Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 160 Nanyang Strategy
"Sun Bin, come and sit down and try the Brazilian cocoa tea." After Liu Pu and others left, Li Mingyuan ordered the guards to bring two cups of cocoa tea and entertained them.

Cocoa is one of Brazil's main cash crops. It can be made into beverages and highly nutritious foods. It is one of the favorite beverages of the European upper class.

Sun Bin picked up the teacup and took a sip of cocoa tea, then put the cup on the desk and waited for Li Mingyuan to speak.

"The mainland and Southeast Asia are far away from Rio Grande do Sul, and the cost of transporting immigrants is huge. However, Chinese immigrants are our foundation. We cannot stop the immigration plan just because of the huge transportation costs. You should understand what I mean."

Li Mingyuan didn't let Sun Bin wait for long. After sending the guards in the room to guard outside, he spoke.

"I am not against immigration, but the number of immigrants should be controlled within a certain scale. Moreover, the population of Rio Grande do Sul exceeds 300,000, which is already a force that cannot be ignored in the La Plata region. We should take advantage of the relatively peaceful and stable international situation around us to develop domestic economic construction, fully integrate more than 300,000 people into Rio Grande do Sul, stabilize our Chinese base, and then plan to immigrate in batches."

"I have considered your concerns, and what I said during the meeting will not change."

Li Mingyuan picked up the teacup calmly, sniffed the aroma of cocoa, and continued, "I kept you here because I wanted to hear your opinions on our return to the mainland and the Nanyang region. There are only two of us in the room, so you can speak freely."

Sun Bin only talked about a small part of his ideas in the meeting just now. When Li Mingyuan asked him directly, he did not hide anything.

"I would like to ask you a question, does the prince want to fight back to the mainland and rebuild the kingdom of heaven?"

"Haha, why do you have such an idea?" Li Mingyuan's hand holding the teacup stopped in mid-air, and the expression on his face changed rapidly.

"When I was strolling around Xinjing a few days ago, I overheard a few National Defense Army officers discussing the topic of returning to the mainland. I was curious and wanted to know whether the prince supported returning to the mainland."

"I've heard a little bit about what you said, but you're the first person to mention it to me."

Li Mingyuan slowly put down the teacup, his expression complicated as he said, “To be honest with you, after hearing the brothers talking about this matter, I have been feeling conflicted.

The mainland is the hometown of overseas Chinese, and rescuing my Chinese brothers and sisters in the mainland is what I have always wanted to do.

However, the Qing Dynasty ruled the Central Plains for two hundred years, and most officials, landlords, and ordinary people agreed with the Qing Dynasty's rule. The Heavenly Kingdom Rebellion was suppressed by the Qing Dynasty not long ago, and the uprising launched by the Nian Army brothers had just failed. The Qing government and the Han landlords who supported them were at their peak, but they could not overthrow the Qing Dynasty's rule with the National Defense Army alone. "

"Your Highness, please understand. You led the Chinese brothers in South America through untold hardships to establish a country. You cannot start a war that is likely to fail just because you sympathize with the people of the mainland."

"We can only take things one step at a time on the mainland, but you don't have to worry. The National Defense Forces will not provoke a war with the Qing Dynasty before they are reliably certain."

The discussion on how to deal with the Qing Dynasty ended and the conversation returned to the main topic.

"The Nanyang region is the sphere of influence of Britain, the Netherlands and France. Whether recruiting Chinese from the mainland or the Nanyang region, we have to go through the colonies controlled by the three countries. Therefore, the attitudes of the three countries have a great impact on the success or failure of our transportation of immigrants."

"If you were the governor of the three countries' South Seas colonies, what would you do?" Li Mingyuan asked deliberately.

"The French colonial power is in the Indochina region. Northern Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos have not yet fallen into the hands of the French. Their next move in the Southeast Asia region should be to completely occupy the three countries in Indochina. It is unlikely that they will interfere with the transportation of Chinese people.

After the Netherlands was defeated by Britain, its national strength weakened and its colonies in India and Africa were successively seized by the British and French powers. The Dutch East Indies became the Netherlands' largest colony with the most economic benefits.

The Netherlands' national power weakened, and after ceding Malacca and northern Kalimantan, it was able to continue to rule the rest of the East Indies with the tacit consent of the British. After the end of the Ming Dynasty, Chinese people immigrated to Southeast Asia on a large scale, forming a huge force, and more than a dozen Chinese forces established armed regimes in the East Indies.

The expansion of Chinese power caused panic among the Dutch colonists. Starting more than 40 years ago, the Dutch colonies began to specifically eliminate Chinese forces. The South China Company, Dai Yanguo and other countries occupied by Chinese were successively eliminated by the Dutch, and the Dutch's actions of massacring the Chinese became more and more frequent.

