Nanyang Storm 1864

The State of Chu also received the relevant information, which, given the right opportunity, could serve as a pretext for war.

But now
Neither the timing nor the state of war preparedness supported the Chu state in adopting a tough stance, let alone launching a war against Fusang, as that would be a laughing stock for their Russian counterparts.

When Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu Dynasty heard the relevant report, he simply waved his hand and said, "It's better to remain still than to take any action. Let's handle this calmly."

From beginning to end
They didn't ask even a single question about whether the 33rd prince was alright. This wasn't because the royal family was indifferent, but because they simply couldn't spare the time.

Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu had many children, including 46 princes who were 14 years of age or older, as well as more than a dozen underage princes, the youngest of whom had just learned to walk.

Even if there was some fatherly love, it wouldn't amount to much when spread among each prince.

Just a few days ago, Consort Yue passed away and was buried on Yongtai Mountain in the Great Chu Imperial Mausoleum.

Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu still cherishes the memory of the woman who was the first to accompany him, and his mood has been somewhat depressed lately, so he has not paid much attention to the assassination case in Nagasaki.

Second half of 1903
Both Japan and Russia were tacitly preparing for war, gradually increasing their troops in the Korean Peninsula and the Russian-occupied Far East. The dark clouds of war loomed over Northeast Asia, making it the focus of world attention.

And in the south
The Great Chu Empire is implementing His Majesty the Emperor's supreme decree;
They turned a deaf ear to what was happening outside and focused solely on digesting the new territories, namely the former Dutch East Indies colonies and Australia.

After more than two years

Of the original population of over 2200 million in the former Dutch East Indies, people of Chinese descent originally accounted for about 18.5%, or slightly over 400 million people, mainly living in major cities.

Today, that number has grown to over 1100 million. Adding the remaining tens of millions of indigenous people, the population of this region is still over 2100 million, but the demographic structure has changed significantly.

The proportion of Chinese population has surged from 18.5% to 54.3%, while the indigenous population has shrunk dramatically, with a particularly severe loss of young female indigenous people, averaging 60,000 to 70,000 per month.

Their destination was other islands within the Great Chu Empire, greatly alleviating the severe imbalance in the male-to-female population ratio in the Chu Kingdom, which is now approaching a normal level.

Besides
The Great Chu Empire has launched a massive infrastructure construction project, which is now in its third year.

Road construction has expanded from the original trunk roads to more extensive branch roads and rural roads, establishing a dense and developed road infrastructure in urban and rural areas, which has greatly facilitated the transportation of agricultural products.

The construction of large and small dams for power generation, the successive completion of irrigation facilities, and the significant increase in the length of main irrigation canals have laid a solid foundation for increasing grain production year after year.

The newly planned Chinese immigrant villages and towns have a reasonable layout, with large village drying grounds, newly built granaries, village temples and kitchens, and village health clinics. The model drawings of rural residences that guide the construction have been widely promoted, and tens of thousands of new rural villages have been built.

Based on the labor demand for mining in the islands of the Great Chu Empire, the main source of labor was native workers from Java and Sumatra. Most of them went to hundreds of mines and key engineering projects. In the past two years, the number of male workers exported has been around 130 million to 150 million.

This has resulted in approximately 2.2 million people leaving the newly occupied areas, primarily Java, while the number of new Chinese immigrants arriving each year is around 1.5 to 1.6 million.

The two factors offset each other, resulting in a population decrease of approximately 60 per year.

In fact, the number of newborns in local Chinese families has increased significantly, with more than 700,000 newborns every year on Java Island alone. This number is still increasing year by year, which largely offsets the decrease in population.

However, due to the lag in population registration, children in question must be at least 7 years old to register, resulting in a net decrease in the total population, but the overall decrease is not significant.

The Colonial Department's optimistic estimate

In the next ten years, the Great Chu Empire can fully meet its demand for low-end labor, so there is no need to import illiterate farmers from the northern continent. The demand for immigrants will lean towards high-end workers.

One must be literate and have a specialized skill.

Music, chess, calligraphy, painting, singing, recitation, acting, martial arts, practicing medicine, being well-read in poetry and books, or other skills are all acceptable. The annual number of new immigrants is controlled to less than two million, with most being self-made immigrants.

