Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 371 Stargazing at Night
Dusk falls unknowingly

The light in the imperial study dimmed. The palace maid lit the candles, replaced the cup of fresh tea for King Zheng Guohui of Chu who was buried in his work, and then quietly left.

after a long time
King Zheng Guohui of Chu turned to the last page of the thick document, then he let out a long sigh, raised his head, and leaned comfortably on the dragon throne.

He looked towards the window frame in front of him. Through the window frame, he could see that the sky outside had darkened and another quiet night had arrived.

The uncollected domestic population and economic development data as of June 1871 reflect the development boom and latest achievements of the Chu State, which are all brilliant achievements achieved through the joint efforts of all the people.

The kingdom has developed, stabilized, and is more capable of accepting new immigrants.

The method used by the Chu State to resettle Chinese immigrants was very commendable, which was to first settle them in rural areas and let them work steadily for a few years before making any decisions.

Those people absorbed by urban industrialization are mainly early immigrants.

In this way

According to the population shortage reported by each prefecture and county every quarter, the shortage will be filled in due quantity. The Chinese immigrants entering the rural areas can immediately cultivate the temporarily abandoned land.

For this purpose alone, 55 to 60 new Chinese immigrants are needed each year.

This means that 55 to 60 early Chinese immigrants were absorbed into the city through various means, either to work, do business, or engage in handicrafts and service trades, thus supplementing the labor shortage in the city.

Some early Chinese immigrants ventured to Hawaii, Australia or South America in pursuit of development. The annual population of this group reached between 8 and .

These people belong to some restless social groups who are not satisfied with the peaceful farming life, but pursue a more exciting and challenging new life.

As long as all outstanding balances on their personal household registration accounts were cleared and they had no criminal record, citizens of the State of Chu could come and go as they pleased and enjoy the Kingdom's overseas consular protection.

This creates a virtuous cycle and further consolidates national identity.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu controlled this increasingly large country and felt as if he was at the mercy of others, becoming more and more relaxed.

With an inexplicable sense of accomplishment surging in his heart, King Zheng Guohui of Chu lit a cigar, took two deep puffs, and slowly exhaled.

The strong smell of tobacco wafted around, making his figure even more hazy.

His slender fingers tapped lightly on the thick report a few times, then he stood up, holding a cigar in one hand, walked around the rosewood Nine Dragons Imperial Desk, walked forward a dozen steps, and came to the door of the imperial study.

The female officer on duty outside the door immediately stood at attention and saluted, then stepped forward and asked softly, "Your Majesty, would you like to have the lights turned on?"

"No, just walk to the back."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The female officer waved her hand to stop the subordinates who were going to get the lantern. She waited until the tall figure of King Chu Zheng Guohui walked out of the Zichen Hall and walked along the corridor outside the hall, then waved her hand to let people follow quietly.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu ignored these trivial matters. He walked back along the corridor outside the palace, passed by Yanying Palace, and went directly into the garden behind the palace.

In this quiet moment of the night, the fragrant scent of flowers in the cool air hits you, and the blooming shrubs and flowers sway charmingly in the moonlight.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu looked up at the sky. The bright stars in the sky were so bright that they stretched to the end of the deep horizon, giving people endless imagination.

He stood on the Nine-Curve Bridge, his tall figure reflected on the sparkling lake, truly an outstanding figure.

The female officer standing solemnly behind him is Captain Hua Huai'en, who is called "one of the seven beauties of the Royal Women's Guard" by gossipers. At this moment, there is a gleam in her beautiful eyes, which is far more than just fanatical worship.

You can see that there is deep love in that look.

From an 11-year-old girl with dry hair and skinny bones to the heroic female officer she is today, Captain Hua Huai'en has truly changed a lot.

But she flatly rejected many marriage proposals from wealthy and powerful people, and vowed to protect the royal family for her whole life. This was not only out of infinite loyalty and gratitude, but also a deep love.

After witnessing the outstanding charisma of King Zheng Guohui of Chu, all other men in the world seem like worthless.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu had no time to figure out the feelings of his female officers. What was on his mind now were the affairs of Central and South America, and he was weighing the current international situation.

