Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 345 Brothers are fighting against each other
The guest staying on another floor of the hotel was Liu Liangguan, the Speaker of the Lan Fang State. He was in the living room of the hotel suite, discussing with several of his subordinates how to deal with the pressure of merger with the Chu State, and he looked extremely indignant.

I would rather make a chicken head than a phoenix tail.

In the East Malaya region, the newly-established Chu State was promoting Chinese immigration in an orderly manner, and was showing an aggressive and oppressive attitude towards the surrounding areas, revealing its ferocious attitude.

This put considerable pressure on the Lan Fang Kingdom in the northwest corner of Kalimantan Island and the Dutch forces in the south, making them highly vigilant.

Liu Liangguan, a short man in a brocade robe, looked about thirty-five or thirty-six years old. He frowned, a look of discontent and anger on his face as he asked:

"The people of Chu are insatiable, and they want to destroy our Lan Fang Kingdom as a new starting point for colonial expansion. Their wolfish ambitions are truly despicable. What good plans do you have?"

After more than 80 years of development, the Liu family is now one of the few monopoly political and business families in the Lan Fang Kingdom. His father, Liu Asheng, has served as many great rulers.

The Liu family has absolute power in the Lan Fang Kingdom. The original democratic governance system has evolved into the Liu family's empire, and Liu Asheng is now the uncrowned king of the Lan Fang Kingdom.

When he died a hundred years later, the position of commander-in-chief would be inherited by Liu Liangguan, which was already decided.

In the original history
It was during the later period of Liu Liangguan's tenure that Lan Fang encountered a massive invasion by Dutch colonists in the south. The territory of Lan Fang was greatly reduced and it fell into a precarious situation of destruction.

Liu Asheng, who had just retired, hurried out to clean up the mess, but was ultimately unable to save the situation. This democratic country, once established by the early Chinese who went to Southeast Asia, soon perished under the guns of the Dutch colonists.

"Young master, don't panic. In my opinion, the Chu State has just snatched the three states of East Malaya from the British. It will take time to regain control. We don't have time to take care of other things for the time being. We can make long-term plans." said the advisor Luo Guanghui, stroking his goatee.

This person was originally a direct descendant of Luo Fangbo, the first commander-in-chief at the beginning of the founding of the country. Only two generations later, he had fallen to the point of working as a dog for the Liu family.

Liu Liangguan was furious when he heard this and cursed;

"The situation is so urgent now, why bother making long-term plans?

Do you believe it?
These bandits of Chu State are eager to capture us as soon as possible, clean us and send us to the King of Chu, and swallow us up like delicious piglets without leaving even a single crumb?
By then, no one will be able to help you no matter how much you cry to the sky or to the earth.

None of the Dutch and these northerners are good people. They are all plotting against our ancestral heritage.

In comparison, these Northerners are even more despicable, they are all ruthless villains who eat people without leaving any bones."

Liu Liangguan is a man of hot temper, reckless and unwise. No matter what anyone says, it is useless to him if he has decided on a bad person.

After being reprimanded mercilessly, Luo Guanghui pinched his beard with an embarrassed look on his face, lowered his head and said nothing. He had none of the integrity left by the founding fathers, and was truly like an old dog.

The two people next to them looked at each other, and their eyes conveyed a lot of information implicitly.

One of them was Huang Bingqing, the advisor in charge of foreign trade, and the other was Lu Liang, the deputy chief in charge of military affairs. Both came from powerful Chinese families in the Lan Fang Kingdom.

Lu Liang started to persuade;

"What the young master said makes perfect sense, but looking around at the various indigenous kingdoms in Southeast Asia, they all view us Chinese as tigers and wolves, and everyone is trying to avoid us.

This was because the Chu State had been aggressive since its arrival in Southeast Asia, resorting to force in all matters. It massacred cities and plundered land, expanded and destroyed countries, and neither Britain nor France could control it.

