The dim lights flickered, and whenever there was an explosion in the distance, the magic lights flickered on and off.
Richelieu sighed and signed his name on the document.
The pearl of the world, the never-ending city that never sleeps, the prosperous and prosperous capital of Ludes. Now it is like a joke, with fires and explosions everywhere, sin and ugliness raging in every street. Now in the royal capital, light an oil lamp.
It takes a lot of courage. No one knows what a little light in the darkness will bring, whether it will be a burst of gunfire or a group of thugs.
Even Richelieu, who was the Prime Minister of the Kingdom, covered every window with black cloth before lighting the lamp to prevent the leakage of light from causing unnecessary trouble.
This alone is enough to make people sigh, but compared with the unpredictable fate and the extremely powerful enemy, the chaos in front of them can only be regarded as trivial things. The feeling of being helpless can really drive people crazy.
In front of the Mother Goddess and her agents, the behavior of human beings is nothing. This is not a theory promoted by religious classics, but exists as a real phenomenon. The absolutely correct god, the brave man who acts on behalf of the gods to defeat evil - is an ancient legend
, is also unshakable common sense.
Only a handful of people who have reached his status know that gods and agents of divine will are not concepts in popular cognition. They do exist and interfere in the world in various forms.
Sometimes it’s religious people who perform miracles;
Sometimes he is an invincible brave man;
Sometimes he is a sage who writes books and establishes his opinions;
Sometimes it is the king who created a prosperous age;
As the world changes, he appears in different guises and manages the entire world subtly. Until a man who shoulders the important task of being the agent of God's will gets tired of it and breaks away from the task.
Although he was a little dissatisfied with the act of that bohemian man abandoning his responsibilities and running away with a woman, Richelieu was relieved about it. Without the agent, he could not conquer the man, and the mother goddess could only gradually withdraw her intervention in the world.
After breaking away from the set track, the world will slowly but surely develop towards the trajectory of autonomous operation.
Siegfried Otto Lilin. The appearance of this monster changed everything.
It now seems that Li Lin appeared in this world as an agent of divine will from the very beginning. His wisdom, strength, and skill-every aspect is in line with people's concept of "the existence closest to God." At the same time.
He also has a ruthlessness that the world cannot imagine. As long as he can achieve his goal, he will kill thousands of people without blinking an eye. In the face of the power he possesses, no one can stop or resist.
(Where on earth did he come from? And where exactly is he going? If you at least know this minimum information——)
Scanning the latest battle reports sent by his subordinates desperately, Richelieu couldn't help but sigh.
Roland's performance was better than he expected, but it was far from enough. If he wanted to stop the elf camp's strategy, and even more to prevent the agents of divine will from purging the world in the worst case, it was still too far.
Just when the tip of the quill was inserted into the ink bottle, a cheerful voice came over.
"Before, I was worried about whether it would be okay for you to stay up late at your age. Seeing that the Prime Minister is so energetic, one cannot help but admire your sense of responsibility and abundant energy."
As if afraid of this voice, the shadows in the corridor parted to the left and right, and a slender and well-proportioned figure emerged.
In fact, this is an illusion. Whether it is a dressy black suit or raven-feathered black hair, it has a camouflage-like effect in a low-light environment. The reason why it stands out strongly is because the visitor's presence is too strong.
, so that other things around it are completely swallowed up.
"It seems that I still need to learn a lot from you, Your Excellency Prime Minister Richelieu."
The leather shoes made a crisp sound when stepping on the marble. The gentle smile of the handsome black-haired boy reminded people of the indifferent old face with blood-soaked pupils.
"I'm also surprised... with your status, you actually end up personally acting as a lowly assassin, President of the V.E Consortium, Supreme Archon of Alfheim, His Excellency Siegfried Otto Lilin."
