Silver.

This is coolbert:

"Si vis pacem, para bellum - If you want peace, prepare for war" - - Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus.

Thanks to the magazine: "Sea Classics" - - a translation very pertinent. Reasons from the Chinese perspective as to WHY China lost the Sino-Japanes War of 1894-1895!

A war - - the parnevu [upstart] nation of Japan triumphant over Imperial China. Sea power and the defeat of a Chinese fleet playing an important role in ultimate Japanese victory.





A war the legacy of which lingers even unto modern times. Taiwan [Formosa], the Chinese Nationalist versus Communist standoff, a war indemnity of staggering proportions, even the disputed islands of Senkaku & Diaoyu!

From the translation of a Chinese naval analyst:

"In that war, [the Sino-Japanes War of 1894-1895], the firepower of the Japanese combined fleet was four to six times larger than that of the Chinese fleet."

. . . .

"Why did the Japanese Combined Fleet have firepower four to six times bigger than China's?"

"the powers that be, both inside and outside the Imperial Court, failed to have foresight . . . and went on to stop Naval spending for 2-yrs. Even worse, it appropriated 7.5 million taels of silver out of the Naval budget to spend on renovating the Summer Palace for Empress Dowager's birthday celebration . . . Let us not even mention the other 10 million taels of silver the Ministry of Revenue misappropriated for the wasteful "Sanhai Project". Just before the war, the Northern Fleet planned to spend 320,000 taels of silver to purchase twelve rapid-firing guns, but failed to come up with this meager amounts of funds."

. . .

"After the defeat, China paid 230 million tales as indemnity. But China had to borrow money from the British and the French to pay for this, which, including interest, would later amount to 600 million taels of silver in total. In addition, we also lost Taiwan to Japan. If the 7.5 million taels of silver were not misused before the war, [if] instead we used it to purchase 280 rapid-firing guns . . . [and] if we used the misused 10 million taels of silver to purchase warships . . . we could have won that Naval battle [Battle of the Yalu River], or at least we could have shared the command of the sea."

The Chinese court and treasury, miserly when it came to military allocations, especially for naval expenditures, but profligate or wasteful with funds for frivolity - - the result being a Chinese fleet woefully equipped to face a much more prepared, agile, resilient and dynamic Japanese enemy.

Again, the peace treaty ending hostilities between the two nations calling for an indemnity, payable in SILVER or SILVER-backed currency, an indemnity very crippling to an already "on-the-ropes" Imperial China.

The resolute and savvy Japanese not wanting payment in "funny money", worthless or devalued paper, SILVER only please!!

"You can pay me now - - or you can pay me later!" Seventeen million now or six hundred million later! Take your pick!

coolbert.