Nanyang Storm 1864

At the end of 1897, the Panama Canal successfully completed equipment installation and commissioning and entered the final finishing work, which mainly involved some cables, lighting signals, stations and other ancillary facilities.

Just as the Panama Canal was being debugged in full swing, a major event occurred in Cuba that shocked the world.

On February 1898, 2, the American warship "Maine", which was visiting Havana, exploded and sank while anchored in the port, which caused an uproar among the world.

The Maine incident caused 266 deaths. It was generally believed in the United States that it was done by Spain, and the American people fell into unprecedented anger.

Theodore Roosevelt called it "the worst act of Spanish perfidy" and said, "America needs a war." Opposition to Spain grew with the slogan "Remember the Maine."

The Spaniards cried out in injustice.
The US government claimed that the "Maine" was destroyed by a Spanish mine and issued an ultimatum to the Spanish government. The situation in the Caribbean suddenly became tense.

At this time, King Zheng Guohui of Chu and his entourage received this shocking news while inspecting Donggang on the Ocean Shuttle cruise ship.

Standing on the ridge of the field at the edge of the village

King Zheng Guohui of Chu was silent for a long time. He sighed softly and said, "It may come earlier or later, but what is coming will come. Perhaps this is the inevitable course of history."

After saying this

He looked up at the endless, densely packed sugarcane fields before him, each more than a man tall, and said to the Colonial Secretary, Li Jinghui, and the local officials of the Donggang government who were accompanying him:

"If everyone does their part well, the world will remain peaceful.

Proclaim this king's decree:
Hawaii and the Central American Governorate have entered level two combat readiness from now on.

The Kingdom of Colombia was also notified to strengthen security at ports along the coastline to prevent the Americans from taking advantage of the situation.

Although the possibility is small, we must be on guard.”

"Your Highness, I will obey your command and pass it on immediately."

"Well, the closer we get to the turn of the century, the more things are going to happen. How are the British preparing?"

"Your Majesty, the current situation in South Africa is like a powder keg, ready to explode at the slightest spark. Paul Kruger, President of the Transvaal Republic, demands that Britain immediately cease its illegal troop deployment to South Africa, which has lasted for over a year. Britain must withdraw from the border and ease military tensions. Britain must abandon its illegal unilateral pressure campaign. Transvaal and Orange have the right to take all necessary action to address the threat."

"Hehehe...what a big tone." King Zheng Guohui of Chu laughed when he heard it.

This half year
Britain has massively increased its troops in Durban Port and Cape Colony in South Africa. The number of British troops that have arrived has reached more than 6.9, in addition to 3.75 European immigrants and a large amount of supplies.

In the above areas

The British have successively established as many as 71 military bases and material storage points, and are building a large-scale warehouse complex, looking like they are coming with bad intentions.

Under great threat from the British army's reinforcement, the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State began to recruit militias one after another. More than 1.47 armed militiamen and police were assembled and distributed in training camps everywhere.

A large amount of advanced military equipment from Germany continued to arrive in the Boer-controlled areas, and some Dutch, French, German and Danish volunteers from mainland Europe, totaling more than 1280 people, entered the interior of South Africa through various channels.

The Boers were very rich. They had both gold and diamonds, which were the world's hard currency. They could buy any advanced weapons and equipment from Europe.

Judging from the current situation
Under the instigation of the Germans, the Boers took a very tough stance and issued stern warnings continuously.

Rhodes Cecil, Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, was a powerful military power, which further fueled his arrogance and mocked the Boers as being
"A group of ducks trapped in a yard will only make loud noises in panic, but will not be of any help in resolving the dispute."

Neither side was willing to make concessions, causing the situation in South Africa to slide irreversibly into the abyss.

Britain is still increasing its troops. Among the current 6.9 British troops, more than half are from the British Indian colonies.

The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps consists of more than 1.12 people, most of whom are white people from Victoria. Less than % of the officers and soldiers are of Chinese descent, most of whom are from Queensland.

There were about 3600 Canadian soldiers, mainly from the British mainland, the 7800nd Brigade and the th Brigade led by Lieutenant General George White, with a total of more than people, stationed along the Cape Town railway.

The rest were troops transferred from other British colonies, who were temporarily focused on adapting to the climate and undergoing training, and were mainly located in the areas around Cape Town and Durban.

Neither side was willing to give in, and the Boers vowed to defend their wealth with their lives. It was only a matter of time before war broke out.

