Wufeng has held the third meeting of important officials in half a month. There is only one topic in these three meetings, that is, how to speed up the development of the empire economy to cope with the ever-changing development situation of the entire continent, especially the challenges from the Western Continent. Under the influence of this issue, even the battle against Kaman and Sisro seemed to be put second, which also made all the important officials of the empire realize that His Majesty the Emperor values ​​this matter.

The cause of the incident is very simple, which originated from a comprehensive intelligence data submitted by the Imperial Intelligence Agency to His Majesty the Emperor. This intelligence data is full of nearly 100,000 words, including a large number of numbers and detailed information, and provides a comprehensive analysis of the Imperial Intelligence Agency. This information made Wu Feng, who had just had time to relax, realize the new pressure that the Empire was about to face.

The intelligence information submitted by the Imperial Intelligence Agency is actually a comprehensive report on the economic development of the powerful countries in the entire Western Continent over the past few years, including the Leeds Kingdom, the Famini Empire, the Barrows Kingdom, the Augsburg Empire, and the Hansen Alliance's top five.

It can be said that this information gave Wu Feng a real real understanding of the development of the powerful people in the Western Continent. The original intelligence was more about collecting the political intelligence of the strong people, but this time it was a comprehensive analysis report, especially a detailed introduction to the economic development status of the countries, which made Wu Feng feel tremendous pressure for the first time.

The pressure comes from the development speed of the powerful people in the Western Continent. The General Administration of Intelligence listed the Kingdom of Leeds and the Famini Empire as the first-class power. Although the military strength of the two countries is far from comparable to the huge imperial military strength, the military quality of the two countries' military forces and the average development ability of the military industry have surpassed the empire. This is also the conclusion that Wufeng came to after carefully comparing the comprehensive military capabilities of the empire and the two countries. The muskets and thunder that the empire had just begun to be equipped in the armies of the two countries. This alone made Wufeng afraid of the future. Judging from time, the time when these two countries developed muskets should have been earlier than the empire, but the empire was more sensitive at this point. Because the war was still in progress, he tried his best to transform this result into actual use.

The advantage of the Leeds Kingdom in the sea has been fully demonstrated. The Leeds Navy has spread its tentacles across the west coast of the New World and continues to extend to the south and east. Its super naval strength has made all the powerful countries in the Western continent have to retreat when facing it alone. The naval strength of the Leeds Kingdom is not only reflected in the fact that they have set up the Sky Thunder (called artillery by the Western Continent) on ships and used them in actual combat. Rockets and boarding battles have retreated to the second place, especially traditional rocket attacks have been completely damaged.

The trend of elimination, and muskets (called muskets by people in the Western Continental) have also begun to be equipped with naval naval sailors. It is obvious that they have solved the waterproof and moisture-proof problem of muskets. Using thunder and muskets in the navy is a problem that the Imperial Navy had just considered, and the Leeds people have successfully done this. According to the intelligence reaction, both the Famini and the Barrows navy are catching up. They will never want to see the Leeds navy dominate the Storm Ocean, but this gap is even a trend of widening.

If the Kingdom of Leeds dominates the navy, then the Famini Empire is the leader in the army. Although the Famini Empire's navy was defeated in the early maritime competition, the Famini Empire's navy was defeated, but when the Kingdom of Leeds thought that it could also defeat Famini in the army, the Famini Army was completely broken by this fantasy. Their battle in the Dunker area made the Leeds finally understand that if they want to dominate the land on the Western Continent, they had to ask the Famini whether they agreed or not.

The competition between the two countries in the western and northern colonies on the New World is also becoming increasingly fierce, which has led to the continuous increase in military investment between the two countries, and the demand for military affairs has also led to the rapid development of the two countries' industries in military industry. Just when the Tang Empire had just made a breakthrough in steelmaking technology, the Leeds Kingdom, the Famini Empire and the Augsburg Empire had already begun to widely promote the use of the converter steelmaking method, which was regarded as a breakthrough technology by the Tang Empire. This piece of information was undoubtedly a knock on Wufeng and was dizzy.

