Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 437 Benjamin Disraeli's Government Resigns
The King of Chu returned to the Pontianak Palace to rest, and the Governor of Malaya, Major General Zheng Guoguang, came to visit him immediately. He reported and submitted a letter from the people in the former Dutch-occupied areas in the south requesting to surrender.

Today
More than 170 million Chinese immigrants (note: excluding local indigenous population) have been resettled in several provinces in the former Dutch-occupied areas in the south. The Chinese have full control over the provinces in central and southern Kalimantan, and it seems that the time is ripe.

After careful consideration, King Zheng Guohui of Chu still rejected the proposal submitted by Governor Zheng Guoguang, believing that the current time was not yet ripe and that he needed to wait a few years to see.

His concerns mainly stemmed from the tough British Conservative Prime Minister, Earl Benjamin Disraeli, who was not an easy old man to deal with and was very ruthless and tough in his methods.

If the British were to become furious and impose a blockade and suppression on Chu because the former Dutch-occupied areas acceded to it, the result would be more harm than good.

This possibility is not non-existent, but very high.

As the king of a country, King Zheng Guohui of Chu was not only concerned with expanding the kingdom's territory, but also had to consider the resulting international image and the significant impact it would bring, and carefully weigh the pros and cons.

If this leads to a serious deterioration in relations between Britain and Chu, it will not be worth it.

The loss in international trade alone amounted to tens of millions of pounds, which was a huge loss.

The fruit is already in your hands, and the cooked duck cannot fly away. Why rush it?
Although war has broken out in Chile, Peru and Bolivia in South America, it actually has little impact on the British and is far less influential than the Russo-Turkish War in Europe.

According to reliable sources,

Britain only provided Chile with some weapons, equipment and ships and sent a group of British commanders to supervise the war. There were no other major actions, nor were there large-scale war purchases during the Russo-Turkish War.

After all, it is located in a remote area of ​​South America and has little impact on Britain's global strategy.

It would be a big mistake to think that this would involve a lot of Britain's energy.

Britain's focus has always been on Europe, but even at the height of the Russo-Turkish War, the British Benjamin Disraeli government still had time to warn the Chu State and explicitly prohibited further colonial expansion in Africa.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu had a lot of grievances. The Benjamin Disraeli government was now highly regarded by Her Majesty Queen Victoria and had a good reputation in the country. The Chu government really did not dare to confront it head-on.

The Benjamin Disraeli government did three main things right, which led to its growing reputation both at home and abroad. Launching a foreign war was now just a matter of words, and we must not give it any excuse.

The first thing was that in 1875, the Rothschild family urgently purchased 400% of the shares of the Suez Canal Company from the Governor of Egypt at a cost of 45 million pounds borrowed from the Rothschild family, thus actually controlling this vital throat of the Eurasian shipping route.

This move won unanimous praise from both the government and the opposition in Britain, greatly boosted the reputation of the Benjamin Disraeli government, and was hailed as a "politician of great vision and foresight", almost comparable to Germany's Iron Chancellor Bismarck.

The second major event was the proposal of Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, which was passed by the British Parliament, to crown Queen Victoria as the Empress of India, officially presenting a glorious royal crown to the British royal family.

Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli therefore gained special favor from Queen Victoria and was granted the title of Earl of Beaconsfield, which was a sign of the Queen's favor.

The third major event was that after the end of the Russo-Turkish War, the British Royal Navy was ordered to enter Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, and was determined to fight for the interests of Europe and Britain, and to confront the approaching Tsarist Russian army.

The tough actions of British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli forced Tsar Nicholas II to give in, and he had to give up most of the war dividends and sign the Treaty of Berlin with great reluctance.

But the situation was stronger than the people, and Tsarist Russia could not withstand it.

This move greatly boosted Britain's international reputation and made it the talk of the town. The current government was highly praised by the royal families of various European countries and they all followed its lead.

The British Empire, which is currently at its peak internationally, will never allow the State of Chu to take advantage of it.

Today, Britain launched the Second Anglo-Afghan War, invaded Afghanistan in the second half of last year, and completely occupied this mountainous country, demonstrating its strength on the Eurasian continent.

Why would you want to provoke such a tough British government?
King of Chu Zheng Guohui did not explain the reason in detail to his third brother, Governor Zheng Guoguang. If he could understand it, he could be given important tasks in the future and would be considered a promising talent of the Zheng family.

If you can't understand it, don't have a sufficient international perspective, and don't have a deep enough international perspective, then that's all you can do. Being a governor is the limit.

This kind of major event, which concerns the international situation, is not something that a mere advisor or a few staff members can imagine.

Those who understand won’t speak, and those who speak won’t understand, because the strategic landscape cannot reach that level.

Then, Finance Minister Lu Junxi and Foreign Minister Zheng Xin came to the meeting to discuss an important matter, which was Peru's application for a loan of 2000 million silver dollars, willing to pay a high interest rate of 12%, and use the guano and saltpeter resources of the Atacama Desert as collateral.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu refused without hesitation. A country like Peru has no credibility at all, so why bother with it?
The Chu royal family had a large amount of franc loans, totaling about 3.8 million francs. These were bonds purchased in large quantities after the Franco-Prussian War, with an annual interest rate of 8.5%.

All these years

The French have always insisted on repaying principal and interest on time and have never defaulted on their debts. This is a very good way of abiding by the rules.

The State of Chu also had a large amount of German mark loans, amounting to 230 million gold marks. The Germans also repaid the principal and interest on time, and behaved very properly.

However, the State of Chu would never allow the purchase of Tsarist Russian bonds or Ottoman bonds, because the credibility of these two countries was poor and the King of Chu did not trust them very much.