The immigrants sponsored by the government of the Great Chu Empire were mainly children from refugee families, ranging in age from 6 to 12. In the north, there was the Weihai Ciji School; in the Yangtze River basin, there were the Jianghan Ciji School and the Tongzhou Ciji School; and in the south, there was the Chaoshan Ciji School.

These are four large Tzu Chi schools funded by the Imperial Family. Each school can accommodate tens of thousands of refugee children, providing them with uniform clothing, daily education and meals, unified centralized living arrangements, and accepting charitable donations from the outside world.

After turning 12, they arrived in batches on immigrant ships to the mainland of the Great Chu Empire to continue their royal charitable education for two years, and then were streamed according to their performance.

After turning 14, those with poor academic performance entered factories, mines, or businesses to support themselves and start families. This group of children accounted for more than 60%, and many of them went on to work in shipyards, steel mills, weapons factories, and other heavy industries.

These children received years of education in loyalty, and compared to ordinary Chinese immigrants, they were more loyal and grateful to the royal family of the Great Chu Empire, and were known as "His Majesty's children".

Those with excellent grades went on to study in secondary schools, and many of them entered military academies after graduating from high school, becoming one of the main sources of young officers for the Great Chu Empire.

Others entered the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Colonies, or were recruited into the Police Department, where they were trained into a large number of young grassroots officials, forming an important force for maintaining the stability of the empire.

Those who excel in the college entrance examination account for no more than 5%, and those who are able to enter the Imperial Universities for further study are extremely rare. The exceptionally outstanding ones may even be able to study abroad.

This is just one example of the annual funding allocated by the royal family of the Great Chu Empire for charitable education, with an average annual allocation exceeding one million silver dollars.

The imperial family's education funding was mostly allocated to domestic compulsory education, accounting for 90% of the total imperial education budget, exceeding 12 million silver dollars annually. This funding was primarily used for two major institutions: the Royal Benevolent Education School and the Royal Benevolent Education School.

The two major educational systems, the Royal Benevolent School and the Royal Benevolent School, flourished throughout the empire, overseas governorates, and overseas frontier islands, totaling 1,465 schools and educating more than 4.7 million children.

Their sizes varied, with large charitable schools having thousands or even tens of thousands of students, and American schools receiving financial education grants of up to tens of thousands of silver dollars.

Medium-sized schools like Renji or Renji have hundreds or thousands of students, and receive several thousand to tens of thousands of silver dollars in government funding for education each year. These funds are mainly used for teacher subsidies and the purchase of books and teaching materials to support school education.

Small schools are mostly located in remote villages and border islands. They are numerous, cover a wide area, and have relatively poor educational conditions. The annual government allocation is only a few hundred or even a few dozen silver dollars, which is used to pay for hiring rural teachers.

These universal compulsory education programs do not mean that schooling is free. Parents should pay a portion of the tuition fees if they can afford it, and tuition reductions or even completely free education are provided for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

In the education system of the Great Chu Empire

Royal charitable education is only one part; in addition, there is government-run public education, collective education newly established by social organizations, private education and elite education run by private individuals, presenting a diverse landscape.

In Emperor Zheng Guohui's five- to ten-year medium-term plan for the Great Chu, the main task was to digest the newly occupied territories and transform these vast areas into his own strength, especially Java and Sumatra. In Australia, the focus was on the southernmost state of Victoria, emphasizing key areas and concentrating on conquering this tough nut.

The most core matter

In the Victorian state elections held in July 1904, they won the elections for governor and state legislature, firmly grasping the executive power of the state and taking absolute initiative.

According to the arrangements of the Australian Transitional Treaty

It will still follow the political system of the British rule. The biggest difference between it and the political system of the Great Chu Empire is that the state legislature and state government have the right to make local laws on their own, and have greater autonomy.

Because of the presence of the British Constitutional Observatory in Australia, any act that does not comply with the arrangements of the transitional treaty will cause setbacks in the political relations between the two countries and invite intervention from the British Parliament.

It can only continue within the existing game framework.

Therefore at the current stage
The State of Chu did not have a large-scale immigration to Australia. In the Five Continents Alliance region where the State of Chu originally had great influence, the Chinese community held an absolute dominant position. There was no need to further deepen its influence. It was enough to let things develop naturally.

The current power struggle in Victoria makes it unsuitable for major conflict.

The breakthrough opportunity lies in the leadership reshuffle election after July 1904; that will be the decisive moment, there's no rush now.