Chatted for a while
King Zheng Guohui of Chu did not go into it any further. He just wanted to know that the South African incident should not deviate from the historical course.

If you want to fight, then fight. This will create a good opportunity for the State of Chu to take action.

The situation in Indochina is not peaceful now. The French Governor-General of Saigon has been mobilizing troops frequently and may attack the Black Flag Army in an attempt to remove this tough thorn in Indochina in one fell swoop.

The dispute between Russia and Japan in the north has become more intense, with large and small conflicts breaking out from time to time in the three northeastern provinces and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. The situation is not optimistic.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu and his ministers were walking and chatting on the ridge of the field. It was mainly Li Jinghui, the Minister of Colonies, who answered questions. The topic covered a wide range of overseas affairs and no one else could get a word in.

Here is a vast sugarcane field stretching as far as the eye can see. Along the edge of the field is a straight and wide road. The sound of cicadas chirping can be heard one after another from the shady trees along the roadside.

Along the main road stood a long row of gleaming cars with sleek, streamlined shapes, completely different from the horse-drawn carriage-like appearance of the old days.

The automobile industry in the Chu State has undergone many iterations and has become more and more mature. It has developed steering gears, tie rods, horns, and rearview mirrors, leading the trend of development of the world's automobile industry.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu walked onto the road surrounded by the crowd. After he stood still, he said with deep emotion:

"At the end of this century

The world is becoming more and more crazy and turbulent, so the people of our Great Chu Kingdom must keep their footing, develop themselves, and not be confused by the turmoil in the outside world.

Only when you become strong yourself can you be truly strong.

At this stage
We must address the shortcomings of the legal system and introduce more laws that are more in line with social realities, promote the prosperity of industry and commerce, regulate public behavior, and guide society toward a civilized and prosperous path.

Once the Panama Canal is opened, sugar produced in Donggang will be able to reach Europe unimpeded, which will be a much larger market.

Leveraging the advantages of the sugarcane industry, the future development of Donggang Prefecture will surely be even brighter."

The king's words were echoed by many voices. Wang Jitian, the governor of Donggang, replied confidently:
"Report to Your Majesty
Under the jurisdiction of our Donggang government, the yield of sugarcane fields has increased by 30% this year, and two large sugar factories are under construction and will be put into operation before the end of the year.

Everything is ready for export to Europe, we just need the right conditions.”

"Hahaha... The price of sugar in the European market is much higher than in North America. Donggang Prefecture is closest to the Panama Canal. We should focus on developing trade with Europe in the future. We have a unique advantage. This is the right approach."

King Zheng Guohui of Chu smiled and said that sugarcane is a global commodity and is in strong demand in Europe.

Hawaii alone was far from enough to satisfy the European market. The Chu State now accounted for 65% of the world's sugar production, with Shangri-La Island, Kalimantan Island, Hawaii, and the Congo River Governorate all being concentrated sugar production areas.

Generally speaking, according to the principle of nearby sales
The sugar production of Kalimantan Island supplies the Chu State itself, the northern mainland, Fusang and the Nanyang market, and is exported westward to the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East.

Hawaii's sugarcane production is mainly supplied to North America, with a small portion exported to Europe.

The sugarcane production on Shangri-La Island was previously mainly supplied to the domestic market and North America, but in the future it will mainly shift to the European market, which is a broader field.

More than 80% of the sugar, rubber and palm oil produced by the Congo River Governorate are exported to Europe, competing with Brazilian and Cuban sugar.

Now that Cuba is engulfed in war, a large number of sugar plantations have been burned down in the flames of war, sugar production has plummeted, and a considerable shortage of white sugar has appeared in Europe.

Taking advantage of this opportunity
Donggang Sugarcane has seized the European market, which can be said to be twice the result with half the effort.

Compared with Cuba, which is located in the Caribbean Sea, Donggang is farther away from Europe, with a sailing distance of about 10,000 kilometers longer.

The advantage of Donggang sugarcane lies in its large-scale production. Donggang now has nine large sugar factories with large output, high quality and low price.

Transoceanic transportation via 2-ton large transport ships can effectively reduce shipping costs, making the price of sugar very competitive.

There are only a few sugarcane sources in the world, and only a handful of them can be supplied stably and in large quantities. Apart from the Chu State, there is only Brazil.

Due to the limitations of sugarcane varieties and industrial levels, the quality of white sugar produced in Brazil is much worse. It can only occupy part of the low-end market in Europe and cannot be sold at a good price.

