1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 266 Ling Ding Yang (4K)
"I can't thank you enough! Thank God for having a friend like you!"

Kamehameha III was flattered while being happy.

When the great powers came to the Kingdom of Hawaii, it would be good if they did not rob or coerce the royal family of the Kingdom of Hawaii to sign an unequal treaty. It was the first time to give him a relatively heavy gift.

The natives of Hawaii originally believed in primitive religions. Since the colonists arrived in Hawaii under the banner of preaching, the natives of Hawaii had to abandon their primitive beliefs and convert to Christianity.

The Kamehameha royal family also has a positive attitude towards Christianity. They hope to have an equal dialogue with the white colonists by sharing a common belief with the white colonists.

But this is nothing more than wishful thinking of the Kamehameha royal family.

The reason why white people do not treat the Hawaiian kingdom equally is not because the natives of Hawaii are pagans, but because they are weak and bully.

"We are friends, you are welcome." Liang Yao said lightly.

His attitude towards the Hawaiian royal family is quite polite, but it is not out of sympathy for the weak, but out of fear of Britain and France, so he has to take a more gentle approach to the Kingdom of Hawaii and the Kamehameha royal family.

Of course, this is also Washington's attitude towards the Kingdom of Hawaii: not to offend Britain and France, maintain sufficient influence in the Kingdom of Hawaii, not allow a fourth country to intervene in the Kingdom of Hawaii, and then wait for the change and wait for the opportunity.

In terms of annexing territories, American politicians still have enough patience.

Take the Texas region as an example. In fact, after the United States successfully purchased the Louisiana region from France in 1803, American politicians headed by the third American president Thomas Jefferson had already begun planning to annex the Texas region. plan.

It wasn't until the eleventh President Polk that everything came to fruition.

In the century since the founding of the United States, many territories have been annexed, but in general, these annexations are planned and premeditated.

When the United States annexed the Texas region, the number of American immigrants in Texas surpassed that of Mexico. When the United States annexed Hawaii, American immigrants also had a great influence in Hawaii.

The United States' delay in annexing Hawaii is not because of good intentions or indecision, but because it is just waiting for the right time.

"The relationship between the Kingdom of Hawaii and the United States of America has always been very friendly and harmonious. I don't know why the two of you are here with so many warships?"

Although King Kamehameha III was happy to receive the gift he wanted, he was not a playful king. He was still wary of the American warship sailing into Pearl Harbor.

"The American Group has the right to operate Pearl Harbor for 20 years. The American Group is a company of the United States. It is reasonable and reasonable to provide services for the ships passing by the United States." Liang Yao frowned and said.

"That's natural, that's natural, but I don't know why the American fleet is sailing in such a big way, is it going to send troops to Japan?"

Faced with Liang Yao's remarks, Kamehameha III did not dare to say anything more.

He cannot afford to offend the British, he cannot afford to offend the French, he still cannot afford to offend the Americans, and he may not even be able to offend the Japanese.

Kamehameha III, the British fleet and the French fleet traveling to and from Hawaii have seen many times, but this is the first time that an American warship has appeared in Hawaii.

Kamehameha III is not a person who is deaf to international affairs. Recently, he has also heard the news that the United States has unilaterally declared war on Japan.

Based on this, Kamehameha III speculated that the United States was going to send troops to Japan.

He heard the news that the United States declared war on Japan from the British and the French, but the British and the French didn't take it seriously, so the matter didn't cause much trouble.

The British, in particular, sneered even more after learning of this incident, thinking that the United States was imitating the East, imitating their use of strong ships and guns to open the gate of the Qing Dynasty eleven years ago.

The even more arrogant British Royal Navy generals believed that the United States, as a country with only a second- and third-rate navy, did not have the ability to fight across oceans, and was not optimistic about this operation of the United States.

You must know that when Britain fought against the Qing Dynasty, although the main force was drawn from the mainland, Britain had the colony of India in Asia as an outpost to provide logistical support for the Royal Navy.

The United States has no colonies overseas, and California, which is the closest to Japan in the mainland of the United States, is also tens of thousands of nautical miles away from the Japanese archipelago, which is a big test for logistics.

"You are quite well informed." Liang Yao said lightly.

It is not a secret that the United States has declared war on Japan, and there is no problem of leaking secrets. It doesn't matter for Liang Yao to satisfy Kamehameha III's curiosity.

Of course, it was impossible for Liang Yao to disclose the specific military strength and military equipment to Kamehameha III.

There are also many Japanese immigrants in the Hawaiian Islands. Who knows if there are any eyeliners of the Japanese shogunate authorities lurking here.

Although Liang Yao didn't tell Kamehameha III the answer directly, from Liang Yao's few words, Kamehameha III already had the answer in his heart, the destination of this American fleet was Japan.

