18th century total war

Chapter 250 The Spanish Problem

"The Spaniards want peace talks, and have begun to withdraw from French territory?"

Li Wei, who had just enjoyed a good morning yao under the service of two fresh maids, sat behind the desk and said lazily.

"Yes, my lord Chief Executive Officer.

The envoy of the Kingdom of Spain was very sincere and expressed his willingness to pay to make up for the losses caused to France by this wrong military action. "

"I remember that a regiment of the former Black Dragon Legion was wiped out by the Spaniards. Didn't the envoy of the Kingdom of Spain say how to make up for this battle?"

Li Wei's foreign minister looked slightly startled. In this war involving tens of thousands of people, the loss of more than 10 people was really insignificant.

However, considering that the total losses of the French Defense Forces in the battle were less than 2000, it is understandable why Li Wei would pursue responsibility in this way.

Li Wei's soldiers are more valuable than those of other countries!

"The envoy of the Kingdom of Spain expresses the willingness of the Government of Madrid to pay the pensions of the fallen soldiers."

"pension?

Haha, my army doesn’t need pensions at all!

They died with honour, and the stench of money would stain the honor for which the great French warriors gave their lives! "

After the cabinet ministers present heard this sentence, they looked at their noses, noses, noses, and hearts, as if they were loyal to learn, but in fact they couldn't control themselves and began to complain.

This is the first time they have heard the behavior of not paying military pay and not paying pensions for those who died in battle. It is so fresh and refined...

What is the difference between this and those behaviors that replace material monetary rewards with medals of honor?
Whether it is a soldier of the former Black Dragon Legion or a soldier of the French Defense Forces, the only preferential treatment they can receive after death in battle is to lie down in the newly renovated National Martyrs Cemetery, and then enjoy a collective burial ceremony...

However, even this highly honorable burial ceremony is just a gimmick made by the propaganda department of Li Wei's government!

Li Wei's work now is undoubtedly much more rigorous than at the beginning, and the military salaries of the French Defense Forces are all 'virtual existence'.

According to relevant records in the government, all officers and soldiers of the French National Defense Forces have been issued a "lie order", allowing them to deceive their families, relatives and neighbors, saying that they have generous military pay and death benefits!
The political significance of doing so is self-evident.

If Levi still kept the brainwashed soldiers in his mouth like he did before, who the hell would dare to join the French Defense Forces?

As for the fact that the French Defense Forces cannot afford military pay, it is a matter of individual officers and soldiers.

For these people who have been brainwashed to become cold and heartless, it is very easy to deal with the family members asking for military pay, the worst thing is to sever the relationship.

Compared with the behavior of the first group of Black Dragon Legion soldiers who followed Li Wei to kill their parents with their own hands, it is too normal for the officers and soldiers of the French Defense Forces to sever their relationship because they are forced by their families to ask for military pay!

After all, there is no shortage of selfish people in any era. The officers and soldiers of the French Defense Forces are even fully usable. They need to enjoy life, gourmet food, and even go to the teaching workshop to be at ease, so the military salary is not enough for themselves. How could it be possible? Shipping to your home?
The reason why the French Revolution promoted the idea of ​​fraternity is because there are so many selfish people!

Don't talk about money, everyone is still a good brother. If you borrow money, I am very sorry, and you will become a passerby in the next second.

Of course, the bad reputation of the officers and soldiers of the French Defense Forces will still be spread, but these are only some cases. Not all families will ask their relatives for their military salaries.

As for the cover-up of the distribution of death benefits, the propaganda department of the Li Wei government also came up with many weird ways.

For example, claiming that the soldiers who died in battle had an illegitimate child with a wild woman, and the pensions for those who died in battle were given to them!

Well, this kind of rhetoric is acceptable to many families, after all, they are all of their own blood, but the story of that wild woman running away with her illegitimate child... Oh no, the news makes people very upset.

Of course, this is just one of the stories where the death benefit is not issued. There are many similar stories, as long as it is logical, there is no problem.

The most common thing is that soldiers who died in battle ate, drank, prostituted, gambled and smoked during their lifetime, and owed a large amount of loans, so the death pension has been repaid. If you are shameless, you can claim that the loan has not been repaid, and ask the soldier's family to continue to compensate!
The National Bank founded by Li Wei learned the basic operations of the World Bank in his previous life.