"You are very angry. We haven't seen each other for a long time, and this is the first thing you say? Besides -"
He raised his hand casually, and the dagger, lightning, ice sword, and the guards hiding in the dark disappeared in the blink of an eye. If it weren't for the unnatural round holes remaining on the ceiling, floor, and walls,
Everyone would really think that those people never existed.
"It's a good idea to sacrifice your subordinates to spy on the opponent's strength. As a way of hospitality, it's a bit too much."
With a snap of his fingers, the missing part was filled in again. But...if a third party witnessed the "filled in part", he would probably vomit on the spot.
People on fire, frozen people, half-transparent people, dissolved people - like randomly kneaded plasticine, mixed with the walls and floors, embedded back into the disappeared void.
"What did you do?"
"What did you do? It was just the 'Philadelphia Experiment'."
Maintaining an elegant smile, Li Lin said lightly.
The so-called "Philadelphia Experiment" is not the one in which the great Franklin flew a kite during a thunderstorm and prayed for thunder to strike. It is the Philadelphia Experiment (delphia.Experiment) that has been widely discussed by the world as a rumor of black technology in World War II. But Li Lin
I never thought that using a Tesla coil to play teleportation would be so sophisticated. He actually transported matter and the human body to a different dimensional space and then back again. During the transmission process, the matter was randomly combined, creating a horror similar to that urban legend.
Effect.
"I see... Even though I've heard it before, it's really shocking to actually witness the power of this generation of divine agents."
"That's enough for my insincere words. My schedule is very tight. After burying you, I still have a lot of things to deal with."
"After all that, you still don't want to kill this bad old man like me."
With a bitter sigh, Richelieu's eyes showed a sharp light.
"But before I die, I would like to hear what kind of plans you have for the world, and what the existence that claims to be God's agent is planning."
"This kind of thing has nothing to do with dying people, right? Anyway, when you get to that world, someone will tell you the answer."
"It's not like these words would come out of your mouth. A man who obviously doesn't believe in anything actually talks about 'the world after death'. There is a limit to my hypocrisy. Or are you just so afraid of me?"
Are you too old to die? Are you afraid that someone will tell you your secret?"
Richelieu spread his hands with a look of ridicule and disdain.
"..."
"Let me talk about it first. I don't want to hear old and empty slogans like 'restoring the ancient order' and 'renovating the world.' It shouldn't be that simple for a man to make the world work."
"...that's fine."
Li Lin said and sat down opposite Richelieu. The red wine and wine glasses from the wine cabinet flew out. The "invisible hand" removed the bottle corks and poured wine into the two wine glasses in sequence.
"I believe you have also heard from Roland that my ultimate goal is to establish a relatively stable and sustainable world system. To achieve this goal, I first need to establish a powerful country with a constitutional monarchy."
Is there the best system in the world? Just like a hundred people have a hundred Hamlets in their minds. Different people have different opinions on this issue, and most people find it difficult to agree with answers that are different from their own.
For example, the Confederacy of America, which recognized slavery, and the United States, which was determined to abolish slavery at all costs;
For example, the dictatorial German Empire, the Japanese Empire and the "democratic" American and British ghosts;
For example, the two camps of the East and the West manufacture nuclear weapons as well as sausages, and think about "eliminating tyranny" and "liberating all mankind" all day long;
However, if we can put aside the shackles of emotional factors, humanism, and ***, and use pure realism and utilitarianism to dialectically analyze various systems, "white cat, black cat, if it catches mice, it is a good cat."
A simple truth becomes the best answer.
There are no good or bad systems, only systems that can adapt to the times and continue to operate well - the Supreme Archon of Alfheim's views on the quality of the system are just like his attitude towards everything: realistic, cold,
Efficiency comes first. So when designing the blueprint for the future world, he chose a constitutional monarchy without hesitation.
It cannot be another system, it can only be a constitutional monarchy similar to the Second German Empire and the old Japanese Empire. To be more specific, it is close to the German Empire under William I and Japan in the era of Taisho Democracie.
