Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 423 Pasig River Tunnel Opens

Just talking
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official came in from outside, found Foreign Minister Zheng Xin, reported something in a low voice, and took out a translated transoceanic telegram.

Zheng Xin unfolded the telegram and took a look. Then, with a look of joy on his face, he walked over and bowed before the King of Chu, saying, "Your Majesty, there is good news from Portugal in Europe. Deputy Minister Zheng Yulan has fulfilled her mission.

After more than four months of multiple rounds of negotiations, the Chu State and the Portuguese royal family finally reached the "Chu-Portuguese Congo River Boundary Treaty."

At the cost of 220 million silver dollars, my country acquired Portugal's West African territory, which extended from Grand Baie City (Note: Douala in Cameroon) southward to Haimen (Note: Luanda in Angola), with a length of about 2050 kilometers of Atlantic coastline and the vast inland hinterland of the Congo River basin, covering an area of ​​approximately 237 million square kilometers. This demarcation treaty was officially recognized by the Kingdom of Portugal.

Congratulations, Your Majesty! This is a new great victory for our Chu State in its foreign colonization efforts."

"Oh, let me see it." Prime Minister Li Hezhang took the telegram, looked at it quickly, and his face was also full of joy. He clasped his fists and congratulated the King of Chu.

The King of Chu was in a good mood. He laughed and said:

"Many insiders think it's not worth buying a piece of land in West Africa for 220 million silver dollars. So how do we view this issue?
What the Chu State bought was a righteous reputation. The core stage of today's world has always been Europe, which is dominated by white powers. This is an era where the British make the rules.

As long as we follow the rules, we don't have to worry about being targeted.

Because we are strong enough, no powerful country dares to bully us at will. This is the greatest confidence given by the kingdom.

After the signing of this boundary treaty, even the European powers found it inconvenient to mobilize troops to fight for it. The treaty was written in black and white, and no one could confuse right and wrong.

This is the true significance of spending 220 million silver dollars. The Colonial Office must increase its support for the Congo River Company and accelerate immigration.”

"We will obey the imperial decree." The ministers responded with joy on their faces.

Prime Minister Li Hezhang was initially one of the court officials who opposed the colonization of West Africa. He was worried that reaching out everywhere would attract interference from the great powers and would instead destroy the current good situation.

I just blindly believe in the judgment of His Majesty the King of Chu and reluctantly reserve my opinion.

After hearing the news of the signing of the boundary treaty, he finally put his heart at ease. Then he bowed with a joyful face and said, "Your Majesty is wise. We are ashamed to be inferior to you."

"What the Prime Minister said is ridiculous. We must listen to opinions from multiple parties in everything. Only by comprehensive consideration and judgment can we avoid mistakes and form the best plan." King Zheng Guohui of Chu was in a good mood at the moment and said with a warm expression.

He actually had no other choice. If he wanted to take over the Congo River Basin in advance, this was his last chance.

If we don't catch them, it will be impossible to get involved in the area again.

It is now early March 1876
If history had not changed

Just six months later, the International Geographical Conference was held in Brussels to discuss the African continent, which gave King Leopold of Belgium the justification for his massive expansion into Africa and the full occupation of the region a few years later.

Leopold II's rule over the Congo River basin was bloody and cruel. From the second half of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, the number of black slaves who died at the hands of Belgian colonists reached to million, setting an appalling record.

Later experts on Leopold wrote:

"Leopold II wanted to make a difference in Africa and was determined to do something big for the country's prosperity.

The idea of ​​colonizing the land almost obsessed him, and he hardly dared to speak of it for fear of being discovered.

But, in reality, he waits for every opportunity..."

The State of Chu suddenly intervened and brutally snatched away the Congo River Basin that Leopold had secretly loved for a long time. This grudge was really great.

The Chu Kingdom's rulers and ministers, who were in great joy, did not care about this issue. Now that Chu Kingdom's global colonial layout had been roughly established, there were almost no regrets.

Taking advantage of this happy event, King Zheng Guohui of Chu gave a banquet, where all the ministers had plenty of wine and meat, and could eat to their heart's content.

A long carriage convoy traveled from the Royal Manila University to the Chu Palace, parading through the city and attracting many Manila citizens to stop and watch, and bow humbly.

By early 1876
The total population under the jurisdiction of the Chu State increased from 6 million in June to more than 2641 million at the end of the year, successfully breaking through the 2866 million mark, and the strength of the kingdom was further enhanced.

The Chu State imported a large number of young people from the Shenzhou mainland, with the annual scale roughly ranging from 200 million to 300 million, but it did not have a significant impact on the northern Shenzhou.

Floods, droughts and locust plagues still result in a large number of refugees, but people are now smarter and if they can't survive, they send their children to Southeast Asia instead of waiting to die.

