Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 494 Effective Occupation
Seeing that it was getting late, Li Hezhang stood up respectfully, bowed, and politely took his leave.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu nodded in agreement and ordered the new royal secretary-general Zhang Huaizhong (note, former deputy secretary-general) to escort him out of the palace. This was also a courtesy and respect for his old and trusted minister.

Looking at Li Hezhang's departing back, King Zheng Guohui of Chu stood up, feeling a little sad.

in the original history
Li Hezhang gave up the fourth-rank position of Ganliang Daotai appointed by the court to make way for his two elder brothers and was willing to return to his hometown and live in seclusion in the mountains. The reason was the same as that of his fifth brother Li Fengzhang who gave up his official career.

The Li family in northern Anhui has already produced two high-ranking officials in the imperial court, both of whom are governors and governors-general. Among the five brothers, there are three prefects, which is too eye-catching, like a raging fire boiling oil.

At that time, Li Hanzhang and Li Hongzhang had already established their power and were highly trusted by the court.

Based on this, the other three brothers of the Li family resigned and returned home, giving up the idea of ​​a career in politics.

This was a major blow to Li Hezhang, who had great ambitions. He became depressed and died of illness at the age of 45.

Now history has taken a small turn, which has also affected Li Hezhang's fate. We can't help but marvel at the magic of creation.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu knew

Li Hezhang is a man with a strong sense of career ambition. He is the best talent to assist in state affairs. Keeping him busy is more effective than any panacea, and he is also expected to live a long life in the future.

These brothers of the Li family in northern Anhui are all like this. To put it nicely, they are very career-oriented; to put it bluntly, they are obsessed with power and cannot live without power for a day.

His current adoptive father-in-law, Li Hanzhang, was appointed Governor-General of the Grand Canal in the tenth year of the Guangxu period (1884), and was given the title of Minister of War. He was also granted the right to ride on a ship in the Western Garden. He was also a high-ranking official and was highly trusted by the court.

He is in good health and enjoys eating.

Li Hongzhang, who was adept in officialdom, was even more powerful. He was the leader of the Han Chinese Westernization Movement ministers. He was appointed Governor-General of Zhili and Minister of Commerce of Beiyang, served in the Grand Council, was a member of the Wenhua Palace, was pardoned and granted the title of First-Class Suyi Earl, and his words were law in the court.

The Li brothers have similar personalities. If they were to suddenly encounter a turmoil in the officialdom and be dismissed from their posts, they would probably not live for many years.

Thought of here
King Zheng Guohui of Chu couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth, feeling quite pleased with himself.

Then... can I be considered as someone who knows how to use people well?
The political system of Chu was a typical constitutional monarchy, but unlike Britain, it was more similar to the authoritarian system of the German Empire. The monarch could dissolve parliament at will, directly appoint the prime minister, and possess supreme royal power.

On the important issue of democratic elections, the State of Chu acted very cautiously and took small steps.

More than 20 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China
It was during these years that the State of Chu began to promote the democratic election system in townships and towns, mainly at the village level, mobilizing villagers to conduct democratic elections to elect village heads and village committee members.

At the town level, officials are still appointed by the government. A small number of places have implemented democratic elections, but they are limited to pilot projects.

Pilot programs for democratic elections have not yet been launched at higher levels such as counties, prefectures, governors and royal governments. The main democratic elections are still at the county council and prefectural council levels.

Townships can recommend representatives to participate in the election of county councilors and form a county council to supervise the government. These steps have only been implemented in the past two years and are limited to several prefectures under the jurisdiction of the Tongzhou Governor's Office. They have a strong pilot nature.

In parliamentary democratic elections

It has exposed some problems such as incomplete systems, factionalism, vote-buying, behind-the-scenes manipulation, deceiving superiors and subordinates, forming cliques for personal gain, etc. The democratic election system needs to be further improved.

Through legislation and other measures, the exposed problems can be eliminated in the bud to maintain the health of the entire democratic electoral system.

Based on this, the "Chu State Election Law" was promulgated, so that the judicial department has laws to follow and to implement, and violations must be corrected and punished, putting it on the right track of using laws to regulate democratic election behavior.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu was not in a hurry at all. He was in very good health and could easily stay on the throne of Chu for another thirty or forty years.

It will take five or six years to test the quality through democratic election pilot projects, expose more problems, carry out targeted legislation, and then gradually promote it.

