Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 358: Two Years of Stability
"My dear Wu, you don't need to go on this southern inspection tour. Focus more on colonial affairs. In the cabinet, I would like to appoint my dear Wu as the Minister of Colonies. This matter is of great importance and we need to prepare early." King Chu Zheng Guohui ordered.

Wu Qingfeng's face showed surprise. He stood up, bowed deeply and solemnly, and said:
"How could I, a humble official, have the merit and ability to earn Your Majesty's trust and shoulder this heavy responsibility? I shall devote myself wholeheartedly to the king's affairs and will not slack off in the slightest."

"Well, do your job well, you can leave now."

"Wei Chen takes his leave."

Wu Qingfeng originally came from a staff background, having served as deputy chief of staff. He then spent two years as the governor of Angeles, receiving excellent evaluations. He was then selected again to join the central government, serving as chief of staff for over a year. His calm and capable demeanor, coupled with his international perspective, earned him another promotion.

"Immigration and colonization" has been the top national policy that the Chu State has adhered to since its founding and has never wavered. The importance of the Ministry of Colonies can be imagined.

After Wu Qingfeng left, King Zheng Guohui of Chu walked with his hands behind his back to the large map that he had looked at thousands of times.

His gaze traveled from the mainland of Chu all the way eastward, through Saipan, Guam, Wake Island, Midway Island and all the way to the Hawaiian Islands, and a smile couldn't help but appear on the corners of his mouth.

Based on the deep impression of America's unprecedented power in his previous life, King Zheng Guohui of Chu has been hesitant on the issue of Hawaii and has been unable to overcome the hurdle in his heart.

Therefore, while giving full autonomy to those involved in going to Hawaii, they kept it under wraps and did not explicitly instruct the "Hawaii Incident" to be launched.

Wait... wait and see.

essentially

The people sent to Hawaii had already made sufficient preparations and had infiltrated the archipelago so thoroughly that the fruit was already ripe.

As long as the opportunity comes, it will easily fall into your hands.

The US government's statement is not as tough and unreasonable as imagined. The message conveyed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is very ambiguous, and the US side has not made a clear statement.

While European countries successively recognized that the sovereignty of Hawaii belonged to the Chu State, the United States has always maintained an ambiguous attitude.

Two months have passed, which is very telling.

Perhaps the US still has a glimmer of hope, wanting to see if those cowboys can make some trouble so that they can continue to haggle with the State of Chu over the sovereignty issue.

If they were to suffer a complete defeat, they would simply have to acknowledge reality and hope to sign a bilateral agreement similar to the Singapore Convention with the State of Chu, which would be mutually beneficial to both sides.

The Pacific route is far more important to the United States than to Britain.

In the current U.S. foreign trade, exports to Central and South America account for 4%, exports to Europe account for %, exports to the Asia-Pacific region account for %, and exports to Canada in North America account for less than %.

some of

There is no room for further growth in trade with North America and Central and South America, and trade with Europe is extremely difficult to advance due to severe trade barriers between the two sides.

The United States could only provide agricultural products such as cotton, grains, soybeans, and oilseeds, and its industrial exports were extremely limited, which greatly affected the process and in-depth development of the United States' industrialization.

This situation is not surprising. Europe is the reserved area for the dumping of industrial products of the British Empire. Since the North American market is not allowed to intervene, there is no need to think about the European market.

It means blocking the United States, restricting the export of American industrial products in a targeted manner, and suppressing the momentum of the United States' economic development.

If Britain did not have too many rivals in Europe, such as France, Prussia, Tsarist Russia, Austria-Hungary, Spain, and the Ottoman Empire, each of which was a tough opponent, it would have no time to spare.

The British Empire, which focuses on dealing with the United States, can make it suffer extreme pleasure.

In the United States

East Asia and Southeast Asia, across the Pacific Ocean, have a large population and vast territory. They are a large market with great potential and the greatest hope for future trade growth.

After the Hawaii incident, resolving the issue by force has never been an option for the US government, and the US is currently unable to intervene militarily.

The founding fathers of the United States, out of their deep disgust for European military intervention in politics, placed strict restrictions on the military in the design of the national constitution, retaining only the most basic defense capabilities.

After the war, the disarmament was very drastic, basically everyone below the eyebrows was cut off.

There is a historical reason why the Americans did this. After the independence of the United States, the Continental Army was disbanded, and there were only more than 6,000 soldiers left in the entire country.

In 1865, the first year after the victory of the Civil War, President Lincoln reduced the army from to , a reduction of %.

A year after President Lincoln was assassinated, the newly elected President Johnson launched another wave of military cuts, reducing the number of federal army soldiers to 11,033, which was a 99% reduction in the military.

Later, because Grant's group of officers made such a fuss, Congress did not dare to fix the number of troops at more than 10,000.

The White House and Congress argued over this issue, and the two sides bargained like two vendors in the market, and finally decided to maintain the number of US Army soldiers at 54,302.

Having said that

However, Congress has always blocked the military budget, which has resulted in the U.S. Army never reaching half of its established strength, which is only about 24,000 to 25,000 people.

The U.S. Navy is not much better off. From its heyday of more than 600 warships, it has been cut down to only forty or fifty warships, most of which are still fleets that are docked in ports all year round.

Such military force is certainly not capable of intervening by force in the regional situation after the Hawaii Incident. It is far from enough.

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, King Zheng Guohui of Chu smiled with relief.

Fortunately, it is better to be cautious. The trans-Pacific immigration route has started to operate, continuously transporting Chinese immigrants to the Hawaiian Islands, strengthening the Chu State's control over the region.

The Hawaiian Islands are fully implementing the laws of the Chu State, cutting off the braids of local Chinese immigrants, registering their personal information and establishing files, and publicizing the rights and interests that Chu citizens can enjoy and the obligations they should bear.

