The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 993 Great Britain: It's settled then, I will colonize India for another 300 years!
In late autumn of 1886, a thick, choking fog blanketed the Thames in London. A carriage bearing the Rothschild family crest rolled across the cobblestones in front of Buckingham Palace, the dust kicked up by its wheels barely settling before Prime Minister Gladstone's carriage followed closely behind, bursting through the palace gates. Then came the newly appointed Secretary of State for War, Henry Campbell-Bannavin, who had returned two days earlier from the French front with alarming news—the Battle of Paris had begun! Lord First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord George Hamilton, arrived shortly after, bringing equally worrying news—the Pacific Fleet had just landed in New Caledonia, and there was no longer a sizable Royal Navy fleet in the South Pacific! Secretary of State for India, Randolph Churchill, arrived with the "Report on the 1886 Indian Revenue Forecast," his face grim.

When the doors to the council chamber were pushed open, Queen Victoria sat regally on her gilded chair. The Queen, who was not much of a reader, wore reading glasses, and a document lay on her lap. Even more astonishingly, a slight smile played on her lips—the first time her ministers had seen such an expression on her face since Prince Albert's death.

"Gentlemen," the Queen's voice was clearer than usual, "Sir Rothschild met an interesting guest yesterday aboard the St. Francis."

Royal advisor Nathaniel Rothschild was the first to arrive. He emerged from the shadows and distributed a stack of documents to the crowd. Amid the rustling sound of parchment, Chancellor of the Exchequer Hugh Childs suddenly gasped.

"The Revival of Silver?" He read the title aloud, his face filled with surprise. "Your Majesty, this is going to shake the very foundations of the gold standard!"

Lord Admiral Hamilton, First Lord of the Admiralty, nearly had his eyes pop out of his head—he was staring at the shocking figure on the document: the Bank of England's actual gold reserves: 330 tons. That was less than a tenth of what The Times had boasted about.

"Is the Duke implying that we are committing fraud?" Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, the Imperial Chief of Staff, sneered. He had just seen something even more astonishing in the documents—Britain's actual currency in circulation was 15 times its gold reserves.

Rothschild shrugged. “Global industrial output in 1886 was three times that of 1856, but gold reserves only increased by 50%. Do you know what this means?” He scanned the crowd. “It means the gold standard is unsustainable! The world is being strangled by deflation!”

The conference room suddenly fell silent.

"The reason this world war broke out..." Rothschild said, emphasizing each word, "was not only because of the ambitions of Luo Yaoguo, Hong Tiangui, and Emperor Wilhelm, but also because the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and Germany were the two countries with the largest increase in industrial production over the past 30 years. At the same time, they were countries with an extreme shortage of gold and currency... Their industries could support a huge military force, but at the same time, they were extremely short of money!"

“This theory,” Hugh Childers muttered, “sounds like Karl Moore’s.”

Rothschild replied nonchalantly, "It doesn't matter who proposed the theory; what matters is whether it has any merit!"

"In fact, we British are also very short of money!" Rothschild slapped his hand on the map of India. "Three hundred million Indians have the world's most fertile farmland, but they can only barter—because the Bank of England doesn't even have the gold reserves to print money for its colonies! Meanwhile, India possesses about 15% of the world's silver!"

"But silver is depreciating!" warned Randolph Churchill, India Secretary. "This process has been going on for many, many years!"

Rothschild suddenly laughed. He opened his gilded cigar box and took out not a Havana cigar, but a "Sacred Treasury Silver Coin" minted by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. On the obverse of the coin, a coiled dragon leaped amidst wave patterns.

"Gentlemen, silver is scarce enough!" Rothschild said. "The reason it has been falling is because for a long time, the military power backing silver has been declining until the rise of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom! Silver is scarce, and gold is even rarer, but scarcity alone is not enough to support their position in the financial market. What truly supports them is steel, which is not rare and expensive! Steel may not be as expensive as gold, but it can beat gold! And now, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has the most steel in the world. If it thinks silver is valuable, then silver is valuable!"

Rothschild then produced a statistical report from Rothschild Bank: "In fact, the revival of silver is also very beneficial to us, because India has 15% of the world's silver reserves, although it cannot compare to the 80% held by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the American Empire, the Inca Empire, Japan, Korea, and other countries combined. But if the silver rupee can appreciate by 50%..."

"India's economy could potentially reach 120% of Britain's!" Prime Minister Gladstone suddenly interrupted him, his aged eyes gleaming. "That's equivalent to us suddenly having 50% of Britain's economy out of thin air!"

