Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 402: The Grand Court Meeting is Over

In December 1887, after absorbing the construction experience of the Vanguard class (12-ton armored cruisers), the Royal Dockyard, Xinjing Shipyard and Xinghe Shipyard joined forces to prepare for the construction of two 3500-ton cruisers.

In April 1888, based on the consideration of strengthening the offshore defense of overseas territories, the Admiralty decided to expand the 4-ton light cruiser and placed orders to the Xinjing Shipyard and the Royal Shipyard to build two Yongxing-class light cruisers each.

1888年11月11日，三家造船厂相继完成两艘2500吨级巡洋舰和四艘1350吨级轻巡洋舰的建造任务。

On December 12, four Yongxing-class light cruisers completed their final sea trials and were officially delivered to the navy for service. Two of the light cruisers were assigned to the Pacific Fleet, and the other two were assigned to the Congo colony. They will serve as the main warships of the Congo dispatch squadron, responsible for safeguarding the national interests of the Han Kingdom in the suburbs of the west coast of Africa and the Congo River basin.

After acquiring two main battleships that could sail in the inland basin of the Congo River, the overall strength of the Congo Dispatching Squadron was significantly improved.

Two 1350-ton light cruisers, two 760-ton gunboats, five 200-ton gunboats, and six 120-ton torpedo boats.
There are a total of fifteen small warships, plus various auxiliary ships, with a total of more than thirty large and small ships. The South American Han Kingdom's naval strength in the waters near the Congo and in the inland basin of the Congo River is second only to Britain and France, even in the entire west coast of Africa.

The Congo sent a strong squadron, so Li Mingyuan did not send new ships there for support again. However, as the number of Chinese people settling in the Congo colony increased year by year, increasing the number of local Chinese armed forces and the proportion of political officials became something the local government had to do.

"There are 18.6 Chinese in the Congo colony, of which more than 16% are men aged 45 to 8, which is about . It shouldn't be difficult to select more than of them to form the Congolese garrison and militia."

Li Mingyuan turned his gaze to Huang Naishang and said, "I have already solved the problem of Congo's garrison force for you. How do you plan to solve the problem of colonial government affairs?"

"I hope to transfer another 160 government officials from the mainland to assist the Congo Governorate in handling colonial affairs."

"One hundred and sixty people is not a small number. I will first let the Personnel Assessment Department spread the news and see how many people are willing to serve in Congo. If the number is insufficient, we can select and transfer new officials."

The climate in the Congo colony was hot, humid, and full of mosquitoes. Although the mortality rate of immigrants in the Congo colony dropped to below 3% with the popularization of anti-tropical disease drugs such as quinine and Tiger Balm, the new generation of young officials who had adapted to the suitable living environment and were born locally mostly chose to serve in the native land rather than go to the wild areas of Africa where diseases were rampant.

The central government had no good solution to this situation and could only take a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, it encouraged local young officials to contribute to the country and take the initiative to work in the Congo colony. On the other hand, it established schools at all levels in the Congo colony to specifically educate Chinese children there.

The two measures complemented each other and basically solved the problem of lack of government personnel in the Congo colony. However, in terms of reaching the same government governance standards as the mainland, the Congo colony still had considerable shortcomings in many aspects.

"Your Majesty, I volunteer to serve in the Congo colony. I hope your Majesty will approve it."

Less than ten seconds after Li Mingyuan finished speaking, a young voice came out from among the many officials.

Following the sound, Li Mingyuan saw He Ziyuan taking a step to the right and asked with a smile, "Does Linshu know about the geographical environment and climate of the Congo colony?"

"Your Majesty, before attending the Grand Court Assembly, I consulted Governor-General Huang and Deputy Minister Tang of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the situation of the Congo colony."

"Tell me what you know about the Congo colony."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

He Ziyuan stood upright outside the crowd and said, "The Congo colony covers an area of ​​more than 220 million square kilometers, and the number of indigenous residents is roughly estimated to be more than 500 million.

The local climate is hot, rainy, and full of mosquitoes, and diseases are rampant. The mortality rate of early Chinese immigrants was high. Now, with the popularization of local tropical disease prevention and the local Chinese immigrants cutting down large forests and clearing weeds, the mortality rate of immigrants has been greatly reduced.

