Wild North America 1846

Chapter 665 The Hand of Friendship

Author: Portuguese toothless

Chapter 665 The Hand of Friendship

"Your Majesty, how should the affairs of the Korean Peninsula be handled?"

"It is not appropriate for the empire to get involved for the time being. We must be cautious in all matters involving the mainland. It is not a key area for the future development of the Tang Empire. The top priority now is to completely digest the Luzon Islands colony. What is the specific situation now?"

“In reply to His Majesty’s words;

It has been seven years since the Empire signed the Treaty of Berlin with the Kingdom of Spain on July 12, 1878, officially taking over Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Luzon Islands.

Adhering to its consistent purpose, the Colonial Office strictly implemented the eight prohibitions and always promoted colonization work with high pressure, and has achieved remarkable results.

Over the past 7 years

Thanks to the massive investment from the Imperial Household Office, the empire has built a total of 27,000 kilometers of roads of various grades throughout the Luzon Islands, 1,760 kilometers of railways have been built, and about 5,500 kilometers of railways are planned to be built.

Dozens of towns were built and expanded, 724 bridges were erected, 28 dams were built, three thermal power plants were built, hundreds of new quarries and brick kilns were built, and extremely significant construction results were achieved.

After vigorous construction, the original relatively primitive appearance of the Luzon Islands has been completely renewed. More new towns have been built and a large number of mainland immigrants have been resettled. In the past seven years, the total number has reached 1.33 million.

These 1.33 million Chinese immigrants formed more than 1.3 million families, and the women were mainly recruited from local indigenous people. After a brief period of chaos in the early days, society is now stable and agricultural development is full of potential.

A total of 1.21 million laborers, mainly local male indigenous people, were used in the hard labor camps. About 700,000 people were lost, mainly due to various tropical plagues and long-term heavy physical labor, and more than 500,000 people remained.

In order to supplement the labor force, the Luzon Governor-General has organized a team of mainly Chinese militiamen to enter the tropical jungles and remote islands to search for the remaining indigenous people, and has achieved a lot of results.

According to the latest reported data;

During the operation that lasted for several months, more than 370,000 local indigenous people were successively arrested and more than 30,000 resistance militants were killed. Among them, there were about 200,000 indigenous men who could be used as laborers. The remaining women and children will flow into the human market. .

The Governor-General of Luzon plans to take advantage of the opportunity when the indigenous population's labor force is still sufficient to concentrate on laying out the remaining 5,500 kilometers of railway lines, as well as some seaports, terminals, beaches, mines and some large-scale bridge projects to establish relatively complete of infrastructure.

In addition to self-raised funds, the construction plan submitted by the Luzon Governor's Palace also requires an additional 5.5 million yuan in annual funding from the Royal Household Office to maintain the current relatively large scale of construction.

The annual grain tax and commercial tax collected by the Luzon Governor's Palace are enough to support the daily food and labor expenses of a million-sized hard labor camp, which can save a lot of construction costs.

The current focus of development is mainly the copper and nickel ore resources discovered in Mindanao, as well as the large-scale iron ore veins.

The Governor-General of the Luzon Islands plans to invest a lot of manpower to develop the mine, and invest in the construction of ore processing and smelting plants. It will build a steel plant with an annual output of 100,000 tons, a copper smelter with an annual output of 12,000 tons of copper concentrate, and an annual output of 600 tons of nickel. In addition to metal processing plants, some agricultural product processing plants and food plants as well as no less than 6 cement plants will be built.

Opening up the tropical rainforest also requires some engineering machinery, including tractors, diesel engines, sawmills, etc. Importing construction steel bars and other materials from Paradise Province is the main reason for the increase in expenses.

The latest demographic data shows;

The Chinese-dominated society in the Luzon Islands operates stably and the market is prosperous. By the end of 1884, the total population had reached more than 3.37 million (note; the statistics do not include indigenous people). This is mainly because the Luzon Islands was originally a place with many early Chinese immigrants.

, there were about 230,000 early immigrants, and coupled with the newborns born to Chinese families in recent years, the population has grown rapidly and powerfully.

Because the Luzon Islands are geographically close to the mainland, which facilitates large-scale immigration, it is expected that the total population will reach tens of millions by the end of this century (note: excluding local indigenous people), entering a state of long-term stable development.

Looking ahead to the next decade…”

The Secretary of the Colonial Department, Yuan Guanglin, was very familiar with the situation of the Luzon Islands. He reported various data casually and presented it in a clear and organized manner.

