Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 568: Korean Peninsula Part - Confrontation

Like citizens of many countries that were undergoing reforms and had initial contact with industrialized life, the people of the Korean Peninsula were also curious about the most direct product of industrialization - the train. Less than half a year after the Busan-Seoul railway opened to traffic, there was an endless stream of Korean people taking the train to experience the new mode of transportation. Of course, unlike the mainland of Han, the passengers on the Busan-Seoul train were mainly Korean nobles, businessmen, officials, as well as people from powerful countries such as Han, Britain, and Russia. Due to the geographical advantage, there were also many passengers from Japan and the Far East.

The train stopped at the station and the sound of the whistle gradually stopped. Passengers in various clothes and faces got out of different carriages, looking around and observing everything around them curiously.

The North Korean passengers mainly observed the trains and the new facilities around the train stations.

The Busan-Seoul Railway was built by the Han Far East Trading Group. At the strong request of the North Korean government, the design and layout of the railway station completely imitated the Han Chang'an Railway Station. Whether it was the main building and decoration of the railway station full of Jiangnan style, or the various stations and passenger lounges, they were all exactly the same as the Chang'an trains. Even the signs in the hall were written in both Chinese and Korean.

North Korea is deeply influenced by Chinese culture. Knowing Chinese characters and speaking Chinese are common skills for the upper class, especially the aristocracy. In particular, with the rise of the trend of studying in Han Dynasty and emulating Han Dynasty's reforms, not only the upper class such as aristocrats and officials, but even ordinary Korean citizens are increasingly influenced by Han Dynasty.

Koreans have been immigrating to South America for 70 years. In the past 70 years, a total of about 400 Korean women of childbearing age have immigrated to Hanguo in South America. Behind the female immigrants are nearly million related family members and relatives. Because of this relationship, especially the living standards of Hanguo far exceed those of the Korean Peninsula, even though Hanguo and Korea are thousands of miles apart, those immigrant relatives who stayed on the Korean Peninsula still use the grain trade transport fleet to send letters to their relatives in South America. When they came to Hanguo and adapted to the local life, facing the advantages of their own abundant grain, food, and meat, those first-generation Korean women immigrants did not forget their families and relatives. They often sent letters to their hometowns through transport fleets, as well as various high-nutrition foods such as canned meat, processed and sealed cakes, and dairy products that are very common and cheap in their homeland but expensive in the Korean Peninsula. Through such exchanges, Hanguo and Chinese culture were passed from the upper class of Korea to the grassroots people.

In comparison, during the same period in history, in 1899, the total population of the Korean Peninsula was about 1200 million. However, after the loss of 70 women of childbearing age and the import of large quantities of rice, wheat, corn and other food from the Han Kingdom at relatively low prices, the population of the Korean Peninsula not only did not decrease, but instead increased to 1400 million. If it were not limited by the carrying capacity of the land, the total population would most likely have exceeded 1500 million.

The population of 400 million is close to one-third of the total population. Due to the need for daily letter communication, especially the Chinese characters on canned food, compressed biscuits, flour and other processed grains and food packaging, the popularity of Chinese characters has greatly increased on the Korean Peninsula. Many North Korean people are proud to have Chinese relatives and to know Chinese characters.

After all, even though North Korea had carried out reforms, it was still essentially a traditional feudal country with a strict hierarchy and an unbridgeable gap between upper-level officials, nobles and ordinary people.

However, because there are female relatives who married into the Han mainland and have ties with the Han Kingdom, the nature of the matter has become different. The Han Kingdom is a world-class power, and North Korea has received support and influence from the Han Kingdom in many ways. If such ordinary people are overly exploited and bullied, and a communication is transmitted to South America and then fermented and spread, it is likely to cause a diplomatic dispute.

North Korean female immigrants are one of the largest immigrant groups besides Chinese women, along with Annan, Japan, and Thailand. Their influence cannot be underestimated. Many of the new generation whose maternal origins are from the Korean Peninsula have grown into grassroots backbone personnel in the Han Dynasty's political, military, and business circles. Active-duty officers like Zhang Chengji, who have a rank above the colonel level, are not isolated cases. Therefore, when dealing with incidents involving the Han Dynasty, local North Korean officials have become much more cautious than before. The circumstances and social status of ordinary North Korean people with similar backgrounds have also been steadily improving imperceptibly.

This inconspicuous influence, which is related to one's own social status, is far more effective than direct cultural exports and military intervention.

Influenced by similar trends, marrying off marriageable daughters to Han State gradually became a trend. Even though the North Korean government realized that the large outflow of marriageable women was not conducive to future development, it was not easy to interfere openly in view of the severe situation in the Korean Peninsula and the need for support from Han State. As a negative impact, there were nearly one million more bachelors in the peninsula. Fortunately, the main contradiction faced by ordinary people was to have enough food to survive. Between surviving and getting married, surviving was the most important. Therefore, the additional male bachelors not only did not deteriorate into an unstable factor, but because they had no ties, they became the source of soldiers for the North Korean government to follow Han State's military reforms and recruit regular troops and militia reserves.