Moreover, with more than ten years of development and construction, there are more than 40 Chinese immigrant settlements under the jurisdiction of the Congolese colonial governor's office. Except for the living environment that is slightly inferior to that of the local Chinese immigrants, the difference in land ownership and living standards is not much different from that of the locals. "

He Ziyuan briefly recounted what he had learned, and then continued: "I believe that the key to governing the Congo colony lies in the degree of control and management of the Congolese Governor's Office over the local indigenous tribes. The Congo colony is nearly two-thirds the size of the mainland, with a population of over 500 million. According to the idea of ​​the local government's Governor Hutchison Whampoa, if we want to make full use of local minerals, manpower and other resources to provide cheap and abundant raw materials for local industrialization, it is far from enough to rely solely on the current more than Chinese people and to armed forces."

"Lin Shu wants to speed up immigration and increase the number of Chinese in the Congo colony?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, I discovered while traveling from the Far East to South America that there were endless streams of immigrant transport ships heading to Southeast Asia and South America. In the southeastern and northern coastal areas, poor people who wanted to emigrate overseas often lined up in queues several miles long.

Due to its own limitations, the local area screens immigrants from the Far East, and only those who meet all the requirements can get the opportunity to immigrate to South America.

The Far East region is constantly hit by natural disasters and man-made tragedies. Every year, the number of poor people who want to go to sea to survive is more than two million. However, the annual immigration quotas of the local official and private sectors combined are only 500,000 to 600,000. More than 60% of the poor people do not get the opportunity to immigrate to South America and can only choose to immigrate to the Southeast Asian countries, or continue to stay in the Far East and starve.

The Chinese in the Far East and South America are all descendants of the Chinese nation. Although South America cannot accept more Chinese immigrants for the time being, the Congo colony has fertile land and is suitable for growing crops. If we can increase the transportation of immigrants and move some of the poor people stranded in the coastal areas of the Far East to the Congo colony, we can strengthen the control of the local government over the Congo colony and give those poor people a way to survive. Isn't it killing two birds with one stone?"

When talking about what he saw and heard during the boat trip, He Ziyuan couldn't help but become excited, and his young face was filled with indignation, guilt and sympathy for the tragic situation.

"I was excited at the time, so there are many inadequacies in my words. I hope Your Majesty and the others will forgive me."

Realizing that he had gotten too emotional again, He Ziyuan bowed and apologized to Li Mingyuan and other officials.

"As a Chinese, seeing and hearing about the suffering of the people, it is inevitable that you will be emotional. Lin Shu does not need to worry too much."

He is young and full of ideals and ambitions. Although he sometimes does not know how to be tactful and tolerant, such people are reassuring to use, and Li Mingyuan is willing to entrust some things to such people.

"In the past ten years, the local government has implemented a policy of contraction and focused on local industrialization. We can only do what we can to alleviate the plight of the people in the Far East, but we cannot cover all our compatriots."

"Your Majesty's love for the people is known to everyone. It was because of hearing about your great achievements in South America that I suddenly realized my mistake. With the help of Deputy Minister Tang, I was fortunate enough to come to South America and see your Majesty in person."

In front of Li Mingyuan, He Ziyuan was like a lost lamb who had seen his spiritual idol, with excitement and reverence all over his face.

"Your Majesty's achievements far exceed the scope of South America. In Southeast Asia, Songkhla and Lan Fang have accepted more than 300 million Chinese in total. Songkhla and Pontianak, the capital of Lan Fang, were originally just primitive and backward places. After Your Majesty sent local defense army instructors and government officials to the two places, in just over ten years, the number of Chinese residents in Songkhla and Pontianak exceeded .

The military equipment is sophisticated and the local Chinese have a new spirit. Although surrounded by powerful countries, England and the Netherlands dare not raise troops to offend. The two countries can have such a situation thanks to the grace of Your Majesty!
Although I am of humble ability, as a Chinese man with a lingering blood, I am willing to serve as a small soldier in front of your majesty and fulfill my due obligations for the eternal foundation of the Han Empire!"

"Hahaha! What Lin Shu said today is exactly what I want! You are in your prime years, so you should not be afraid of hardships, and you should overcome all obstacles and work hard for the rise of our country!"

Li Mingyuan was in a good mood. He slapped his right hand on the chair and said happily: "The infrastructure construction work in all aspects of the Congo colony has been initially completed. It is time to increase the number of immigrants!

Lin Shu, I temporarily appoint you as the civil affairs officer of the Congo colony, and you will be fully responsible for the transportation, resettlement, and management of indigenous tribal affairs of the Congo colony!

Work hard and don’t waste your passion!”

"Thank you, Your Majesty! I will do my best to cooperate with Governor Huang to build the Congo colony into the most solid overseas base in our country!"…………

(End of this chapter)