The cabinet party system under the monarchy can satisfy the demands of liberals for "constitutionalization" and "expanding people's participation in politics", restricts the scope of military forces' participation in politics, and also reserves a stage for conservatives to perform. As the supreme monarch,
, the de facto dictator, all Li Lin has to do is to act as a "good king" who is willing to listen to the voices of the people, and use his influence behind the scenes to adjust the territory of various factions in the parliament, so that his ideas and opinions can be
Carry it out.
Of course, the result of trying to satisfy everyone is bound to make everyone dissatisfied. Just look at the tsars of the Mao Xiong family who wanted to reform the serfdom system, but were smothered to death with pillows, poisoned, and bombed in the street.
Moreover, the elf country that is about to be born will inevitably be a regime in which a minority dominates the majority. Its nature determines the inevitability of racism and hierarchy. Therefore, it is the most reasonable to sacrifice the "dominated nation" to satisfy the "excellent ruling nation"
Choose. If a democratic country is
Promoting racism. The result is to be torn apart by opposing ethnic groups. If a **** country plays this trick, the supreme ruler will become a conspicuous target. In the hearts of the people, the distance between the "little dad" and the "bastard"
It is much closer than most people think. And the constitutional monarchy can avoid similar problems to some extent. Anyway, in the eyes of the general public, the bills are all made by the "****" in the parliament, and the **** monarch
I am just forced to agree by "public opinion" and "law".
Clothed under the cloak of "enlightenment" and "democracy" and in the name of "acting in accordance with the constitution", it is actually a monarchy and hierarchy. This is the essence of a constitutional monarch. As long as the monarch is wise enough, he can truly
The bridle of a good army. Don't be fooled by loopholes in the system such as "independence of the commander's power" and "active service system for ministers of army and navy, military attachés". This country will be quite peaceful for a long time.
"This is the first phase of the goal."
Playing with the wine glass, the red mirror reflected a gentle smile.
"Based on the constitutional monarchy, the second stage will be assisted by political means and military power to integrate the economic and industrial structure, integrating the empire and the remaining Charlemagne into a huge production base and consumption area. Based on this, we will
Economic exports are carried out abroad and the supply and demand structure of the international economy is adjusted. The final goal of the third phase is to establish a global system in which international supply and demand circulation is completely controlled by the Elf camp."
Among the iron triangle of politics, military, and economy, the most important thing is the economy, which can be called the foundation of the iron triangle. In the final analysis, politics and military actually protect the economy.
To put it more bluntly, whoever controls the world economy controls the world.
The basis of the economy is "supply" and "demand". If you control these two sources, if you control the circulation link, you will be holding the world's eggs. If you want to listen to someone's call, just tighten it a little harder.
, if anyone dares to resist, just pinch his balls out.
In Li Lin's vision, the newly born Holy Gilmanian Empire will play the role of both a consumer country and a producer country in the division of labor in the global industrial chain. As a consumer country, the empire is the top of the global division of labor and is responsible for providing output needs.
, and also exports liquidity, systems, and technical standards and protocols. As a producer, the empire controls the export of goods to various countries and produces "everything" that each country needs.
If the world economy is compared to a river, the Holy Gilmanian Empire controls the upstream (supply) and downstream (demand), and the resource countries and consumer countries in the middle stream - countries with failed industrialization and backward technology become
The fish in the cofferdam can be taken whatever the empire wants.
Just imagine, facing a guy who is both a manufacturer and a landowner, an industry rule maker, and finally a policeman and part-time judge. What can consumers and weak-legged workers do?
Nothing can be done, nothing can be done.
The system exported by the empire consists of three parts. The political dimension is the League of Nations. The economic and financial dimension is the global monetary system. The trade dimension is the International Trade Organization, which is something like the WTO. This is globalization.
Top-level design for production and collaboration.
