Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 463 Response
Joining forces with the Brazilian Empire to implement an operational plan to destroy the main force of the Brazilian Republic's navy means expanding the scale of the war.

War is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, war can expand the territory of a country, prosper the military industry (if a country is in a state of war for a long time, it will lead to abnormal prosperity of war-related industries and shrinkage of other industries), and enhance national cohesion. On the other hand, a long-term war will also have a certain degree of negative impact on the country's economy and industrialization construction.

Before the war broke out, Li Mingyuan and other major local officials and generals were most inclined to use a quick local war to control the scale of the war within the territory of Paraguay. At the same time, they would use about three months to deal with the Brazilian army entering Paraguay, and then complete the strategic task of the Paraguayan War and successfully bring Paraguay under the local rule.

However, the intervention of the Americans increased the variables of the war and made it more difficult to implement the original strategic plan of the Han State.

Under such unfavorable circumstances, if the Han State wants to achieve its established strategic goals and not passively accept the negative changes brought about by the intervention of the Americans, it can only choose a more powerful way of counterattack and increase the intensity of the attack on the Republic of Brazil, making the Republic of Brazil understand that if it does not respect the wishes of the Han State and insists on pulling an external power into southern South America, it will face a certain degree of resolute countermeasure from the Han State!
"The British don't want us to bring the war to the territory of the Republic of Brazil, but now the situation has changed. The Republic of Brazil has colluded with the United States. In order to temporarily prevent the United States from entering southern South America, it is necessary for the mainland to expand the scale of the war and teach the Republic of Brazil a profound lesson, so that they understand how stupid it is to disregard the interests of the mainland and arbitrarily drag the United States into the South American game field!"

After issuing the latest combat instructions to the troops on the Asuncion front and the Paraná River Basin front according to the changes in the strategic situation, Li Mingyuan continued: "The entire Paraguayan battlefield continues to carry out combat deployment according to Plan No. 1, and the garrison troops stationed near the Paraná State of the Republic of Brazil will enter the first-level combat state from today and be ready for battle at all times. Once the local navy completes the strike mission against the Brazilian Navy and severely damages or destroys the Brazilian Navy, the news reaches the front line, the garrison troops will immediately launch an attack on the Brazilian garrison on the Paraná side according to the No. 3 combat plan!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Dozens of high-level generals standing in the room stood up and responded after hearing Li Mingyuan's order.

"The core combat mission of the Los Angeles State (Santa Catarina State) garrison is to occupy Paraná State, and according to the changes in the battlefield situation, advance to Sao Paulo State, Minas Gerais State and other places, occupy and destroy the ruling foundation of the core control area of ​​the Republic of Brazil, and plunder all the property, resources, and population that are beneficial to the development of the local area! We must use a fast and fierce war to completely destroy the Republic of Brazil's ability to cause trouble to the local area, and strive to create favorable conditions for the local area to implement the next stage of the attack plan!"

"Your Majesty, if the war is expanded, I am afraid that it will lead to British intervention. Now the mainland is already in direct confrontation with the United States. If we offend the British again, will the international situation facing the mainland be further deteriorated?"

Tang Jingsong said worriedly.

"The Americans have interfered and disrupted the situation in South America. I believe the British must be having a headache now."

Li Mingyuan said calmly: "Although we should pay attention to the attitude of the British, we don't have to be cautious all the time and tie our hands and feet. Bypassing the British and launching an attack directly on the Republic of Brazil, it is indeed possible that the British will intervene. However, it is not only the local side that participates in the Paraguayan War. Isn't the Republic of Brazil also involved? Since the Republic of Brazil did not restrain its ambitions and sent troops to Paraguay before us, then when the situation on the Paraguayan front is tight, in order to save the more than 100,000 main forces that are tied down by the local army, the Republic of Brazil may take the lead in responding like the last time, break the dilemma on the Paraguayan battlefield, and provide a strong excuse for us to march into the territory of the Republic of Brazil."

"Your Majesty, do you mean to use the more than 100,000 Brazilian troops trapped in Paraguay as bait to force the Brazilian side to take actions that will benefit the mainland and expand the scale of the war?"

"That's the general idea, but to implement it, we still need the assistance of the military and political officials that the Brazilian Empire has placed in the Republic of Brazil."

"Your Majesty, rest assured. For the sake of the empire's great cause, I will definitely strengthen communication and coordination with the Brazilian Empire."

Li Mingyuan's other father-in-law, the father of Concubine Li Yina, Silva expressed his opinion (the Chinese surname is Xi).

"You and General Tang will be in charge of the contact with the Brazilian Empire. After that, I will fulfill the promise I made some time ago and confer upon you the title of hereditary noble of the Empire and restore the noble status of the Calaveras family."

"Thank you for your grace!"

"For those who sincerely serve the Empire, regardless of whether they are Chinese or white, the Empire treats them equally."

Li Mingyuan was quite satisfied with his father-in-law's performance and added, "If there are families in the Republic of Brazil or the Brazilian Empire that are willing to cooperate with the Empire or work for the Empire, you can also contact them on behalf of the Empire."

"Your Majesty's reputation has spread widely in South America. More than 20 old families, including the Dias family in the Republic of Brazil and the Jimenez family in the Brazilian Empire, all hope to establish closer ties with the Empire and are willing to pledge allegiance to Your Majesty in the name of their families."