The European market prefers Nanyang white sugar, which is crystal white in color, has small particles, is not easy to clump, has high purity, and of course has a higher selling price.

The British South African Expeditionary Force specifically used refined white sugar produced in the Chu State, with monthly consumption reaching more than 7000 tons, making it a very important first-class military supply.

After inspecting the sugarcane fields, King Zheng Guohui of Chu and others visited a few nearby villages, stayed as guests in the homes of Chinese plantation owners, and experienced the local customs and culture of Donggang.

In these towns near Donggang
The impression given is that there are many temples, clan ancestral halls, and children. Village and town construction has reached a certain level, and there are very few adobe and thatched houses.

But there are not many brick and tile houses, and wooden houses are the most popular in the area.

After all, it is located in a tropical rainforest area, surrounded by large tracts of lush forests, timber is easily available, and construction costs are low.

Most of the wooden houses around Donggang are stilt houses. The bottom is a cement pillar made of reinforced concrete, about 1 to 1 meters above the ground. A wooden frame is built on this foundation to create the stilt house.

The local climate is humid and rainy. The stilt houses supported by cement pillars have a long service life, are not easily damp, and are comfortable to live in, making them very suitable for this tropical environment.

Many plantation owners and farmers use bamboo fences to enclose the overhanging part of their stilt houses, where they raise chickens, ducks, geese, goats, and even pigs.

Although this environment is a bit bad, it is indeed very practical.

The most intuitive feeling is that there are many children in the village. After the convoy arrived, the children swarmed up, chattering with excitement on their faces, and were not afraid of strangers at all.

Hear from the villagers

It is considered a small number for a family to have three or four children, and it is common for a family to have seventy or eighty children.

Children who grow up in tropical regions all wear similar clothes, just shorts and a short jacket, and not many of them wear shoes.

Many boys were shirtless and covered in mud. Some older children were holding straw ropes with lively fish tied to them.

Although the children turned into mud monkeys, they were still strong and plump, so they probably had enough to eat.

According to Wang Jitian, the prefect of Donggang
Most of the Chinese immigrants in these surrounding villages and towns spontaneously formed sugar plantations of varying sizes, contributing their own land and labor to participate in the operation and centralize the management.

There is a lot of work involved in growing sugarcane, and it is impossible for one or two households to do it alone, from planting sugarcane, maintaining the fields, to transplanting seedlings.

After four months, the sugarcane seedlings have grown to more than a person's height. They need to be tied with sugarcane leaves, and racks need to be built before they are harvested when they are ripe. All of this requires a lot of labor.

Transportation alone is not something that can be accomplished by each household.

Therefore, these Chinese farmers spontaneously took out their fields and merged them to form sugarcane plantations.

Land is converted into shares, cattle, horses, and carts are converted into shares, adult men with strong labor capacity are also converted into one share, and women and children are converted into half a share.

After registering with the government, such a plantation is established.

Because of this reason, the Chinese villagers in the towns and villages of Donggang are very united and the plantations are their main source of income.

Raising some chickens, ducks, pigs, cattle, sheep, etc. is at most a side job, which can help you to make some extra money.

As for those farmers in the village who are unwilling to join the plantation, most of them grow rice in their own fields.

After paying the quarterly taxes, the surplus could be sold to plantations, in addition to being used for personal consumption.

The food for these farmers participating in the plantation is purchased by the plantation in the village or neighboring villages and distributed according to the number of people in each household.

It has become an established rule that these grain money is deducted from the dividends of each grower.

In Donggang for a few days
King Zheng Guohui of Chu's motorcade traveled through the six surrounding counties. The general feeling was that the counties close to Donggang were wealthy, while the remote counties were poorer.

Today, every county in Donggang Prefecture has a sugar factory, which can purchase and process sugarcane nearby and transport it to Donggang Port via inland waterways.

From here, it is loaded onto large ocean-going ships and sets sail for the distant North American and European markets.

Although there are differences in each county, overall it is not bad.

As long as they are not lazy, most of the Chinese villagers here can eat their fill. They can eat fruits from the trees, fish from the water, and poultry and livestock from their homes.

This is the advantage of tropical areas. No matter what is planted in the fields, green leafy vegetables can basically be harvested once a month, grains can be harvested three times a year, and planting a few fruit trees is enough for your family's consumption.

Except in the city, no one buys tropical fruits, but in the future every household will have them.

Life is comfortable and easy, without much pressure.

In my free time, when I'm at home with nothing to do, why not try my best to make a baby? (End of this chapter)