After the Franco-Prussian War

The major European powers have scaled back their global colonial expansion, refocused their attention on the European stage, and quietly participated in the competition among various forces.

The redistribution of the power map on the European continent is also the current primary concern of the British government, and is secretly helping France recover.

The Franco-Prussian War not only caused great suffering to the French, but also alerted the British and made them begin to re-examine their European policies.

They found
It seemed as if a monster had been released. The rapid rise of the German Kingdom had caused the British to worry.

After the war, Bismarck, the Iron Chancellor of the Kingdom of Germany, was no longer timid, but instead implemented diplomatic alliances in a bold manner, trying his best to win over the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Russian Empire.

The intention was to promote the Triple Alliance, which was obviously out of the control of the British and caused the European continent to slide into a situation headed by the Kingdom of Germany.

Such a situation of one dominant company is obviously not what the British want to see.

The German expedition teams that had been cruising in the South China Sea and Pacific regions in the past two years have now disappeared and have all retreated.

German Chancellor Bismarck did not support colonial expansion at all, believing that the so-called global colonial expansion was nothing but a waste of money and energy.

The British and French have been expanding and colonizing abroad for hundreds of years, spreading their colonial influence around the world.

Germany has only just begun its overseas colonial expansion, so it is impossible for it to achieve any major gains.

Once the situation in Europe changes, these German overseas colonies will become a burden and will be harvested by British and French forces in a minute, which will be a waste of time for others.

Under Bismarck's leadership, the budgets for foreign colonization were cut and all used to strengthen the German army's military equipment and veterans' training system.

Must admit

The Iron Chancellor Bismarck had an insight far beyond that of ordinary people. When the Kingdom of Germany was flirting with Tsarist Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the British were already angry.

Cracks appeared in Anglo-German relations, which were far less close than before the war. This was the inevitable path for the Kingdom of Germany on its path to independence and its rise to become Europe's leading land power. Naturally, it was unwilling to accept Britain's control and become a follower of the British.

This can also be seen in Central American affairs, where Britain's overseas influence has drastically declined.

In the past, when America protested strongly, the British would always stand up and denigrate the United States in sarcastic tones, making the American cowboys furious, but they could do nothing about it.

"The British side believes that the so-called 'Monroe Doctrine' is nothing more than the ravings of a drunken American cowboy and should not be taken too seriously."

"If I remember correctly, the southern border of the United States should be Weslaco, Texas, not somewhere in Central America. So the US protest is strange. Buyers don't have to always worry about other people's yards."

"Well, seeing the Americans protesting for Nicaragua, the British have every reason to worry about Washington. He shouldn't implement such stupid high tariffs on textiles. That's what the Americans should really be concerned about."

This time, the United States lodged a strong protest, but the British surprisingly remained silent and did not use words to provoke the Americans.

This is an intriguing move for the British, who are known for their arrogance and self-conceit.

If there had not been a ban from higher authorities prohibiting provoking regional powers over trivial matters and exacerbating the regional situation, British envoys abroad would not have remained so silent.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu was very sensitive to this, and his judgment can be confirmed from many aspects.

So...should the Colonial Office's aggressive foreign expansion policy be appropriately fine-tuned?
Today, there are about 5.3 Chinese immigrants in Nicaragua in Central America, about 1.7 Chinese immigrants in Honduras, and nearly Chinese immigrants in Colombia.

Most of these Chinese immigrants were citizens of the Chu State.

Especially in Nicaragua, to put it nicely, they are called Chinese immigrants, to put it bluntly, they are bandits who rule the mountains.

These Chinese without braids were extremely ferocious, and most of them were armed. They occupied many wealthy villages and towns in Nicaragua, burned, killed, looted, raped women, and brutally enslaved local men. They drove away the local government forces and refused to pay any taxes.

As a result, a free kingdom was formed in many areas of Nicaragua, where only Chinese and white people from Britain, France, the United States and other countries could come and go freely, but no one else was allowed.

Nicaragua is a region in Central America that is mainly inhabited by native white people, most of whom are of Spanish descent. However, the Spaniards do not recognize these mixed-race white people, and no one supports or advocates for them.

Nicaragua is now in a chaotic and fragmented situation. Many armed white landowners control local politics, and the government is corrupt and basically does not care about anything.

