Nanyang Storm 1864

It was already mid-June when the King of Chu returned to the Manila Palace after his vacation, and soon there came an order to expand the army again.

The Chu Royal Army expanded from the original 14 expeditionary divisions to 4 new divisions. The number of fully equipped personnel in each main division increased, and the total number reached 9600 to 9800 people.

After the military expansion, together with the frontier cavalry regiment, local garrison regiments and fortress defense battalions, the total size of the army is about 35 people.

This size of force is similar to that of the British Army among the world's powers, and is far smaller than that of European powers such as Russia, Germany, France, and Austria-Hungary.

The population of Germany is about half that of Chu, but the size of the German Imperial Royal Army has grown to more than 74 people, exerting strong military pressure on France.

Ten years is just an insignificant moment in world history, but the situation in Europe has already undergone tremendous changes.

The Three Emperors' League had already collapsed in 1887. German Emperors William I and Frederick III died one after another, and the former Iron Chancellor Bismarck also stepped aside.

Today's German Empire is ruled by William II, the culprit who dragged the entire world into the abyss of World War I. Now he controls the German Empire with its booming industrial and military strength.

What is coming will come, perhaps this is the fate of history.

After the collapse of the Triple Alliance, France quickly approached Tsarist Russia and tried every means to win over Tsarist Russia.

Every year, there were more than a dozen diplomatic missions from Paris to St. Petersburg. The French invested heavily in Russia's industrial sector, helping to build railways, long-distance telegraph lines, investing in shipyards and machinery industries, grain processing industries and petrochemical industries, introducing the world's advanced weapons manufacturing industry, and lending large sums of franc loans.

Its purpose was obvious: to win over Tsarist Russia and establish a military alliance to jointly fight against the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria and Italy.

The formation of the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria and Italy was a weaker version of the "Triple Alliance" established under the leadership of German Chancellor Bismarck. It excluded the powerful Tsarist Russia and reduced the sharp contradictions within the alliance.

Because of this, France was given a precious breathing space and began to actively try to win over Tsarist Russia to take sides.

At the end of the 19th century, Germany's foreign policy underwent major changes. It abandoned Bismarck's "Continental Policy" and began to implement a "world policy" of external expansion.

Kaiser Wilhelm II declared: "Germany has many tasks to accomplish beyond the narrow borders of old Europe." His words made no secret of his strong desire for overseas colonial expansion.

Germany's Navy Minister Tirpitz insisted that Germany's industrialization and overseas conquests were "as irresistible as the laws of nature," and he was also an ardent believer in Germany's colonial expansion policy.

As Kaiser Wilhelm II took control of the empire, a large number of German military and political leaders who met his wishes came to center stage, leading the German Empire towards confrontation with the British Empire.

The "world policy" implemented by William II naturally caused panic in Britain.

The survival basis of the British Empire is global trade and control over overseas colonies. Germany's expansion will inevitably damage the interests of old colonial countries such as Britain and France.

The strategic confrontation on the European continent has become increasingly acute and intense.

The Chu State's homeland, located in Southeast Asia, is far away from the hustle and bustle of the European continent and the intrigues and struggles. The scenery here is unique.

Inside the Zichen Hall
King Zheng Guohui of Chu received the Minister of Colonies, Marquis Li Jingxi, who had returned to the court with a warm expression. His three-month mourning period had ended and he returned to the court to take up his post.

After a few simple words of comfort, King Zheng Guohui of Chu turned the topic to the former Beiyang Minister Li Hongzhang, who was being coldly treated, and asked, "Zhongxian, how is your second uncle doing now?"

Li Jingxi did not dare to neglect it, and bowed respectfully and said:

"Your Majesty

It has been more than several years since I last exchanged letters with my second uncle, because we each serve our own masters and it is inconvenient for us to communicate.

I am honored to be a senior official of the state and shoulder a heavy responsibility, as your Majesty has not abandoned me.

I have no intention of communicating with the north. I just want to be well on my own.

Everything I heard came from newspapers and important reports from the inner court.

After learning that the Treaty of Shimonoseki had been signed, Li Hongzhang went to Beijing to meet Emperor Guangxu despite being cursed by thousands of people. The emperor said:
"Losing the people's support and damaging the national dignity"

As a result, he was not received, his hat and feather were taken off, his post as Governor-General of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang was abolished, and he was temporarily appointed to "serve in the cabinet", which was already a thing of the past.

"I, a humble official, am not allowed to know the hidden secrets within, as this is none of my business."

Li Jingxi's attitude is not surprising. "The Zhuge brothers each served their own master" has been a tradition since ancient times, and it is a taboo to have unclear connections in private.

Apart from anything else, the Ministry of the Interior is keeping a very close eye on it.

