Xiang Ying silently put down the fork in his hand, and other Chinese officials also put down the barnacles in the dining plate. They have seen a lot of expensive ingredients, but this kind of reward for life is really hard to swallow!

"Is this not to your taste?" Isabella II looked at Xiang Ying in confusion and thought that these Chinese people did not believe what they said.

"Susan, you told our guests the prices of these barnacles..."

Susan's attendant smiled and said, "Fresh barnacles can be sold for 100 pounds per kilogram in the Madrid market, while the barnacles selected by the royal family are fixed standards in fixed sea areas..."

"No kilogram of barnacles costs around 250 pounds, which is a regional delicacy that is well-known in Europe!"

Xiang Ying smiled bitterly and shook her head, "It's not that I don't believe in the preciousness of this ingredients. As the queen, you are not able to enjoy crude ingredients..."

"I just feel a little uncomfortable. I'll have to exchange for ten pounds? Too..."

China has been influenced by the three schools of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism for thousands of years since ancient times. The gene of benevolence has been in the bone marrow. Xiang Ying feels very uncomfortable when he sees this kind of delicacy that he has exchanged for human life.

But the queen didn't understand this very much. "This is their fishermen's job. Since they are greedy for the high purchase price of barnacles, they naturally have to take risks to dig. Is anyone forcing them?"

Haha… Xiang Ying sneered, “The high purchase price? I’m afraid that the final price of those fishermen who paid their lives is not as good as one-tenth of the retail price. Where did more profits go?”

"No one forces them? If a person can survive, who will risk his life to do such a job... The poor have no choice, and the cruel society will force him to a dead end!"

"After all, it's the ruler's problem!"

With a clang, the fork fell on the plate, and the queen's expression that had just been relaxed suddenly fell again. "You mean, should I bear all the responsibility?"

"It's really strange. When a fisherman digs a barnacle, will this blame be taken to me? They are poor because they are born with sin!"

"It is natural for God to punish them for coming to the world to suffer!"

When Susan heard that it was about to start arguing again, she quickly smoothed out the market, "Change the dishes... What is the next dish... Is the fresh shrimp soup? Change the barnacle immediately..."

"Mr. Xiang, I won't talk about those unhappy topics for the time being. Let's raise our glasses for..." Susan thought for a long time but didn't think of any toast.

As a guest accompanying the seat, Victor Hugo was obviously very satisfied with Xiang Ying's compassion just now. He stood up to smooth things over and said, "Then let's give the beautiful scenery of Biarritz! Cheers!"

The atmosphere of the second half of the banquet was much better with the great writers who had been trying to smooth out the court. When the dinner was about to end, the slightly drunk queen finally started talking about the important matter.

"Dear Xiang! Tell me about your conditions... What did the Head of State bring?"

As soon as Victor Hugo listened to the topic and entered politics, he apologized for saying that his leg hurt and wanted to go to a hot spring bath. He left the banquet with a wink.

Under Susan's gaze, some low-level officials, servants and maids left the banquet hall, leaving only more than a dozen core members.

Xiang Ying's alcohol content was OK, and half a bottle of red wine could not make his thinking confusing. He coughed twice, sorted out his thoughts and said openly.

"I'm sorry! This time the war broke out in the Philippines, Spain may not be able to recover this place. Don't be angry, listen to me to analyze it slowly..."

"From ancient times to the present, war has been a business. People's purpose of launching wars is either immediate interests or long-term interests... Only when there is interests will they take action, and no one will be stupid enough to die in vain!"

"The reparations of war, the seizure after victory, and the ancient struggle for population slaves... are all short-term interests, just like gamblers, opening and glaring!"

"Long-term interests mainly rely on the rule of local territories, population, minerals, forests, agriculture, taxation... These long-term benefits are also the main reasons for the war!"

"If there is interests, there will be war. If there is no interests, there will be no war! What kind of colony is the Philippines for Spain right now?"

"Well, I'll assume for the time being that Queen, you will be able to restore the war and then launch an expeditionary force to attack Asia... But what benefits can you get when doing these things?"

"Does the Philippines have millions of tons of gold and silver waiting for you to grab it? How much spoil do you think the Expeditionary Force can loot?"

"I am bluntly, the Philippines has been searched for you in the past three hundred years. How much oil can the legs of flies and mosquitoes be scraped? Have you calculated it..."

"There are no benefits that can be captured in front of you, but are there necessarily long-term benefits? Not necessarily!"

"The Philippines does have a lot of natural resources, gold, silver, tin, wood, rubber, spices, crops, etc. These are divided into two parts, one part is renewable and the other part is non-renewable!"

"Mine is a non-renewable resource, especially your favorite gold and silver... Over the past three hundred years, you have dig up all the easy-to-mine dangerous mines that are extremely complex and cannot be mined by human technology!"

"The input-output ratio of business is different. In the past, investing in one gold coin could produce a deposit of 1,000 gold coins. Now, if you investing in one thousand, you may lose all your money if you fall here!"

"Why are your governors crying poor all these years? Isn't it because all the minerals that can be mined are exhausted?"

"You can't find many non-renewable resources. Of course, you will turn your attention to renewable resources, such as grain, wood, rubber, spices..."

"Our intelligence department has done a lot of work before. We have copied the financial accounts in the Governor of Manila's cabinet several times. For ten years, Manila's taxes have relied heavily on renewable resources!"

"The proportion of income from mining and marine tax has dropped from 51% ten years ago to 37% now. Think about it carefully. Do the Philippines have mountains of gold and silver for you to collect?"

"Data won't lie!"

"Why is the decline so severe? In the final analysis, the minerals that are easy to mine are exhausted, and minerals that are difficult to mine cannot be mined at all!"

"In addition, why has the commercial tax on marine trade been reduced? The reason is very simple. Merchants pursue profits, and the Chinese people's business in the East China Sea can be more prosperous than you Spanish!"

"Those sea boats travel to Liuqiu, Shanghai, Tanggu... including the Fusang line, make more than twice as much money as you do in the Philippines. Do you think those sea boats will go to Manila?"
Chapter completed!