Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 350: Annan Incident
In February 1881, the Chinese population in the Samoa Islands reached 2, replacing the Polynesian natives to become the largest ethnic group in the area.

In March 1881, more than 3 militiamen entered Tutu'i Island and took over control of the island. Subsequently, American businessmen on the island were forced to agree to the conditions proposed by the Han government and sold their land and property to the Han government for 200 silver dollars. In accordance with the agreement between the two parties, after the transaction was completed, they would completely withdraw from the Samoa Islands and return to the United States with their Polynesian servants.

After expelling American merchants from the Samoa Islands and cutting off the possibility of the United States using merchants as the lead in competing for ownership of the Samoa Islands, the Han government officially incorporated the Samoa Islands into the mainland territory. Together with Easter Island and Zilu Island, they were named the Yizhou Islands. Their political status was temporarily designated as a city level, with their administrative capital established in Apia in the Samoa Islands. The Governor of the Yizhou Islands and the South Pacific Squadron appointed by the central government jointly managed local affairs.

The South Pacific Squadron is a newly established fleet, whose warship composition includes two independently built 1350-ton light cruisers, four medium-sized armed merchant ships, and five steam-converted ships that undertake transportation, supply and other tasks.

In early January 1881, the central government made further adjustments to the navy's organization. The Second Fleet was stationed in Haizhou, with Haizhou Yishui Port (Puerto Montt) as its home port. It was renamed the Pacific Fleet, and the First Fleet was renamed the Atlantic Fleet. The two fleets were located on the mainland side and jointly defended the country's maritime security.

After the new naval organization was adjusted, two newly built 1350-ton light cruisers were delivered to the Pacific Fleet. Then, based on the two light cruisers, a second-level squadron under the Pacific Fleet, the South Pacific Squadron, was established.

Both the South Pacific Squadron and the Caribbean Squadron have a certain degree of autonomy, but due to its geographical location, the Caribbean Fleet is weak, with only a few 500-ton gunboats to support it. Moreover, Tortuga Island occupied by the Caribbean Squadron still nominally belongs to Haiti. The island is small, with an area of ​​only 180 square kilometers, which does not allow for the daily docking and maintenance of large and medium-sized ironclad ships. Therefore, excluding the unworthy Caribbean Squadron, the South Pacific Squadron is the third largest domestic naval force after the Atlantic Fleet and the Pacific Fleet.

The South Pacific Fleet is responsible for maintaining the security of the Pacific immigration route. It is distributed in the Samoa Islands, Zibo and Easter Island. It has a total of 500 naval crew members, 400 Marines and 1000 militia reserve forces, all under the unified command of the South Pacific Squadron. Considering the importance of the South Pacific Fleet, the Navy General Staff upgraded the level of the South Pacific Squadron to a deputy division-level fleet. The fleet commander and the Governor of Yizhou will be temporarily concurrently served by the Marine Corps Commander Feng Guoan.

In March 1881, two months after Feng Guoan took over the post of Governor of the Izu Islands and the South Pacific Squadron, in order to cope with the upcoming wave of immigration, he began to recruit Chinese immigrants to engage in the expansion project of Apia Port.

Apia Port is located on Upolu Island in the Samoan archipelago.

The port has a coastline of 694m and a maximum water depth of 12m. According to the prescribed construction requirements, after the completion of the first round of construction, the expanded port will be able to carry and supply 2 immigrants at a time.

In April 1881, construction activities in the Samoa Islands were proceeding intensively and orderly. However, in the coastal areas of the Far East continent, the overseas immigration ban promulgated by the Qing government ultimately ended in failure due to the strong desire for survival of the people going to sea and the urging of Western powers.

The immigration ban was in effect for more than a year, and the refugees who went out to sea in large numbers to seek survival were expelled by the Qing government and isolated from the immigration ports. On the seventh and eighth days of the twelfth lunar month, beggars froze to death. In the northern coastal areas, the refugees gathered were starving and cold, and hundreds or even thousands of people froze to death in the cold wind every day.

Experiencing the threat of death, facing cold and hunger,

The last bit of humanity and dignity of the refugees was not as valuable as a bowl of food to keep them alive. The Qing government's immigration ban destroyed the refugees' hope of survival. In extreme despair, the expelled refugees erupted with their long-accumulated strength. Batches of young and strong refugees gathered together and, under the command of a few people, launched riots, continuously attacking counties and villages under the rule of the Qing government.

The riots spread as fast as a plague. Armed riots broke out one after another in refugee gathering areas such as southern Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi, and the coastal areas of eastern Shandong. During the more than one year that the immigration ban was implemented, the number of refugees participating in the riots exceeded 100,000. The production owned by local gentry and Western foreigners in coastal areas was hit by the rioting refugees. The economic losses suffered by the local gentry alone were an astonishing number when counted.

The riots caused extremely serious damage to the national economy. Han officials from all over the country who had just tried to gain control of local power wrote to the Qing government to cancel the immigration ban and quell the refugee riots as soon as possible. At the same time, some Western countries whose economic interests were damaged threatened the Qing government with force to resolve the refugee riots and restore economic order in coastal areas. At the same time, they made exorbitant demands, demanding that the Qing court compensate Western countries for their economic losses.

Once again, I felt the destructive power of the refugee riots.
The Qing government had no choice but to swallow the bitter fruit. It had to appease the Western countries and promise to compensate them, while at the same time threatening the refugees not to defect to the Han Kingdom and rebel, otherwise they would be treated as treason.

The Qing government's threats were self-deceiving, and perhaps even they themselves did not believe them, let alone the local Han gentry and refugees who were only trying to survive.

After the immigration ban was lifted, a huge wave of overseas immigration appeared again. Moreover, due to the weak performance of the Qing government in the face of threats from Western countries, more people saw through the Qing government's weak nature. In disappointment, they also followed the refugees fleeing famine and went to sea to join the Han Kingdom.

Guangning and Lang Son provinces in northern Annam were the main immigration bases of the Han Kingdom in the Far East. Refugees migrating from Guangdong, Guangxi, southern Fujian and other places generally stayed in the two northern provinces of Annam for a period of time, and then traveled to the mainland of the Han Kingdom by boat in batches.

However, as the French colonists intensified their aggressive activities in Annam, the status of the two northern provinces of Annam as immigration bases was facing increasingly strong threats, and the contradictions and conflicts between the Nanyang Corps stationed in the two northern provinces and the French colonists became increasingly fierce.

(End of this chapter)