Just when Wufeng was depressed by this, the General Administration of Intelligence also mentioned that the steelmaking companies in the Kingdom of Leeds seemed to be seeking breakthroughs in fuel. Traditional coal steelmaking is becoming increasingly unsuitable for the demand for steel in various industries, which also forces steel companies to hope to make technological breakthroughs. The new technology just developed by the Imperial Science and Technology Development Department - coke steelmaking seems to have made breakthroughs in the Kingdom of Leeds, which made Wufeng feel huge pressure. Everyone knows what steel production and quality mean to a country. The need for muskets (muskets) and thunder (artillery) is an astronomical figure.

The technological advantages gained by the two powerful countries in the Western Continent in their most important industries made Wufeng realize that if the empire speeds up, the Empire will have to be at a very dangerous disadvantage in the future for the New World. Especially the advantages of the Leeds Kingdom in the navy make Wufeng anxious. Once the Leeds Kingdom really extends its tentacles to the Latin Ocean, the empire's interests will not only be threatened, but also its position in the Latin Ocean and the South China Ocean will be shaken.

Wufeng was anxious to think of all this. The countries in the Western Continent are far from being compared with the empire in their territory, and their populations are also very different. However, Wufeng also knew that a large empire with a mixed ethnic group controlled by the empire, but its dominance in many territories is quite weak, especially in the Central Continent. It is maintained entirely by military and economic attraction. Once the people of all ethnic groups in these areas realize that the Tang Dynasty could not even match the countries in the Western Continent, the empire's control over them will definitely be greatly weakened, and no one can predict what will happen at that time.

The intelligence from the General Intelligence Administration is not limited to these. Just when all sectors of the empire were complacent about the rapid technological advancement of the textile industry in the Jiangnan region, the wool industries of the Leeds Kingdom and the Augsburg Empire had already undergone a larger and more profound technological revolution before the Jiangnan textile industry. This directly led to the wool products of the Leeds Kingdom and the Augsburg Empire almost monopolized the entire Western continent and continuously exported the wool products to the Central Continent.

What shocked Wufeng the most was that the Kingdom of Leeds began to widely use something called a steam engine to drain water in the mining industry. This machine is said to have a very good effect in mining drainage. It is said that if this steam engine can be improved, it will have great prospects and even bring unprecedented changes to the needs of power. However, the General Administration of Information is not very clear about the specific situation, but judging from the degree of attention paid to this technology in the Kingdom of Leeds, it should be a very important technological invention.

The rapid development of the powerful people in various industries in the Western Continent made the important officials of the Empire who had circulated this economic information and were in a heavy mood, especially Xiao Tang, Su Qin, and officials from the Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Construction, etc., were even more shocked. The achievements of the Western Continent in these aspects will soon be transformed into productivity, and the improvement of productivity will soon be reflected in the national strength of various countries, which will be a huge challenge for the empire.

The Kingdom of Leeds is undoubtedly the most obvious example. The strong steelmaking capabilities have been transformed into military industry and shipbuilding capabilities, and these capabilities will also greatly improve the military strength of these countries. It is said that in order to counter the threat of the Famini Empire starting to fully equip large-caliber artillery on warships, the Kingdom of Leeds is advancing a plan to fully install iron armor on Leeds Navy warships. This iron armor can fully cover important parts of the ship and greatly reduce the damage of artillery to wooden ships.

"Everyone, I have read this economic information summary. In the past few days, I have asked you to go back and think carefully. I wonder if you have any ideas?" Wu Feng looked at the court officials. He could see that this information summary made everyone present feel tremendous pressure. This is a good phenomenon. If all the people are at a loss or indifferent, that is the real crisis.

"Your Majesty, I have been carefully reflecting over the past few days. Why are small border countries like the Leeds Kingdom and the Famini Empire developing so fast, and their economic strength is changing with each passing day. I think this is worth considering. The Empire has always listed military operations as its main goal in recent years, and has indeed achieved brilliant achievements. However, looking at the areas controlled by the Empire, we have to admit that the economic development of many areas of the Empire, even some local areas, and the economic development of the entire Empire is extremely unbalanced, especially in some newly occupied areas. The people's recognition of the Empire is quite weak, and now they rely entirely on military and administrative means to maintain their rule. I think that in order to strengthen the control of these areas, in addition to strengthening cultural assimilation, it is more important to accelerate the economic development of these areas and let the local people feel the benefits brought to them by the prosperity and strength of the Empire, rather than relying on military occupation and suppression to enhance the prestige of the Empire."
Chapter completed!