Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 629: Leave the Elephant in the Room to the Next Prime Minister

At a charity event where free food was distributed in the suburbs of Paris, even several bishops from the diocese were present. They stood beside Earl Jia and waved to the crowd.

As the appearance fee was quite good, the bishops decided to come in person to support the pagans.

Two gold coins are placed in front of you. Which one is pious? Which one is sinful?
The answer is:
The gold coin I took away was pious, and the other was sinful. So I will take the sinful gold coin back and baptize it carefully.

……

at this time,

Earl Jia has a kind face like the bishops.

After receiving the food, many people came over and bowed in gratitude.

It was clearly a tribute to Earl Jia, but the bishops standing next to Earl Jia were all excited. They had tears in their eyes and waved to the believers.

This is truly an era of rapid development and prosperity.

Wu Dinh wins, the Vatican wins, and the poor people in Paris win too.

But Louis XVI lost.

……

Reporters from many newspapers paid a lot of money for travel expenses, visited the charity site, and wrote dozens of articles after returning.

Among them, the most sensational report was titled "People-oriented" in the Mediterranean newspaper.

The text is sharp and the angle is tricky.

Comparing the Emperor of Wu with the Emperor of France, he criticized the corruption and greed of his own nobles and praised the kindness and generosity of the Wu nobles.

One step and one pull.

In addition, the facts are as solid as iron, and readers are extremely angry after reading it.

Countless readers were shocked to find that these four words - people-oriented - were printed under the blue and white porcelain plates in their own kitchens.

In recent years, this line of words has been printed on low-end porcelain sold to Europe.

The mine buried by Emperor Wu finally exploded.

Overnight, the value of these four words soared.

Hearing thunder in silence~
……

Louis XVI's administration came under heavy attack from all sides.

As the saying goes:
Comparison only hurts.

Compared with Eastern civilization, French civilization is just a bunch of crap.

George III was equally furious. He was also disgusted by "Envoy Wu's extensive charitable activities in the country" and was subjected to unprecedented abuse and ridicule.

In several counties of Scotland, there were also protests by gentry against taxes. All reasons were acceptable for protesting taxes, as the gentry were no pushovers, they had prestige and militia.

Realizing that something was wrong, the authorities of both countries quickly closed down the relevant newspapers and revoked the qualifications of the relevant personnel, which in turn led to joint criticism from the press and academic circles.

The people of both countries were particularly disgusted by the royal power overstepping its boundaries.

There were curses one after another.

The unemployed people associated with the newspaper had already boarded the ship bound for the State of Wu.

Earl Jia funded them to visit the State of Wu to learn about the most advanced free culture in the world today, and to gild themselves to avoid the limelight, and then come back in a few years.

……

Palace of Versailles.

A grand dance has just ended.

The Duke of Anjou, who was quite humanistic, couldn't help but approach Count Jia:
"Sir, with all due respect, could you please implement the London Treaty's provisions on returning trade surpluses in a different way?"

"why?"

"Your charity has stirred up unrest among the people."

“Isn’t charity good?”

"No. I hope you can try another way, like buying goods from your own country?"

Earl Jia stared at him seriously:
"Dear Duke, please tell me, what commodities does Frank have that my country does not have? Or is it inferior to yours?"

……

The Duke of Anjou was speechless.

Earl Jia asked meaningfully:

"You don't want to buy land. You don't want to buy large battleships. You still don't want to buy a shipyard. You don't want to buy all the shares of the East India Company."

"You can't ask me to buy 2 Parisian women, right? Of course, if you agree, it's not impossible."

The Duke of Anjou coughed violently and left in embarrassment.

Half an hour passed.

Louis XVI's official response came.

Allow Wu Ting to buy suburban land and build houses, castles and factories. In short, don't subsidize any Franks anymore.

The Frankish people were wealthy and honest and needed no aid from outsiders.

After receiving the official documents, Jia Xiaozhen left the Palace of Versailles whistling happily. That night, he invited several old friends to a party and opened a jar of 1782 daughter's red wine.

……

With the previous example, the rest is easy
Various countries followed Louis XVI's example and allowed the State of Wu to purchase their land.

At least the meat was rotten in the pot, and the money went directly into the national treasury.

Moreover, it is not difficult for all countries to infer that Wu Ting cannot dig this land away. What can an enclave do? Surrounded by your own territory, can your people still fall from the sky?
Sell!
It is also very good to recover one fifth of the surplus, which will add a considerable amount of income to the national treasury.

Under such circumstances, Earl Jia also calmed down. His goal had been achieved, and he was no longer enthusiastic about funding intellectuals and poor citizens from various countries.

Buying land in large quantities!

He bought land in the suburbs of London, Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam and Berlin, built houses, factories and gardens.