Kamehameha III hesitated for a moment, and then said to Liang Yao, "I want my nephew to see the world with your fleet."

"You have to ask General Perry. General Perry is the supreme commander." Liang Yao glanced at the dejected Kamehameha III and said.

After thinking about it, Perry felt that this was a good opportunity for the United States to show off its muscles to the Kingdom of Hawaii, so he agreed to Kamehameha III's request.

"I have no objection in principle, just the entourage, limited to members of the Kamehameha royal family."

"That's natural, that's natural." Kamehameha III forced a smile on his face and nodded.

After the soldiers of the navy and army rested in the camp at Pearl Harbor for three days, the fleet set out from Pearl Harbor with supplies.

Sven drove Liang Yao to take the lead on the Roland, taking the route he was familiar with and heading towards Guangzhou to ride the wind and waves.

Traveling across the ocean, it is not a wise move to rush to Edo (today's Tokyo, Japan) when people are tired and the boat is tired.

In history, Perry did not go straight to Edo when he knocked off Japan. The last supply point of Perry's American East India Fleet was Shanghai, China.

Perry also had a final rest in Shanghai before leaving for Edo.

This time, Japan's military strength and lineup are obviously more luxurious and powerful than those in history.

However, the army officers and soldiers accompanying the ship suffered from severe seasickness. After all, these soldiers had received regular training from the army, and their experience in crossing the sea by boat was far inferior to that of the serious Marine Corps members.Before the war, it is still necessary to give them some time to rest and adjust their condition.

At the end of June 1852, Liang Yao's fleet and Perry's fleet arrived in Lingdingyang.

Lingdingyang, also known as Lingdingyang, is located outside the Pearl River Estuary and is a trumpet-shaped estuary.The scope of Lingdingyang starts from Humen in the north and reaches Hong Kong and Macau in the south.Lingdingyang in the Humen section is relatively narrow, with a width of about 4 kilometers.

Humen is the key to entering the Guangzhou area. As long as Humen is guarded, enemy warships will not be able to enter the Pearl River Estuary and threaten Guangzhou.

During the Opium War, Lin Zexu realized the military value of Humen, and the Humen Fort was his key military facility.

When the fleet entered Humen, it was equivalent to entering the Pearl River and entering Guangzhou.

Both Liang Yao's fleet and Perry's fleet have warships. If they want to enter the transnational Humen and travel upstream, the Guangzhou authorities will definitely not agree.

Of course, it is not impossible to forcefully break through Humen and reach Guangzhou, but it is not necessary.

The purpose of Liang Yao and Perry's trip was to deter Japan with force to sign the founding of the country. There was no need for him to cause trouble in the Qing Dynasty, which was not good for him.

Liang Yao's ship repair shop in Guangzhou was opened in his hometown, Xiangshan, probably in the later Zhuhai, facing Macau across the sea to the south, and Hong Kong Island across the sea to the east.

Fragrant Hills is outside the mouth of the Pearl River, some distance away from Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, and the Guangdong authorities are not that sensitive about it.

As for why Liang Yao opened the ship repair factory in Daqing in Xiangshan instead of Shanghai, which has more potential in the future, the reason is also very simple.

First of all, he is from Xiangshan himself, and he is familiar with more Cantonese and Fujian businessmen.

Secondly, the immigrants who come to California are mainly from Guangdong and Fujian. The business atmosphere in Guangdong and Fujian is relatively strong. There is a long tradition of immigrating to the ocean to make a living, and there is not much psychological burden on immigrants.

As for the third, the Yangtze River Delta region will soon be affected by war.

The waterway at the Pearl River Estuary is very busy, and there is an endless stream of merchant ships coming and going.

It's just that the merchant ships leaving the Pearl River Estuary were loaded with Chinese local goods and silver, while the merchant ships entering the Pearl River Estuary were loaded with opium.

Before the Opium War, opium was still smuggled into the Pearl River Estuary, imported to Guangzhou, and then imported from Guangzhou to inland areas such as Jiangxi and Lianghu.

Now this opium import route still exists, but instead of smuggling opium into Guangzhou on fast crab boats, opium dealers can directly transport opium into Guangzhou in big ships.

However, the life of these opium dealers in Guangzhou is not as easy as before. Although they were secretly smuggled in the past, Guangzhou was the only foreign trade port of the Qing court and monopolized foreign trade.

But now it is a five-port trade agreement, and the opium imported from Guangzhou to Jiangxi and the two lakes is still facing competition from Shanghai counterparts.

Opium dealers in Shanghai can use the Yangtze River waterway to import opium to inland areas more conveniently.

In the case of the same quality of supply, Shanghai's opium is more competitive than Guangzhou's opium.

