Wild North America 1846

Chapter 627 Secret plan

Author: Portuguese toothless

Inside Daming Palace

On the occasion of the New Year in 1875, the Daming Palace was decorated with lanterns and colorful flowers, creating a strong festive atmosphere.

At this time, it was the annual Lantern Festival, and various large-scale palace lanterns with exquisite shapes and figures based on landscapes and figures were hung in the palace. Each one was made by a famous artist, with top-notch illustrations and exquisite materials.

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Emperor Richard accompanied the concubines and princes in the harem during the festival. The emperor and his grandchildren enjoyed the lanterns and scenery by the Taiye Lake, enjoying the deep royal affection, having their children and grandchildren around their knees, and really felt at ease.

The extravagant scenes in the imperial palace will not be described one by one.

Most of the diplomatic missions from various countries have left. Only the Emperor of Fuso and the Governor-General of Canada, Mr. Palmerston, stayed in the imperial capital Chang'an and spent the 1875 Lunar New Year together.

Fortunately, they will not be lonely. The imperial capital of Chang'an is crowded with dignitaries. Just in time for the New Year, there are luxurious banquets one after another, which will not stop after the first month of the lunar calendar. As VIPs invited by the imperial nobles, they can't take any time off.

Needless to say, Lord Palmerston and his wife, the Governor-General of Canada, will stay at least until April and are basically based in Chang'an, the imperial capital, or go to Chicago in the summer.

In particular, Lord and Lady Palmerston are old and cannot bear the cold in Canada's high latitudes. They did not spend a single day in Canada last year.

This includes participation in the Sao Paulo Summit and the personal wishes of the Governor and his wife.

Three days after the Lantern Festival, Emperor Fuso Meiji requested to enter the palace to see him, and prepared to bid farewell and return to the country.

"Well, then let's meet. Emperor Meiji still knows how to do things. This time he sent 108 lifelike dolls as a national gift, and also sent 108 Japanese girls. It is considered thoughtful." Emperor Richard is now in a state of consciousness.

He was refreshed, and the years seemed not to have left too many traces on him, and he still looked young and energetic.

After thinking about it for a while, he ordered: "There is no need to meet alone. The time can be set at the court meeting in March of the New Year, and the meeting can be held together with Lord Palmerston and other envoys from other countries."

"I obey the order!" Director Zheng Yuan hesitated for a moment after receiving the order, but reminded him cautiously; "Your Majesty, the Fusang people sent 20 beauties and some gadgets to my mansion. The intention is still..."

Emperor Richard understood it as soon as he heard it, and replied in a neutral tone: "Since they are willing to give it away, you can accept it. What they ask for... I am not in a position to interfere in Fusang's internal affairs, let them take care of themselves."

Speaking of which

Emperor Richard turned his head to look at Deputy Directors Liang Bojun and Lu Dawei, frowned and asked, "The Japanese have been very active recently, you two have also accepted gifts from the Fusang people, right?"

"In reply to Your Majesty, I dare not hide it. The two of us did receive gifts from the Japanese, which were five girls and some specialties. Various cabinet ministers also paid different tributes." Lu Dawei quickly stepped forward and answered first.

.

"I'm ashamed of myself!" Liang Bojun could only reply with a respectful gesture.

Emperor Richard shook his head in confusion and did not express any objection. He just reminded: "Women can be accepted, but they cannot be exposed to confidential matters. You must be aware that those who are not of my race will have different minds."

"Your Majesty, please bear this in mind and you will not dare to violate the edict." The three chief and deputy directors of the Secretariat saluted in unison and replied.

The emperor had no responsibility for having prostitutes from Japanese people, nor did the cabinet ministers and secretariat chiefs, because the emperors and ministers of the Tang Dynasty did not regard these Japanese people at all, and only regarded them as filial piety from the vassal state.

Emperor Meiji brought with him no less than 300 beauties during his pilgrimage to the Tang Empire, as well as a large number of Fuso specialties, such as smaller silk dolls, Japanese armor, handicrafts, etc. In addition to being presented to the royal family,

Extensive visits to the upper echelons of the empire cost a lot of money.

Unfortunately, the actual results did not meet expectations. The imperial family did not respond to Emperor Meiji's main request. This was an extremely generous reward, with hundreds of dou of gold and tens of thousands of tons of grain given.

The so-called inconvenience to interfere in domestic affairs is purely an excuse.