If the heir wants to take away the deposit left by the deceased, he has to peel off the skin, but the heir should not escape the debt left by the deceased!

Of course, in order not to arouse public resentment, the propaganda department designed the amount of debts according to the family conditions of different officers and soldiers who died in battle.

If they are that kind of poor family, they will naturally not let their son or husband die and continue to repay the loan.

Wealthy families are not sure.

All in all, in the case of unequal information, the routine of the propaganda department to make up stories is very popular, and it easily solves the problem that there is an official death benefit, but in fact the death benefit is never issued!
It must be said that there are still many talents in Livy's cabinet government.

It is this series of lies that were brainwashed by the officers and soldiers of the French National Defense Forces that maintained the reputation of the Li Wei government and the French National Defense Forces. From the outside world, it looks more like a normal army than one without military pay, holidays, and death benefits. Three No Army...

It is relatively easy to understand that there are no holidays. After all, the military system of this era is not very humane, especially during wars, it is almost impossible for soldiers to get holidays.

Otherwise, after sending the soldiers home, if the enemy attacks at this time, how will there be time to recall them again?

In peacetime, European countries generally do not maintain large standing armies. A large country with 10,000+ people is a lot, but a small country with tens of thousands is too many!
But thanks to the teacher Prussia, all European countries have prepared a large number of reserve forces. This reserve force is different from the reserve force in the 21st century. These reserve forces are mainly veterans who joined the army after the war ended and then retired and returned home.

In fact, it is an arrangement for veterans in peacetime.

It is also a measure to tie veterans to government chariots. As long as you join the army and fight, as long as you are not disabled or dying in a hospital bed, when the country needs to be recruited, you have to go to the nearby military camp to report immediately!

The European army in this era has no rules on the number of years of service, and the governments of various countries also know that the veterans who have joined the army are more powerful than the retrained recruits. Naturally, those retired veterans will not be let go. Once a major war breaks out, these veterans will almost 100% reserve To the notice of enlistment assembly.

In this regard, Prussia was undoubtedly at the forefront.

This is why the number of standing armies in European countries does not seem to be large in the military data, but when wars begin, it suddenly expands several times or even more than ten times.

Especially those small countries. Many small countries did not even have a standing army of 1 people in peacetime. After the war started, in just a few months, the army expanded more than ten times to reach tens of thousands of people!
Even many small German states with a strong sense of crisis still strictly implement the mandatory military service system for all citizens. During the war, except for men and bureaucrats who are necessary for production positions, all young and strong of the right age need to join the army...

This was all cultivated by the continuous war environment in Europe. Failure to have sufficient awareness of crisis would lead to destruction. Even the United Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania, the overlord of Eastern Europe at that time, was eventually divided three times by the three countries and was completely destroyed.

You know, during the peak period of the United Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania, they beat Tsarist Russia fiercely, and even snatched Moscow!

Such a powerful country perished in less than 200 years. It is conceivable how terrible the war in Europe is.

The reason why the Holy Roman Empire can retain a small state is because there is an empire boss covering its head, and Austria, as the boss of the Holy Roman Empire, will unite those small states as soon as they want to truly unify the Holy Roman Empire By the side of Dabangguo.

The Habsburg family's attempts to unify the Holy Roman Empire several times have suffered military defeats...

Prussia can be said to have risen by stepping on the record of beating Austria.

Li Wei's cabinet ministers are loyal, and naturally they will not jump out to refute Li Wei's shameless remarks at this time.

The foreign minister waited for Li Wei to finish his self-indulgence, and explained in a slow voice: "The Kingdom of Spain will compensate with their country's pension standard. Of course, this can be discussed. If we agree to a truce, the Madrid government will follow our official standard. It can also be negotiated to compensate for death pensions."

“Is there nothing else besides monetary compensation?

The Kingdom of Spain is also too stingy. The pensions of more than 2000 people are nothing more than a drop in the bucket for a country. "

Li Wei replied with a dissatisfied expression.

