"...Teacher, all these you see are the changes that have developed in the overseas autonomous territories in the past few years. Compared with the Kingdom itself, this is a land full of vitality. We only need guidance and fair distribution of labor. With the income obtained, the hard-working people will naturally work hard to make their lives happier... "
Claude personally went to the Port of Corbicius to welcome the arrival of Countess Maria. Because Countess Maria was unwell during the half-month sea journey and needed to rest for a few more days in the Port of Corbicius, Claude went to the port of Corbicius. He rushed to the hotel where he was staying to express his friendship as a teacher and student.
After resting for another three days, Maria, accompanied by Claude, took a carriage to the town of Ancano, entered the train station, and boarded the special carriage that Claude had arranged for her. The scenery along the way surprised Madam Maria. She felt that the prosperity here was comparable to the towns surrounding the royal capital. Especially the train, which she had never heard of, so she was very curious and asked Claude about it. Of course, Claude had to be more modest.
This time, Lady Maria came to the Overseas Dominion as the special envoy of Frederick I. She was accompanied by her eldest son Hettinger, wearing the uniform of a captain of the Guards Corps and wearing a A revolver. However, before entering the carriage, his revolver was confiscated by the big man Germi. The young man did not even have the courage to protest, so he obediently took off the holster and handed it to the big man Germi.
This scene was seen by Madam Maria. She didn't say anything, but sighed deeply. Compared with Claude, who was almost the same age, she only felt that her eldest son was really disappointing. If I had put more thought into disciplining my children, my son might have been able to achieve something better. Apart from anything else, if his marriage to Claude's sister Anna was successful, then he wouldn't have to work so hard for his family anymore...
During the two days and three nights traveling to Orchid Lake City, Claude and Lady Maria had a frank exchange of views on the relationship between the Kingdom and the Overseas Dominions. They also discussed the reasons why the Kingdom was in the state it is in today. Claude pointed out to Madam Maria very bluntly that the overseas territories were inevitably heading toward autonomy. Even without the colonial war initiated by the Kingdom of Hicks, the overseas territories would eventually become autonomous territories.
Claude believes that autonomy is not independence, and there is no need for His Majesty the King to worry about it. After the war in the eastern region ended that year, the kingdom was in urgent need of blood transfusions to restore the economy. The newly occupied territories were in ruins, and the kingdom could only turn its target of exploitation to overseas territories. At that time, the people of the overseas territories were already unable to bear the economic restrictions and scissor-like ocean trade policies imposed by the Kingdom on the territories, and a strong sense of resistance was brewing. The businessmen of the Mining and Commercial Association and many powerful local families were the ones who most wanted to fight in the territories. The people who fell out with the kingdom.
If there had not been this colonial war initiated by the Kingdom of Hicks, the overseas territories themselves might have started riots before long, and the losses to the kingdom might have been even greater. This colonial war allowed the Rangers to gain a foothold in the overseas territories, and because the kingdom was unable to support the war in the overseas territories, the Rangers were transformed into local legions in the overseas territories, which were different from those in the territories. The local forces under their leadership are more closely integrated. The establishment of the war zone is more like untying the reins tied to the neck of overseas directly-administered leaders.
In order to win this colonial war, the war zone could only vigorously develop the economy of the overseas territories without the support of the kingdom. The main thing in fighting a war is logistics. In order to tap the war potential and expand the supply of troops, the directly-administered war zone can only focus on the kingdom. At that time, two kings were competing for the throne in the kingdom, and the political situation was unstable, which gave the directly-administered war zone the opportunity to immigrate heavily from the kingdom itself. More than two million family members and relatives of soldiers from the two legions migrated to overseas territories directly under the Central Government, allowing the territory's theater to make up for the lack of additional troops.
Everything in the overseas autonomous territories was developed with painstaking efforts by the immigrants from the kingdom. It was they who helped the autonomous territories defeat the Kingdom of Hicks and win the colonial war. At that time, Sterling XI, after making the kingdom a mess and a mess, couldn't wait to treat the overseas territories as a piece of fat. He sent a special envoy to come directly with a knife to cut the meat, which ultimately aroused the disgust and anger of the people in the entire overseas territory. With the promotion of those businessmen and local celebrities, the direct-administered territory naturally became an autonomous territory.
