Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 223 Strategic Planning (Please vote for the monthly ticket and recommendation ticket to support, thank you!)
The founding ceremony ended at noon.

People in this era had little entertainment, and everything today was an eye-opener for them. Whether it was the majestic army formations, the shocking ironclad warships, or finally the sailing warships with sails like a forest, they were all topics that people talked about with relish.

After returning, we can talk for a whole year.

When His Majesty the King of Chu stood high on the altar and loudly announced that "the State of Chu was established", that was the most exciting moment for everyone.

For the hardworking Chinese immigrants, coming to this hot land of Southeast Asia is like a mouse falling into a rice jar... they have come to the right place.

The warm climate, abundant sunshine and rainfall all year round make it a treasure land for agricultural production, and all Chinese immigrants have felt this.

the most important is
Chinese immigrants felt respected. The Chu government distributed houses, land, women, and food to everyone. Although these were not free, they were like a rebirth for the Chinese immigrants who had suffered so much.

Compared with my homeland in China, the air here is so sweet, so free and comfortable, making people feel the long-lost dignity.

From this, a sense of pride in being a citizen of the Chu State was born, which slowly grew and sprouted, and occupied an increasingly larger position in my heart.

Subtly and gradually, national cohesion has been strengthened.

In this turbulent era

Many Chinese immigrants who went to Southeast Asia were familiar with "piglets". The great powers such as Britain, France, the United States, and the Netherlands were actively importing Chinese workers to the colonies, and this was no longer a rare thing in coastal provinces and cities.

Take the English as an example

A large number of Chinese workers were imported into the Malay Peninsula, Penang and Singapore, mainly to work in local mines and plantations.

Once one signed the indenture, one generally had to work hard in plantations or mines in Southeast Asia for 8 to 10 years. This was still a good situation, so that one could pay off the shipping costs to Southeast Asia and regain freedom.

The originally promised compensation was almost non-existent, and many Chinese people died in the tropical jungle or from heavy labor, and abuse was common.

Without comparison, there is no harm.

Many spontaneous Chinese immigrants from the Nanyang region were treated with dignity in the Chu State and spontaneously passed on the tragic experiences of those "piglets", which aroused strong resonance among Chinese immigrants.

Look at the bloody and tearful experiences of those "piglets", and then look at myself now. I have fields to farm, a house to live in, and women to sleep with (note: none of them are free). I can also eat enough and dress warmly. It's like I'm living in honey.

In comparison, the sense of happiness soared, and people supported the King of Chu and the government even more from the bottom of their hearts.

What’s there to be afraid of when farming?

We Chinese have never been afraid of hard work. We enjoy the feeling of a good harvest from farming the most. This is a talent engraved in our bones.

Having experienced the war-torn Chinese mainland, the displaced life of refugeeism, and almost all the hardships they can endure, Chinese immigrants are the group most in need of care.

The working people are the most simple and intelligent group. If you put yourself in their shoes, don’t you know who treats the people better?

Give love and you will receive loyalty and respect a thousand times over.

Without any mobilization, most Chinese immigrant families have a full-length portrait of His Majesty the King in military uniform hanging on the desk in the main hall, and they burn incense and worship it every day.

Return to the State Guesthouse

Governor Ode convened the delegation for a brief meeting, the main purpose of which was to quickly contact the Chu State to discuss commercial and tariff exchanges.

This time

He commanded in a solemn yet gentle tone;
"Gentlemen, we must attach great importance to this round of economic, trade and tariff negotiations. Chu State has the potential to develop into a partner of Britain in the Southeast Asia region, so we must take it seriously.

Don't be so picky when it comes to asking price.

The most critical demand

It is very important to limit the tariff level on cotton and cotton cloth trade to below 20%.

If we can achieve this, we can give them some appropriate benefits on the import tariffs of other industrial products.

As the Orientals say, it's about equality and mutual benefit."

"Your Excellency the Governor, what about the opium trade?" Civil Commissioner Sir Joachim Anderson asked this unpleasant question.

Governor Ode also knew that opium was strictly prohibited in the State of Chu, and he frowned with a headache.

After some serious consideration, he replied;
“Protecting the interests of British businessmen is what we have always pursued.

