Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 383 The prime of life
"Why am I so haggard in the cell? Because the country is weak and my family is poor. My parents are waiting for good news.
"My wife and children are hugging me in bed, and I am lamenting bitterly. Even if I am allowed to enter this country, when will I return home with wealth and glory? Since ancient times, many wanderers have been unlucky, and how many of them have celebrated their triumphant return?"

After the Chinese Exclusion Act was promulgated, the identities of Chinese people stranded in various parts of the United States were immediately reviewed, and many were detained in immigration processing stations.

The immigration processing station on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay detained thousands of Chinese living in the United States. The conditions here were terrible and the interrogation period was very long. Many Chinese could not bear the humiliation and chose to commit suicide in order to seek relief.

In a dim and damp prison cell, a Chinese man angrily wrote a farewell poem on the wall, his heart filled with despair.

I left my hometown at the age of thirteen and went to study in the United States, thousands of miles away. I lived in a foreign country for ten years, studied hard and never slacked off, but this is the result I got!

"The country is closed and broken, and the nobles and ministers of the Eight Banners treat the Chinese people as cattle and sheep, and would rather give them to outsiders than to thieves within their own family!

Study hard? Study hard? Serve the country? Even if you study hard and finish primary school, middle school and university education in ten years, what can you do?

I am too weak to repay my country! It is better to die than to leave this broken body to be humiliated by foreigners!"

In despair, Kuang Rongguang, who was once a member of the Qing Dynasty's Chinese students studying in the United States and insisted on completing his studies at Yale University and refused the Qing court's order to return to China, had just obtained a bachelor's degree in mining from Yale University. However, due to the report of Qing Dynasty officials studying in the United States and the influence of the anti-Chinese trend in the United States, he was thrown into prison and awaited trial by the Americans.

Although the final result of the trial has not yet come out, based on the Qing court's punishment of overseas students who refused to accept the call, Kuang Rongguang was able to guess the situation he would face.

In the seventh year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu (September 1881, 9), the Chinese Students Program in the United States was cancelled. According to the order of the Qing court, a total of 6 Chinese students in the United States were to interrupt their studies and be sent back to China.
The news spread completely, and it was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue for the young international students who had lived in the United States for eight or nine years and had been exposed to modern social knowledge and culture.

On September 1881, 9, in order to resist the Qing court's summons, 8 Chinese students studying in the United States left their respective American boarding families and rushed to the diplomatic agency established by the Han Dynasty in the local area to seek asylum.

On September 1881, 9, under the instigation and guarantee of the Chinese consuls, 15 overseas students chose to disobey the Qing court's orders. They either stayed in the United States to complete their studies or defected to the Chinese consuls and then moved to European countries to start a new journey of studying.

None of the 120 overseas students came from the upper ruling class of the Qing Dynasty, nor was there a single student who was born into the Eight Banners aristocratic family. None of their family members had the opportunity to gain benefits in the Qing Dynasty's ruling system. The very way for them to study in the United States, complete their studies and seek advancement was strangled by the Qing Dynasty. In addition, influenced by Western national thoughts in the late th century, it was simply impossible to expect that the overseas students who received modern education would still have a good impression and loyalty to the barbaric and backward Qing Dynasty.

Young people are still passionate and easily influenced by new ideas. They are also the group that is most easily agitated.

In contrast to the Han Dynasty, Western countries and the Qing Dynasty, more and more students made decisions contrary to the Qing Dynasty's orders. By the end of September, when the rented ocean-going ships were ready to take the students back to China, the Qing Dynasty officials found that only less than 9 of the 120 students came, and nearly 40 students refused to return home for various reasons and excuses. (About 60 children in the United States had been encouraged by the Han Dynasty to leave the United States.)
Of the 120 students sent to study abroad, only one-third returned. The Qing officials in charge of supervising the affairs of overseas students panicked and hurriedly contacted the US government to negotiate the pursuit and repatriation of overseas students stranded in various schools in the United States. In this context,
Kwong Wing-kwong, Kwong Hin-chou, Kwong King-yeung, Yang Zhaonan, Huang Jiliang, Lin Peiquan, Zhou Changling and more than ten others were arrested by the U.S. government and detained in cells in San Francisco along with thousands of American workers.

After Kuang Rongguang finished writing his farewell poem on the wall, he threw away the rubble in his hand, closed his eyes and prepared to bang his head against the wall to commit suicide, but he was stopped firmly by a pair of strong arms.

"Brother, you are so young, why do you have to think so hard? It's just a few days in the cell. When the Americans loosen their grip, we can all get out. Why do you want to commit suicide?"

“Brother Kangnan, a real man can bend and stretch. The court may have other reasons for canceling the program for students to study in the United States. Even if we cannot stay in the United States to complete our studies, we can take the initiative to apologize to the court after returning to the Central Plains. The court will not blame us too much because of the rarity of our talents.

