Although William was a little disappointed when he saw that Li Junwei refused to help, he thought that there was room for operation in this matter and immediately became happy.

The reason why Li Junwei did not respond was because he himself was also in a contradictory mindset.

Since Li Junwei led the Western Expedition more than 20 years ago, the empire continued to expand overseas for nearly twenty-five years, and this round of expansion has come to an end. Unlike the colonial expansion in the pre-imperial era, Li Junwei led the expansion mainly uses military conquest methods, with the purpose of expanding the living space for the imperial subjects, and the consideration of economic interests is not that great.

If economic factors are the main force, the empire should conquer the large-capital and rich resources of Central and South America, rather than focusing on the sparsely populated North America.

During the expansion led by Li Junwei, there were two means when dealing with the relationship with the indigenous people, and these two means went to two extremes. In the subtropical and temperate areas of the Americas, after the empire occupied the local area, the policy of friendship with the Indians was implemented because the Indians were weak in strength, low in civilization, and they were yellow people like the empire. The empire had full confidence to assimilate the Indians and make them a nation of the empire.

But on the Eurasian continent, the mandatory high-pressure policy adopted by Li Junwei is to change the birds in a nutshell.

That's because the ethnic groups encountered on the Eurasian continent are nomadic peoples, and the vast land is difficult to rule. In the era of great expansion, the main belief among the nations conquered was the Tianfang Sect. Li Junwei did not want to get entangled with them, so he threw all these ethnic groups into the trash can in India.

The empire's external expansion policy is a microcosm of the empire's foreign expansion policy. That is, the empire's external expansion is increasingly considering moral factors, especially the public opinion of the domestic people.

Why did Li Junwei identify the West Coast and the Caribbean region of Africa as the private areas of European colonists during the American War, and did not use the power of the state to colonize, but simply gave African development companies policy preferential treatment to allow them to participate in competition. Taking this into account, the West Coast of Africa is all tropical colonies with extremely harsh climates.

In the early days of colonialism, the only resource with advantage on the west coast of Africa was black slaves, and the people of the empire were deeply hated by slavery. Why did African development companies repeatedly lose money in West Africa's colonies, but they could not sell slaves? Although they did a lot of privately, they were always subject to domestic supervision.

The main economy in the Caribbean is the slave plantation economy. Anything that is related to slaves is unacceptable to the empire.

But the problem is that Li Junwei himself did not have any moral constraints at all. If he had completely transferred his will, he would have sent troops to conquer West Africa and the slave triangular trade had started.

Li Junwei is also a little confused about whether to take the lead in letting African development companies sell colonies to Prussia. On the one hand, this is indeed beneficial to the empire, but in the long run, Prussia may become a competitor in the colonies.

"Uncle Yu, do you think it is very likely that we will succeed in cooperation with African companies? If not, maybe I should go to Lisbon." William said.

Li Junwei warned earnestly: "If you just buy a few strongholds and let Prussia take advantage of the popularity of the colonial era, it will be easy. But it will be difficult if Prussia wants to turn its main energy into external colonization."

"I think my father should be just on a whim. As you said, he just wanted to prove that Prussia was a great power soon," William said.

"That's fine." Li Junwei said.

Although the words were said to be light and unpredictable, Crown Prince William had already understood that the empire did not support Prussia's large-scale overseas colonization.

There are many reasons. Prussia did not have this strength first, and it did not have a decent navy at all. Whether it was a modern navy or an old navy, the Prussians even had no maritime tradition. If colonizing overseas was just a small fuss, then they could still enjoy the cool under the empire's big tree, but if they developed a scale, they would cause trouble for the empire.

If the empire helps, they will be pulled into the water. If they don’t help, wouldn’t they lose all their investment in the early stage?

Li Junwei has strongly supported Prussia since the Great Alliance War, hoping that Prussia's land rise will become a disruptor in the hinterland of Europe and confronted France, Austria and Russia. Originally, Prussia's territory and population were not as good as these countries, and performed well in the Spanish War of Succession of the Throne, mainly because it took the lead in completing the conscription system.

