Li Junhua and Lin Junhong understood what Li Junwei meant. If the empire avoided this European war and chose glorious neutrality, then there would be no way to obtain colonies on the east coast of North America. As a result, another war broke out in Europe next time, and the empire would still continue its glorious neutrality policy.

The situation in Europe, especially Western Europe, is that the existing strategic balance is not controlled by the empire, but a balance formed by the competition between all parties. If the empire does not have enough foundation nearby, they can only watch the balance be broken in a future war.

Europe now has eight powerful countries, including Britain, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Sweden, the Holy Roman Empire, Poland and Russia. This is very similar to a Gu Cup. If there is no foreign force intervention, it is not impossible to have a hegemony. In fact, there are signs now. France under the rule of the Sun King Louis XIV is the first in the European Navy and the first in the Army. If it weren't for him always being enemies of all Europe, it would be impossible to dominate all Europe.

"Do you think we have the strength to compete for the East Coast of North America now? It is very far from the local area. I remember the Empire Ocean Trading Company said that their latest fly-scissor ship, from Lisbon to Penang, took 124 days. If it was from the East Coast of North America, it would be about 150 days..." Li Junhua asked.

Li Junwei said: "Brother, I think we should change our thinking."

"What's the idea?"

"Collection is colonization, and pioneering is pioneering." Li Junwei said with confidence: "In fact, over the years, our overseas behavior has been more pioneering than colonization."

This resonated with the words. The empire's overseas expansion was divided into state behavior and corporate actions. Nanyang, Australia and South Africa are the main places for national behavior. In fact, although the American colonies are named as American development companies, they are actually national behaviors.

Because this company is not raising shares nationwide like other companies, most of the equity of the American Development Company belongs to the royal family, veterans and a group of senior congressmen of that year. They are now preparing to dissolve the company and are completely under administration.

The state's behavior is actually pioneering. For example, in the Nanyang region, the empire occupied many places, but the empire did not directly rule some ethnic groups in the region, and generally implemented a vassal policy. These ethnic groups were fixed in the autonomous region and praised the empire as vassals, which actually meant that they wanted to have land and not people. The isolation of China and the barbarians was the main manifestation. Although this would lead to the inability to collect taxes from the indigenous people, the cost of ruling was also low.

Colonial behavior is mostly the behavior of major colonial companies, but the empire has been developing, rather than colonization, because these overseas territories are not key areas for European colonists. As long as the active immigration policy is implemented, a wide range of national groups can be established in at least four or five years or more than ten years.

This is also the mainstream idea of ​​the empire's overseas development and its landification.

"Our two territories in the Americas are still at the corners, but there is no such place in the world. In the future, we will inevitably directly compete with Europeans for the core area.

In North America, there are more than 40,000 French people, 220,000 British people, and in Central and South America, there are already 200,000 Portuguese people, while the Spanish have already exceeded one million, and Spain still controls nearly 20 million Indians. No matter how we immigrate, we cannot form a majority in the local area in a short period of time.

If the majority is dominated by a minority, then it can only be colonization. Colonization is not just colonizing the natives such as Indians, but also colonizing Europeans who are already in the New World."

Lin Junhong shook his head: "We have no experience in this area."

"So, we need allies. Our allies are competing for their hegemony in Europe, and we compete for colonies in America and attack their enemies. Aren't they all the things they need?" Li Junwei smiled.

Li Junhua understood: "Third brother, so your suggestion is to join the war, but to form an alliance with France, right?"

Li Junwei waved his hand: "I personally think that if you form an alliance with France, you are ready to betray at any time."

“How to say it?”

Li Junwei explained: "If we form an alliance with France, we will preside over two battlefields, America and Europe. Obviously, France will not give us much support, and our behavior of attacking Western European countries and colonies in the Americas will give France a lot of support. To give a simple example, as long as we occupy Panama, the silver from South America cannot be transported back to Spain, and Spain's national strength will inevitably be greatly damaged. For France, the pressure in the southwest direction has dropped sharply, and they are likely to win a big victory.

Similarly, expeditions to America will be very risky. We may lose to weather, diseases, etc., and the result is that we cannot invest too much in America and cannot solve the enemy's colonies.

If France wins a strategic victory, we should immediately betray our offshore balance policy and continue to practice our offshore balance policy to prevent France from dominating the dominance and dominance. If our plan to expedition to America was defeated and our strength was damaged, then we should also immediately betray France and unite its enemies, Britain, the Netherlands and even Spain, and seize France's colonies in the Americas, so that we can at least gain a place to stay and make plans.

Therefore, if we unite France and betray at any time, we can be invincible. No matter what Europe looks like, we will make a profit."

Li Junhua's face looked a little bad. Although he knew that this was extremely beneficial to the empire, the moral obstacles in his heart were not easy to pass, and he also had to consider the reputation of the country. Fortunately, the emperor was only noble and not pedantic. He said: "The third brother, if you do it, you will do this matter. Pay attention to the methods."

As the emperor's younger brother, Li Junwei certainly knew the emperor's thoughts and said with a smile: "Don't worry, brother, that is, we will inevitably form a sacred and unbreakable alliance with France. When this alliance collapses one day, the French must have betrayed us, at least this will be written in history books."

Now Li Junhua felt relieved and asked: "All countries have colonies in the Americas. Who do you think is suitable for starting first."

Li Junwei said: "European colonists are equally abominable, but they are different. The Spanish are robbers, the Portuguese are more like adventurers, the Dutch are businessmen, the British are entrepreneurs, and the French are religious madmen. Obviously, among these "professions", robbers who kill and robbers are more annoying, and robbers are richer, so the first one to fight is Spain.

