Nanyang Storm 1864

September 16th, 2025

The State of Chu welcomed a super heavyweight guest, Lord William Ewart Claystone, the former British Prime Minister, who received a grand and solemn welcome.

He arrived in Manila, the capital of Chu State, almost a few days after Li Hongzhang returned to Shenzhou.

It was not intentional. Lord Gladstone was a guest at the Governor-General's Residence in British India for a month and a half, and traveled almost all over the country by train, from Chennai in the south to Delhi in the north-central part, and then to Kolkata on the eastern coast of the Indian subcontinent.

He also stayed in Singapore for a week along the way and had in-depth talks with Li Hongzhang, who had just returned from a visit to Europe, to understand the situation of the northern court and convey the concerns of the British side.

After all, the British are now more worried than the Qing government, and are doing their best to help come up with ideas to stabilize the increasingly chaotic situation in northern China.

This crumbling feudal rule cannot fall, at least Britain can find a ruler to communicate with.

If it really collapses, then this vast land of China with a population of 3.5 trillion will be in flames, and the interests of foreign powers will be difficult to guarantee, which will be even worse.

At the Manila Pier
When the huge British cruise ship slowly approached the reinforced concrete pier and lowered the gangway, workers came forward to spread out the carpet and played cheerful welcome music.

Under the awning

King Zheng Guohui of Chu led a group of senior civil and military officials and aristocratic gentlemen and ladies, and displayed the highest level of ceremony to solemnly welcome this heavyweight figure in British politics.

Lord Gladstone was the leader of the Liberal Party in the United Kingdom. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer twice and Prime Minister four times. He was a British Prime Minister in the late Victorian era who was as famous as Disraeli and had extremely high prestige.

Lord Gladstone was appointed to form a cabinet for the first time in 1868. During his tenure, he passed the first Irish Land Act and the Elementary Education Act, carried out the Cardwell Army Reform, issued a decree legalizing trade unions, and passed the Secret Ballot Act.

After stepping down in 1874, he strongly attacked Disraeli's imperialist policies and denounced him as a "warmongerer".

The second cabinet was formed in 1880. Lord Gladstone continued the Conservative Party's aggressive colonial policy and declared Afghanistan a protectorate.

He sent troops to Egypt to suppress the Mahdi uprising in Sudan, invaded Burma for the second time, fought an unsuccessful Anglo-Boer War, and adopted a policy of appeasement towards Ireland at home, and his policies were criticized.

He proposed the Irish Home Rule Bill twice when he formed his cabinet in 1886 and 1892, and advocated autonomy for Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. However, he was unanimously opposed by the Conservative Party and the bills failed to pass through parliament.

how to say?

King Zheng Guohui of Chu liked Prime Minister Gladstone the most, and especially admired his bill for removing the burden on the British government and advocating autonomy for Ireland, Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and he secretly contributed to this end.

Unfortunately
These policy proposals have encountered considerable resistance within the UK, with voices of opposition growing louder, especially among many British people who are wary of the autonomy of Australia and New Zealand.

In London, the alarmist argument that "Chu will pick the peaches" was very popular, which made King Zheng Guohui of Chu feel very regretful.

He really wanted to reap the benefits. If Australia had become autonomous, he would have had more opportunities to do so. Unfortunately, he failed to do so.

"Dear Lord, you are an old friend of Chu. It is a great pleasure to see you again. On behalf of the hundreds of millions of people of Chu, I sincerely welcome you! This trip will surely promote in-depth and close relations between the two countries, and I have high expectations." King Zhenhui of Chu said with a smile.

Lord Gladstone responded enthusiastically, "Your Majesty, your warm welcome has made me and the gentlemen of the delegation feel the warmth of spring, which is as precious as gold."

After a few pleasantries, as the majestic military music sounded, King Zheng Guohui of Chu and Lord Grace walked along the red carpet and reviewed the guard of honor together.

The neatly arranged guard of honor soldiers, holding rifles and in neat military attire, represented the high-spirited spirit of the Royal Army and left a deep impression on the British delegation.

Lord Gladstone's visit could not be just a courtesy visit, but must carry an important mission.

Regarding this, King Zheng Guohui of Chu had a secret guess in his mind: perhaps the secret letter written to Her Majesty Queen Victoria had some effect?
But it is only mid-1896. Are we already preparing to take action against the South African Boers?

As it turned out, King Chu Zheng Guohui's guess was not wrong.