Even if Prussia's strength has been improved by dividing Poland, there is still a level gap compared with those three countries. If the power and resources are spread to the ocean, all the imperial attempts will be lost.

"Uncle, my elder brother Zhaoyu said that he will go to Tibet after the New Year." William asked after confirming the colony.

Li Junwei nodded: "Yes, there are some things in Tibet that need to be resolved. Last year, there was a snow disaster there, and it was still a lot of snow this year."

Of course this is just an excuse. Li Junwei has always been secretive about Tibet. But Li Zhaocheng came over and said, "Dad, I want to go too."

"If you don't go, follow me back to China and then go to school." Li Junwei said bluntly. Li Zhaocheng, who doesn't like studying, looks very much like his father, but Li Junwei doesn't want his son to be ignorant.

"I can return to China on land, and I also want to go to India to see it..." said Li Zhaocheng.

Li Junwei shook his head directly and ignored it, while William said, "Did the uncle go back to China through the Suez Canal?"

After getting the affirmative answer from Lee Junwei, William said: "Can you bring me with me? I want to go to Sinai, especially Port Said."

"Oh, is your father interested in Said Port?" Li Junwei asked.

William smiled and said, "It's actually my personal plan. In Xijin, I have heard people mention Port Said several times. In the past five years, Port Said has surpassed Genoa and Venice, becoming the most dazzling pearl on the Mediterranean. It is complemented by Ceuta, the empire of Ceuta, and the prosperity of Port Said made me fascinated. The ancients said that Rome was not built in one day. People today say that if you don't go to Port Said for a year, you will become strange."

"You are not going to have fun, right?" Li Junwei asked with a smile.

William said seriously: "As the crown prince of Prussia, I deeply believe that the most important task of Prussia is development now, so any model of rapid development is worth understanding. There is such a pearl on the Mediterranean, why can't it be left in the Baltic Sea?"

Li Junwei pinched Li Zhaocheng's ear: "Look at him, he is younger than you and is worried about national affairs. What about you, you know how to play all day long."

"I'm also worried about national affairs, but... you've done everything, I'm not worried. William, seeing that there is no good father, it's not enough to make his descendants live in vain." Li Zhaocheng shook Li Junwei's hand away and crawled out of the igloo with a smile.

Since the opening of the Suez Canal, there is no reason why the Port of Said, which is the north exit of the canal, has not developed. But the problem is that the prosperity of the Port of Said is not only because of the canal, but also because the Ottoman Sinai Pasha Amar has turned the Sinai region into a special administrative region, especially in the Port of Said, Suez and Midway City, respectively, and the land was planned and the special economic zone was established.

Although the Ottoman Empire had undergone reforms, it still did not take the step of secularization. The feudal aristocracy was still the ruling class of the Ottoman Empire. The only benefit of its reforms was the improved financial situation and the innovative army, which allowed the Ottomans to gain an advantage in the competition for North Africa.

The Ottomans are still the closed and backward Ottoman Empire, and only the Sinai province is a bright color in the gloom of the Ottoman Empire.

In the Sinai province, the traditional religious laws of the Ottoman Empire were shelved and replaced by the special local regulations of the Sinai province. Especially in the special economic zones, there is a strong atmosphere of freedom and commerce, and the special economic zones are even more open to the whole world. As long as the countries that are not at war with the Ottoman Empire, they can go here to trade freely. Even in countries that are in conflict with the Ottoman Empire, their legal property in the Sinai region will be protected.

"Sinai, Sinai, the favorite of merchants."

This is a widely circulated saying in the Mediterranean and even in the Indian Ocean. The free and openness of the Sinai Peninsula even surpassed those of the free cities of the Empire. At least within the empire, religion is under control, and in Sinai, all religions are allowed. If you want to build religious buildings and conduct religious activities, you will be allowed, provided that you need money.

