Li Junwei nodded slightly and said, "Yes, war is not just about hand-to-hand combat, swords and guns against the enemy."

Overseas, suppressing the Imperial competitors through economic means is the empire's consistent method. The most successful case is that the Empire organized an intercontinental trade fleet, directly transporting Oriental goods to Lisbon and selling them to Europe. This has led to the price of goods from the East, from spices, sugar, porcelain, silk to tea and coffee, and has plummeted. Over the past century, the profit margin of East-West trade of more than 200% has been compressed by most, which has directly led to a significant reduction in the profits of East India companies in various countries.

If profits decrease, you cannot invest too much power in the East. The result is that after the rise of the empire, European countries' colonies in the East shrank one after another, and often they could not operate themselves, so they gave up. As for establishing armed forces and conquering countries or tribes, this method that requires large capital investment cannot be carried out.

If East India companies in various countries were not monopolistic, they would have gone bankrupt long ago.

However, economic competition is not only about protecting its own sphere of influence, but also about pioneering. For example, in the American colonies, the Empire welcomed all Spanish smuggling merchants from the Americas and exempted them from taxes. The precious goods from the empire and the industrial and technical products produced locally in the Americas have poured into all parts of the Americas. You should know that these are monopolized by the large merchants in Spain. The more the empire imported, the more they lost.

After He Wenxi took over the Ministry of Overseas Affairs, he immediately prepared competition for North American colonies. Among them, in Southern Africa and South America, the vigorous development of tobacco cultivation in Yizhou region is the key to these plans.

You should know that on the North American continent, the most populous and richest colony is the Virginia region run by the British, which relies on tobacco cultivation. A large amount of tobacco poured into the European market, lowering the price of tobacco and causing the economic development of the Virginia region to plummet.

Although Li Junwei is now in charge of several departments as the King of Residents, he is mainly in the Ministry of Overseas Affairs, and most of the people involved in the work in the Americas. After working for a month and a half, he has a general understanding of the Americas. However, in fact, the information collected by the Ministry of Overseas Affairs is not comprehensive enough, and some of it is simply contradictory, so Li Junwei can only believe it with caution.

"Today is not counted as the imperial meeting, there are only three of us brothers, and there are no one else." In the carriage heading to the palace, Lin Junhong skillfully lit a cigarette and handed it to Li Junwei. Li Junwei shook his head and said he would not smoke. Lin Junhong smiled: "I heard that many places overseas not only do not restrict tobacco, but also have private cigarettes. Why haven't you tasted it for many years?"

Li Junwei smiled and said, "It's not a good thing, what's worth tasting? The tobacco and alcohol are nothing more than entertainment, pretending to be, and anesthetic. I have that skill. Will it be different to find a beautiful girl to be indulged in luxury?"

"Smoking is banned in Southeast Asia, have you heard that?" Lin Junhong simply put away the cigarette box and put out half of the cigarette.

"I heard that Zuo just sold the tobacco that the people of the empire smoked to Europe." Li Junwei said lightly.

Lin Junhong smiled: "I thought it was Su Ri'an who was banning smoking in Nanyang."

Li Junwei shook his head. Lin Junhong is now in charge of the Senate. His natural misconduct with Su Ri'an is inevitable, no matter what their personal relationship is, it is impossible to avoid. After all, this is determined by his butt rather than his head. He himself does not want to get involved in these things. Among them, the balance is what the emperor should control.

"Su Ri'an was a little capable. He originally thought he was just a selfless person, but he really tried to solve the civil unrest in Nanyang, but this guy also learned bad things. He has submitted a report to the cabinet these days that with the majority of illegal immigrants moving, what are the various ethnic groups in Nanyang living in harmony? Isn't this nonsense?" Lin Junhong said nothing.

"What's the nonsense?"

Lin Junhong said: "There are many legal workers and legal foreigners in Nanyang. Wouldn't these people be dissatisfied? You should know that these people are rich and occupy very good jobs. For the sake of their interests, the local people have not pointed the finger at them?"