To be honest

The Qing court in the north was really irresponsible. Li Hongzhang presided over the signing of the humiliating Treaty of Shimonoseki, which was still the will of the court. He was just the person who was pushed to the front and took the blame.

Now that he is being cursed by the masses, Emperor Guangxu actually has an expression of "you are guilty" and does not dare to question the Holy Mother Empress Dowager behind him. This is really unheard of.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu asked casually, and at the moment he sighed in his heart, and said:

"That's not necessary. Blood ties are unbreakable, and exchanging family letters is human nature."

After a word of comfort, he changed the subject and continued:
"After three months away from the Central Government, Zhongxian has accumulated a lot of matters in the Ministry. We must focus on handling them in the near future. We must not delay the colonial affairs plan."

"This humble official has sorted out all the important affairs of the ministry during the period of mourning. When I return to the court today, I will carefully sort them out."

"That's good. We will proceed with the agreed policy regarding the Red Sea Fortress. We must inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of this matter so that we can jointly counter the pressure from Britain and France."

"Your humble servant will faithfully obey the imperial decree and firmly defend the interests of the kingdom."

"Well, let's go down."

"Your Majesty, I respectfully wish you the best of health. I will take my leave."

Colonial Secretary Li Jingxi bowed and took his leave, leaving the hall.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu looked at his departing figure thoughtfully, tapping his fingers lightly on the imperial desk, thinking about the recent Red Sea incident that had been pressured by Britain and France.

The Red Sea natural fortress, which took more than ten years to build with great effort, has hollowed out the mountains inside the Pilin Island and the Seven Brothers Island at the throat of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. At a cost of more than 20 million silver dollars, it has built an unprecedentedly powerful island defense fortress system.

The British didn't know what was wrong with them, but at the end of last year they sent a team of British officers and soldiers to the island, but they were stopped by the defense troops of the Chu East African Governor's Office.

At this point, the secret of the Red Sea Fortress was finally discovered.

This caused an uproar among the British and French powers, who immediately put strong pressure on the State of Chu and made many unreasonable demands.

For example, the Chu army must withdraw from the fortress and let Britain take over to ensure the free flow of Eurasian shipping routes and restore regional stability. After being firmly rejected by Chu, Britain, France and other countries found that the method of force and blackmail was ineffective and turned to other plans.

For example, joint military deployment, inclusion in the jurisdiction of the international community, etc., the tone has turned to be moderate, and the so-called international community refers to Britain and France.

The State of Chu didn't buy it and simply stopped pretending.

Tens of thousands of convicts were directly mobilized to build a massive construction project in the Red Sea Fortress, creating an unprecedentedly strong fortress superstructure, that is, the main body of the fortress exposed on the upper part of the mountain.

In response to the joint pressure from Britain and France, the State of Chu strengthened its cooperation with the German, Austrian and Italian groups on the one hand, and adopted the tactic of "dragging" on the other hand, and simply did not make a positive response.

In just over ten months, the upper part of the Red Sea natural fortress has gradually taken shape.

Any ship traveling between Europe and Asia, when passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, can see the majestic main body of the fortress, which has appeared on the top of the island mountain, which is a daunting sight.

It is like wearing a heavy hat on the top of the island mountain, with large-caliber naval guns pointing directly at the main channel and secondary channel. A 9-story pagoda is built in the center of the fortress, which serves as a lighthouse for observation and guidance.

This is also the typical configuration of the Chu State's island fortress. There is always a tall pagoda, which is either square, pentagonal, hexagonal or heptagonal, with three to nine floors. It often serves as a lighthouse to guide the way.

The higher the number of floors of the pagoda, the higher the level of the fortress.

This nine-story pagoda fortress is one of the best among the dozens or hundreds of island fortresses in the Chu State, and there are definitely no more than ten of them.

The most famous one is the Zamboanga Fortress. All ships passing through it can often see the pilot lights on the top of the pagoda from tens or hundreds of kilometers away, which has avoided many shipwrecks.

Britain, France and other countries are indeed wary of the increasingly powerful Chu State. When blackmail by force does not work, there are not many measures they can take.

Chu State's oil occupied 29.6% of the European market, with an average price of 29.6 silver dollars per barrel, which means the landed price was equivalent to US$.

The oil exported from the Sri Begawan and Sabah oil fields, major oil production areas of the Chu State, had an offshore price of 19.3 silver dollars. The shipping cost to Europe totaled 3.5 silver dollars per barrel, the import customs tax was 20% which was 3.86 silver dollars, and there were other miscellaneous fees of 0.24 silver dollars per barrel, totaling 26.9 silver dollars.

The wholesale price is 29.6 silver dollars, and the import wholesalers can also earn 2.7 silver dollars per barrel, which is equivalent to a stable profit of 9%.