Claude did not deny the decisive role played by the territorial war zone in the process of autonomy, but this was also forced by the kingdom. Sterling XI's unfairness and harshness towards the five generals and the soldiers of the two legions who fought bloody battles angered all the officers and soldiers who had made great contributions to the country's expansion of territory. This was why no one opposed the renaming of the Directly-administered Territory War Zone to the Autonomous Territory Military District. For this reason, all legion soldiers regard themselves as members of the Dominion, and this place has become their new hometown.
It can be said that the autonomy of the overseas territories is the unanimous wish of all the immigrants from the kingdom living here. No one wants the autonomous territories to return to the situation before the colonial war. At that time, this place was a barbaric wilderness. The governors and admirals sent by the kingdom regarded this place as a place of exile. They only cared about making money, and all industries were in ruins and people's livelihood was difficult. Now, this is a land full of hope and a happy new homeland that all the people of the overseas autonomous territories have worked hard to develop.
Claude pointed out to Madam Maria that the biggest difference between the kingdom, or between Frederick I and the overseas dominions was the difference in perception. He regarded the overseas dominions as rebellion. Autonomy is not independence, and the people of overseas dominions are not rebellion against the kingdom. They also remember that they are immigrants from the Kingdom of Ovilas, they also have feelings for their family and country, and they are willing to provide the kingdom with the help they can. Unless the request from the Kingdom itself is too outrageous, just like the Kingdom's special envoy who was expelled last time, his request is simply whimsical, and it is cutting off the foundation of the economic development of the overseas autonomous territories...
Of course, Mrs. Maria would not agree with Claude's view. She believed that in the face of a national crisis, if the overseas autonomous territories truly believed that they were still citizens of the Kingdom of Overas, they should put aside their past grudges and do their best to help the kingdom resist foreign enemies. Instead of taking the opportunity to coerce the kingdom and propose conditions for autonomy that are tantamount to rebellion.
Claude could only smile bitterly. This was due to the different positions of his butt. He could only tell Mrs. Maria that the overseas autonomous territories had fulfilled their obligations and duties to the kingdom. Among other things, one million gold crowns worth of food and agricultural products, 200,000 Obash III standard matchlock guns, 1,000 old muzzle-loading light infantry field artillery, and 20,000 medium and heavy pieces Throwing bombs and one thousand throwing devices each. The total value is nearly three million gold crowns, all provided free of charge. This has exceeded all the support provided by the Kingdom to the territorial war zones during the colonial war.
There are some things that Claude feels he can explain to Madam Maria in private, and he analyzes them one by one to Madam Maria. For example, before the overseas territories developed, all the kingdom could obtain from the entire overseas territories was only 300,000 gold crowns in taxes and 100,000 gold crowns in tribute. income. In addition, the ocean-going commercial trade between the two continents can also bring various indirect taxes to the kingdom.
But the truth is cruel. The kingdom regards the entire overseas territories as a resource source for plundering wealth. Most of the profits are obtained by the kingdom's old noble families, and the remaining profits from ocean-going commercial trade are also obtained by the kingdom. Monopolized by the emerging commercial aristocratic forces, the benefits that the kingdom can obtain are only a small part, but the big part has long been divided up, and the infamy has been borne by the kingdom.
To give a very simple example, 70% of the mineral resources produced by the overseas territories were purchased by the Kingdom at extremely low prices and shipped back to the Kingdom, where they were distributed to five military industries. Don't forget that these five military industries are in the hands of established noble families. They get these mineral resources almost free of charge, but the weapons and armaments produced are paid for by the kingdom. Most of the profits go to these established noble families. In the hands of aristocratic families. Once in and out, the income of these established noble families is more than one million gold crowns every year...
