Long live Joachim

Chapter 2: Butter and Cannon In midsummer, heavy rain is watering the green land. In the Fairy Manor in the northern suburb of Limerick, the private residence of the Irish throne candidate, Xia Shu and his partners are sitting behind the french window, smoking and drinking tea, looking quite comfortable. Although the signing of the London Armistice Treaty left great regrets for the Irish people, it at least provided reliable guarantees for Ireland's independence and stability. During the German army's stay, the British, who were hostile to the Irish independence regime, had to put away their swords and watch as this newly reborn kingdom passed through its relatively fragile "infancy". The men sitting on the left and right sides of Xia Shu are all under forty years old. They are dressed in neat and exquisite suits, full of energy and confidence. On the left is the senior figure of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and the highest leader of the Cork Putsch, Edmond Canter. At the proposal of Natsuke, the Irish Parliament elected him as Prime Minister, exercising the supreme power of the head of government, responsible for forming a government cabinet, promoting formal constitutionalism, and a series of important affairs such as domestic and foreign affairs. On the right is Patrick Pierce, an important member of the Irish Volunteer Army and the actual initiator of the Cork Putsch. He entered the Canterbury Cabinet and served as Minister of Defence, responsible for the military and defense construction of the Kingdom of Ireland. In this simple and elegantly decorated large room, there are young people, middle-aged people, and elderly people with white hair. Apart from Xia Shu, there are no other people wearing military uniforms. They talked in a harmonious atmosphere, with no one deliberately acting as a translator, but the different languages did not create the chaotic scene of talking like chickens and ducks - because the armed independent factions that jointly held power did not trust Irish local officials during the British rule period, and were unwilling to hand over the national power they had exchanged with fresh blood to members of the Irish parliamentary party who were in the power class and advocated democratic autonomy rather than violent resistance. Based on Xia Shu's special identity and Germany's tremendous assistance to Ireland's independence, they would rather rely on a senior advisory team invited by Germany to reorganize Ireland's economy, industry, finance, and social order. These advisors, selected and contacted by Xia Shu, gathered talents from various industries, including former Vice President of Deutsche Bank, Kuno Herrer, and former Deputy Minister of the Interior of Prussia, Otto Helenbrooks, who quickly demonstrated convincing abilities upon their arrival. With their help, the central government of the Kingdom of Ireland was able to operate smoothly, and both sides entered a mutually beneficial honeymoon period. It can be understood that after experiencing the Great Famine of the last century, most Irish people intentionally prioritized crop cultivation and livestock farming as food producing industries to ensure their survival in various difficult times. Geographically, Ireland is surrounded by mountains and rivers, with high-quality grasslands accounting for more than two-thirds of arable land, making it the most suitable for developing animal husbandry. Moreover, almost all Irish people living outside the city are raising cattle, sheep, and poultry, producing a large amount of meat, eggs, fresh milk, and dairy products. The butter produced here is even more than in Germany, "said Helen Brooks, who is nearly seventy years old, slowly,However, it should be reminded that in this era of rapid industrial development, no country with agriculture and animal husbandry as its main industries can achieve the status of a first-class power. The French only appear to be strong on the surface, and the two wars that have been separated by 43 years have shown a fact that their war mobilization ability is far inferior to that of Germany. I think this is the significant difference between agricultural and industrial powers There is no doubt that any rising country needs strong industry to support it, "the young Irish Prime Minister continued." For many years, most of our profits from exporting butter were stored in London's vaults, with only a small portion used to build Ireland's infrastructure. Except for the four ports of Dublin, Belfast, Cork, and Limerick, transportation in other areas is very backward, and the vast majority of factories are family style workshops with low productivity. The situation is different now. The consumption of war has greatly increased the demand for butter, cheese, leather, and meat products in the world market. Optimistically estimated, this year's agricultural and animal husbandry exports will bring in 30 to 40 million marks of income for Ireland. We will use this money to build the first batch of iron and steel mills, establish our industrial production, and strive to manufacture our first cannon before next year Helen Brooks and Canter, one focusing on theory and the other on planning, are actually two ideas: establishing Ireland's industrial system. During peacetime, Ireland could import industrial equipment from the European continent without restrictions, but if it had no industry of its own, its ships would need to be sent abroad for repairs, engines would need to be purchased from abroad, and its defense industry would rely too much on other countries. Once it was locked at sea by Britain, even the best equipment would not be effective due to a lack of necessary maintenance. As a German, Helen Brooks' understanding of Ireland is not as thorough as her own country, and Kanter, this shrewd accountant, is still a newcomer in national affairs. Now that the Second Industrial Revolution is coming to an end, the widespread application of electricity, the creation of internal combustion engines and new modes of transportation, the invention of new communication methods, and the development of the chemical industry have reached a high level. At this