Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 186 Naval Competition
ps: I haven't updated for more than a month, I feel embarrassed to say sorry. I will try to keep updating during the winter vacation, two or three times if I have time... no more wasted words.

The world situation in August 1869 was relatively calm, but in South America, with the incorporation of two ironclad ships with a displacement of tons into the Rio Grande do Sul Navy, new changes took place in the turbulent South American countries.

Before the Paraguayan War, the Imperial Brazilian Navy had five ironclad ships with a displacement of more than 3000 tons. During the war, three ironclad ships fell into the hands of Chinese troops one after another, leaving the once powerful Brazilian Navy with only two large ironclad ships to maintain its dignity.

Brazil's land area is close to that of the continental region, and its coastal area is more than 10,000 miles from north to south. The area of ​​its territorial waters and actually controlled sea areas is about twice the size of its continental sea borders.

It is obviously insufficient to defend the five or six million square kilometers of sea territory with only two large ironclad ships. Pedro II, the head of the Brazilian Empire, and many aristocratic bureaucrats naturally noticed this problem. However, the negative impact of the failure of the Paraguayan War was far-reaching. One year after the end of the war, the Brazilian Empire not only lost the two southern states, but also ceded more than 100,000 square kilometers of land to Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru and other countries.

The border area between the three countries and the Brazilian Empire is a tropical rainforest area with hot weather, high temperatures and heavy rainfall. Most of the area is not suitable for human habitation. Moreover, all the land ceded to the three countries was illegally seized by the Brazilian Empire in the past few decades. After returning it to the three countries, the cost is not small but acceptable. The two southern states occupied by the Principality of Rio Grande do Sul have a superior natural environment, but because of the lack of mineral resources in the area, the economic proportion of the overall structure of the Brazilian Empire is relatively small. The biggest harm of losing the two states is that it will undermine the authority of the Brazilian Empire government, and the impact on the economic interests is limited.

The Brazilian Empire was defeated in the war and had to cede territory in a humiliating manner. During the year when the Brazilian Empire was calm externally, drastic changes took place internally. The white landlord class in Fortaleza, Recife and other places in the north, far away from the core of the Brazilian Empire's rule, were dissatisfied with Pedro II's decree to pardon black slaves. Taking advantage of the failure of the Paraguayan War and the weak central rule of the empire, they continued to put pressure on Pedro II. First, they fought for the economic autonomy of the local states, and then, after their interests were met, they went further and proposed to grant military rights to the local states. The Brazilian Empire imitated the Holy Roman Empire system in Europe and replaced the federal system with a loose confederation system.

The words confederation and federation are simply reversed in position, but their actual meanings are completely different. The federal states have obtained a certain degree of autonomy in the economic and political fields, and local residents can choose a parliament that represents local interests to implement internal governance. But what about the confederation?

In name, each state in the Confederation constitutes a country, but in reality, each state government has the same power as an ordinary country. They can establish their own armies and implement independent foreign policies. The central government of the Confederation has no power to interfere with local states and can only be a nominal central government.

After the independence of the United States, a loose confederation system was implemented. Subsequently, the North and the South split and a civil war broke out. There were hundreds of states of varying sizes within the Holy Roman Empire. After the rise of Napoleon, the fragmented German region was defeated one by one by the French army, and the Holy Roman Empire came to an end.

The American Civil War had just ended, and the German Confederation, as an important component of Europe, was the focus of Pedro II's understanding. The harm caused by the two countries' adoption of the confederation system was clearly manifested. Even though Pedro II appeared to be an enlightened and democratic monarch, he would not allow the Brazilian Empire to split in his hands.

After completing the transaction of transporting immigrants with the Chinese National Defense Force and redeeming more than 20,000 captured Brazilian soldiers, Pedro II immediately and firmly rejected the demands of the northern forces represented by the white landlords of Recife. At the same time, he intensified the encirclement and suppression of rebel forces in various places to deter local forces that did not obey the jurisdiction of the central government.

With the return of more than 20,000 soldiers with combat experience, the military tension in the Brazilian Empire was alleviated to a great extent. In addition, in order to alleviate the adverse effects of the Paraguayan War, Pedro II decided to completely abolish slavery and rebuild his image as a wise monarch.

In March 1869, despite opposition from Duke Roberto and other nobles, Pedro II issued a decree to abolish all slavery in the Brazilian Empire.

