Chapter 317 How could Hawaii be like this? It shouldn't be like this!
Chapter 317 How could Hawaii be like this? It shouldn't be like this!
On the evening of November 1868, 11, Shao Quanzhong's visiting fleet arrived in Havana.
Here they joined the Haiqi led by Zeng Xiaoyi, and the visiting fleet became a size of three warships and five auxiliary ships.
There was no warm welcome ceremony. The excuse for stopping in Havana was just "replenishment". Shao Quanzhong did not even get off the ship to avoid suspicion.
After all, the imperial court already knew that the Bau Heavenly Kingdom Federation, Cuba and Sulu were controlled by the remnants of rebellion.
Before this, many countries in the world came to pay tribute, except Austria which was slow to come and Japan was in civil strife and missed the opportunity. Only two countries controlled by the Taiping Army at that time did not come, and their trick was discovered.
Before you formally rebel, it is better not to give anyone an advantage over you.
Earlier, Li Wencai occupied the Kingdom of Sulu, and he was "hired" by the Sulu Sultan Kirang. Later, 40,000 mercenaries were sent to Spain. They were transported by American barbarians and hired by Isabella II, right? It has nothing to do with Mr. Shao.
What the imperial court knew was that most of these rebellious remnants were the remnants of Wang Haiyang bought by the French from Zuo Zongtang, and some were mercenaries recruited by the Americans from the remnants of the rebellion.
Shi Laosan boarded the warship at night, and when he met Shao Quanzhong, he bowed and saluted, "My Lord."
Even though he's wearing an American military officer's uniform, he still does things the same old Chinese way and that can't be changed.
Shao Quanzhong quickly helped him up, "Lao Shi, don't bother with this, Brother Tian has been talking about you, maybe he will come to visit you in the future."
"By the way, I'm afraid you'll have to lend me the 2,000 men under Li Wencai for two more years to help me defend Luzon."
Are 2,000 people enough to guard Luzon? If you don't want to make any changes, it's enough. Spain only had 2,000 regular troops in Luzon, and 5,000 puppet troops and security personnel.
With two thousand Taiping troops as the main force, there is no problem in maintaining public order with hundreds of thousands of Chinese.
Shi Laosan waved his hand and said, "It doesn't matter if you keep borrowing. I don't lack soldiers now."
Shao Quanzhong was stunned. "Don't you only have 10,000 men? I feel really sorry for borrowing 2,000 from you."
Shi Laosan laughed, "That's old news. I have 130,000 reserve troops under my command, ready to go at any time, all of them are Chinese."
"Where do so many come from?"
"So they are the Chinese workers in the plantation. I tell you, my lord, in the eyes of foreigners, nothing is more important than making money. There are more than one million people in Cuba, and the French transported 130,000 Chinese workers, all of whom are strong laborers. Now, how many Taiping troops can I mobilize, Lao Shi? In fact, I just lack money."
Talking about Qian Shi, the third brother frowned, "My lord, I just realized after I came out that the economic policy of the Heavenly Kingdom is not good. Even Hong Renxuan's plan was not finally implemented."
"Now I am in Cuba and can only follow the rules and continue to engage in plantation exploitation, which goes against the policy of equality of brothers and sisters under the leadership of Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother. It worries me to death."
Shao Quanzhong was overjoyed when he heard this. Don't worry, this matter is not easy to handle. "Lao Shi, I'm here to solve this problem for you."
He turned around and said, "Siwen, from now on you will help Lao Shi and the King of England to plan the economy."
Zhang Siwen was dressed like an American, and Shi Laosan was very suspicious whether he was still going to do the capitalist things, and Shao Quanzhong was also worried.
However, Zhang Siwen pulled Shi Laosan back to his cabin and muttered to himself for half the night. After coming out, Shi Laosan bowed to Shao Quanzhong and said, "I didn't expect that the lord's fourth brother's ideas are so compatible with the Kingdom of Heaven. You have to ask him to divide his time between me and the King of England. You can't ignore our Cuba because we are small."
Oh wow, the fourth brother has always been clumsy and not good at speaking. He used to be a "silly man". How come he has become smart now and become a lobbyist? Can he convince the third brother Shi?
The next day, Zhang Siwen took up the post of State Counselor of Cuba and stayed in Havana.
With the strong support of Shi Laosan and the bayonet force guarantee of 138,000 regular and reserve Taiping troops, he began his economic experiment.
Shao Quanzhong continued his journey with some doubts and arrived in Buenos Aires a month and a half later. He had a secret conversation with the King of England on the ship and sailed for another two and a half months.
