Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 299 Tempting Hawaii
After reading the memorial, King Zheng Guohui thought about it for a moment, then picked up his pen and wrote the word "OK" at the end of it, and put it aside.

Tomorrow morning
Dongmei, who was tidying up the study, would hand over the approved memorials to the staff of the Royal Attendant's Office. After registering them, they would be forwarded to the various departments under the cabinet for execution.

Memorials that have not been approved, that is, "kept in the palace and not issued", are registered and stored in secret files and never see the light of day again.

Perhaps after several years, it will be dug up and reveal a little-known story in history, which will be another chapter.

After briefly reading a few memorials, King Zheng Guohui of Chu took out a thick memorial, looked at it, looked up, and his expression became solemn.

He subconsciously raised his head and looked at the large map opposite the imperial desk from afar.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu shifted his gaze from the middle area of ​​the map dominated by the South China Sea to the details of the map in the box in the upper right corner. The map in the box showed the location of the west coast of North America and the Hawaiian Islands, which were marked in relatively detailed manner.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu had good eyesight. Under the bright candlelight in the study, he easily found an island at the northeasternmost tip of the Hawaiian Islands, which is one of the eight main islands of the Hawaiian Islands.

This island is called Niihau Island, and the Chinese call it "Hello Island".

This memorial came from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It was a casual move made by King Zheng Guohui of Chu last year, and its development was now unexpected.

The person handling Hawaiian affairs was a Lieutenant Colonel Wang Haigou under the Ministry of the Interior. King Zheng Guohui of Chu had an impression of this man, who had been sent to Manila as a secret spy to lurk as an insider.

Unexpectedly, this person was sent to the Hawaiian Islands now. Relying on the secret order of the King of Chu, he used the Pacific cargo ships for trade with North America to transport more than 3 strong Chinese immigrants to Niihau Island. He is indeed very capable.

Among them, more than half were Chinese immigrants who had experience as long-haired bandits, which definitely created a den of bandits!
The reason for this
This is because Lieutenant Colonel Wang Haigou required that Chinese immigrants sent to the Hawaiian Islands must have at least combat experience, be between 18 and 40 years old, be skilled in fighting, regardless of their background.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu laughed when he saw this. This was really outrageous... It was outrageous to the extreme.

He didn't remember having made a similar request before. Perhaps the people below him had misunderstood it, or had acted freely, leading to this fact by mistake.

Fortunately, the Ministry of the Interior was not just sitting there doing nothing. It brought in some retired veterans from China who were unwilling to be lonely, and also sent more than 70 capable military officers over there. They organized these Chinese immigrants well and developed Niihau Island into a secret military reclamation base.

Thousands of rifles and cold weapons such as swords, axes and guns were transported to the island for daily military training.

On Niihau Island

The army implemented a fully militarized reclamation management in the form of military reclamation battalions and companies, opened up a large amount of wasteland to grow grain, vegetables, fruits, raise pigs, sheep, cattle, horses, and also raised a large number of chickens, ducks and poultry to basically meet the food demand.

These people also launched several military operations, abducting thousands of indigenous women from nearby islands in the name of piracy to solve the physiological problems of these energetic Chinese immigrants.

As a reward method, the effect is quite good.

The problem is that
At this stage, both the Ministry of the Interior and Lieutenant Colonel Wang Haigou in Hawaii are a little confused and don’t know what to do next.
With so many military personnel gathered together and their power unable to be released, it would be like a powder keg. It would inevitably explode over time, which would be terrible.

These thousands of indigenous women can only provide temporary relief but cannot fundamentally solve the problem.

Look... the request for instructions has been submitted.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu flipped through the relevant memorials and saw that the memorials listed in detail how much wasteland had been reclaimed, how many cattle, sheep and pigs had been raised, how many roads had been opened, 37 bridges had been built, two docks had been constructed, 17 fortifications and bunkers had been built, and several other development achievements.

He couldn't help laughing and put the memorial on the table.

Then he stood up, walked calmly to the map, and looked at it with a complicated expression.

Hawaiian Islands...

The timing is not right. I can’t think about conquering Hawaii Island right now. I have to wait at least a year or two.

As soon as this thought came to his mind, King Zheng Guohui of Chu shook his head to deny it.

Plans are not as fast as changes. We originally planned to develop slowly for five or six years, but now the whole country is forced to prepare for war and have a good fight with the British and French forces.

There is no doubt that the Hawaiian Islands must be obtained at all costs.

Judging from the memorial
The United States is also actively sending Chinese immigrant labor to the Hawaiian Islands, which has allowed Chinese immigrants to surpass the indigenous population and become the largest single ethnic group in the Hawaiian Islands, accounting for more than 40% of the total population.

There is no authoritative statistics on the exact number.

But this number certainly does not include the 30,000 semi-military settlers hiding on Niihau Island, nor does it include the nearly 10,000 Chinese laborers hiding in the Chinese plantations on Oahu.

If you add them all together, the total amount is definitely more than half.

It is an indisputable fact that there is a lack of people and labor in the development of the Western United States. However, in North America, there is widespread oppression, exploitation and unequal treatment of Chinese workers. It is also a key problem area where the rights and interests of Chinese people are not protected.

From now on

The State of Chu has no sufficient reason to engage in unpleasant conflict with the United States under the pretext of protecting the interests of its expatriates.

Above the Chu State, there is the behemoth Northern Shenzhou. The vast majority of Chinese workers that Americans actively sent to the western region also came from Northern Shenzhou.