As far as the opium trade is concerned, the Chu State's attitude is very tough and leaves no room for negotiation. We need to use our intelligence and adopt more subtle means to resolve the problem.

We can't expect the Royal Navy to conquer every country. This is unrealistic and impossible.

The Second Opium War launched against the northern court cost millions of pounds in war expenses. Although this was compensated in the post-war reparations, we cannot always think of using war to solve problems.

Let’s talk about it first, and if it doesn’t work, we can discuss it later.”

"Understood, Your Excellency," replied Sir Joachim Anderson.

Opium merchants did offer some benefits, and officials in the Straits Settlements took them. This was just a customary practice. After all, serving overseas was very hard work.

This amount of money was not enough for colonial officials to take greater risks.

Sir Joachim Anderson could just mention it and then go back to the opium dealer to cash in thousands of pounds in benefits.

Everybody knows

The main responsibility of the Straits Governor-General's Office was to promote trade prosperity in the South Seas region, advance global free trade policies, eliminate serious trade barriers, and allow industrial products of the British Empire to enter more countries and markets.

Any small personal gain cannot go against this major policy.

Since His Excellency Governor-General Ord has said, "Chu State has the potential to develop into a partner of Britain in the South Seas region and should be taken seriously," then we must do as the superior instructed.

Before 4 o'clock in the afternoon
Zheng Guohui received the exact intention of the British secret meeting, which made him smile happily. The careful preparations for the National Day celebration were not in vain!

The current Chu State is just a small country in Southeast Asia with a population of more than two million (Note: the statistics only include the total population of Chinese families, excluding indigenous convicts and unconquered areas). After the national founding celebration, the military was expanded, and the total number of troops was only about 35,000 to 36,000.

It was enough to deal with the surrounding indigenous small countries and the Dutch colonists, but it was far from enough to deal with the British and French powers.

The center of Britain's colonial rule in the whole of Asia is the Indian subcontinent. As long as the blood of the Indians is not shed, there will be a steady supply of soldiers.

Even if the quality of these soldiers is good, they can still kill an elephant.

The center of French colonists' rule in Asia was the French Governor-General's Office in Saigon, which also had abundant military resources.

The current environment of the Chu State is to move among the European powers, take advantage of the conflicts between them to gain benefits, and win a broader space for development.

If the British and French powers were like this
The Dutch also had a large number of indigenous vassal troops, with a total number of more than 4. Why were they looked down upon by Zheng Guohui?

The Netherlands and Spain are both old colonizers. After entering the mid-19th century, they had lost in the competition of national strength and their power declined sharply.

The colonial income from the Dutch East Indies accounted for a quarter of the Dutch royal family's financial income, which was of great importance.

The former Dutch Governor-General Van den Pos was a tough expansionist. The war to conquer Sumatra, led by him, has lasted for 30 years and has yet to be decided.

As early as 1838, Dutch forces invaded Sumatra Island in Indonesia, which conflicted with British interests. The conflict between Britain and the Netherlands over the Sumatra issue has continued to this day.

The decision to invade Sumatra was initially based on the dissatisfaction of the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, Van den Pos, with the colonial administration.

Van den Poes believes that;

The Dutch indirect colonization method in the Palembang area of ​​Sumatra was to control local tribes and kingdoms to ensure tribute to the Netherlands and trade.

But this control was too loose and the Dutch authority was not strong enough. It should be expanded, preferably through direct colonial rule.

Therefore, Governor Pers decided to launch a war of conquest against Sumatra, with the main target being the Kingdom of Aceh.

The Kingdom of Aceh was a big country on the island of Sumatra. It had always been wary of the Netherlands and prohibited any Dutch merchant ships from entering the ports of the Kingdom of Aceh.

If one wants to conquer the indigenous kingdoms of Sumatra, one must remove the stubborn and stubborn obstacle of the Kingdom of Aceh.

As for the result, everyone knows it. The Kingdom of Aceh still exists today and sent representatives to participate in the founding ceremony of the State of Chu, where they were received by the King of Chu.

The interaction between the Kingdom of Aqi and the State of Chu caused serious dissatisfaction among the Dutch representatives, who lodged a formal protest with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Sumatra issue was a long-standing issue between Britain and the Netherlands that had plagued them for nearly thirty years. When Governor-General Oudh took office, he would also face disputes in this region. Britain and Chu could have taken a unified approach to put pressure on the Dutch.

