Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 424 The conflicts caused by the “Telegraph Office Incident”.

In July, the summer harvest season began. People all over the country were busy harvesting and drying grain. Many factories stopped working in order to fully support the summer harvest.

The State of Chu had established a relatively complete three-level food reserve system, from the national level, to the governor's region, to the prefecture and county food reserve depots, to ensure that food could be distributed in a timely manner to overcome the crisis when disasters struck.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu made routine appearances in newspapers and media, asking officials to pay attention to the summer harvest and the new round of tax collection, to be good officials of the people, and to put the people's interests at heart.

Then, he led his wives and concubines to the royal gardens on the shores of Lake Laguna for a routine vacation.

Enjoying a hot spring bath here, reveling in the elegant environment of lake views, your body and mind will be greatly relaxed.

In the Cloud Pavilion
King Zheng Guohui of Chu was wearing a loose and cool linen shirt and chatting with Concubine Mei. At this time, Concubine Mei was already pregnant and looked much rounder than usual. This was her third child.

"My brother-in-law sent someone to the palace the other day to speak up. He said that his income as a Chinese professor at the University of Manila was meager and insufficient, and he wanted to find a respectable and well-paid position. He has mentioned this several times, and I am very annoyed by the harassment."

"Haha... He's just a poor scholar, unable to lift anything with his hands or shoulders. It's a misleading act for him to be a Chinese language professor."

"Your Majesty, he is my brother after all."

"Okay, okay, let's arrange a position for him as the assistant manager of the Port Administration. His annual salary would be over 3,000 silver dollars, several times more than his current salary. It would be both respectable and well-paid. What do you think?"

"How would I know? It's all up to Your Majesty to decide."

"Hehehe..." King Zheng Guohui of Chu smiled and stretched out his hand, gently tapping Concubine Mei's smooth forehead.

Concubine Mei fell into the arms of the King of Chu with a look of happiness on her face. She twisted her body, found a comfortable position to lean on, and stretched out her hands to hug the King of Chu's waist tightly.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu lowered his head, sniffing the alluring fragrance of his beloved concubine, and whispered:

"Although the Queen's training of the children is sometimes harsh, it is necessary and worthwhile in the long run."

"Yes, I understand."

The two of them sat on the cloud couch, chatting idly about trivial matters in and outside the palace.

Talked for a while
In the middle of her pregnancy, Concubine Mei felt a little tired, so she excused herself and went to rest.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu happily stepped out of the pavilion and climbed up the winding stone steps. His long legs were agile and powerful, and he reached the top in a short while.

There is an antique stone pavilion on the top of the peak. Standing on the high place and overlooking the surroundings, you can see the tranquil and emerald Laguna Lake, a beautiful scene of lakes and mountains.

Listening to the sound of waves, King Zheng Guohui of Chu curled up the corners of his mouth with a hint of loneliness, and a strong sense of accomplishment surged in his heart.

After more than ten years of non-stop colonial expansion, the Chu State, a country of thousands of islands, extended its influence to both sides of the Pacific Ocean and as far as West Africa.

After incorporating the 237 million square kilometers of colonies in the Congo River Basin, the territory of Chu State suddenly increased from 354 million square kilometers to 591 million square kilometers.

The current Chu State is more like a huge patchwork monster. It needs to calm down and spend 10 years or even longer to digest its existing territory and transform it into strong strength.

In education throughout the Chu State, the standard pronunciation of the national language, namely Jianghuai Mandarin, is being vigorously promoted.

All teachers must teach in Jianghuai Mandarin, all government officials must be proficient in Jianghuai Mandarin, and all schools use the same educational model with the goal of cultivating a new generation of students who are loyal, trustworthy, honest and self-disciplined.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu was not worried that the country's territory would be scattered everywhere, which would lead to centrifugal force and divisive tendencies.

At the end of June 1876
The country's total population has reached more than 3161 million, with more than % living on the four mainland islands.

The remaining more populated islands are Shangri-La, Hawaii, and Kieño.

The total population of Shangri-La Island is about 235 million, the total population of Hawaii Island is about 144 million, and the total population of Zieno Island is about 21.73.

In the remote Viceroyalty of Patagonia, the total population has not yet reached one million, and the economic structure is relatively simple, so it does not have the ability to overturn the table.

For overseas Chinese
As long as life can go on, no one would think of rebelling. If one really thinks that rebellion is as simple as eating and drinking water, then one would have to risk one's life and property.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu stood in the pavilion on the top of the mountain and felt his thoughts became clearer.