Emperor Richard of the Tang Dynasty nodded frequently after hearing this, with a look of appreciation in his eyes from time to time, expressing his praise for this middle-aged and capable official.

The Tang Empire's colonial policy was brutal, direct and effective. The Luzon Islands' "vacate the cage and replace the bird" policy that it took over in 1878 made great progress. The local indigenous women were directly forcibly recruited into the population market, and then were recruited by the large influx of Chinese immigrants.

Purchased and formed a new family.

The Luzon Governor-General's policy was flexible during this process, allowing Chinese immigrants to borrow part of the money on credit, but varying amounts of interest would be added.

This move quickly digested nearly half of the local indigenous population, and the indigenous men were thrown into hard labor camps. They worked hard day after day to change the appearance of the island, building a large number of farmland water conservancy facilities, roads and railways, docks and town buildings.

Give the originally backward appearance a new look.

As an emerging colonial power, the Tang Empire completely looked down on the backward urban appearance and almost zero infrastructure left by the Spaniards, so it embarked on a massive construction project in Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Luzon Islands. This construction boom has lasted for seven full years.

It is expected that it will take another 7 to 8 years for the construction boom involving infrastructure to come to an end, and the colonies will enter the ranks of imperial overseas provinces with a new look, heralding the end of the "empty the cage and replace the bird" policy.

In order to ensure the long-term stability of the new colony, the Colonial Office upheld the holy will and promoted the policy of forced assimilation. This policy did not require large-scale killings and appeared to be more benevolent than the Portuguese, Spanish and Belgian colonists.

The food in the hard labor camp cannot be said to be good. At least there is enough food to eat, and there is less deliberate abuse and corporal punishment. However, due to long-term hard work and severe physical exhaustion, prisoners in the hard labor camp rarely can

Lived for 10 years.

After one road was built, another was built, and after the wharf was built, the mines were opened. There was always endless hard labor waiting for the hard labor prisoners, day after day, year after year.

It has been more than an hour since Yuan Guanglin, Minister of the Colonial Empire, finished his eloquent introduction.

Emperor Richard nodded kindly and said;

"Yuan Aiqing, I have seen the many efforts made by the Colonial Department and the Governor-General of Luzon and Cuba, and I am very pleased.

It is precisely because of your capable ministers and officials who strictly implement the imperial policies and persevere in colonization and development that the empire is now prosperous and prosperous.

All my dear friends must remember this;

Policies that may seem a bit excessive today are for the sake of a peaceful and prosperous life for future generations, and must not be benevolent.

I would rather bear the infamy and purge the alien races in the colony, just for the sake of this and the long-term, so as not to leave any trouble for future generations..."

When he said this, all the ministers could not sit still. They all stood up and bowed their heads to the ground.

Don’t blame yourself, it is a heavy burden that the empire cannot bear, and we are all guilty of death.”

"How can it be so exaggerated? Come on, all of you, get up." Emperor Richard gave him a hand, and all the ministers stood up and retreated to both sides.

Only the Prime Minister, the Marquis Chen Cailiang, was still standing at the foot of the steps. After saluting again, he said: "Your Majesty, I am here to start.

After the Qing Dynasty War

The reputation of France plummeted, but the Qing Dynasty did not lose an inch of territory or pay a single tael of silver. It won praise from the world's powers and its international reputation was greatly improved.

Recently, the President of France, His Excellency François Paul Jules Grevy, has written frequently to explain the East Asian policy to the empire, and promised that in the future, it will guard the south of Lang Son and the French army will never take a step north.

This is one of them.

On the other hand, France expressed concerns about the Tang Empire's large-scale military reductions. President Francois believed that;

As the de facto hegemon of the Americas, the Tang State has an unshirkable international responsibility for maintaining regional security and stability, especially now, when the United States is becoming more likely to split and become independent.

President Francois bluntly pointed out: "London is jumping up and down to ignite the United States, with the sinister purpose of weakening France and China by dividing the United States. It cannot be said that it is not evil..."

"France and Tang should work together on U.S. affairs, maintain a firm stance on the traditional fighting friendship between the two sides that dates back to 1853 (note, Crimean War), and repel the sinister plots of extraterritorial powers to interfere in the North American continent."

"France will look forward to Tang's friendly hand with a sincere attitude of comprehensive cooperation..."

From the handwritten letter, we can see President Francois' inner anxiety.