The decree stipulated that black slaves in Brazil could obtain their freedom from their slave owners by paying a ransom. The ransom for black slaves was about fifty taels of silver, which was the annual salary of an ordinary soldier in the National Defense Army. The land in Rio Grande do Sul was fertile, and the price of grain was about half of that in the Central Plains. In addition, the National Defense Army did not have the bad habit of withholding soldiers' salaries. Fifty taels of silver was enough for Chinese soldiers to live a life above the poverty line. However, fifty taels of silver was a considerable sum for penniless black slaves. They needed to work for three or four years after the decree was issued to earn the ransom in exchange for their freedom.

Pedro II had been planning to abolish slavery for a long time. In 1850, he announced a ban on the continued importation of slaves from Africa into Brazil. The decree on the abolition of slavery issued in March drew on the abolition of serfdom in Tsarist Russia and made some changes to suit the local situation in Brazil. For example, in order to take care of the interests of white slave owners and prevent most of them from being forced into opposition, the decree stipulated that slave owners could give priority to recruiting their former slaves to work, and the wages of slaves could be appropriately reduced according to the situation. On the other hand, except for blacks who joined the army, ordinary black slaves would retain their slave status before paying the ransom, and slave owners would still have dominance over slaves during this period...

The decree abolishing serfdom in Tsarist Russia itself had huge loopholes and shortcomings. In Russia, a large number of serfs, due to lack of money to buy freedom, became cheap labor for capitalists. The living environment of many serfs not only did not improve, but became even more difficult.

The weather in Russia is extremely cold, and the serfs are hardworking and can endure a difficult life. However, due to the influence of the environment, black people living in tropical regions cannot work efficiently for long periods of time. The ransom of fifty taels of silver may be a fee that black slaves cannot repay.

Although the abolition decree made many provisions to take care of the interests of slave owners, white slave owners who focused on their own practical interests still regarded Pedro II's actions as a betrayal of them. Some slave owners openly opposed the abolition of slavery, while most of them observed secretly and prepared to take corresponding countermeasures according to changes in the domestic situation in Brazil.

The abolition decree continued to be implemented amid opposition from white slave owners and plantation owners. Hundreds of small rebel forces opposing abolition were suppressed by the troops. The first batch of 30,000 black slaves joined the army, increasing Pedro II's military strength.

More than five months passed in the rebellion and suppression. The abolition law was superficially implemented in Brazil, and Pedro II's reputation spread again in Europe and the United States. Led by Britain, which was the first to advocate the abolition of the slave trade, European monarchs praised Pedro II as a powerful reformer on par with Russian Tsar Alexander II and a model monarch of civilized countries. The United States, on the other side of the continent, also praised Pedro II as a benevolent and enlightened monarch.

The reputation brought by the abolition decree superficially suppressed the impact of the failure of the Paraguayan War. The domestic comprador bourgeoisie made profits by hiring cheap black slaves to make up for the losses suffered in the war. Therefore, the public opinion newspapers controlled by the comprador bourgeoisie drowned out the opposition of the white slave owners, causing Pedro II to make a wrong judgment. He believed that after the abolition of slavery and the promulgation of reform decrees, the national situation in Brazil was becoming stable, and at this time, military force should be developed to curb the development of Paraguayan and Chinese forces.

After a year of recovery, Brazil's regular army returned to a size of more than 100,000. Pedro II originally planned to use low military funds to recruit 50,000 black slaves again to form a black legion that would obey the orders of trusted generals. However, after two ironclad ships built by Britain for the Chinese passed near the coast of Brazil, he was forced to change his plans.

After the addition of two new ironclad ships, the number of main ironclad ships of the Rio Grande do Sul Navy reached five, and the National Defense Navy surpassed the Brazilian Navy in both the number and tonnage of main warships.

Brazil's major cities are distributed along the Atlantic coast. Without sufficient naval protection, Brazil is like a girl with her clothes opened in front of the Chinese navy. During the war, it will be randomly attacked by the Chinese navy, which will affect the progress of the entire war.

The size of the Wehrmacht naval fleet exceeded Pedro II's bottom line. After learning the news, he did not summon the Duke of Fojot and Garcia, who were at odds over the abolition of slavery, but privately sent someone to contact the British Minister to Brazil, preparing to purchase larger ironclad ships from Britain to maintain his advantage over the Wehrmacht navy.

(End of this chapter)