After the outbreak of the Red Sea incident, the European oil market, which had been stable for five or six years, skyrocketed from 29.6 silver dollars per barrel to quickly break through the 30 silver dollar mark, and finally soared to 32 silver dollars per barrel and 33 silver dollars per barrel. The Manila oil futures market reached a high of 37.85 silver dollars per barrel.

It then fell back to between 36 and 37 silver dollars, and has been hovering at a high level, unable to fall back.

This is just a glimpse of the huge fluctuations in international bulk commodity trading prices due to news.

In the Manila futures market, prices of oil, sugar, natural rubber, copper, combed and carded wool tops, and even meat have fluctuated significantly, affecting the global supply pattern.

This made the British and French powers more wary, and they softened their voices and stance in putting pressure on the State of Chu.

Just because of the impact of the major news of the Red Sea incident, the lost profits amounted to more than 10 billion silver dollars, equivalent to 200 to 300 million pounds, which was unaffordable for the European market.

As a major exporter of bulk commodities, the State of Chu has reaped substantial benefits from this round of fluctuations in global bulk commodity prices.

Compared with the original historical time and space
After the Texas crude oil development was hit by a sharp drop in the price of Chu crude oil, the American capital invested in Texas crude oil development experienced ups and downs, with more losses than profits, which greatly extended the original timeline for the production explosion.

The State of Chu was particularly hateful in this regard. It took advantage of tariffs and large-displacement oil tankers to always keep crude oil prices below the cost line of US oil exports.

Every barrel of U.S. oil exported results in a loss.

When American oil had not yet formed market competitiveness, it was hit by violent storms and the development process was particularly difficult, so the long-term stability of the European oil market price system was maintained.

The biggest winner, naturally, is the royal family and government capital behind the Chu State crude oil exporters.

Compared with the crude oil exports of Chu State, which were controlled by a powerful country, the exports of US oil were characterized by being widespread and involving many participants. The vast majority of US oil producers were weak and had poor risk resistance.

Due to the strong competition from Bandar Seri Begawan oil, the development is not satisfactory.

The United States is a typical democratic capitalist system. The profits and losses of oil producers or sellers are due to their own operations, and the government will not get involved.

This resulted in a group of guerrillas competing with the Chu State's already powerful oil capital, which was a regular army armed to the teeth.

We have guns and cannons, so how can we win?

The American government of this era did not have the strong executive power that it would have in later generations, nor did it have global influence, and its words were not effective in the European market.

I feel deeply powerless about the dire state of the U.S. oil industry.

The international turmoil caused by the Red Sea incident not only did not harm the fundamental interests of the Chu State, but instead brought great benefits to it. The prices of bulk export raw materials soared, making the Chu State's producers and exporters rich.

But King Zheng Guohui of Chu clearly realized that this was not a good thing.

The sharp rise in European oil prices has enriched American oil producers, allowing them to recover a large amount of their losses and also led to a surge in calls for the development of Texas oil fields.

More American capital is being invested in Texas oil fields, hoping to capitalize on this favorable price trend.

The substantial increase in oil supply will inevitably lead to the breakdown of the original price system, and the ones who will ultimately suffer are the biggest beneficiaries of this price system - the Chu royal family and government.

Therefore, King Zheng Guohui of Chu instructed the Minister of the Colonies, Li Jingxi, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pan Yuchen, to work together to reduce the heat of the Red Sea incident as soon as possible, so as to create a suitable market environment for the next step of significantly lowering oil prices.

It is sheer wishful thinking for the Americans to take advantage of the aftermath of the Red Sea incident to profit from it.

In the near future, the State of Chu will announce a substantial increase in supply to the European market, which will drive down oil prices drastically, with the goal of reaching an ultra-low price of 20 to 22 silver dollars per barrel landed in Europe.

The prices in the entire oil market experienced a roller coaster trend, causing US oil capital to suffer heavy losses.

With the price pushed down to such a low level, the price of oil delivered to the port of Bandar Seri Begawan is almost 14 silver dollars per barrel, and the profit of the Chu State has been reduced to about %, no longer having the huge profits that doubled in the past.

Even so, oil prices must be severely suppressed.

Its purpose is to target Texas crude oil.

In the original historical time and space
The crazy increase in Texas crude oil production once pushed the price of crude oil in the European market to seven to eight US dollars per barrel, which is equivalent to about seven to eight silver dollars.

If that were the case, the State of Chu would suffer a huge loss for every barrel of crude oil it exported, and would also have to hand over the entire European market.

Weighing the pros and cons of two evils, we must choose the lesser of two evils. Before American capital becomes powerful, we must strike hard at it, thereby laying a solid foundation for Chu capital to fully erode the American crude oil industry. (End of this chapter)