It’s a pity that my uncle Fang has worked hard to build up his reputation for benevolence for more than a hundred years since the founding of the country, but it collapsed in one day. What can I do?

Today, the Chu State is too powerful to be defeated.

By bringing in the European powers as support and demonstrating a determination not to compromise, a two-pronged approach might provide temporary peace of mind."

"Introducing European powers as a support?" Liu Liangguan asked with a frown.

Seeing Lu Liang nod affirmatively, his gaze turned to Huang Bingqing, but he directly ignored the old and decadent Luo Guanghui.

Huang Bingqing looked solemn and silent. After thinking for a moment, he said solemnly;
"We must rely on the European powers, with England being the first choice, France the second choice, and Prussia, Tsarist Russia, and Italy, the foreign powers, being out of the question.

It is out of reach and may not have a deterrent effect?
To be honest, the red barbarians who have lived next to us for more than a hundred years are the best choice for mutual support.

The Chu people were arrogant and did not know how to restrain themselves, which made the Red Indians deeply fearful.

If the weak unite to resist a strong enemy, they may be able to fight."

"Red Indians?" Liu Liangguan had obviously heard it. He repeated it subconsciously, put his hands behind his back and turned his face to the window, feeling a little depressed.

Nearly a hundred years since the founding of the People's Republic of China
The Lan Fang Kingdom and the Red Indians were constantly at odds with each other, mainly because the Red Indians regarded the Lan Fang Kingdom as a thorn in their side and the biggest obstacle to their unification of the colony of Kalimantan, and they were determined to get rid of it as soon as possible.

Provoking disputes every now and then and constantly encroaching on the Lan Fang border territory is the usual practice of the Red Indians.

Among the four people present, their family ancestors died in battles of varying sizes.

Large-scale conflicts involve thousands of people, while smaller ones range from dozens to hundreds of people. The two sides have almost never stopped fighting, and the grudges are deep-rooted.

"Young Master, I think what you said is very true. If the Red Barbarian is a vicious wolf, then the Northerner is a vicious tiger. A tiger will definitely hurt people!" Advisor Luo Guanghui interrupted without losing the opportunity.

From the way they addressed Liu Liangguan as "Young Master", it can be seen that the Lan Fang Kingdom was no longer the earlier democratic republic, but had evolved into a family empire passed down from generation to generation, which was even more backward and ignorant.

When a democratic country loses its institutional checks and balances, the only thing that can emerge is something strange that is neither democratic nor feudal, just like the current Lan Fang Kingdom.

It wasn't like a family, a country, or a company; it was a complete patchwork. Several people had different opinions, but after discussing it for a while, they reached a consensus.

Liu Enguan finally made up his mind and said, "In that case, we will secretly contact the Dutch delegation and hope to make a secret visit to Batavia and meet with His Excellency the Governor to discuss important matters."

"Don't worry, young master. I will take care of this matter." Huang Bingqing, the advisor in charge of foreign trade, immediately accepted the task.

He was one of the advisors of the Lan Fang Kingdom, in charge of foreign trade and diplomacy, so it was not surprising that he had proper channels in this regard.

After more than a hundred years in Southeast Asia, which of these big Chinese families doesn’t have some network of relationships?
Even though the Red Barbarians refused to admit it, the countries in Southeast Asia saw clearly that the newly rising Chu State was much stronger and was a tough and ruthless character.

The Dutch were far beyond their reach in terms of their courage to confront the British and French powers.

China has had the strategy of forming alliances since ancient times. In order to jointly fight against the increasingly powerful Yankees from the north, the Lan Fang Kingdom was willing to put aside its old opinions and join forces with the Dutch to fight against the powerful enemy.

Several core members of the Lan Fang delegation were conspiring and discussing in the room, but they didn't expect that someone next door heard everything clearly.

When they discussed joining forces to fight against the Dutch, the middle-aged officer in the next room was so angry that veins on his forehead were bulging, his big fists were clenched tightly, and he had an urge to kill.