There is no need to worry about other places. The only thing that King Zheng Guohui of Chu is not sure about is the West African colonies in the Congo River Basin. The black tribal population in this area is as high as more than 20 million, and it is too difficult to digest them.

It is necessary to vigorously implement a policy of reducing the population. Some people should be sold out, some should be sent to labor camps, and the remaining part should be sent to plantations run by Chinese. This should be done through multiple means.

It was still about 70 or 80 years before the wave of national consciousness awakening emerged across the African continent and national independence movements emerged one after another.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu was thinking in his heart
The situation was quite tense at this point, and we had to resort to the strategy of killing three warriors with two peaches, instigating internal strife among the indigenous tribes, dividing them, disintegrating them, and gradually eroding them.

With this ultimate goal of "reducing the population", the path to achieving it becomes clear.

The Chinese nation's colonial expansion around the world is inevitably accompanied by the conquest and enslavement of weaker nations. Perhaps this is the true face of the world.

If you want to blame someone, then weakness is the original sin.

September 15th, 2025

The trans-Pacific submarine cable has officially been put into operation. King Zheng Guohui of Chu sent a congratulatory message from Manila to President Wang Hai of Nicaragua in Central America, on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, through this submarine cable, wishing that this submarine cable would become a bridge of friendship connecting the two sides of the Pacific Ocean.

President Wang Hai immediately sent a reply, humbly stating: "The people of Nicaragua and Central America deeply respect His Majesty the King and look forward to hearing the Holy Message. We are willing to do our utmost to contribute to exchanges across the Pacific."

With the completion of the trans-Pacific submarine cable, the Royal Nanyang Telegraph Office officially landed in North America and Central America to start transoceanic telecommunications business.

The Royal Nanyang Telegraph Office began operations in San Francisco, causing a stir there.

The feud between Chu and the United States has evolved from close to distant over the past decade. On the one hand, the United States insisted on a high tariff policy, and Chu also responded with a high tariff policy on American industrial products, closing their markets to each other.

On the other hand, due to the industrial economic downturn in the 19s, many lower-class white Americans complained that their jobs were taken away by the Chinese, creating an extremely unhealthy social atmosphere.

In addition, the Chu State joined forces with Britain to oppose the United States in all matters related to Central and South America, and treated the "Monroe Doctrine" as nothing, which naturally caused great dissatisfaction among American politicians.

Compared with the original history
America failed to successfully develop the Eastern and Southeast Asian markets. These vast markets were largely dominated by the Chu State, which completely absorbed all local industrial products, including steel, machinery, and shipbuilding. In the Central and South American markets, American products also struggled due to strong competition from British industrial products.

This led to a less than satisfactory economic recovery in the United States after the Civil War. Many dissatisfied lower-class white people vented their anger on the seemingly weak and easy-to-bully Chinese community, including the Royal Nanyang Telegraph Office, which had just landed.

The Royal Nanyang Telegraph Office in San Francisco is a three-story neo-Victorian building purchased locally at a large sum of money. It has magnificent Romanesque columns, arches and oval windows.

More than ten days after opening

Every day some idle white men would come to make noise and demonstrate, shouting insulting words like "Get out, you yellow monkey with pigtails!" and causing trouble in front of the telegraph office.

The white police officers just stood aside and watched coldly, without taking the initiative to disperse the crowd.

These troublemakers would also curse and threaten customers who came to do business. The Nanyang Telegraph Office negotiated with the police many times but to no avail and had no choice but to increase its own security forces.

32 armed security guards, most of whom were white, were hired at one time to strengthen security from inside to outside.

January 8st

Three robbers disguised as customers entered the Nanyang Telegraph Office. They thought they could get away with it because they were wearing decent suits.

But the truth was already revealed in the subtle details.

His dirty, yellowed shirt smelled rotten, his unkempt beard was too messy to be trimmed, and his fingernails were black. He didn't look like a customer who could afford an expensive transoceanic telegram.

Transoceanic telegrams were charged by the word, starting at $20, six dollars per word, and punctuation marks were also charged. If a sentence had more than a dozen words, the $100 would be gone.

As a result, when they took out their guns from their purses, several black gun muzzles were already pointed at them, attracting white security guards from other directions.

As a result, these three white robbers were stubborn and ended up being shot to pieces.