time, it is necessary to establish a national industrial system on an almost blank basis. Even if money can solve it, it is still an astronomical figure far beyond Ireland's financial resources. Prussia developed from a traditional agricultural country to a leading industrial power in Europe over nearly a century, undergoing several reforms and laying a solid foundation for compulsory national education. Later, it also received tremendous impetus from the Franco Prussian War and the unification of the German Empire. Given the current situation in Ireland, it is simply an unimaginable task to complete the path of industrialization in one or two generations. It is precisely because of these clear understandings that Xia Shu feels very conflicted. On the one hand, countries with agriculture and animal husbandry as the main industries have slow development and weak national strength in the industrial era, and their domestic economy is highly susceptible to the influence of the international market, making it difficult to establish independent and strong national defense. On the other hand, forcibly pushing Ireland onto the track of industrialization through external aid and loans will inevitably face the dilemma of lack of product competitiveness and development momentum, and may even fall into a national debt crisis. Ireland's national industry is a major challenge, but there is no way out. Most of Xia Shu's private property in Germany was returned to the German royal family or sold to the German government in exchange for various equipment and supplies urgently needed by the Kingdom of Ireland after the war. The candidate for the Irish throne was only an informal title with power and could not bring any material wealth to Xia Shu at the moment, but years of successful experience in managing industries allowed him to return to his profession with ease. The Friedrich Royal Shipyard was taken over by the German government, and the hardworking shipyard operations director, Wiesel, resigned from this lucrative job and willingly followed him to Ireland. Many people who had benefited from Xia Shu or been impressed by his unique charm also made the same decision. With the capable assistants of Weizel, Xia Shu confidently borrowed 30 million marks from Deutsche Bank and bought large pieces of land and shipyard facilities in the devastated ports of Dublin and Cork. In addition, he recovered the Limerick Hubert shipyard from the British, which was originally jointly owned by him and Holland. Soon, he established the Hubert Marine Group, which had three large shipyards and a shipping company. He also adopted a strategy of joint operation with the Irish government, building a transport fleet from low-priced cargo ships purchased by bankrupt British and French merchants, and buying a large number of agricultural and pastoral products from the Irish people that were stranded due to war and selling them to England and Germany. With the profits earned, he purchased poorly performing but well structured ships and sent them to his own company. The shipyard carried out repairs and then put into operation the Atlantic commercial route, using butter The export of cheese to Spain and even the United States on the other side of the ocean - the income of 30 million to 40 million marks mentioned by Kant - is actually a lucrative profit obtained through post-war speculation. If calculated at normal prices before the war, Ireland's agricultural and pastoral exports only earn around 10 million marks per year, which is far from reaching this number in bad times. With two industrial waves, Britain, the United States, and Germany have become the leading industrial powers. We started much later than these countries, and their technological conditions and natural resources are also unsatisfactory. It will be a very long process to catch up with other countries through conventional means, but if our industry takes a distinctive and advantageous path, the situation may have a great turning point. "At this point, Xia Shu bought a hurdle for everyone present to speculate on his intentions. Some people are eyeing butter, cheese, and animal meat, thinking that modern industrial methods can be used to produce canned products that are easier to store and preserve than traditional products, and using Irish canned food to seize the international market share of agricultural and animal husbandry products. This can also be considered a relatively reliable idea. After a discussion among everyone, Xia Shu revealed the answer - to establish an Irish military industry with submarines, torpedoes, small caliber guns, and airplanes as its flagship products! Long before the outbreak of the war, Humbert Shipyard in Limerick had been a well-known European manufacturer of high-speed boats and submarines. The small Holland submarines it produced were of good quality and cheap, suitable for commercial operation and scientific application, and could also be used to train sailors and explore naval tactics. It had received orders from Russia, Austria Hungary, Italy and even Ottoman Türkiye. However, many of the mechanical equipment at the Humbert Shipyard was dismantled or destroyed by the British during the war, and Irish submarine designer John Holland has also passed away. Now, the reconstruction of the Humbert Shipyard is a true reconstruction. Diesel powered small and medium-sized submarines will be long-term bestsellers in the international arms market. The steel, engines, and instrument equipment used to build submarines require certain technical requirements. It is expected that we will need three to five years to achieve national production, and the entire military industrial chain can support at least 20000 workers. In peacetime without the threat of war, the annual sales of submarines are about 10, and once threatened by military conflict or even war, this number will definitely increase exponentially. The distinctive and practical military industry will definitely have much more profits than us selling butter everywhere, and can become the most intimidating combat force of the Irish Navy, making any ship commander who wants to approach the Irish coast think twice before acting