The senior officers are the brain, while the middle and lower officers are the backbone of an army. Without the brain and backbone, how can the new Indian firearms operate properly?

In fact, the situation was even worse than Zhao Mingde's estimate, because Aurangzebu's cruelty was purged, not only the officers, but even some of the soldiers were implicated. Until the attack of the Hindustan Empire, the purge was still in progress, otherwise Li Jundu would not have received any assistance from the Mughal Empire.

After everyone discussed for half an hour, the emperor finally arrived and began the imperial meeting.

The report was made by the Navy Minister, who jointly made a judgment with the intelligence departments and other aspects that the Mughal Empire was turbulent and unstable in the morale of the military. The power of one country alone could not withstand the attack of the Hindustan Empire. The Deccan Alliance army was small in scale, and if it wanted to intervene, it would take time. Therefore, the only way to maintain the balance of power in the subcontinent was to maintain the empire's strategic goal of the subcontinent. The empire's personal intervention was not only diplomatic support and material assistance, but also to directly send troops, not just fleets, but also land forces, and the scale could not be too small.

The ministers raised questions and the Navy ministers answered one by one. For example, the source of military expenditure of the Hindustan Empire was the misappropriated railway loans loaned to it by the embezzled empire, and the army could be motivated by rewarding land, authorizing looting or even massacre of cities.

After the end, at least everyone believed in the judgment given by the military that the Mughal Empire could not hold on.

However, if we want to join the war, everyone still cannot make a decision.

The reason is actually very simple. The empire was also facing difficulties at this time, especially financial difficulties. There are many factors that caused financial difficulties. For example, the emperor always asked the empire to popularize primary education, and education funds exceeded the expenditure year by year. Immigration and construction funds in Xijin, North America, and Suez areas have also soared year by year. Just a Suez Canal plan exceeded the expenditure more than twice.

But this is just the superficial. The core factor is that the empire encountered an overproduction crisis that erupted periodically in the production process of capitalism, that is, an economic crisis. This economic crisis is called the "rail speculation crisis".

Li Junhua was called the railway emperor by the people of the empire, not only because this emperor participated in the construction of the Beijing-Tianjin Railway, the first railway of the empire, during his princely period, but also because during his reign, large-scale investment in the construction of railways triggered a frenzy of railway construction.

At the beginning, railway construction was just a problem of excessive investment, because the emperor always adhered to the three principles of state-owned construction, state-owned and state-owned, and only state-owned enterprises could participate in railway construction. The Imperial Railway Corporation not only invested all the profits generated by operating railways every year in the construction of new lines or the expansion of multiple lines, but the national finance would also invest a large amount of funds every year.

The construction of railways greatly promoted the development of mining, steel and other industries, and played a crucial role in the development and construction of underdeveloped inland water transport. For the imperial economy, the construction of railways was a positive effect. But for this reason, during the 25th year of the empire, Li Junhua relaxed the control measures on railways.

In fact, there are two main reasons. First, it is just state investment. Even if the state lends to banks on a large scale and obtains private financing, it still cannot meet the capital needs of Imperial Railway construction, so private capital is needed.

Second, the empire needs to concentrate financial resources and investment and construction have a significant impact on national strategy, but because it will not generate profits and private capital will not invest in railway lines, the representative of which is the Eurasian continental bridge in the mainland vertical line plan, and the railway from the Black Sea to the coastal cities of China.

After adjustment, the empire's railway policy only adhered to the principle of state ownership and did not insist on complete state-owned operation or national construction. In order to promote private capital investment in railway construction, many preferential treatments were even given.

As long as private enterprises invest in the construction of a railway line, they can not only get tax incentives, but also obtain at least fifteen years of operation rights of the railway line after completion to recover costs and create profits. Private railway companies can also obtain the right to develop and use state-owned land around the railway line, ranging from 500 meters on both sides to 2 kilometers. The government will also help complete the expropriation of private land and demolition of the people.

In order to concentrate funds to open the railway from Lanzhou to Qingdao, the imperial government officially bid for the Peninsula Railway that had begun at the end of the 25th year of the empire. This railway, together with Seoul to Chenyang, can directly import coal from Liaoning to the coal-deficient Seoul area. Because it has been built for two years, this railway was immediately sought after by private capital. With the completion of the empire in the 28th year, it generated profits that year, especially from the section from Pyongyang to Seoul. The profits are very high, and the enthusiasm of private capital to participate in railway construction has increased.

During the twenty-five years of the empire, the empire had only 12,000 kilometers of railways, but by the thirty-four years of the empire, the railway mileage exceeded 30,000 kilometers. Judging from the speed of railway expansion, it was very successful, and it also led to the development of the empire's heavy industry.

However, since the 31st year of the empire, there have been problems with railway construction. The reason is that many private railway companies have been unable to make profits for a long time, so the railway lines they applied for gradually decreased, and even some lines that have been applied for and started construction have chosen to stop construction. In the 33rd year of the empire, private railway companies went bankrupt on a large scale, and the steel smelting and mining related industries have also stagnated. Banks have also gone bankrupt due to too many bad debts, and an economic crisis that has swept the whole country and even affected the whole world has emerged.

If it weren't for this, the empire would not have promoted railways on a large scale and built railways on a large scale in friendly countries such as the vassal states of the South China Sea, the Hindustan Empire, the Ottomans, Prussia, the Netherlands, and Portugal.

The reason for the occurrence of a railway speculation crisis is very simple, that is, due to various factors, most railway lines cannot make profits.

First of all, there is a technical problem. In the 25th year of the empire, the empire had just completed the construction of national railway rules and regulations and unified standards. Railway technology has not yet been fully mature. Take railway locomotives as an example. In the 30th year of the empire, the towing capacity of the empire's latest steam-powered locomotive reached about 450 tons, which made the railway's transportation capacity not particularly outstanding.

