1850 American Gold Tycoon

In 1851, Hawaii had not yet been annexed by the United States. Google search reading

At this time, Hawaii was still an independent kingdom at least in name. The current situation of the Hawaiian Kingdom was not much better than that of the Qing Dynasty in the Gengzi Year, and it could even be said to be worse than the Qing Dynasty.

At least with the size of the Qing Dynasty, no other great power had the ability to swallow up the Qing Dynasty. But Hawaii, a small country, was different.

The Hawaiian Islands cover an area of ​​only 670,000 square kilometers. There are different opinions on the population at its peak. Some say it was four to five million, while others said it was seven or eight hundred thousand.

Whether it is 4.5 million or 7.8 million, one irrefutable fact is that after the arrival of white people to the Hawaiian Islands, the diseases they brought to the Hawaiian Islands and the deliberate massacre of the local indigenous population resulted in the current total population of the Hawaiian Islands. It has dropped sharply to less than 80,000.

These 80,000 people are not entirely indigenous. There are also a considerable number of white people from various countries and a small number of Chinese and Japanese.

Liang Yao's Zhongyi Association also accepted some Japanese members. These Japanese members of the Zhongyi Association had made a living on the Hawaiian Islands in their early years. After hearing that gold was discovered in California, they came to California by ship.

In the past ten years, Britain and France have plundered the Hawaiian Islands several times. The most recent plunder occurred last year, in 1850.

General Tromelin of the French Navy openly sent troops to land in Hawaii and looted all the gold and silver treasures on the island. The palace of the King of Hawaii was even more of a focus.

Not long after the French invasion, the British who heard the news drove away the invading French navy.

This is not that the British Empire is so bright and majestic. The British just saw the French's attempt to monopolize the Hawaiian Islands and did not want the French to monopolize the Hawaiian Islands.

Both sides are still unhappy about this incident and are blaming each other.

The British accused the French of inhumane massacre and plunder of the Hawaiian Islands.

The French accused the British of damaging their warships.

Of course the United States also wants Hawaii, but compared to its two colonial big brothers, Britain and France, the United States does not have much say at this time.

But the United States' annexation of Hawaii also has a geographical advantage, that is, Hawaii is the closest to the United States. The distance from the main island of Hawaii to San Francisco is only more than 3,700 kilometers.

After Liang Yao became the lieutenant governor and state speaker of California, President Fillmore also mentioned the Kingdom of Hawaii in a letter to him, asking Liang Yao to pay attention to the trends of the Kingdom of Hawaii and invite the royal family of the Kingdom of Hawaii to visit the United States. , feel the kindness of the American people.

Of course, Liang Yao himself also has this idea. If he gets involved in Hawaii, California will be the biggest beneficiary.

"You still have the nerve to mention Hawaii. You bandits just plundered Hawaii last year." Gibson said to Le Goff.

"If the Royal Navy of the British Empire hadn't arrived and stopped your atrocities in time, God knows what crimes you French people would have committed in Hawaii that would be unforgivable by God!"

"Fart, our French navy is stationed in Hawaii to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Hawaiian Christians!" Le Goff said tit for tat, retorting to Gibson.

"When it comes to the crimes committed in Hawaii, the crimes committed by you British people in Hawaii are countless!"

Liang Yao found it very interesting to see the two robber spokesmen quarreling. He did not try to dissuade them, but quietly watched the show from the sidelines.

When the two of them had almost finished arguing and were tired, Liang Yao took a sip of tea and said.

"Gentlemen, no matter what, through our efforts, we finally brought democracy to the autocratic country of the Kingdom of Hawaii, didn't we?"

"Mr. Liang, you still listen to what you said. Although our French navy has left, we still left a parliament and democracy for the people of Hawaii." Le Goff said quite proudly.

"But you also took away Hawaii's gold and silver treasures!" Gibson said dissatisfied.

"Democracy comes at a price, and the deployment of the French navy also requires military expenditures!" Le Goff retorted.

"Okay, okay, stop arguing. If you keep arguing like this, nothing good will come of it." Liang Yao stopped them.

"I came to you today mainly to mediate the conflict between you. Although you are not ambassadors and cannot represent England and France, I believe that you two have a pivotal position in the political arena of England and France, and you have the right to speak. portion.”

"Mediation? How do you want to mediate? Can you represent the United States? As far as I know, the states in your country do not have diplomatic rights." Gibson looked at Liang Yao warily.

"Of course not, but I can represent the people of California and I can represent the Americas Group."

Liang Yao motioned for Gibson and Legoff to sit down first.

"Whether it's England, France, or the United States, we all need a supply point in the Pacific to provide supplies for our fleet, right?"

"Yes, sir."

The two said in unison.

"Since the Kingdom of Hawaii is now a country with a democratic system, I think as an example of a democratic country, we should help this devastated country rebuild." Liang Yao said.

“My suggestion is to put aside the dispute and work together to help the Kingdom of Hawaii rebuild, repair and expand Hawaii’s ports.

After the port repair work is completed, ships from England, France, and the United States can replenish coal and supplies at Hawaii's ports. "

When the French Navy left Hawaii, in order to disgust the British Royal Navy, General Tromolan ordered the destruction of the facilities in the Hawaiian port and needed to be repaired.

Gibson and Legoff have little interest in repairing Hawaii's ports. Repairing ports requires a lot of money and a lot of manpower and material resources.

The attitudes of the two people actually represent the attitudes of the British and French senior officials.

The top leaders of Britain and France all wanted to get involved in Hawaii, but they had no intention of building it.

Neither country is completely sure of monopolizing Hawaii. If Hawaii is eventually controlled by the other side, all these investments will be advantageous to the other side.

However, they all wanted their ships to be resupplied in Hawaii, and especially hoped that their steamships could replenish coal in Hawaii.

Coal burning is also a thorny issue.

The French colonies were relatively far from Hawaii and could not provide Hawaii with a large amount of coal.

The British Canadian colonies on the Pacific coast were extremely underdeveloped and could not provide much coal for Hawaii.

The only country with the capacity to provide coal for Hawaii's supply depots was California.

"Hawaii's urgent need is the lack of coal. I hope you can provide coal for Hawaii. As for the proposal to shelve the dispute and jointly develop, I will make a statement to Mr. Ambassador." Gibson said to Liang Yao.

"I think your suggestions are very reasonable, and I will convey your suggestions to my country's ambassador to the United States," Legoff said.

This was the reply the two gave Liang Yao after careful consideration. Obviously, they did not reject Liang Yao's proposal.

If they do not reject Liang Yao's proposal, Liang Yao's goal has been achieved.

Liang Yao told them that he just wanted to say hello and talk to them in advance to avoid unnecessary trouble in the future. France did not talk to Britain in advance last time, and the two sides were unhappy.

Even if they oppose Liang Yao, they will repair the port in Hawaii as scheduled and transport coal to the port to provide supplies to the Global Shipping Group.

As for annexing Hawaii, his current strength, and even the strength of the United States, will not allow him to do so.

If the United States is strong enough, it can be more arrogant, and it doesn't even have to communicate with Britain and France.

Historically, the United States only annexed Hawaii in 1898. In 1898, the United States experienced the baptism of the second industrial revolution, and its strength was no longer the same as in 1851.