The borders of a country are the result of war. Every border line has been drawn with blood and fire, knives and swords, and aircraft and cannons over a long period of time in history. In the globalized industrial chain division of labor system led by the empire,
The economic map is drawn with marks. Wherever the marks flow, there will be prosperity. Wherever the marks withdraw, there will be depression. This is the regional distribution law of global liquidity. At the same time, the global flow of marks,
There is also a cyclical tidal pattern.
As consumer countries, countries are purely debt-consuming countries and do not provide anything of substantial value to the global division of labor. They are just a link in the international economic recycling chain and are responsible for spending part of the empire's balance of payments surplus. In this way,
As a whole, the country can form a balance with the empire on the surface. As resource countries, they provide various resources needed by the empire's industry and export cheap labor in exchange for funds and industrial products of the empire.
On the surface, it is a completely fair and reasonable win-win situation. But the devil is always hidden in the details. If you take the "uniform denomination of international trade settlement currencies in Reich Mark" into the overall observation, you will find that this is simply a cannibalism.
Bottomless pit.
The value of a resource country depends on the type and quantity of its resources, which is reflected in its books, namely its foreign reserve surplus and local currency exchange rate; the value of a producer country depends on its production capacity; the value of a top consumer country is determined by the money printing press
Yes, you don’t have to do anything, you can just print money to live.
In the entire economic cycle system, resource countries have the least say. The resources they mine from their own lands are valued and settled in Reichsmarks. The resource countries themselves have no right to bargain at all. Moreover, they have no right to bargain in Reichsmarks.
Among the financial disasters associated with the tide, there is no resistance. As soon as the Imperial Bank of Japan raises interest rates
, their foreign exchange reserves will soon be in danger, and the local currency will depreciate sharply, followed by the decline of people's livelihood and the people's livelihood. If the empire continues to attack commodity prices in the capital market where it has the power to set prices, I am afraid that people will not need a single shot.
We can see the spectacular sight of "corpses rising to the sky, the stench of the capital filling the capital, and the whole country filled with unemployed people."
The status of secondary consumer countries is not much better. They are responsible for digesting the industrial production capacity of the empire, that is, purchasing large quantities of various commodities and industrial products produced by the empire. Since the guaranteed equivalent of the Imperial Mark is the various industrial products produced by it,
After countries exchanged resources for marks, they could only purchase industrial products or bonds issued by the empire, which meant that a large amount of imperial marks and national bonds flowed into each country.
Most people may think that having money coming in is a good thing, but please don't forget that the essence of banknotes is pieces of paper whose value can be reflected through credit. Its value depends on the value of the collateral linked to it and the amount of circulation. Once the empire starts printing money
When the empire begins monetary expansion, the world economy begins to rise, and the prices of risky assets rise steadily. When the empire begins monetary contraction, the global economy will immediately be filled with disasters, and the prices of risky assets frequently collapse. The prices of safe-haven assets skyrocket in an instant. How much can risk assets fall?
How much can assets increase?
In this rising and falling currency value tide, through the inflation tax, the empire paid off its old debts like cheating. After paying off the debts, it then used the currency reflux mechanism to borrow low-interest and cheap marks again, and then made new purchases to the outside world.
A round of monetary expansion continues to charge inflation taxes to other countries. This process is commonly known as shearing sheep. This action is obvious, and this is normal seigniorage. There are also sneaky cheats. This is the currency value tide.
In the global division of labor system, the empire exports capital to the occupied areas under its control and the remaining Charlemagne, mainly in the form of direct investment by consortiums. After obtaining the capital and projects, the monopoly companies go to resource countries to purchase raw materials and transport them to the empire for production. Product production is completed
After that, part of it is digested by the empire and then exported to other countries. The empire
The country paid Marks to the occupied territories and Charlemagne as payment for goods. After Charlemagne received the Marks, because of the huge scale of the trade surplus, how to manage and invest it in the international market was a problem. Since the accumulated foreign exchange reserves could not be used to purchase the empire's
Core high-quality assets. So Charlemagne could only buy low-interest imperial government bonds.