As an emerging colonial power in today's world, the Tang Empire frequently intervened in the internal affairs of the United States of America and the Confederate States of America in North America, questioning certain policies, and still controls the United States' dominance in the diplomatic, customs and economic fields.

The United States of America once tried to follow France and issue war bonds to the public to repay remaining war reparations and take back dominance in customs and financial fields, but this effort was rejected by Congress.

It can be seen from this

The Tang Empire had significant influence in the United States of America that could subvert its policies, and it has been using its influence to place large numbers of retired Chinese officers and soldiers in government departments to support the activities of pro-China political parties.

In South American countries, the Tang Empire supported multiple pro-Tang governments, vigorously suppressed dissidents, and even took many special actions overseas to eradicate opposition and nationalists, and interfered in the internal affairs of South American countries.

The so-called non-interference in domestic affairs is so perfunctory.

Emperor Richard knew clearly;

After half a century of fermentation and evolution, Fuso's imperial harm will become the fanatical belief of the entire nation, bringing serious disasters to the entire East and Southeast Asia.

Of course, the Tang Empire could not encourage this trend of imperial worship, and using the old forces of the shogunate to contain the reformists became a good balancing method.

The monarch and his ministers were chatting away, when suddenly someone below handed over the latest news;

Just two days ago, Prime Minister Shinyuki Matsuda of the second Fuso government was assassinated in Tokyo.

Thanks to the trans-Pacific submarine cable connection, news of major events happening around the world can be transmitted back to the imperial capital Chang'an as soon as possible through relay transmission from long-distance telegraph offices along the way.

East Asia takes 2 to 3 days, the Indian subcontinent takes 4 to 5 days, and the island countries in the Western Pacific are much slower, such as Australia and Paradise Island, which take at least three weeks, and the Luzon Islands, which take two weeks.

Because these island countries need to send the message to the nearest long-distance telegraph office by cruise ship, and then the message can be relayed back to the mainland of the empire, the timeliness is much worse.

how so?

Emperor Richard's expression suddenly turned cold. Director Zheng Yuan immediately stood up and saluted with his hands: "Your Majesty, I will immediately send people to investigate. Is there any hidden secret in this?"

"Well, we will work with the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs to deal with it appropriately. These Japanese are really stubborn, so go ahead!"

"We obey the order!" After Director Zheng Yuan left, the two deputy directors quickly bowed and left.

Emperor Richard was upset by this sudden news. He put his hands behind his hands and came to the large hand-drawn world map hanging in the imperial study room. He quickly became immersed in it...

Throughout the Americas, the empire's vast territory stretched from north to south, and one of the railway arteries marked in red is particularly eye-catching, which is the Pacific Railroad.

The planned Pacific Railway starts from Vancouver in the north and ends in Tierra del Fuego in the south. The total length is expected to exceed 16,500 kilometers. When completed, it will be the longest railway line in the world.

The Pacific Railway is formed by the convergence of more than a dozen local railways. More than 10,200 kilometers in the north have been completed. It extends from Panama to the south into Colombia and has been completed to Medellin, an important city in the hinterland of Colombia.

In the next step, a railway branch line will be branched from the main railway artery and extended southwestward to connect with the capital Bogota.

The main artery of the Pacific Railway continues southward, reaching the southern town of Dali, and passes through Quito, the capital of Zhongzhou Province (formerly Ecuador), and then southward into Fuyuan Province (the collective name of the northern areas ceded by Peru). This section of the railway line is in full swing.

Fully under construction.

Going south, you enter the country of Peru.

At the Sao Paulo Summit, the Tang Empire and the heads of the Peruvian government signed a contract to jointly establish the Pacific Railway Company for the purpose of this railway artery connecting the north and south of the empire.

Pacific Railway Company (Peru) Contract Provisions;

The Tang Empire provided capital, technology, equipment and part of the labor force, occupying 82% of the company's equity, while Peru provided land along the route and part of the labor force, occupying 18% of the company's equity.

The two parties will share the operating income of Pacific Railway Company (Peru Section) according to the equity ratio and provide all necessary support.

The area within 20 kilometers to the left and right of the railway is owned by the Pacific Railway Company (Peru). The company has railway police, labor unions and other organizations responsible for maintaining public security in the area.

The Peruvian government shall not interfere in the affairs of the Pacific Railway Company (Peru) in the region unless there are necessary reasons...

