Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 426 Reflection

"Tilden, let Weber finish." President Rutherford Hayes knocked on the table with a look of dissatisfaction.

Secretary of Defense Samuel Tilden froze, realizing he had overreacted. He made a helpless gesture and said, "I'll listen to you. You're the boss."

Waver was not affected by this little episode, but continued speaking according to his own thoughts:
"America has a divine mission to lead the Americas. This is a consensus formed by our founding fathers and other wise men, integrated into the ideals of a democratic nation, and it is the lofty goal we must strive for now and in the future.

America represents democracy, freedom, justice, an advanced social system, and advocates the concept of peace. These are the ideals we are committed to striving for, and we have the responsibility to spread them throughout the world.

But we should also see that this is by no means something that can be achieved overnight; it will require hundreds of years or even longer of effort.

At least at this stage
Most parts of the world, including Europe, are still dominated by backward and ignorant feudal kingdom systems. The United States must learn to get along with them to avoid being targeted.

In the anti-American wave launched by the State of Chu, we can see Britain's beneficial connivance and other European countries' gloating. The previous government's biased foreign policy is to blame.

Why did they rudely harass the Nanyang Telegraph Company?

Wouldn't it cause serious backlash if government power were used to suppress a powerful country just for the interests of a small group of Anglo-Saxon white capitalists?
We have seen the consequences, and now no one is speaking for us. This is very telling.

The sacred royal authority cannot be defied; this is a universal rule.

Even in a nation-state like ours, we must draw boundaries between words and actions for public opinion and the media, rather than adopting complete anarchism.

That's fucked up. Are we going to live in this little self-entertainment circle of North America forever?"

"Excellent, Weber, I quite agree with you," Foreign Secretary Woodrow Wilson exclaimed in praise.

He also had a lot of grievances to complain about. When the US Secretary of Foreign Affairs went to Europe, he couldn't even get into the upper-class aristocratic circles and was quite unwelcome.

why?

Of course it’s because I talked too much.

Americans ridiculed the corrupt court of the Russian Tsar in domestic newspapers and periodicals, which completely offended the Russians.

The Danish king mocked the declining status of the phoenix that had fallen to the ground, saying it was worse than a chicken and was defeated by the Germans in a few days. This directly offended the three Nordic countries, who were extremely disgusted with these outspoken Americans.

Americans also like to draw cartoons and give nicknames. They called the German Emperor Wilhelm I the "Prince of Shotgun," which is understandably annoying.

Even the French, who devoted their entire national strength to helping the United States gain independence, could not escape the fate of being ridiculed.

Cartoons about French Emperor Napoleon appear from time to time in newspapers across the United States. This is a form of news that the American people love to see, with a vulgar and light-hearted American sense of humor, but it is an offense to the French.

The only person the Americans dared not attack was the highly respected Queen Victoria of England, but who could guarantee how long they could hold out?

Americans have a long history of bad deeds, how can anyone like them?

On the European political stage, Americans are just a nobody, so it is no surprise that they are marginalized everywhere.

Secretary of Commerce William McAdoo also said with deep feeling: "To appease the anger of a king, the price is certainly high, but it is the only feasible way.

I would like to remind Mr. President that the Chu population in Hawaii has reached 146 million. In Central America, there are no less than 60 Chinese, most of whom are Chu immigrants.

War is not an option; it would only lead us deeper into the wrong quagmire."

President Rutherford Hayes was never a man of strong and decisive character. On the contrary, he had a gentle character and was good at listening to the opinions of his subordinates.

After everyone reached a consensus, President Rutherford Hayes finally made the final decision and said:

"Damn it, let's get this over with.

Please ask Foreign Secretary Woodrow Wilson to reach a tacit understanding with the Chu State through private channels as soon as possible. We can make concessions on the Central American issue, selectively turn a blind eye to Chu's expansion, and suppress domestic public opinion.

The Nanyang Telegraph Office will resume operations as soon as possible. It was just a minor accident.

Believe these
This should satisfy the Eastern King, who is actively committed to expansion. I also need Mr. Woodrow Wilson to rescue more American captains, the sooner the better.

It is very important that the United States and Churia sign a new re-guarantee treaty to ensure unimpeded passage through the Pacific routes, provide each other with personal and property protection of their expatriates, and equal treatment of citizens.

Our bottom line in Central America is that the situation cannot spread to Costa Rica, and we can let them do whatever they want with the rest.

Regarding domestic media issues, I will send relevant signals through the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Culture to sound the alarm for these increasingly lawless media tycoons.

