Chapter 250 The Empire is in its late twilight

After awakening his beautiful wife, the two of them walked off the plane together. Looking at the handsome British middle-aged uncle in front of him, Zhong Yang also smiled: "I haven't seen it for a long time, my friend."

"I am honored to be here to welcome you, Mr. Zhong, and the young and beautiful Mrs. Zhong." With the etiquette used to receive distinguished guests, Smith is worthy of being a gentleman with the style of a veteran British aristocratic style, and every move is impeccable.

Under his humble and polite appearance, a proud and calm heart beats. With hundreds of years of superiority, the current British Empire is like the Chinese civilization in the past, standing at the top of the world's tribes, looking down at the earth with pity and greed.

Zhong Yang, who is keen and sensitive, can feel the loneliness of standing up from Smith even without using his eyes. The reason why he poses such a low attitude towards himself is probably not because of his current interests. With a smile on his lips, Zhong Yang remained silent and hugged his "friends".

Wearing a dark black suit jacket, a pair of starry eyes and white eyes flashed with bright light, like a whirlpool that could devour the world, dangerous and blurry. The beautiful beauty leaned beside her, wearing a well-tailored lady dress, which set off her graceful figure, making people's eyes lit up.

Looking at the young newlywed couple in front of him, Smith was also a little envious. This is the mystery of time. A young life is always full of vitality and happiness.

"The accommodation is ready. I hope you can leave a good memory in the UK." With both hands, he led Zhong Yang and Zhang Yinyin to the private car that had been prepared. It was a new car authorized by the British manufacturer in Tianyu Group.

In this old industrial empire, sitting on the car products developed by yourself, this feeling is really unique. The scenery of the suburbs is constantly passing by, and the desolate scene makes people sigh. The barren land and the harsh air quality have been felt by Zhong Yang.

The body, which has been transformed by the biological body, is extremely sensitive to these pollutants containing trace impurities. In this case, Zhong Yang frowned even more. The advancement of industrial production technology is a material progress and a destruction of natural cycles. The current UK is a lesson from the past.

His thoughts have begun to calculate Hualian's future industrial development. It seems that environmental protection is a project that must be paid attention to. Losing the future for temporary prosperity is not the right way to govern the country.

Cars are extended "unicorns", a model designed for nobles, with luxurious interior decoration, stable and powerful engine power, dragging bulletproof shells. In the words of the likes, that is, "elegant mobile fortress".

In the rear row of the car, there are small refrigeration equipment. There are two rows of sofas facing each other, which are enough for the six people to talk to each other without any crowding.

"I have to say that London left a very deep impression on me." As the car was running, the group was constantly leaving the suburbs and entering the city. Zhong Yang looked at the scenery and buildings outside the window and sighed uncontrollably.

The vast factories, straight cement roads, pedestrians and vehicles coming and going, everything is orderly. The huge and sophisticated transportation system is complex, busy and efficient, carrying the prosperity of the entire industrial empire civilization system.

"This is of course, this is the glory of the Empire that never sets." Smith was proud of Zhong Yang's praise. The strength of a country does not need to promote patriotic education, because this pride itself is the best cohesion.

This integrated strength and power of the entire racial civilization are indeed not super hegemony that can be challenged by relying solely on his own mechanical servants. Looking at all in front of him, Zhong Yang was glad that he did not rely on those groups of robots that day to dominate the world.

If the rifle cannot be fired, can the grenades not be fired? Cannons, bombers, and warships cannons, how much energy and resources can you have to compete with such a huge industrial empire to consume?

Not to mention, the rising new powers each have their own huge industrial production capacity. Without complete industrial production capacity, wanting to rely on a small number of mechanized elite troops to dominate the world? This is simply suicide. Zhong Yang is not completely familiar with the original world.

