Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 387: Anti-Chinese

The overseas students rushed to tell each other, and at 12:40 noon, He Peizhen, Liao Enbai and others rushed to the Qing Dynasty's Embassy in the United States, demanding that the ambassador release the arrested students and allow the overseas students to choose whether to stay in the United States according to their own wishes.

"A group of students are blocking the door of the embassy, ​​demanding that we release the arrested students. Sir Chen, how should we deal with this? Can you give us some ideas?"

Inside the embassy, ​​Deputy Ambassador to the United States Zhang Yinchang said anxiously.

"It was the imperial court's order to stop the study of Chinese children in the United States. Those dozen students were also arrested by the American imperial court. If they want to save them, they can directly petition the American imperial court. What's the point of going to the embassy?"

Chen Lanbin pushed the responsibility away from himself and spoke in a firm tone.

"My dear minister, the students who are making trouble have determined that you informed the Americans and asked them to help the court repatriate the students studying in the United States. Now they are holding on to this matter. If you don't come up with a solution, I'm afraid they will block the door of the embassy and refuse to leave."

"How dare they do this! The embassy is a diplomatic institution stationed by the imperial court in the United States. It represents the authority of the imperial court. How dare they defy the authority of the imperial court?"

Chen Lanbin stared at the direction outside the door and said angrily, "The imperial court spent hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to arrange for students to study abroad, but in the end they raised a group of ungrateful wolves who forgot their origins!"

"It's not entirely their fault. The plan to study in the United States was suddenly terminated. The students were in a state of anger and were bewitched by the remnants of the South American longhaired gangs. That's why they lost their minds and blocked the door of the embassy. If you can personally come out and explain the court's intentions and difficulties to the students, I believe most of the students will understand your difficulties and return home at ease."

"After learning a little from foreigners, they dare not be so ignorant as to disobey the imperial order! I don't bother to explain to them!"

Chen Lanbin took the posture of a Qing official and ordered, "Master Zhang, have the soldiers in the embassy equipped with foreign rifles go out and drive out all the troublemakers at the door!"

"Your Excellency, have you forgotten that two days ago, the Americans forbade the guards to carry weapons outside the embassy, ​​on the pretext that they were worried about a conflict between the embassy guards and the white people?"

"This is outrageous! The foreigners are really going too far!"

After venting his anger for a while, Chen Lanbin was still unwilling to compromise and said, "Replace the foreign guns with wooden sticks, and let the soldiers use the wooden sticks to drive the rioters out of the door!"

"Your Excellency, you can't do that! The United States has just enacted the Chinese Exclusion Act, and Chinese students in the United States are outraged. If you drive the petitioning students out with sticks without any reason, I'm afraid it will cause big trouble!"

Yung Wing, the supervisor of Chinese students studying in the United States, walked in from the door and happened to see Chen Lanbin issuing the order, and immediately tried to dissuade him.

"Neither this nor that. Are we going to just let them block the entrance to the embassy?"

"Please wait for a while, my lord. I went out a few days ago and visited many celebrities, including the American scholar Mark Twain, the mayor of San Francisco, the city council, etc. Perhaps with their help, the American government will improve its attitude towards Chinese students in the United States."

"That's all we can do for now."

Chen Lanbin breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I'll leave it to Lord Rong to persuade the students to stop making trouble. I hope you can explain to the students the efforts the court is making. After listening to them, they will change their minds. Otherwise, I will have no choice but to use soldiers to forcibly expel them from the embassy."

…………

"There is no crime in studying! Release the arrested students immediately!..."

Outside the embassy, ​​nearly a hundred young Chinese students shouted slogans in anger, demanding the release of the arrested students, and blocked the entrance to the embassy.

"Students, please be quiet. I am Yung Wing, the supervisor of Chinese students studying in the United States. If you have any requests, please raise them one by one! I will do my best to solve them for you!"

Yung Wing walked to the gate of the embassy and shouted to the students gathered on the street.

"Sir Rong, seven years ago, we heard about your deeds and rushed to the United States to study. Now the imperial court has disregarded the students' sincere desire to serve the country and arbitrarily interrupted the program for young students studying in the United States, arrested young students with aspirations, and has no regard for the students' life or death in the United States!
"Mr. Rong, I want to ask you a question. Is this the attitude of the court towards young people studying abroad?" Zhong Juncheng said excitedly, standing in front of the crowd.

"Students, calm down. The remnants of the South American longhaired rebels are good at deceiving people. In order to prevent the overseas students from being deceived and abducted by the longhaired rebels, the imperial court had no choice but to stop the program of sending young children to the United States. The imperial court's original intention was for the good of the students. Everyone should also understand the court's difficulties."