Influenced by the Han Kingdom, the Korean Peninsula deviated from its original historical development trajectory to a certain extent. Both its own strength and its ability to resist Japanese infiltration were much higher than in history. However, as a variable, in order to compete with the Han Kingdom in all aspects, to get rid of the economic crisis of 1893, and to seek markets for its excess industrial products and capital, the United States' interference in Korea exceeded the same period in history.

After the Haitian crisis, the United States, having witnessed the true strength of the old European powers, slowed down its infiltration into countries such as Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America, and shifted its focus to Chile, Brazil, and the Far East.

In February 1898, the United States imitated the British diplomatic strategy and for the first time proposed the open door policy and equality among all powers, demanding that North Korea treat the United States equally and allow the United States to send guards to protect the safety of its embassy in North Korea.

In July 1898, after nearly half a year of negotiations and wrangling, the United States finally lowered its demands with the intervention of Korea, Russia, Britain and other countries, and controlled the number of guards to less than 7 people. The guards' duties were limited to protecting the security of the embassy and they were not allowed to interfere in the internal affairs of the Korean Peninsula by force.

The arrival of U.S. troops on the Korean Peninsula made the country the fourth, after Han, Russia, and Japan, to have more than 200 troops stationed on the Korean Peninsula.

According to the stationing agreement, the normal activity area of ​​the US guards is the area around the embassy. However, when Zhang Chengji and others got off the train, they saw a team of nearly 100 US soldiers intercepting passengers and conducting body searches.

Under the coercive threat of American soldiers holding rifles and pointing their guns outward, the North Korean passengers gathered on one side of the train station became restless. Some of them were afraid that the American soldiers would shoot them, so they compromised and gave in, and honestly accepted the body search.

Some were cursing and venting their dissatisfaction, while many Korean nobles in gorgeous clothes were ordering their servants around and resisting inspection.

As more and more North Koreans are stranded, the confrontation and conflict between American and North Korean passengers are becoming increasingly intense.

Just as Zhang Chengji and others were about to go forward to check the situation, two Korean girls who looked like attendants ran to Zhang Chengji, Jin Xingjian and others. Unlike the ordinary Korean people they met on the train, the two Korean girls did not bother to bow and greet, and anxiously said to Zhang Chengji in Chinese with a Korean accent: "Sir, you are a Han officer, right? Our lady is Princess Huirong. When she got off the train, she was stopped by the American army. They said that two pistols were lost and suspected that they were stolen by the Koreans. They demanded that the Koreans on the train be searched. Even our princess had to be checked. They are really too much. I beg you to go over and help them let our princess go."

"Your Highness also took the train?"

Zhang Chengji asked.

"Yes, a few days ago, we accompanied the princess to Lixingfu to visit Madam Min (Princess Huirong's aunt). On the way back, the princess asked to experience the feeling of riding a train, so we took the train from a nearby station."

"The American army is going too far. They were on a train and lost their pistols. What does that have to do with the North Koreans? Why do they force North Koreans to undergo body searches on North Korean soil? Moreover, they even dared to demand that Her Highness be searched! Too outrageous! Instructor, please help stop the Americans' barbaric behavior!"

Jin Xingjian beside him said angrily.

"We must take care of this matter and never let the Americans act recklessly."

Princess Huirong is the fiancée of the third prince of the Han Dynasty. Whether from the perspective of maintaining the dignity of the Han royal family or curbing the expansion of American influence, Zhang Chengji has no intention of standing idly by.

"Ladies, please lead the way and take us to meet Her Highness the Princess."

"Thank you, sir. The princess is on the west side of the train station. I'll take you there."

Two Korean maids bowed and then led everyone to the side where the crowd gathered.

"Your Highness, are you okay?"

The maid returned to a girl who was about fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing a cloak and a transparent gauze on her head, and asked, "I'm fine, are they?"

"They are the Han soldiers that I saw from afar when I got off the car just now. Don't worry, my lady. With them around, the foreigners won't dare to act recklessly."

"Your Highness, I am the captain of the guard of the Han Empire's embassy in South Korea, Major Zhang Chengji. The people behind me are all imperial soldiers. Jin Xingjian, Zhang Zhenhe, Gao Zhenrong, Quan Xiongtai and others are also Korean elites who have returned from studying in the empire. Don't worry, just leave the matter to us."

"Thank you, Mr. Zhang. I'm sorry for the trouble."

The girl said respectfully.

"You are too polite, Your Highness. Protecting the interests of the people of the empire is the responsibility and obligation of the imperial soldiers. You and the girls wait here for a moment. The matter will be resolved soon."

After Zhang Chengji comforted Princess Huirong, he turned sideways and instructed the people behind him: "Wang Demao, Li Shucheng, Gao Shangde, the three of you, lead the second, third and sixth squads to protect the safety of Her Highness. The rest of you, follow me to meet the Americans."

"Yes, sir!"

Everyone responded in unison.

"Everyone, rifles loaded!"