But by investigating the specialists sent here, we can roughly understand the development profile of the entire Western world. Let’s not talk about other powers. The United Kingdom, which is entering its declining period, has five million skilled workers, countless scientists, senior scientific research talents, and a deep industrial background.

Such a force is enough to tear the earth and the sky and can compete with the country, and only the country has always been the only country. At least with the current technical level, tactical weapons cannot gain absolute strategic advantages. Simply put, if quality overwhelms quantity, such weapons have not been developed.

Not long after, the three of them arrived at their destination. After getting off the car, Zhong Yang began to examine the surroundings of an ancient British mansion. The mottled wall surface was covered with traces of time and recorded a long history.

The deep aristocratic courtyard is planted with shrubs, short trees, flowers, and has dedicated people to cut and repair it, reflecting the beauty of neatness and luxury everywhere. Unlike the Chinese-style natural garden scenery, Western-style courtyards seem to prefer neatness and style.

The housekeeper led his servants and was waiting in line to welcome the guests. These people were trained by professional servants, understood etiquette and skills, and had no problem with loyalty.

Taking his wife Zhang Yinyin, Zhong Yang moved into the room arranged by Smith. After taking the plane for such a long time, he was fine, but the tired look on his wife's face made Zhong Yang feel heartbroken. This good rest is indispensable.

Stepping on the thick carpet, the warm atmosphere inside the room really makes people feel comfortable. Both of them are very satisfied with Smith's arrangement. This is the accumulation of favorable feelings. It is originally an intimate cooperative relationship, and their interpersonal relationships also require careful management.

"It seems that this British gentleman is also well aware of this business path." With a meaningful smile, Zhong Yang thought to himself.

It seems that the cooperation over the past few years has allowed the intelligence chief to make a lot of money and has also paved the way in the upper class. Smith naturally does not want this opportunity to be obtained by other people. This is why Zhong Yang's identity can be kept confidential.

Smith understands that no matter who tempts Chen Ze with any conditions, it will not affect his own interests and status. Because the person who can make the decision lives in his own home.

As soon as he got off the plane, Zhang Yinyin had no appetite. She just ate a small amount of food and went to bed early. Facing the Chinese food that the owner had tried his best to prepare, Zhang Yinyin, who was in poor spirit, had no appetite, but Zhong Yang ate with relish.

The British people's local "food" is really unsatisfactory. Fortunately, the host also knows that the guests come from a country of food and knows how to meet their preferences.

For several days, Zhong Yang stayed by his wife, visiting the local scenic spots in London. Smith was indeed a gentleman. He did not come to disturb him, but sent a professional tour guide as a guide.

Even so, it is not considered a light bulb. After all, Zhong Yang and Zhang Yinyin are both in foreign countries and are not familiar with each other. What's more, Zu Jie also followed behind with two bodyguards from Xuantie Security Company in another car.

Here, there are several industries of Tianyu Group, which can be regarded as the overseas branches of the multinational group. The only difference is that some of them are just the signs of Tianyu Group, but in fact they are the underground palace's offices in London.

After sending out the tour guide sent by Smith, Zhong Yang also entered the company's headquarters, and there were naturally a dedicated person to receive it. Zhang Yinyin also understood the truth and would not make her character because of such a thing.

Walking through the long corridor, to the end of the corridor, pushing open the mahogany door in front of him, Zhong Yang walked into it. The two young evil spirits had already been waiting here.

"Hello, President." The two of them greeted each other. They were both from welfare clubs back then, so there is no need to doubt the issue of loyalty.

But depending on their demeanor, Zhong Yang knew that the two of them were scheming, without such special practices and skills, and would not be sent abroad to perform such important tasks. His attitude towards these confidants was also lenient: "How is the situation?"

"This is a preliminary report, and the organization has established offices in major power countries in Western Europe." Gongjin put on the thick documentary materials in his hand. The young man's face revealed a calmness and ability that was inconsistent with his age. He thought he had received professional training and was also of extraordinary qualifications.

