Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 206 Governor Ode's Blackmail (Please vote for the monthly ticket and recommendation ticket to support, thank you!)
End of August 1866
A large number of black-skinned female slaves suddenly appeared in Manila's human market. Their healthy and smooth skin, towering breasts and plump buttocks all attracted the attention of Chinese immigrants in the city and became the focus of discussion for a while.

"Oh my god, this woman is so dark, must she have been roasted!"

"Bullshit, don't talk nonsense if you don't understand. How can you still be alive if you burn it? This kind of woman is called black. I heard that she is the indigenous people of the Solomon Islands."

"Tsk tsk tsk... I've really broadened my horizons. Why do these foreigners look so strange? There are all kinds of colors. Are there any red and green ones?"

"I've heard of red ones, but I haven't heard of green ones."

"I've learned a lot! This is really something new. This black... can a woman give birth?"

"Of course it can give birth. Do you want to buy one and try it out? It's very good at work, and in bed... hehe, you know."

"Well, this one costs over 100 silver dollars, it's too expensive."

"You get what you pay for. Look at your body. It's so big, you must have plenty of milk. If you miss this opportunity, you'll miss it. Good things don't wait."

The population market was unprecedentedly lively, with the bustling crowds like a market, and the onlookers and comments were extremely lively, making the whole city feel hot and restless.

The instigators were Major General Zhou Laonian and Major General Dong Kuifa. At the moment, they were waiting restlessly in the small living room of Ganquan Palace, looking like children who had done something wrong.

"Please wait a moment, my lords. His Majesty is receiving guests from the Strait Governor's Office. Please have some tea first. I will notify you later." He Xian, the deputy chief of staff of the palace, said politely.

Major General Dong Kuifa immediately stood up and responded with a smile, "Thank you very much, Lord He. I wonder how Your Majesty is feeling today?"

"It was fine this morning. It depends on how the talks with the Straits Governor's Office go. The British are not easy to deal with."

"Yes, yes, we came at the wrong time."

"Then please sit down and have some tea. I have something else to do. Please excuse me."

"Please do as you please, Lord He." Major General Dong Kuifa said politely, then turned around and saw the same worried look in Major General Zhou Laonian's eyes.

These senior military officers are decisive and ruthless in killing outside, and each of them is a tough guy.

But in front of His Majesty the King of Chu, it was extremely well-behaved, like a docile kitten.

Major General Dong Kuifa and Major General Zhou Laonian sat in the small living room, feeling as if there were nails on their chairs, and always looking into the distance uneasily.

Why did these damn British guys come at this time instead of earlier or later?

In the conference room

Mr. Ord, the new Governor of the Straits Settlements from the UK, led a dozen British officials to visit King Zheng Guohui of Chu, and the two sides had a very pleasant conversation.

Zheng Guohui sat alone on the magnificent European-style throne at the top, demonstrating his honorable status.

On both sides of the lower table were the visiting English guests and Li Hezhang, the Prime Minister of the Provisional Cabinet of Great Chu, and a group of government officials, sitting opposite each other in order.

Before taking up the post of Governor of the Straits Settlements, Mr. Ord was Deputy Director of the East Asian Department of the British Colonial Office, a mid-to-senior level civil servant.

Appointed by Queen Victoria to serve as Governor-General of the Channel, he had already joined the ranks of senior civil servants of the British government.

"...

From the new year onwards, the British Empire will abolish the East India Company's rule over the colonies, and instead they will be directly governed by officials sent by the Colonial Office.

My new appointment reflects the new trend in the empire's policy of developing Asian colonies.

I was delighted to see
The Eastern forces represented by His Majesty the King of Chu have brought new changes to the entire Nanyang region after expelling the Spaniards. I hope this is an encouraging change.

The British Government welcomes this development and hopes to further strengthen trade and personnel exchanges between the two sides and jointly maintain prosperity and stability in Southeast Asia. This has always been the appeal of the Straits Governor's Office.

The Straits Governor-General's Office hopes to negotiate with the Provisional Government on this matter and reach a practical and mutually beneficial treaty to protect the personal and property safety of merchants and investors on both sides and provide equal and mutually beneficial preferential conditions.

We have reached a similar treaty with the Shenzhou court, which promoted further business cooperation and personnel exchanges between the two sides and brought considerable benefits to both sides.

We have extensive experience in this area and are willing to share it with the interim government."

These words were not polite at all. They contained implicit threats and arrogant boasting. The purpose was nothing more than to control the newly born Kingdom of Chu and thus sign an unequal treaty.

The so-called reciprocity means benefiting the interests of the British.

Upon hearing this, King Zheng Guohui of Chu's face darkened. He did not look at Mr. Ode, but instead signaled to Prime Minister Li Hezhang with his eyes. The two of them instantly understood each other.

Prime Minister Li Hezhang smiled and said;
"The new regime of our Great Chu Kingdom migrated from the Huaxia Continent, but it is not the same as the Qing Dynasty court that ruled the Huaxia Continent. The two sides are enemies, not friends.

The Qing Dynasty was a regime established by the Manchus, and the Great Chu Kingdom was a regime established by the Han people who have Chinese blood flowing in their veins.

Any treaty signed between the Shenzhou imperial government and you has nothing to do with the Great Chu Kingdom, is of no reference value, and is even less likely to serve as a model.

Any treaty signed by the Kingdom of Chu must be centered on safeguarding the interests of the kingdom, and must be a mutually beneficial treaty reached through friendly and frank negotiations on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.

The interim government will not accept any negotiations that are not based on this.

As for mutually beneficial trade, our Great Chu Kingdom adopts an equal and open attitude and does not refuse relevant negotiations.