Chancellor of the Exchequer Hugh Childs frowned and asked, "But how do you convince the British merchants in Calcutta to accept rupees? They even want to cash the Governor-General of India's checks in gold!"

"Persuade?" Rothschild laughed as if he'd heard a joke. "Does it even need persuasion? When 240 million white Australians and New Zealanders flee to India in disarray, everyone will know that silver is about to revive! And we shouldn't try to stop this unstoppable trend, but rather go with the flow and extract the greatest benefit from it—that is, use the trend of silver revival to unleash India's silver capital and economic growth potential! As long as we utilize this trend well, India will be the next China! A China that belongs to us!"

He then produced a document titled "Analysis of India's Economic Potential," which detailed the output of India's agriculture, textiles, and mining industries. "India's population is 10 times that of Britain, its wheat production is 5 times that of Britain, its cotton production is 8 times that of Britain, and its coal and iron ore reserves are sufficient to support the industrial needs of the entire empire. Yet India's total economic output is only 80% of Britain's. Why? Because the rupee is undervalued! This undervaluation not only suppresses India's total economic output but also its capital stock. Capital is extremely valuable, and a country lacking capital finds it very difficult to industrialize."

Foreign Secretary Salisbury frowned: "But can the Indians continue to accept our rule? If they become rich?"

“They will accept it,” Rothschild smiled, “as long as their wealth is pegged to the pound.”

He produced a document titled "India's Silver Revival Plan," which detailed how the silver rupee could become a subsidiary currency of the pound sterling through bank credit, tax policies, and trade agreements.

"The first step was for the Bank of England to purchase all circulating silver rupees at a fixed exchange rate—using pound sterling banknotes; the second step was for Indian taxes to be settled in silver rupees, with the rupee pegged to the pound sterling at a fixed exchange rate; the third step was to sign the International Silver Restoration Agreement with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the American Empire, and the Inca Empire, jointly raising the gold-silver ratio to below 10; the fourth step was to establish the Bank of India, using rupee banknotes pegged to the pound sterling to purchase Indian silver; and the fifth step was to transport Indian silver back to Britain as a reserve for the pound sterling."

"We want to return to the gold and silver standard?" Chancellor of the Exchequer was taken aback.

"In reality, we are simply incapable of maintaining the gold standard!" Rothschild warned. "The Bank of England's vaults don't have enough gold! What truly supports the pound isn't gold, but the 'steel' of the British Empire. But Britain is, after all, only a country with tens of millions of people, and its steel reserves are already less than those of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the German Empire, and the United States. Now, it is Britain that needs India more, not India that needs Britain more! India's silver is certainly more valuable than non-existent British gold, isn't it?"

“Gentlemen,” Victoria stood up and said in an unquestionable tone, “the future of the British Empire lies in the permanent control of India, not the Pacific!” She turned to Randolph Churchill, “Can a few hundred thousand people rule over 300 million people for 3 years?”

Churchill's beard trembled: "There are some difficulties, if..."

“What if there were 300 million white people?” the Queen interrupted him. “All 240 million white people in Australia and New Zealand would move to India—to rebuild the caste system and make the Anglo-Saxons the 'new Brahmins'!”

The meeting room was deathly silent.

Everyone understood the enormous decision the Queen had just made—she was abandoning Australia and New Zealand! Over 700 million square kilometers of colonies were being given up!

Now the whole world will know that Britain lost! And accepted it!

The ensuing impact will be unimaginable!
“Your Majesty,” Rothschild broke the silence, “this is a very correct and great decision! The economies of Australia and New Zealand are only £6500 million, while India’s economy is £8 million. If silver appreciates by 50%, India’s economy will reach £12 billion. In the past, we have deployed 240 million people in Australia and New Zealand, but only 15 in India. In addition, our investment in gold-rich southern Africa is also very small! The British Empire is built on the Royal Navy, South Africa’s gold, and India’s population and economy, not on Australia’s sheep!”

“But relocating over two million people,” Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, frowned. “That requires a huge amount of funding. Do we have it?”

“No, not at all!” Rothschild shook his head. “The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s army and navy will make the white Australians and New Zealanders pay for their own departure from there. We only need to provide the Australia-New Zealand-India liner service, and the Viceroy’s Office of India will build them new homes in India!”

Indian Secretary Randolph Churchill asked, "But where does the Viceroy's Office of India get the money?"

Rothschild said, "We can issue bonds! India, with an economy of £12 billion, won't be short of money!"

(End of this chapter)