One of Lord Gladstone's important missions was to prepare for the planned war to completely eliminate the Boer forces in South Africa and to hold a secret private meeting with the Chu State in advance.

The reason for sending a heavyweight political figure like Lord Gladstone was to have a direct dialogue with the head of Chu.

In the Purple Palace
"It is with great regret, dear Lord Gladstone, that the State of Chu cannot agree to your request.

This is not in line with the relationship positioning between the two countries. Chu and Britain are close partners in actively promoting global open policies and colleagues in maintaining regional peace. They have a need to further deepen economic, cultural and even personnel exchanges.

I would like to draw your Lordship's attention to the fact that this is not a military alliance.

The Chu State has no obligation and no position to send troops to South Africa. The proposed matter is absolutely unfeasible and does not need to be discussed."

In a secret meeting between the two sides

King Zheng Guohui of Chu flatly rejected the invitation to send troops with a very firm attitude. He had completely lost the warm welcome he had shown at the dock two days ago, and acted like a heartless scumbag.

Are you kidding me?
He would never allow the State of Chu to fall into this endless quagmire. The Boers were not those black indigenous tribes armed with spears and swords, but tough mountain people armed to the teeth.

If the combat effectiveness of the black indigenous tribes is five, then the combat effectiveness of the Boers is 100.

Those Boer cavalrymen who came and went with a roar had accurate marksmanship and flexible tactics. They were warriors born for battle and had the blood of Nordic Vikings who were not afraid of strong enemies.

No matter how tempting the conditions offered by the British were, King Zheng Guohui of Chu flatly refused.

Lord Gladstone looked helplessly at Henry Campbell-Bannerman, who was sitting next to him. His disappointment was hard to conceal. He leaned over and whispered, "Damn it! It's completely hopeless now. I thought I had some connections with this Eastern King and could persuade him to join the South African War. Who knew... it was all a damn illusion."

"Wake up, my Lord! His Majesty is a typical profit-seeking animal. We should settle for the second best and hope to gain support for Plan B."

"It seems that this is the only way. These Chu people are really difficult to deal with." Lord Gladstone sighed, his face full of disappointment.

The two men were whispering below. King Zheng Guohui of Chu was watching closely from his throne, with no sign of wanting to give in.

A few high-ranking officials who accompanied the talks, such as Foreign Minister Pan Yuchen and Colonial Secretary Li Jingxi, were unable to get a word in.

Such military and national affairs are decided by Your Majesty, and no one else has the right to comment.

In fact, there are many voices in the cabinet that support getting closer to Britain, or even sending troops together, in an attempt to gain more benefits.

They didn't think it through. Is it so easy to take advantage of the British?
After several secret meetings and discussions, the two sides reached a consensus on the South African incident, which was mainly reflected in deeper cooperation in the fields of diplomacy, economy and military logistics.

On the world diplomatic stage
The Chu State will unwaveringly support the British position on the South African issue and will always stand on the side of the British in support. This is the voice that London urgently needs.

Almost all countries opposed Britain's military intervention in South African affairs, with the Germans being the loudest and most vocal, followed closely by the Dutch. Even the French, Italians, and Americans expressed opposition, not to mention the smaller nations of northwestern Europe.

This unprecedented isolated situation made Britain feel extremely lonely and it urgently needed a powerful world-class power to stand by its side. The State of Chu was such a role.

In exchange, Britain acquiesced to the existence of the Red Sea fortress and did not oppose the expansion of Chu's power in the Yemen region.

However, they were not allowed to go east into the Kingdom of Oman, which was a British protectorate, or north into the two major religious holy sites on the Red Sea coast, as the former was a British protectorate and the latter was a British sphere of influence.

It is understandable that Europeans attach great importance to religious holy sites and do not want Eastern forces to interfere.

The two countries privately decided the fate of the northwestern Arabian Peninsula. This is the helplessness of the weak.

In the economic and trade fields and military logistics, the State of Chu showed its full support, which made Lord Gladstone feel much more relieved. This trip was not in vain.

The Chu people knew that the Boers were a difficult thorn to deal with, and the British, being in the middle of it, of course knew how powerful they were.

At present, in the entire Rhodesian colony in southern Africa, the total number of British white expatriates is less than 70,000, while the number of Boers is as high as more than 400,000, with a huge disparity in numbers between the two sides.