During the journey, we crossed the Cape of Horn, a place with high winds and rough waves. This place was previously a forbidden area for sailing and countless sailing ships were wrecked here.
Shao Quanzhong was lucky enough to catch up with the steam age. Steam-powered ironclad ships finally allowed humans to conquer this dangerous place.
On March 1869, 3, after many hardships and crossing the vast Pacific Ocean, Shao Quanzhong's fleet arrived at the last stop of the visit - the Kingdom of Hawaii. Returning from South America around the Pacific Ocean is much longer than returning home via the Cape of Good Hope in Africa.
Shao Quanzhong went to so much trouble, not only to see the King of England, but also mainly to conquer Hawaii and establish China's dominant position in the Pacific.
When the Zhendong docked at Pearl Harbor, Shao Quanzhong originally thought that he would meet a group of natives wearing leaves and a chief with colorful feathers on his head.
As soon as he walked out of the cabin, he was stunned.
In Pearl Harbor, the modern docks are filled with steam cranes, and there are several ocean-going steam cargo ships moored in the port, flying American, British, and French flags.
There were many sailing whaling ships parked densely, and in the distance there was a steam cruise ship of the American Pacific Shipping Company. Nearby, there was a steam sailing warship flying the Union Jack.
Well, the powers are all here, so it’s normal for them to be advanced, and the chief is always the chief, right?
Shao Quanzhong walked down the gangway and a red carpet was laid directly to the gangway. Next to him, a military band dressed in gorgeous uniforms and with ribbons on their shoulders played the "Marshal's Training Song."
Rows of honor guards, with their chests puffed out, dressed in British military uniforms, holding Schneider-Enfield breech-loading rifles with their bayonets flashing, saluted Shao Quanzhong in unison.
The flag of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the Yellow Dragon Flag were raised on the scene, and Hawaiian King Kamehameha V came up to greet them in person.
His Majesty the King was about forty years old, dressed in a suit and tie, with his short hair shiny with oil. He wore a bow tie over his snow-white shirt, a snow-white handkerchief sticking out of his jacket pocket, and a Victoria Cross on his wrist.
With steady steps and strong momentum, he walked over to Shao Quanzhong, shook hands and hugged him warmly, and patted Shao Quanzhong on the back.
"I have heard of the great name of Prince Shao for a long time. Shao Shuai is even more handsome in person than in the photo. Our entire country is honored to have you visit Hawaii. Please come in!"
After listening to Maria's translation, Shao Quanzhong felt a little magical. This is a remote Pacific island, not Hong Kong, New York or London.
How could the Hawaiian Kingdom be like this? How could it be like this? Now I want to conquer it, but it seems very difficult.
There were reporters from Britain, France and the United States taking pictures at the scene. King Kamehameha V looked like a skilled diplomat, shaking hands with Shao Quanzhong, posing and smiling at the cameras.
Damn, the King of Hawaii is more modern than the rulers of my Qing Dynasty. You wouldn’t know until you see it. It must be hard to fool a King of Hawaii like this.
Fortunately, I came here in person, otherwise if the wrong policies were implemented, it would be extremely difficult to conquer Hawaii.
I looked up at the Hawaiian flag. Such a small country actually has an official flag. Damn, it looks too much like the British flag. Is this British territory? How come I didn't know?
This is bad. It’s not easy to deal with the British big brother’s territory.
The surprises continue.
After taking the photo, Kamehameha V held Shao Quanzhong's hand affectionately and said, "Let me introduce you. This side is my Privy Council member, that side is a member of the Legislative Council, this is my Prime Minister Charles de Valigny, this is the Chief Justice, and this is the Minister of the Interior..."
The Hawaiian ministers greeted Shao Quanzhong one by one. Shao Quanzhong smiled and nodded, his expression unchanged, but he was cursing in his heart.
They are all dressed in suits and speak fluent English. There must be many of them who studied abroad in Europe and the United States. What the hell am I supposed to do?
Another big surprise is coming.
"Shao Shuai, you came at the right time. I would like to introduce to you another distinguished guest from the Kingdom of Hawaii."
The man was a handsome white guy in his mid-twenties, wearing a double-breasted suit with British Navy captain's epaulettes on his shoulders.
Epaulettes on a suit, ahem, a weird attire of this era.
The medal worn on the suit is the same as Kamehameha V's, which is the Victoria Cross.
Shao Quanzhong looked down and saw that he also had one on his chest. Is this thing so worthless? I can see three people wearing it in Hawaii?
"This is His Royal Highness Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, the fourth son of Queen Victoria II of the United Kingdom, and the captain of the British Empire Navy warship HMS Grady. He also happens to be visiting the Kingdom of Hawaii."
(End of this chapter)