Every spring famine
There were always a large number of refugees flocking to the coast and along the river. The Chu State had an organization called "Ren Ji Tang" in all foreign concessions, which was responsible for collecting, gathering and transferring Chinese immigrants.

Generally, applicants must be between the ages of 12 and 22, healthy, without obvious disabilities, articulate, able to run and jump freely, and literate. They should be cheerful, energetic, and grateful. The Chu State already had a comprehensive set of measures for resettlement, and with the significant increase in available resettlement areas, it could easily accommodate two to three million Chinese immigrants.

Just as the Chu King's Palace was hosting a grand banquet, the trans-Pacific submarine cable project, which had been three years in the making, was officially launched.

If the State of Chu wanted to maintain a firm control over its overseas territories, this trans-Pacific submarine cable would play a vital and almost irreplaceable role.

This trans-Pacific submarine cable is led out through the Solomon Islands and laid more than 4700 kilometers northeast to Honolulu. It is an extremely challenging section of the submarine cable.

After successfully landing in Honolulu, two submarine cables were separated, one leading to San Francisco and the other to Nicaragua in Central America.

The entire submarine cable laying project is expected to take 5 months. After solving the technical difficulties of high-strength steel strands, the actual laying work will not be too difficult.

After the completion of the first and second phases of the project, and after actual verification that the Pacific submarine cable can be smoothly connected, the third phase of the project can be implemented.

That is to go all the way south from Managua in Central America, along the coastline of South America, connect Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile to the global long-distance telegraph network, and finally go all the way south to the Viceroyalty of Patagonia.

This enables real-time monitoring of the territories in Central and South America.

In the future, the Congo River Company will also be closely connected with the kingdom's mainland through the transatlantic submarine cable, achieving seamless communication of orders and colonial rule.

Then why didn't the Chu State lay a global submarine cable westward along the Indian subcontinent?
This involves sensitive conflicts of interest and the British people's narrow-mindedness. British colonies have never been open, but rather exclusive and highly exclusive overseas territories.

Forget about laying an submarine cable from your doorstep, even if someone picks up a piece of grass from your doorstep, please put it down obediently.

The British can take advantage, but they cannot let others take advantage of the British. This is the logic of robbers.

The trans-Pacific submarine cable planned by the Chu State made full use of existing lines, extending from Shangri-La Island and the Solomon Islands, heading northeast to Hawaii, and bypassing the world's deepest Mariana Trench.

Moreover, the entire process is within the territory of the Chu State, which is the best option in terms of security, timeliness and confidentiality.

The only thing missing in the Chu State's global layout may be the Indian Ocean.

The last East African company to set sail encountered difficulties from the British and had difficulty gaining a foothold in Eritrea. It then gradually expanded its territory, reaching as far east as Djibouti.

There was no further large-scale expansion. Instead, they based themselves on the existing territory, gave full play to the Chinese tradition of hard work and began to build large-scale water conservancy projects in the oases along the Red Sea coast and grow crops to achieve food self-sufficiency.

September 12th, 2025

The tunnel across the Pasig River has been officially completed. This is the second river crossing passage built using the shield method after the Thames Tunnel in the UK, further strengthening the connection between the two sides of the city.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu attended the opening ribbon-cutting ceremony and delivered an inspiring speech.

Immediately announced
The second Pasig River Tunnel will soon be built. As one of the ten major urban construction projects in Manila in 1876, it will be invested and constructed by the government to comprehensively improve the level of urban construction in Manila.

We strive to make Manila a beautiful garden city with advanced infrastructure, a major metropolis with great competitiveness in the world, and maintain its thriving vitality.

Also in April
The long-planned campaign to quell the rebellion in the north finally began. Zuo Zongtang's troops entered from Shaanxi and Gansu, launching this historic campaign.

On May 5, an earthquake occurred in the political arena of the Ottoman Empire. The corrupt and incompetent former Sultan Abdul Aziz was overthrown and Murad V was appointed Sultan.

What followed was a sharp upheaval within the Ottoman Empire. Murad V was not a good person, but a real madman.

Such a person can serve as the Ottoman Sultan. His lethality to the regime is much stronger and more deadly than that of a child.

The traditional Ottoman forces who supported Murad V believed that madmen were easier to control, and they thought the problem was too simple.

Several actions taken by this mad Sultan right after he came to power almost directly triggered a major conflict within the Ottoman Empire. The rifts between various ethnic groups and forces were clearly visible and extremely difficult to bridge.

Faced with the 74 infantry divisions of Tsarist Russia stationed on the border, the British were really worried about these Ottoman dignitaries, trying hard to bridge the differences and seek possible solutions.

There is a saying: You can't prop up rotten mud on a wall.

The Ottoman Empire was in such a corrupt state at the moment, and since it had the British backing it up, it seemed like it was just going to lie down and let it go.

(End of this chapter)