Moreover, the Boers were supported by European countries such as Germany and the Netherlands. They had the most elite German weapons, experienced German instructors, and some Dutch volunteers.

Judging from the balance of power, the Boers clearly have the upper hand.

If Britain wanted to launch a full-scale war to conquer the Boers, it would first have to deploy a large number of troops to South Africa. This kind of cross-oceanic deployment of troops has always been the most difficult part of military operations.

Even Britain, the world's hegemon, has encountered difficulties in this regard.

The number of troops that Britain planned to deploy was not 1, 2, 3, or 5, but a full 18. Coupled with the large number of new European immigrants, it would be difficult to meet the requirements with its own transportation capacity alone.

Looking around the world
Only the Chu State had rich experience in long-term transoceanic immigration, and had formed a very efficient method in organization and arrangement, which could be used ready-made.

The Chu State also possessed a world-class immigration fleet and cargo fleet, which was the ocean-going shipping capacity that the British side most urgently needed at present, and was also one of the important purposes of Lord Gladstone's visit.

the last one

That is, the Congo River colonies and Madagascar colonies under the jurisdiction of the Chu State. They can become the main supply bases for war logistics and provide massive resources. There can be no room for carelessness in this regard.

Having traveled the world for more than 200 years, Britain has fought countless expeditionary wars and is well aware of the importance of logistics.

Compared with transporting logistical supplies from Europe over long distances, it is much more cost-effective to transport logistical supplies from the nearby Congo River colonies and Madagascar.

Doing so does not completely rule out the possibility of shipping supplies from Europe.

But as a powerful supplement, who would object to having one more option?
King Zheng Guohui of Chu was not vague on these issues, but agreed readily and promised to give full support.

At the same time hinted

If the Chu State has no objection to the British recruiting Chinese mercenaries when the troops are insufficient, it means that you can do whatever you want.

The Chu government was not in a position to intervene, but recruiting from the public was another matter.

At this point, both the host and the guest were very happy.

The State of Chu held a grand state banquet and gave full face to Lord Gladstone and his party with top-level state guest etiquette, which allowed them to eliminate the initial unpleasantness and become close.

The British delegation interacted frequently with senior officials of the Chu government cabinet and achieved great results in the economic and trade fields.

January 7st

The Chu government publicly announced that it supported Britain's tough stance on the South African issue and supported Britain in taking any possible options to completely resolve the South African issue.

Once the Chu State released its public statement, it caused an uproar around the world.

German Emperor Wilhelm II publicly and arrogantly declared: "The arrogant British have lost all their supporters in Europe and are now running to the East for comfort. What can those yellow monkeys guarantee them? Can they give them a few barrels of free oil?"

It must be admitted that some people are born with the ability to attract hatred.

This rude language that completely disregarded diplomatic etiquette made the subjects of Chu furious, and the German businessmen doing business in Chu were in big trouble.

This immediately led to strong protests and negotiations from German diplomatic envoys. The Chu State did not accept the protests and demanded a formal apology from Germany, and the two sides started a verbal battle again.

Just a few days later

On July 7, Chu and Britain signed a reciprocal trade treaty, the Manila Treaty of Commerce, which represented the deepening level of development of economic and trade relations between the two countries.

The most important points

The two countries pledged to give each other's merchant ships and economic and trade personnel fair and reasonable national treatment, including in consular jurisdiction, business, property purchase, study and cultural exchanges, to encourage strengthening bilateral exchanges, deepening economic and trade ties, and promoting exchanges between the two militaries.

Lord Gladstone and his entourage achieved the diplomatic success they had longed for. Although it was not perfect, it met their psychological expectations before departure.

A few days later, the British delegation left Manila by boat and visited Cebu, Davao, New Xi'an and Donggang successively to witness the current industrial and commercial development achievements of Chu State.

The stronger the Chu State, an emerging industrialized country in the south, becomes, the more attention the British will pay to it. They hope to have a strong partner in the South Pacific region.

After visiting several places, the British delegation then headed south to Australia to complete the unfinished journey.

in the original history

In order to launch a full-scale war against the Boer regime in South Africa, Britain continuously dispatched troops and transported large amounts of supplies to the Rhodesian colony for two years, intensifying the war pressure against the Boers.

Lord Gladstone's trip was to start planning this big game in advance. Before the troops move, the food and supplies must be sent ahead.

This applies to everyone, both ancient and modern, both Chinese and foreign. (End of this chapter)