From this point of view alone, the State of Chu lacked sufficient diplomatic standing to intervene. King Zheng Guohui of Chu withdrew his gaze thoughtfully, took out an authentic, top-quality Cuban cigar from the cigar box on the imperial desk, cut off the cap, lit it, took a deep drag, and put his mouth to it.

The strong smell of tobacco filled the air, sharpening his thinking.

Now at this stage

It is definitely not appropriate for the State of Chu to launch the "Hawaii Incident". This would give the United States a good opportunity to intervene, and it would definitely join the Anglo-French coalition without hesitation and declare war on the State of Chu.

The occupation of Singapore and the bloody massacre in Saigon were not enough to scare off the Americans who were actively trying to escape from the North American continent.

Some people may doubt that the US national policy is "Monroe Doctrine".

The spiritual core of the Monroe Doctrine is: "America is America for the Americans." Focusing on America is the national policy of the United States now and in the decades to come. How could the United States want to jump out of the North American continent?
In fact

The emergence of "Monroe Doctrine" was completely forced, stemming from the comprehensive blockade of American products imposed by Britain and other European kingdoms. Now the United States can only export a few raw materials such as cotton to Britain, and has been subject to decades of price-cutting exploitation by British textile unions.

As for other industrial products, they face high tariff barriers in Europe and the market door is almost completely closed.

Of course, the United States also imposes high tariff barriers on European industrial products. This is the current situation of trade across the Atlantic, which is artificially separated.

The vast majority of the US industrial product market is in North America and Central and South America. Europe is the British territory and also a dumping market for British industrial products, and the US will not be allowed to get involved.

The United States' Asia policy is to open up a market in Asia, with the core focus being the northern continent.

The "Black Ship Incident" in Fuso was a sensation caused by the United States when it was exploring the Northern Passage across the Pacific, but it led to the beginning of Fuso's full Westernization.

This is the aftermath of the butterfly effect, and the Northern Shenzhou market that the United States has been desperately pursuing is as calm as the ocean, with only a few ripples in a small area near the sea.

Some people may have doubts or think that the United States made a long transatlantic voyage just to open the door to Japan. This is a wrong understanding.

In 1853, the sixth year of the Kaei era in Japan, the fleet of the United States Navy, led by Commodore Matthew Perry and Officer Joe Abbott, sailed into the Uraga Sea off Edo Bay, causing a great shock to the Edo Shogunate.

After leaving the port of Norfolk, Perry's fleet crossed the Atlantic Ocean, then went south through Johannesburg, South Africa, around the Cape of Good Hope, and all the way north to Ceylon, also known as Sri Lanka, in the Indian Ocean.

After resting here, the fleet set out again to cross the Strait of Malacca and arrive in Hong Kong.

After another rest in Hong Kong, Rear Admiral Perry led the fleet north, carefully inspected Taiwan Island and the opposite Fukuoka Province, then arrived at Naha Port in Ryukyu, and finally headed north into Edo.

This was the route of Perry's fleet's first visit to Edo. After leaving Fuso, Perry's fleet sailed directly through Weihaiwei, then headed south to Shanghai for a long rest, and continued south to Hong Kong before winter.

along the way
Perry's fleet conducted a lot of investigations into the customs and culture of the mainland, many of which were professional investigations based on military purposes. Later, after realizing that the mainland was so vast, they had no choice but to settle for second best.

In order to establish a reliable outpost similar to Hong Kong in the Western Pacific, the Perry Fleet strongly recommended in its official investigation report after returning to the United States that "Taiwan should be purchased or occupied by other means as a springboard for the United States in the Western Pacific."

In fact, it is not just the United States that has ideas about Taiwan. From the former Portugal and the Netherlands to the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Japan, Germany and even Tsarist Russia, all have coveted this precious island.

Take the French as an example. If it weren't for the strong opposition from Britain, they would have sent troops to occupy this beautiful island long ago. The French have been coveting this island for decades.

"Everyone is thinking about good things..." King Zheng Guohui of Chu said to himself, with a smile on his face.

He walked back to the back of the imperial desk again, sat down, concentrated his mind and calmed himself for a moment, then picked up the brush and began to write with great vigor. In one stroke, he finished it.

"The Hawaiian Islands are strategically located, and I must seize them as soon as possible. All matters related to the islands will be classified as top secret from now on, and no mistakes can be made. This memorial will be handled at the Prime Minister's discretion, and the required military equipment and supplies will be given priority and held in reserve until the right opportunity. I hereby decree."

A memorial could make King Zheng Guohui of Chu sign a long decree, but there were very few of them throughout the year, and they were all about major state affairs.

Once this decree was issued, matters related to Hawaii were elevated to a higher level and had to be handled personally by the Prime Minister. The Ministry of the Interior was no longer qualified.

Putting down the brush in his hand, King Zheng Guohui of Chu looked up at the map again, staring at the picture of the Hawaiian Islands with a fiery greedy look, as if he had seen a peerless beauty.

He couldn't help but lick his dry lips, his eyes extremely hot.

For a ruler obsessed with power, the Hawaiian Islands are more attractive than the most beautiful women in the world and deeply attract his attention.

As for not taking action now, it’s because the timing is not right.

If they could defeat the Anglo-French coalition forces as they wished and force them to sign an armistice agreement, they would have successfully ended the conflict in the region.

Then, taking advantage of the overwhelming victory, we can just pick a few people in Hawaii to provoke incidents that infringe on the interests of Chinese compatriots, or insult, beat, or kill them, and then take them down with lightning speed. That would be the best outcome.

At this time, the kingdom was at the peak of its fame. There were minimal troubles and future troubles, and it would be easy to overthrow the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Of course, the prerequisite is victory.

(End of this chapter)