The middle-aged officer forced himself to remain patient and waited quietly without saying a word.

after awhile
The relevant monitoring details were presented. The organized content formed a thick stack, each page was numbered and stamped with the red stamp of the monitoring team.

At the end

There were signatures of the monitoring expert and the team leader. The middle-aged officer read through them one by one with a cold expression. After asking a few questions in a low voice, he signed solemnly at the end.

At this point, today's monitoring mission is completed.

The front-line monitoring team is not responsible for issuing research and judgment opinions. This needs to be submitted back to the department, and then the Southeast Asian situation expert group of the department will review and make a judgment and give relevant professional opinions.

The expert panel may consist of one expert, two or three experts, all of whom need to endorse their opinions and assume corresponding responsibilities.

If you make a mistake in your judgment, you'll have a black mark on your resume. After a few such mistakes, it's basically impossible for you to achieve anything further.

If the assessment is accurate, there will be a bonus red record on the resume, which can be accumulated to allow for promotion and a brighter future.

If you have an excellent resume, you will have the opportunity to access more sensitive information at a higher level and participate in the analysis of strategic situations. For example, the group of senior senators in the Royal Staff Office are all valued for this reason.

In a nutshell

In an emerging country like the Chu State, this was a selection system followed by the entire government.

Whether they are administrative officials, military officials, or officials engaged in secret work, if they want to move up step by step and get a bigger stage, they must show results.

The recommendation of the superior is also very important, but as long as the promotion resume is brought to the meeting for discussion, if the achievements are not enough, the annual evaluation is not outstanding, and the past performance is mediocre, it will be rejected on the spot, and the superior will be embarrassed.

Therefore, Shangguan's recommendation was also made with great caution.

At least the recommended officials must have an impressive resume and outstanding achievements that can be recognized by everyone to be eligible to participate in the selection.

After the storm, only the elites emerge.

This important surveillance report was quickly submitted to the imperial desk in Ganquan Palace through the secret channels of the Ministry of the Interior.

After seeing this, King Zheng Guohui of Chu frowned immediately.

With the May Day military parade approaching, everything has to give way to this ceremony that demonstrates the prosperity and strength of the kingdom. The affairs of the Lan Fang Kingdom are not urgent and can be dealt with slowly.

Today, the core upper echelons of the Lan Fang Kingdom feel tremendous pressure, which must be due to the excessive haste of relevant domestic personnel, causing them to have strong resistance emotions.

The saying "more haste, less speed" refers to such matters.

This is the case with many things in the world. The more anxious you are, the more pressure you put on the merger and the more you want to achieve results as quickly as possible.

Then the Lan Fang Kingdom could not help but hesitate and panic, and in its hesitation, it seemed as if it had found a life-saving straw, and joined forces with its former enemy, the Dutch, to fight against it.

The best way is to do what Wang Haigou did in Hawaii, which is to keep infiltrating and infiltrating, making the Hawaiian Kingdom like a sieve that can be destroyed with a flip of the hand.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu wrote on the memorial submitted: "This matter should be dealt with slowly rather than hastily. Those involved in the impeachment should take it as a warning."

After writing, he threw down the brush, looking dissatisfied.

Such matters must be handled properly to avoid becoming the laughing stock of brothers fighting each other. Doesn't the State of Chu have any shame?
If the Lan Fang Kingdom was impressed by the powerful prestige of the Chu Kingdom and was willing to join in the cause, it would be a story of many hands adding fuel to the fire, and the Chu Kingdom would feel justified and proud.

If the Lan Fang Kingdom was forced by the tyranny of the Chu State to join forces with its old enemy, the Netherlands, and this matter was watched as a joke by the European powers, and it would also be a shameful page in the future, then the Chu State would lose all its face.

Such a merger was definitely not the future that King Zheng Guohui of Chu had envisioned. Conquering a foreign race was one thing, but joining forces with the Lan Fang Kingdom, a nation of Chinese descent, was another.

(End of this chapter)