1850 American Gold Tycoon

"I heard that Colonel Liang was a Qing native. As a Qing native, Colonel Liang must also know that rabbits will bite if you push them hard."

Masahiro Abe continued to speak harshly.

"If the American army comes in full force to destroy our Imperial Kingdom, all the people of the Imperial Kingdom will be crushed to protect the territory of the Imperial Kingdom. It is unknown how many American soldiers will be buried in the Imperial Kingdom by then."

As the saying goes, if you know yourself and the enemy, you can fight a hundred battles without danger.

There is no doubt that Masahiro Abe is very knowledgeable about matters in Japan and even major events in East Asia.

Although the Tokugawa shogunate was decadent, there were still many knowledgeable people in the shogunate, and Masahiro Abe was one of them.

But Masahiro Abe still lacks understanding of the United States.

Japan has only one channel to obtain information about the United States, and that is through the Dutch. But the United States hangs alone in the Americas, far away from Europe.

In addition, New York and other places are colonies that the Dutch once lost, and the Dutch still feel resentful about it. If they want the Dutch who know the United States to provide more objective and accurate information to Japan, it will be a bit difficult for the Dutch.

Therefore, the information about the United States that the Japanese obtained from the Dutch was second-hand information processed by the Dutch. The America that the Japanese know is, to be precise, the America that the Dutch see.

Although the Japanese shogunate authorities were not as ignorant as the Qing Dynasty during the Opium War ten years ago, their understanding of the outside world was ultimately limited due to limited access to information.

Compared to Masahiro Abe, Liang Yao has a more thorough understanding of Japan. I'm afraid it would be difficult to find another person in the world who knows Japan better than him. Both the channels for obtaining information and the degree of understanding between the two are extremely asymmetric.

"Jade Sui? Are the Japanese people Yu Sui led by the shogunate or are they asking the vassals to follow Yu Sui?" Liang Yao sneered.

Abe Masahiro's body trembled. He tried his best to remain calm and gritted his teeth: "Of course they are the tens of millions of people of the Imperial Kingdom!"

"I'm afraid this is just your wishful thinking." Liang Yao said calmly.

"The person respected by the Japanese people is the emperor, not the shogun. Tokugawa Iekei is just the co-lord of all the vassals, nothing more. Princesses of the vassals, what Tokugawa Iekei does, why are the lords of the southwestern domain Can’t do it?”

"What do you mean by that?" Abe Masahiro heard the implication in Liang Yao's words.

“If the Tokugawa Shogunate is unwilling to sign the Treaty of Amity between the United States and Japan, with the strong national power of the United States, we can support any of the southwestern vassals to replace the Tokugawa Shogunate and sign it with us instead of the Tokugawa Shogunate. "Liang Yao said unhurriedly.

"If the Tokugawa shogunate is willing to sign, America's strong ships, cannons and fast guns will be available to you as long as you pay enough. With American guns and artillery, the Tokugawa shoguns will not worry about the instability of Japan's communist leadership. .

I would like to ask Mr. Abe to tell General Tokugawa whether to be friends with the United States or to be enemies with the United States. The survival of the Tokugawa shogunate depends on his thoughts. "

Although Japan was a unified country before the Meiji Restoration, it was only superficially unified.

At this time, the Tokugawa shogunate's ability to unify Japan and organize it was not even as good as that of the Qing Dynasty.

Japan became a centralized country only after the vassals were abolished and counties were established.

Abe Masahiro's statement that all the people of the Imperial Kingdom must be destroyed in order to protect the territory of the Imperial Kingdom is simply nonsense. Japan in the Edo period was not Japan during the Japanese Empire.

Before the awakening of national consciousness in modern times, it was debatable whether these so-called people of the imperial country recognized the imperial country.

As the actual supreme ruler of Japan now, Tokugawa Ieki is at best the co-owner of Japanese princes.

Liang Yao's words obviously hit Abe Masahiro's weakness, and it can also be said to be Tokugawa Ieki's weakness. What rulers fear most is never powerful foreign enemies, but the overthrow of their own rule.