"Very good. You will be responsible for contacting these families. If they want to return to their homeland in the future, you can also arrange it."

"As you command, Your Majesty."...

After the war matters were arranged, Li Mingyuan then shifted his focus to the economy.

The Han Dynasty was founded on military power, and over the past twenty years, the total military expenditure of the army and navy has been on an upward trend.

In 1870, the total military expenditure was 581 million Han yuan, of which 400 million was for the army and 181 million for the navy.

In 1875, the total military expenditure was 750 million yuan, with the army spending 500 million yuan and the navy spending 250 million yuan. In 1880, the military expenditure was 1000 million yuan, with the army and navy spending 650 million and 350 million yuan respectively.

Before the outbreak of the Paraguayan War, at the end of 1888, the military expenditure of the Han Dynasty's army and navy exceeded 2000 million Han yuan for the first time, reaching 2300 million Han yuan. The navy's military expenditure also reached a level of balance with the army for the first time.

Although the total amount of military expenditure has increased year by year, due to the rapid improvement of the Han Dynasty's economic strength, the proportion of total military expenditure has been controlled within 26% of the country's total fiscal revenue.

In 1875, the total fiscal revenue of the Han Kingdom was 2000 million Han yuan. In 1879, the total fiscal revenue increased to 5000 million Han yuan.

In 1888, the total fiscal revenue exceeded 1 million Han Yuan, reaching 1.07 million Han Yuan.

The country's total fiscal revenue has increased several times in the past 20 years, and military spending has also increased several times.

The proportion of fiscal funds invested in military construction and industrial construction maintains a fragile balance. Considering the current overall economic level of the Han Dynasty, if the proportion of military expenditure exceeds 30% of total fiscal revenue, then the continuously developing industries, education and other sectors within the Han Dynasty will also suffer serious impact.

For the Han State, which had a weak foundation, every war was a decisive battle that concerned the country's destiny. It had to launch a war with the whole country's strength, and it had to work hard to stay ahead of powerful countries such as Britain and the United States, taking advantage of the complex changes in the international situation to try to gain more chances of victory in the war.

Victory in the war would mean the acquisition of land and resources that the country urgently needed for its future development. However, failure in the war or a major setback would mean, on the one hand, that the Han Dynasty’s rising momentum would be suppressed and national morale would suffer a blow. On the other hand, it would also mean that the possibility of expansion would be stifled and the Han Dynasty would lose the opportunity to continue expanding, and thus the right to become a world power and to independently control its national destiny.

People's ambitions always change with the growth of their strength. So did Li Mingyuan's ideals. From the initial rescue of Chinese workers in South America from dire straits and the establishment of an independent country belonging to the Chinese, to leading the people to work hard and forge ahead, he gradually led the Han Kingdom to become a world power and a strong country.

Li Mingyuan, who was accustomed to being a citizen of a big country, was unlikely to be satisfied with being a monarch of a small country who obeyed the orders of the powerful countries. Just as the citizens of small Western countries did not understand the will of the Eastern powers to unify and expand, Li Mingyuan could not understand the ideas of those national leaders who stood still and had no progressive spirit.

Of course, for Li Mingyuan, the process of leading the country to rise through foreign wars is not so easy.

Developing armaments day after day for twenty years and increasing military spending is one aspect of increasing the chances of winning a war, while controlling the scale of the war and reducing the financial consumption caused by the war is another important factor affecting the outcome of the war.

On February 1889, 2, the central departments of the Han Dynasty held a special meeting to formulate war military expenditures.

During the meeting, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce, the Audit Department and other departments jointly formulated three war expenditure plans.

Plan No. 2400 estimates the total military expenditure to be 2 million Han Yuan, and the war will last for 3 to months (the cost of the security war after the occupation is calculated separately).

Plan No. 5000 estimated the total military expenditure to be 6 million Han Yuan and the war duration to be 8 to months.

Plan No. 1.3 estimated the total military expenditure to be 1 million Han Yuan and the war duration to be 2 to years.

Based on the local fiscal revenue of 1888 million Han yuan at the end of 1.07, the military expenditures of Plans 1 and were within the acceptable range. However, if the scale of the war expanded and the war lasted for more than one year, the impact on the local economy would be very serious.

Considering the negative impact of a prolonged war, Li Mingyuan weighed it for a moment and instructed Zhao Yan, the Minister of Finance: "The Ministry of Finance should prepare a response plan for a war lasting more than three months and prepare in advance the financial funds needed for the expansion of the war. If the national financial funds are insufficient, it can also be raised by issuing national bonds and encouraging citizens to donate."

"Your Majesty, the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire have contacted the court and are willing to provide a batch of loan funds to support the Paraguayan War in their homeland."

"Forget it. Excessive introduction of German and Austro-Hungarian capital is not conducive to the development of local national industries, and it may also cause dissatisfaction among British capital."

Li Mingyuan said: "Tell Germany and Austria-Hungary that the Han Kingdom appreciates their kindness, but the scale of the Paraguayan War is currently under control, and we have no need to borrow funds from foreign countries for the time being."…………

(End of this chapter)