Since you only represent the Straits Settlements and the scope is too small, we believe that the basic conditions for signing a trade treaty between the two countries are not met.

The relevant negotiation proposals can be discussed later. In a nutshell, they think your position is too low, so what good can we possibly achieve by negotiating with you, the Straits Settlements?
The Straits Governorate was a second-level colonial governorate within the colonial territory of the British Empire.

The top colonial governor's office was the Governor-General's Office of India.

It ranks number one in the British Colonial Office and is worthy of being the jewel in Queen Victoria's crown.

The Straits Governor's Office is much worse. More than ten years ago, it was under the jurisdiction of the Sri Lanka Governor's Office. Later, it was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Indian Governor's Office. It was definitely a punching bag.

This Governor Ode has not yet officially taken office, but he came here and loudly wanted to sign a bilateral treaty with the Kingdom of Chu. How could Li Hezhang possibly pay attention to him?

"Let's discuss it later." Give the word "drag" to everyone so that everyone can save face.

Governor Ode could hear the meaning of the voice-over, and his face turned grim. He glanced at His Majesty the King of Chu, who was sitting at the head of the table, and asked gloomily, "Prime Minister, is this the official wish of the Great Chu Kingdom?"

"Yes, this is the official response from the provisional government." Li Hezhang was not easily frightened. He had been in the army for more than 20 years. What kind of tragic war scenes had he not seen?

What kind of ruthless people have you not seen?

The imperial court could not defeat the Anglo-French coalition forces because the people were demoralized. The common people watched the Manchu court's response with a mocking attitude and were not willing to fight for it at all.

The brutal intensity of the Hakka-Punti conflict in Guangdong Province was more than ten times stronger than the two Opium Wars.

On the one hand, there is the unpopular imperial court, and on the other hand, it is a fight for land and resources for the survival of the ethnic group. Can they be the same?

Governor Ode turned to look at King Zheng Guohui of Chu who was sitting at the top, and said with dissatisfaction in his tone;

"Your Majesty the King of Chu
There is no doubt that as the Governor-General appointed by Her Majesty Queen Victoria, I have the authority to sign treaties of mutually beneficial cooperation with friendly countries.

We consider the Prime Minister's questioning to be an unfriendly attitude towards the majesty of the British Empire, and the serious consequences that follow are definitely not what His Majesty the King of Chu wishes to see."

Sure enough, on the international stage of today's world, the arrogant and overbearing attitude of the great powers is fully revealed without any concealment.

A mere second-level governor dared to threaten a king face to face. This was the strength of the British Empire.

Zheng Guohui frowned noticeably, feeling deeply unhappy with Governor Ode's aggressiveness.

He originally wanted to smooth things over, but his strong self-esteem wouldn't allow him to do so, and he couldn't get over this hurdle in his heart.

So he sighed and said seriously to Governor Ode;
"Mr. Ode, when you rashly threatened the king, did you consider that this was an extremely unwise act? It would cause irreversible damage to the relationship between the two parties.

I really find it hard to imagine that your country's Colonial Office would send such an ignorant and arrogant official to hold an important position in the Straits Governor's Office.

I can give you a clear answer;
The Kingdom of Chu would never sign any trade contract that was not based on equality and mutual benefit.

Mr. Ord's status is not enough to represent the British government in signing a treaty with the Kingdom of Chu. This is our official response.

There is a saying in the Great Chu Kingdom
When friends come, we have wine; when enemies come, we have guns.

If you think you can gain benefits by just a few words of intimidation, I can only regretfully tell you that if you have a low alcohol tolerance, it is better to drink less. Drinking too much will cause trouble."

This blatant irony made several accompanying British officials burst out laughing.

Then, under the murderous gaze of Governor Ode, he covered his mouth with his hands, but he could not hide the smile on his face.

Governor Ode was waving the banner of friendship and thinking about his own little tricks, but this time he really hit a wall and broke his leg bones.

If a treaty unilaterally beneficial to British trade could be signed, the British government would certainly give additional recognition. Who wouldn't take advantage of such a good deal?
If it is done

Such a resume undoubtedly added a glorious page to Governor Ord's colonial career and was also something worth showing off in London's upper class society.

Unfortunately, he was turned down and looked so embarrassed that he became a joke. It was a typical case of losing more than gaining.

Since the two sides had no agreement on the topic, King Zheng Guohui of Chu simply said a few polite words and left.

Governor Ode led his men away with a gloomy face, and he did not say anything harsh in public.

This kind of incident of being slapped in the face has put him in a dilemma.

With the strength of the Straits Settlements, he would certainly not be able to get back on track, and he would not dare to openly declare war on behalf of the British Empire. That was the power of the House of Commons.

There was a fleet within the Straits Settlements, the Far East Fleet stationed in Hong Kong.

However, the command was not in the hands of the Straits Settlements, but in the hands of the Governor-General of India. This Far East Fleet was affiliated with the British Empire's Third Battleship Fleet in Kolkata.

Watching the British leave, Li Hezhang couldn't help but shake his head with a heavy expression and said, "Good things really take time. It seems we are entering another troubled time."

He originally thought that His Majesty the King of Chu would just laugh it off and push all the responsibility onto the Prime Minister, not make any statement at all, and mainly use the tactic of "dragging it out".

I had never expected His Majesty the King of Chu to be so stubborn. He practically pointed at Governor Ode's nose and taunted him, "You don't even have two taels of silver in your pocket, so why are you showing off here?"

It's not that harsh, it actually means the same thing.

In formal occasions of foreign exchanges, vulgar language is impossible to appear. The flashes of swords and the shadows of sabers are all hidden beneath the sharp edge and contain murderous intentions.

Such blatant sarcasm is quite accurate.

(End of this chapter)