The empire gets the marks that flowed through the purchase of low-interest imperial government bonds, then imports them into the occupied areas, reinvests and controls high-quality assets, and obtains high investment returns and profits. This is another third step of cutting using asymmetric rules.
Wool. The currency circulation between consumer countries, producing countries, and resource countries is thus established.
This whole set of mechanisms is actually the final form of G2 conceived by Midi at the beginning of the 21st century on earth. The Europeans once pointedly pointed out that "Gitu is the most evil alliance in the world", and they really want Yingjiang to become a thing. Heitan
President Xi Jinping’s heroic words of “continuing to lead the world for another 100 years” are not just
These are grand words. However, Yingjiang made a calculation and missed one point. The place that was conceived as a sweatshop base was owned by Rabbit, not the bald Duke Kaishen. As the only big-tailed gangster among the five gangsters who had worked with the United Nations,
Rabbit and Bald Man are similar only in pronunciation. The strength of kneecaps and spine are not on the same level.
Now, this "most evil alliance in the world" will be realized by the Elf camp.
"No one will allow this kind of system to be established. Countries will not remain silent about it, and Charlemagne will not endure it forever. It is a delusion to want to establish a set of rules of the game that is absolutely beneficial to oneself.
"
Richelieu's face was livid. The use of economic war to dominate the world has never happened before in history. So far, no one has proposed relevant theoretical ideas. Although it is a plan on paper, it is indeed more realistic than using force to fight.
plan.
Except for the part "absolutely beneficial to one's own side".
Many great and powerful countries throughout the ages have planned for "absolute hegemony", but including Charlemagne now, all they end up with is hostility from all around. The reason is also very simple, everything is relative, and the "absolute hegemony" of one party
"Security" means "absolute insecurity" for others. Whenever someone seeks his own "absolute advantage" or "monopoly", his past allies and enemies will join forces to defeat him. Such examples are common in history.
It can be expected that the various countries will form political, economic, and military alliances to oppose the empire's monopoly interests, just like the current anti-Charlemagne alliance.
But...what's the use of this?
"What do you think they can do? Who do you think they are playing against? Your Excellency the Prime Minister?"
First of all, from the most basic economic level, they cannot threaten the empire.
People who are in charge of the economy in various countries rarely pay attention to the most basic principle of economics - only with precious metals as collateral, but without a corresponding amount of living materials, means of production, industrial products, and agricultural products as a counterpart, currency is still just a currency.
It is just a piece of paper with numbers and symbols printed on it. It has no meaning and is no different from military stamps.
If governments think that setting up trade barriers, rejecting goods produced by the V.E consortium, and establishing their own small trade circles based on the gold standard will make the empire lose like Charlemagne, then they are too naive.
What the common people need to live is firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar and tea. They cannot eat gold, silver and banknotes. These things only make sense to them if they can be exchanged for firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea, kerosene, matches, cotton and other daily necessities. The above supplies are meaningful to them.
All countries and their colonies have production, although the output cannot be compared with that of the consortium.
It's enough to be self-sufficient. But all transportation routes are exposed to the empire's naval and air power. As long as the empire has nothing to do, let's play military exercises today and draw a no-fly zone or no-navigation zone tomorrow. A few mines may be accidentally "lost" the day after tomorrow.
"Accidentally fired" a few torpedoes... I believe that prices will skyrocket and currencies will depreciate in various countries soon.
What's more, the Elf camp has been inducing countries to reduce the area of food cultivated land and increase the production of cash crops by slowly raising the prices of fabrics and finished clothing, making the annual food output of countries like Albion and Castile account for more than half of the overseas colonies.
Production accounts for a large part. Once the sea and air channels are cut off, the local food crisis will immediately break out. At this time, the elven camp will use biotechnology to launch a final blow to the agriculture of various countries, then they will really be doomed.