The profitable routes of the Imperial state-owned railway include the following types: First, routes with rich passenger flow, such as the Beijing-Tianjin Line and the Shensu Line, which can be profitable by selling tickets alone. Second, some railway lines, such as the Taiyuan-Tianjin Railway, mainly transport coal from Shanxi. Although the dragging capacity is insufficient, it cannot stand this special line railway. Based on the special line allocation, a large number of trains travel back and forth on the railway line, and the coal output is transported to the south of the coal-fired land. The trains directly depart from the coal mine and directly drive into the coal-specific terminal in Tianjin.

The more profitable routes are routes from densely populated areas, such as the Jinghan and Jingpu Railway, which travel between Beijing and Wuhan, Beijing and Jiangning, and pass through many densely populated cities along the way. Not only does it have passenger traffic, but it also transports high-value goods mainly including textiles and industrial products.

The Imperial Railway has a history of twenty-five years. What lines can make profits and what cannot be profitable? The railway bureau will clear the door, so the profitable lines will naturally be developed by themselves.

Around twenty-eight years after the railway construction, private railway companies launched many projects that were difficult to succeed in ten or even twenty years. For example, the largest private railway company hosted the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway, and actually wanted to invest in the construction of the first railway bridge across the Yangtze River in the empire. As a result, three million yuan was invested, and even a bridge pier was not built. When passing Nanling, although the railway line was built, the locomotive had limited tension and could not be crossed at all. It turned into a tunnel that was excavated until bankruptcy was not dug.

By the 34th year of the empire, the economic crisis caused by railway speculation had been controlled. The solution was to go out and build railways abroad. Not only did the steel production capacity increased due to the expansion of railways, but also the expanded production capacity due to the construction of a large number of ships. At present, the unlucky ones were railway companies and investment capitalists. Now, there is an argument that many people believe that the railway reform that occurred nine years ago was a conspiracy against capitalists by Emperor Li Junhua.

There are many evidences of such conspiracy. For example, many railways handed over to private companies are routes that cannot be approved by the railway bureau, and private capital will be qualified as long as it applies. When applying for a railway line, it is necessary to pay a deposit. The railway will not be open to traffic within the specified time limit, the deposit will not be refunded, the railway will not be open to traffic, and the land development rights on both sides cannot be obtained.

But in the 34th year of the empire, when the railway crisis gradually passed, the capitalists discovered that the railway companies they invested in were bankrupt, but the state-owned heavy industries, power companies, etc. that they promoted the development were saved.

However, this argument was only in its infancy, and the real climax was when the empire was forty years. The imperial government repurchased many developed railway lines at a very low price in the name of helping private railway companies. With the advancement of railway technology, these lines were laid on a large scale in the empire about forty-five years and then made profits. At that time, private capital wanted to host the railway again and found that the railway lines that could be approved twenty years ago could not be approved now. The ones that could be approved were a large number of more remote and more complex railway lines.

But no matter what, this railway speculation crisis did cause losses to the empire. At least during the 34th year of the empire, the national finances were very tense.

Although the country's finances were tight, the emperor still ensured education funds in the budget approval at the beginning of the 34th year of the empire. No scientific research funds or investment funds for major projects were reduced in slightest, and some were still increasing. The Navy and Army were in panic for a long time before they received treatment that would not reduce military spending. When the finances were tight, they naturally became more cautious about starting a war.

At the imperial meeting, more information was disclosed. First of all, it is certain that the Mughal Empire's finances alone could not afford a full-scale war, and it was even more impossible to serve the imperial army. Because after the Mughal Empire was in the eastern part of the eastern region, the Mughal Empire had several battles with the Hindustan Empire, and the aristocratic class, including Aurangzeb, did not give up their luxurious life, so they borrowed a large amount of loans from foreign capital, including the imperial side.

The result of this is that once troops are sent, the empire will have to pay more war funds and even provide for the military expenditure of the Mughal Empire.

But the amount of financial support is only a small account. The key is whether the empire must adhere to the national strategy of balanced power in the subcontinent. If it is not necessary to maintain it, it is acceptable to sit idly by and watch Hindustan destroy the Mughal Empire and even unify the entire subcontinent. However, if this situation is needed, troops must be sent to intervene.

The imperial leaders also had differences on this issue.

Some senior officials believe that the empire is not another country to other countries in the world, but another type of country.

Compared with the feudal dynasties on the subcontinent, the empire is a capitalist country with advantages in systems and technology. Even if the subcontinent is unified, it is only a feudal royal country. Compared with the empire in the industrial revolution, it is a whole era. This group of people can also accept the unification of Japan.

The empire also has the advantage of scale. The subcontinent is completely unified and is just a big country with a population of 100 million. Compared with the empire that is the world's hegemon, even if it does not consider other things and only looks at the national endowment, it is an order of magnitude worse.

The other faction is wary of the potential of the subcontinent in terms of population, land, etc., and believes that once a powerful power rises, it will challenge the empire's maritime hegemony and resist the empire's economic expansion in the subcontinent. It is better to have a three-legged balance of power in the subcontinent.

The first imperial meeting did not make a resolution on whether to participate in the war, so it could only end, and agreed to hold a second meeting on the second day. However, the emperor had issued an order to prepare for the war, and the Marines and the Army gathered in Penang and Ceylon, and the military used a scale of 140,000. This large-scale mobilization was to prepare in advance for participating in the war. Even if they did not participate in the war, they would have to protect the Deccan Alliance.

In fact, the close ministers around Li Junhua also understood that the emperor was very confused at this time, national strategy and personal feelings.
Chapter completed!