This also led to a massive invasion by Chinese forces, and basically no one cared.

They don't get involved in matters far away, so they just ignore them and get caught up in the local struggle for interests again.

Those who are close to them fawn and flatter, and even collude with them to traffic women and scarce materials, becoming accomplices and minions of the Chinese, and all kinds of chaos are presented one by one.

Only Americans always stand up and criticize the Chinese forces' massive invasion of Central America, pretending to be fair and just.

Actually

The Americans have been plotting to take over Cuba and Costa Rica for a long time. They saw the decline of the decadent Spanish dynasty and were ready to take advantage of the situation.

It was just a few years after the end of the Civil War, and anti-war sentiment was on the rise in the country. Those American hardliners who were bent on expansion had no market, so they had to endure and wait for the opportunity.

Seeing the Chinese forces expanding their territory in Central America, these Americans became jealous.

Even within the Chu State, there were some corrupt scholars in the cultural and academic circles who echoed the sentiment and believed that the expansion of the Chu State should be stopped in time, saying that "burning forests to make fields and draining lakes to fish" was not a long-term solution.

"Warfare is dangerous and not the right path for a benevolent ruler. Instead, we should rule the world with benevolence and virtue."

"Looking at the vastness of the world, while one may aspire to extend the nation's prestige far beyond the vast waves, one must exercise discretion and not indulge in the reckless use of force or warmongering."

After hearing these corrupt scholars' arguments, King Zheng Guohui of Chu was so angry that he laughed.

Think about the colonial powers in Europe, from Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands in the early days of the Age of Exploration to Britain, France, and Belgium today. Each of them has dreamed of conquering the world and has done its utmost to colonize the globe.

The small countries of Spain and Portugal have such huge appetites and want to divide the world. What kind of ambition is that?
If you put it in front of these corrupt scholars, they would probably be scared to death.

When the Chu State expanded its colonization to Nicaragua in Central America, it was frightened and began to reflect on whether it had gone too far when it encountered protests from the Americans.
With such short-sightedness, you won’t be able to eat three dishes in your lifetime.

Thought of here
King Zheng Guohui of Chu couldn't help but smile, revealing his snow-white teeth, but his eyes became more determined.

The colonial cause is like rowing against the current; if you don't move forward, you will fall behind.

We are currently at the end of the last drastic change in the world map. The bold ones will be fed to death, the timid ones will be starved to death, and those who have the desire but not the courage to steal will be greedy to death.

The Ministry of Colonies must not stop its expansion efforts in Central America, and strive to expand the Chinese presence in Nicaragua to 20 within the next two years and occupy one-third of its territory.

The infiltration into Honduras cannot be stopped and must be intensified.

By the way, as for the expansion and penetration in South America, the government should focus on financial support to support this historically significant desert expedition of the Chinese forces.

The so-called financial subsidies are to lower the immigration ticket prices of shipping companies as much as possible and keep them slightly above the break-even point.

In terms of government finances, appropriate subsidies and tax exemptions are provided to shipping companies that open routes to Chieno Island, and tax exemptions are also provided for transported materials.

The Ministry of Colonies will also arrange for a group of grassroots officials to go to Central and South America to effectively govern and regulate the local areas to prevent things from getting too outrageous.

As long as the Chinese forces occupy the territory, it will not be easy to leave.

current stage
We still need to focus on vigorous infiltration, implement large-scale reclamation and development in the territories where the Chinese have established a foothold, and provide food and agricultural and sideline products.

To guide this work, the Nanyang Colonization Bank needs to arrange and promote it. Therefore, setting up local branches in Central and South America, issuing small colonization loans in a targeted manner, and helping local Chinese develop agriculture and estates is a necessary approach.

I believe that after a few years of expansion, the Chu State's colonial power will have a certain foundation in both Central and South America and will be able to supply a considerable amount of food and meat.

Then, it would be natural for the State of Chu to deploy military forces to the above-mentioned areas and expand its territory in one fell swoop.

Thinking about these things, King Zheng Guohui of Chu wandered freely in the garden in the night, his heart full of emotions.

This is both a bad time and the best time. Opportunities always come to those who are prepared.

(End of this chapter)