Therefore, due to the lack of national strength, the Netherlands certainly does not want to see us operating in the Southeast Asian region. They are worried that we will unite the scattered Chinese in Southeast Asia and endanger their colonial rule. "

"The Dutch are a trouble, but there is also a Lan Fang Trading Company in the East Indies. Do you think they will help us transport immigrants?" Li Mingyuan interrupted Sun Bin and asked.

"Your Highness, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. Four years ago, before I came to South America, the fleet stopped in Pontianak for a few days to repair. In the port, the Chinese people from the Lan Fang Company that I saw were only led by the Dutch, and they helped the Dutch suppress the rioting Chinese workers.

I heard from some free Chinese people at the port that there were more than ten Chinese companies in Kalimantan before, and some of them were powerful enough to defeat the Lan Fang Company. After being defeated, the Lan Fang Company turned to the Dutch and helped the Dutch to eliminate other Chinese companies one after another. Therefore, the Lan Fang Company was the only Chinese company left in Kalimantan.

"Haha, it turns out that the Lan Fang Company survived by working as a lackey for the Dutch. I used to overestimate them."

In later generations, because the Lan Fang Company was destroyed by the Dutch, out of sympathy, the news about Lan Fang circulated on the Internet were all positive, but the evil deeds of Lan Fang helping outsiders to harm their compatriots were not exposed.

After learning the true face of the Dao Lan Fang Company from Sun Bin, Li Mingyuan was slightly surprised for a moment, but soon regained his composure and continued to ask: "It seems that we can only think of a solution from the British colonies. Sun Bin, are there any old brothers from the Kingdom of Heaven in the British Malay colonies?"

"After the defeat of the Heavenly Kingdom, some Heavenly Kingdom brothers who were captured by the British military were sold to the Caribbean Islands and Guyana. Most of the Chinese in the Malayan colony were ordinary Chinese who went out to sea to make a living from the coastal areas. There should not be many Heavenly Kingdom brothers."

Sun Bin thought for a while and replied.

"Nanyang is close to the mainland. The Chinese brothers who fled there may be worried about being hunted down by the Qing government, so they hid under different names. Sun Bin, I plan to send you to Nanyang to organize immigration while investigating the whereabouts of the old brothers in the Heavenly Kingdom."

Li Mingyuan left Ta alone and deliberately asked him about the distribution of power in the Nanyang region. Sun Bin already understood that Li Mingyuan wanted to send him to Nanyang.

"I was against large-scale immigration before, but the prince has entrusted me with the task. I will do my best to complete the task and not let the prince down." Sun Bin had expected this, and he immediately expressed his firm stance after Li Mingyuan proposed the task. "In the Nanyang region, the forces of Britain, France and the Netherlands are intertwined, and the local Chinese and indigenous people are not subordinate to each other. There are not many talents available in Nanyang, so I can only send you out. You won't blame me, will you?"

"The prince trusts me and gives me important tasks. I am grateful and have never complained to him."

Sun Bin immediately stood up and said seriously.

"You don't have to be so serious. You are a loyal and steady person, otherwise I wouldn't have entrusted so many things to you."

Li Mingyuan encouraged Sun Bin a few words and continued, "Nanyang is the territory of European powers. If we send too many people, it will arouse their vigilance, so I will only send you 500 people, and then you will pretend to be ordinary Chinese businessmen and act in Nanyang."

"Five hundred people are enough, but I would like to ask the prince for three more."

"Tell me, who do you want?"

"Brother Hou has been a pirate in the Caribbean for several years. The South Seas are full of islands. There are some things that cannot be brought to the table and solved, and they need the help of people like Brother Hou."

"Hou Taiyuan led several hundred naval brothers to establish themselves in the Caribbean Sea and fought against the black pirates without losing. He is a good candidate."

Li Mingyuan nodded and agreed with Sun Bin's opinion.
"I heard that there are two new brothers who came back with Brother Hou, and I want to take them with me."

"You are talking about Ah Chen and Liang Xing, right? Ah Chen's right leg was amputated, and I'm afraid he can't stand the long-distance voyage. Besides, Chen Sen and Hou Taiyuan recommended him to manage the engineering corps. I agreed with their suggestion. It's not appropriate for you to take him away. Find someone else!"

Liang Xing is an excellent businessman, and Sun Bin can use him when he goes to Southeast Asia to deal with foreigners. Although Ah Chen has lived overseas for quite a long time, he is a military man. Li Mingyuan believes that sending him to Southeast Asia will not be of much use, so he rejected Sun Bin's proposal.

"Prince, the first step after we arrive in Nanyang is to buy land from the local indigenous Sudan to build a base, so talents like Ah Chen who are proficient in fortification construction are indispensable. Moreover, when I met Ah Chen two days ago, he also expressed his intention to work for you overseas. You don't have to worry too much."