Sitting upright at the head of the seat and carefully looking through the report in his hand, Zhong Yang was also familiar with the overview of the powers in this world. After all, it was not the original time and space, and it was unknown how much future could be foreseeable. What's more, the things in history books are all girls who can be dressed up by others, so you should not believe them all.

Since defeating Spain's invincible fleet, gaining maritime trade hegemony, and then taking the lead in completing industrial ** in 1940, the British Empire began to control the fate of the new era of mankind. Sitting high in the throne in the sky, dividing this vast world, destroying civilization, plundering land, slaves, wealth, and everything that can be robbed.

By the diamond celebration of the 60th anniversary of Victoria's rule in 1897, the British Empire reached its peak: the empire's territory reached 24.3 million square kilometers, and by 1909 its territory reached 30.72 million square kilometers. At this time, the British Empire controlled 25% of the land area on our planet - three times that of France and ten times that of Germany.

At that time, the UK controlled about this proportion of the population globally - a total of 444 million. At this time, Britain not only controlled most of Africa, but also controlled places such as Malaysia, New Guinea, and the Cook Islands in the Far East.

There was a statistics in Britain at that time: the Queen controlled a continent (Africa), 100 peninsulas, 500 capes, 1,000 lakes, 2,000 rivers, and 10,000 islands. A stamp issued by the UK at that time showed the British territory controlled by the global control. There was a line of text under the stamp: "We have the vastest empire in history."

Not only the territory, but also the "British Empire" is the world's number one in finance.

By 1914, at the height of the empire, Britain's overseas investment reached 3.8 billion pounds, twice as much as France's overseas investment at that time and three times that of Germany's overseas investment.

In history, no country has ever had such a lot of overseas investment. Between 1870 and 1913, Britain's overseas funds accounted for about 4.5%-7% of its GDP. The UK invested heavily in the United States and the United Kingdom through stock market financing.

At that time, Britain's overseas investment was quite diversified, with only 6% of them investing in Europe, 45% investing in the United States and other white colonies, with a majority of white people; 1/5 of them investing in Latin America, 16% investing in Asia, and 13% investing in Africa.

Of course, Britain's overseas investment also had a huge return. From 1870 to 1913, Britain's overseas investment income accounted for 5.3% of its GDP.

"Free trade" can be said to be accompanied by Britain's foreign expansion of "free trade", which expanded the influence of the empire and controlled more resources in the world. Through force and commercial negotiations, Britain had signed trade agreements with Latin America, the Middle East, North Africa, Oceania and other places in the 19th century.

"Free trade" seems to have a good advantage to Britain, which has an absolute advantage in banking, insurance, shipping, technology and military. By the second half of the 19th century, 60% of Britain's foreign trade was conducted with countries outside Europe - Britain's own figures say that the interest rate spread between Britain's imports and exports was about 10%.

Some British historians believe that this unprecedented empire was actually built inadvertently.

A man named John Robert Cialis seemed to have become the first British man to look at the empire with a cold eye. In 1883, the Oxford scholar suddenly published a book about the history of the "British Empire" from 1688 to 1815 - "The Expansion of England". The book was extremely popular as soon as it was launched. It sold 80,000 copies in just two years, and is still being published and published, which shows its far-reaching influence.

Looking at the data recorded here, although there are errors, the general trend is indeed the case. Before World War I, Britain was surrounded by many flowers and praises. Even after encountering the war against Germany for world hegemony, the national situation began to decline.

But judging from the current situation, most British people still retain the arrogance in their hearts and are unwilling to believe that the huge empire of the sun never sets, and do not believe that the iceberg is melting.

But from the report, Zhong Yang had long seen the sunset of this old power. The reason is very simple, that is, the recession of its economic power.

After World War I, Britain had given way to the United States in its overall strength. Even though it had not yet become a second-rate country, it was not far away. On the surface, it seemed that the war caused Britain to fall from its peak. In fact, Britain had already hidden serious problems during its strongest period. After 1870, Britain showed signs of fatigue in economic development.