The Port of Said, along the Mediterranean coast, is the fastest-growing of the three cities along the canal. It also has become a window for the Ottoman Empire to the outside world. Its economic status has even gradually replaced the capital of the Ottoman Empire, at least in Istanbul, there are not so many banks.

The great development of the province of Sinai has been called the Sinai model by European countries, especially the Port of Said as a window for the Ottoman Empire to the outside world, which is particularly obvious. In Europe, there are too many feudal countries like the Ottoman Empire, including Russia, Austria, Prussia, and the small ones are even more uncountable. All countries believe that perhaps their own countries also need their own Port of Said.

"Uncle Yu, I heard that the Sinai province's special administrative region system is your idea?" William asked.

Li Junwei nodded. It was indeed through Zhao Mingde and his son-in-law Dan Tai Yunfeng that he conveyed the idea of ​​the Special Administrative Region to Pasha Amar in the Sinai Province. But Li Junwei said: "William, that's just my sudden inspiration, it's nothing. The real system construction is in charge of Pasha Amar, and Zhao Mingde's contribution. And these are the most important things. When you go to this trip, you must focus on this."

William said: "Thank you for your advice. Actually, I want to meet the Amal Pasha who is known as the one who can turn sand into gold."

Amar is the son of Ottoman Vizier. Of course, he did not know magic. The so-called turning sand into gold is actually a commendation of his contribution to the province of Sinai. In fact, during his father's tenure as Pasha in Egypt and his cooperation with the empire to open the Suez Canal, the foundation was laid.

"There is no problem with this. Just let Zhaocheng arrange it at that time." Li Junwei said.

William smiled and said, "I heard that Amal Pasha is a very proud man."

When Li Junwei heard this, he said confidently: "In front of me, no matter how proud the person is, he must bow his head, not to mention that Amal Pasha still has something to ask for the empire."

Amal created a new economic development model in the Sinai province, which is essentially a comprehensive opening up to the outside world and gives merchants more autonomy. This is Amal's political achievement and the way he seeks to enrich the country and strengthen the army. After the successful model of the Sinai province, Amal wanted to promote a similar model to the Ottoman country, but was stopped by the domestic conservative forces.

Even though Amal's father Fazo was Great Vizier, he still couldn't change the reality. Since then, Amal has deeply realized that if you want to do things, you have power. If you want to do great things, you have great power. So he embarked on the road to winning the throne of Great Vizier.

But just the family background cannot bring these, especially when facing those conservative forces, Amar, a new force like Amar, will be hated. The only way to gain the support of conservative forces is to achieve military achievements.

During the Spanish throne succession war, the Ottomans also fought a war in North Africa, and their opponents were colonial forces of Portugal, Genoa and the Netherlands. Because the Ottoman Empire had undergone reforms and army reforms, it had considerable combat effectiveness, while the Netherlands was trapped in the Spanish throne succession war, so the Ottoman Empire won steadily in North Africa and drove the colonial army back to Tunisia.

The war of succession to the Spanish throne ended, the Portuguese and the Dutch navy united, the Ottoman navy was no opponent, the land supply line was too long, and the two sides were in a stalemate in the Tunisia region, giving Amal the opportunity to prove himself.

The Spanish war of succession to the throne made considerable progress in the Dutch army, and Portugal and Genoa were able to hire more veterans who were unemployed. Amal wanted to build a more advanced army to deal with it, which exactly needed the support of the empire.

This is one of the reasons why Li Junwei can directly agree to William. As for other reasons, it is actually very simple.

In North Africa, the troops of Portugal, Genoa and the Netherlands were fighting against the Ottomans, but in fact, the early empires also participated in the name of fighting against the Barbary pirates. Although now withdrawing, these three countries are still friendly countries of the empire, and directly supporting the Ottomans to fight with them is harmful to the empire's interests.
Chapter completed!