Winning the Victorian election would have meant conquering the last stronghold of white supremacy and implementing comprehensive governance of Australia, a situation that is different from what it is now.

This is in accordance with the Australian Transitional Treaty Arrangement.

大楚帝国皇室在1902年交付3000万英镑，在1903年交付1600万英镑，在1904年交付最后一笔1600万英镑补偿款后。

From any perspective, Australia has little to do with the UK anymore.

By 1907 at the latest, the British political observer mission in Australia would have ended and been withdrawn, becoming a historical memory.

If there is no substantial evidence of harm to the white community in Victoria, then the UK will be unable to interfere in Australia's autonomous political process from any level or standpoint.

That will be the right time to make major changes to Victorian society.

With power in hand, they can do whatever they want.

The Central Plains government of the Great Chu Empire has a hundred ways to promote the rapid integration of the white society in Victoria. Those who are stubborn and inflexible will only be thrown into the dustbin of history.

For example

The Victorian government has enacted local legislation to designate Victoria as an official language alongside English. This includes state government documents, local regulations, government meetings, and other occasions.

The biggest problem is that

Chinese and English are the state government’s recognized official languages. You can speak English, but you must also speak Chinese. Otherwise, you cannot serve as a state government official or other public office, nor can you hold important positions such as court, prosecutor’s office, or independent prosecutor.

This single regulation excludes 99% of white people, leaving them all dumbfounded.

In this day and age, there are really not many white Australians who can read and write Mandarin.

Even though there are many white people who can speak and write Chinese, they are white-skinned Han Chinese who have been assimilated by the Great Chu Empire for decades. They are typical egg people, that is, "white skin and yellow heart".

They are completely incompatible with those stubborn and conservative white Australians.

White societies also have hierarchical distinctions. Western Europeans like the British, French, Germans, Dutch, and Belgians look down on Central and Southern Europeans, while Central and Southern Europeans look down on Eastern European Slavs and Balkan people.

All Europeans looked down on Americans and Australians. White Australians were always at the bottom of the social hierarchy, almost treated the same as white Russians.

But it is precisely these white Australians who are the most stubborn, conservative, and xenophobic, truly a tough nut to crack.

The Great Chu Empire's medium-term goal was to assimilate these newly occupied territories and transform them into its own substantial strength in order to cope with the major changes in the world more than 10 years later.

In terms of foreign expansion and colonialism

The Great Chu Empire exhibited a lack of character, focusing instead on establishing existing overseas viceroyalties without seeking further expansion.

The only area where they have made any moves is in the southwestern Arabian Peninsula, specifically along the northern coast of the Red Sea from Yemen to Jeddah, where continuous immigration and infiltration have been ongoing for over two decades, establishing a considerable base of influence.

Several young and ambitious princes are currently developing their own power in the region and have already made considerable progress.

nothing else
It was precisely because of the noble status of these princes that they were able to attract a large number of people to surround them, including local Arab tribal chiefs who offered their daughters for marriage, seeking protection while developing their power.

His Highness Prince Chu-Zhengfa, the 29th prince who was developing his power in the area surrounding Jeddah, had already married the beautiful daughters of 11 tribal chiefs in the vicinity, thus expanding his influence. Together with a large number of Chinese vassal groups, he had become the most powerful force in the area.

This ingenious method inspired other princes to follow suit.

The royal family of the Great Chu Empire had virtually no restrictions on these princes who ranked lower in rank developing their own power overseas. The only requirement was that they were not allowed to tarnish the royal reputation.

On both the economic and military fronts, the Chinese maternal relatives of the princes provided considerable support to varying degrees, and the overseas governors' offices also opened their doors wide to facilitate this.

For example, powerful weapons and equipment such as cavalry, heavy machine guns, 37mm rapid-fire cannons, and field artillery are difficult for ordinary Chinese mercenary groups to obtain.

Through official channels, His Highness Chu-Zhengfa easily assembled a cavalry force with advanced equipment, numbering over ten thousand, and even including several heavy firepower companies.

It is the most powerful local armed force in the entire Jeddah area.

If it weren't for the tacit agreement between the Chu Kingdom and Britain regarding the division of power on the peninsula, Prince Zhengfa of Chu, who called himself the "King of Jeddah," would have already expanded in that direction, claiming a large area of ​​the northern coast of the Red Sea as his sphere of influence. (End of Chapter)