"Master Lin was selling cigarettes in Humen back then. He hoped that the land of China would ban this poison from then on. He didn't want the opium trade today to be worse than it was during the Daoguang period."

Deng Yan, who had personally experienced the Opium War, couldn't help sighing with such a scene.

He doesn't smoke opium, but he has seen many people whose homes have been ruined because of opium.

In the Guangdong Navy where he served, there were not a few officers and soldiers who smoked opium. What's more, when they participated in the battle, the soldiers who smoked opium couldn't even stand firmly, and the officers were even more extreme. Some people were carried by sedan chairs. battlefield.

"If you want to ban opium in China, only one Lord Lin is not enough." Liang Yao couldn't help showing a bitter smile on his face.

Not to mention one Lin Zexu, even if there are ten or one hundred Lin Zexus, it may not be possible to ban the opium trade.

Anglo-Saxons have always been very cunning and snobbish. Only when you are strong enough to weigh the consequences before making a decision, the Anglo-Saxons will abide by your rules and dare not mess around.Otherwise everything is just empty talk.

Liang Yao looked solemnly at these merchant ships from various countries traveling between the Pearl River Estuary. There were not many steam ships in the Far East, so most of the merchant ships seen in the Pearl River Depot were sailboats.

Most foreign merchant ships fly the Union flag of the British Empire. In addition to the Union flag, the most common one is the tricolor flag of the Second French Republic.

The rest are merchant ships from countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal.

This is not good news for the Qing Dynasty. Once the great powers form a community of interests, it will be too late to dismantle the community of interests of the great powers.

It's a pity that in the Qing Dynasty, which pretended to be asleep, most officials in the whole country did not realize this serious problem. After the painful lessons of the Opium War.

From the central government to the local government, the attitude towards opium has been completely shattered, and the smoking ban during the Daoguang period has long since become a dead letter.

In some places, poppies were blatantly planted with the idea that foreigners are not as good as making money by ourselves.A scene of competition between local smoke and foreign smoke has formed.

Because the local officials have accepted bribes, the attitude towards poppy cultivation among the people is no longer as simple as turning a blind eye, but directly providing protection for these big cigarette dealers.

It is impossible to completely ban opium under the corrupt Qing government.

The arrival of Liang Yao's fleet and Perry's East India Fleet caused quite a stir in the Guangdong area.

The public's attitude towards this matter is more curious, while the Guangdong official's attitude is restless.

In the majestic Guangdong Fantai Yamen, Ye Mingchen, the governor of Guangdong, and Xu Guangjin, the governor, sat in the lobby.

"The gangsters and bandits took advantage of the long hair to make trouble. It's really abominable. Now foreigners are adding to the chaos. Ben Fu hasn't lived a day of peace since he took office.

Jinghou (Governor Xu Guangjin, courtesy name Jinghou), the burden of Guangdong is on your shoulders. In this troubled time, you and I must help each other. "

Ye Mingchen complained first, then said to Xu Guangjin.

"Ye Shaobao and Xu are in the same boat, and they should help each other." Xu Guangjin sat upright and said to Ye Mingchen.

"I have dealt with foreigners from all Western countries, but mainly with the English, followed by the French. As for the Americans, to tell you the truth, Ye Shaobao, I know very little about the Americans.

Does Ye Shaobao have a good strategy to deal with these Americans? "

Ye Mingchen stroked his beard, feeling very pleased with this title.

Ye Mingchen's resume is very beautiful, and he himself prides himself on being a soldier.

It's just that his military achievements are really not on the stage. His military achievements are all about suppressing bandits.

In 1850 (the [-]th year of Daoguang), the bandits in Yingde County were suppressed.

In 1851 (the first year of Xianfeng), the bandits of the Luo Jing Society were wiped out, and the leader of the bandits, Wu Sanfu, was punished. The Qing court was overjoyed, and Ye Mingchen was named Prince Shaobao.

As usual, the Qing government would not enter such a large official rank for the suppression of bandits. Ye Mingchen's luck is really outrageous. Last year was the time when the God Worship Association officially started to rise.

Due to the concealment of reports by local officials, the high-ranking officials of the Qing Dynasty in the capital city had a slight discrepancy between their judgment on the banditry in Guangxi and the reality, thinking that it was just a group of bandits making trouble.

Therefore, I didn't pay much attention to it. It wasn't until the Qing army's bandit suppression operations were repeatedly frustrated that the people underneath couldn't hide it anymore that the central officials in the Forbidden City realized the seriousness of the matter.

And the good news of Ye Mingchen's victory came at the right time.

This report of the bandit suppression campaign cheered up the high-ranking officials of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, and Xianfeng was so happy that he directly named Ye Mingchen as the prince Shaobao.

(End of this chapter)