Material supply is the basis for currency stability. If you don't understand this, you will be fooled to death.
"This is crazy."
Richelieu shook his head.
"Instead of having the noose tightening its neck little by little, people would rather choose to die together."
"That's why this war is needed. What better way to demonstrate military power than an overwhelming victory that can make everyone surrender. Let them think about the consequences before taking stupid actions and decide whether to lift the flag or not.
table."
The voice was as steady as before, but the content was so tough that even Richelieu was speechless.
The slight smile on his face overlapped with Roland's comment that "he is an extremely dangerous person." If it were him, it would be just a matter of lifting a finger to destroy any country or even wipe out mankind. He would be the same as a typhoon and an earthquake.
, bargaining exists just like natural disasters such as floods, and is no different from delusion.
"Please don't get me wrong, all I want is deterrence. Mass extermination is a last resort, not an end. There are more effective ways than this. Why should I use an ax when I can open the door with a key?"
There are always many countries and individuals who want to resist the economic hegemony system and control their own destiny. Letting Roland play the role of "brave" is also out of the consideration of allowing dissatisfaction to be vented. It is just a "controllable vent channel"
In addition, the fate of "wild rebels", especially those at the national level, is often not very good. They usually die and the country is destroyed.
, the lives were devastated, and it became a testing and exhibition venue for high-tech military equipment. If anyone wants to get rid of the hegemony of the Reichsmark, then the imperial army will have to be dispatched to solve the "humanitarian crisis". Let some rule challengers experience Sada
The ending of Tom and Gaddafi. What? There is no humanitarian crisis in your country? Don’t worry, there will be one soon.
As for the attitude within the empire towards this hegemonic act... Needless to say, elves, except for the anti-imperialists, everyone will definitely say, "I feel relieved when I see the motherland being such a rogue." They have received "happy learning" and "education" since childhood.
"Resource tilt" and a series of class division methods, most of the human beings who can only engage in primary industries are exhausted just for three meals a day. Who has the energy to pay attention to the fate of foreigners who are invisible and have no direct relationship with themselves?
?
Finally, post-war reconstruction and the consumption caused by the war can also be used as a link in the economic cycle, injecting a certain degree of vitality into the market.
Everything will continue to operate smoothly. The world and mankind will continue to exist along with the cycle. It is gratifying and gratifying.
"Before the final phase of the plan is implemented, many ideas and policies still need to be tested. Based on the test results, they will be compared, reviewed, and adjusted before being promoted. What Charlemagne wants to play is exactly the role of a specimen. No matter what the experimental results are,
, the impact can be controlled. If a problem occurs, just use 'This is war time' or 'There was a war' to cover up the past."
Richelieu lost his words, and his always stern face did not hide his overwhelmed mood.
This idea was too grand, beyond his scope of understanding, and the methods adopted were something no one had ever thought of. Until the final structure emerged, no one could tell whether it was a madman's delusion or a genius' creativity.
Can……
Compared with these, the smooth narrative like a machine, the unwavering smile from beginning to end - this person, no, this mirror image that exudes an inhuman atmosphere makes people feel even more creepy.
Swallowing back his palpitations, Richelieu asked:
"What is Roland to you?"
"Your question is too general and difficult to answer. It's like asking 'What is a human being?'. How do you answer this question? From the perspective of biology, philosophy, sociology, politics, and ethics.
Explain everything again?”
"Then let me ask another question, what is the purpose of 'adopting Roland'? Part of a huge experiment? A whim? To reserve specialized talents for the construction of the future world?"
"It all counts."
The corners of his mouth twisted, and Li Lin's voice sounded as if he was prepared for everything.
"Depending on different situations, there can be different application methods. Simply speaking from the fundamental purpose and starting point, it is similar to the current world. It can be said to exist like a 'sticky paper'." (~^~)