This led to King Zheng Guohui of Chu distrusting almost all South American countries, with the exception of Chile. Consequently, Chu never purchased bonds from South American countries, nor did it allow major banks to lend to them, with the exception of Chile, which had a good reputation.

As for Peru and Bolivia, King Zheng Guohui of Chu simply looked down upon them.

The 25-year contract was agreed upon, but they broke off the contract without warning. This was a saltpeter mining company jointly established by Britain and Chile. How courageous do you think such a country is?
If they dare to turn against Britain, then turning against Chu will be a matter of minutes. What can restrain the governments of these countries?
These descendants of Indians and Spanish have no concept of abiding by contracts in their minds and traditions. They treat what they said and the agreements they signed as bullshit.

Why would a country like this go looking for trouble?
The two unlucky guys, Finance Minister Lu Junxi and Foreign Minister Zheng Xin, were severely scolded by King of Chu Zheng Guohui. They were so scared that they broke out in cold sweat and crawled away.

This cannot be blamed on the two of them. The annual interest rate of 12% is indeed tempting.

In addition, with the country and mineral resources as guarantees, the two ministers who did not understand the international trends and the hearts of the South American people were inevitably tempted and helped to make some suggestions.

Who could have imagined this was a huge pit?

You want to earn his interest, but the Peruvians want to embezzle your principal and lend you large sums of silver to continue the war.

Even if you win the fight, it’s still unclear whether you will pay back the money or not.

If we lose the war, we will definitely lose everything. Even the government will fall. Who can we ask for the money?

The State of Chu could send a large army to invade Peru, but they were not afraid. When faced with a foreign invasion, they could unite against the enemy. After all, the barefoot are not afraid of those wearing shoes.

The cost of a war can easily reach tens of millions of silver dollars, especially the astonishing cost of a transoceanic expedition. We cannot easily mobilize troops and use guns. We really cannot afford it.

Despite the powerful British Empire, it suffered a setback in South Africa.

This dramatic scene

It happened at the end of 1879. In fact, Britain had long planned to invade two Boer countries in South Africa, one was the Orange Free State and the other was the Transvaal Republic, but had never succeeded.

In the late 1877s, diamond mines were discovered on the territory of the Boer State. In order to seize these treasures, Disraeli's Conservative government declared the occupation of the Boer Republic in .

At this time, the Boers were fighting against the Zulus, the indigenous people of South Africa, and were brutally suppressing these local black natives, and were in a very difficult situation.

The British immediately launched a battle to suppress the Zulus, but to their surprise, in the war, the British army, armed with foreign guns and cannons, was defeated miserably by the Zulus armed with sticks, bows and arrows.

Although the Zulus suffered a defeat in the autumn of 1879 due to their extremely backward weapons and equipment, they dealt a heavy blow to the British Expeditionary Force, eclipsing the myth of the invincibility of the British army.

Starting from 1880, the armed uprising of the Transvaal Boers caused the British army to retreat step by step, suffered heavy losses, and destroyed the prestige of the Disraeli government.

As a result, in the general election of April 1880, the British Conservative Party was defeated, Disraeli's Conservative cabinet came to an end after six years of rule, and the Liberal Party came back to power and took charge of the Downing Street government.

This news came
King Zheng Guohui of Chu, who was handling government affairs in the Purple Palace, danced with joy and laughed heartily, unable to contain his excitement. He shouted, "Great, great! I have finally eliminated a major threat to my heart. From now on, I can freely expand my colonies."

The newly-elected British Liberal Party government leaders have many intricate interest ties with the State of Chu. In essence, their policy towards the State of Chu is tolerant and liberal, just as it was six years ago.

This made King Zheng Guohui of Chu like a drowning man floating to the surface, breathing in the fresh and free air from the outside world in big gulps, feeling comfortable from body to mind, and feeling extremely happy.

Although the time was ripe, King Zheng Guohui of Chu was not in a hurry to take over the former Dutch-occupied area of ​​Kalimantan, but continued to wait patiently.

The fruit is already ripe and will fall off by itself without touching it. Why rush?

Now he set his sights on the island of Sumatra. For more than ten years since the Anglo-French War, the troops stationed on the island of Sumatra have been quiet and unnaturally peaceful.

This was not the original intention of King Zheng Guohui of Chu. As it was an important island in the northwest of the Strait of Malacca, facing Singapore and Penang across the sea, how could he not attach importance to it?
Originally, he was being held down by the British and dared not move. Now that the Liberal Party government has come in, King Zheng Guohui of Chu has become more cautious and dares to consider the affairs of Sumatra Island.

If the Dutch could occupy it, why couldn't Chu? It doesn't make sense.

Moreover

Now Britain had just suffered a heavy loss at the hands of the Boers in South Africa and lost the First Anglo-Boer War. Even the hard-line conservative government had fallen. This was a deep-seated grudge.

I believe the British are not so generous. The so-called Boers are the descendants of Dutch immigrants. Are they trying to fool people by using the term Boers?
Even if Chu's expansion on the island of Sumatra was just to help the British collect some interest and vent their anger, there's nothing wrong with occupying a piece of territory at the same time, right?
What is an opportunity?

This is the best opportunity. All parties are free of pressure and can act freely. Let their strength speak for itself, and the British will not say much.

The British are now annoyed with the Dutch and think it would be a good idea to teach the Dutch a lesson so that they don't lose sight of who is the big king and who is the small king.

If the British did not take action, the Chu State would have beaten the shit out of the Dutch. This is really not an exaggeration.

(End of this chapter)