This is true. People who obtain legal status in the empire are either rich or skilled. Because of the strict assessment, in fact, the overall quality of legal immigrants is much higher than that of the people in the empire. All legal immigrants must be literate and speak Mandarin, but many ordinary people cannot do it.

Li Junwei looked at Lin Junhong and asked, "Brother Junhong, do you know who is the most xenophobic person in Nanyang?"

"Land-lost farmer?"

"wrong!"

“Radical student body!”

"wrong!"

“Religious people?”

"wrong!"

Lin Junhong guessed three of them in a row, and could only ask for advice with his fists. Li Junwei said: "The most xenophobic thing is the immigration group that has obtained French identity in the empire, and it is also the most favorable helper for the illegal immigration wave in Nanyang to go to Xijin and the colonies. These people will use their get off work hours or holidays to assist in documents, translations and community work for free. They will also take the initiative to report hidden illegal immigrants. In fact, in the process of resettling illegal immigrants, the dirtiest, tiring and most criticized work are done by these people, and they don't even need to pay."

"This is impossible!" Lin Junhong found it difficult to believe Li Junwei's words. He said, "How could they help us deal with our own tribe and fellow church members......" After thinking for a while, Lin Junhong asked, "Is it because the civil turmoil is very serious, and these people use this to prove their loyalty to the empire?"

"There are factors in this regard, but not the main ones." Li Junwei explained: "You and I have lived in a secular world since childhood and have little contact with religious things. Among all religions around the world, there is a phenomenon called converts fanaticism, that is, those newly converted and newly entered the religion are more radical and more fanatical than the fundamentalists.

Aren’t Spain and Portugal the simplest examples? They changed from the Moorish Catholic rule to Catholics, became the most fanatical Catholics, and then preached everywhere.

The same is true for those legal immigrants. Although they have obtained legal status, their customs, languages, and habits are always different from those of the imperial people, and their skin color and appearance are also very different, so they will inevitably be excluded and discriminated against. However, they are a minority in society, and our civilization and system are advanced than their mother country. This will lead to pathological reflection, that is, being discriminated against is not the fault of the imperial people, but the fault of the mother country.

It is the backward and ignorance of the mother country that makes oneself discriminated against, so when they see these compatriots appearing in front of them and causing more discrimination and exclusion, they are the most unacceptable, so they want to drive these people away."

Lin Junhong had no choice but to say: "It's so rare."

When the two arrived at the imperial study room, Concubine Rong was inside, so she invited the female attendant to inform him. Concubine Rong came out quickly, saluted the two, and then left. Lin Junhong was about to go in, and found that Li Junwei was staring at Concubine Rong's back in a daze. He coughed lightly: "Cough cough, third brother, what are you doing?"

"Look at Concubine Rong."

"Stop looking, it's impolite and not in accordance with the rules." Lin Junhong reminded.

Li Junwei said: "Look at what is the female official behind her holding in her arms?"

"What else can it be? The little prince, this young master is the biggest treasure in the entire palace."

"I mean another female official." Li Junwei said.

Lin Junhong shook his head, but he didn't see clearly. In fact, he didn't see anything else holding him, so he looked at the attendant, who whispered: "It's a Siberian Husky Cub."

"I think it's just a puppy." Lin Junhong said with disdainful expression: "Third brother, we have grown up together, we have raised dogs and horses, what's the point? It's a big fuss."

Li Junwei narrowed his eyes and said, "Is that true? But our family's dog was not held in his arms."

Compared to dogs, Lin Junhong likes horses more. He thought about his youth and murmured: "It seems that this is true, and he hasn't seen a dog in the palace for many years."

"It was the Empress Dowager's consent, and the Empress Dowager said..." the attendant explained in a low voice.

Li Junwei glared at him: "Shut up."

"You two are here? Let's sit, sit." When Li Junhua saw the two brothers coming, he immediately greeted him. Seeing that he was in a good mood, Li Junhua said, "I'm asking you to come, it's still about the European Union."