"We need our own base and stronghold to transport immigrants. Your consideration is correct. I agree that Ah Chen will go with you." Li Mingyuan carefully considered Sun Bin's suggestion, changed his mind, and nodded, "Building bases and defense facilities is indispensable. I will assign another 100 engineers to you. When we set out, the troops will be divided into two fleets. You will be responsible for the arrangements when we arrive in Nanyang."

"Thank you for your support, Your Highness." Sun Bin achieved his goal and was about to say goodbye when he was stopped by Li Mingyuan, "Don't leave in a hurry. I have something else to tell you."

As Li Mingyuan spoke, he took out a hand-drawn map from his study, spread it out on the desk, and explained: "This is a map of Nanyang that I bought from the British."

Sun Bin walked to the desk and focused his eyes on the map. The map was divided into different areas with three colors, and there was a small area that remained intact without being marked with color.

"The green area is actually controlled by the Dutch, the red area is the Straits Settlements and North Kalimantan colonies of the British, the green area is the area currently controlled by the French, and the blank area is independent or unowned. When you arrive in Southeast Asia, first establish a base in the white area to prevent it from being destroyed by foreigners."

Although the three countries in Indochina were not completely controlled by France, France was determined to conquer them, so they were painted light green. Apart from the three countries in Indochina, there are three main unpainted areas. The first is the central part of the Malay Peninsula, including the four independent indigenous countries of Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Perak and Pahang and the Chinese Songkhla regime in Thailand.

The second area mainly consists of the Pontianak region controlled by the Lan Fang Company and the Natunatu Island temporarily controlled by local Chinese.

The third is the remote and barren island of New Guinea.

Among the three white areas, New Guinea Island is geographically remote, far away from the immigration transportation routes, and it is difficult to survive on the island. Sun Bin was the first to send it out. The Lan Fang Company relied on the Dutch, and it was risky to act in Lan Fang. The central Malay region was under the rule of indigenous sultans. They allowed the Chinese to buy land and mine minerals. It was the place chosen by Sun Bin to establish a stronghold and immigration base.

Sun Bin pointed out his choice, but was rejected by Li Mingyuan.

"The four countries in central Malay Peninsula are sandwiched between Thailand and British colonies, which can easily lead to war and conflict. In addition, local gangs are powerful. As an outsider, if you establish a base in central Malay Peninsula, you will be excluded and attacked by them. Therefore, you should not develop your power there before you gain a firm foothold."

The reason why the British allowed the four central Malay states of Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Perak and Pahang to remain independent was to use the four countries as a buffer zone between Thailand and the Straits Settlements and to maintain the stability of the Straits Settlements. Later, civil unrest broke out in the four countries, with the indigenous sultans and Chinese secret society gangs killing each other. Then the local Chinese secret society leaders persuaded the indigenous sultans to place their countries under the protection of Britain. As a result, the four countries officially became protectorates under the British Straits Settlements.

Although the geographical location of the four countries in the central part of the Malay Peninsula is not as advantageous as that of the British Straits Settlements, it is also close to the Strait of Malacca and is an ideal transit base for transporting Chinese. Li Mingyuan wants to seize the four countries as a base, but he has to wait until the time is right. He rejected the idea of ​​building a base in central Malaysia from the beginning, and the only option left was Natunatu Island.

The area of ​​Natunatu Island is only 2100 square kilometers. Due to its proximity to the equator, the island is sparsely populated, with only a few thousand Chinese and a small number of indigenous people.

Because the land was barren and the economic benefits were limited, the Dutch were able to take control of Natuna only after they had destroyed Lan Fang.

Natuna Island is currently an unowned land. The National Defense Force occupied it before the Dutch, and the Natuna Islands will become the inherent territory of the Chinese in the future.

"After arriving in Southeast Asia by ship, you will first control Natuna Island, then disguise yourself as Chinese businessmen, take a ship to Kuching, North Kalimantan, buy land from the local Sarawak Sultan, recruit Chinese from nearby areas to establish a Chinese community in Sarawak, and transport Chinese and supplies to Natuna Island, turning Natuna Island into the first base of the National Defense Force in Southeast Asia."

Sun Bin followed the direction Li Mingyuan pointed and found a small dot on the map.

"Prince, Natuna is located between Kalimantan Island and the Malay Peninsula. If we occupy it, will it cause interference from Britain and the Netherlands?"

"There are many ports on the Malay Peninsula and the surrounding large islands in the South China Sea. They will not use Natuna Island as a shipping port. Otherwise, Natuna Island would have been occupied by them long ago, and we would have no chance."

Li Mingyuan's words dispelled some of Sun Bin's concerns, but out of distrust of foreigners, Sun Bin secretly reminded himself that he must be extremely cautious in the Nanyang region and not reveal his true identity too early, especially not to let the Dutch notice anything unusual.

(End of this chapter)