The British dissatisfaction mainly stemmed from the cotton and cloth trade. The Dutch imposed a 30% tax on British merchant ships entering the Palembang area, which harmed British interests.

The reason why the British attach so much importance to the textile trade is that
Textiles account for 90% of Britain's light industrial product export trade, making it extremely competitive worldwide and an invincible weapon.

Precisely because of this, the Downing Street government is vigorously promoting global free trade, which is of great benefit to itself.

The British Chamber of Commerce repeatedly reported the high taxes imposed by the Netherlands to the higher authorities, and the British government sent Foreign Secretary Palmerston to negotiate with the Dutch government, and he expressed his views in a tough manner.

The Dutch must stop taking military action to appease the complaints of the British Chamber of Commerce in Malacca.

If the Dutch government does not change its policy, Britain will consider using force to resolve the issue, and the Dutch government will bear the consequences.

Under strong pressure from the British, the Dutch government had to stop its actions, but did not completely withdraw its troops stationed on Sumatra. Instead, it quietly increased its troops.

Typical of saying one thing and doing another.

For nearly 30 years, the Dutch have been unable to deal with the Kingdom of Aceh and are no longer the "coachman of the sea" they once were.

In Zheng Guohui's eyes, this is just a pustule whose illusion of strength has not been punctured. It is not much stronger than the Spaniards. They are both strong on the outside but weak on the inside.

So, I look down on it.

The Dutch army's equipment level is indeed behind the current era, and it still uses old-fashioned flintlock muskets on a large scale. In this respect, it is in the same predicament as the Spanish.

Compared with the Minié rifle commonly equipped by the Chu Army, it was a whole generation behind, and its range and power were far inferior.

It’s not that the Dutch army doesn’t want to replace its weapons with more powerful ones, but that it really doesn’t have the money.

Because the former Governor Van den Pos launched a war of conquest against Sumatra for more than ten years and paid a large amount of war expenses, the Dutch East Indies did not pay any financial revenue to the Dutch royal family for more than ten years.

The Dutch royal family had no money to send the Governor-General to war, so they could only raise funds locally.

The Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies embezzled the financial revenue that was handed over to them. Who would have thought that this war of conquest lasted for more than 20 years but did not produce any results.

Later, the British became impatient and put pressure on the country to restore peace.

Now all the taxes collected by the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies are turned over to the Dutch royal government, and not a single cent is left for the colonies. You can see how hungry they are.
This also led to the Dutch army and the indigenous vassal army being extremely poorly equipped. Except for the white army, the indigenous vassal army all used cold weapons such as swords and guns. After all, human life was worthless.

In the Dutch East Indies colonies, no docks, no roads, and no infrastructure such as bridges and dams were built.

There is constant exploitation without any investment in infrastructure. Almost all the roads and farmland irrigation facilities are in the state of the indigenous kingdom three hundred years ago.

at this point
The British colonists were not as stingy as the Dutch and did a better job. The port facilities in Chennai and Kolkata were quite good, and they also invested heavily in urban construction and bridges.

Nowadays, large-scale railway construction has begun in India, with as many as five railways being launched at a time.

Compared with the East Indies, India is happy.

The French colonists did the same. They built a lot of buildings in French Saigon. All kinds of houses with unique French architectural aesthetics rose from the ground. They also built bridges and docks, and canals with great effort.

The French plan was to build Saigon into a "Little Paris" and to treat the seat of the French Saigon Governor's Office as if it were a European mainland, to be passed down through generations.

The French preferred direct colonization and sent colonial officials to govern directly.

Its ultimate goal
It was to eliminate all the kingdoms in Indochina and establish a unified Indochina colony that would be comparable to the British Governor-General's Office in India.

This is the French people's little plan and their last pride.

Otherwise it would be hard to explain why the French wanted to build Saigon into a small Paris?
The French have many colonies around the world, but I have never seen them so dedicated. As a result, they lost their composure and broke down their defenses when they arrived in Indochina.

The reason was that seeing the vast territory, large population and resources of the British Indian subcontinent, he felt seriously unbalanced and quietly began to have a desire to compare with others.

