navy.
Defense capabilities must be concentrated in key areas rather than scattered across the entire national border.
This is indeed very troublesome, and post-war processing also requires a certain price.
But doing so can indeed ensure the security of Tang State.
There is no need to worry about the enemy using leap-frog tactics to harass the Tang Dynasty from the coastline by landing at multiple points."
When King Su Sheng of the Tang Dynasty heard this suggestion from King Gui Qutian, he was silent for a long time.
This is an approach that injures the enemy eight hundred and damages oneself a thousand.
But mines are cheap and can only be laid in the waters around the coastline.
Some small civilian fishing boats will not trigger mines, but warships will definitely detonate underwater mines if they want to get close.
The method proposed by Gui Wang Qutian is indeed a good one.
The Tang State paid a certain price to ensure that the Tang State's industrial production would not be affected during the war.
Tang's medicines, weapons, ammunition and other supplies are very important to the alliance's operations.
If the Tang State loses its ability to supply the front line, it will be very difficult for the Alliance to replenish it through other means after the war breaks out.
Tang Wang Su Sheng nodded and said: "King Gui's method has certain risks, but it can indeed prevent Tang from being attacked from the sea.
When I return to the country, I will unify the opinions of the country as soon as possible and implement this plan."
In this war, the most important task of the Tang State was to become the winner.
As long as you become the winner, you can get compensation from the loser for all the costs you pay in the process.
Once you become a loser, the country may not be able to survive, so there is no need to consider the price paid.
King Qing Jiang Zhiyu heard that the guests had discussed their opinions on the defense of the coast of Tang Dynasty.
He didn't know much about coastal defense and didn't intervene in the discussion.
King Qing Jiang Zhiyu waited until everyone finished discussing and then asked a question.
"Businessmen from the empire came to me to sell broadcasting technology and radios.
Everyone thinks whether this new technology is beneficial to us and whether it needs to be introduced."
King Qing Jiang Zhiyu is very interested in broadcasting technology.
But now the alliance has invested most of its resources in the arms race.
The reason why the alliance only recruits 400,000 troops is because it cannot afford to add more troops, even if it is shared among the four countries.
A large army consumes too many resources.
In order to cope with possible crises in the future, the Four Nations Alliance has established a complete reserve system following the example of the Empire.
When an emergency comes, these militiamen who participate in training every year can go to the battlefield to defend the country with a gun.
King Qing Jiang Zhiyu's question immediately caused the three monarchs to say in unison: "Some people are also selling broadcasting technology like you."
The three of them looked at each other and smiled, and King Gui Qutian said: "It seems that the empire attaches great importance to this technology, and they are sparing no effort to promote it in Europe.
I learned about this thing called broadcast technology, and it is indeed a good thing.
Telegraph and telephone are not as easy to contact someone in real time.
Our communication with frontline generals also requires telephone calls and telegrams.
But broadcast technology is applicable to all formats, and it is a more powerful propaganda position than newspapers.
We only need broadcasting technology, ban the empire’s radio stations, and prevent certain people from causing trouble through radio stations.”
Qing Wang Jiang Zhiyu said with a smile: "It seems that broadcast technology is very useful for publicity.
We engage in military competition and use vast resources to prepare for war.
People's happiness has been declining.
The true meaning of the court can be conveyed to the public through radio stations.
It can also stabilize the mood of the people and prevent them from making a big mess."
Tang Wang Su Sheng said with emotion: "The empire has too many good things.
The empire attaches great importance to broadcasting technology, so it certainly has merits and we should introduce it as soon as possible."
The four monarchs had a dinner, and they also discussed many things that would affect the future of the alliance and reached a consensus.