Those who are willing to return can enjoy the benefits of the various classes. Those who are unwilling to return can come and go without any restrictions.

By the end of the year
The population on the island of Hawaii will exceed 60, of which the total number of Chinese immigrants will exceed 46, showing a rapid growth momentum.

When the situation in Hawaii stabilized, most of the more than 2 troops stationed on Niihau Island were resettled locally, converted from military settlements to civilian households, and most of them were disbanded and returned home.

Only 4 to 5 infantry regiments, or more than people, need to be maintained on the Hawaiian island.

The subsequent strategy to conquer Nicaragua is not an urgent matter. Chinese businessmen and immigrants can infiltrate Nicaragua first and then proceed slowly. It is not advisable to start a major war in the next two years.

The key is to focus on development and move towards the goal of becoming an industrialized country with a population of tens of millions. The fundamental thing is to consolidate the economic foundation of Chu State, make it solid and reliable, and develop it into a strong country.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu was not carried away by victory. After a series of large-scale expansions, he decided to stabilize and develop the economy.

Military policies have also been revised. This year, more than 2.6 veterans and thousands of officers will be retired and dispersed across the kingdom's prefectures and counties, mainly in the three states of East Malaya, to form a wealthy class of landlords, large and small.

The suspension of new recruits will significantly reduce the number of Chu's troops, reducing the total number to about 5, and greatly reduce the financial burden.

The national army will maintain a framework of 8 divisions. Except for the "Devil" nd Division and the "Shield" rd Division, which are fully staffed, the other army divisions will have different degrees of reductions, either one division with three regiments or one division with two regiments.

"Your Majesty, the Prime Minister is here to see you and respectfully request your instructions."

"Xuan."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Hearing footsteps behind him, King Zheng Guohui of Chu turned around and looked at the Prime Minister Li Hezhang who was walking towards him with an imposing manner. He couldn't help but smile and said;

"Lord Li, you have come to see me. Do you have any advice for me?"

"I am ashamed to show off my skills in front of Your Majesty. However, Your Majesty is about to go on a long journey, and the weather forecast shows that a typhoon will approach in the next two days. I am truly uneasy."

"Come, sit down and talk."

"Thank you for your seat."

The two of them sat down as host and guest, and the servants served them tea and quietly left.

The weather forecaster, Zheng Guohui, the King of Chu, knew that a storm was currently raging in Xinxi Prefecture, and the center of the storm was moving to the northwest.

It is expected that the typhoon will affect the four island areas of the Chu State within two days, and all prefectures and counties have issued typhoon warnings.

Because of the war, the Chu State used a large number of unsold rails to build domestic railway projects, and three railway trunk lines with Manila as the core have been built one after another.

The construction of the coastal railway line in the Tongzhou Islands has also begun, which has greatly promoted the circulation of materials on the island, facilitated the people, and prospered the economy. The benefits have quickly become apparent.

Also because of the war, the originally shelved Davao to Shangri-La Islands submarine cable laying project was given an important position, and material and financial resources were concentrated to quickly lay it.

on the basis of

From Xin'an to Donggang, from Donggang across the strait to York Peninsula, and then down along the east coast of Australia through Townsville, Brisbane, Sydney and now all the way to Melbourne, completing a submarine cable laying project that can be called a feat.

It was precisely because of the completion of the laying of long-distance submarine telegraph cables that the idea of ​​establishing a weather forecast network was realized, forming a world-class meteorological observation network that has made many accurate weather forecasts.

When a storm cyclone generated in the deep South Pacific passes through Australia and Shangri-La Island, it will be forecasted in advance based on the impact path of the disaster.

After taking a sip of tea, King Zheng Guohui of Chu said:

"Don't worry, my brother Xian. I will first go to Cagayan, which will only take one day to arrive and will not be affected by the storm.

This king needs to conduct a thorough investigation of this area for several days. This is a good opportunity to see if their response to the typhoon disaster is appropriate, and to investigate Cao Yuxiu as well."

The change in the name of King Zheng Guohui of Chu made it seem more intimate, as if family members were sitting down to chat.

Li Hezhang didn't need to be overly modest. He took a sip of tea, put down the teacup, and said, "It seems that Your Majesty wants to promote Cao Yuxiu to the central government for training. This boy is indeed good. He will develop Cagayan Province vigorously and live up to Your Majesty's trust."

King Zheng Guohui of Chu nodded and said;
"Yes, there is such a plan. Training officials is a long and arduous task. It requires going through multiple posts before selecting talented people.

In the future, all officials promoted by the kingdom will need to attend the Administrative College for further studies, which will last three to five months.

Strengthening loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, strengthening administrative concepts, strengthening the tradition of clean governance, imparting more analysis of international events, and enhancing international perspectives are all necessary learning processes."

"Your Majesty is right. Administration is more important than anything else!" Li Hezhang deeply agreed.

Throughout the dynasties, the decline of the dynasty almost always began with corruption in the bureaucracy, without exception.

Since its establishment, the State of Chu did not have a Ministry of Personnel. Officials in prefectures and counties were selected from young talents by King Zheng Guohui of Chu. They were supervised throughout the process by the General Audit Office, who conducted annual assessments and selected the best officials to crack down on and punish corrupt officials.

In each prefecture and county, prestigious nobles and gentry were selected to serve in the parliament, which also served to supervise officials.

With so many eyes watching from top to bottom, even if you want to be corrupt, you need the opportunity.

Fortunately, the State of Chu was not large, with only dozens of prefectures and counties from top to bottom. With the outstanding ability of King Zheng Guohui of Chu to remember everything he saw, and the strong assistance of Prime Minister Li Hezhang, this governance system worked very well.

(End of this chapter)