Li Junhua made tea with his own hands and said: "The Congress and the Cabinet still have opinions and cannot be unified. Now there is a mainstream voice, that is, in the Continental War, we can pursue a neutral policy, and do not support or oppose either party, and use this as a bargaining chip to open up the European market as much as possible and expand our influence.

Of course, although we do not participate in the war, we can influence the balance through war loans, weapons trade and other methods, which is also in line with our offshore balance strategy. Third, what about your opinion?"

Li Junwei drank tea and said casually: "Of course I agree, so that we can make peace money and no one will die. And I can also enjoy the peace of mind in China. Pei Yuanqi can handle the remaining affairs, and everyone is happy."

"Don't be emotional. If you have something to say, you can say whatever you think in your heart. There are no outsiders, you can speak freely." Li Junhua said calmly.

Li Junwei said: "Then can I curse people?"

"Okay, you should express it carefully." Li Junhua knew his younger brother's temper. If he agreed, he would definitely curse those senior officials who proposed the "glorious neutrality" strategy. He would even get the list of those people after the scolding, and then find opportunities to deal with them one by one in the future. This is true for King Yu. He has never been a gentleman, nor does he want to be a gentleman, but just a noble villain. As for political power, whether there is or not, he never cared.

Lin Junhong smoothed out: "Yes, third brother, you'd better stop scolding, otherwise I will definitely be affected."

Li Junwei said helplessly: "Glorious neutrality is a very short-sighted behavior. Although our offshore balance principle destined that we will not intervene in the European war for a long time in the future, the two brothers, not having a sword in their hands is completely different from not having a sword in their hands."

When Li Junhua heard this, the work in his hand stopped and said, "Continue talking."

"Does the emperor know? Thirty years ago, France had less than 50,000 troops, but now France already had 250,000 troops. As long as the war ends in Western Europe and the great expansion of troops and preparations for war, France and its enemies alone might have an army of one million people appearing on various battlefields.

Of course, France is strong, but it is enemies on all sides, Britain, the Netherlands, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. Of course, this is very good. The mainland situation and offshore balance are our consistent propositions, but war will change all this, and a famous general can change the balance of power in a battle or even just an epidemic.

In other words, even if France has 500,000 troops, it is scattered on at least three battlefields, which creates a problem. Any battle that loses 50,000 troops can lead to the collapse of France's battlefield in a certain direction. Then it is a comprehensive strategic collapse. If we are allies of France, can we invest 50,000 troops to block this gap at critical moments?"

Lin Junhong said: "Three, we can be the enemy of France."

"Yes, of course we can choose to be enemies with France, which will be a balance of power on the mainland. But as long as France wins a decisive war, 200,000 troops will appear on the east bank of the Rhine, lowlands or Spain. Will we have the ability to block these 200,000 people at that time?" Li Junwei asked back.

Lin Junhong said angrily: "That's better to be a French ally. 50,000 or 200,000, it's a very simple multiple-choice question."

"What does this have to do with what we are discussing? Even the army of 50,000 people or the army of 50,000 people in Europe are beyond our reach in distant Western Europe." Li Junhua said.

The Empire now has a vast continental grassland. If the battlefield is in Eastern and Southern Europe, it is easy for cavalry to go to the battlefield in the direction of the Empire's continent, but the problem is that the battlefield has been transferred to Western Europe.

Li Junwei said: "Yes, we can't do it, so will we not do it? The result is that no matter what Europeans look like, the situation will not be controlled by us. This time we do not have this ability, which does not mean that we will never have the ability. The continent is now in a warring state and the war will not end. Will we still remain neutral in a hundred years?

Brother Jun Hong, you commanded the Goa War. Just imagine, twenty years ago, was the Empire qualified to participate in such a war against the power of the subcontinent?"

Lin Junhong shook his head directly. The reason why the empire and allies could invest a large amount of troops to defeat the Mughal Empire during the Goa War was because the empire had a strong foundation in Southeast Asia and East Africa, and had achieved the ability to mobilize these two directions. Assuming that twenty years ago, it would be impossible to support such a war.

Thinking of this, Lin Junhong understood: "You mean North America."
Chapter completed!