The emerging business aristocrats are also very smart. They cannot get a share of the mineral resources of the overseas territories, but they can monopolize the commercial and trade exchanges between the two continents. They sold the goods produced in the kingdom to overseas territories directly at high prices, and purchased the specialties from the territories at low prices, earning profits that were no less than mineral resources.
The old aristocratic families were jealous of these commercial interests, so they used the commercial exclusivity and pricing power of each local county to restrict the monopoly of ocean commerce and trade of the emerging business aristocrats, thus triggering a power struggle between the two.
Claude has always believed that the so-called free trade advocated by the emerging commercial aristocracy is actually just an attempt to break the commercial monopoly and pricing power of the old aristocratic families over the various local counties in the kingdom. In fact, what they are pursuing is monopoly profits from ocean-going commercial trade. This can be concluded from their use of the pricing power of goods in ocean-going commercial trade. They are all bad things. The kingdom's current situation has a lot to do with the power struggle caused by these two noble factions.
If Prince Hansback successfully succeeds to the throne, even if the interests of the old aristocratic families are damaged, the Kingdom of Overas will still be the dominant power in the east of Farea Continent. It was just that the emerging business aristocracy pushed Prince Wedelek to fight for the throne for their own benefit. While the established aristocratic families stood by and watched, Prince Hansback ran away in anger, kicking off the civil war in the kingdom. This civil war brought The kingdom's trauma is the most severe...
The problem with Prince Hansback was that he was overly conceited. He didn't know who the main enemy was until he raised his troops to attack the kingdom's homeland. He believes that he can clean up the situation in the entire kingdom with the power he has in his hands, and still maintains his original intention of weakening the power of the established noble families. Therefore, after the surprise attack on the Ibiniste Plain and the occupation of the royal capital, the forces of the established noble families and emerging commercial nobles were wiped out. In the end, the established aristocratic families were forced to side with Prince Wedelek, laying the foundation for his failure in the kingdom.
The participation of the forces of the old aristocratic families resulted in the loss of both sides. The kingdom itself was reduced to ruins. After the defeat, the eldest prince Hansback withdrew his troops back to the new occupied territory with hatred. As a result, he was assassinated and ended the kingdom's history. But the victorious established aristocratic families also felt uncomfortable, because this civil war in the kingdom only harmed their interests. After the profit-making Prince Wedelek became King Sterling XI, he relied heavily on people from the emerging business aristocracy, leaving aside the forces of the established aristocratic families that pushed him to the throne.
Soon these old aristocratic family forces regretted that Sterling XI was not a wise king and was evolving into a tyrant. The emerging business aristocrats he used were more like mad dogs. In order to make up for the economic losses they suffered in the kingdom's civil war, they used the name of the liquidation and accountability ambassador given to them by Sterling XI to arrest people in various local counties in the kingdom. Those so-called accomplices and supporters of the great prince have made the people in the kingdom miserable, with refugees everywhere and bandits everywhere.
So these old aristocratic families decided to bring order to the chaos and launched a mutiny to elect Frederic I to power as the new king of the Kingdom of Ovelas. Although it was delayed for a year because the Overseas Dominion Military Region came to the Kingdom to rob the machinery and equipment to transport the refugees, the forces of the established aristocratic families still used the father-in-law of Sterling XI to drag them into the Kingdom during this period. Marshal Duke Siegfried's Red Dragon Legion tested the combat power of the Thunder Legion in the Dominion Military Region and came to the conclusion that it was unmatched.
Why after Frederic I ascended the throne, the overseas dominions sent envoys to congratulate and prepare to improve relations with the kingdom, but still received cold treatment in the royal capital. The reason is simple. The old aristocratic families who now control the kingdom still regard the overseas dominions as Rebellion, they hope that the overseas autonomous territories can return to the days when they were free to take whatever they wanted. Cutting off people's wealth is like killing their parents. For the established aristocratic families, they cannot give up such a large amount of wealth that does not originally belong to them. ... ...