"We have studied abroad for ten years. We are not three-year-old children. How can we be ignorant and listen to others' instigation? Sir Rong, the reasons you gave may not even convince you. You still use them to deceive us. Isn't it a joke?"

A Chinese student who had cut off his braids and was wearing a western suit said sarcastically.

"How dare you! Rong is a senior student studying abroad and the initiator of the Young Children Studying in the United States Program. Even if you disagree with Rong's views, you should not refute his views and slander him!"

"If he didn't speak for the Qing court, I would naturally respect him. But he clearly knew that the South American Han Kingdom was the orthodox Chinese nation, yet he still slandered the South American Han Kingdom on behalf of the Manchus. This is unworthy of my respect!"

"You...are talking nonsense!"...

There was chaos in front of the embassy. Among the students who petitioned, there were those who had hope in the Qing Dynasty or Yung Wing himself, as well as those who were inclined towards the South American Han Kingdom and had the intention of undermining the Qing Dynasty.

Neither side could convince the other, and Yung Wing was unable to produce any evidence to convince the students, so he could only return to the embassy in disappointment.

"Yung Wing, as a senior student studying abroad, repeatedly defended the Qing government, but never mentioned the release of the arrested students! My classmates and compatriots! Have you seen clearly? This is the Qing government we placed our hopes on!

In the face of humiliation from the United States, they gave in step by step; in the face of tearful petitions from young students, they repeatedly refused!

Fellow students and compatriots, is it possible to rely on such a government to rule the country and uphold justice for overseas Chinese? It is impossible. Only by relying on our united strength can we protect the safety of overseas Chinese!

Everyone unite and rush to the embassy! Rescue the arrested students! Charge! "

A young and beautiful figure appeared in the crowd, calling on everyone with her unique feminine tone, and took the lead in rushing towards the embassy gate.

Infected by the emotion of righteous indignation, not only dozens of young students were inspired by He Peizhen's actions, but even more than 40 ordinary Chinese who were watching were inspired by the passionate atmosphere and rushed towards the embassy.

The petition campaign developed into a violent attack on the embassy. Although more than a hundred Chinese rushed in with great enthusiasm, they were driven out by more than forty fully armed soldiers an hour later. At the same time, due to the crowded and pushing crowds and the beating and expulsion by the embassy guards, more than twenty Chinese suffered wounds of varying degrees. Fortunately, due to the orders of the US government, the embassy guards did not use guns to attack the crowd, so there were no deaths.

After the incident of the collision with the Chinese embassy in the United States, the relationship between Chinese students in the United States and the Qing Dynasty’s overseas institutions further deteriorated. Many students who originally had illusions about the Qing Dynasty also changed their attitudes and placed their hopes for national rejuvenation on the South American Han Kingdom. At the same time, the collision with the consulate in San Francisco, USA, also provided news material for the American media. They characterized it as the inferior nature of the Chinese people, the Chinese people’s courage to fight among themselves, lack of unity, and inability to adapt to the life of the civilized American society. The government’s promulgation of the "Chinese Exclusion Act" to expel the Chinese from the American mainland was a very far-sighted decision. …………

"The Chinese are a contradictory nation. The Chinese under the Qing Dynasty were submissive and taciturn. Even when they were bullied by the white people, they dared not resist. However, the Chinese in the South American Han countries were like ferocious jackals, full of aggression and expansionism..."

Mark Twain, who was once Yung Wing's hope, followed the trend of the American media and published an article that was self-righteous and studied the different spirits displayed by the same Chinese race in the Far East and South America.

In a later book, "My Chinese Servant and I", he explained that the reason for his interaction with Yung Wing was that he wanted to understand the thoughts of Qing officials and provide a practical data solution for exploring the character of the Chinese, not because he really wanted to make friends with him.

On October 1882, 10, the San Francisco City Government handed over the 8 arrested students to the Qing Dynasty's embassy in the United States.

At noon on October 10, more than 9 Qing army guards, armed with wooden sticks, were escorting the arrested students to the San Francisco Harbor entrance when they were intercepted by rioting Chinese people. Hundreds of Chinese people rushed forward, drove away the only Qing army soldiers, and rescued students.

On October 10, Chen Lanbin again asked the San Francisco government to assist in arresting overseas students, but was rejected by the San Francisco government on the grounds that the local Chinese had agreed to evacuate the United States, had gathered at the port on their own, and were about to leave.

(End of this chapter)