America 1869: A Doppelganger Every Day

Chapter 111 Far East Colonialism Part 4: Substitution

Bickley remained confident as he spoke.

"These two countries are indeed of paramount importance."

"Because not long ago, the Little Days Empire officially announced that it would turn the Ryukyu Kingdom into their Ryukyu Domain."

"Moreover, Ryukyu has been paying tribute to the small country for many years."

"Furthermore, the Qing Empire has always referred to itself as the suzerain state of the Ryukyu Kingdom. If we were to directly colonize Ryukyu, both countries would absolutely disagree."

"And if they disagree, they can bring in European countries, and then we will face pressure from the whole world."

"Although the Far East is currently very strong, it is not yet unified. If it fails, the Far East's colonization plan will be completely ruined."

"This is something the Far East absolutely cannot accept."

"So in order for this plan to succeed, I specifically devised a new plan."

"I call this plan a substitution."

The Far East General has learned Mandarin quite well during this time, and his favorite book is The Thirty-Six Stratagems, so he is quite familiar with this term and said it with some interest.

"Substituting a plum for a peach? One of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, let's talk about it in detail."

Bickley was a little surprised that the Far East General had actually learned the Thirty-Six Stratagems, but he didn't pay much attention to it and continued speaking.

"As I just said, neither of these two countries would allow us to colonize Ryukyu in the Far East."

"But if it wasn't our Far East that colonized Ryukyu, but instead the Qing Empire, do you think such a thing would still be possible, General?"

The Far East General didn't quite understand.

"If it were the Qing Empire colonizing, then the Qing Empire would definitely agree, but didn't we agree to colonize the Far East?"

"Biklee laughed."

"This is what I mean by 'substituting one thing for another'."

"In name, we are colonizing Ryukyu, but in reality, it is all the warlords in the Far East who are colonizing Ryukyu together."

"In this way, although Ryukyu was nominally a colony of the Qing Dynasty, it was in fact a colony of our Far East."

"The original conflict would then transform into a question of the ownership of Ryukyu between the Qing Empire and the Japanese Empire, rather than the Far East wanting to seize Japan and the Qing Empire's vassal states."

"In this way, the fundamental contradiction can be resolved by addressing the fact that the people of Xiaosijia are unwilling to accept that Ryukyu has been occupied by the Qing Dynasty."

The Far East General's eyes lit up, but he was still somewhat puzzled.

"Your method is indeed quite good, and I understand what you mean."

"We need to find a way to get the Qing Empire to agree to let us colonize Ryukyu together with them. Then the Qing Empire only needs to provide the nominal authority, and we will be responsible for the colonization."

"As long as we can complete the colonization and send our troops and warships there, then the little people will be no match for us."

"Once we scare the poor people, we will completely take over Ryukyu."

"Even when the Ryukyu Islands are invaded by countries like Britain and France, we can fight them again and show them our strength. They will then completely back down and acknowledge that Ryukyu has been colonized by us."

"I have faith in the fighting capabilities of the Far East, but I don't understand why the Qing Empire would agree to this."

Bickley said with a smile.

"General, under normal circumstances, the Qing Empire would indeed not agree."

"But what if the Qing Empire knew that we were going to completely occupy Ryukyu?"

"What if we agree to let them send officials to govern Ryukyu, and also allow them to promote Mandarin and simplified characters in Ryukyu?"

"What if we allowed them to spread Chinese culture in Ryukyu?"

"What if we acknowledge that Ryukyu has always been a vassal state of the Qing Empire?"

"What if we agree to form an alliance with the Qing Empire to jointly resist these scoundrels?"

"For the Qing Empire, Ryukyu was merely a nominal territory; they had no power to occupy it or do anything for it."

"The reality is that if the Ryukyu Kingdom were to actually occupy Ryukyu, the Qing Empire would be powerless to do anything about it."

"Even after we occupied Ryukyu, it was still nominally a colony of the Qing Empire."

"We still retain the Ryukyu royal system, and while we are a colony, we are also a vassal state of the Qing Empire."

"At the same time, we are also promoting Chinese culture in Ryukyu, enabling everyone to learn Mandarin and simplified Chinese characters."

"It can be said that Ryukyu was made a part of China."

"This has already brought the Qing Empire many intangible benefits."

"At the same time, the Qing Empire also understood that it would be very difficult for the Far East and the Qing Empire to go to war."

"Because the Far East is basically populated by people from the Qing Empire, it is indeed very difficult to make them fight amongst themselves."

"But everyday life is different."

"If the Ryukyu Islands were to be occupied by the Japanese, it would pose a huge threat to the Qing Empire."

"When they realized that Xiao Rizi was about to occupy Ryukyu, and was almost there!"

"General, do you think it's better for them to choose to cooperate with us in the Far East, gaining a nominal position while we reap the benefits, or to completely cede Ryukyu to Xiaozhilai?"

The Far East general understood.

At the same time, he also looked at Klee with new respect.

The Far East General had previously thought that Bickley's efforts to plan for Far East independence were the pinnacle of his life.

But unexpectedly, Bickley had such a plan.

He was already pleasantly surprised by the Far East colonization plan, but this substitution plan was even more ingenious.

"I remember the Empress Dowager of the Qing Dynasty once said, 'I would rather give to friendly nations than to my own slaves.'"

"Although Xiao Rizi has become powerful now, in the eyes of the Qing Empire, Xiao Rizi is not even as good as the Han people, and is even more like a slave of their own slaves."

"If we were to give Ryukyu to the Japanese, the Qing Empire would absolutely not agree."

"But the Far East belongs to the friendly nations of the Qing Empire."

"They gave us the benefits, and they also gained intangible benefits by preserving the legitimacy of Ryukyu. It can be said that they won in every aspect except for the loss of Ryukyu's interests."

"I believe that under these circumstances, the Qing Empire would not disagree."

"Now there's only one question left."

"We in the Far East have enough strength. As long as we can bring everyone together, I believe they will agree to this plan. We can use our absolute strength to crush the small country and make countries like Britain and France recognize our status."

"Even if your plan succeeds, it will be a piece of cake for us to take over Ryukyu."

"The Qing Empire will most likely agree to our plan as well."

"But the most important point is how to convince the Qing Empire that we want to completely occupy Ryukyu, rather than wanting to gain more benefits from Ryukyu."

"If we cannot convince the Qing Empire of this, then all our plans will be in vain."

Bickley gave a mysterious smile.

"General, rest assured, it won't be long before the Qing Empire believes you."