Claude asked Madam Maria, was the request made by the Overseas Dominion excessive? The Kingdom's mainland and the Overseas Dominion were separated by an ocean of silence. Just a smooth sailing trip by boat would take half a month. Under such circumstances, administrative measures and personnel should be maintained. A certain independent status in promotion, finance and taxation, economy and finance, and military strength is to effectively enable the entire overseas autonomous territory to develop better and faster. Instead of delaying indefinitely some measures that can help overseas autonomous territories in order to obtain the Kingdom's approval and permission.
Therefore, the Kingdom's envoy who was expelled last time and proposed that the Kingdom have the right to approve and verify the policies of overseas autonomous territories is purely making things difficult. This is nothing more than a word game played by the old aristocratic families who control the power of the Kingdom. If the overseas dominions agree, then there will be no difference between autonomy and direct jurisdiction.
There is also the right to allow goods produced in overseas autonomous territories to enter the Kingdom for trading. There is actually no difference between having it or not. As long as the commercial exclusivity and pricing power of the local counties in the Kingdom are in the hands of the old aristocratic families and commercial aristocrats, they will have the final say on how much the goods produced in the overseas autonomous territories will be sold after they are delivered to the Kingdom. The kingdom's envoy also proposed cooperating with the kingdom's trading houses and local powerful families. This is nothing more than letting the overseas autonomous territories act as workshops for them.
Perhaps they think that our overseas autonomous territories should be grateful for these two conditions of the gift, so the lion opened his mouth and asked our overseas autonomous territories to provide free grain and other agricultural products worth three million gold crowns to the Kingdom this year and next year, five million The Kingdom of Jinkron is in urgent need of mineral resources, as well as paying taxes and tributes of 1.5 million gold kroner to the kingdom every year.
Claude said that sometimes he really couldn’t understand. Do they regard the nearly seven million immigrants from the kingdom in the overseas autonomous territories as slaves whose life and death are controlled by them
Precisely because the nearly seven million immigrants from the Kingdom in the overseas autonomous territories still regard themselves as subjects of the Kingdom of Ovelas, the overseas autonomous territories are willing to pay taxes and tributes of 400,000 gold crowns to the kingdom every year and recognize the Kingdom of Ovelas as an overseas autonomous territory. The suzerain country maintains a consistent attitude with the kingdom in diplomacy and military affairs. The enemies of the kingdom are the enemies of the overseas autonomous territories. This does not harm the interests of the kingdom and the Sterling royal family at all.
It's just that the overseas dominions are unwilling to continue to provide free mineral resources to those established aristocratic families and require them to offer reasonable prices. Is this too much? The miners in the overseas dominions are not slaves. They also have to support their families in Hukou. Their labor and efforts should be Get paid fairly. So why do these old aristocratic families in the Kingdom want to occupy the mineral resources of the overseas autonomous territories for nothing? Not to mention that they are working for the Kingdom and producing armaments for the Kingdom. Doesn’t the kingdom pay for the weapons and equipment they produce
By the way, they also want the Dominion Military Region to provide them with 200,000 new rifles for free, equipped with bullets, and production drawings, saying that they want to resist the invasion of foreign enemies. So if the Dominion Military Region does not provide it to them, will they put the responsibility for the kingdom's consecutive defeats on the Dominion Military Region
You really can tell. Do they understand what two hundred thousand new rifles mean? That is a huge sum of nearly five million gold crowns. It was the Dominion Military Region that sold iron and materials seized from all colonial war battlefields to collect two legions. New rifle equipment to improve the combat effectiveness of the two legions under the Dominion, and it is still in arrears with the bank's loan of two million gold crowns...
They want to take it all with just their mouths. Why, perhaps in their eyes, the two legions of the Overseas Dominion Military Region are not the armies of the Kingdom of Ovelas at all, so they exclude the Dominion Military Region and fail to include the Dominion Military Region. Take it seriously, haha...
Which new rifle is really so expensive? Madam Maria was a little shocked. As a bystander, Claude's analysis of the reasons for the kingdom's decline to its present state was a huge shock to her original stance. She suddenly felt that what Claude said was very reasonable, and that the kingdom did owe a debt to the overseas dominions. a lot of.
"Actually, I came here this time to ask you to send troops to save the kingdom from danger..." Mrs. Maria said.