Zhang Chengji led a group of people and rushed to the scene of the confrontation in a moment. He immediately ordered the soldiers to cross the crowd and point their rifles at the arrogant American soldiers.

"Bang!" Zhang Chengji took out his pistol and fired into the air. Then, looking at the tense American soldiers, he shouted, "Who is your leading officer? Let him come out for a talk!"

Among the American soldiers who were confronting with guns, some understood Chinese. In addition, Zhang Chengji and his group made a lot of noise, so after a while, a middle-aged American officer came over.

"I am Major James, the commander of the guard. Major, do you know what your actions mean? I warn you that your actions constitute an offense to the United States of America. Order your men to evacuate immediately. Otherwise, you will bear all the consequences yourself!"

"Imperial soldiers are not afraid of threats or intimidation! It is not your turn to act recklessly on the land of the Korean Peninsula! Everyone listen to my orders. If the Americans dare to shoot, fire back immediately!"

Zhang Chengji's face was stern and he responded sharply.

"Americans, let me remind you one last thing. Your actions have exceeded the scope of the visa agreement with the North Korean government last year. If you insist on provoking, as a witness to the agreement, the Han Empire has reason to believe that your actions are instructed by the US central government and are a violation of the US-ROK Revised Agreement and the interests of the Han Empire! Are you ready to go to war with the Han Empire?"

After hearing Zhang Chengji's stern warning, the leading American officer remained silent and did not respond immediately.

The lost pistol was just an excuse. The Americans took the opportunity to cause trouble in order to force the North Korean government to sign a new agreement and further expand their sphere of influence in North Korea.

This decision was a strategy formulated by the US central government and was implemented by the US embassy in North Korea. However, if the intensification of conflicts led to an armed conflict with the Han Kingdom or even a premature war, it would not be the responsibility of a small embassy guard captain to bear.

Because French and German military forces entered the island of Haiti, the plan to seize the Spanish colony was repeatedly delayed. A month ago, Britain officially informed the United States that it would give up its control over the dominance in the Americas. As a result, the US government quickly formulated a plan to fight against Spain.

Spain is an old European power. Although it has declined, it still has a certain military strength and influence. Moreover, its wars with old European countries and attacks on Native American countries have completely different impacts on the world situation.

In the 19th century, the world was dominated by European powers such as Britain, France, and later Germany. Even the Han Dynasty,

Although it had significant advantages in the Nanyang region, it did not take the initiative to annex the Dutch East Indies colonies. As for the wars in which the Han Dynasty intervened in Annam, Songkhla and Lan Fang, they were also competing with the Netherlands and France for unowned land. Before the war broke out, Lan Fang, Thailand and Annam had not been annexed as formal colonies by the Netherlands and France.

The regions targeted by the United States, such as Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, are all colonies that have been ruled by Spain for hundreds of years. Their sovereignty is widely recognized by European powers. If the United States takes action and blatantly seizes colonies belonging to Spain, what will other European powers such as Britain, France, and Germany think?
The US attack on Spain was not only a war between the two countries, but more broadly speaking, it destroyed the colonial order that had been maintained by European countries for hundreds of years. Since the end of the Napoleonic Wars, wars over colonies have rarely broken out between European countries. Whether it was Britain, France, Germany, or second-rate or even third-rate countries such as the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain, a tacit understanding gradually formed between the countries to divide and recognize the scope of each other's colonies, and no longer seized them by force.

Small countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, and Portugal were able to retain colonies in various places, and they also benefited from the colonial system tacitly accepted by European countries.

If the United States declares war on Spain, it will undoubtedly be the first country to break this default colonial system, and it will be a non-European country. At present, the British are about to launch a war in South Africa and give up interference in the Americas. However, France and Germany both have military strength and influence in the Caribbean region. Once a war is launched against Spain, the real reaction of Germany, France and other European countries will be full of variables.

At the sensitive time on the eve of the war against Spain, it was not in the interests of the United States to provoke the Han State and go to war with the Han State in advance. Therefore, after considering for a while, the American officer in charge chose to compromise and back off. He waved his hand, ordered his subordinates to lay down their guns, and ended the mandatory body searches of Korean passengers leaving the station.

"It's alright, everyone leave the station normally."

Looking at the American soldiers leaving, Jin Xingjian took the lead and shouted a few words to the crowd, then turned to Zhang Chengji, bowed respectfully, and thanked him: "Instructor Zhang is majestic, and the imperial soldiers are all extraordinary! When the American soldiers encounter the imperial army, they can only flee in embarrassment!"

"Instructor Zhang scared away the arrogant American officers with just a few words. It was so satisfying! Let's see if they dare to be so presumptuous in the future!"
Jin Xingjian and several North Koreans spoke up.

"Let's go and see Her Highness. The Japanese and Americans are looking for opportunities to stir up trouble. The security environment near Seoul may be unstable. Let's escort Her Highness back first, and then we can leave separately."

Zhang Chengji arranged.

"Everything will be arranged by Instructor Zhang."