If they cross the line again, we will resolutely investigate and prosecute several of them. This is indeed too much." "If we can achieve this and restore US-Chu relations to normal levels, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is very confident." With the President's promise, Foreign Secretary Woodrow Wilson's confidence was doubled.

Commerce Secretary William McAdoo no longer looked gloomy, and he managed a forced smile, which was considered a positive response.

Secretary of Defense Samuel Tilden also nodded frequently. As the Secretary of Defense, he ranked very low in the cabinet and was almost invisible.

What the founding fathers of the United States worried about most was military intervention in politics, the expansion of warlord power, and a serious violation of the ideals of democracy, freedom, and equality, thus bringing endless war and pain to the people.

Therefore, in the design of the national system, the Continental Army as a standing army is extremely weak, and is led by a civilian Minister of Defense.

The US Department of Defense is a small department of just over a dozen people. It does not participate in the command of specific military operations. It is more like a defense office that seeks budgets for the military, formulates policies, conducts statistics, conducts procurement, and advocates for the interests of the military. That's all.

President Rutherford Hayes was very satisfied with the performance of Chief of Staff Weber today. In fact, he had repeated this to his stupid son at home, and fortunately, what he said was almost correct.

In this private little occasion, I finally did not mess up the performance.

So he praised:

"Dear Weber, I can see that you have done in-depth research on the relevant matters and are able to find the essence of the problem. This is very commendable.

What America desperately needs is cooperation, not confrontation; it is markets, not war.

God Almighty bears witness

The United States urgently needs to establish long-term, friendly and close relations with a powerful Southeast Asian partner like the Chu State, which is in line with the fundamental interests of both sides.

Try your best to ease the conflicts between the two sides and redefine the two-way relationship.

The United States and Chuxiong do not share an actual land border, and have no territorial disputes or other fundamental contradictions. They have the foundation for establishing long-term friendly relations and should develop into good partners.

I will lead the introduction of the Nanyang Telegraph Office Act, the Most-Favoured-Nation Tariff Act, the Regional Partnership Framework and other related bills to solidify some friendly country relations that must be valued and gain legal recognition.

Only in this way
The United States will not easily be hijacked by the interests of a minority and greedy capitalists, thus embarking on the wrong path of confrontation with regional powers."

"Clap clap clap..."

President Rutherford Hayes's short and powerful speech won warm applause from several senior White House officials. This speech was indeed insightful and had strong policy guidance significance.

Otherwise, how can he be called the president?
Even a mediocre and moderate American president is clearly superior to cabinet members in terms of national awareness at the strategic level and the ability to understand and solve problems.

This is the good thing about a democratically elected government: different parties coming to power will not inherit the established policies of the previous government, nor will they continue with existing grievances and disputes.

The Washington administration under President Rutherford Hayes quickly corrected the mistakes of the previous administration and publicly criticized California Governor Canterbury, accusing him of being the culprit for the current serious setback in relations between the two countries.

Governor Kantberg should be held responsible for the loss of tens of millions of dollars in profits. He was so arrogant as to provoke a king and thus kidnap the entire country into the chariot of confrontation.

The key is, can he bear the heavy responsibility that comes with it?
As the Washington government shifted its focus, public opinion and media outlets across the country shifted their tone in unison. In order to make up for their previous mistakes, major media outlets such as the New York Daily News, the Washington Times, and the Philadelphia Telegraph began to focus their firepower on Governor Canterbury.

For a time, Governor Kantberg was like sitting on a volcano, subjected to overwhelming siege and abuse.

Foreign Secretary Woodrow Wilson also took urgent action and made a series of friendly gestures to quickly improve relations with the State of Chu.

The Chu State also responded, saying that many things were indeed the work of the previous democratically elected government.

There's actually not much point in dwelling on this.

These Americans always like to make some vulgar and hurtful rude jokes, claiming that it is American humor, but in fact it is both vulgar and disgusting.

But this is the social atmosphere, and we can't lump everyone together.

Just when the relations between the United States and Chu had improved significantly, a shocking event suddenly broke out, shocking everyone in the world who was concerned about the international situation.

September 24th, 2025

Tsarist Russia officially declared war on the Ottoman Empire, and the 10th Russo-Turkish War broke out. The Russian army surged across the border, occupied the Shipka Pass, and captured Pleven, launching a fierce tug-of-war between the two sides...

For a time, the entire international community was speechless...

(End of this chapter)