Although absolute strength was not surpassed by the United States and Germany until 1913, for countries like Britain, if they cannot maintain a leading development speed, it will be a matter of absolute backwardness. Therefore, intelligence analysts at the Underground Palace believe that the reason for the relative decline of Britain during this period is important for the organization to understand why Britain has fallen from its status as a strong country.

The first point is that Britain lost its advantages in industrial technology. Although Britain was the pioneer and absolute leader of the first industrial **, according to the British population survey in 1851, agriculture is still the largest industry in the UK, and handicraftsmen still have a large share.

Therefore, the first industrial ** is also called classical industrial ** by many scholars. Some Western scholars even believe that Britain may have been industrializing rapidly before 1870, but it is still an agricultural economy. The second industrial ** is not comparable to the first industrial ** in terms of breadth and depth, and is more critical to a country.

However, the second industrial ** occurred almost simultaneously in several advanced countries, but the main countries invented and created technology were no longer Britain, but Germany and the United States that emerged later. Even the advanced technology invented by Britain did not have a positive effect due to the conservative thinking of the industry.

It can be said that the rise of European countries represented by Germany is largely attributed to the innovative mechanism of the economic system. They did not follow the UK, but accepted the essence of modernization ideas, adopted the latest scientific and technological achievements, and vigorously developed emerging industries such as electricity, chemical industry, petroleum, electrical appliances, and automobiles.

Britain's leadership in the first industrial **** was not only closely related to the research and inventions of British scientists and engineers. Similarly, the development of Germany and the United States is closely linked to the country's emphasis on education and technology.

This is of great reference significance for Zhong Yang to explore the path of industrialization in China. The British people’s mistakes and lessons must be learned from them.

Secondly, the British capital class did not make timely adjustments to the economic structure. The British economy was based on cotton spinning, coal, steel and shipbuilding as its pillar industries. Britain's leading position in these industries was a key factor in maintaining the British economic advantages. However, after 1870, the equipment of these industries had been outdated and backward, and the UK did not update and replace technical equipment in time.

Although the UK can still maintain a slow economic development due to the expansion of the world market, its market share has been relatively reduced. Of course, for countries like the UK that have already formed an industrial scale, it is more difficult to adjust the economic structure.

But the current situation is: if a country has the advantage in the emerging industry, it can explore emerging markets and obtain high profits. Due to the inertia, the UK lags behind the United States and Germany in the research and development of emerging industries. Therefore, the proportion of emerging industries in the UK in the entire industry is low, and its output value only accounts for 6.5 of the total industrial output value by 1903.

Third, the British economy has a high degree of dependence on foreign countries. Among the British investments from 1865 to 1914, the British local investment only accounted for 30, and the other 70 were invested abroad, of which the Americas accounted for 37, which has exceeded local investment. Before World War I, Britain accounted for almost half of the world's total investment, and the United States ranked second only accounted for 19. The output of capital made London the world's financial center, and Britain also made great profits in international trade.

However, funds have been continuously shifting from domestic to foreign countries. Over time, this has restricted domestic production investment and technological innovation, created foreign dependence of the British economy, and formed a huge domestic veterinary class. The dependent economy is very fragile. The British economy must revolve around the international economy, ensure the income of intangible trade, and ensure the effective operation of economic means such as the gold standard, free trade policies and balanced finance.

Once these conditions change, economic dependence will inevitably become a force that restricts economic development. This was confirmed in the two subsequent wars. As Paul Kennedy pointed out, Britain's reliance on international trade and international finance is a strategic weakness.

Looking through the pages of information, Zhong Yang was also trapped in his own contemplation. The twilight attitude of the British Empire deeply shocked Zhong Yang's heart. The corrupt system was enough to make people feel sorry for it and as a lesson for the past...

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