The parliamentary system is an effective constraint on government behavior. The current independent prosecutors, the Audit Commission, the Police Commission and the official accountability system are not enough. The county and prefecture-level parliaments are typical civil supervisory forces.

As for the Governor's Office, which is equivalent to provinces and states, it is too early to implement a democratic election parliamentary system, and appointment is still the main method.

This includes the Kingdom's Parliament, which is currently the case.

The appointed persons are social elites such as social wise men, prestigious scholars, wealthy philanthropists, representatives of landlords and plantation owners, representatives of factory owners, representatives of civil groups, retired officials, representatives of capitalists and reputable aristocrats, and are appointed by the Royal Government and the Governor's Office.

Although it lacks grassroots civilian and worker representatives, and is inevitably controlled by the government, it still plays a good supervisory and legislative role.

in this regard
King Zheng Guohui of Chu was very cautious. He would look around for a long time before taking a small step in promoting the democratic election system. He would only move forward after making sure that there were no problems.

The county and prefecture-level councils piloted by the Chu State were filled with a large number of landlords and manor owners, as well as some factory owners and handicraftsmen, plus a small number of local nobles with military experience. The majority of them were feudal and conservative, and they were the vested interests since the Chu State's colonial development.

These are all die-hard royalists. King Zheng Guohui of Chu thinks this is a very good thing. It needs more time to settle down and influence more people around.

Since people can live a good life, no one wants to change.

There are some Chinese immigrants who are not doing well in the Chu mainland and surrounding islands, but many of them have immigrated for a second time with their families under the attractive promotion of the West African Congo River Company.

Over the years, many people have traveled to Australia, Hawaii, Central America, and the Viceroyalty of Patagonia.

This is like the duckweed and fallen leaves floating on the water when washing clothes. Driven by the desire for adventure and wealth, people continue to migrate to the frontier islands.

The water in the bucket became clear, and the Chinese residents who settled down were mostly satisfied with the status quo, had high support and loyalty to the royal government, and their overall thinking tended to be conservative.

Such immigration flows, like a screening process year after year, are of great benefit to the stability of the kingdom.

Those with active minds can go to the frontier islands to show their talents, run farms, plantations, ranches or other businesses, and there will always be a place for them to use their talents.

Even if things get worse, I've been given such a large piece of land for free. Isn't it enough to farm and have enough food to eat?

The colonial development of the Chu State over the years has provided Chinese immigrants with a broad space for development and a lot of options.

The dispatch of troops to Madagascar in East Africa was kept extremely secret, and the news media did not disclose it, so most people in the country were unaware of it.

What satisfied King Zheng Guohui of Chu was
The Maldives was decisively taken over and has now become a supply port for the Chu State's military expedition, allowing the army to successfully cross the Indian Ocean through this stepping stone.

It not only ensures the secrecy of military operations, but also greatly enhances security.

Chu merchant ships and immigrant ships still receive supplies through the Port of Cochin on the Indian Peninsula. This ancient port with a population of hundreds of thousands has a powerful supply capacity that is far beyond the reach of other ports.

There are only a few thousand Pacific natives and more than 200 Chu soldiers on the tiny Maldives Islands. The islands are small, and apart from sufficient fresh water and vegetables, everything else has to be transported from outer islands, including the most important food and coal.

Its resupply capacity is limited and it is currently only used for military operations and emergency situations.

March 1885,

All the Chu troops that were sent on the expedition to Madagascar have arrived in Jibuti, where they will undergo a one-month adaptation training and start the expedition southward at the end of March.

Strict military control was implemented in Djibouti to prevent the news from leaking.

So far, the expedition plan has been carried out very smoothly.

The Berlin Conference ended in early February, lasting more than 2 days.

The last group of people returning from the Berlin Conference arrived safely in Manila on a British cruise ship, including Li Jingxi and other officials who attended the conference.

The final consensus reached at the Berlin Conference

The more vague term "effective occupation" was used to replace the standard proposed by the Chu State that required a certain number of colonists to settle within a certain area. This was because it was strongly opposed by many countries.

Definition of “effective occupation”:

Among the countries participating in the Berlin Conference, any country that occupies land along the African coast must notify other countries separately in the future.

In annexing the occupied African coastal areas, it is responsible for ensuring the establishment of a ruling power sufficient to protect existing rights and interests and exercise colonial rights.