This applies to both the Qing Dynasty and the Tokugawa Shogunate.

"Our general has always been very sincere in negotiating with the United States. However, Japan is a small country with limited financial resources. We really cannot afford to pay for these eleven million taels of silver. With the vast territory of the Qing Dynasty and the size of its citizens, With so much wealth, it is difficult to raise the 21 million silver dollars in Jiangning Tiao, let alone us. "

Masahiro Abe said very earnestly.

Liang Yao knew that what Abe Masahiro said was not a lie. Eleven million taels of silver was indeed beyond the capacity of the shogunate authorities.

However, on the issue of compensation, Liang Yao did not intend to give in, but wanted more compensation.

"Eleven million taels of silver was a month ago, and now it's fifteen million taels of silver." Liang Yao corrected.

With that said, Liang Yao threw the already revised "U.S.-Japan Friendship Treaty" in front of Masahiro Abe.

A month ago, he had personally told Masahiro Abe that if he refused to sign the treaty agreed on the Roland, it would not be the treaty that the Tokugawa shogunate wanted to sign when they arrived in Edo.

Liang Yao is a man of his word, and he always does what he says. Masahiro Abe has no way of discounting the treaty.

"Fifteen million taels of silver?" Abe Masahiro's face showed an almost desperate expression, "We can't afford to pay for eleven million taels of silver, let alone fifteen million taels of silver? We are very serious about negotiations. "You are sincere, but the colonel must also consider the actual situation in Japan."

"We can understand your country's difficulties. In view of this, we allow your country to repay the compensation in the form of goods for money, or even people for money." Liang Yao said with a very kind and friendly smile.

"Exerting people for things?"

Masahiro Abe understands what it means to exchange money for money. This is a method, but Masahiro Abe doesn't understand what it means to exchange money for money.

"The women of the imperial state are also the property of the imperial state." Liang Yaotu saw clearly.

"I understand, I will convey this to our general." Masahiro Abe stood up, with a sad look on his face.

"We also ask General Perry and Colonel Liang to stop shelling Edo. We will reply to you as quickly as possible."

After speaking, Masahiro Abe left the Mississippi unsteadily and tremblingly.

"You are trafficking in people. This is against the spirit of the United States!"

After Masahiro Abe left, Perry was very dissatisfied with Liang Yao's remarks about blatant human trafficking.

Perry was born in the northeastern state of Rhode Island, which was a serious free state. He himself was also a staunch anti-slavery person. Perry could not accept Liang Yao's approach.

"May I ask General Perry, what spirit of America have I violated?" Liang Yao asked.

"Colonel Liang, I have to remind you that California is a free state. Anyone who wants to turn California into a slave state will become a public enemy of the entire American people." Perry warned.

"General Perry, I have to remind you that the United States is not only the North." Liang Yao said seriously, "Did I ever say that I would turn California into a slave state? California's population structure is unbalanced, and the ratio of men to women is very disparate. It has been like this for a long time. If this continues, California will inevitably become more and more chaotic. I am thinking about the future of California and the western part of the United States. California needs women, and the development of the western United States also needs women.”

Liang Yao picked up the tea on the table and took a sip of tea and said slowly: "These Japanese women who have entered California and the United States will find their destination as free immigrants, leaving the authoritarian Japan and entering the free America. For them, that is I went from hell to heaven, and I am doing good deeds."

If you want to say what problem in California currently troubles Liang Yao the most, it is undoubtedly the problem of population structure.

It is obviously impossible to change California's unreasonable population structure in the short term using natural and conventional means. Liang Yao can only adopt some special means.

Liang Yao himself was not engaged in human trafficking, but Stanford engaged in some human trafficking in Central America under his instruction.

It's just like when Europeans first started catching black slaves in Africa, the effect of catching them in person was not good.

History has proven that letting locals do the dirty work can often achieve unexpected results at the lowest cost.