Of course, the reason is that we are our own overseas territories on both ends of the Americas. Spain relies on us, and fighting is both easy and convenient, and there is no need to consider the situation in Europe. After all, we are still in a state of war with the Spanish Empire."

Lin Junhong reminded: "But the Spaniards are also the strongest. They occupied 50 Japanese lands with a population of more than 20 million, which is very difficult to deal with..."

"There is too much land, which means that the population is scattered and the rule is unstable. What can I do if there is a large population? Under the rule of robbers, the more people there are, the more people there will be." Li Junwei was a little disdainful.

Lin Junhong still wanted to speak, but the emperor held his hand down: "Okay, things thousands of miles away are not worth quarrel. Only those who get there know exactly what to do. It is precisely because of this that it is appropriate for the third brother to go. He is not restricted by any rules and regulations, and he will make the right choice."

Lin Junhong chose to remain silent, and Li Junhua coughed lightly: "Third brother, I basically understand your strategy. Compared with the glorious and neutral strategy, I am indeed more visionary. I can't think of a reason to oppose you, so I temporarily support your choice. However, even as an emperor, I need sufficient reasons to convince the top leaders of the empire. Do you have any opinions on this regard?"

"What is the reason for refusing war?" Li Junwei asked back.

Lin Junhong took the initiative to interface: "The first is trade interests. France has the first European navy, while Britain and the Netherlands control the main waterways. Once the war starts, we join the other party and trade with Europe may be interrupted."

"I don't think this is a problem. Compared with those countries in Western Europe that are based on monopoly and trade protection, commercial countries such as Genoa and Venice in southern Europe are more inclusive. We can completely cross the Strait of Gibraltar and trade with southern Europe. The sea control power along the way is in the hands of our future ally the French. Even if sea transportation is cut off and Suez is also land-based, this is in line with our strategy to develop the Suez region."

"The second is that America is too far away. The expeditionary fleet and army will inevitably consume a lot of military expenditure, and what is disproportionate to investment is income. You also said that the weather and disease may defeat us." Lin Junhong continued.

Li Junwei smiled: "So, we need to give the senior officials a reassurance and give the people of the empire an explanation first."

"What does it mean?" Li Junhua frowned. King Yu's thinking was too jumpy, which made him always a little confused, but it was a very tormenting thing for the emperor.

Li Junwei said: "It is impossible to generalize the intervention of Europe and the expedition to the Americas. Ministers opposed the intervention of Europe because they were too expensive to expedition to the Americas. We must prove that this view was wrong. Therefore, before announcing the intervention of the European war, we must achieve rapid results in the Americas.

The Spanish colonies in the Americas were vast and it was difficult to conquer them in full, so we had to achieve several significant results. I think there are two key points that are most important. The first is the Panama region. As long as we occupy it, we have the power to communicate with the east and west coasts of the Americas.

The second is Potosi, the silver capital. Half of the world's silver is produced here. Even after a hundred years of development, there will still be more than one million taels of silver produced here every year, and it can reach up to three million taels. As long as Potosi is captured, even if we are completely wiped out on the east coast of North America, all losses can be taken back from Potosi, right?"

Li Junhua and Lin Junhong looked at each other and said that if these were indeed possible, Panama would be fine. The so-called East-West trade in America was only regional, and it was more of a service to marshal the east coast of North America, or to combat Spanish colonists.

But Potosi is a very representative place, the largest silver production area in the world, known as the Silver Capital. It is definitely a treasure trove that makes everyone salivate. Being able to occupy Potosi is definitely strategic.

Li Junwei's plan to compete for the Spanish colony first, and then intervene in the European battlefield through actions on the east coast of North America is also very phased, which means that there will be no opposition from the beginning. King Yu has to take one step at a time, and he can't stop him from stepping on a single step. As long as he steps on the second footprint, he can ask for the third, fourth, or even endless.

"Emperor, the people around the Supreme Emperor are here." As soon as the three of them settled a rough idea, the attendant came in and said carefully: "It is said that he would let Prince Yu go for lunch."

Lin Junhong joked, "Oh, just call Lao San, isn't we doing?"

"You guys? You guys see that you've made my feet stick to the ground all day long. If you don't use the soles of your shoes, you'll be fine. You'll ask you to have a meal?" Li Junwei stood up, fired back, and then took his leave directly.

Li Junhua said: "The third brother did not come to the palace for a while. The father wanted to see him, and the children missed him too, so I didn't go anymore. The children were uncomfortable after going there."

Lin Junhong did not join in the fun, but said, "I heard from the third brother that he wanted to do a big fight in America, but it was too far away, and I really don't know what it would look like."

Li Junhua thought for a while and said, "What kind of thing is better than what we are now. It is messing up America. The more chaotic it is, the better. And time is getting more and more urgent. Perhaps in another ten or twenty years, we will lose the opportunity to compete for North America."

As he said that, Li Junhua handed a report to Lin Junhong, which was sent by the Minister to Europe, a report on the European shipbuilding industry. The report shows that in recent years, especially after several British-Dutch wars, Europe's shipbuilding technology has become increasingly high and has been quickly applied to the field of naval shipbuilding.

Of course, what is most vigilant is that the main warships of Western European countries' ocean-going combat capabilities have increased greatly and are becoming increasingly adapted to long-sea combat. Once European countries have the ability to drive battleships to North America, the empire's competitiveness in the region will be greatly reduced.

Now, the situation is just right. The European Navy is just shallow-water navy and cannot fight on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. On the contrary, the Imperial Navy has much richer experience in ocean combat.

"Is North America that important?" Lin Junhong asked.

Li Junhua said: "Fifteen years ago, when the eldest brother was forced to withdraw from the throne competition, his father gave him two choices, one of which was the subcontinent that the eldest brother chose now, and the second choice was North America."
Chapter completed!