This was originally a very common robbery case in the Wild West of North America. There were many witnesses, the facts were clear and there was nothing to question.

It was just such a case that attracted a major action from the San Francisco Police Department. Hundreds of police officers arrived and escorted all 27 managers and employees of the Nanyang Telegraph Office, and 22 armed security guards (note: those on daily leave were not included) back to the police station. Thirteen customers who were handling business were also taken back for questioning.

The police station sealed the Nanyang Telegraph Office and ordered it to suspend operations for rectification.

As for when businesses will be allowed to reopen, no specific statement was given and no one answered when asked.

If the business is closed for one day, the loss will be at least tens of thousands of dollars.

This simple and crude approach seems both clumsy and criticized.

The Chu State Embassy in San Francisco lodged a strong protest to California Governor Canter-Berg, believing that this was a deliberate suppression of Chu State enterprises, a violation of the government agreement between the two countries, and set a very bad precedent.

Governor Canter-Berg stated strongly:
"San Francisco is a place of order. Any violation of the law will not escape punishment. What the Chu people should do is hire a good lawyer instead of complaining endlessly."

An ordinary incident escalated into a diplomatic incident, with repeated tug-of-war between Washington and Manila, which concealed a struggle for huge interests.

Before the Pacific submarine cable was laid, telegrams from the United States to East India, Southeast Asia and East Asia were first sent to New York, then arrived in London via the Atlantic submarine cable, and then from London along the Mediterranean submarine cable through the Red Sea into the Indian Ocean, and finally arrived.

Each telegraph office along the way would take a share of the fees.

So, the original trans-Pacific telegraph was more expensive, charging one and a half times what it does today.

But then again, it has to be used, after all, the timeliness of transoceanic telegrams is unmatched.

A closer look
Most of the upper-class capitalists in the United States are Anglo-Americans, including white immigrants whose ancestors came from England, Scotland and Ireland. They founded banks, factories, enterprises, schools, large landowners and slave owners. They are basically this type of people. The descendants of French and Germans cannot squeeze into this circle at all.

Take a closer look

Since the founding of the United States, all presidents have been of British descent, without a single French or German descent. This situation was not broken until many years later.

Governor Canterbury is a typical Anglo-American. His ancestor was a tailor from Scotland. He crossed the ocean to the United States more than 70 years ago and settled there.

Unfortunately
Most of these white immigrants from the British Isles belonged to the lower and middle classes. They had not learned the conspiracies and cunning of the British upper class, nor had they learned to make long-term plans and set up murderous plots.

It's just a crude frame-up, with an arrogant attitude of "I'm going to deal with you, so what?" It's really speechless.

After the telegraph office incident dragged on for more than two months, eleven telegraph office employees were still charged, including eight white guards who fired the shots, as well as a Chinese manager, deputy manager and security director. The San Francisco Bay Area Court plans to open a hearing in early November.

at this point
The Royal Nanyang Telegraph Office officially announced the closure of its San Francisco branch and the cessation of all transoceanic telegraph services. The company will continue to pay for the best lawyers for its employees and will not allow any employee to suffer an unjustifiable offense.

This was exactly what the North American capitalists hiding behind the scenes wanted to see, and it finally forced the Chu people to give in.

But they soon stopped laughing.

Because the counterattack from Chu State came quickly and fiercely, several American merchant ships were arrested for smuggling Chinese workers, which was a serious crime in Chu State.

The relevant American cargo ships and their cargoes were confiscated, and the captain and all the white sailors were imprisoned, most likely sentenced to 2 to 7 years of hard labor.

Don’t think that seven years of hard labor is short, because the maximum hard labor stipulated by the Chu State is seven years.

Only one in a hundred prisoners can survive seven years of hard labor. Even if they can force themselves to return to the free world, it will be at the end of their strength.

The King of Chu was never a magnanimous man, and he always believed in revenge.

A large-scale inspection of American businessmen was subsequently launched within the Chu State. Any illegal activities such as tax evasion, bribing superiors, hoarding, and price gouging would be severely punished immediately upon discovery.

How to deal with it seriously?
That means heavy fines, fines that can make people bankrupt, and fines that can force them to sell their fields, land, and even their children. If they cannot pay the fines, they will be imprisoned and may even be sent to do hard labor.

When you think of that horrible scene, few people can bear it.

There are very few American overseas businessmen doing normal business who have clean bottoms. How can they withstand such a rigorous investigation?

(End of this chapter)