Zhao Jun did not intend to spend much energy or entanglement on the matter of Western Xia and Liao. It can be said that before the second year of the Qingli period, the two together might still cause some trouble to the Song Dynasty.
But after the second year of the Qingli period, the military capabilities of the Song Dynasty soared.
This not only refers to firearms, but also to the military situation of the Song Dynasty and whether its combat effectiveness has improved.
If Song Jun relied on defense in the past, now it can be said that it has been stripped of its dross and is no longer what it used to be.
Zhao Jun's military reforms included not only equipment but also military system. Now generals often stay in the barracks to train soldiers. It is no longer like before where generals did not know their soldiers and soldiers did not know their generals.
Furthermore, after the military was cleansed of its malignant growth, military discipline was completely transformed. While it might not be as strong as the elite troops of the founding dynasties, with the support of muskets and cannons, even if Li Shimin had led the elite troops of the Tang Dynasty, he would have returned home empty-handed.
Therefore, Zhao Jun never doubted whether the Song Dynasty could destroy the Western Xia and Liao countries if it suddenly reorganized its troops and launched a full-scale war against them.
But war is fought for money after all.
The era of firearms is more expensive than the era of cold weapons. Although it is not difficult to eliminate these two countries, the investment in fighting and the investment in absorbing the territories of these two countries will likely require the Song Dynasty to spend a huge amount of manpower and material resources.
Now is the time when the Song Dynasty needs money for active development. During the rising period of making the cake bigger, investing all the money in military expenditures will seriously hinder the country's development and even cause the country to stagnate.
That's why Zhao Jun didn't have any murderous intentions towards Xixia and Liao. As long as they became the raw material production areas and commodity dumping areas for the Song Dynasty, it would be fine to keep them as they were like Japan.
certainly.
If the Western Xia and Liao took the initiative to extend their claws, it would be a different matter.
At that time, it would not be impossible to collect some interest and take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, which has a Han Chinese base.
Zhao Jun spread out the map, pointed at a few places on it, and said, "Everyone, come and take a look."
Everyone stood up from their seats and came to the table to watch.
Zhao Jun pointed at the map and said, "We don't need to worry about external forces right now. In terms of military strength, our Song Dynasty is already number one in the world. So, the next thing we need to consider is how to make our Song Dynasty even stronger."
"What does the eldest grandson think?"
Zhao Zhen asked.
"My plan is very simple: first, upgrade the domestic industry, and then start exploring external opportunities."
"Oh? What does that mean?"
"It's very simple. To sum it up, it's actually internal development and external business expansion."
Zhao Jun smiled and said, "Our domestic productivity in the Great Song Dynasty has greatly improved. According to the current trend, feeding 200 to 300 million people is not a problem. If we manage Southeast Asia well, we may be able to easily feed 700 to 800 million people without the need for hybrid rice."
"Under such circumstances, we must consider how to develop internally. Population growth will inevitably lead to job shortages, so we must vigorously develop commerce and first secure our internal business cycle."
He continued, "But internal circulation ultimately consumes our domestic raw materials. Products like gold, silver, and copper, which are widely used as currency, are precious metals and will never lose their currency status. However, the more they are consumed, the less our reserves will be. Therefore, external trade is essential."
"Um."
Wang Zeng said: "This is a very realistic thing. We don't think there is any problem."
"Does Hanlon mean a steamship?"
Yan Shu immediately thought of something.
"Yes, our external business is still too small. Our annual import and export trade volume is only 200 million guan. Not to mention compared with our later generations, it is still far behind that of the late Qing Dynasty."
Zhao Jun laughed and said, "Why did Daiying fight the Opium War with us? It's because we don't need their goods, but they desperately need ours. This caused all their silver to flow into Daiqing. Daiying has been running a trade deficit for a long time, and when they can't afford it, they turn the tables. This is the logic of a bandit."
It is mentioned in high school history textbooks that during the middle and late Qing Dynasty, Britain underwent the Industrial Revolution, and then in just a hundred years, it colonized all over the world and became the British Empire.
But Dongfang has always been wearing a mask of pain.
This is because tea, silk and porcelain produced in the East are essential products in the West, while industrial products with Chinese characteristics cannot be sold in the East.
In the final analysis, the Qing Dynasty was indeed able to achieve self-sufficiency. In addition, the ruling class of the Qing Dynasty was not interested in the West, or they preferred to maintain the status quo, so they closed the country and closed its doors to prevent Western products from entering.
The result is that Eastern products are continuously exported, while Western products cannot be imported, which is somewhat like a foreign trade barrier.
With the two factors combined, Dai Ying could not bear to see the large amount of silver they had obtained from the colonies flowing into Dai Qing like water, so they launched the Opium War.
So in a sense, having "ying" in the name is indeed a great flaw in morality.
"What does Da Sun mean? Can we do the same in the future?"
Zhao Zhen opened his eyes wide. Are they going to follow Dai Ying's old path?
"That's not necessarily true."
Zhao Jun shook his head and said, "For the Western world, Eastern products are necessities. Tea, porcelain, silk, they are all things they want. Western products, on the other hand, are nothing. Even in the industrial age, we are still in the leading position now."
"This means that we have both the products of the later Western industrial age and the unique products of the East. Therefore, there is no possibility for us to become a sales point for the other side's products. We can only produce for ourselves and then produce for them."
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