This was a contract that seriously violated the sovereignty of the Peruvian government, but as a semi-colonial country, it had to bear huge war compensation after its territory was dismembered, the army was disbanded, the customs was placed in trust, and there were Datang Empire military bases everywhere in the country.

In this case, the Peruvian government has to sign it even if it doesn't, and it is completely up to them to decide independently.

This was the domineering power of the Tang Empire. The Pacific Railway passed through Peru and went south, connecting with the Central Railway of the Andes Governor's Palace (note: the name of the local railway trunk line), and finally connected to the Atlantic Ocean, the most important area under the jurisdiction of the Andes Governor's Palace, through a railway branch.

Railway, heading south to Tierra del Fuego.

Except for the approximately 2,300 kilometers in the middle part of this long railway line (mainly Zhongzhou Province, Fuyuan Province, Peru and the territories ceded from Bolivia) that have not yet been completed, the rest has been roughly completed.

The remaining part of the railway line was constructed very quickly due to the empire's heavy investment. It would take about 5 to 6 years to complete the entire line, that is, the construction would be completed before the end of 1880.

The reason why it takes so long is because the middle section of the railway line passes through the edge of the Amazon rainforest with complex terrain and abundant rainfall. It needs to build many bridges and open many tunnels, making the construction difficult.

According to calculation;

The total length of the 2,300 planned railways is about 1/6, and it will need to pass through bridges, tunnels, railway culverts, and cross countless rivers and mountains before it can be finally completed.

Emperor Richard's eyes stayed on Cuba in Central America for a while, and then moved elsewhere...

At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China

The long-term, mid-term and long-term goals he planned for the Tang Empire were realized one after another, and now only Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Luzon Islands are left under the rule of Spanish colonists.

sooner or later one day

It would be perfect if the above-mentioned areas were captured by the Tang Empire and completed the last piece of the empire's puzzle in America.

But now is not the time, we still need to wait patiently.

The Tang Empire had just acquired a large area of ​​land in the Americas, and about 4 million South American residents, including Colombia, still needed to be digested, and it would not be appropriate to carry out large-scale colonial expansion in the short term.

With the secret connivance of the imperial government, young women from South America were continuously transported into the southern, central and northern provinces of the empire through various human trafficking channels, effectively alleviating the population contradiction between men and women in the empire.

Stimulated by profits, many armed human trafficking groups have participated in this lucrative business and plundered young women from the Colombian region, causing the region's population to continue to decline.

The military and police turned a deaf ear to this. When some local Indian men or native white men resisted, they were immediately suppressed, beaten severely, and thrown into hard labor camps.

It just so happens that the new colonial area of ​​Colombia is currently undergoing extensive construction projects to build bridges, pave roads, build railways, and mine mines. Labor is needed everywhere, and hard labor camps are the best supplement.

If such a policy continues for several years, it is expected that the population of young women in the region will reach between 1.3 million and 1.4 million, and the entire society will lose the ability to reproduce.

The local population that has been put into hard labor camps will also reach more than one million, and the reduction effect is very obvious.

The Tang Empire has rich experience in developing new colonial areas. After the new colonial areas of Colombia reach the predetermined goals, they will be included in the management of new provinces one by one.

Just like the current Governor of the Andes, the demarcation work of various regions under his jurisdiction has begun, and matters such as provincial boundaries, municipal boundaries, town boundaries, and the ownership and rights of various local lands will be finalized.

After several years of planning, it was logical to establish new provinces under the jurisdiction of the empire.

After completing its historic mission, the Andean Government House will finally come to a perfect end and become a transitional system during the colonial period.

As for whether to retain the honorary title of Governor of the Andes, it is not a matter of urgency.

Early 1875

The changes that occurred in East Asia China closely attracted the attention of Emperor Richard. In addition to the assassination of Matsuda Shinyuki, the prime minister of the second government of Fuso Kingdom, there were several other things.

It has been five years since the Ryukyu King Shang Tai married Princess Jingxian, the third in line in the Tang Empire.

After Princess Jingxian gave birth to her eldest daughter, Shang Zhuzhu, she finally gave birth to a son for the Ryukyu royal family. Shortly after her full moon, she was established as the crown prince and given the name Shangdong.

The Ryukyu royal family had already sent good news on the occasion of the Lunar New Year, and the Tang royal family immediately gave heavy gifts.

The marriage between the royal family of the Tang Dynasty and the royal family of Ryukyu, a vassal state, closely linked the two countries, creating an additional bond and family relationship between them. It was a typical royal political marriage.