Lord Chen Lanbin and Lord Li Hongzhang have always valued talents. As long as we wake up in time, we will not delay our future prospects."

"Zhou Changling, open your dog eyes and see this. Thousands of our compatriots have died tragically overseas, but the imperial court not only did not uphold justice for the overseas Chinese, but also signed an agreement of understanding with the Americans. This imperial court still wants me to kowtow and pledge allegiance to it! Bullshit!"

Xu Zhixuan, who went to the United States to study naval affairs, could not stand Zhou Changling's humble face and scolded him, "Your father worked as a dog for the British in Hong Kong. He relied on the British's power to send you to study in the United States. Now you are speaking well of the court. When you and your father were two wild dogs bullying your compatriots, why didn't you consider the country and the court?

"Hypocritical dog slave, get out of here! If you say one more word of bullshit, I'll kill you right away!"

Xu Zhixuan's eyes were wide open with anger, and Zhou Changling was so frightened that he shrank aside and dared not make a sound.

"The people and compatriots have been humiliated to such an extent, but they still cannot unite! What is the meaning of surviving for a while?"

Kuang Rongguang witnessed the quarrel between the two classmates and said sadly, "Brother, you are wrong. The Manchu Tartars have been poisoning the Central Plains for nearly three hundred years. They tied up their hair and changed their clothes, tampered with and destroyed the classics of the saints. The people lived numbly in order to survive. We young people are fortunate to go to sea to experience modern civilization and awaken our national concepts. In this chaotic world, young people with aspirations should stand up and awaken the dormant spirit of the people! How can we easily die because of temporary setbacks and humiliation when we are rebuilding the character of the people?"

"The court is unjust, and the people do not understand justice. Where can we see hope?"

"Who says there is no hope? In today's world, is the mainland the only place where the descendants of the Chinese live?"

"You mean the South American Han Kingdom?"

"That's exactly what I meant. When it comes to hardships, your majesty led hundreds of remnants of the army to fight to the death in the uprising. They faced so many hardships. But today, your majesty and the Chinese in South America have been based in the La Plata region for fourteen years, expanding the territory to more than 360 million square kilometers, with a population of 1000 million, and 20 passionate and courageous Chinese men under your command! How many heroes can achieve such an achievement in the past five thousand years of Chinese history!"

"Are you from the South American Han country?"

"That's right, brother Tu Haitao, following the orders of your superiors, I have sneaked into the prison to meet you."

"You were trapped in a desperate situation, facing the foreigners from South America and responding calmly. How many hardships that ordinary people could not endure did Your Majesty of the Han Kingdom overcome in order to establish the current situation of the Han Kingdom in South America?"

Imagine the difficulties and setbacks Li Mingyuan faced during his entrepreneurial stage.
Kuang Rongguang suddenly felt that the difficulties he faced were not only not comparable to those faced by Li Mingyuan, but were also far less than those faced by the Peruvian Chinese workers who had followed Li Mingyuan to fight.

"I am a man of great stature and passion, but I am treated like a slave by the Eight Banners Manchus at home, and I am insulted and beaten like a pig or a dog by foreigners overseas. I have had enough!

Jingyang, Zhiqing, Ziming, no matter what you plan, I will never return to China!"

The country is sinking, the people are suffering, the worst that can happen is that I sacrifice my blood and rebel against this damn Qing Dynasty!"

An unprecedented belief took root in his heart, and Kuang Rongguang felt as if the blood in his body was boiling, and he was filled with hope and strength!

"Young people with great ambitions are carrying the hope for the future of the nation. They should step forward and build the backbone of the country with their passion. I have decided to return to South America and use the knowledge I have learned to contribute to the construction of a paradise for Chinese people!"

“Brother Rongguang, are you the only young man with ambitions, and are we all timid and cowardly? It’s better not to be a slave of the foreign Tartars, but I will be part of the Han Kingdom in South America!”

"Me too. A real man should live a glorious life. How can I kowtow and kneel all my life and serve the Qing government and foreigners as a slave?"

"I have long admired the Emperor Han's civil and military achievements. Count me in on the trip to South America!"

Infected by the emotions of Tu Haitao and Kuang Rongguang, except Zhou Changling whose home is in Hong Kong, other Chinese students studying in the United States agreed!
"Your Majesty often says that youth are the hope for the future of the nation. If the youth are strong, the country will be strong. If the youth are strong, the country will be strong. If the youth are better than the world, the country will be better than the world. You are all young people in their prime, passionate and strong. It is a great blessing in life to meet you!"

"It is our good fortune to meet a young hero like Brother Tu."

"It's just..."

"Thank you for your kindness, brothers. We can talk about our friendship later. Now the most important thing is to discuss how to take you back!"

"Brother Tu, please speak. We will obey your orders!"...

(End of this chapter)