Reincarnated as Nikolai II

It began in June, when the United States passed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act.

Politicians claimed this law could protect domestic farmers and workers, and even believed it could help alleviate the problem of overproduction.

"A tariff of 19.8% is a very appropriate figure! It doesn't block essential industrial imports but prevents the American wallet from opening for unnecessary goods!"

"Aren't Detroit industrialists all surviving on the domestic market anyway?"

"The declaration to end tariffs in Geneva in '27? So you're saying we should just sit back and do nothing? Canada? Who cares! We need to survive first!"

In reality, looking at Europe alone, the country with the largest trade surplus wasn't Russia but the United States, but they didn't know that.

No, even if they knew, they might just want to return to the past.

That era when trade with foreign powers wasn't proportionally large and growth came only from the domestic market.

With a few export items to Canada accounting for 30% of total US exports, this bill was nothing short of declaring a trade war.

The response from Western countries was immediate.

"France hereby abolishes the Tariff Act of 1928."

"To promote trade within the Commonwealth, we will support temporary tariff reductions and administrative simplification."

"Let's also raise our tariffs to 20% for now?"

They weren't in a position to be overflowing with generosity and accommodate America's situation either.

France was relatively close to the natural unemployment rate at 5%, but they were merely maintaining jobs while experiencing similar wage cuts and deficit marches.

The 1930s proved that even the Allied powers, who once had each other's backs and traversed the Western Front freely, had to split in the face of poverty.

And the Republic of China, watching the behavior of these great powers.

"We'll raise tariffs too."

"B-but don't we still need to implement trade treaties? A 5% general tax is a long tradition they recognize, but tariffs exceeding 15% have never existed except for Korean red ginseng since ancient times!"

"How long will we continue expanding military while just selling opium? If they don't want to pay money, they shouldn't sell."

They locked their doors the same way.

Rebellion.

Something impossible in Chinese history since modern times happened.

==

Chiang Kai-shek's Northern Expedition was successful.

Although his faction was corrupt and he himself might have excessive desire for power, there's one thing Chiang Kai-shek does well, namely extermination.

'Beating down the Communist army, beating down warlords, beating down the Japanese army. If it's a threat to his power competition, he's desperate to eat them all.'

Chiang Kai-shek himself isn't a particularly good person to hold hands with, but one point worth appreciating is that he plays the role of China's pest exterminator.

And the current Chiang Kai-shek knew exactly what he needed to do.

"The Republic of China still has treaty ports taken away, and foreigners are receiving the benefits of extraterritoriality. Is there a separate reason why President Chiang Kai-shek is suddenly touching tariffs? It's hard to understand as mere revenge."

Precisely, driving out the great powers.

After the Great Depression came, many things changed in our empire too, but if I had to pick one major change:

"Why do you think I would know the answer to that question?"

It's that the frequency of our firstborn son approaching to talk to me has increased dramatically.

"...You don't know?"

"I can guess."

If before he treated me with admiration and yearning from a drawn line, now he treats me like a genie who would grant anything.

This time too, he threw out what he was curious about and quietly waited for an answer, exactly like his mother.

He'll probably stay still like that until I give an answer.

"Nikita, where are tariffs collected?"

"At borders or ports."

"Those concession ports are all owned by great power companies."

Since the late 18th century, starting with the Canton System where Chinese merchants gathered to manage port trade, all of China's ports were maintained in the private sector.

As time passed, after the Opium Wars and signing a few treaties, the port merchants just changed from Chinese to Westerners.

"Then how will the Nanjing government collect tariffs without having ports in their hands?"

"...Physically difficult. Unless they surround the ports with walls."

"Right, ultimately Chiang Kai-shek isn't telling them to pay tariffs. He's telling them to return the ports."

That's why I think the expression 'rebellion' is very appropriate.

Originally in this period, the Nanjing government regains lost authorities one by one through endless negotiations with foreign powers while fighting civil war.

The growing Chinese market.

In contrast, colonial empires gradually losing their projection of power.

'In a way, what blocked the growth of that Nanjing government was Japan. Without Japan, Chiang Kai-shek would have long since recovered sovereignty with plenty to spare.'

That's how much European control over Asia had already left their hands as we entered the 1930s.

Despite protests or terrorism, they wouldn't have let go of India.

Perhaps Indochina would also not have lost its solidity.

But in China without an owner, they certainly would have been driven out.

"I still don't understand. How can he openly antagonize them just because he's grown a bit and succeeded in the Northern Expedition?"

After hearing the explanation, Nikita threw another question, following the tail.

"The Republic of China's exports are mainly agricultural products. You know this, right?"

"Yes."

"But even those agricultural exports are finished. Why? Because the great powers who succeeded in mass food production are dumping all over Asia."

With opium, a best-seller for over a century, successfully nationalized with even the Chinese government and warlords jumping in, the great powers' export strategy changed.

Food. Specifically, rice.

'The United States alone dumped 21 million bushels (an American volume unit) this year, that says it all.'

That's well over 600,000 tons of rice.

Did they just dump rice? In my view, all products from plantations and farmlands in various great power colonies like Indochina and the Philippines are being exported to China.

Anyway, since the great powers' governments block colonial agricultural products from coming in while taking care of their own farmers, they must export by all means.

"This is where a point of collision arises. Since the Republic of China is still an agricultural country, its growth engine is also farmers. With a shortage of workers, they must achieve industrialization and development through the blood and sweat of farmers."

To put it in an analogy, it's close to the Soviet-style economic development. In the sense that all damage is borne by farmers and benefits are received by cities and industry.

"The great powers' dumping is properly cutting into the Nanjing government's growth engine."

"That's right. After seeing food prices cut in half, Chiang Kai-shek had no choice but to move."

Domestic agricultural overproduction along with foreign dumping.

'If the president leaves this alone, that would really show he's unqualified.'

So they took the opportunity to grab some justification since the Western world raised tariffs in a roundabout way. Explore stories at My Virtual Library Empire