Wei Chen secretly thought;

Cooperation on U.S. issues is a good proposal and will help strengthen our strength, both in military and political and economic aspects.

In view of the great importance of the matter, I have no choice but to ask the Holy Judge!"

"Chen Aiqing, you don't have to be polite, please get up." Emperor Richard raised his hand to support him, then leaned back and lay comfortably on the throne, and said after a moment of meditation;

“By looking at the essence through phenomena, we can discover;

The reason why the British fanned the flames in the upper class society of the United States, created different topics everywhere, aroused fear of the empire and encouraged separatist independent forces, was to disrupt North America and compete for the right to speak in North America and even the entire America.

I had dealings with Sir William Cecil, the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, more than 20 years ago. He was an outstanding politician with a keen mind and a broad international vision.

From the first glance, it was obvious that he was a shrewd and sophisticated character who could get to the point. He was by no means an easy character to deal with.

All my dear friends know this;

The United States is carrying heavy debts and has not had the right to dialogue with the empire on an equal footing for the past twenty years and the next twenty years, or even longer.

This is like a man carrying a heavy millstone on his back. Why should he challenge the Tang Empire?

The British people's purpose is to help the United States remove this heavy millstone. Even if the United States is divided into two, three or four, after the heavy burden is removed, it will become stronger and more flexible.

If we join forces with Canada in the north and the Carolina Republic in the south, with the British standing behind us, it will indeed cause a lot of trouble for the empire.

While we are busy dealing with affairs in the Americas, we have no time to pay attention to the colonial expansion in other parts of the world, nor to the changes taking place in East Asia, and we may lose many precious opportunities.

Perhaps, this is the purpose of British Prime Minister William Cecil.

If we understand our opponent's intentions, we can deal with them calmly. Over the years, increased efforts to immigrate to the United States and significant reductions in military personnel are one of the ways to deal with it.

Now that the French have extended their hand, it can be used to enrich our response options, which will be beneficial to the US issue.

But remember, always keep a distance from the French. It is best to let the French rush in front to withstand the thunder.

The British man is like a jealous and petty woman. Although she is always looking for trouble, maintaining this marriage is still of great benefit to the empire, and she must maintain a delicate balance of fighting without breaking up."

"Your Majesty, I understand." Prime Minister Chen Cailiang replied respectfully.

His Majesty's metaphor is very vivid, and all the ministers will know immediately after hearing it, and they will be more confident on how to deal with it.

The British can be said to be strategic masters who have mastered the essence of Western strategy, but when faced with the ancient Eastern wisdom passed down, they still seem a bit crude.

After all, he is a Viking from Northern Europe, so he is always a bit uninteresting when it comes to playing tricks.

Nowadays, the British are just wandering around in the back yard of the Tang Dynasty. Whenever asked, he always replies without blushing and breathlessly: "Hey, man, I see there is some chaos here, so I will take action."

Help me clean it up."

You are obviously doing bad things, but you can still say that you are righteous. This is the so-called bandit logic.

After discussing the business for a while,

Emperor Richard returned the topic to the 12th Los Angeles World's Fair, and emphatically praised the many new technologies and new inventions that broke out in the economic and industrial fields. This made the Minister of Industry and the Minister of Education, Health and Sports present.

There was a special luster on the skin, and the bones were several ounces lighter.

His Majesty has always attached great importance to scientific and technological inventions, and specifically named several important inventions, such as the world's first motorcycle, the world's first wireless transmitter, the world's single 5,000-horsepower marine steam turbine, etc., and requested

Give the Expo a gold medal, and give relevant scientific and technological personnel heavy awards as encouragement.

These matters can only be handled by the officials below. It would be too grand for the royal family to come forward, and it is not enough.

Emperor Richard specifically urged these advanced scientific and technological inventions to focus on practical application and promotion, put the scientific and technological invention results into production as soon as possible, continuously improve them in practical applications, form new industries, and benefit more people in society.

With the attention of the supreme ruler of the empire, these new technological achievements will be quickly implemented and promoted.

Just like bicycles in the past, they have now been widely used in cities and countryside, becoming a more convenient means of personal travel after trams, trams, cars and horse-drawn carriages.

More than a dozen bicycle manufacturing plants emerged in the Tang Empire, with an annual output of more than 320,000 bicycles, and certain export capabilities were established.

The widespread use of automobiles and bicycles has greatly increased the demand for natural rubber, which in turn promotes the expansion of natural rubber plantations, forming a beneficial virtuous cycle.

(End of chapter)