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Chapter 1251 National Security Strategy 2
“But I cannot give in too much to European countries because of their concerns. It is true that I am the emperor of the Ming Empire, but this land and everyone on it do not belong to me.

The country belongs to everyone. They are born, grow up, give birth, and grow old here. They are the natural masters. They just gave the power to manage the country to me. I must be responsible and strive to make every major decision in their favor.

So the question is, is the expedition to the American continent beneficial to the country, the court, and the people? Once I answer these three questions, the answer will be clear.

First of all, the American continent has indigenous peoples, countries and courts, so it belongs neither to European countries nor to the Ming Empire. No matter from which angle you evaluate it, if Europeans can go there, then the Ming Empire can also go there, and they all go there to take advantage, so there is no question of who is invading whom.

As for who went there first and who went there later, it cannot be used as a basis for possession. Because it originally had an owner, and it was the Europeans who snatched the American continent from its owner. Now that the Ming Empire is snatching it from the Europeans, it is not excessive to follow suit.

Why did the Ming Empire travel thousands of miles across the ocean to grab a piece of land that was rarely visited? Was it because the Ming Empire did not have enough land for farming or had no place to build houses?
Absolutely not. At present, the land reclaimed in the Ming Empire and overseas territories is enough, and there is still more land to be reclaimed. Similarly, new villages and towns are built every year, so housing is not a problem.

But the American continent must be taken, at least as one of the many occupiers. Why? I have summarized three main reasons.

First, there are silver mines with high production in the Americas. As we all know, the silver production of the Ming Dynasty was not high, but silver was the currency of the Ming Dynasty. If these silver mines were controlled by Europeans, they could mine them at will and then use the silver to buy Ming Dynasty goods.

Currency is the medium for the exchange of goods and has no value in itself. If someone can obtain silver at a lower cost and put it into the market, it is equivalent to robbing things, which is very unfair to the people of Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, the Ming Empire must have at least one share of the silver mines in America, and the specific amount of silver to be mined each year must be reasonably planned. This is non-negotiable. In order to prevent the imperial court and the people from being plundered of their decades of hard work, they can only go to war if they cannot reach an agreement!
Second, the strategic location of the American continent is crucial. In recent years, I and the imperial army have been advancing westward step by step. In addition to opening up markets, we are also creating a sufficient buffer zone for the mainland. Any country or force that wants to harm the Ming Empire must first pass through the buffer zone so that they will not be immediately attacked.

But to the east is the endless sea. If a fleet comes from the sea, it is difficult for the Imperial Navy to predict in advance, and the eastern and southeastern coastal areas will suffer great losses. These cities and ports are the essence of the empire, and once attacked, the losses will be huge.

On the contrary, if the Imperial Navy were to attack the west coast of America, it would be very difficult and the results would be minimal. Even if the coastal ports were destroyed, it would not hurt the enemy, as most of the local forces were inland.

Therefore, only by finding a foothold and building a naval base on the west coast of America can the Ming Navy effectively protect the soft belly of the empire from harm. This is not an invasion, but an active defense to prepare for a rainy day.

The first two points are considered from the perspective of national security strategy, but the third point is the most important. What is security? In order to ensure security, should we defend or attack?

Security means ensuring that one is not harmed to the greatest extent possible. If a defensive approach is adopted, the number of troops required will be huge, and defenses must be set up everywhere from east to west and from south to north.

It is not too exaggerated to say that after decades of development, the Ming Empire could afford so many troops and could defend itself strictly, but it came at a huge cost.

More than 3% of the empire's annual tax revenue will be spent on military expenditures, and this investment will not produce much benefit except for dealing with possible dangers, which means the rate of return is very low and it is a loss.

If this money is used in agriculture, industry, shipbuilding, education, transportation and other areas, in addition to economic benefits it will also greatly improve the living standards of the people.

I am different from the emperors of previous dynasties. I have never been ashamed to talk about money, and what I talk about is always profit. I will never do any business that will lose money, because this money is taken from the people, so of course it must be used for the people.

Since defense is not cost-effective, what about attacking? Keep an eye on the movements of neighboring countries at all times. If there is any sign of trouble, you can attack them first and eliminate the danger before it is in its infancy. This method sounds much more proactive than defense. In fact, it does not require a large number of troops. You only need to control a few strategic points and train a few troops with strong combat effectiveness and fast action.

But this approach is not without its drawbacks. For example, how do we define who truly has visions and what is the standard? If it is ambiguous, should we take the initiative?
If we don't clarify these issues thoroughly, taking the initiative will make us madmen who are enemies of the whole world. The war will continue, and no matter how rich the court is or how powerful the army is, they will not be able to withstand such a high frequency of consumption.

So it is definitely inappropriate to always shout for war and regard war as the only means to solve problems. But how can we eliminate danger without fighting? I have thought of a way, called world order.

Bring together the heads of state of the world's expansionist countries, and together they can work out a set of rules that everyone agrees on. Most future international affairs will then be judged based on these rules.

I don’t have the details of the specific method yet, but I have a general plan, so let’s talk about it briefly here today.

There are not many countries in the world that have the ability to expand at present. The Ming Empire in Asia is one of them, along with Persia and the Ottoman Empire.

In Europe, although Spain is in decline, it is still one of them. In addition, there are France, England, the Netherlands, the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Polish-Lithuanian Confederation and Russia, a total of 9.

Well, looking around the world, there are only 12 kings, emperors, and sultans who can sit at the negotiating table. This set of rules will be derived from the results of negotiations among these 12 people.

It is still unknown what the other 11 monarchs want, so I can only tell you what I want. First, the American continent, which does not belong to any country, but is a place that many countries must fight for.

Then let's fight for it. Whoever wins will get as much as he or she wants before the world order is negotiated. Then the final decision will be made. After that, we can no longer expand through war, otherwise we will be the enemy of the whole world.

From now on, the American continent will serve as a buffer zone between Europe and Asia, and no new countries will be allowed to build new ones. If there are special circumstances that require changes, the 12 monarchs will make the decision together.

The situation in the east was the same, with the African continent and the Ottoman Empire being considered neutral, and also the dividing line between Asia and Europe. If a conflict arose between any country and a neutral country, it could not attack without authorization, and must be authorized by the 12 monarchs.

In this way, the conflicts between the Ming Empire and European countries were separated by the existence of two neutral regions in the east and the west, thus minimizing the risk of direct war.

Well, that's about all I have to say today. Let's take a ten-minute break and then we'll have a question time. You can use these ten minutes to exchange ideas with each other. Try to put your questions together and don't ask too many, otherwise I won't be able to answer them all. get out of class dismissed!"

The most significant change in Hong Tao after so many times of time travel is not his physical condition, political literacy or military skills, but his eloquence. He can speak for an hour without a script, without thinking too much, and his speech is more fluent than reading from a script.

And the more I talk, the more I talk. If I don't restrain myself, I can probably talk until midnight. But standing and giving a lecture is also a physical job. My back is a little wet after half a class. In addition, talking too much affects my smoking. I am a little addicted to cigarettes. I start to lose my concentration, so I quickly go outside to take a few puffs.

(End of this chapter)