On the issue of Congo's sovereignty raised by the French, the countries had a very fierce dispute but finally reached a consensus.

As early as 1876, France wanted to colonize the resource-rich Congo River Basin, but it never expected that the Chu State would suddenly intervene and force Portugal to sign a treaty to transfer the Congo River Basin.

For a mere 230 million, he acquired this coveted West African resource-rich land.

This made France's colonial demands very embarrassing. Although it had the support of the Netherlands, the three Nordic countries and Austria-Hungary, it had to recognize Chu's territorial sovereignty in the Congo River region due to strong opposition from Chu and other countries.

However, the issue of boundary demarcation in the north remained unresolved, laying the groundwork for future intervention.

This was also what King Zheng Guohui of Chu had anticipated. The process of large-scale immigration to West Africa had already begun. In just two or three years, the Chu State might not be satisfied with the existing colonial borders.

The other three focal issues at the Berlin Conference were Egypt, Mozambique, and German-occupied West and East Africa.

On the above issues
The State of Chu basically followed Britain's diplomatic demands, cooperated closely with them, and echoed them in return for Britain's strong support on the Congo River issue.

The so-called Egyptian issue refers to Britain's large-scale invasion and colonization of Egypt, which caused widespread controversy and accusations in Europe.

Even with Britain's current status, it cannot stop the public from talking.

At the beginning of the British invasion of Egypt, they publicly declared that their goal was to restore order and that they did not seek colonial occupation of Egypt. They would withdraw their troops after quelling the local rebellion.

This was the public promise of the Granston Cabinet, and it is now completely forgotten.

Instead, Britain vigorously supported its puppet regime in Egypt, stationed heavy troops there, remotely controlled Egypt's internal affairs with the British Consul General in Egypt, acted like a regal emperor, and turned Egypt into a de facto protectorate and colony.

On this issue

Chu, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Nordic countries, Austria-Hungary and Tsarist Russia all stood on the British side, claiming that Britain's temporary control over Egypt was based on international humanitarianism and should not be included in the conference agenda.

Another Mozambique issue, that is, the competition between the two small countries of Belgium and Portugal for the colony of the "green lung of East Africa", became the focus of the meeting, and each country formed its own cliques and fought fiercely.

With the strong support of the British side, some participating countries, led by the Chu State, stood on the side of Belgium, and finally the Berlin Conference ceded Mozambique to Belgium.

King Leopold II of Belgium finally had the last laugh. On the basis of the Belgian colony of Mozambique, he established the Free State of Mozambique and declared the area to be his private territory.

Poor Portugal was small and weak, and its 400-year history of colonizing Mozambique was completely ignored.

The Berlin Conference hoped to resolve the conflict in colonial Central Africa, but it did not formally bring it to the conference table for discussion. Instead, it was resolved through political deals under the table.

all in all

This was an effort by the international community to reach consensus on major issues, and some progress was made, most notably in the four words "effective occupation", which were unanimously recognized by all participating countries.

The greatest achievement of the Chu State was to maintain the existing Congo River colonies and East African colonies, and to inform all countries of the scope of coverage, which was formally recognized by the vast majority of countries.

The State of Chu was a little cautious in this regard. The northern border line of the Congo River Basin (note: the dividing line mainly based on the Cameroon region) and the eastern and southern borders of the East African Governor's Office were all vaguely stated without precise division.

That is
If there is expansion in this area in the future, it seems to make sense.

There are no clear geographical landmarks in the desert Gobi area east of the East African Governorate and the edge of the Ethiopian Plateau in the south. How can the boundary line be accurately identified?

Fortunately, these are all minor problems. Most of the powers that colonized Africa were like this, and everyone knew it tacitly.

Although Britain, France and other countries expressed strong dissatisfaction with Germany's forced military occupation of Namibia and Tanzania, the matter was eventually resolved through the skillful mediation of German Chancellor Bismarck.

What price did the Germans pay under the table?
This is certainly not known to others, but there must have been an exchange of interests, which finally made countries like Britain and France reluctantly accept it.

The State of Chu also planned to do so. After militarily occupying Madagascar, it informed European countries in accordance with the spirit of the Berlin Conference.

As for whether you agree or not?
That was not something the Chu State should consider. As long as it achieved "effective occupation", even if the French were furious, it could not change the fact that it was one step behind.

(End of this chapter)