This year, Amami Oshima officially broke away from the administration of the Ryukyu Kingdom and established the new Amami Kingdom. The residents of the island begged a prince from the empire to serve as king, and they were allowed to do so.

After a selection process, the fourth prince born by Princess Wang (Wang Manzhi), His Royal Highness Tang-Li Dian, Duke of Alaska, went to the Amami Kingdom and took office as king.

Not all princes are willing to go to a remote island to serve as king, so this good job fell to the fourth prince.

His Royal Highness Don Lidian, the Duke of Alaska, spent almost all his money on purchasing various equipment and supplies, plus a large amount of supplies gifted by the royal family, forming a mighty fleet of more than 30 ocean-going ships, accompanied by more than 2,700 people.

The last major event was that the idea of ​​"concurrently operating in sea and fortress" put forward by Qing minister Zuo Zongtang was finally recognized by Emperor Guangxu. In the decree on March 10;

"We need Zuo Zongtang to coordinate the overall situation and state his views", "If we withdraw outside the border, it will be difficult to maintain the barriers", "It is impossible to close the door and defend ourselves"

Zuo Zongtang was inspired by His Majesty's decree, and in early 1875 he proposed in "Revisiting the Situation of Coastal Defense, Block Defense, and Suppression of Grain Transport Outside the Pass": "Coastal defense in the east and blockade in the west, with equal emphasis on both." We cannot "support the east side."

, but to the west.”

Zuo Zongshang proposed;

Military expenditures for northwestern fortress defense are already very tight, and there is no surplus to allocate to coastal defense.

Without regaining Xinjiang, the Shaanxi-Gansu Qing army would be restrained for a long time. Not only would they not be able to reduce military pay and help coastal defense, but they would also "withdraw the barriers by themselves, and then we would retreat even an inch and the invaders would advance."

Xinjiang is not a barren land, but there is the possibility of proper management and long-term persistence. If we use "suppression and pacification at the same time" and "grain and transportation", there is great potential to regain Xinjiang.

Because his power was under threat, he fiercely criticized Jing Lian, the imperial minister who was in charge of military affairs in Xinjiang, and Yuan Baoheng, who was assisting in grain transportation for the Western Expedition, saying that they "occupied their positions but did not seek to govern their affairs." He requested that they be transferred, and was granted the right to do so.

Approved.

Soon after

Zuo Zongtang was appointed as the Imperial Envoy Minister, with full authority to supervise the military affairs of Xinjiang. Jin Shun was appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of Urumqi, assisting in the military affairs of Xinjiang.

The news of the military situation from mainland China came as soon as possible, which greatly excited Emperor Richard and immediately made relevant arrangements.

The first thing is to select some outstanding officers from the German army through secret channels and transfer them to the Hunan Army in a clever way to further improve the combat effectiveness of the old army.

The second thing is to organize a large number of arms shipments, including about 12,000 smoothbore rifles, 45 Napoleon field guns, and 800 barrels of black powder, in the name of "serving the Qing Dynasty" by Chinese businessmen in Europe.

To the mainland, the total value is about 450,000 Tang Yuan.

These arms and military aids have no trace of the Tang Empire from beginning to end. They are done very carefully to avoid being overly interpreted by the outside world, which will turn out to be unsightly.

The third thing is that the Imperial Security Bureau established a stable communication channel with the Imperial Envoy, and made a request to "annihilate the Agub rebels and drive away the Russian and British forces" and stated that "all necessary assistance will be provided.

Unknown to the outside world.”

The fourth thing is to provide Zuo Zongtang with comprehensive European political, economic and military intelligence to help him judge the trend of international trends, especially Tsarist Russia.

This includes the past and present of the previous 9 Russo-Turkish wars, historical grievances, territorial changes, etc., a series of extremely detailed confidential information, which cannot be seen at all in the Eastern Empire.

For an outstanding commander, these precious intelligence help are even more important than arms to avoid misjudgment of the situation.

The current Qing court is like a blind man trying to figure out the elephant. There are no ministers who are truly proficient in Western affairs. They have little understanding of the international structure and the European situation. It is inevitable that the policy will not deviate.

With the blessing of these arms and intelligence, as a chess player secretly planning, Emperor Richard really wanted to see what kind of answer Zuo Zongtang could hand over?

Will he be able to fight the Tsarist Russian army on the battlefield and be able to regain his homeland outside Alashan Pass, or even go further?