Zheng Guohui quietly sorted out the pros and cons of the major forces in the Nanyang region in his mind. After understanding the British's trump card, the major policy guidelines in his mind became clearer.

Join forces with the British, make friends with the French, suppress and exclude the Dutch. As for the Americans, after this honeymoon period, it is time for them to cool down.

Such a policy was based on the Chu State's own interests. The Chu State focused on developing industrial production, and its largest markets were in the northern Shenzhou continent, Fusang, the Korean Peninsula, the Indochina Peninsula and the Straits Settlements.

In the future, we can try to develop towards the Indian subcontinent, which is a long-term plan.

No matter what kind of industrial products are developed, they are basically not competitive in North America. There are no high-value industrial products worth transporting across the ocean. The expensive freight can drive people crazy.

As for the copper trade, it was only a temporary measure to ease the tight money situation.

Copper can be directly made into coins for use. High-quality coins can be widely circulated in the northern continent, the East Indies, Fuso, and the Korean Peninsula. It is not a problem to exchange millions of taels of silver a year.

The exchanged silver can be processed into silver dollars, with a seigniorage of more than 10% collected, and then flow back into the above-mentioned market, and the cycle repeats itself.

The British also had a huge demand for copper. Penny coins were made of copper alloys, and various industrial coppers, including steam engines and iron ships, all required a large number of copper accessories.

To sum up, trade with the United States cannot last long due to the long distance.

If it weren't for the chance to make money, who would go so far to order ships and industrial equipment?

When the US representative Tom Cruise raised the issues of Wake Island and Midway Island, Zheng Guohui became wary of the current US government and prepared to adjust its next expansion strategy.

After a few years of stable development, they took the initiative to destroy the Kingdom of Hawaii and seize this land.

Even a brief and intense conflict with the United States is worth it; this is the most urgent task at hand.

Strategically, this is a preemptive move.

Leading by one move, leading by every step.

Short-sighted people in the government would wonder why King Zheng Guohui of Chu was so keen on seizing Pacific islands, thousands of kilometers away?

These people were short-sighted and did not understand the importance of occupying the Hawaiian Islands. This was not just a small island, but the entire vast Pacific Ocean.

Just imagine

When Hawaii, Wake Island, Midway Island, Guam, Saipan, the Solomon Islands and some other Pacific islands were occupied by the Kingdom of Da Chu, they became a sacred and inviolable part of the kingdom's territory.

Then, American merchant ships crossing the Pacific Ocean must stop at the above-mentioned Pacific islands to replenish fresh food, water and vegetables, and will also need to replenish coal in the future.

This vital Pacific route was firmly controlled by the Chu State and no one could take it away.

No matter how powerful the Americans are, they can't create another island in the Pacific, right?

This is completely unrealistic.

Such a strategic preemptive layout will allow the State of Chu to always be in a favorable position to dominate the situation in the Pacific, and no one can think of leaving the State of Chu behind to solve the problems of the Pacific coastal countries.

This is equivalent to the Chu State extending its hand under the nose of the North American continent and Central America. How great is the strategic advantage?

When that day really comes, who says that the State of Chu cannot set foot in South America?
Don't forget that Argentina has not yet launched a second desert expedition.

South of Buenos Aires, there is a vast area of ​​more than 130 square kilometers of Pampas and Patagonia Plateau belonging to the indigenous Indians, with dozens of indigenous tribes scattered around.

The civilization here is extremely backward, and there is not even a native Indian kingdom.

For the conquerors armed with muskets, it was a big piece of fat meat that was within their reach, and there was no dispute over sovereignty.

Such a good place, if the Great Chu Kingdom has a population of tens of millions, it may be possible to get its hands on it.

With the support of the island groups along the Pacific Rim route, this is a smooth route to Central and South America. It is of great strategic importance and worth the Chu State's fight for.

If the Hawaiian Islands were not taken, the significance of the previous expeditions to Guam, Saipan, Wake Island and Midway Island would be greatly reduced, and this Pacific route would become a dead end.

If we continue to move forward, we will have to rely on the Americans.

Taking advantage of the fact that the United States has been working hard to reduce its arms in recent years, we should find an opportunity to seize the Hawaiian Islands first. The window of strategic opportunity is very short and will be fleeting.

So, this is the top priority for the next step of expansion.

(End of this chapter)