"My lord, the Spaniard's envoy has only given these conditions for the time being.

Of course, politically, the Spaniards will automatically withdraw from the anti-French alliance after the truce with us. "

Li Wei was obviously dissatisfied with this set of rhetoric, and looked at his chief tax officer.

The General Administration of Taxation controlled by Li Wei's tax chief is the purse of Li Wei's government, and it is a vital department.

Compared with other European countries, the cabinet of the Li Wei government does not have a Ministry of Finance, but is split into the General Administration of Taxation, the Ministry of Logistics, and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

Among these three departments, the Logistics Department is responsible for spending money, while the State Administration of Taxation and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce are responsible for making money.

However, the income of the State Administration of Taxation is more than that of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, because the Ministry of Industry and Commerce mainly relies on the industrial and commercial profits earned to supply the Li Wei government, and it also has to pay taxes to the State Administration of Taxation!

In addition, the departments under the State Administration of Taxation are also very powerful and have the power to mobilize local police and even garrison troops to assist them in collecting taxes.

Li Wei highly praised the method of armed tax collection, which he learned from the 21st century society in his previous life.

Of course, because these cabinet bosses were all officials inspired by Livi's administration, Livi only needed a few words to make them stop fighting among themselves, so there was no need to divide power to restrain each other.

There are many cabinet departments just to clarify the division of labor and improve government efficiency.

"Can the money in the treasury support a general war against the Kingdom of Spain?"

Levi would not personally calculate the consumption of a full-scale war. It was not a simple mathematical problem. It required a large number of professionals to be responsible for the budget and to account for all factors.

In this regard, the State Administration of Taxation naturally has a person in charge.

The three major departments, the State Administration of Taxation, the Logistics Department, and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, are closely connected. After all, these three departments deal with each other every day.

And Li Wei, who is used to being a hands-off shopkeeper, often doesn't ask about the process. He only wants the result, and it must be a sufficiently accurate result, otherwise no one can bear Li Wei's anger.

"My lord Chief Executive Officer, do you intend to carry out military occupation of the Kingdom of Spain for a long time, or just break through Madrid, grab a fortune like last time, and then withdraw?

The specific cost of war depends on the strategic goals of the Chief Executive Officer. "

"What if I want to occupy the Kingdom of Spain for a long time, and even want to wear a Spanish crown?"

"Chief Consul, please forgive me for my incompetence. Even if we do not need to pay the army's military salary and death pension, the ordinary daily consumption of the army is not enough to ensure our long-term occupation of the Kingdom of Spain.

France's current financial situation is very bad. Even if the Wallace Business Alliance has fully taken over the industry and commerce in most of France, it still cannot meet the huge war consumption.

The long-term occupation of the Kingdom of Spain will inevitably fall into a long war of security, and the anti-French alliance will not sit back and watch us completely occupy the Kingdom of Spain. Those Spanish guerrillas will receive a steady stream of external weapons and other supplies. Support.

If the massacre deterrence policy is implemented in the Kingdom of Spain, it will cause the land of Spain to lose most of its agricultural productivity. I am afraid that it will not even meet the self-sufficiency requirements for the food of our occupying troops.

Sending ordinary grain and grass to Spain for a long time will quickly collapse the agricultural economy in France. After all, there are still people in many areas of France who are starving. "

The tax-general's meaning is simple.

There are two ways to occupy a big European country for a long time.

The first is the way of normal occupation, which will not cause too horrific massacres to the people in the occupied areas, so as to ensure that there is enough labor for production.

But doing so will inevitably allow the local guerrillas to gain the support of a large number of local people, and foreign support will not cause the guerrillas to have a shortage of weapons!

How long will this security battle last?
Li Wei naturally understands this reason. In his previous life, the Afghan guerrillas known as the cemetery of empires in the world, didn't they drive away the world's top powers in different periods because they had always had foreign support?

Spain is much larger than Afghanistan, and there are excellent ports everywhere, so foreign aid from smuggling ships cannot be prevented at all.

If Li Wei is rich, he can spend it all the time, but France, which has not recovered from the civil war, is really too poor...

Thank Xiaolong 258 for rewarding 100 starting coins.

(End of this chapter)