Western Europe finally returned to its former tranquility.

Ocean trade is smooth, the industrial revolution is advancing rapidly, and the colonies are cooperating and achieving win-win results. Everything is beautiful~
……

Only a very small number of elites realize the seriousness of the problem.

Staunton, who was granted the title of "Viscount Nottingham" by George III for opening the door to trade during his diplomatic mission to the East, changed his position again.

From being pro-Wu, it became anti-Wu.

The 360-degree turn in stance caught everyone off guard.

A true aristocrat.

House of Lords,
He gave a passionate speech:
"Gentlemen, we are being controlled by an invisible hand."

"Three months ago, I went to Fife to visit Mr. Adam Smith. He told me that even the most ordinary farmer's home in Fife now has porcelain worth no less than 3 pounds and a can of coarse tea. A middle-class family is likely to have a silk nightgown or a few embroidered handkerchiefs."

"In the towns, middle-class families showed off their wealth by the number of oriental objects they owned. They rushed to buy expensive tea, porcelain, silk, and all kinds of small items."

"The nobles are keen on buying oriental luxury goods, which come in many varieties and names. There are more than a dozen derivative products of jade alone."

……

A member of parliament raised his hand and interrupted him.

"Mr. Viscount, forgive my excitement."

"Take me as an example. I have two jade ruyi and four jade bracelets at home. My wife and daughter said that this is the jade health culture that originated from the oriental royal family? People take care of jade for three years, and jade takes care of people for a lifetime?"

Staunton nodded.

"Yes, sir, you are right. They sell stones as gold, and even sell them for more than gold~"

Someone echoed:

“This is robbery.”

The people around laughed.

It seems a bit extreme. No one is forcing you to buy it with a knife.

Another elderly member of parliament stood up:

"Gentlemen, look at me."

Everyone held their breath and watched the old man slowly take out a bunch of small things.

Have:
Jade snuff bottles, folding fans, embroidered handkerchiefs, sachets, and an exquisite ceramic vase.

……

The old congressman, dressed elegantly in a tuxedo, said:
"I am a rational consumer and I will not pay for meaningless jade."

“I only pay for things that work.”

"For example, this porcelain bottle contains slices of ginseng. When I feel tired, I put one slice in my mouth. The effect is great. For an old man, this is a reasonable consumption behavior~"

The nobles nodded.

The upper class knows that precious Chinese medicinal materials are the new trend recently.

The old councillor seemed quite sensible.

But in fact, ginseng is more expensive than gold.

Although there is ginseng in America, newspapers have repeatedly pointed out that the quality of American ginseng is poor, and it looks similar but not the same. Ordinary consumers cannot identify it by themselves and can only buy the real thing from certified stores. …

Staunton nodded slightly.

Thanks to these two Whigs for their support.

He continued loudly:

"Gentlemen, each of us bought a lot of goods from Wu. As a result, a large amount of silver quickly flowed into Wu. We originally thought that after opening the market, we could reduce the trade deficit~"

"But these years, we can't find anything to sell to them except raw materials from the colonies."

“They don’t need our products, but we can’t live without their products.”

"The kingdom's deficit last year was five times what it was in 1750."

"What's even scarier is that 5 times is not the end point. Where is the end point? 10 times? 20 times? Or 100 times? We don't know."

"Everyone in the Saxon Kingdom is working for the Wu Kingdom!"

Wow~
The crowd was in an uproar.

The discussion resounded through the sky and could not be calmed down for a long time.

This is indeed a serious problem, a problem that has been brewing since the 15th century. Not only has it not been solved over the past few hundred years, but it has become even more serious.

……

Prime Minister North, who is deeply trusted by the king, looked like an old monk in meditation, slowly circling two jade balls in his left hand.

difficult!
It’s difficult.

Oriental luxury goods cover everything from food, clothing, housing, transportation, eating, drinking and entertainment.

London is not stupid because of its abundance of money, but because the goods from Wu State are indeed good stuff.

There is a Chinese medicine clinic in Downing Street. The consultation fee is ridiculously expensive, but the doctors are very skilled.
Majored in both surgery and internal medicine.

The concept is very advanced.

I've been there for some illnesses and the results were very good.

The Chinese doctor also enthusiastically recommended two jade balls, which cost 20 gold coins, not expensive. He said that regular use can improve health and is especially suitable for senior citizens of status.

One plate, and I'm addicted.

My stiff fingers became more flexible, and my brain became more flexible too.

When I went there again, I was sold a bunch of ginseng slices, deer antlers, donkey-hide gelatin, dendrobium, and pearl powder.

Lord North bought them all.

What's wrong with a 60-year-old man spending some money on health and longevity? If gold coins can buy life, 100 gold coins for one day of life is a reasonable price.

……

A member of parliament stood up:
"Gentlemen, I think the kingdom should issue a ban to restrict ordinary citizens of the kingdom from consuming oriental goods."

Everyone laughed.

Fifty years ago, drinking tea was an aristocratic act.

The meaning is obvious.

Noble gentlemen are all people of status.

Enjoying oriental luxuries is to better serve the kingdom.

However, small factory owners, country gentry, doctors, lawyers, and architects should reduce their consumption appropriately. The middle class does not have much money in their pockets, and it is not worth promoting the behavior of saving several months' salary and then going into luxury stores to splurge.

The MPs all thought that there was some truth in this colleague's impulsive remarks.

At least it's honest.

If it weren't for the purpose of collecting taxes, the common people would have been banned from drinking tea.

……

Prime Minister North stood up:

"What do you say to this, Mr. Adam Smith?"

Everyone's eyes turned to Staunton.

Adam Smith, who wrote The Wealth of Nations, is a national treasure, with an influence even greater than that of an ordinary duke.

Staunton organized his words.

"Mr. Adam Smith was old but had a clear mind. He pointed out that the Qing Dynasty had been in a state of stagnation for a long time, and its development was basically stagnant. But the Wu Kingdom quickly broke this state of stagnation."

"He used eight words to describe the development of Wu: starting at a trot and galloping at full speed."

"Sir, you think that with the soil, climate and location of the Qing Dynasty, the upper limit of development was originally very high. It's just that the Tatar emperor deliberately interrupted the development process and destroyed the progress of the imperial system."

……

Lord North held the jade ball.

asked:

“How high is the ceiling?”

"All the kingdoms of Europe stacked together would be that high."

Wow~
The House of Lords was again in uproar.

That is the prophecy of Adam Smith, a national treasure.

Prime Minister North was blunt:

"Lord Staunton, you have made an unforgivable mistake. It was you and your delegation that opened the door to the Wu Kingdom. Now, you are standing here again to remind everyone to be wary of the Wu Kingdom."

"Yes. I think this is an ending that even God could not have imagined."

Seeing that Staunton's attitude was neither humble nor arrogant~
North was quite disgusted. He just wanted to obey orders and step down from the position of prime minister in peace.

I cursed in my heart:
"shameless."

……

"Viscount, does Mr. Adam Smith have any suggestions?"

"Yes!" said Staunton loudly, "He suggested to live in peace with Wu."

Prime Minister North nodded slightly.

He also thought that it was not the right time to fall out with Wu, as that would only cause unnecessary trouble, leading to Wu forming an alliance with the kingdom's enemies and thus getting involved in European affairs more quickly.

Suppose there is an elephant in the room.

The best thing to do is to pretend not to see it, live your life as usual, and leave the elephant to the next prime minister.

Why would the kingdom want to provoke such a behemoth? The most terrible outcome is not the loss of pounds, but the most terrible outcome is to be surrounded and beaten by the Wu Kingdom.

Aren’t the lessons of the North American War profound enough?
All of Europe was disgusted with the kingdom.

……

This discussion in the House of Lords shocked countless people.

George III remained silent and did not make any public statement.

The Whigs were generally dissatisfied with the Wu State, while the Tories had an ambiguous attitude.

The Whig Party, which was mainly composed of capitalists, had already felt the impact of Wu's goods on the mainland and even the colonies, and changed from being pro-Wu at the beginning to being anti-Wu.

The Tories represented the great nobles and could get a share of the trade. In addition, they needed to understand the king's attitude.

The public has mixed opinions.

Some people frantically criticized Downing Street for inaction, while others insisted on maintaining "free trade and friendship with Wu."

There was a great quarrel in the newspapers.

The image of the Wu State is half angel and half devil.

……

The situation of other countries is not much better, and "trade deficit" has become an unavoidable topic.

But the three major treaties were signed voluntarily.

Although it is not impossible to unilaterally tear up the treaty, the State of Wu will definitely retaliate if that happens, and the neighboring countries may not necessarily stand on their side.

It would be best if all the European kingdoms joined forces to tear up the treaty, so that they would have the confidence.

The country least affected by this trade crisis was Prussia.

The Junker nobles, the backbone of Prussia, were determined and held their purse strings tight, and they would not buy anything except low-quality tea.

Consumerism?

nonexistent.

The Junker nobles were usually content to drink some moonshine and play with the peasant women on their own estates.

When the observers of the Central Asian War returned home, all the Junker nobles became very interested in the tactics and weapons of the Wu army.

They pondered and practiced over and over again.

Just to keep up with the new round of arms race and keep up with the new war era of "steamships, rockets, and breech-loading guns".

(End of this chapter)